text:
You have been building an ecommerce business that you’ve put a lot of time, effort, and sweat equity into growing, and now you’re looking to sell. Your objective is to get maximum value and you’re assessing steps to prepare for the sale. There are a multitude of variables to consider and in this post, we’ll cover them all to maximize the price you receive when exiting. Keep in mind: the insights in this article are not inclusive of Amazon FBA business sales, this is only for standalone ecommerce websites. If you want to learn more about selling an Amazon FBA business, our insights article is here.
Ecommerce continues to be the dominant category in the market, with 58% of all business sales being standalone ecommerce websites for 2017.
2017 was a breakout year for ecommerce. The category absolutely exploded in terms of total aggregate sales in dollars (a record $279 million). Prior to 2017, it had been on a steady increase, with the ecommerce category still commanding 47-52% of the overall market for the previous three years.
What Has the Average Sales Multiple Been Per Year?
Ecommerce businesses can sell for as little as a few thousand dollars, to hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. This graph shows the data we analyzed – typically businesses in the $100 thousand to $10 million valuation range. As we can see, the average has been sitting around 2.2-2.3x earnings for the previous two years, and then jumped to 2.88x in 2017.
What Size Store is Worth More?
In general, the larger the ecommerce business, the more that it is worth. Here is how you understand this graph below. Let’s say that a business sold for $300,000. On average that would mean that its annual profit was around $111,000 ($300,000 divided by 2.7, because the average multiple for that size is around 2.7x). Another example would be a business that sold for $600,000. On average that would mean that its annual profit was $153,000 ($500,000 divided by 3.26). Similarly, a business that sold for $4 million would mean that its annual profit was around $1 million ($4 million divided by 3.91).
Where Were the Sales Distributed?
This graph represents the distribution of the sales multiples.
What is the value of your inventory?
How do you value my inventory?
1) Prior to closing the sale, an inventory count is taken and the sale price is adjusted, up or down, from the amount included in the sale price.
2) Inventory is valued at cost. If the inventory is significantly higher than the normal level, will a price over that level will be negotiated?
3) A decision needs to be made whether the cost of the inventory is to be determined by using the original invoice, a percent of retail price, or a professional inventory firm.
4) Not all inventory is created equal. Aged, broken or obsolete inventory will be determined if it is sell-able and the price negotiated appropriately. This mainly comes as discounting a portion of the inventory but can also be the seller financing a portion and the buyer paying for it only when it sells.
How do I increase the value of my business before selling?
If you can achieve the following you will be able to increase the value of your business.
Business Exits – great if your business is making over $4m dollar profit per year.
Generally a business broker will charge 10-12% of the sales price of an eCommerce business including inventory.

lowercased:
you have been building an ecommerce business that you’ve put a lot of time, effort, and sweat equity into growing, and now you’re looking to sell. your objective is to get maximum value and you’re assessing steps to prepare for the sale. there are a multitude of variables to consider and in this post, we’ll cover them all to maximize the price you receive when exiting. keep in mind: the insights in this article are not inclusive of amazon fba business sales, this is only for standalone ecommerce websites. if you want to learn more about selling an amazon fba business, our insights article is here.
ecommerce continues to be the dominant category in the market, with 58% of all business sales being standalone ecommerce websites for 2017.
2017 was a breakout year for ecommerce. the category absolutely exploded in terms of total aggregate sales in dollars (a record $279 million). prior to 2017, it had been on a steady increase, with the ecommerce category still commanding 47-52% of the overall market for the previous three years.
what has the average sales multiple been per year?
ecommerce businesses can sell for as little as a few thousand dollars, to hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. this graph shows the data we analyzed – typically businesses in the $100 thousand to $10 million valuation range. as we can see, the average has been sitting around 2.2-2.3x earnings for the previous two years, and then jumped to 2.88x in 2017.
what size store is worth more?
in general, the larger the ecommerce business, the more that it is worth. here is how you understand this graph below. let’s say that a business sold for $300,000. on average that would mean that its annual profit was around $111,000 ($300,000 divided by 2.7, because the average multiple for that size is around 2.7x). another example would be a business that sold for $600,000. on average that would mean that its annual profit was $153,000 ($500,000 divided by 3.26). similarly, a business that sold for $4 million would mean that its annual profit was around $1 million ($4 million divided by 3.91).
where were the sales distributed?
this graph represents the distribution of the sales multiples.
what is the value of your inventory?
how do you value my inventory?
1) prior to closing the sale, an inventory count is taken and the sale price is adjusted, up or down, from the amount included in the sale price.
2) inventory is valued at cost. if the inventory is significantly higher than the normal level, will a price over that level will be negotiated?
3) a decision needs to be made whether the cost of the inventory is to be determined by using the original invoice, a percent of retail price, or a professional inventory firm.
4) not all inventory is created equal. aged, broken or obsolete inventory will be determined if it is sell-able and the price negotiated appropriately. this mainly comes as discounting a portion of the inventory but can also be the seller financing a portion and the buyer paying for it only when it sells.
how do i increase the value of my business before selling?
if you can achieve the following you will be able to increase the value of your business.
business exits – great if your business is making over $4m dollar profit per year.
generally a business broker will charge 10-12% of the sales price of an ecommerce business including inventory.


text:
You followed me for months and indeed we planned the new project going to happen in July in another country again. Everything was booked but then the rain started, two days before our journey. As if this was fate, we had the summer of the century and just in this small time slot it rained like waterfalls.
In addition Fritz had only a few temporal possibilities to film with us, so we decided to do our Plan B – the club feet. In our fantasy this was a gorgeous idea: Girls taking their shoes off after dancing.
Sure, we considered some laughter and grouping of people, but at night 1 we were surrounded by some really bad people at times, completely antisocial and a few ones behaved somewhat aggressive. Our mood hit rock bottom.
At night 2 we moved on to other places near some clubs and this was fun. We were happy and knew that the project would work now. In addition we made a night 3 and this was completely relaxed. There we met some girls from a party boat and from a trade fair.
This time Fritz handled the camera only, I was the lucky one who could lie down. Alessandra joined us for the first time and made a very good job on the second camera and especially with talking to the girls.

lowercased:
you followed me for months and indeed we planned the new project going to happen in july in another country again. everything was booked but then the rain started, two days before our journey. as if this was fate, we had the summer of the century and just in this small time slot it rained like waterfalls.
in addition fritz had only a few temporal possibilities to film with us, so we decided to do our plan b – the club feet. in our fantasy this was a gorgeous idea: girls taking their shoes off after dancing.
sure, we considered some laughter and grouping of people, but at night 1 we were surrounded by some really bad people at times, completely antisocial and a few ones behaved somewhat aggressive. our mood hit rock bottom.
at night 2 we moved on to other places near some clubs and this was fun. we were happy and knew that the project would work now. in addition we made a night 3 and this was completely relaxed. there we met some girls from a party boat and from a trade fair.
this time fritz handled the camera only, i was the lucky one who could lie down. alessandra joined us for the first time and made a very good job on the second camera and especially with talking to the girls.


text:
The doors have officially opened to a new 22,700m² food production facility belonging to In2food, in the OR Tambo Special Economic Zone in Johannesburg. Described as the largest and most diverse ultra-fresh food facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and the second largest C02 refrigeration facility in the world, the new Bonaero site will create 600 new jobs.
Present at the opening last week was Zyda Rylands, CEO of Woolworths South Africa, together with the Department of Trade and Industry (‘the dti’) and the Gauteng Provincial Government. With a total development value of R400m, In2food, Woolworths' largest fresh and prepared food supplier, received over R140m from national and provincial Government.
Within the approximately 20,000m² processing area, is housed world-class state of the art food manufacturing equipment imported from around the world as well as quality South African equipment. As an example, the new facility will be producing 2,000 litres of soup and 10,000 pancakes per hour. The In2food factory will increase the export of fresh food products from OR Tambo International to a projected R1 billion by 2025.
Speaking at the launch event, Rylands said, “I am very proud to be opening this world-class food production facility. In2food has been a Woolies Food partner for more than 28 years and this project was a natural extension of that relationship, with the shared goals of driving innovation and job creation.
According to Lionel October, director deneral at the dti, the launch of the In2food plant is one of the strategic initiatives that will stimulate South Africa’s agriculture production, contribute to the economy of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, and increase the country’s export earnings. The project will also help in creating much-needed jobs.
“The Special Economic Zone model creates the ideal environment for investment into industrialisation. Government is committed to utilising its economic agencies as a platform to strengthen, build and localise large industrialisation programmes, creating not only jobs but thriving communities in the various economic hubs. The handover of the factory to the investor tenant, In2food is a demonstration of Government and private sector working together to successfully deliver economic development and create much-needed job opportunities,” Makhura said.

