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Non-contact microdispensing systems offer accurate and high-throughput deposition of bioactive fluids for many biological and life science applications. The high uniformity and small size of piezoelectric droplet generation makes the technology desirable for creating micro features for high throughput analysis, fabricating precision microstructures and depositing materials in MEMS and BioMEMS devices that cannot be achieved by other means. Ink-jet based deposition is flexible, requires no tooling, is non-contact, and is data-driven, as the printing pattern is created directly from CAD information and stored digitally. As an additive process with minimal waste, it is economical and environmentally friendly. Ink-jet printing technology can dispense spheres of fluid with diameters of 15-200µm (2pl to 5nl) at rates of 0-25,000 per second for individual on-demand droplets. Piezoelectric dispensing technology is adaptable to a wide range of material dispensing applications, such as biological reagents, biomaterials, and biocompatible polymers.
Drop formation sequence in MicroFab's glass dispenser when dispensing Isopropyl Alcohol at 2000 drops per second. A movie illustrating the drop formation is shown here.
The general fluid property requirements for a fluid to be used in a piezoelectric demand-mode ink-jet device are as follows: Viscosity = 0.5-40cp (Newtonian); Surface Tension = 20-70 dynes/cm. Fluids with properties outside these ranges may be dispensed using ink-jet devices, but with increased difficulty / decreased performance (see figure to the right). The left image of the figure shows an unstable inkjet microdispensing associated with high frequency deposition of a low surface tension, low viscosity solvent. The right image presents a stable inkjet microdispensing obtained using a higher surface tension and higher viscosity fluid at the same frequency. Combinations of the extreme values may also have poorer performance. If the fluid is heated or cooled, the above properties are required at the orifice. The viscosity and surface tension values described are appropriate for fluids with a specific gravity near 1. For high-density fluids, such as molten metals, the values above should be converted to kinematic values using the density of water. Newtonian behavior is not strictly required, but the fluid properties at the orifice flow conditions must be in the above range. Thus, as shear thinning fluid could have a low shear rate viscosity much higher than the 40cp. Viscoelastic behavior causes significant performance problems. Fluids properties can be modified to better match the demand-mode ink-jet requirements by changing the concentration of solute and/or solvent or by adding viscosity and surface tension modifying agents, such as glycols, glycerin, alcohols and surfactants.
Particle suspensions are acceptable as long as the particle / agglomerate size and density do not cause the suspension to depart from the fluid properties range given above. Particles that are >5% of the orifice diameter will cause at least some instability in drop generation behavior, but still may be acceptable in low concentrations. However, problems associated with the particles settling out during microdispensing idle time may occur.
Fluids containing polymeric and proteinaceous components may exhibit problems with the material drying and filming over on the orifice during idle time between dispenses. Such filming over may result in dispensing failure or drop instability. Corrective methods include increasing the relative humidity in area adjacent to the orifice, decreasing the concentration of the polymer or proteinaceous material, adding humectants to the fluid (glycols, glycerin) or using higher boiling point solvents.
MicroFab has dispensed a wide variety of biologically relevant fluids and reagents as presented below.
Biopolymer microdispensing has applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery, such as creation of cell attachment sites, scaffolds for tissue engineering, and coatings and drug delivery systems for controlled drug release. Polymeric materials can also be dispensed to create and/or modify solid support structures, such improving adhesion / wetting or repulsion / non-wetting at very high resolution.
Example of 450um diameter acrylamide gel pads containing different concentrations of catalyst printed onto a microscope glass slide; polymerization was UV initiated.
Examples of 50um wide lines of Poly(lactic acid) (PLLA) microdeposited by ink-jet onto a polystyrene substrate. Note in the right image that overprinting can be used to build up layered structures.
In the images above, on demand fibers have been created at MicroFab Technologies using bioabsorbable polymers and single channel microdispensing device. (US Patent Pending). Traditionally, polymer fibers are created through wet or molten extrusion process. Ink-jet dispensing allows digitally controlled, on-the-fly fiber dispensing.
Shown in the above image is a two part printed bioabsorbable polymer conduit Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) created as a nerve regeneration implant. This conduit contains ribs of a more rigid polymer formulation that have been ink-jet printed over the underlying softer inner tube. These ribs are intended to improve the compressibility resistance of the conduit when implanted. This conduit can be incorporated with growth regulators (NGF) to elicit neurite extension of seeded cells.
Left image - a solution of 3:1(w:w) PLGA (85:15 PLA to PGA) and paclitaxel in 1,2 dichlorethane being microdispensed in atmosphere; middle image: the PLGA / paclitaxel solution being dispensed into a solution of 0.1% (w:v) poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) resulting in microsphere formation (dispensing device tip is under the PVA solution). Right image - results of microsphere formation from the microdispensing shown in the middle image (mean diameter is 100um +/- 1.0um).
Ink-jet microdispensing can be used to accurately deposit biological fluids, ranging from single molecules (proteins, DNA, lipids) to tissue extracts and cells. Because these biological relevant fluids are dispensed by ink-jet they are often referred to as bio-inks. For example, human serum has been microdeposited for the purposes of Western Blot analysis. Cells have been microdispensed into wells for drug screening assays and for cell seeding and patterning in tissue engineering applications. DNA and proteins have been dispensed to create gene and protein expression, immunoassay and diagnostic microarrays. BSA and other blocking agents (casein, non-fat dried milk, other animal serums, commercial formulations) can be printed to selectively block areas on a membrane or other substrate. Lipid microspheres for drug delivery have also been created using inkjet microdispensing. In addition, lipids have been microdeposited onto solid substrates to selectively control location of cell attachment to the substrate.
Human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293e) being dispensed at 240Hz using an ink-jet device with a 55mm orifice. The immediate cell viability was unchanged after being microdispensed. A movie illustrating the drop formation is shown here.
