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Research Notes
Anti-rejection drug can prevent inflammation of pancreas
Exposure to an X-ray dye during a common procedure to treat gallstones causes some patients to develop inflammation of the pancreas, according to researchers at the School of Medicine and Children's Hospital. In a study published online in Gastroenterology, the team noted that a single dose of FK506, an anti-rejection drug typically used after organ transplantation, might be able to prevent the complication.
During the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure, doctors insert a fiber-optic endoscope through the mouth, esophagus, stomach and duodenum to access the bile ducts, where a gallstone might be lodged. The X-ray dye, also known as radiocontrast, is infused through a catheter so doctors can visualize the bile ducts and anything obstructing them, explained senior author and principal investigator Sohail Z. Husain, pediatrics faculty member.
Said Husain: "Thousands of ERCP procedures are performed every year, particularly for the removal of gallstones. But after the procedure, a fair number of patients develop acute pancreatitis, which is an exquisitely painful, life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas. Our findings provide the first explanation for why this complication occurs, namely through the signals that FK506 can block."
The research team examined what happened to pancreatic cells in mice after they received infusions of two common radiocontrast agents. They found the agents elevated cellular calcium levels, in turn activating proteins, particularly calcineurin, involved in inflammatory pathways that cause tissue injury. Similar results were observed in experiments with human pancreatic cells. Also, mice that were genetically modified to lack calcineurin failed to develop pancreatitis after radiocontrast exposure.
Mice that were given the anti-rejection drug FK506, which is an inhibitor of calcineurin, before and after infusion of the X-ray dye also were protected from pancreatitis.
"In the future, we will test other radiocontrast agents to see if they, too, affect the same inflammatory pathways," Husain said. "This study already sets the stage for a clinical trial to test whether calcineurin inhibitors alone or in combination with other drugs can prevent post-ERCP pancreatitis."
The team included Pitt faculty members Shunqian Jin, Abrahim I. Orabi, Tianming Le, Tanveer A. Javed, Swati Sah and John F. Eisses, with researchers from Allegheny General Hospital and the University of Cincinnati.
The project was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Mosquito-borne viruses subject of $4M in grants
Scientists at the Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) recently received nearly $4 million through five federal grants to study a group of related mosquito-borne viruses. The ultimate goal is to develop vaccines and therapies against the deadly diseases.
The research will be conducted in the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at Pitt, a high-security facility that allows scientists to safely contain and examine potentially dangerous pathogens.
William Klimstra is principal investigator on three of the grants and about half the funding. Kate D. Ryman is principal investigator on the other two grants. Both are faculty members in the School of Medicine's microbiology and molecular genetics department.
Said Klimstra: "While the number of people who get these diseases is relatively small, the severity of the diseases and their potential emergence in larger populations or for use as bioweapons drive the necessity for development of countermeasures."
Two of Klimstra's grants, both from NIH and totaling $847,000, focus on Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), a rare disease that is found primarily in the Atlantic and Gulf states and kills about half of the people it infects. One of the grants will be used to examine a specific part of the genetic code of the virus that is largely responsible for the severity of human disease, while the other will go toward developing a novel, live-attenuated vaccine against the virus.
Klimstra's other grant, which is a collaboration with colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis and Oregon Health and Sciences University, will provide $1.2 million to Klimstra and CVR colleagues from the Department of Defense (DOD). This will be used to develop a novel, inactivated vaccine against three strains of alphavirus, a group that comprises about 30 different viruses mainly transmitted by mosquitoes — including EEEV and Venezuelan (VEEV) and Western (WEEV) equine encephalitis viruses, which cause periodic outbreaks in the Americas.
Ryman received $1 million from DOD to study how these three encephalitic alphaviruses and another mosquito-borne virus, Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV), enter the brain. The RVFV component is led by Amy Hartman, infectious diseases and microbiology faculty member in the Graduate School of Public Health. The goal is to develop ways to limit brain entry by the virus and identify biological markers of disease severity to use as a measure of the effects of the vaccines and therapeutics. This grant also involves studies with collaborators at the University of Wisconsin.
Ryman also received $725,000 from DOD in collaboration with investigators at the Naval Medical Research Center to raise anti-VEEV antibodies by immunizing cows that have been genetically altered to produce human antibodies. These antibodies will be assessed for their potential use in protection against alphavirus diseases, similar to convalescent sera, which is derived from the blood of people whose immune systems successfully fought off an infection.
Several of the grants have option periods that, given successful results in initial studies, will result in an additional $3 million in funding.
Said Ryman: "The technologies used in these studies and the systematic manner in which vaccines and therapeutics for the alphaviruses are being developed are novel and, given positive results, these approaches can be readily applied to other emerging infectious diseases."
Pitt faculty members Simon Watkins and Douglas Reed are involved in some of these studies.
Pitt leads $1.5M trial of antimicrobial resistance
The School of Medicine will be leading a $1.5 million national trial to examine methods to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics in post-acute and long-term care (PA/LTC) facilities.
The three-year study, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), will investigate guidelines and tools to help PA/LTC facilities better manage urinary tract infections (UTIs), which often are misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated.
Said David A. Nace, medicine department faculty member, director of long-term care and flu programs in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, and primary investigator on the AHRQ grant: "Antimicrobial resistance is a hot-button issue in health care nationally and internationally — and improper overutilization of antibiotics is the single largest culprit. It is critically important that we find ways to cut unnecessary use of antibiotics."
The World Health Organization and the White House, among others, recently made announcements declaring efforts to address antimicrobial resistance top priorities. JAMA Internal Medicine published an article recently reporting that antibiotic use is highly variable across nursing homes, exposing residents to an increased risk of antibiotic-related harms and indicating a need to improve antibiotic stewardship in PA/LTC facilities.
The leading reason for antibiotic use at PA/LTC facilities is to treat a suspected UTI. Antibiotics often are started before a correct diagnosis is made. However, as many as two-thirds of those suspected cases turn out not to be UTIs, and the patients don't benefit from — and could be harmed by— the antibiotics.
When used incorrectly, antibiotics can kill good bacteria and allow harmful, drug-resistant bacteria to flourish. Antibiotics also can cause allergic reactions or side effects and are the leading cause of adverse drug reactions in long-term care facilities.
Nace, also chief medical officer for UPMC Senior Communities, and his co-investigators at AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine and the University of Wisconsin, are looking at existing guidance and research on UTIs to develop comprehensive guidelines and tools geared toward easy implementation at PA/LTC facilities.
In 2016, the team will enroll 40 PA/LTC facilities from Pennsylvania, Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin in the trial. Half will receive the guidelines, as well as ongoing mentoring and education, while the other half will operate as normal.
For a year, the team will collect data on the number of UTIs before and after the trial, the rate of appropriate and inappropriate treatment, and adverse outcomes. Once the trial concludes, all the facilities will be given the guidelines, tools, mentoring and education.
"There's a lot of pressure across both agriculture and medicine to rein in use of antibiotics," said Nace. "We are very quickly running out of antibiotics to do the job for us, and the problem is only going to grow worse. New antibiotics are not being created and licensed fast enough to keep pace with bacterium's ability to develop drug resistance. Efforts like ours to become better stewards of existing antibiotics are among the few solutions left at our disposal."
Different immune response found in severe asthma
The immune response that occurs in patients with severe asthma is markedly different than what occurs in milder forms of the lung condition, according to researchers from the School of Medicine. Those unique features could point the way to new treatments, they said in an article published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
People with severe asthma, in which the airways become inflamed and constrict to impair breathing, do not get better even with high doses of corticosteroids, the mainstay of treatment for typical asthma, explained Anuradha Ray, medicine faculty member.
Said Ray: "About 10 percent of asthma patients have a severe form of the disease, but they account for up to half of asthma costs in the U.S. and Europe. That's because these patients frequently need to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized when they have an acute asthma episode."
For the study, conducted as part of the doctoral thesis of Mahesh Raundhal, a graduate student in the laboratory of Prabir Ray, a faculty member in medicine and co-senior author, the research team examined lung cell samples obtained from patients also participating in the severe asthma research program (SARP), which is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of NIH to improve the understanding of severe asthma. Sally Wenzel, medicine faculty member and director of the University of Pittsburgh Asthma Institute of UPMC, is the Pitt SARP principal investigator.
Researchers observed that the immune cells, called CD4 T-cells, in the airways of severe asthmatics secreted different inflammatory proteins than those in mild disease, particularly interferon gamma. The analysis of human samples helped them to develop a mouse model of the disease by introducing an allergen and a bacterial product to induce an immune profile and airway hyper-reactivity that were poorly controlled by corticosteroids, comparable to human severe asthma patients.
When they subjected mice that lacked the interferon gamma gene to the severe asthma model, they found that the mice could not be induced to develop severe asthma. Using computer modeling to identify links between interferon gamma and asthma-associated genes, they learned that as interferon gamma levels rose, the levels of a protein called secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) dropped.
In follow-up experiments, the team found that boosting SLPI levels reduced airway hyper-reactivity in the animal model.
"We'd like to better understand why severe asthma occurs in most people right from the start," Anuradha Ray said. "We also want to find agents that can raise SLPI levels for clinical use."
In a new project that began this month, she and Wenzel will continue studying the immune response and genetic roots of severe asthma in 120 patients and in animal models through a five-year, $8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also part of the NIH.
Other Pitt project leaders were Timothy B. Oriss and Jay Kolls, who co-authored the paper. University faculty Fernando Holguin, Douglas Landsittel and Donald DeFranco also were part of the team.
NIH and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation research development program funded the project.
Why does teen brain value rewards over risks?
Why does the promise of a reward — basically any kind of fun — cause teens to throw caution to the wind?
Contemporary scientific theory suggests that teenagers are risk takers because they crave the feel-good rush of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. That theory, however, has been based on a long line of studies on the adult brain.
Bita Moghaddam, neuroscience faculty member in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, and her research group have taken a look at the teen brain — the teen rat's brain, specifically — and found that scientists' presumptions may be off base.
Said Moghaddam: "The adolescent brain doesn't work the way we think it does. We have a set of predictions about it that keep proving to be wrong, that they seek pleasure because dopamine is more active. This study shows that may not be the case."
She recently published a paper in Biological Psychiatry showing that when adolescents are faced with the prospect of a reward, their dopamine neurons are actually activated less than in adults.
This may seem counterintuitive, but, to Moghaddam, it makes perfect sense. The study shows that adult rats get a small dopamine rush from simply anticipating a reward, while adolescent rats don't get the same level of dopamine-based satisfaction. In humans, this is reflected in teenagers needing to do something, even a risky something, to get that dopamine rush. Anticipation isn't enough for teens.
"The study also shows that preactivation [of the dopamine neurons] — pausing for a millisecond or two before doing something — is missing in the adolescents," Moghaddam adds. "So they actually go into action and start seeking reward without that sort of pause that the adult brain may have."
Moghaddam's study also sheds some light on why adolescents seem prone to doing the same thing again and again even if it ends badly every time.
"When adults learn that there will be no reward, their dopamine cells stop responding. But adolescent dopamine cells retain memories of past rewards," she says.
Evolutionarily speaking, this may have been a useful survival trait. "At that age, 'This did something good, and maybe it will again,' is very important," Moghaddam says. "Those years were very critical for [ancient] humans, an important time to secure food and to find a mate, to be proactive. 'Maybe I can go back to find food where I found it once even though it wasn't there the last time.' That memory is there and helps motivate a person to look for a reward where they found it before." But that property of adolescents' brains also can make them vulnerable to drug seeking and disadvantageous risk-taking, Moghaddam says.
Other authors were Pitt postdoctoral associates Yunbok Kim and Nicholas Simon and postdoctoral fellow Jesse Wood.
The National Institute of Mental Health funded the research.
Computer simulation of pressure sores developed
Researchers at the School of Medicine have devised a computational model that could enhance understanding, diagnosis and treatment of pressure ulcers related to spinal cord injury.
In a report published online in PLOS Computational Biology, the team also described results of virtual clinical trials that showed that for effective treatment of the lesions, anti-inflammatory measures had to be applied well before the earliest clinical signs of ulcer formation.
Pressure ulcers affect more than 2.5 million Americans annually and patients who have spinal cord injuries that impair movement are more vulnerable to developing them, said senior investigator Yoram Vodovotz, surgery faculty member and director of the Center for Inflammation and Regenerative Modeling at the school.
Said Vodovotz: "These lesions are thought to develop because immobility disrupts adequate oxygenation of tissues where the patient is lying down, followed by sudden resumption of blood flow when the patient is turned in bed to change positions. This is accompanied by an inflammatory response that sometimes leads to further tissue damage and breakdown of the skin."
Added co-author Gwendolyn A. Sowa, physical medicine and rehabilitation faculty member in the school: "Pressure ulcers are an unfortunately common complication after spinal cord injury and cause discomfort and functional limitations. Improving the individual diagnosis and treatment of pressure ulcers has the potential to reduce the cost of care and improve quality of life for persons living with spinal cord injury."
To address the complexity of the biologic pathways that create and respond to pressure sore development, the researchers designed a computational, or in silico, model of the process based on serial photographs of developing ulcers from spinal cord-injured patients enrolled in studies at the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Spinal Cord Injury. Photos were taken when the ulcer was initially diagnosed, three times per week in the acute stage and once a week as it resolved.
Researchers then validated the model, finding that if they started with a single small round area over a virtual bony protuberance and altered factors such as inflammatory mediators and tissue oxygenation, they could recreate a variety of irregularly shaped ulcers that mimic what is seen in reality.
They also conducted two virtual trials of potential interventions, finding that anti-inflammatory interventions could not prevent ulcers unless applied very early in their development.
In the future, perhaps a nurse or caregiver could simply send in a photo of a patient's reddened skin to a doctor using the model to find out whether it was likely to develop into a pressure sore for quick and aggressive treatment to keep it from getting far worse, Vodovotz speculated.
"Computational models like this one might one day be able to predict the clinical course of a disease or injury, as well as make it possible to do less expensive testing of experimental drugs and interventions to see whether they are worth pursuing with human trials," he said.
The team included Pitt's Cordelia Ziraldo, Alexey Solovyev, Ana Allegretti, Shilpa Krishnan, David Brienza and Qi Mi, plus researchers from the University of Chicago and the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education; NIH's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation, and IBM.
Hybrid has potential for "materials that compute"
Moving closer to the possibility of "materials that compute" and wearing your computer on your sleeve, researchers at the Swanson School of Engineering have designed a responsive hybrid material that is fueled by an oscillatory chemical reaction and can perform computations based on changes in the environment or movement, and potentially even respond to human vital signs. The material system is sufficiently small and flexible that it could be integrated into a fabric or introduced as an inset into a shoe.
Anna C. Balazs, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and Steven P. Levitan, John A. Jurenko Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, integrated models for self-oscillating polymer gels and piezoelectric micro-electric-mechanical systems to devise a new reactive material system capable of performing computations without external energy inputs, amplification or computer mediation.
Their research appeared in Scientific Reports, published by Nature. The studies combine Balazs' research in Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) gels, a substance that oscillates in the absence of external stimuli, and Levitan's expertise in computational modeling and oscillator-based computing systems.
By working with Victor V. Yashin, chemical and petroleum engineering faculty member and lead author on the paper, the researchers developed design rules for creating a hybrid "BZ-PZ" material.
Said Balazs: "The BZ reaction drives the periodic oxidation and reduction of a metal catalyst that is anchored to the gel; this, in turn, makes the gel swell and shrink. We put a thin piezoelectric (PZ) cantilever over the gel so that when the PZ is bent by the oscillating gel, it generates an electric potential (voltage).
"Conversely, an electric potential applied to the PZ cantilever causes it to bend. So, when a single BZ-PZ unit is wired to another such unit, the expansion of the oscillating BZ gel in the first unit deflects the piezoelectric cantilever, which produces an electrical voltage. The generated voltage in turn causes a deflection of the cantilever in the second unit; this deflection imposes a force on the underlying BZ gel that modifies its oscillations. The resulting see-saw-like oscillation permits communication and an exchange of information between the units."
Multiple BZ-PZ units can be connected in serial or parallel, allowing more complicated patterns of oscillation to be generated and stored in the system. In effect, these different oscillatory patterns form a type of memory, allowing the material to be used for computation. Levitan adds, however, that the computations would not be general purpose, but rather specific to pattern-matching and recognition, or other non-Boolean operations.
Said Levitan: "Imagine a group of organ pipes, and each is a different chord. When you introduce a new chord, one resonates with that particular pattern. Similarly, let's say you have an array of oscillators and they each have an oscillating pattern. Each set of oscillators would reflect a particular pattern. Then you introduce a new external input pattern, say from a touch or a heartbeat. The materials themselves recognize the pattern and respond accordingly, thereby performing the actual computing."
Developing so-called "materials that compute" addresses limitations inherent to the systems researchers currently use to perform either chemical computing or oscillator-based computing. Chemical computing systems are limited by both the lack of an internal power system and the rate of diffusion as the chemical waves spread throughout the system, enabling only local coupling. Further, oscillator-based computing has not been translated into a potentially wearable material. The new hybrid BZ-PZ model solves these problems and points to the potential of designing self-powered synthetic material systems.
Balazs and Levitan note that the current BZ-PZ gel model oscillates in periods of tens of seconds, which would allow for simple non-Boolean operations or pattern recognition of patterns like human movement. The next step is to add an input layer for the pattern recognition, something that will be applied to self-oscillating gels and piezoelectric films for the first time.
The research is being funded by a National Science Foundation Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) grant, which focuses on scientific problems that lie at the intersection of traditional disciplines.
—Compiled by Marty Levine
The University Times Research Notes column reports on funding awarded to Pitt researchers as well as findings arising from University research.
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ALISO VIEJO, CA (KTLA/CNN) – An explosion at a California medical building that killed one person and injured three others is being investigated as intentional, the Associated Press reports.
Investigators believe the Tuesday blast, which happened in Orange County, may have come from a package, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities have not yet found explosive devices in the area, according to officials.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the incident.
There was no initial indication of terrorism, according to the FBI.
A daycare and preschool are near the site of the explosion, but authorities said all of the children are safe.
Copyright 2018 KTLA via CNN. All rights reserved.