lowercased:
the doors have officially opened to a new 22,700m² food production facility belonging to in2food, in the or tambo special economic zone in johannesburg. described as the largest and most diverse ultra-fresh food facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and the second largest c02 refrigeration facility in the world, the new bonaero site will create 600 new jobs.
present at the opening last week was zyda rylands, ceo of woolworths south africa, together with the department of trade and industry (‘the dti’) and the gauteng provincial government. with a total development value of r400m, in2food, woolworths' largest fresh and prepared food supplier, received over r140m from national and provincial government.
within the approximately 20,000m² processing area, is housed world-class state of the art food manufacturing equipment imported from around the world as well as quality south african equipment. as an example, the new facility will be producing 2,000 litres of soup and 10,000 pancakes per hour. the in2food factory will increase the export of fresh food products from or tambo international to a projected r1 billion by 2025.
speaking at the launch event, rylands said, “i am very proud to be opening this world-class food production facility. in2food has been a woolies food partner for more than 28 years and this project was a natural extension of that relationship, with the shared goals of driving innovation and job creation.
according to lionel october, director deneral at the dti, the launch of the in2food plant is one of the strategic initiatives that will stimulate south africa’s agriculture production, contribute to the economy of ekurhuleni, gauteng, and increase the country’s export earnings. the project will also help in creating much-needed jobs.
“the special economic zone model creates the ideal environment for investment into industrialisation. government is committed to utilising its economic agencies as a platform to strengthen, build and localise large industrialisation programmes, creating not only jobs but thriving communities in the various economic hubs. the handover of the factory to the investor tenant, in2food is a demonstration of government and private sector working together to successfully deliver economic development and create much-needed job opportunities,” makhura said.


text:
Via the Big Slash, comes ONLamp.com: Calculating the True Price of Software, which applies arbitrage – looking for price differences between two things that ought to be exactly the same – to warranties and – more to the point – software, and software maintenance.
a) that the free and open source software folk have stumbled across the financial engineering insight that a significant portion of the value of software is the embedded “derivatives”–options or warrants–on future maintenance and enhancement.
b) the major difference in worldview between open source advocates and proprietary software license advocates is explainable as a differing opinion on the correct value of the volatility of maintenance and upgrade pricing.

lowercased:
via the big slash, comes onlamp.com: calculating the true price of software, which applies arbitrage – looking for price differences between two things that ought to be exactly the same – to warranties and – more to the point – software, and software maintenance.
a) that the free and open source software folk have stumbled across the financial engineering insight that a significant portion of the value of software is the embedded “derivatives”–options or warrants–on future maintenance and enhancement.
b) the major difference in worldview between open source advocates and proprietary software license advocates is explainable as a differing opinion on the correct value of the volatility of maintenance and upgrade pricing.


text:
Open House on my studio in Kärrtorp, right now especially for art associations. I offer coffee, cakes, buns, sweets, coffee, tea or wine as desired.
The studio is located in Kärrtorp at the address Huvudskärsvägen 38, entrance at the gable. You are warmly welcome!
Yes, I was chosen for this week's contractor on Linkedin! Awesome! Feeling grateful!
I will perform at the Funkadelic Studios in New York City Times Square 2019, with my Multimedia Show with art and music.
You can read more about me as an artist and give a donation for my upcoming show i New York at my artist site AnnAK Queen.
I participated in a group exhibition at the Art Mora Gallery in New York Chelsea in December 2016 and in New Jersey, 2017.

lowercased:
open house on my studio in kärrtorp, right now especially for art associations. i offer coffee, cakes, buns, sweets, coffee, tea or wine as desired.
the studio is located in kärrtorp at the address huvudskärsvägen 38, entrance at the gable. you are warmly welcome!
yes, i was chosen for this week's contractor on linkedin! awesome! feeling grateful!
i will perform at the funkadelic studios in new york city times square 2019, with my multimedia show with art and music.
you can read more about me as an artist and give a donation for my upcoming show i new york at my artist site annak queen.
i participated in a group exhibition at the art mora gallery in new york chelsea in december 2016 and in new jersey, 2017.


text:
It is the Policy of AW Ship Management Ltd (AWSML) and our group companies to retain, store and transmit data/information that has been agreed to between the “Data Subject” and AWSML or as required under law, such as but not limited to; Names, Address, Phone numbers, Date of birth and bank Account information.
AW Ship Management will only request and process information from a “Data Subject” for the purposes that we have outlined and that have been agreed between the “Data Subject” and AWSML.
AW Ship Management Ltd and our group of companies may contact you by post, telephone or email with details of our products, services and promotions. This correspondence will only be sent to those who have opted in to receive such communications during website registration and Cargo enquiry process. You can opt out of receiving these e-mails by submitting an e-mail request where we will then remove you from any mailing lists that you belong to.
We do not provide or sell your details to third parties. However, we may pass your request for information to our personnel located in or traveling to your region, unless you have decided to opt out to receive such information.
AW Ship Management may pass on your details to third parties, this will only happen if it has been agreed between the “Data Subject” and AWSML, or as required under law or as outlined in Section 3 & 5 of this Policy.
AW Ship Management Ltd complies with the Direct Marketing Authority’s Code of Practice and in case of a complaint, is bound by the decision of the Direct Marketing Authority. A full copy of the DMA Code of Practice is available on the DMA website: www.dma.org.uk.
AW Shipping Ltd, as part of the AW Group, will receive any information sent to us through our website during the Cargo Enquiry process and will be used only for providing a competitive quote for shipping cargo to and from selected destinations or resolving any questions or queries that you may have raised and submitted. Should you wish to, you have the option to opted in to receive occasional promotional e-mails from St Helena Shipping.
Once a quote has been deemed acceptable, by those it was directed to, and we have received approval to ship your cargo to and from the selected destinations, we then may pass on your information and data to third party data and information processors.
The purpose for this is that your information and data will be needed to process your cargo on ocean going vessels, road lorries and for customs clearance process in foreign ports. This will be, but not limited to the form of Cargo Way Bills and freight manifests.
St Helena Shipping have the appropriate contracts in place to make sure that not only your cargo is transported to and from your requested destinations safely and on a timely basis, but also to prevent any miss use of data and information that is sent on to third parties as outlined above.
AW Ship Management Ltd and our group of companies welcome those who wish to join our team to send their CV’s through to us and should we have a position open we will contact those who have sent suitable CV’s in for further information.
Should we not have a position open at that time, we may retain those CV’s that have been sent to us for positions that may be open in the future for a period of up to 12 months. After this time, should a position not become available we will then delete those CV’s we have received.
We invite those who have sent in CV’s previously, to update them and send in again, should they not have heard from us 12 months after they have sent their original CV in.
AW Crewing Services Ltd (AWCSL), as part of the AW Group, are responsible for the process and storage of information pertaining to those who are currently sponsored and deployed on managed or owned vessels as part of the AW Group.
Should you wish to be sponsored for a cadetship, AW Crewing Services Ltd are required to obtain certain information from potential candidates, these include, but are not limited to; Names and address, contact numbers and e-mail address, date of birth and nationality, details or academic and vocational qualifications (held or predicted) and employment history.
All information that is sent to and processed and stored by AWCSL, will be kept securely for a period of up to 12 months. If after 12 months, or before, your application has been unsuccessful, or a position has not been found, AWCSL will delete and remove your information, either in electronic or paper format.
Personal information provided to AWCSL during the application process, including the accuracy of the information provided is your individual responsibility. AWCSL will ask those who are deemed successful in the application process, to provide evidence of the information that was initially supplied, either in electronic or paper format. If you wish to amend any information provided during this process, please contact AWCSL accordingly.
In order to facilitate the applications process, information may be shared with; third parties, these will include, but not limited to, sponsoring companies within AW Group, Maritime colleges, Department for Transport and SMarT administrators.
AWCSL may be required to process and retain sensitive medical information in respect of candidates for the purpose of making a judgement on whether a potential candidate will be eligible in obtaining an unrestricted ENG-1 medical Certificate.
In such cases, AWCSL maintains the utmost security and confidentiality in respect of this information and will not share any such information with any third party unless AWCSL requires professional assistance to determine this aspect and has been agreed to by the potential candidate. Any information shared with a third party medical professional will be on a strictly private and confidential basis.
If you have worked for AW Ship Management Ltd, one of our group companies or have submitted data previously to request further information about services we provide, you are entitled to make a Data Subjects Request.
AW Ship Management Ltd or one of our group companies will then respond to your request within 30 days of it being submitted and will supply to you, the Data Subject, all the information that we have and retained.
However, AW Ship Management Ltd and our group companies retain the right to keep information after the stated period, but only if required under law or in special circumstances which are, but not limited to; insurance pay out, legal cases, pension responsibilities and consultancy work.
Data Subjects retain the right to be forgotten by AW Ship Management Ltd and our Group Companies. This entitles the Data Subject to request that their information, that is being retained by AW Ship Management and our Group Companies, be deleted and destroyed permanently. All such requests will be handled by the companies Data Protection Controller.
AW Ship Management and our Group Companies must carry out such a request within 30 days of receiving the request, unless the data and information are still required. Only under special and documented circumstances will we continually hold Data and Information, these are, but not limited to; insurance pay out, legal cases, pension responsibilities and consultancy work.
Breaches or security incidents can be defined as events which could have or have resulted in a loss or damage to personal data, or an event which is in breach of AWSML’s security procedures and policies.
All AWSML employees, partners, contractors and vendors have a responsibility to report security incidents and breaches of this policy and of the Regulation as quickly as possible to the companies Data Protection Controller. This obligation also extends to any external organisation contracted to support or access the Information Systems of AWSML.
AWSML will take appropriate measures to remedy any breach of the policy, the Regulation and its associated procedures and guidelines through the relevant frameworks in place.
Should a Data breach occur, AW Ship Management Ltd and our group companies, will contact the Information Commissioners Office, as well as the “Data Subject”, and relevant authority if the breach has occurred outside of the European Union, within 72 hours and will comply fully with any investigation that occurs after any such breach as well as carrying out our own internal audit and investigation.
AWSML will co-operate fully with the ICO during its investigate into such a breach and will accept any findings that may come from it.
For more information on how our crewing services can help your business, please get in touch.