Above is an example of Boehringer Mannheim (now Boehringer Roche) Diagnostic's MicroSpot™ Dispo. Up to 196 distinct reactions sites (i.e., antibody or oligonucleotide spots) would fit into their disposable reaction well and could be imaged using a fluorescence confocal scanning microscope. The initial pilot line used ten separate MicroFab Technologies ink-jet microdispensers to deposit a total of ten fluids. Each fluid was printed into multiple spots to provide redundancy, and a real-time inspections system imaged the printed dots using a secondary fluorophore.
Displayed is a sandwich immunoassay ink-jetted microarray for detection of different concentrations of Cytochrome C using rabbit anti-cytochrome C; spots are 40um in diameter.
Cholesterol microspheres (50um) created by inkjet microdispensing for the controlled release of hormones.
Example of the inkjet microdeposition of phosphatidylcholine over a frequency sweep of 480-4800Hz. Phosphatidylcholine is a major constituent of cell membranes.
Active components can be incorporated into a 3D matrix for tissue engineering applications. Materials, such as collagen, laminin and extracellular matrix can be microdeposited to create bioresorbable scaffold structures for implantation. Growth factors (nerve growth factor, connective tissue growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, epidermal growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, etc.) can be incorporated into these microdeposited matrices to stimulate cell attachment, proliferation, differentiation, orientation and migration patterns. For example, piezoelectric microdispensing offers a method to create concentration gradients of growth factors for controlling neurite growing patterns in nerve regeneration scaffolds. Further examples of active molecules dispensed by ink-jet technologies are given in the reagents section.
Example of a step-wise gradient of NGF microdeposited onto a flat substrate. This example demonstrates the possibility of obtaining a gradient by simply changing the pitch of the drop placement during printing.
Orthogonal gradients obtained by changing the amount of fluid deposited at each location. The volume of fluid per spot increases in the direction of the arrows.
Left - portion of a 20x20 array of the spots printed on a 250mm pitch having red and blue Inspeck 2.5um diameter microspheres and the 0.02um diameter green Flurospheres (60X). Right - 200X magnification of one of the spots containing the fluorescent microspheres
Commassie blue stained proteins on a PVDF membrane transferred from a 2D PAGE gel. The inset on the left shows spots (200-300um in diameter) that have been treated with the inkjet microdeposition of trypsin to obtain a micro-scale digestion of the protein spot of interest. A matrix material is then inkjet microdeposited onto the spots after the micro-scale digestion is complete. The protein blot is then transferred to a MALDI-TOF MS instrument for analysis in the process of peptide mass fingerprinting for protein identification. Multiple endoproteinase digestions can also be performed on the protein spots of interest in a similar manner. The use of a second protease not only independently confirms the proteins identity, but the combined peptide mass fingerprints increase sequence coverage. More information can be found in the Chemical Ink-Jet Printer (ChIP) brochure.
Piezoelectric inkjet dispensing devices can be utilized to microdispense a wide variety of reagents and materials for numerous applications including combinatorial synthesis, surface modification for hydrophilic or hydrophobic patterning, creating reactive sites, performing chemical reactions on membranes, microwells or other substrates. The table below lists some reagents and materials that have been microdispensed using inkjet technology at MicroFab Technologies. This list is not all-inclusive.
alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid Acetone Acetonitrile Acrylamide Adiponitrile Anti-cytochorme C IgG Anti-goat FITC IgG Anti-rabbit Biotin IgG Avidin BSA 0.1% - 10%, 10 mM TRIS Butanol Cells HEK293e at 106 in media Collagen (calf skin) 1mg/ml Cyanoacrylate |
DMF, Dimethylformamide DMSO Ethanol Ethyl Acetate Ethylene Glycol 5-30% Glycerol to 50% Heptane Human Serum Isopropanol Lithium Chloride to Saturated Methanol NMP, N-Methylpyrrolidone Octylglucoside 1% PEG 8000 0.1-30% |
PLGA Polystyrene 8um in Buffer Polyvinylpyrrolidone 0.25% Potassium Carbonate 5M Propylene Carbonate Propylene Glycol 0.1-30% Sodium Bicarbonate 100mM Sodium Hydroxide, 80mM Trifluroacetic acid 0.1% Triton X 0.05-1.0% Tween 20 0.05-1.0% Trypsin Xylenes |


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While we all expect quality health care to be available when it's needed, our future could be flat lining. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, meager graduation and physician training rates in our country could cause a shortage of up to 150,000 doctors within the next 15 years. As many of us are aware, Arizona already is battling an on-going primary care physician shortage, which will cause wait times and delays in care to grow in the coming years. Because of this, no-appointment convenience care clinics have become an important and growing part of our healthcare landscape.
The Rand Corp. recently performed a survey which showed that convenience care clinics staffed by nurse practitioners or physicians assistants can treat acute, everyday illnesses in a way that is quick, convenient and significantly more affordable for the patient, without sacrificing quality. Convenience care clinics have shorter wait times than emergency rooms, help people avoid lengthy physician appointment scheduling delays, and in some cases, require a payment that is less than an office visit co-pay or co-insurance. In short, convenience care clinics help people with minor illnesses return to good health and get back to their daily routine, and are efficient in doing so.