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- Worship times
- Map and directions
- What to expect
- For your kids
- What we believe
- Meet our staff
Worship Times
We offer a contemporary service at 9:30am led by our band, and at 11am we have a more traditional style worship with full choir and orchestra. Bible Study classes take place during both hours for adults. Our children have a worship KidRally at 9:30am and Bible Study at 11am. Many of our students attend the 9:30am service with their families and then meet for Bible Study in the Student Building building across Amherst Street at 11am. There is nursery care for infant through 4 years old all morning.
Please stop by the welcome desk to get more information about classes, directions around the building, or grab a cup of coffee. After the service please come say hello to the pastor at our Guest Reception so we can give you a small gift and have a chance to meet you.
We also have a Chinese speaking service (West U Chinese Church) at 10:50am that meets across Milton Street in the West U Community Center, and an English/Spanish bi-lingual service that meets at our Crosspoint Campus (4601 Bellaire Blvd) at 1:30pm (Iglesia Crosspoint).
Getting to West U
We're located in the heart of West U. Our building is one block north of University Blvd and West U City Hall, and just across Auden Street from the baseball fields and West U Elementary School.
6218 Auden St, Houston TX, 77005.
• 9:30 am Contemporary Service
•11:00 am Traditional Style Worship Service
• 9:30 and 11:00 am Bible Study. Click here for more information.
• KidRally at 9:30
• Kid's Bible Study at 11
• 11am Student Bible Study in the Student Building building across Amherst Street at 11am. Click here for more information.
• Nursery care for infant through 4 years old all morning.
For Your Kids
KidRally is a special kid-friendly worship time at 9:30 led by Mr. Dave (our West U Children's Pastor) and his team. KidRally meets in the gym for children ages 5 to 5th grade. There is always a great combination of kid-style music, fun, and teaching from God's Word.
Nursery care is provided all morning for infant through 4 years of age. We have wonderful paid staff so your children see the same teachers each week. Even very young children can learn that Jesus loves them, so an age-appropriate teaching curriculum is offered during Sunday School.
Kid's Bible Study is offered every Sunday morning during the 11:00 service. Children meet in grade divided groups and have great teaching, crafts and music.
KidStuff is our Children's Ministry and includes our Sunday morning activities as well as all events and programming throughout the year. Click here for more information.
What We Believe
• God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God. (Genesis 1:1,26,27; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; I Peter 1:2; II Corinthians 13:14)
• Man is made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. He is the supreme object of God's creation. Although man has tremendous potential for good, he is marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called "sin." This attitude separates man from God. (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a, 59:1 2; Romans 3:23)
• Man was created to exist forever. He will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or in union with God, through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are places of eternal existence. (John 3:16; I John 2:25; 5:11-13; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15)
• Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven's glory and will return again to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14-15; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; I Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13)
• Salvation is a gift from God to man. Man can never make up for his sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness can man be saved from sin's penalty. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith. (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12, 14:6; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1)
• Because God gives man eternal life through Jesus Christ, the believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives this security. (John 10:29; II Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14; I Peter 1:3-5)
• The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. The Christian seeks to live under His control daily. (II Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13; 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18)
• The Bible is God's Word to all men. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; II Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105,160; 12:6; Proverbs 30:5)
• A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by the Bible, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 16:15-19; 28:18 20; Acts 2:41-42,47; Ephesians 3:8-11,21; Colossians 1:18; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
• God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. (Genesis 2:18-25; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 22:6; Matthew 5:31-32; 19:3-9; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:18-21)
Meet Our Staff
Roger Patterson
Senior Pastor
Roger and his wife Julee have been at West University Baptist since 1997. They have two boys, Brady Jackson and Cooper Grayson, and one daughter Carson Claire, who are the joy of their lives. Roger received his doctorate degree (Doctor of Ministry) from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, his Master's of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1998 and his Bachelor of Arts in Christianity and Speech from Houston Baptist University in 1995. Roger began his time here as the Minister to Students in 1997, and then in 1999 was named Associate Pastor. That role had many responsibilities, including staff and facility administration, strategic planning, construction management, and preaching/teaching. In May of 2009, Roger accepted the call to become the next Senior Pastor of West U Baptist and Crosspoint Church. He loves playing basketball and golf, but most of all he loves spending time with his family.
Click here to view our full staff.
Be a Flood Buddy
2017 was a difficult time for many in our church and in our city because of Hurricane Harvey. If you did not experience flood damage, we encourage you to become a Flood Buddy to a family within West U Baptist or Crosspoint Church who took on flood waters, or to a family you know. These families no longer need drywall torn out or flooring ripped up, but they still need lots of support and love. Many of them have a long road ahead and we want them to know someone is sticking by them. And you won't be alone either! The church will be communicating with you along the way; we are here to help as you learn what your affected family needs.
Again, we are looking for individuals or families who did not experience flood damage to become a Flood Buddy. If you qualify and are interested in being paired up with a family from West U Baptist or Crosspoint Church, please email email@example.com.
Ways to be a Flood Buddy
1. Pray for your family.
2. Send a text with a quick word of encouragement.
3. Send a homemade card along with a gift card to Target, Home Depot, a local restaurant, etc.
This is a great project for kids to participate in.
4. Call when you are on your way to the grocery store and ask what you can pick up for your family.
5. Show up where your family is staying with a plate of goodies every so often.
6. Help with a specific need your family has.
For example you could say, "I would be happy to pick up moving boxes for you as you get ready to move back home."
7. Call and ask how things are going.
Give families plenty of time to tell their story, then listen, listen, listen.
8. Invite your family to special events in the neighborhood or at church. Offer to give them a ride or to take their kids for them.
9. Email a funny picture or an encouraging story.
10. Invite your family to dinner or offer to bring dinner to them.
11. Take time to recognize birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc.
12. Let church staff know about any needs your family has that are bigger than you can help them with.
These needs could be emotional or spiritual, or they could be any number of things.