lowercased:
it is the policy of aw ship management ltd (awsml) and our group companies to retain, store and transmit data/information that has been agreed to between the “data subject” and awsml or as required under law, such as but not limited to; names, address, phone numbers, date of birth and bank account information.
aw ship management will only request and process information from a “data subject” for the purposes that we have outlined and that have been agreed between the “data subject” and awsml.
aw ship management ltd and our group of companies may contact you by post, telephone or email with details of our products, services and promotions. this correspondence will only be sent to those who have opted in to receive such communications during website registration and cargo enquiry process. you can opt out of receiving these e-mails by submitting an e-mail request where we will then remove you from any mailing lists that you belong to.
we do not provide or sell your details to third parties. however, we may pass your request for information to our personnel located in or traveling to your region, unless you have decided to opt out to receive such information.
aw ship management may pass on your details to third parties, this will only happen if it has been agreed between the “data subject” and awsml, or as required under law or as outlined in section 3 & 5 of this policy.
aw ship management ltd complies with the direct marketing authority’s code of practice and in case of a complaint, is bound by the decision of the direct marketing authority. a full copy of the dma code of practice is available on the dma website: www.dma.org.uk.
aw shipping ltd, as part of the aw group, will receive any information sent to us through our website during the cargo enquiry process and will be used only for providing a competitive quote for shipping cargo to and from selected destinations or resolving any questions or queries that you may have raised and submitted. should you wish to, you have the option to opted in to receive occasional promotional e-mails from st helena shipping.
once a quote has been deemed acceptable, by those it was directed to, and we have received approval to ship your cargo to and from the selected destinations, we then may pass on your information and data to third party data and information processors.
the purpose for this is that your information and data will be needed to process your cargo on ocean going vessels, road lorries and for customs clearance process in foreign ports. this will be, but not limited to the form of cargo way bills and freight manifests.
st helena shipping have the appropriate contracts in place to make sure that not only your cargo is transported to and from your requested destinations safely and on a timely basis, but also to prevent any miss use of data and information that is sent on to third parties as outlined above.
aw ship management ltd and our group of companies welcome those who wish to join our team to send their cv’s through to us and should we have a position open we will contact those who have sent suitable cv’s in for further information.
should we not have a position open at that time, we may retain those cv’s that have been sent to us for positions that may be open in the future for a period of up to 12 months. after this time, should a position not become available we will then delete those cv’s we have received.
we invite those who have sent in cv’s previously, to update them and send in again, should they not have heard from us 12 months after they have sent their original cv in.
aw crewing services ltd (awcsl), as part of the aw group, are responsible for the process and storage of information pertaining to those who are currently sponsored and deployed on managed or owned vessels as part of the aw group.
should you wish to be sponsored for a cadetship, aw crewing services ltd are required to obtain certain information from potential candidates, these include, but are not limited to; names and address, contact numbers and e-mail address, date of birth and nationality, details or academic and vocational qualifications (held or predicted) and employment history.
all information that is sent to and processed and stored by awcsl, will be kept securely for a period of up to 12 months. if after 12 months, or before, your application has been unsuccessful, or a position has not been found, awcsl will delete and remove your information, either in electronic or paper format.
personal information provided to awcsl during the application process, including the accuracy of the information provided is your individual responsibility. awcsl will ask those who are deemed successful in the application process, to provide evidence of the information that was initially supplied, either in electronic or paper format. if you wish to amend any information provided during this process, please contact awcsl accordingly.
in order to facilitate the applications process, information may be shared with; third parties, these will include, but not limited to, sponsoring companies within aw group, maritime colleges, department for transport and smart administrators.
awcsl may be required to process and retain sensitive medical information in respect of candidates for the purpose of making a judgement on whether a potential candidate will be eligible in obtaining an unrestricted eng-1 medical certificate.
in such cases, awcsl maintains the utmost security and confidentiality in respect of this information and will not share any such information with any third party unless awcsl requires professional assistance to determine this aspect and has been agreed to by the potential candidate. any information shared with a third party medical professional will be on a strictly private and confidential basis.
if you have worked for aw ship management ltd, one of our group companies or have submitted data previously to request further information about services we provide, you are entitled to make a data subjects request.
aw ship management ltd or one of our group companies will then respond to your request within 30 days of it being submitted and will supply to you, the data subject, all the information that we have and retained.
however, aw ship management ltd and our group companies retain the right to keep information after the stated period, but only if required under law or in special circumstances which are, but not limited to; insurance pay out, legal cases, pension responsibilities and consultancy work.
data subjects retain the right to be forgotten by aw ship management ltd and our group companies. this entitles the data subject to request that their information, that is being retained by aw ship management and our group companies, be deleted and destroyed permanently. all such requests will be handled by the companies data protection controller.
aw ship management and our group companies must carry out such a request within 30 days of receiving the request, unless the data and information are still required. only under special and documented circumstances will we continually hold data and information, these are, but not limited to; insurance pay out, legal cases, pension responsibilities and consultancy work.
breaches or security incidents can be defined as events which could have or have resulted in a loss or damage to personal data, or an event which is in breach of awsml’s security procedures and policies.
all awsml employees, partners, contractors and vendors have a responsibility to report security incidents and breaches of this policy and of the regulation as quickly as possible to the companies data protection controller. this obligation also extends to any external organisation contracted to support or access the information systems of awsml.
awsml will take appropriate measures to remedy any breach of the policy, the regulation and its associated procedures and guidelines through the relevant frameworks in place.
should a data breach occur, aw ship management ltd and our group companies, will contact the information commissioners office, as well as the “data subject”, and relevant authority if the breach has occurred outside of the european union, within 72 hours and will comply fully with any investigation that occurs after any such breach as well as carrying out our own internal audit and investigation.
awsml will co-operate fully with the ico during its investigate into such a breach and will accept any findings that may come from it.
for more information on how our crewing services can help your business, please get in touch.


text: Galula is a furniture and lighting brand designed by duo Mendes/Macedo and produced in Portugal. Have the motto “Follow the FUN-ction” evident in the pieces that designers create for the brand they founded, believing that design beyond functional also can be fun! This fun and function is mirrored in the products with a functional approach combined with dynamic and original details in the form and use. They use materials such as cork, wood and iron always with the quality that the Portuguese industry offers, in order to prolong the lifetime of an object. Along with the design and production of products for Galula brand, the duo Mendes/Macedo also draws, under their names, pieces of furniture, lighting, decoration, objects to other brands and companies where they explore different identities and approaches.

lowercased: galula is a furniture and lighting brand designed by duo mendes/macedo and produced in portugal. have the motto “follow the fun-ction” evident in the pieces that designers create for the brand they founded, believing that design beyond functional also can be fun! this fun and function is mirrored in the products with a functional approach combined with dynamic and original details in the form and use. they use materials such as cork, wood and iron always with the quality that the portuguese industry offers, in order to prolong the lifetime of an object. along with the design and production of products for galula brand, the duo mendes/macedo also draws, under their names, pieces of furniture, lighting, decoration, objects to other brands and companies where they explore different identities and approaches.