There are now 1,200 quick-care clinics operating in 32 states, according to the Convenient Care Association. In Arizona, Cigna Medical Group has opened nine CMG CareToday clinics since 2007, with at least two more planned this year and a newly opened facility off of the Metro Light Rail in down town Phoenix. Other health care organizations – including some Arizona hospitals – are recognizing that this facility model can help direct people to the right health resource based on the severity or simplicity of their symptoms.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, seven of the 10 most common reasons people go to the doctor are for minor needs that can be successfully treated by a physician's assistant or nurse practitioner. Yet to function optimally, the providers in convenience care clinics should be integrated into a large medical group or health system in two ways. First, they should be programmatically linked with supporting primary care physicians in order to make the treatment of patients more effective. Secondly, they should share electronic health records with these same primary care physicians to have direct access to the detailed patient records prior to providing the acute care and to communicate back to the physician who is providing ongoing care. If a system like this were in place at more neighborhood walk-in clinics, it would become easier for patients to go to a convenience care clinic for quick treatment, and still be sure that their primary care physician will be updated about any important changes in their health.
Not only is this critical in our personal lives, but access to healthcare (or delays to it) also has deep implications in the workplace. During this time where businesses are facing a great deal of economic stress, many offices are operating as leanly as possible and the absence of just one sick co-worker disturbs an entire department. Because of this fact, employees are trying to be fully productive.
According to a 2008 survey conducted by Yankelovich for CIGNA, about 61 percent of U.S. workers said they reported for duty while they were sick or coping with family and personal matters. On average, they did this more than twice as often as they missed work. Employees who are ill at work are not fully "at work." Their productivity, morale and concentration drops. Employees realize that presenteeism affects the workplace. In the same survey, 62 percent said they were less productive on those days they came to work too distracted to perform at their fullest potential. Yet, convenience care clinics – especially when located near dense, urban employment hubs – make it possible for employees to receive medical care near the office and return to work that same hour, or return home with medicine in hand to assist a speedy recovery.
This convenience care clinic model is proving to be effective and under demand in Arizona because more than ever before, greater health care access is crucial. Arizona continues to experience a shortage of primary care doctors, with a physician-to-population ratio that is below the national average, according to the American Medical Association.
It is our hope that more healthcare organizations, employers and individuals will help advance a new, stratified level of service: convenience care clinics for minor ailments, physician offices for more complex or specialty needs, urgent care centers for serious wounds or injuries, and quality emergency rooms for life-threatening needs.
A cooperative effort toward better public education and understanding as to which type of facility to seek for the appropriate level of care would be a valuable step towards preventing over-crowding at emergency rooms and physician offices. Such an effort would assure that each type of facility provides the right care at the right time when patients come through the door. This adaptability, along with innovation, can give the customer quality care every time.

subset: commoncrawl


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git-tar-tree (1) - Linux Manuals
git-tar-tree: Create a tar archive of the files in the named tree object
git-tar-tree - Create a tar archive of the files in the named tree object
git tar-tree [--remote=<repo>] <tree-ish> [ <base> ]
THIS COMMAND IS DEPRECATED. Use git archive with --format=tar option instead (and move the <base> argument to --prefix=base/).
Creates a tar archive containing the tree structure for the named tree. When <base> is specified it is added as a leading path to the files in the generated tar archive.
git tar-tree behaves differently when given a tree ID versus when given a commit ID or tag ID. In the first case the current time is used as modification time of each file in the archive. In the latter case the commit time as recorded in the referenced commit object is used instead. Additionally the commit ID is stored in a global extended pax header. It can be extracted using git get-tar-commit-id.
- The tree or commit to produce tar archive for. If it is the object name of a commit object.
- Leading path to the files in the resulting tar archive.
- Instead of making a tar archive from local repository, retrieve a tar archive from a remote repository.
- This variable can be used to restrict the permission bits of tar archive entries. The default is 0002, which turns off the world write bit. The special value "user" indicates that the archiving user's umask will be used instead. See umask(2) for details.
git tar-tree HEAD junk | (cd /var/tmp/ && tar xf -)
- Create a tar archive that contains the contents of the latest commit on the current branch, and extracts it in /var/tmp/junk directory.
git tar-tree v1.4.0 git-1.4.0 | gzip >git-1.4.0.tar.gz
- Create a tarball for v1.4.0 release.
git tar-tree v1.4.0^{tree} git-1.4.0 | gzip >git-1.4.0.tar.gz
- Create a tarball for v1.4.0 release, but without a global extended pax header.
git tar-tree --remote=example.com:git.git v1.4.0 >git-1.4.0.tar
- Get a tarball v1.4.0 from example.com.
git tar-tree HEAD:Documentation/ git-docs > git-1.4.0-docs.tar
- Put everything in the current head's Documentation/ directory into git-1.4.0-docs.tar, with the prefix git-docs/.
Part of the git(1) suite


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Pollination is exclusively or mainly animal mediated for 70% to 90% of angiosperm species. Thus, pollinators provide an essential ecosystem service to humankind. However, the impact of human-induced biodiversity loss on the functioning of plant–pollinator interactions has not been tested experimentally. To understand how plant communities respond to diversity changes in their pollinating fauna, we manipulated the functional diversity of both plants and pollinators under natural conditions. Increasing the functional diversity of both plants and pollinators led to the recruitment of more diverse plant communities. After two years the plant communities pollinated by the most functionally diverse pollinator assemblage contained about 50% more plant species than did plant communities pollinated by less-diverse pollinator assemblages. Moreover, the positive effect of functional diversity was explained by a complementarity between functional groups of pollinators and plants. Thus, the functional diversity of pollination networks may be critical to ecosystem sustainability.