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Apr. 30 marked the closing of the inaugural MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS Conference and Expo, a disciplinary conference program and expo, which brought together a diverse group of medical professionals from 33 states and 32 countries.
Over 2,000 registered attendees comprised of hospital administrators, scientists, researchers, procurement and supply chain executives, physicians, nurses and health care policymakers. More than 120 exhibitors came from across the U.S. and 11 other countries for the show, which is a partnership between the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GHCVB); Messe Düsseldorf, organizers of MEDICA – the world's largest medical instrumentation tradeshow; the Texas Medical Center; and Houston First Corp.
While the size of the first show was in line with expectations, Tom Mitchell, president, Messe Düsseldorf North America, acknowledged that the first-year event is being viewed as a platform on which to build an even bigger, more robust trade show and conference in 2015.
"The inaugural staging of MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS has set a foundation for the growth of the World of MEDICA brand in the Americas," Mitchell explained. "Although the scale of the first staging was modest compared to that of world-renowned MEDICA, the quality of the programming and the exchanges that took place are a reflection of the vision for an event of this nature in the United States."
Key to the long-term success of MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS is the partnership with the Texas Medical Center and the unparalleled content this delivers.
"I can say unequivocally that the level of education and the quality of our speakers would rival those one would find at any major international conference. We delivered a superior level of education, particularly for a first year event," stated Texas Medical Center CEO and MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS Executive Advisory Committee Chairman Robert C. Robbins, M.D.
Not only did the clinical, academic and health policy content at MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS draw medical professionals and administrators, the first year event attracted notice from staff of five U.S. Senate and Congressional offices as well as local public officials and staff.
Participants assembled from more than 600 organizations near and far, with just over half hailing from the Lone Star State.
"As we had envisioned, Houston and our medical community provided the ideal platform for bringing together an international community of life science professionals," shared Greg Ortale, president and CEO, GHCVB. "[O]ne of the advantages of holding this conference in Houston every year is that it will give our companies in the health care space a home-field advantage in reaching the rest of the world."
MEDICAL WORLD AMERICAS will return annually to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, from Apr. 27-29, 2015.
For more information, visit medicalworldamericas.com.