text:
My two previous posts on the qualities that make a great image of an alga focussed on the ascetics of the image itself, and also identified major technical problems that confront those of us who want to take images of the microscopic world. At this point, my own ability to write authoritatively on the subject peters out, so I have asked Chris Carter, who won the competition in 2013 and was shortlisted in 2010, 2011 and 2015, to write a guest post in which he shares his own extensive experience.
Everything in optics is against the photographer of the microscopic world, and the algal photographer in particular. Without cheating, there is limited scope to choose what is (or is not); in the field of view; the depth of focus is usually tight; the object size rarely matches the available field; no microscope objective can match the usable pixel count of a modern camera lens in conventional photography, and colours are, to say the least, difficult. Transmitted light photography has the additional problem of Beer’s law (remember!): make an object three times thicker and it will let through a ninth of the light, creating problems with the dynamic range.
The bottom line is that “adjustments” and some degree of image manipulation are necessary but these, in turn, place an onus on the photographer not to be dishonest with either the viewer or the organism. The extent to which image manipulation is acceptable will depend upon whether the image is for a respected scientific journal, a competition, or for a Christmas Card. We cannot be too purist: the camera always lies and a modern digital camera works wonders in the background; what is colour anyway but an illusion derived from the eye and brain? For the holiday snapshot you are allowed to move the glass of beer out of the field of view first but you are not allowed to paste in a missing family member (or vice versa!) later. For the microscope image I suggest it is acceptable to remove objects that are spurious (e.g. floating limescale) and to use software tools to fuse images of the same object tastefully and honestly in the horizontal and vertical planes. In contrast, it is all too easy to add objects to an image to give a nice montage (e.g. of sparsely distributed planktonic forms) or to use false colours in an area that can be defined exactly by some other method. Similarly, other ‘composite’ images ( e.g. two views of the same object) have a place but may be difficult to make visually pleasing.
So, how do we go about this? The first necessity is to use a good image processing software package: there are lots of them and it isn’t easy to choose. I use Adobe Photoshop CS6. The first steps in processing a single image are to get the colours about right (there are separate sliders for each of the primary colours and filters for warming and cooling); for an image in transmitted light there will be overly dark and overly bright areas which the ‘shadow-highlight’ tool may fix easily. In more difficult cases adjustment the parameter ‘gamma’ can help: this tries to scale the dynamic range in the image to what is seen by the eye and to what comes over in a print or on a monitor: it is merely overcoming the limitations of the electronic and optical gadgets in use. Similar actions are performed by the ‘curves’ and ‘levels’ control: each allows the user to choose which colours and in which intensity to best convey information about the object in an aesthetic way whilst not wrecking its essential nature. At each pixel and in each primary colour the data will be stored as a (usually) 8 bit number giving 255 levels in total. These levels need not be evenly spaced; ‘gamma’ for example can give more emphasis to the dark or the light areas whilst the other settings control which levels are used. Most digital cameras will be doing this in the background (even on a ‘raw’ setting) but my own camera does no pre-processing at all, which has advantages and disadvantages.
So much for colour: but there are still issues associated with depth of focus and field of view that need to be sorted out; these are both relatively easy to overcome technically but can create a considerable amount of work and have the potential to create taxonomic and artistic mayhem. I use two methods for producing images with an extended depth of focus both using separate images taken over the range of focus that is needed. The first is to use a ‘stacking’ software package such as ‘Helicon Focus’ (but there are others) and the second is to make use of ‘layers’ in Photoshop: each of these methods has its pros and cons but both need honesty and good sense as well as an eye on the “why am I doing this?” question.
Stacking with Helicon Focus tends to work better at lower magnifications: with a x100 oil objective curvature changes rapidly with focus and great care is needed; the software is easily confused and I did once introduce an extra row of punctae into a diatom! Good results at low magnification can be obtained with macroalgae such as the stoneworts, but even here taxonomic information can be lost in the process (e.g. the height difference between the primary and secondary cortex rows and the location of the spine cells). As I hinted above, there is always an ongoing and unresolved tension between the artist, the microscopist and the taxonomist! At intermediate magnifications an image produced using Helicon Focus can look overly flat and artificial, despite being sharp. My own approach is to use a gentle touch to produce pictures that are primarily useful but very occasionally develop into an artistic masterpiece! By contrast, using “layers” in Photoshop requires human intervention to ‘paint in’ the wanted parts of different images. For example, the desmid Micrasterias will rarely present in a sufficiently flat plane for a good image at high magnification; however, it is easy to judge what is closest to reality and to blend this in. Even here there are pitfalls: the end of the polar lobe in some species is normally out of plane or twisted….so again, what is the image for? A similar comment applies to the colonial green alga Pediastrum in which the peripheral cells have horns that are alternately up and down and the central cells often have surface granules.
The desmid Micrasterias crux-melintensis has many named forms and is fairly easily recognised. It will never sit flat enough for a x100 oil lens but in this case nothing is lost by tasteful flattening with Helicon Focus and layers. Or is it? How many people have seen the somewhat surprising apical and side views? (No wonder it does not sit flat!). These extra views show the need for gamma adjustment and colour correction since light beams will be modified after passing through such an object. Is this composite image of artistic or of taxonomic value only? The face view is made of 17 sub-images processed as two semi-cells that were stitched using Photoshop layers; some correction to colours and levels was also necessary.
There are many forms of Pediastrum boryanum but this is a particularly pretty one from Ulva growing on a wet cliff face; the red walls are real (perhaps manganese as suggested by Brian Whitton). This image borders on “cheating”: it was entered (no success) for a national wildlife contest but not for Hilda Canter-Lund competition (I don’t think she would have approved!). Should the horns have been flattened or left as obviously alternating?
After the issue of focus, there is still the problem of field-of view but it is really fairly easy to stitch together a matrix of images in the same plane, at least in simple cases. Photoshop has an option to do this and there are other similar packages; this is also another job that ‘layers’ in Photoshop cope with very well: adjacent overlapping images can be blended manually. It is more difficult of course if these adjacent images are themselves blends at different focus points……it just takes a long time to get right. The image of Tolypella glomerata that was a runner-up in the 2015 Hilda Canter-Lund competition was made of 75 sub-images (17×5 approx) and took two days to process! Each of the 17 in the xy plane was shot as a stereo pair, so there is also a matching anaglyph (3D image) made of 150 sub-images!
“Out of the pit”: Chris Carter’s image of Tolypella glomerata, shortlisted for the 2013 Hilda Canter-Lund prize.
This dark-field image showing the antheridia of Chara fragifera is made up of 28 sub-images: 4 horizontally and 7 for the vertical stacking; a protruding green filament has been removed (actually a rare Bulbochaete, but that is another story).
One final point, unresolved in my view and perhaps the most difficult of all is the issue of dynamic range. In transmitted light photography the intensity of difference between bright and dark can be nearly impossible to capture: well beyond the capability of the 8 bits of a normal camera and marginal even for an expensive cooled CCD instrument. Photoshop and other packages claim HDR ability (High Dynamic Range) using several images of different exposure: I have not personally had much success with this but have regularly used Photoshop layers to blend such images manually and regard this as acceptable in all cases (see the Rivularia cross-section below).
All the algae are amazing but even a retired physical scientist has to narrow things down a bit: I am trying to use photography to bring out the three dimensional aspects for identification and appreciation: diatom auxospores, desmids from unusual angles and macroalgae as 3D recreations such as anaglyphs and stereograms….but that is another story.
The cyanobacterium Rivularia presents many photographic challenges. This is a section of a nodule in transmitted light done for taxonomic purposes: in-focus bits of the calcification have been discretely blended in and the outermost part showing hairs is at a very different exposure to the core; colours are distorted by passing through the nodule and have been corrected. Three or four overlapping sections have been accurately joined to produce the final image.
Chris Carter, Nothampton August 2016.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged algae, Chris Carter, Hilda Canter-Lund, photography. Bookmark the permalink.