Citation: Fontaine C, Dajoz I, Meriguet J, Loreau M (2006) Functional Diversity of Plant–Pollinator Interaction Webs Enhances the Persistence of Plant Communities. PLoS Biol 4(1): e1. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0040001
Academic Editor: Nick Waser, University of California at Riverside, United States of America
Received: May 23, 2005; Accepted: October 11, 2005; Published: December 13, 2005
Copyright: © 2006 Fontaine et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Abbreviations: A, syrphid group; ANOVA, analysis of variance; B, bumble bee group; C, combined (syrphid and bumble bee) group; df, degrees of freedom; group 1, open flower; group 2, tubular flower; group 3, combined (open and tubular) flower; SE, standard error
Understanding the consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem functioning and services is currently a major aim of ecology [1,2]. Animal-mediated pollination is one of the essential ecosystem services provided to humankind [3,4]. The negative impact of pollinator decline on the reproductive success of flowering plants has been documented at the species level [5–7], but little information is available at the community level [8]. Increasing the scale of study to the community level is essential to account for potential competitive or facilitative effects among species that belong to the plant–pollinator network. Such effects, which are often linked to diversity [9,10], are known to have large influences on ecological processes such as community productivity and stability [11,12].
Experimental evidence for diversity effects on the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems is mainly available for plants. As primary producers, plants play a central role in the flow of energy within ecosystems [13,14]. Animal-pollinated angiosperms represent up to 70% of plant species in numerous communities and ecosystems [15]. Mutualistic interactions between animals and plants form several intricate interaction webs [16]. Recent analysis of plant–pollinator and plant–frugivore interaction webs demonstrates that these contain a continuum from fully specialist to fully generalist species [17,18]. However, these networks are structured in a nested way [19,20], with specialists mainly interacting with generalists. Such a pattern might have important consequences for ecosystem functioning, because it might confer resilience to perturbations such as the extinction of species [21] if, for example, generalist pollinators buffer the loss of specialist pollinators [18,22–24]. Furthermore, this hypothesis does not take into account the dynamical properties of these networks. In a plant–pollinator community, variations in species diversity at different trophic levels may lead to an adaptation of interaction strengths [25], which may in turn affect the total effectiveness of pollination. We conclude that more information is urgently needed concerning the impacts of biodiversity loss on multispecies and multitrophic interactions.
To experimentally test the effect of functional diversity on the functioning and persistence of plant–pollinator communities, we defined functional groups of plants and pollinators based on morphological traits. For plants, two functional groups with three species each were defined according to accessibility of floral rewards (pollen and nectar; see Figure 1). The first group (group 1) included Matricaria officinalis, Erodium cicutarium, and Raphanus raphanistrum, which have easily accessible floral rewards and will be called "open flowers." The second group (group 2), called "tubular flowers," included Mimulus guttatus, Medicago sativa, and Lotus corniculatus, all of which present floral rewards hidden at the bottom of a tubular corolla. For pollinators, two functional groups were defined according to mouthparts length (Figure 1). The first group (group A) included three species of syrphid flies (Diptera) with short mouthparts: Saephoria sp., Episyrphus balteatus, and Eristalis tenax. The second group (group B) included three species of bumble bees with longer mouthparts: Bombus terrestris, B, pascuorum, and B, lapidarius. Note that in this case a functional trait (long mouthparts) and a phylogenetic group are confounded. Preliminary observations showed that these six insect species contribute up to 70% of all pollinating visits to flowers in our study area in France. Constructing a plant–pollinator network with these four functional groups leads to a nested structure with specialists interacting with generalists (Figure 1, third column). In principle, syrphid flies cannot efficiently pollinate tubular flowers because their mouthparts are too short.
Summary of the characteristics upon which functional groups of pollinators (left) and plants (right) were based. In the middle, the arrows linking insect heads to flower types show the theoretical pollination network when all functional groups are present.
At the beginning of spring 2003, we set up 36 4-m2 caged experimental plant communities. There were three plant treatments following a "substitutive" design [26]. Two of them contained one of the two plant functional groups alone (group 1 or 2), whereas the third contained both plant functional groups in combination (group 3). We applied three different pollination treatments to each plant treatment, by introducing each pollinator functional group alone (group A or B), or both groups together (group C). This full factorial design led to nine experimental treatments, which were replicated four times each, making a total of 36 experimental units. The pollination treatments were applied in two consecutive years (June–July 2003 and 2004). We controlled for the total number of pollinator visits received by each plot during the two pollination seasons (1,000 visits in 2003 and 1,200 visits in 2004) to allow an unbiased comparison of pollination efficiency among the various experimental treatments.
In August and September 2003, we counted the number of fruits on each plant in every plot. We also counted the number of seeds per fruit on five collected fruits per plant. Lastly, in April 2004 and 2005, we measured both the number of plant species present at the seedling stage (recruitment richness) and the total number of seedlings (recruitment density) to determine the effects of the experimental treatments on the natural recruitment of the next plant generation.
Effects on Plant Reproductive Success
The reproductive success of the two plant functional groups after the first season is analysed in Table 1. There was a significant effect of pollination treatment on the number of fruits per plant (Table 1, left; standardized means ± standard error [SE]: syrphid −0.278 ± 0.061, bumble bee 0.221 ± 0.065, and both 0.063 ± 0.068). Orthogonal contrasts on pollination treatment indicate that the identity of the pollinator guild (syrphid [A] versus bumble bee [B]) had a significant effect. There was a higher fruit production in bumble bee–pollinated communities than in those pollinated by syrphids. Moreover, the breakdown of the interaction of pollination and plant treatments into the orthogonal contrasts A1 versus B1 and A2 versus B2 indicates that the two plant functional groups responded differently to the identity of the pollinator functional group. Tubular 3 flowers (group 2) produced significantly fewer fruits in the syrphid treatment, whereas open flowers (group 1) produced the same amount of fruits whatever the identity of the pollinator functional group (Figure 2A). This supports our hypothesis that bumble bees were able to pollinate both plant functional groups whereas syrphids could only efficiently pollinate open flowers. Although the functional diversity of plant or pollinator treatment alone had no significant effect, fruit production tended to increase with both plant and pollinator functional diversity (contrast [A1 + A2 + B1 + B2] versus C3; Figure 2B).