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Feb. 23, 2011, 5:35 p.m.
posted by oxy
Processing is the part of the enterprise system that the middleware can't handle for you, the "meat" of your applications. It goes by many names: business rules, business logic, domain logic, application code, ad infinitum. At its essence, processing is what the business is paying for in the first place: to do things with the data that aren't being handled elsewhere.
A large part of processing in an enterprise system deals with concurrency—for maximum throughput, we need to assume that two things can happen at the same time. No matter how fast the hardware, trying to run a system where everything happens just one step at a time for all users in the system is going to bog down pretty quickly. So as programmers, we need to deal with the fact that multiple threads of execution, whether logical or physical, are a reality. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.
In an enterprise Java system, concurrency touches on two subjects simultaneously: Java's native object monitor-based synchronization system and the transaction-based synchronization mechanism built into most enterprise resource managers. While it would be nice if we could simply ignore one in favor of the other, at this time that's not possible—the Java language (and/or virtual machine) hasn't got transactional capabilities built into it, and trying to "hide" the transactional nature of resources has proven over and over again to create bottlenecks. As a result, we need to be aware of both aspects of concurrency.
For more details on Java's object monitor-based concurrency mechanism, I highly recommend Concurrent Programming in Java [Lea]. In addition, I assume that you've already read Items 48 through 53 of Effective Java [Bloch]; for example, you will never want to mark a servlet doGet or doPost method as synchronized for the reasons described in Bloch's Item 49 ("Avoid excessive synchronization").
You'll note pretty quickly that many of the items in this chapter deal with transactional processing; any others (like rules-based processing or workflow) take a definite back seat. While this may seem a bit heavy-handed, the majority of enterprise IT systems are, implicitly or explicitly, transaction-processing systems of one form or another, and as such many of these items are directly relevant to your daily life as an enterprise Java developer. Even if you're not currently using EJB, keep reading—not only is it likely that you will in the future (your system, if successful, is quite likely to have to talk to multiple databases simultaneously, thus creating a situation ripe for EJB, per Item 9), but the same concepts apply whether you access the enterprise resources through an enterprise bean or directly, through a Connector or vendor-proprietary API.


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During one of their Prentice Institute Brown Bag lectures on Feb. 1, Dr. Maura Hanrahan, professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Lethbridge, discussed with interested students and members of the public the impact of Canada's decentralized water governance system for residents across the country.
Touching on everything from the policy itself, to case studies, boil advisories and how the current system correlates with the United Nations declaration that recognized water as a human right.
"We have water injustice in Canada and water poverty," explained Hanrahan. "But we're such a rich country and we can do better than that. There's no reason we couldn't live up to the UN declaration that water is human right."
Starting her lecture, Hanrahan discussed the state of the current water governance system which she noted is one of the most decentralized policies in the world, before touching on the current model that sees Canada having no national standard to be enforced, meaning each province is responsible for their own water reserves.
This in turn sees many water responsibilities falling to junior governments with limited capacities, which means that many small, remote and indigenous communities across the country as a result, experience an array of water security challenges of different extremities.
"Reserves often aren't given enough funding to reserve and maintain adequate water systems," said Hanrahan on the topic. "There's a big problem of underfunding, as well as the added problem that some places are too big and complex and are too hard for the municipality to manage."
However, this isn't the only problem that we are seeing with water across the province. As Hanrahan also took sometime to speak on the fact that there is also a consistent problem of lack of education on this issue for many Canadians.
"Most of the time, we people in Canada tend to think you turn on the tap and you can have as much water as you want — unless you live in rural remote communities or reserves."
"Most of the water in southern Canada is quite safe to drink and I think that's why we kind of assume that we all have this access," Hanrahan added.
Yet some places in the country see less knowledge and reckless use more than others.
Lethbridge alone seeing some of the highest rate of water use per person across the entire country. With the Prairie deserts sitting on the region's doorstep, Hanrahan also says that using water at such high rates could be detrimental to lands in the future.
With low conservation rates, Hanrahan added Lethbridge and surrounding areas could look into better and less expensive ways to use lower volumes of water than their current treated water usage rate such as collecting rainwater and washing their cars in a facility rather than at home.
With those in attendance during her lecture, Hanrahan also took some time to discuss her studies on areas within Newfoundland and Labrador that see elongated boil advisories as well as extremely tough water conditions throughout most of the year.
"Most water boil advisories last only a day or so in southern Alberta, however in rural and remote places, there's some that have been going on for almost 28 years," she added.
Hanrahan is an Adjunct Professor to EPI and Grenfell's Humanities Program, and an Associate Professor to Native American Studies Program at the University of Lethbridge.
Hanrahan also involved herself with interdisciplinary work in water security and was happy to bring her knowledge on the issue of water governance in Canada to the forefront as well as offer some insights on current movements to help the issue during the most recent lecture with the Prentice Brown Bag Lecture Series.
"The federal department of Indigenous Affairs has been split which is a good idea and they are putting funding into more suitable infrastructure that's happening and that's a good thing to see."


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Access clinical data
Apply for resource access
DNA from cell lines
The biorepository has moved to a new location at Precision for Medicine in Frederick, MD. All incoming shipments should be sent to the following address:
Precision for Medicine
8425 Precision Way, Suite M
Frederick, MD 21701
ATTN: Eduard Chani
Precision ...
Data have been updated for the TrialNet Pathway To Prevention (formerly Natural History Study) (TN01 NH). The primary aim of the study is to identify subjects for TrialNet prevention and investigation trials, but can also be used for assessing the ...
On or about January 27, the Repository website will get a facelift and move to a .gov URL. Please update your bookmarks once we move. All current registrations and site functionality will be available on the revised site. A sneak ...


text: Tending to avoid to area after being attack twice during the 2 days I have ridden past the nest. Just past scenic drive heading eastbound on the psp. Nest is in a cluster of pine trees, relatively aggressive magpie swoops and clips your shoulder but not life threatening. Be careful if deciding to ride on the road, oceanic drive.


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2016 Holiday Theme Ideas
Every year around the holidays, businesses host office parties to bring people together, celebrate success, build camaraderie and motivate the team for the year ahead. As gatherings kick into high gear, get creative this year and transform your guests' holiday experience. Three of our AlliedPRA offices—New England, Northern California, and San Diego—share new ways to modernize holiday themes.
New England's Mid-Century Magic
With the success of Mad Men, we have seen our fair share of retro-style events. Mixing these design elements with a bit of holiday cheer brings this theme to a whole new level of entertainment. Our New England team stays true to the mid-century era with touches of elegance, nostalgia, and a bit of kitsch thrown in for good measure.
To achieve this look, it's all about elevating the holiday spirit without making it over-the-top. Lindsay Goneau, DMCP, Director of Operations and Program Development for New England, suggests the best way to execute this theme is to accent with bright colors in vintage hues of pinks, blues, and reds. Hang a larger-than-life wreath and play classic carols in the background. Further, have your guests nosh on deviled eggs and sip a classic cocktail to get them in the atmosphere of the evening. You'll be feeling like Don Draper in no time.
Northern California's Elegant Evening
On the opposite coast, our Northern California office is amping up their elegance for their holiday parties. Zorianna Smith, CMP, DCMP, Director of Marketing and Product Development, suggests adding dramatic touches for an evening of glamour and understated—yet modern—allure.
Clean lines and monochromatic tablescapes offer a sophisticated alternative for holiday themes while mixed metals add a touch of style. Your guests will feel relaxed, yet pampered, as the warm firelight glows off accent pieces. Take the clean lines one step further by decorating your event with geometric wire designs. These can be modern alternatives to wreaths and other traditional holiday decorations.
A Night in Venice
Last, but not least, AlliedPRA San Diego has transported guests into a Venetian masquerade.
A masked ball, a hedge maze, and crystal accents—these are just a few of the details that San Diego has provided their clients. No detail went spared, as partygoers could have their fortunes read while sipping champagne that was served by an aerialist from above. Decadence meets European glamour in this once-in-a-lifetime theme.
AlliedPRA knows that there is one gift that cannot be wrapped – and that is creating a moment that will last into the New Year. Complete an RFP now to create a bit of magic this holiday season.