lowercased:
my two previous posts on the qualities that make a great image of an alga focussed on the ascetics of the image itself, and also identified major technical problems that confront those of us who want to take images of the microscopic world. at this point, my own ability to write authoritatively on the subject peters out, so i have asked chris carter, who won the competition in 2013 and was shortlisted in 2010, 2011 and 2015, to write a guest post in which he shares his own extensive experience.
everything in optics is against the photographer of the microscopic world, and the algal photographer in particular. without cheating, there is limited scope to choose what is (or is not); in the field of view; the depth of focus is usually tight; the object size rarely matches the available field; no microscope objective can match the usable pixel count of a modern camera lens in conventional photography, and colours are, to say the least, difficult. transmitted light photography has the additional problem of beer’s law (remember!): make an object three times thicker and it will let through a ninth of the light, creating problems with the dynamic range.
the bottom line is that “adjustments” and some degree of image manipulation are necessary but these, in turn, place an onus on the photographer not to be dishonest with either the viewer or the organism. the extent to which image manipulation is acceptable will depend upon whether the image is for a respected scientific journal, a competition, or for a christmas card. we cannot be too purist: the camera always lies and a modern digital camera works wonders in the background; what is colour anyway but an illusion derived from the eye and brain? for the holiday snapshot you are allowed to move the glass of beer out of the field of view first but you are not allowed to paste in a missing family member (or vice versa!) later. for the microscope image i suggest it is acceptable to remove objects that are spurious (e.g. floating limescale) and to use software tools to fuse images of the same object tastefully and honestly in the horizontal and vertical planes. in contrast, it is all too easy to add objects to an image to give a nice montage (e.g. of sparsely distributed planktonic forms) or to use false colours in an area that can be defined exactly by some other method. similarly, other ‘composite’ images ( e.g. two views of the same object) have a place but may be difficult to make visually pleasing.
so, how do we go about this? the first necessity is to use a good image processing software package: there are lots of them and it isn’t easy to choose. i use adobe photoshop cs6. the first steps in processing a single image are to get the colours about right (there are separate sliders for each of the primary colours and filters for warming and cooling); for an image in transmitted light there will be overly dark and overly bright areas which the ‘shadow-highlight’ tool may fix easily. in more difficult cases adjustment the parameter ‘gamma’ can help: this tries to scale the dynamic range in the image to what is seen by the eye and to what comes over in a print or on a monitor: it is merely overcoming the limitations of the electronic and optical gadgets in use. similar actions are performed by the ‘curves’ and ‘levels’ control: each allows the user to choose which colours and in which intensity to best convey information about the object in an aesthetic way whilst not wrecking its essential nature. at each pixel and in each primary colour the data will be stored as a (usually) 8 bit number giving 255 levels in total. these levels need not be evenly spaced; ‘gamma’ for example can give more emphasis to the dark or the light areas whilst the other settings control which levels are used. most digital cameras will be doing this in the background (even on a ‘raw’ setting) but my own camera does no pre-processing at all, which has advantages and disadvantages.
so much for colour: but there are still issues associated with depth of focus and field of view that need to be sorted out; these are both relatively easy to overcome technically but can create a considerable amount of work and have the potential to create taxonomic and artistic mayhem. i use two methods for producing images with an extended depth of focus both using separate images taken over the range of focus that is needed. the first is to use a ‘stacking’ software package such as ‘helicon focus’ (but there are others) and the second is to make use of ‘layers’ in photoshop: each of these methods has its pros and cons but both need honesty and good sense as well as an eye on the “why am i doing this?” question.
stacking with helicon focus tends to work better at lower magnifications: with a x100 oil objective curvature changes rapidly with focus and great care is needed; the software is easily confused and i did once introduce an extra row of punctae into a diatom! good results at low magnification can be obtained with macroalgae such as the stoneworts, but even here taxonomic information can be lost in the process (e.g. the height difference between the primary and secondary cortex rows and the location of the spine cells). as i hinted above, there is always an ongoing and unresolved tension between the artist, the microscopist and the taxonomist! at intermediate magnifications an image produced using helicon focus can look overly flat and artificial, despite being sharp. my own approach is to use a gentle touch to produce pictures that are primarily useful but very occasionally develop into an artistic masterpiece! by contrast, using “layers” in photoshop requires human intervention to ‘paint in’ the wanted parts of different images. for example, the desmid micrasterias will rarely present in a sufficiently flat plane for a good image at high magnification; however, it is easy to judge what is closest to reality and to blend this in. even here there are pitfalls: the end of the polar lobe in some species is normally out of plane or twisted….so again, what is the image for? a similar comment applies to the colonial green alga pediastrum in which the peripheral cells have horns that are alternately up and down and the central cells often have surface granules.
the desmid micrasterias crux-melintensis has many named forms and is fairly easily recognised. it will never sit flat enough for a x100 oil lens but in this case nothing is lost by tasteful flattening with helicon focus and layers. or is it? how many people have seen the somewhat surprising apical and side views? (no wonder it does not sit flat!). these extra views show the need for gamma adjustment and colour correction since light beams will be modified after passing through such an object. is this composite image of artistic or of taxonomic value only? the face view is made of 17 sub-images processed as two semi-cells that were stitched using photoshop layers; some correction to colours and levels was also necessary.
there are many forms of pediastrum boryanum but this is a particularly pretty one from ulva growing on a wet cliff face; the red walls are real (perhaps manganese as suggested by brian whitton). this image borders on “cheating”: it was entered (no success) for a national wildlife contest but not for hilda canter-lund competition (i don’t think she would have approved!). should the horns have been flattened or left as obviously alternating?
after the issue of focus, there is still the problem of field-of view but it is really fairly easy to stitch together a matrix of images in the same plane, at least in simple cases. photoshop has an option to do this and there are other similar packages; this is also another job that ‘layers’ in photoshop cope with very well: adjacent overlapping images can be blended manually. it is more difficult of course if these adjacent images are themselves blends at different focus points……it just takes a long time to get right. the image of tolypella glomerata that was a runner-up in the 2015 hilda canter-lund competition was made of 75 sub-images (17×5 approx) and took two days to process! each of the 17 in the xy plane was shot as a stereo pair, so there is also a matching anaglyph (3d image) made of 150 sub-images!
“out of the pit”: chris carter’s image of tolypella glomerata, shortlisted for the 2013 hilda canter-lund prize.
this dark-field image showing the antheridia of chara fragifera is made up of 28 sub-images: 4 horizontally and 7 for the vertical stacking; a protruding green filament has been removed (actually a rare bulbochaete, but that is another story).
one final point, unresolved in my view and perhaps the most difficult of all is the issue of dynamic range. in transmitted light photography the intensity of difference between bright and dark can be nearly impossible to capture: well beyond the capability of the 8 bits of a normal camera and marginal even for an expensive cooled ccd instrument. photoshop and other packages claim hdr ability (high dynamic range) using several images of different exposure: i have not personally had much success with this but have regularly used photoshop layers to blend such images manually and regard this as acceptable in all cases (see the rivularia cross-section below).
all the algae are amazing but even a retired physical scientist has to narrow things down a bit: i am trying to use photography to bring out the three dimensional aspects for identification and appreciation: diatom auxospores, desmids from unusual angles and macroalgae as 3d recreations such as anaglyphs and stereograms….but that is another story.
the cyanobacterium rivularia presents many photographic challenges. this is a section of a nodule in transmitted light done for taxonomic purposes: in-focus bits of the calcification have been discretely blended in and the outermost part showing hairs is at a very different exposure to the core; colours are distorted by passing through the nodule and have been corrected. three or four overlapping sections have been accurately joined to produce the final image.
chris carter, nothampton august 2016.
this entry was posted in uncategorized and tagged algae, chris carter, hilda canter-lund, photography. bookmark the permalink.


text:
Ashurst's highest paid earner took home £977,000 in 2012-3, down from over £1m in 2012, according to the firm's LLP accounts. The filings – which look at the financial year before the firm’s merger with Australia’s Blake Dawson - show that net funds dropped from £20.9m in 2012 to £6.9m at the end of 2013. Cash at the bank fell from £21.2m in 2012 to £7.2m.
Ashurst’s highest paid earner took home £977,000 in 2012-3, down from over £1m in 2012, according to the firm’s LLP accounts.

lowercased:
ashurst's highest paid earner took home £977,000 in 2012-3, down from over £1m in 2012, according to the firm's llp accounts. the filings – which look at the financial year before the firm’s merger with australia’s blake dawson - show that net funds dropped from £20.9m in 2012 to £6.9m at the end of 2013. cash at the bank fell from £21.2m in 2012 to £7.2m.
ashurst’s highest paid earner took home £977,000 in 2012-3, down from over £1m in 2012, according to the firm’s llp accounts.


text:
IMF Transcript of 6/27 press conference where they lowered US expectations.
US Senate delays votes. Doubts about tax cuts and an infrastructure spending bill mount. And they can’t seem to decide on healthcare reform either. Dumbasses.

lowercased:
imf transcript of 6/27 press conference where they lowered us expectations.
us senate delays votes. doubts about tax cuts and an infrastructure spending bill mount. and they can’t seem to decide on healthcare reform either. dumbasses.