The left panels show the effects of pollinator guild identity (S indicates syrphid flies, B indicates bumble bees) on the reproductive success of the two plant guilds (open circle indicates open-flowers [group 1], closed circle indicates tubular-flowers [group 2]). Reproductive success was measured by (A) the standardized number of fruits per plant and (B) the standardized number of seeds per fruit. The right panels show the effects of the functional diversity of pollination treatments (triangle), plant treatment (inverted triangle) and both (diamond) on the standardized numbers of fruits per plant (C) and seeds per fruit (D). Lines connecting symbols indicate significant effects (solid indicates p < 0.001, dashed indicates p < 0.08). Error bars represent one standard error. See Table 1 for statistical analysis.
With respect to seed set per fruit, the interaction between plant and pollination treatment was marginally significant (Table 1, right). As with fruit production, the contrasts A1 versus B1 and A2 versus B2 indicate that the two plant functional groups responded differently to pollinator functional group identity. The pattern, however, was different: Open flowers produced significantly fewer seeds per fruit in the bumble bee treatment than in the syrphid treatment (Figure 2C). This means that bumblebees were less-efficient pollinators than syrphids for open flowers. This could be due to the higher rate of geitonogamous visits (i.e., consecutive visits to different flowers of the same plant, resulting in self-fertilization) by bumblebees. Indeed, preliminary observations using a similar experimental design showed that bumble bees perform a higher percentage of geitonogamous visits than do syrphids (I. Dajoz, unpublished data). Finally, the mean number of seeds per fruit in the plant communities tended to increase with functional diversity of pollination treatments (contrast [A + B] versus C; Figure 2D).
Effects on Natural Recruitment
We analysed the long-term effects of our pollination treatments on the natural recruitment of our experimental plant treatments after the first and second pollination seasons. The results are presented in Table 2. There was a significant effect of year on recruitment richness with a higher richness after the second pollination season (mean ± SE: 1.916 ± 0.075 in 2004, and 2.291 ± 0.0856 in 2005). Among the possible causes was a severe drought in 2003 [27], which likely affected both plant and insect populations. Such a drought did not occur in 2004. This difference in climate between years may account for a large part of the year effect.
Recruitment richness was significantly different among plant treatments, with fewer species recruiting in tubular communities (Figure 3). This is very likely due to two perennial species (whereas all species are annuals in the other group) which may have different reproductive traits and create differences in competitive intensity among the plant treatments. There was a significant effect of pollination treatment, with a higher recruitment richness when both groups of pollinators were present (means ± SE: syrphid 1.854 ± 0.973, bumble bee 2.052 ± 0.826, and both 2.406 ± 1.062). However, as suggested by the significant interaction between plant and pollination treatments, the pattern was more complex (Figure 3A). In fact, pollination treatments had no effect on recruitment richness in open-flower plant treatment (Figure 3A, left). In the tubular-flower plant treatment, recruitment in the syrphid fly treatment tended to be lower than in the other pollination treatments (Figure 3A, centre). But the positive effect of pollinator functional diversity was obvious in the plant treatment that contained both plant functional groups (Figure 3A, right). In the mixed plant treatment, recruitment richness under the most functionally diverse pollination treatment was substantially above that in the two other treatments.
Effects of pollination by syrphid flies (S), bumble bees (B), or both (S + B) on (A) recruitment richness (mean number of plant species present as seedlings in a quadrat) and (B) recruitment density (mean number of plant individuals present as seedlings in a quadrat) in the various plant treatments. Error bars represent one standard error. Lower-case letters indicate statistically significant differences among pollination treatments within a plant treatment (Bonferroni-adjusted t-test, p < 0.05).
Considering recruitment density, there was also a significant effect of year, with a higher density after the second pollination season (mean ± SE: 26.784 ± 2.324 in 2004 and 31.319 ± 1.937 in 2005), and a significant effect of plant treatment, with fewer individuals recruiting in tubular communities (Figure 3B, centre). These year and plant-treatment effects can be explained in the same way as for recruitment richness (see above). There was also a significant effect of pollination treatment, with a lower recruitment density when plant communities were pollinated by syrphid flies alone (means ± SE: syrphids: 24.104 ± 20.464, bumble bees: 34.364 ± 32.781, and both 28.688 ± 21.459). This is congruent with our results on the number of fruits produced per plant (see Table 1, contrast A versus B). As for recruitment richness, there was a significant interaction between plant and pollination treatments (Figure 3B). In the open-flower plant treatment, recruitment density was not significantly different among pollination treatments (Figure 3B, left). But in the tubular-flower plant treatment, recruitment density was significantly higher in the bumble bee treatment than in the other pollination treatments (Figure 3B, centre). Finally, in the mixed plant treatment, the same pattern as for recruitment richness was observed: There was a higher density in the mixed pollination treatment than in single-guild pollination treatments (Figure 3B, right).
Note that these results on natural recruitment are not an artefact caused by sampling small quadrats in heterogeneous experimental plots since the same patterns were observed when data from all quadrats in a plot were pooled.