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the child.
Who knows the child more than their parents?
Originally posted by jude11
Nothing about looking for sores on your fuzzy parts...
Originally posted by winofiend
Originally posted by jude11
Nothing about looking for sores on your fuzzy parts...
You're Not supposed to have sores down there??
Why was I never taught this in school!!!!!!!
Originally posted by Ghost375
Kids talk about that stuff in 1st grade. Don't be ignorant.
Wouldn't you rather have your kid learn it from a teacher, as opposed to some twisted kid?
In a perfect world, we wouldn't need to have this discussion. But the real world is different. To be outraged over this is ignorant to what actually happens in the real world.
Wouldn't you rather have your kid learn it from a teacher, as opposed to some twisted kid?
Originally posted by Honor93
reply to post by jude11
uh, you really asked this question ?
the child.
Who knows the child more than their parents?
the same child who should be given the opportunity to advance at THEIR pace, not yours.
how many children who are gender challenged KNEW they were different long before age 5 ??
do you really think their parents knew first ??
i agree with the 'testing ground' statement but i cannot support the assumptions that accompany it without evidence.
i don't want to believe it could be as you describe, however, sadly, i also know it's more than possible.
don't get me wrong, i'd like to see "Health" class expanded to include such 'safety' issues.
however, i think the term Sex Education is probably misleading at best.
Originally posted by jude11
reply to post by Honor93
as for 'learning', why would you want to hold back your own children until YOU are ready ?? that seems counterintuitive.
Not until the parent is ready but rather when the parent KNOWS the child is ready. Who knows the child more than their parents?
And no, it's not my area but I have to question how far this will spread once it's in play? Always a testing ground and then it becomes the accepted norm.
Originally posted by newcovenant
reply to post by jude11
Considering that predators often use a child's ignorance about what is good touch and what is bad touch to molest them, and they use a child's ignorance about what is happening to them, and whether it is right or not, against them, I think this will equip children to protect themselves.
Knowledge will give them more self assurance and probably inspire children to understand and speak up if someone is taking advantage of them in a sexual way. Until a certain age, children do not know the difference between sexual touch and appropriate touch or affection. They might seem similar to them. Predator adults and older children often take advantage this ignorance. In too many instances people are against this "education" because they are afraid their child will speak up and say this is happening at home.
I doubt they are showing kids this young how to have sex and prevent pregnancy or even how babies are made. They are talking about age appropriate information like good touch and bad touch. If the curriculum for these lessons is age appropriate, how can knowledge harm? Deny ignorance.
edit on 1-3-2013 by newcovenant because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by jude11
reply to post by Ghost375
Wouldn't you rather have your kid learn it from a teacher, as opposed to some twisted kid?
I would rather have it as my choice as to when, how and who teaches my child about one of the most important lessons they will be subject to.
Originally posted by Honor93
where's the problem ?
most kids are already inquiring about those things and many who are gender confused, are so at that age so why not ?
anatomy should already be well known by kindergarten.
healthy relationships should be a no-brainer at any age.
and personal safety ?? like what - don't use someone else's comb/brush ?
that's a good lesson to learn.
the article is too vague to comment further as i can see this easily exceeding the boundaries presented.


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An Essay About Determination in the Movie "Apollo 13"
Directed by: Ron Howard
"Hello, Houston. This is Odyssey. It's good to see you again." These were the words Jim Lovell said as he splashed down into the Pacific Ocean after spending 8 days in a freezing hell. Stuck in the confined quarters of the Apollo 13, those words were the embodiment of achieving your goals through determination. During the flight there were more displays of determination than I could possibly cover, so I am going to write about the three that stuck out to me the most. Jack Swigert was the one docking and flying the shuttle and didn't want to leave any room for error in his skills. Ken Mattingly, spent hours upon hours getting the boot sequence for the computer right so they could correct the shuttle path. Last but certainly not least the engineers building a CO2 filter out of spare parts without any proper tools.
Jack Swigert was moved up from back up crew to main crew after Ken Mattingly got the measles. He was just as trained as the other guys but they weren't a team. Everyone was a little sceptical about his skills because they had never flown with him and had had Mattingly as a pilot for a very long time. Swigert was doing a routine docking simulation when the people running it threw some engine failures at him without giving him a warning light, but he recuperated quickly and pulled off the manoeuvre flawlessly. Coming off of this success and being accepted by your new crew mates most people would be on top of the world and not feel the need to practice that move again, but not Swigert, he noticed that he used a bit to much fuel and although that's not a horrible thing considering the situation, he insisted on practising again until he could do the manoeuvre with out any mistakes, no matter the problems. This kind of determination is only comparable to feats committed by his fellow astronauts like Ken Mattingly.
Ken Mattingly was kicked off of the original Apollo 13 mission because he had contracted the...
Please join StudyMode to read the full document


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Events for August 6, 2018
Day Navigation
6:45 am
MetaFit is the ultimate 45 minutes non-choreographed, bodyweight only HIIT workout. Created by a former Royal Marine Commando and gymnast Metafit combines the latest HIIT training techniques with traditional 'Old school' bodyweight exercises to set the metabolism on fire! A simple, uncomplicated workout that is exceptionally designed to give you results!Find out more »
7:00 am
Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga is the most widely practiced form of Yoga in the world. Hatha Yoga uses postures (asana) and conscious breathing (Pranayama) in combination with mental focus to develop awareness, strength, flexibility and relaxation.Find out more »
8:45 am
Bums & Tums
What's expect from a class? Our classes generally start with a gentle warm up to get your body moving. This may involve you jogging on the spot, doing some arm swings and shoulder rolls or just some general stretches to loosen those limbs before the real workout commences. CRUNCHES – FOR YOUR TUM There isFind out more »
10:00 am
Hatha Dynamic (Advance Level)
"Hatha Dynamic Yoga" is a class which uses challenging Yoga poses along with fast active movements. It increases your core power, physical and mental work efficiency and aids in fat loss. This class is suitable for advance Yoga practitioners.Find out more »
12:00 pm
4:45 pm
BodyBalance (for Beginner)
WHAT IS BODYBALANCE? Ideal for anyone and everyone, BODYBALANCE™ is the yoga-based class that will improve your mind, your body and your life. During BODYBALANCE an inspired soundtrack plays as you bend and stretch through a series of simple yoga moves and embrace elements of Tai Chi and Pilates. Breathing control is a part of all the exercises,Find out more »
6:00 pm
Vinyasa Flow
Vinyasa Flow uses postures and stretches in combination with breathing to develop flexibility and relaxation. This format brings balance, strength and calmnessFind out more »
7:15 pm
Are you looking for a fun, energetic and exciting way to get fit, lose weight or tone up without losing your motivation?. If so, ZUMBA is a right class for you. Ditch the workout, join the party! Inspired by Latin and international music, you will move, groove, and dance to tone the entire body. AddFind out more »


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By replacing the three New Britain members of the Mattabassett regional sewage treatment plant's board of directors with new appointments, the city's common council would be seizing an opportunity to chart an improved course for the facility.
The plant's 12-member board of directors is made up of representatives from three municipalities: New Britain, Berlin and Cromwell (where the plant is located). The most powerful contingent is New Britain's, with seven members. Under the iron-fisted leadership of its chairman, Dominic Badolato of New Britain, the board has earned a reputation for being hostile and dismissive of Cromwell officials' concerns about plant operations. Past problems have included a mercury spill into the Connecticut River, mercury emissions from an incinerator, scum and odors. Board members also declined to relocate the plant's sewage outflow pipe, a move that would have significantly enhanced Cromwell's riverfront.


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During a time when it seemed like everything was changing, God broke through with a challenge: to see if the light from the East was brighter than our Protestant upbringing. This is a live chronicle of our family's exploration of Orthodoxy.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Working on finding a new rhythm
I had a most excellent day with my brother; we're building a doll house for my oldest. She'll be two this March, so it's not a very complicated doll house -- basically four large rooms which we will paint in bright primary colors on Tuesday evening when my brother comes again. All of this in preparation for Christmas, which I know seems early, but Christmas at our house will also come a little early, at least as far as this particular present is concerned. Why do you care about this? Good question.
I had a wonderful conversation with one of the brothers at the local monastery. I'm still trying to force a "rigorous" catechesis onto my life, you see, and I was hoping to get a kick in the spiritual pants. (For more on this weekend and our family's "need" for spiritual highs, please read Felicity's wonderful post Spiritual Ups and Downs.) I certainly got a good nudge in the right direction, but it wasn't what I was hoping for. Maybe I can unpack this slightly better.
Living with E., I watched him struggle through a very strenuous catechesis. His prayer rule was a good hour a day (half an hour for morning prayers and half an hour for evening prayers), plus a certain number of Jesus Prayers, prostrations, and spiritual reading. I was really looking forward to this. Ascesis is not a dirty word in my book. I once tried fasting Muslim style during Ramadan. After the first hallucination I gave up. This is me, though. I want to be given stringent instructions and upbraided for my inability to follow them. Weird, right?
Fr. Stavros took a different approach. Given that we have two small children (two under two), a new house, not a lot of money, a busy work week, et al. just taking any time to pray is better than trying to struggle to maintain morning and evening prayers. Sometimes, he said, you find the time to pray when you can; and that discipline is more important than keeping some unrealistic rule that doesn't fit into your daily life. I hate when monks tell me things like this. He's the third, and it pisses me off (sorry if that bothers you). The truth of the matter is that I want to be Jesus. I really want to have the final say on my spiritual development, and I believe that God will honor my well intentioned revision of His plan for my life. Surely when I reach the spiritual heights discussed in the Desert Fathers and other compendiums (which I will be able to accomplish following three easy steps in three months for no more than 3 hours a day), He'll hand me the heavenly crown early and I can just breeze through life.
Arrogant much? And so I'm getting back to normal. God is still loving, and I'm learning to live within His time table without any suggestions for change. I am incredibly sinful. I have noticed what a jerk I am. I've been keenly aware of bitterness and resentment. I feel I'm constantly complaining (just ask Felicity). In short, I have enough to worry about just living where I am now without trying to force my square peg into someone else's round hole.
A new rhythm is needed. So we're trying to pray together (like really say prayers) once a day (usually at night), say prayers at meal times, and remember to pray when the time is available to me (usually with my little brown prayer beads). I'm still discontent most of the time and feel a little directionless; but God is faithful, and I need to learn how to trust Him.
1 comment:
Be the widow who gave all that she had- two mites. Just as she gave what little she had, give unto God what little you have.ReplyDelete
Be the widow Elijah visited. She only had a jar of oil and little flour, and yet she gave as the Lord commanded. She did this, and God miraculously never allowed the oil to run out.
Be the little boy who gave Jesus two fish and five loaves of bread. With such little, he fed over five thousand, and had left overs to boot.
Give what you have, and God will increase it. What little time (or discipline) you have, give it to God. He will multiply it- in time. In His time.


text: The Michigan Department of Education has opened up the final opportunity for stakeholders to submit feedback on Michigan's ESSA Plan. The challenge however is that the plan consists of 153 single spaced pages of important information. It's no casual read to determine how exactly the plan will impact you, yet you as the main stakeholder to be impacted have the most valuable voice to be heard.