text:
Some hospitals may look as if they are held together with sticking plaster, but the NHS is actually a hive of new technology. Our reporters assess some of the more innovative work going on across the UK.
Later this year, doctors in London hope to start the first human trial of a radical new treatment for children with drug-resistant leukaemia. One- or two-year-old infants will have gone through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, to no avail. The best hospitals can do is make them comfortable.
The therapy is one of the most sophisticated medicine has ever seen. White blood cells – part of the immune system’s frontline defences – are collected from a healthy donor and effectively turned into a drug through genetic engineering. First, they are modified to hunt down their target: a protein that appears on leukaemia blood cells. Next, they are tweaked to make them invisible to drugs that suppress the child’s immune system during the treatment. Finally, the cells are modified again to ensure that when they are infused they do not attack the child.
If the trial is approved and goes as planned, about 50 million modified cells will course into the arteries and veins of each sick child and destroy the leukaemia cells . The hope is to drive the cancer into deep remission within four to six weeks. The children can then have bone marrow transplants to reboot their immune systems. When bone marrow transplants are done without clearing leukaemia first, the disease has a tendency to come back. A similar procedure has already shown promise in adults.
A medical team at Great Ormond Street hospital will run the trial for a French pharmaceutical company called Servier. But they have already had a glimpse of what the cells can do for children. Last June, a one-year-old girl, Layla Richards, became the first infant with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to have the therapy. Her cancer did not respond to several rounds of chemotherapy and she had only a few months to live.
Layla’s medical team had some modified immune cells on ice – prepared for the trial by researcher Hong Zhan. It had taken her 18 days to modify and purify the cells in a small clean room on the hospital’s lower ground floor. The team thawed the cells out and gave them to Layla in June under a special licence granted by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Layla’s leukaemia abated and she had a bone marrow transplant three months later. So far, she is doing well.
“This could really only have happened on the NHS, where there is a wealth of expertise and people across many disciplines willing to give their time and energy,” said Prof Waseem Qasim, leader of the clinical trial.
At the cutting edge of keyhole surgery on the NHS is something that looks like a tiny pen lid-sized parasol.
For years, doctors have operated through tiny incisions to remove appendices and gallbladders, diagnose and treat cancers, even mend or replace valves and arteries around the heart. Now, at Bristol Heart Institute, there is a trial for an even more ambitious procedure: to perform keyhole surgery in the middle of the heart.
Every year, nearly 3,000 people in the UK have open-heart surgery to repair or replace their mitral valve, a small oval measuring about 3-5cm across, with an elliptical opening to allow blood to flow towards the aorta and out of the heart. If the valve becomes weak, blood can leak back into the heart, triggering problems ranging from palpitations to heart failure.
Hard to reach and an unhelpful shape, opening up a patient’s chest has been the only way to solve the problem, putting it beyond the reach of hundreds of people considered too high-risk because they are frail (usually elderly) or have complicating problems such as lung disease. The Bristol unit, and two others in the UK, can now help those at-risk patients, using the parasol-shaped MitraClip, developed in the US.
It is inserted through the groin, into a vein going up into the “wrong” side of the heart (to avoid blocking and damaging the aortic valve). A pin punctures the heart wall, the clip is pushed through into the valve and then drawn back until it clamps the opening together in the middle. One surgeon guides the tube by hand while another watches on a screen and gives directions: “left a bit, right a bit”, as BHI consultant Mandie Townsend describes it.
The keyhole operation requires about double the staff in theatre for the four hours it takes, and the equipment is expensive. But patients usually recuperate on the cardiology ward and go home after two days, compared to two weeks in intensive care for those having a more common operation.
If the trials are successful, and the cost savings justify it, the system is likely to be offered more widely in the UK.
“Those patients come in and out of hospital with heart failure before they are treated: we send them home on day two, in a better clinical state and hopefully with a good quality of life, which is going to stop them re-presenting,” says Townsend.
From tracking a newborn’s nappy changes to fixing your car or investing in a business in Bangladesh, in most areas of life it is possible to say “there’s an app for that”.
Soon there might be one for people living with chronic pain, which means they have had it for more than three months and medicines, physio, surgery and every other attempt by specialists have failed to solve the problem.
Depending on the exact definition, 8-60% of people in the UK have chronic pain syndrome. For the time being, they have to learn to live with it.
Now a new app, PainSense, is being trialled on the NHS. It was developed by Yorkshire-based company ADI, which got the idea from a specialist psychologist and a local GP.
Patients click on the app on their phone and are offered an index of 12 areas. Two outlines of a human body – front and back – allow them to mark where the pain is, and how intense. Questionnaires ask them what impact the pain is having on their life: how well they can work, quality of sleep and their mood, for example.
A patient using the PainSense app on their smartphone.
Based on their score, it prompts people to use other links in the app to get advice about relaxation, pacing exercise, managing their medication and other strategies to cope with the pain.
As soon as the patient clicks save, the information is automatically attached to their patient record for the GP, specialist or physiotherapist to refer to at the next appointment.
All elements of the app have been available only on paper so far: it is the convenience of the app that is key to its success, said John Eaglesham, ADI’s chief executive. “Patients have found it’s something with them 24/7 so they can dip in and use the resources at their convenience,” he said.
The first trial last year was carried out by West Leeds clinical commissioning group, where, in another innovation, two patients were included in the steering group to refine the app as part of an overhaul of how it helped patients with chronic pain.
In those nine months, more than 1,600 people were given free access to the app. Early figures for the whole package of changes, including the app, show referrals to community pain services increased as more patients were identified, but those to specialists reduced sharply, and average costs per patient fell.
The CCG has now signed a contract to supply the app to at least 300 patients a month, paying the company £15 for each. Other NHS bodies in England are also now showing strong interest in the idea, said Eaglesham.
The London Project to Cure Blindness was set up to find a cure for one of the leading causes of sight loss in the UK.
It wanted to help patients with a form of age-related mascular degeneration (AMD) where damage to the part of the eye responsible for central vision – the macula – causes them to lose that area of vision. AMD is expected to seriously affect 700,000 people in the UK by the end of this decade – a scale comparable to dementia.
Last autumn, a decade of work culminated in the first ever operation to use eye cells, grown from stem cells in a lab, to build a patch over the damaged part of the eye. Since then a second operation was carried out at Moorfields eye hospital in London, and doctors hope a third will be possible this spring. If it goes ahead, news of whether the three patients have had any of their sight restored will be made public.
The trial of 10 operations over 18 months is focused on “wet” AMD, where the damage is from abnormal growth of veins in the eyes and happens over a short period of time, sometimes weeks.
If it is successful, there are hopes that it could be used to help the much more common “dry” form of the condition, University College London’s Prof Pete Coffey, a founder of the project, told the Guardian after the first operation.
Stem cells occur naturally in embryos and adult tissues, but can also be grown in laboratories. The most common use in medicine is harvesting the cells from bone marrow of healthy adults to transplant into patients with leukaemia and lymphoma.
Other conditions for which stem cell therapy is being developed include deafness, diabetes, infertility, HIV/Aids and baldness. A significant problem, however, is the body’s immune system attacking the foreign cells, forcing patients to take drugs suppressing their immune system for the rest of their life.
Eyes have long been considered a particularly promising area of the science because treatments there do not trigger the body’s immune defences.
This article was amended on 1 February 2016 to correct the spelling of the name of researcher Hong Zhan.

lowercased:
some hospitals may look as if they are held together with sticking plaster, but the nhs is actually a hive of new technology. our reporters assess some of the more innovative work going on across the uk.
later this year, doctors in london hope to start the first human trial of a radical new treatment for children with drug-resistant leukaemia. one- or two-year-old infants will have gone through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, to no avail. the best hospitals can do is make them comfortable.
the therapy is one of the most sophisticated medicine has ever seen. white blood cells – part of the immune system’s frontline defences – are collected from a healthy donor and effectively turned into a drug through genetic engineering. first, they are modified to hunt down their target: a protein that appears on leukaemia blood cells. next, they are tweaked to make them invisible to drugs that suppress the child’s immune system during the treatment. finally, the cells are modified again to ensure that when they are infused they do not attack the child.
if the trial is approved and goes as planned, about 50 million modified cells will course into the arteries and veins of each sick child and destroy the leukaemia cells . the hope is to drive the cancer into deep remission within four to six weeks. the children can then have bone marrow transplants to reboot their immune systems. when bone marrow transplants are done without clearing leukaemia first, the disease has a tendency to come back. a similar procedure has already shown promise in adults.
a medical team at great ormond street hospital will run the trial for a french pharmaceutical company called servier. but they have already had a glimpse of what the cells can do for children. last june, a one-year-old girl, layla richards, became the first infant with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to have the therapy. her cancer did not respond to several rounds of chemotherapy and she had only a few months to live.
layla’s medical team had some modified immune cells on ice – prepared for the trial by researcher hong zhan. it had taken her 18 days to modify and purify the cells in a small clean room on the hospital’s lower ground floor. the team thawed the cells out and gave them to layla in june under a special licence granted by the medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency (mhra). layla’s leukaemia abated and she had a bone marrow transplant three months later. so far, she is doing well.
“this could really only have happened on the nhs, where there is a wealth of expertise and people across many disciplines willing to give their time and energy,” said prof waseem qasim, leader of the clinical trial.
at the cutting edge of keyhole surgery on the nhs is something that looks like a tiny pen lid-sized parasol.
for years, doctors have operated through tiny incisions to remove appendices and gallbladders, diagnose and treat cancers, even mend or replace valves and arteries around the heart. now, at bristol heart institute, there is a trial for an even more ambitious procedure: to perform keyhole surgery in the middle of the heart.
every year, nearly 3,000 people in the uk have open-heart surgery to repair or replace their mitral valve, a small oval measuring about 3-5cm across, with an elliptical opening to allow blood to flow towards the aorta and out of the heart. if the valve becomes weak, blood can leak back into the heart, triggering problems ranging from palpitations to heart failure.
hard to reach and an unhelpful shape, opening up a patient’s chest has been the only way to solve the problem, putting it beyond the reach of hundreds of people considered too high-risk because they are frail (usually elderly) or have complicating problems such as lung disease. the bristol unit, and two others in the uk, can now help those at-risk patients, using the parasol-shaped mitraclip, developed in the us.
it is inserted through the groin, into a vein going up into the “wrong” side of the heart (to avoid blocking and damaging the aortic valve). a pin punctures the heart wall, the clip is pushed through into the valve and then drawn back until it clamps the opening together in the middle. one surgeon guides the tube by hand while another watches on a screen and gives directions: “left a bit, right a bit”, as bhi consultant mandie townsend describes it.
the keyhole operation requires about double the staff in theatre for the four hours it takes, and the equipment is expensive. but patients usually recuperate on the cardiology ward and go home after two days, compared to two weeks in intensive care for those having a more common operation.
if the trials are successful, and the cost savings justify it, the system is likely to be offered more widely in the uk.
“those patients come in and out of hospital with heart failure before they are treated: we send them home on day two, in a better clinical state and hopefully with a good quality of life, which is going to stop them re-presenting,” says townsend.
from tracking a newborn’s nappy changes to fixing your car or investing in a business in bangladesh, in most areas of life it is possible to say “there’s an app for that”.
soon there might be one for people living with chronic pain, which means they have had it for more than three months and medicines, physio, surgery and every other attempt by specialists have failed to solve the problem.
depending on the exact definition, 8-60% of people in the uk have chronic pain syndrome. for the time being, they have to learn to live with it.
now a new app, painsense, is being trialled on the nhs. it was developed by yorkshire-based company adi, which got the idea from a specialist psychologist and a local gp.
patients click on the app on their phone and are offered an index of 12 areas. two outlines of a human body – front and back – allow them to mark where the pain is, and how intense. questionnaires ask them what impact the pain is having on their life: how well they can work, quality of sleep and their mood, for example.
a patient using the painsense app on their smartphone.
based on their score, it prompts people to use other links in the app to get advice about relaxation, pacing exercise, managing their medication and other strategies to cope with the pain.
as soon as the patient clicks save, the information is automatically attached to their patient record for the gp, specialist or physiotherapist to refer to at the next appointment.
all elements of the app have been available only on paper so far: it is the convenience of the app that is key to its success, said john eaglesham, adi’s chief executive. “patients have found it’s something with them 24/7 so they can dip in and use the resources at their convenience,” he said.
the first trial last year was carried out by west leeds clinical commissioning group, where, in another innovation, two patients were included in the steering group to refine the app as part of an overhaul of how it helped patients with chronic pain.
in those nine months, more than 1,600 people were given free access to the app. early figures for the whole package of changes, including the app, show referrals to community pain services increased as more patients were identified, but those to specialists reduced sharply, and average costs per patient fell.
the ccg has now signed a contract to supply the app to at least 300 patients a month, paying the company £15 for each. other nhs bodies in england are also now showing strong interest in the idea, said eaglesham.
the london project to cure blindness was set up to find a cure for one of the leading causes of sight loss in the uk.
it wanted to help patients with a form of age-related mascular degeneration (amd) where damage to the part of the eye responsible for central vision – the macula – causes them to lose that area of vision. amd is expected to seriously affect 700,000 people in the uk by the end of this decade – a scale comparable to dementia.
last autumn, a decade of work culminated in the first ever operation to use eye cells, grown from stem cells in a lab, to build a patch over the damaged part of the eye. since then a second operation was carried out at moorfields eye hospital in london, and doctors hope a third will be possible this spring. if it goes ahead, news of whether the three patients have had any of their sight restored will be made public.
the trial of 10 operations over 18 months is focused on “wet” amd, where the damage is from abnormal growth of veins in the eyes and happens over a short period of time, sometimes weeks.
if it is successful, there are hopes that it could be used to help the much more common “dry” form of the condition, university college london’s prof pete coffey, a founder of the project, told the guardian after the first operation.
stem cells occur naturally in embryos and adult tissues, but can also be grown in laboratories. the most common use in medicine is harvesting the cells from bone marrow of healthy adults to transplant into patients with leukaemia and lymphoma.
other conditions for which stem cell therapy is being developed include deafness, diabetes, infertility, hiv/aids and baldness. a significant problem, however, is the body’s immune system attacking the foreign cells, forcing patients to take drugs suppressing their immune system for the rest of their life.
eyes have long been considered a particularly promising area of the science because treatments there do not trigger the body’s immune defences.
this article was amended on 1 february 2016 to correct the spelling of the name of researcher hong zhan.