Pollination Visitation Web in the Mixed Plant Treatment
To explain the strong effect of pollinator functional diversity on the persistence of mixed plant communities, we carried out a log-linear analysis on the visitation rate of each insect species in a given pollination treatment, for the six plant species of the mixed plant treatment. Data from the year 2003 are illustrated in Figure 4, and the results of the analysis on both years are presented in Table 3. In the second year, there was a significant effect of plant functional group identity: Tubular flowers received a higher number of visits than did open flowers (mean visitation frequency ± SE: for open flowers 0.236 ± 0.097 and for tubular flowers 0.763 ± 0.097). This is very likely due to the two well-established perennial species, which produced a more attractive floral display during the second year of the experiment. For the two years of the experiment, there was a significant interaction between plant functional group and pollinator functional group. This indicates that the two pollinator functional groups were specialised on different plant functional groups (mean visitation frequency ± SE on open flowers and tubular flowers, respectively: in 2003, for bumble bees 0.128 ± 0.058 and 0.433 ± 0.075; for syrphids 0.327 ± 0.043 and 0.113 ± 0.052; in 2004, for bumble bees 0.01 ± 0.005 and 0.58 ± 0.075; for syrphids 0.23 ± 0.055 and 0.18 ± 0.087). Syrphids mainly visited open flowers whereas bumble bees preferentially visited tubular flowers (Figure 4). Even though bumble bees can pollinate open flowers quite efficiently when this is the only plant functional group present (as shown by the reproductive success, recruitment diversity, and recruitment density of the open-flower plant treatment in the bumble bee treatment, Figures 2 and 3), they focus on the tubular-flower group in the mixed plant treatment. In the mixed pollination treatment, the match between plant and pollinator functional groups leads to a more homogenous distribution of pollinator visits among plant groups than in the other pollination treatments. Ultimately, this significantly increases the reproductive success of plants, most likely through the homogenisation of pollinator visits and the minimization of inefficient pollinator visits.
Distribution of pollinator visits for the year 2003, among the six plant species in the plant treatment containing the two plant functional groups, (A) for the mixed pollination treatment (S + B) and (B) for the single functional group pollination treatments (S or B). The length of the side of the black squares shows the proportion of visits by a given pollinator species on each plant species. Lower-case letters represent plant species: a, Ma. officinalis; b, E. cicutarium; c, R. raphanistrum; d, Mi.guttatus; e, Me. sativa; f, L. corniculatus. Numbers represent pollinator species: 1, Saephoria sp.; 2, Ep. balteatus; 3, Er. tenax; 4, B. terrestris; 5, B. pascuorum; 6, B. lapidarius.
Previous studies on the diversity of plant–pollinator interaction webs were either descriptive [16], carried out on a single plant species [6,7,28–30], or based on simulation [21] and theoretical approaches [22,31]. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence that the persistence of a plant community can be affected by a loss of diversity of its pollinating fauna. Of course, our experimental communities differed from natural ones in several respects. Among other things, the interaction networks we studied were much simpler than those occurring in nature; in particular, they contained fewer species in each trophic level. But such simplifications from natural situations are often necessary to carry out controlled experiments.
In plant communities that contained only open flowers, plants produced fewer seeds per fruit in the bumblebee treatment than in the syrphid treatment (Figure 2C), but this was compensated by a sufficiently high fruit production, leading to a richness and density of natural recruitment that was similar to the other pollination treatments (Figure 3A and 3B left). Thus, in these communities, all pollination treatments were equally effective in the long term.
In plant communities that contained only tubular flowers, syrphids were inefficient pollinators; fruit production was very low (Figure 2A) and insufficient to allow a good natural recruitment. Bumble bees were the most effective pollinators (Figure 3A and 3C, centre). Note that in the bumble bee treatment, the very high value of average recruitment density was due to three measurements in two replicates, in which only M. guttatus seedlings were recorded at a very high density (more than 150 seedlings per quadrat). To test the effect of these outliers, we removed them and repeated our analysis. The same significant effects were observed, except for the effect of pollination treatment, which became marginally significant (p = 0.0645). The new mean number of seedlings per quadrat for this experimental treatment was 32.17 ± 4.55 (SE), which is still slightly above the value for the pollination treatment with both pollinator groups. For plant communities that contained only tubular flowers, recruitment richness in the two pollination treatments that contained bumblebees was similar.
These results are in agreement with our theoretical pollination network presented in Figure 1. In our experimental system, syrphids can be considered as specialist pollinators since they efficiently pollinate only open flowers. Bumble bees were potentially generalists as they induced an important fruit production of the two plant types and a good recruitment in the open- and tubular-flower plant treatments. Our results on the reproductive success and recruitment of single-guild plant treatments indicate that there are strong functional group identity effects since our plant functional groups responded differently to our pollinator functional groups.
However, the functional diversity of both the plant and pollination treatments was also important. Plant reproductive success tended to increase with pollinator functional diversity when the number of seeds per fruit was considered, and with both plant and pollinator functional diversity when the number of fruits per plant was considered (Figures 2B and 2D). Although recruitment in single-guild plant treatments was mainly affected by the identity of functional groups, the effect of functional diversity was dramatic in the mixed plant treatment. Natural recruitment of plant communities visited by mixed pollinator guilds was largely above that in other pollination treatments.
Pollination by syrphids alone allowed the reproduction of open flowers but not tubular flowers, as expected from the specialisation of syrphids. More surprisingly, however, bumble bees failed to be efficient generalist pollinators. Most of their visits occurred on tubular flowers (Figure 4), resulting in a relatively poor recruitment of open flowers. The only pollination treatment that achieved a high recruitment of both open and tubular flowers when they were mixed, was the one containing the two insect functional groups (Figure 3, right). When syrphids and bumble bees simultaneously pollinated mixed plant communities, they each focused on their target plant functional group, leading to more efficient visits and a better distribution of visits among plant functional groups (Figure 4). Ultimately, it was the pollination treatment with both pollinator functional groups that produced the highest richness and density of natural recruitment. Consequently, since most natural plant communities contain both open and tubular flowers, pollinator functional diversity should strongly enhance the persistence of these communities.
Although our experimental system differed from natural communities, and information about the reciprocal effects of the functional diversity of plant communities on the diversity of pollinator communities would be useful, our study indicates that the functional diversity of plant–pollinator interaction webs may be critical for the persistence and functioning of ecosystems and should be carefully monitored and protected. The loss of pollinator functional diversity is likely to trigger plant population decline or extinctions [4], which in turn are likely to affect the structure and composition of natural plant communities and the productivity of many agroecosytems that rely on insect pollination [8]. Ultimately, higher trophic levels may be affected since the diversity and biomass of consumers depend on primary production. Our results strongly suggest that the functional diversity of complex interaction webs plays a crucial role in the sustainability of ecosystems.