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The pastor of a black church in Los Angeles where Black Lives Matter activists disrupted a meeting with Mayor Eric Garcetti last week and forced him to flee is blasting the movement for "disrespect and verbal violence."
In a Facebook post, Pastor Kelvin Sauls of the Holman United Methodist Church wrote:
To the members of BLM-LA and Allies who cussed at me in the sanctuary on Monday night during the Town Hall, I have forgiven you. Because the lives of Black people matter, your disrespect and verbal violence will not be a weapon of mass distraction to our resolve in pressing on to seek solutions for the challenges and opportunities ini [sic] our community. Facing the rising sun, we will march on until victory is won!!
The 50 or so activists interrupted the meeting, turned their backs on the mayor, rushed the podium, and jumped on his car to prevent him from leaving under police escort. Hundreds of residents who came to discuss issues in the black community with the mayor were disappointed.
One of the organizers, Dr. Melina Abdullah, a professor of Pan African Studies at Cal State L.A., defended the group's tactics in an interview with CBS Los Angeles.
"These kind of polite tactics that they're advocating, we've been doing those for two years. Every day that we spend engaging in polite conversation, we run the risk of someone else being killed by the police," she said.
Others in the black community, however, disagreed, saying that Black Lives Matter had "disrespected" the community. L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridely-Thomas, who is also black, told CBS Los Angeles that the group's behavior "leaves a lot to be desired."
Pastor Sauls was upset enough that he posted an additional message to the community on Facebook on Friday evening:
Pastoral Message to Members & Friends of Holman United Methodist Church:
Though disappointed & disturbed by the disrespect displayed by Back Lives Matters – Los Angeles and their allies to both our sanctuary & community at the Community Town Hall with Mayor Garcetti, we are even more determined to continue our legacy of creating and facilitating safe spaces for everyone to be able to lift voices through constructive & productive dialogue with dignity, civility and mutual respect between the South LA community & elected leaders to discuss & develop long-term strategic solutions to the challenges facing our communities.
Because the lives of Black people matter, we will continue to pursue with greater resolve strategic collaborations in seeking real and relevant outcomes for the South Los Angeles community in the areas of unemployment, legislation on anti-discrimination in the workplace, homelessness, quality city services, poverty, violence within community, police brutality, innovative community policing, and adequate transportation.
While non-violent civil disobedience has its place in any democracy, we will not condone, nor will we subscribe to the verbal violence and incivility that continues to disrespect and dehumanize others. Because the lives of Black people matters, we will be undeterred in the King-Parks-Lawson legacy seeking the shalom of the city towards a more just and fair society. We look forward to the next opportunity to facilitate a constructive and solutionary dialogue with the Mayor and other elected leaders. Facing the rising sun of a new day begun, we will march on until victory is won.
Rev. Kelvin Sauls,
Senior Pastor
President Barack Obama endorsed the movement at a White House event on criminal justice reform last Thursday. Critics, including former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who is now the major of Chicago, say that the movement has made police more reluctant to enforce the law in areas suffering from violent crime.


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Staggered hiring at multiple sources keeps IT recruitment healthy
Software engineers, lawyers, mathematicians and even those with an economics background are being hired. Technology-wise the segments that are looking for these skills include Cloud/Virtualisation, Data Scientists, Mobile applications, Platform engineering, User-experience and Design and Graphics.
"The focus today is on hiring more domain specialists and post graduates, in addition to the regular engineering graduates," states Suresh Mohan, CEO, TechSol HR. "It is really a shift in the value-addition capabilities of the sector. Thus although numerically there is relatively less hiring, the quality of the recruits has risen. Thus skilled hiring is happening based on increasing demands of the business."


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Big Time Rush is in San Diego, CA today and before their show tonight they stopped by Channel 93.3 for an acoustic performance. View the UStream from the radio station below.
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©2011 - 2016 Carlos Pena NOW
Carlos PenaVega is a 27 year old actor, singer, songwriter, director, and host. Carlos first gained notoriety as a member of recording artists and TV stars Big Time Rush. He has gone on to star on ABC's Dancing With The Stars, and starred as Kenickie in FOX's hugely successful live musical Grease: Live! Carlos is currently recording a "Spanglish" album, and he remains active in both film and television.
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'We have a large consignment selection, so there are a lot of very high-end options available at a moderate price point.'
Atlanta, Ga (PRWEB) August 28, 2013
The Curtain Exchange, an Atlanta window treatment store, has announced that it is holding a month-long sale in September on its extensive selection of high-end consignment drapery and unique drapery hardware. The details of the sale are as follow: the store's entire selection of high-end consignment drapery will be 10 percent off, and when customers purchase consignment curtains with drapery hardware, they will receive 15 percent off their purchase.
"We have a beautiful selection of consignment drapery," says The Curtain Exchange of Atlanta co-owner Jim Waddell. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our customers to update their guest rooms, or for students to get their apartments ready for the school year. We have a large consignment selection, so there are a lot of very high-end options available at a moderate price point."
The Curtain Exchange of Atlanta has one of the largest selections of consignment designer curtains in the metro area. The store's wide selection of consignment items allows the owners to offer their customers designer window treatment at an affordable price—consignment curtains at The Curtain Exchange are priced beginning at around $300 a pair, making them a more affordable option for those shopping for high-end window treatments.
The Curtain Exchange offers custom drapery, luxury designer consignment curtains and many other window treatment options in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to a constantly updated line of fabrics that may be selected from to create custom draperies, The Curtain Exchange also carries a distinctive selection of ready-to-buy curtain styles and offers drapery hardware and installation. The store's in-house consultants are happy to work with guests in-store or at home, and customers are encouraged to take advantage of The Curtain Exchange's 48-hour take home approval process. All of The Curtain Exchange's draperies are made in the USA. For more information or to schedule an in-home consultation, please visit The Curtain Exchange online or on Facebook for design ideas and store updates.


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P.R.O. Softshell Lite Glove
The new P.R.O. Softshell Lite Glove adds lightweight insulation to wind and water resistance for bulk-free maneuvering through cool, wet miles. This is a unisex glove, please use the Men's size chart in the link below.
The Finer Details
An update on a Pearl Izumi favorite, the new P.R.O. Softshell Lite Glove adds lightweight insulation to wind and water resistance for bulk-free maneuvering through cool, wet miles. P.R.O. Softshell combines with 50g Primaloft® Gold insulation on the back of hand, while a synthetic leather palm with silicone traction printing helps riders maintain a good grip on the handlebars. Cool weather benefits include an extended cuff to close the gap to sleeves and fleecy soft nose-wiping surface to keep your face clean. Reflective elements keep you safe under wintry skies.
- P.R.O. Softshell with DWR finish provides wind and water protection
- 50g Primaloft® Gold insulation provides warmth without bulk
- Conductive synthetic leather on the glove's index finger and thumb works with touch screen devices
- Clarino™ synthetic leather palm provides superior softness and durability
- Fleece lined interior
- 1:1 Glove fit maximizes finger dexterity for shifting and braking
- Soft fleece wiping surface on thumb
- Long gauntlet design keeps wrists warm and prevents air leakage
- Reflective elements for low–light visibility
If conductivity is not working well, please wash gloves to restore.
Shell: Back of Hand: 100% polyester; Palm: 60% nylon 40% polyurethane; Liner: 100% polyester; Insulation: 100% polyester; Imported
Fabric Details
- Type: Softshell


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November 5, 2009 --Twins may fare better if they share the womb with a sister rather than a brother. Researchers in Israel studied more than 2,700 twin pregnancies. They found that risk of premature delivery was highest when both twins were male and lowest when both were female.
The risks of some complications, including lower birth weight and newborn breathing problems, were higher among babies who had a male twin rather than a female.
The study is in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.