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Falling In Reverse have released a new single, “God, If You Are Above.” It's the band’s first new song since their 2013 release, Fashionably Late. The track is now available for download on iTunes. Check it out below, and let us know what you think.
After completing the 2014 Vans Warped Tour and playing with Coolio at the AP Music Awards, FIR parted ways with bassist Max Green in October.
Previous articleWhy are hipsters decorating their beards with Christmas ornaments?

lowercased:
falling in reverse have released a new single, “god, if you are above.” it's the band’s first new song since their 2013 release, fashionably late. the track is now available for download on itunes. check it out below, and let us know what you think.
after completing the 2014 vans warped tour and playing with coolio at the ap music awards, fir parted ways with bassist max green in october.
previous articlewhy are hipsters decorating their beards with christmas ornaments?


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There are many sights you can see by driving through Acadia National Park. The park loop road and Cadillac Mountain are probably the 2 most popular. You can take the park bus to see the park loop road. The best part about taking the park bus is you can get on and off at each of the stops and not worry about finding a place to park. In the peak of the summer it can be nearly impossible to find a parking spot at some of the more popular attractions.
The Park loop road is 27 miles long and provides access to Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, Jordan Pond, and Cadillac Mountain. It is closed during the winter and usually reopens on April 15th.
Sand Beach is one of the more popular spots on the loop road and on a hot summer day the parking lot can fill up fast. It doesn’t take long to cool off in ocean water that rarely gets warmer than 55 degrees. Early morning and sunset strolls on the beach are very popular. Just after a storm you might get lucky and find a few sand dollars on the beach. At the far end of the beach is access to Great Head Trail and is one of our favorite short hikes in Acadia. This trail offers great views of Sand Beach and the surrounding mountains, particularly The Beehive.
Sand Beach is dog friendly to leashed dogs in all seasons but the summer. It is closed to dogs from June 15th to September 15th.
Thunder hole is the next stop on the road. Timing is everything on this stop. Even if you time your visit to be there at mid-tide on an incoming tide, you may not get a show. If you are really lucky and a storm is churning up the sea you may get to see how it became thunder hole. In all the times we have visited we have only been wowed once. That day was amazing as we watched spray come well up over the rocks surrounding it.
Otter Cliffs is popular with rock climbers. Rock climbing lessons and excursions are offered by some companies in Bar Harbor. You will see people climbing almost every day. One of our favorite things to do is to walk the ocean path from Sand Beach to Otter Cliffs. It is best done early in the morning during warm weather as there is little shade along this route. The distance 1-way is 2.2 miles. If you are taking the park bus you can get dropped off at Sand Beach and then pick it up again near Otter Cliffs. The other option we like is t0 hike from Sand Beach up towards The Beehive on The Bowl trail and then turn to go up Gorham Mountain.
We traverse Gorham Mountain and come out in the parking lot just past Thunder Hole. We then complete the loop by hiking back on the Ocean Path.
Jordan Pond is another very popular area that can be very hard to find a parking spot particularly during meal times. We have eaten here a few times and the popovers are amazing. The other attractions here are hiking and biking. The 3.3 mile loop trail around Jordan Pond is in our top ten favorite hikes in Acadia National Park. Jordan Pond is also a great location to access the Carriage Trails from. It’s hard to beat the views from the lawn behind Jordan Pond House looking out over the pond towards the Bubbles.
This is one of our favorite summer picnic spots.
Cadillac Mountain summit cannot be accessed using the park bus system. You need to drive it yourself or take a local tour. The summit of Cadillac mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard and where the sun’s first rays hit land. Watching the sunrise from the summit is amazing and very popular.
Be prepared to bring some warm clothes as it can get chilly in the early morning before the sun comes up, especially if there is any wind. Once the sun rises you will want to take your time driving down and pulling into all the scenic outlooks. The views are amazing and can be far reaching. On really clear days you can see Mount Katahdin, Maines highest summit that is nearly 100 miles away.
Image | This entry was posted in hiking, Maine, National Parks and Monuments, Uncategorized and tagged Cadillac Mountain, Carriage Trails, Gorham Mountain, Great Head, Jordan Pond, Otter Cliffs, Sand Beach, Thunder Hole. Bookmark the permalink.
Great information even for us who have been to Acadia a few times. Thanks!

lowercased:
there are many sights you can see by driving through acadia national park. the park loop road and cadillac mountain are probably the 2 most popular. you can take the park bus to see the park loop road. the best part about taking the park bus is you can get on and off at each of the stops and not worry about finding a place to park. in the peak of the summer it can be nearly impossible to find a parking spot at some of the more popular attractions.
the park loop road is 27 miles long and provides access to sand beach, thunder hole, otter cliffs, jordan pond, and cadillac mountain. it is closed during the winter and usually reopens on april 15th.
sand beach is one of the more popular spots on the loop road and on a hot summer day the parking lot can fill up fast. it doesn’t take long to cool off in ocean water that rarely gets warmer than 55 degrees. early morning and sunset strolls on the beach are very popular. just after a storm you might get lucky and find a few sand dollars on the beach. at the far end of the beach is access to great head trail and is one of our favorite short hikes in acadia. this trail offers great views of sand beach and the surrounding mountains, particularly the beehive.
sand beach is dog friendly to leashed dogs in all seasons but the summer. it is closed to dogs from june 15th to september 15th.
thunder hole is the next stop on the road. timing is everything on this stop. even if you time your visit to be there at mid-tide on an incoming tide, you may not get a show. if you are really lucky and a storm is churning up the sea you may get to see how it became thunder hole. in all the times we have visited we have only been wowed once. that day was amazing as we watched spray come well up over the rocks surrounding it.
otter cliffs is popular with rock climbers. rock climbing lessons and excursions are offered by some companies in bar harbor. you will see people climbing almost every day. one of our favorite things to do is to walk the ocean path from sand beach to otter cliffs. it is best done early in the morning during warm weather as there is little shade along this route. the distance 1-way is 2.2 miles. if you are taking the park bus you can get dropped off at sand beach and then pick it up again near otter cliffs. the other option we like is t0 hike from sand beach up towards the beehive on the bowl trail and then turn to go up gorham mountain.
we traverse gorham mountain and come out in the parking lot just past thunder hole. we then complete the loop by hiking back on the ocean path.
jordan pond is another very popular area that can be very hard to find a parking spot particularly during meal times. we have eaten here a few times and the popovers are amazing. the other attractions here are hiking and biking. the 3.3 mile loop trail around jordan pond is in our top ten favorite hikes in acadia national park. jordan pond is also a great location to access the carriage trails from. it’s hard to beat the views from the lawn behind jordan pond house looking out over the pond towards the bubbles.
this is one of our favorite summer picnic spots.
cadillac mountain summit cannot be accessed using the park bus system. you need to drive it yourself or take a local tour. the summit of cadillac mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard and where the sun’s first rays hit land. watching the sunrise from the summit is amazing and very popular.
be prepared to bring some warm clothes as it can get chilly in the early morning before the sun comes up, especially if there is any wind. once the sun rises you will want to take your time driving down and pulling into all the scenic outlooks. the views are amazing and can be far reaching. on really clear days you can see mount katahdin, maines highest summit that is nearly 100 miles away.
image | this entry was posted in hiking, maine, national parks and monuments, uncategorized and tagged cadillac mountain, carriage trails, gorham mountain, great head, jordan pond, otter cliffs, sand beach, thunder hole. bookmark the permalink.
great information even for us who have been to acadia a few times. thanks!