Materials and Methods
Experimental plant communities
At the beginning of spring 2003, plant communities were set up in a meadow that remained almost undisturbed for 10 years at the Station Biologique de Foljuif, France, 80 km southwest of Paris. Prior to the establishment of the communities, soil was sterilized by injecting 120 °C steam (30 min) to destroy the seed bank and soil pathogens. In each of the 36 4-m2 plots, a total of 30 adult plants were planted on a grid, spaced 25 cm from each other, to minimize competition and homogenise spatial distribution. Thus, plant density was the same in all experimental plots. We selected a moderate density to maintain within- and among-species competition to a low level, and to allow enough space for future recruitment in the plots. Each of these plant communities was enclosed in a 2-m–high nylon mesh cage in order to eliminate natural pollinator visitation.
Pollination rounds
During the flowering seasons (June–July 2003 and 2004), pollinators were captured around the study area and introduced into the cages. The relative abundance of pollinator species in the various pollination treatments reflects their natural abundances. From preliminary observations, we had noticed that, in order to have no more than three insects active at the same moment in a 4-m2 plot, it was necessary to put about eight syrphid flies, or six bumble bees, or a mixture of six syrphids and four bumble bees in each pollination cage. Each pollination round in a given plot included 200 visits in the year 2003 and 300 in the year 2004. In total, each plot received either four (in 2004) or five (in 2003) pollination rounds, leading to a total of 1,000 visits per plot in 2003 and 1,200 in 2004.
Pollination activity
Bumble bees needed approximately 30 min after introduction in the cages to calm down and start to pollinate. In the pollination treatment with both pollinator guilds, we then introduced syrphids, which started to pollinate immediately. Mean visitation time was not significantly different between insects in the cages and in nature. This was true both for bumble bees (mean visitation time in cages: 3.25 ± 0.92 s, mean visitation time in nature: 2.91 ± 1.33 s, t = 1.51, df = 96, p = 0.133) and for syrphids (mean visitation time in cages: 40.21 ± 8.89 s, mean visitation time in nature: 35.38 ± 14.75 s, t = 0.77, df = 12, p = 0.45).
Measurement of reproductive success
One month after the first pollination treatments, we counted the total number of fruits on each plant, except for M. guttatus and M. officinalis in which fruits cannot be counted without collecting them. We randomly took five fruits per plant of each species to estimate the number of seeds per fruit.
Measurement of recruitment richness and density
Recruitment richness and density were estimated during the second (April 2004) and third (April 2005) year of the experiment by counting the number of seedlings of each species in four 1,600-cm2 quadrats in each plot.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analyses were performed using SAS 8.2 software.
For the analysis of plant reproductive success, we log-transformed the data to ensure normality. We standardized the data by species using the formula: x − μ/σ (where μ = the mean and σ = the standard deviation of number of fruits or number of seeds per fruit for a given plant species) in order to make the data comparable among the various species and functional groups. We used a mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) model (SAS proc mixed), in which the fixed effects were plant treatment, pollination treatment, and their interaction term. To investigate the effects of the various plant and pollination treatments, we subdivided a priori each main effect into two components using orthogonal contrasts. The first contrast tested the effect of the identity of the plant or pollinator functional group, i.e. one group versus the other. The second tested the effect of the functional diversity of the plant or pollination treatment, i.e. single-guild versus mixed-guild plant or pollination treatments. Similarly, we subdivided the interaction into three orthogonal contrasts testing the effects of pollinator functional group identity on each plant guild, and the effect of the functional diversity of both plant and pollination treatments. See Table 1 for the construction of the contrasts.
For the analysis of plant recruitment, we used a repeated measure ANOVA model (SAS proc mixed). The fixed effects were pollination treatment, plant treatment, year, and all the interaction terms. The repeated effect was year, and the subject effect was replicate. For recruitment density, data were log transformed.
For each year of the experiment, the visitation rate of pollinators on each plant species in the communities with both plant functional groups was analysed using a mixed log-linear model (glimix macro, SAS). We subdivided the pollination treatment into two effects: pollinator functional diversity (one or two pollinator functional groups) and identity of the pollinator functional group (bumble bees or syrphids). The model included pollinator species nested within identity of pollinator functional groups, plant species nested within identity of plant functional group, identity of pollinator functional groups, identity of plant functional groups, pollinator functional diversity, and all interaction terms. The replicate was a random effect.
We thank Carine Collin, Romain Gallet, Jean-Francois le Galliard, Jacques Gignoux, Andy Gonzalez, Gérard Lacroix, Gaelle Lahoreau, Louis Lambrecht, Manuel Massot, Naoise Nunan, Virginie Tavernier, and Elisa Thebault for useful discussions; and Marco Banchi, Yves Bas, Mathilde Baude, Alix Boulouis, Marion Decoust, Patricia Genet, Alexandra Kabadajic, Mohsen Kayal, Fanny Marlin, and Emilie Patural for great help in the field and in the lab. We also thank Andy Gonzalez, Andy Hector, Marcel van der Heijden, Claire Kremen, Jane Memmott, Nick Waser, and three anonymous reviewers for constructive and useful comments on the manuscript. We acknowledge the financial support of the Quantitative Ecology Coordinated Incentive Action (ACI Ecologie Quantitative) of the Ministry of Research (France).
Author Contributions
CF and ID designed the experiment. CF, ID, and JM performed the experiment. CF analysed the data. CF, ID, and ML conceived the work and wrote the paper.