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wordpress deals
WordPress Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals 2017
| By: Mark Zahra | 14 Responses
Be ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2017. We're collecting all of the best WordPress deals and discounts for plugins, themes, hosting plans and services, all to be shared with you, our loyal readers. Bookmark this page and keep coming back for new offers.
Posted in Articles, Promos | Tagged black friday, coupon codes, coupons, cyber monday, discount codes, discounts, offers, special offers, woocommerce offers, wordpress black friday, wordpress black friday deals, wordpress cyber monday, wordpress deals, wordpress discounts, WordPress Hosting, wordpress plugins, wordpress themes | 14 Responses
Best WordPress Labor Day Deals 2014
| By: Jean Galea | 1 Response
September 1st is the US Labor Day, which signifies the start of the new active business season. To say a proper goodbye to the Summer here are the best WordPress labor day deals we got hold of. We will keep on adding others as they come along.
Posted in Promos | Tagged labor day, wordpress deals, wordpress discounts | 1 Response


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I taste only a few Burgundies here and there .. but still I normally I have most of the best wines from region on my snout-radar.
But especially the Corton hill has a lot of hidden – disapointments and luckily a few gems as well. One of these under the radar wines is the Corton Charlemagne made by the very well esteemed Savigny house Simon Bize. I must confess that I have never visited Simon Bize and was therefore unaware of the excellet Corton-Charlemagne made at this estate.
So note to self .. visit Domaine Simon Bize in Savigny-Les-Beaune … is long overdue.
The Corton Charlemagne from Simon Bize
The Corton Charlie from Bize is coming from a quite cool area in the Pernand-Vergelesses part of the Corton appellation – or more accurately from the terroir En Charlemagne – a steep terroir where Bize owns two plots planted back in 1938 on the the south west side of the Corton hill.
The area of the plots is 0.21 ha hence the production is quite limited and this can also explain my ignorance (not all though) about this wine …
The Corton hill is a special place .. and normal vintage logic does not quite always apply to especially the white Cortons. Take a vintage like 2001 – this is by normal standards not an excellent vintage for white Burgundies as a whole, but it is regarded as one of the best vintages for white Corton – or Corton-Charlemagne if you like – in recent decades.
The hill offer a lot of possibilities but sadly a lot of producers make a sorry excuse for flabby a Corton-Charlemagne – and only quite few make the racy and refined wine that can be made on this mighty hill. One of these producers is Domaine Simon Bize.
Three times Charlie .. and I hear the angels!
A good friend recently made a tasting of three Corton Charlemagnes from Simon Bize .. to present this wines for a group of infidels .. including me.
The vintages were – 2012, 2010 and 2008 .. three rather different vntages – two I love to like – and one I like to – if not hate – then dislike.
I do love the 2008 vintage for the whites – but they are a bit of a bumpy ride on occasion – hence also the Simon Bize Corton-Charlemagne. The usual frisky and slightly anarchistic acidity showed and gave the wine energy, but the fruit was in a transitory state between young and getting maturing notes .. so not really unfolding one or the other way. It's definitely a mineral driven and powerful Charlie on the cool side, offering plenty of intensity and length. I'm pretty sure this will unfold fully in a couple of years and hopefully it will develop the same complexity as the 2012. The 2008 is offering a fine potential for sure – although for medium rather than long term drinking – Very Fine+ (93 – 95p)
And to the 2012 – the vintage I normally like to dislike. This was however not the case with this magnificent Charlie … what a gorgeous and complex wine. The nose is unfolding beautifully – slightly maturing notes – yellow orchard fruits, hints of acacia and roasted hazelnuts with a citrus/lime infused minerality adding focus and freshness. On the palate richly flavoured fruit on the mid-palate – yet its still very fresh and vibrant for the vintage – and with the powerful mineral backbone as a focusing element – it's long intense and very complex with the maturing notes. Very Fine++ (94 – 95p).
The 2012 is in my view not a great year for the whites in general – but this will certainly make me look closer at the 20121 whites from the Corton hill – perhaps thee are other hidden gems.
The last wine the 2010 is Charlie full throttle – a young, powerful and almost impenetrable wine with plenty of weight, power and freshness. It's still very young and not unfolding much of its tremendous potential .The nose is intense and packed with fruit and citrus infused minerality. On the palate tightly packed fruit, tremendous acidity and power offering a very tightly knit mid-palate fruit – and a long and very powerful finish. This is a big and powerful wine – will need at least 5 years to unfold – preferably even 10 … and then it will be a truly great Charlie – if it unfolds the same enchanting complexity as the gorgeous 2012. This is a truly magnificent Corton Charlemagne in the making – Outstanding (95 – 96p).


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Allante Walker joined News 19 in May 2016 as a Quintern. Since then, he has taken on a few different roles around the station including working as a production assistant and weekend producer before taking on his current role as the Daybreak producer.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with an emphasis in broadcast & digital media and a Theatre Performance minor.
Allante is originally from Beloit (otherwise known as "the Gateway to Wisconsin"), and is a proud fan of Wisconsin sports teams. During his free time, he enjoys performing onstage in theater, traveling, meeting new people, and spending time with friends and family.
If you have any story ideas for Allante, you can email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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September 10, 2010 – Smutty Shout-Outs
Happy Birthday Sam! And good luck with the new job. No, it's not the most ideal time to start, but there will be some Ryan Gosling today. And more of him in the next few days as promotes Blue Valentine at TIFF. Ryan knows when you need him, see?
Congratulations Anya! Have the most beautiful day on Sunday and a lifetime of happiness and love, from Hayley.
To Babs with love from the Fauxmaids – CONGRATULATIONS on your wedding. It's about time he "locked that sh-t down". xx h,m,l,v,e
To Miranda – congratulations on the new job and the distinction as the first EVER female reporter there! Olga asked to toast you with some Channing Tatum. Enjoy!
To Danielle – Happy 24th Birthday! As for your request to balance out sharing the day with carb face Ryan Phillippe, I don't think you'll be disappointed about Ryan Gosling's post to come. Thank you SO MUCH for supporting my blog.
To Shannon - from all your girls who are following you to NYC for your bachelorette this weekend. May there be many a men to catch your eye while you still can catch them!
Happy 36th Birthday Maureen from Michelle who says Viggo makes everything better for you? Well then Viggo it is!
And for Nikki from Matt because you have worked so hard to care for your children, especially difficult during Lisa's treatment, the last dose being Saturday – for your courage, your commitment, your capacity to love, and your capacity to love gossip, even on the darkest day, please know how I admire you, and wish your family only the very, very best with a new start this weekend.
Photos from Wenn.com


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Your guarantee becomes VOID if the vehicle is stolen, wheel studs are torched or drilled out, vehicle is in storage unit or garage, installation key is given to you by the dealer or is in your possesion at any time. Your wheel locks are also VOID if you open the sealed customer key, however, once it is re-sealed (for FREE)your guarantee will automatically be re-instated upon re-sealing.
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The first Para-triathlon Development Camp was hosted in Yokohama, Japan
12/05/18 at 11:34 am
Para-triathletes attended the first ASTC Para Triathlon Development Camp in Yokohama, Japan where they were introduced to the more basic side of triathlon training. 6 athletes, 4 coaches, and 4 supporters from 4 countries join the 5 days camp in combination with taking part in the Yokohama World Paratriathlon Series. Throughout the camp, the para-triathletes were able to see what it may be like to race more competitively with international athletes to reach higher levels. All participants are dreaming of becoming next Olympian. The successful debut of triathlon in Rio Paralympic games inspired them to place their first footstep... | Full Story
2018 ASTC SD projects kick off in Bangkok last week
11/02/18 - 29 athletes and 9 coaches from 9 countries joined the 2018 Bangkok ASTC Talent ID camp which has been taken place in the Bangkok National Sports Stadium from February 5th to 11th. The Sports Complex has... |Full Story
The Phillippines dominated Triathlon in Southeast Asian Games
21/08/17 - The Philippines swept gold medals and silver medals in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games triathlon male and female individual events held at the Water Sports Complex in Putrajaya on August 20th. In the... |Full Story
The Palembang Asian Championships and the 26th ASTC congress
24/07/17 - The 26th edition of the ASTC congress, the highest decision-making body of the confederation, met yesterday at the Daira Hotel in Palembang, Indonesia after ASTC Asian Championships. Delegates from... |Full Story
ITU Technical Officials Community Level Seminar at Issyk-kul Lake, Kyrgyz Republic
23/06/17 - ITU and ASTC held the first community level Technical Officials seminar 22nd ~23rd June at Issyk-kul lake, Kyrgyz Republic, city of natural beauty of mountain and lakes. The seminar is for those officials... |Full Story
2017 Chinese Taipei ITU Level 1 Technical Officials Seminar
07/06/17 - ITU and ASTC hosted the ITU level 1 Technical Official seminar at the university of Taipei, Chinese Taipei from June 4th to 5th right after the 2017 New Taipei Asian Cup triathlon. The seminar brought... |Full Story
Triathlon.org News
Nicola Spirig strikes again in Lausanne
Aug 18 2018 | | Full Story
Great Britain claims 22 gold medals at the Glasgow AG European Championships
Aug 18 2018 | Full Story