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This award was set up by Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer in 2010 in memory of Andrew’s mother.
The award is offered to students who are about to complete postgraduate courses.
The award is not open to all simply because we do not want to have a large number of applicants for just one place.
In 2018 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Royal Academy Schools, The Royal College of Art and The Slade School of Fine Art. 2018 Selection panel: Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and Ben Elwes (Director of Ben Elwes Gallery), Alex Hartley (Artist) and Sophie Hill (Co-Gallery Director, Nunnery Gallery).
In 2017 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Royal Academy Schools, The Royal College of Art and The Slade School of Fine Art. 2017 Selection panel: Pati Lara (Director of The Ryder Projects), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and Victoria Russell (Artist).
In 2016 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Royal Academy Schools, The Royal College of Art and The Slade School of Fine Art. 2016 Selection panel: Jessica Carlisle (owner of the Jessica Carlisle Gallery), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and David Piddock (Artist).
In 2015 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Royal Academy Schools, The Royal College of Art and The Slade School of Fine Art. 2015 Selection panel: Jessie Brennan (Artist), Anna Freeman Bentley (Artist), Rosamund Murdoch (Director of the Nunnery Gallery), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and Selina Skipwith (Independent Art Consultant).
In 2014 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Royal Academy Schools and the Royal College of Art. 2014 Selection panel: Briony Anderson (Artist) Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and Sir John Tusa (arts commentator, former Chairman of the University of the Arts, former Managing Director of the Barbican).
In 2013 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Glasgow School of Art and The School of Art at Edinburgh College of Art. 2013 Selection panel: Julie-Ann Delaney (Curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art), Helen Moore (Communications & Tenant Liaison Officer, WASPS Studio), Alisdair Wallace (Artist), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons). It was not possible to grant the Chadwell Award 2013 as the preferred candidates were unable to take up an offer owing to personal circumstances.
In 2012 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at Goldsmiths, University of London. 2012 selection panel: Angus Broadbent (Director, Broadbent Gallery) Jonathan Harvey (Chief Executive, Acme Studios), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and Carol Robertson (Artist).
In 2011 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at Central St Martins College of Art and Design and Wimbledon College of Art. 2011 selection panel: Paul Hedges (Managing Director, Hales Gallery) Julia Lancaster (Residency and Projects Manager Acme Studios), Debbie Lawson (Artist), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons).
In 2010 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at The Royal Academy Schools and the Royal College of Art. 2010 selection panel: Sam Chatterton Dickson (Sales Associate, Haunch of Venison), Jonathan Harvey (Chief Executive, Acme Studios), Andrew Post and Mary Aylmer (Patrons) and Trevor Sutton (Artist).

lowercased:
this award was set up by andrew post and mary aylmer in 2010 in memory of andrew’s mother.
the award is offered to students who are about to complete postgraduate courses.
the award is not open to all simply because we do not want to have a large number of applicants for just one place.
in 2018 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the royal academy schools, the royal college of art and the slade school of fine art. 2018 selection panel: andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and ben elwes (director of ben elwes gallery), alex hartley (artist) and sophie hill (co-gallery director, nunnery gallery).
in 2017 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the royal academy schools, the royal college of art and the slade school of fine art. 2017 selection panel: pati lara (director of the ryder projects), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and victoria russell (artist).
in 2016 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the royal academy schools, the royal college of art and the slade school of fine art. 2016 selection panel: jessica carlisle (owner of the jessica carlisle gallery), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and david piddock (artist).
in 2015 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the royal academy schools, the royal college of art and the slade school of fine art. 2015 selection panel: jessie brennan (artist), anna freeman bentley (artist), rosamund murdoch (director of the nunnery gallery), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and selina skipwith (independent art consultant).
in 2014 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the royal academy schools and the royal college of art. 2014 selection panel: briony anderson (artist) andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and sir john tusa (arts commentator, former chairman of the university of the arts, former managing director of the barbican).
in 2013 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the glasgow school of art and the school of art at edinburgh college of art. 2013 selection panel: julie-ann delaney (curator at the scottish national gallery of modern art), helen moore (communications & tenant liaison officer, wasps studio), alisdair wallace (artist), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons). it was not possible to grant the chadwell award 2013 as the preferred candidates were unable to take up an offer owing to personal circumstances.
in 2012 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at goldsmiths, university of london. 2012 selection panel: angus broadbent (director, broadbent gallery) jonathan harvey (chief executive, acme studios), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and carol robertson (artist).
in 2011 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at central st martins college of art and design and wimbledon college of art. 2011 selection panel: paul hedges (managing director, hales gallery) julia lancaster (residency and projects manager acme studios), debbie lawson (artist), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons).
in 2010 the award was offered to postgraduate students studying fine art at the royal academy schools and the royal college of art. 2010 selection panel: sam chatterton dickson (sales associate, haunch of venison), jonathan harvey (chief executive, acme studios), andrew post and mary aylmer (patrons) and trevor sutton (artist).


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Junior Tideway Success and End of Head Season Roundup.
Whilst the Beasts from the East laid claim to a number of heads across the country in the first part of 2018, including Yorkshire Rowing’s Yorkshire Head, YCRC crews grabbed every chance they could to shine.
February saw YCRC kicking off 2018 at Tyne Head, with our junior squad bringing home not only WJ15x+, J184x- but also the senior W2x, with our senior Men winning in a 4+. Later in the month, YCRC trekked back north for the Trent Head, where our J184x- repeated their Tyne win, along with medals for the J14 4x+ and the WMasD/E 8+.
In March the pinnacles of the head season loomed with WeHORR, HORR, and School’s Head held over three consecutive days on the Tideway. Whilst injury meant our women had to scratch from WeHORR, HORR saw two YCRC eights on the Thames – the seniors moved up the start order to secure 139th, whilst the juniors (and Paul B) had an absolutely storming row to finish 126th. Well done to both crews!
The icing on the Tideway cake came at School’s Head, when some of our most experienced junior athletes teamed up to take 1st in the Mx4X- by 15s. A fantastic achievement for Josh, Lucy, Katarina and Alfie, setting a brilliant example of perfomance on the national stage to juniors and seniors alike – the pennant will look quite fabulous in the newly-refurbished club bar!
For the last head race of the season back over the Pennines, it was no April fool’s joke that YCRC came home with a fabulous seven wins from Northwich Head: WJ16 1x, J154x+, WJ15 2x, WJ14 2x, J154x+, J14 4x+ and WMasD4x-. Of the rest of the 15 YCRC crews, all came at least third in their events, a superb day of racing.
The victorious YCRC Mx4x- at School’s Head 2018.
A big thankyou to all involved in getting the various crews and their kit around the country despite the early starts, and chilly riverside waits – in particular our Boats Officer Paul, who in addition to bringing home two of the above wins, has towed the boats of YCRC and our Ouse friends up and down the country. Thankyou Paul!

lowercased:
junior tideway success and end of head season roundup.
whilst the beasts from the east laid claim to a number of heads across the country in the first part of 2018, including yorkshire rowing’s yorkshire head, ycrc crews grabbed every chance they could to shine.
february saw ycrc kicking off 2018 at tyne head, with our junior squad bringing home not only wj15x+, j184x- but also the senior w2x, with our senior men winning in a 4+. later in the month, ycrc trekked back north for the trent head, where our j184x- repeated their tyne win, along with medals for the j14 4x+ and the wmasd/e 8+.
in march the pinnacles of the head season loomed with wehorr, horr, and school’s head held over three consecutive days on the tideway. whilst injury meant our women had to scratch from wehorr, horr saw two ycrc eights on the thames – the seniors moved up the start order to secure 139th, whilst the juniors (and paul b) had an absolutely storming row to finish 126th. well done to both crews!
the icing on the tideway cake came at school’s head, when some of our most experienced junior athletes teamed up to take 1st in the mx4x- by 15s. a fantastic achievement for josh, lucy, katarina and alfie, setting a brilliant example of perfomance on the national stage to juniors and seniors alike – the pennant will look quite fabulous in the newly-refurbished club bar!
for the last head race of the season back over the pennines, it was no april fool’s joke that ycrc came home with a fabulous seven wins from northwich head: wj16 1x, j154x+, wj15 2x, wj14 2x, j154x+, j14 4x+ and wmasd4x-. of the rest of the 15 ycrc crews, all came at least third in their events, a superb day of racing.
the victorious ycrc mx4x- at school’s head 2018.
a big thankyou to all involved in getting the various crews and their kit around the country despite the early starts, and chilly riverside waits – in particular our boats officer paul, who in addition to bringing home two of the above wins, has towed the boats of ycrc and our ouse friends up and down the country. thankyou paul!