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New Jersey
We have found 12 items matching your search query.
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text: Daily Archive: Monday, October 3, 2016 03 Oct 2016 Can't wait to see you at ILA! By Deana Brown SPLAT 0 Comment Are you heading to the ILA Annual Conference in Idaho Falls? We'd love to see you at one of the many presentations by current SPLAT leaders! THURSDAY 10-11am BoiseCodes: A Citywide Coding Initiative William Nation & Kate Radford, Boise Public Library In March, 2016 the City of Boise launched an initiative called Boise Codes to Read More


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South East Coast
the best dive sites in oahu!
Hawaii Eco Divers will make sure you always dive the best sites possible during your trip in Hawaii.
The South East coast of Oahu has some great drift dives. The most requested dive is the famous Corsair where the visibility is always 100 ft+. Usually the second dive of the day is a drift on a wall or a shallow reef area. The amazing thing about diving the South East is that the dive sites are located between two visible volcanos in an area called Maunalua Bay. One of the best dives is on outside wall of Koko Crater, where you can easily see many layers of volcanic eruption underwater.
Hanauma Bay
Depth 15-60 ft./ 5-20 m. Shore dive. Hanauma Bay is a conservation district and one of the postcards of Oahu. This is a volcanic crater that has been flooded. A part of the wall collapsed, making it one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see, but overcrowded with hundreds of tourists visiting on a daily basis. Great place for snorkeling and shore dives, with lots of walls and reef to explore. Visibility 20-100 ft./ 6-33 m. Divers of all levels will enjoy.
Anglers Reef & Koko Crater
Depth 40 ft./ 13 m. Boat/reef dive. A great place for beginners. Lots of eels, turtles, nudibranch, and Hawaiian reef fish in abundance. There ar some statues sank by a local dive company to let this site more exciting. This site is often dove at night, where crustaceans and Spanish Dancers cruise along the ledges. Visibility 40ft – 100ft/ 15m – 35m.
Baby Barge
Depth 85 ft./ 27 m. Wreck dive. This is the most exciting of the three barges located in the area. The reason why is the surrounding reef, which attracts a large amount of marine life, including sharks, large turtles, rays, eels, and a good chance to see the rare Hawaiian turkey fish. This is an excellent dive on a good day. This can also be a good drift dive when the current is strong, leading you to another barge about 200 meters away.
Fantasy Reef
Depth 45 ft./ 15 m. Boat/drift dive. One of the most beautiful reef sites on Oahu. Drift is the only way to dive here, making it a very adventurous coarse. Turtles, eagle rays, white tip reef sharks, lobsters, and even galapagos sharks can be seen here. Intermediate to advanced. Visibility 60-120 ft./ 20-40 m.
Portlock Wall (or China Wall)
Depth 35-100 ft./12-33 m. Wall drift dive. Usually done as a second dive after Corsair, this is one of the most exciting dives on Oahu! The sea cave, located on the south side of the wall, is one of the best options, where the boat drops you off in front of a gigantic sea cave, where Hawaiian monk seals and sharks can be found resting on the inside. The opening at the end of the cave allows light to penetrate through, illuminating the entire inside. As soon as you leave the cave, you will start to drift full speed ahead towards Hanauma Bay along the wall. Most Hawaiian endemic species of fish found here. Visibility 60-150 ft./ 20-50 m.
Depth 107 ft./35 m. Wreck dive. The Corsair is the only non-artificial wreck in Oahu. In 1946, the pilot of this airplane ditched it as it was running out of fuel off Hawaii Kai. Although he managed to escape and survive, the plane remains intact at the bottom of the ocean at 105 feet. This is one of a few sites that hundreds of endemic garden eels can be seen, where they are always surrounding the wreck and playing hide-and-seek with the divers. Large stingrays often visit the area as well. This site has one of the best visibilities of the island, an average day being 100 feet. However, visibility reaches close to 180 feet/ 60m. at best! Intermediate to advanced dive.


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Your app can integrate with Siri to let the user perform certain tasks in response to spoken commands and questions. Siri handles all of the language processing and semantic analysis needed to turn these spoken requests into instructions your app can handle. Your app defines the tasks it supports, validates information received, provides information for Siri to present, and takes action. Information from your app's response is spoken by Siri and appears in the Siri interface. If appropriate, your app can provide a custom user interface for Siri to display. A fitness app, for example, might provide custom workout information.
Strive for a voice-driven experience that doesn't require touching or looking at the screen. People often interact with Siri through a headset, through their car, or from across the room. To the extent possible, let users complete tasks without unlocking their phone.
Don't attempt to mimic or manipulate Siri. Your app should never impersonate Siri, attempt to reproduce the functionality Siri provides, or provide a response that appears to come from Apple.
Be appropriate. Never include content that could be offensive or demeaning.
Don't advertise. Your app's Siri experience should never include advertisements, marketing, or in-app purchase sales pitches.
Supported Interactions
iOS apps that offer the following services can integrate with Siri.
|Supported Siri interactions
|Audio and video calling
|Initiate calls.
Search the call history.
|CarPlay integration
|Activate and save a driver's settings.
Change the car's audio source.
Change the car's climate.
Change the car's defroster settings.
Change the car's seat settings.
Change the car's radio station.
|Fitness activities
|Start, pause, resume, end, and cancel workouts.
|Lists and notes
|Create to-do lists and items.
Search for to-do lists and items.
Mark to-do list items as complete.
Create reminders based on a date, time, and/or location.
Create notes.
Search for notes.
Modify notes.
|Send messages.
Read received messages.
Search for messages.
|Send payments.
Request payments.
Pay bills.
Search for bills.
Search for and view account information, including balances, points, and miles.
Transfer money between accounts.
|Photo management
|Search for photos and show them in the app.
|Ride booking
|Book rides.
Provide ride status information.
|Vehicle integration
|Activate hazard lights or honk the horn.
Lock and unlock the doors.
Check the current fuel or power level.
|Visual codes
|Show a visual code, like a QR code or bar code.
Responding to People
Respond quickly and minimize interaction. People use Siri for convenience and expect a fast response. Present efficient, focused choices that reduce the possibility of additional prompting.
Take people directly to content. Transitions from Siri to your app should go directly to the expected destination. Don't show intermediary screens or messages that slow down the experience.
Be relevant and accurate. Make your app's response relevant to the user's current request and expectations. For example, if the user asks Siri to send a message with your app, send a message. Don't perform a different action.
When a request has a financial impact, default to the safest and least expensive option. Never deceive the user or misrepresent information. For a purchase with multiple pricing levels, don't default to the most expensive. At the point where a user is making a payment, don't charge extra fees without informing them.
Designing a Custom Interface
Make sure your interface integrates well with Siri. It's fine to use your app's colors, imagery, and other design elements to communicate your brand, but any interface elements should still feel like they belong in Siri. Unless your app requires a fully custom interface, integrate your content into the default interface Siri provides.
Provide ample margins and padding. Avoid extending content to the edges of your interface unless it's content that appears to flow naturally offscreen, like a map. In general, provide a margin of at least a few pixels between each edge of your interface and the content. Use the app icon at the top of your interface for alignment guidance. Content tends to work well when lined up with the center of this icon.
Minimize the height of your interface. Ideally, your interface should be no taller than the height of the screen, so the user can see all your content without scrolling.
Don't create an interface that appears interactive. Your interface can't respond to gestures—other than a tap, which opens your app—or other events when displayed within Siri, so avoid displaying imagery or shapes that appear interactive.
Don't include your app name or icon in your interface. The system automatically shows this information.
Increasing Accuracy
If appropriate, define custom vocabulary. Help Siri learn more about the actions your app performs by defining specific terms people might actually use in requests, like account names, contact names, photo tags, photo album names, ride options, and workout names. These terms should be nongeneric and unique to your app. Never include other app names, terms that are obviously connected with other apps, inappropriate language, or reserved phrases, such as "Hey Siri." Note that any terms you define are used by Siri to help resolve requests, but aren't guaranteed to be recognized.
Consider defining alternate app names. If people vary the pronunciation of your app's name, you can provide a list of alternative names to increase flexibility when targeting your app with Siri. For example, a UnicornChat app might define the term Unicorn as an alternate app name. Never list other app names as alternate names for your app.
Provide example requests. Provide Siri with example phrases to show in the guide that appears when you tap the Help button in the Siri interface. Use these phrases to teach people the easiest and most efficient way to use Siri with your app. For developer guidance, see Intent Phrases.
Learn More
For related design guidance, see watchOS > Siri. For developer guidance, see SiriKit.