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Ruth Clausen started having severe headaches when she was 14 or 15 years old. At first they didn't happen very often, but as time went on, they became more frequent. The headaches usually started at night, waking her up with an excruciating pain in her head. She would also feel sick to her stomach and throw up. During her headaches, Ruth was extremely sensitive to smells and tastes, which could make her vomit. Her headaches tended to be triggered by changes in the weather. The headaches would last for as long as three days.
Getting a diagnosis of migraine was a long process for Ruth. At first, her doctors thought her headaches, which were not very frequent at the time, were due to the flu, hormones, or a food allergy. She was referred to a chiropractor to see whether the headaches were related to a problem in her neck. She also saw an allergist to investigate whether her headaches were allergy-related. It was Ruth's allergist who eventually put the pieces together and referred her to a neurologist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating conditions of the brain and nervous system), who diagnosed her with migraine. By this time Ruth was nearly 30.
Once the cause of the problem was identified, Ruth worked together with her neurologist to develop a plan for managing her migraine attacks. To learn more about how Ruth and her doctor found a treatment, see "Finding a migraine treatment that works."
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Ruths-Story-Managing-Migraine


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Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Levels of professionalism can vary from workplace to workplace. Burgeoning professionals seeking careers in the accounting field will likely have to become accustomed to a corporate style which may differ from other industries. When new employees maintain a professional manner around co-workers, it demonstrates that they're serious about their work and wish to grow with the company.
New accounting professionals should always be prepared for meetings, show up on time and cultivate a good reputation within the company. If they happen to associate with coworkers who display undesirable habits, it may be best for them to distance themselves. Ultimately, the office is a workplace.
In addition, new employees can help their careers by demonstrating their abilities to complete tasks. By promptly and accurately finishing assignments,they'll also present themselves as dependable team members who are likely to help out in a pinch if necessary. And while they don't need to be best friends with everyone, they can make a positive impression on coworkers by maintaining a positive attitude, respecting others and offering their support on major projects.
These tips will help new accounting professional as they enter the workforce. Those interested in pursing careers in the accounting field can enroll in the Accounting and Payroll Administrator program at CDI College. For more information, fill out the form on the right.


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Paul Albert Gordan
Quick Info
Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland)
Erlangen, Germany
Paul Gordan's father, David Gordan,was a merchant in Breslau, and his mother was Friedericke Friedenthal. Paul was educated in Breslau where he attended the Gymnasium, going on to study at the business school. At this stage Gordan was not heading for an academic career and he worked for several years in banks.He had, however, attended lectures by Kummer on number theory at the University of Berlin in 1855 and his interest in mathematics was strongly encouraged by N H Schellbach who acted as a private tutor to Gordan. His university career began at the University of Breslau but, as almost all German students did at this time, he undertook part of his university studies at different universities. Moving to Königsberg, Gordan studied under Jacobi, then he moved to Berlin where he began to become interested in problems concerning algebraic equations.
Returning to the University of Breslau he submitted a dissertation on geodesics of spheroids in 1862. This was a fine piece of work and the dissertation, which employed methods devised by Lagrange and Jacobi, was awarded a prize by the Philosophy Faculty at Breslau.
As soon as Gordan had completed his dissertation he went to visit Riemann at Göttingen. However, Riemann had caught a heavy cold which turned to tuberculosis so Gordan's visit was cut short. In 1863 Clebsch invited Gordan to come to Giessen. He lectured at Giessen, being promoted to associate professor in 1865. In 1869, while still at Giessen, Gordan married Sophie Deurer who was the daughter of the professor of law there.
The first work which Gordan and Clebsch worked on in Giessen was the theory of abelian functions. They jointly wrote the treatise Theorie der Abelschen Funktionen Ⓣ which was published in 1866. The Clebsch-Gordan coefficients used in spherical harmonics were introduced by them as a result of this cooperation. The topic for which Gordan is most famous is invariant theory and Clebsch introduced him to this topic in 1868. For the rest of his career, although Gordan did not work exclusively on this topic, it would be fair to say that invariant theory dominated his mathematical research.
For the next twenty years Gordan tried to prove the finite basis theorem conjecture for -ary forms. He made a good start to solving this problem for when he found a constructive proof of a finite basis for binary forms. The higher cases defeated him, however, and despite introducing more and more complicated computational techniques he failed to construct a finite basis.
Gordan did not undertake the bulk of this work at Giessen, however, for he moved to Erlangen in 1874 to become professor of mathematics at the university. When Gordan was appointed Klein held the chair of mathematics at Erlangen but he moved in the following year to the Technische Hochschule at Munich. In the year 1874-75 when Gordan and Klein were together at Erlangen they undertook a joint research project examining groups of substitutions of algebraic equations. They investigated the relationship between and equations of degree five. Later Gordan went on to examine the relation between the group and equations of degree seven, then he studied the relation of the group to equations of degree six.
In 1888 Hilbert proved the finite basis theorem, only giving an existence proof, not one which allowed the basis to be constructed. Hilbert submitted his results to Mathematische Annalen and, since Gordan was the leading world expert on invariant theory, he was asked his opinion of the work. Gordan found Hilbert's revolutionary approach difficult to appreciate and not at all consistent with his ideas of constructive mathematics. After refereeing the paper, he sent his comments to Klein:-
The problem lies not with the form ... but rather much deeper. Hilbert has scorned to present his thoughts following formal rules, he thinks it suffices that no one contradict his proof ... he is content to think that the importance and correctness of his propositions suffice. ... for a comprehensive work for the Annalen this is insufficient.However, Hilbert had learnt through his friend Hurwitz about Gordan's report to Klein, and he wrote to Klein in forceful terms:-
... I am not prepared to alter or delete anything, and regarding this paper, I say with all modesty, that this is my last word so long as no definite and irrefutable objection against my reasoning is raised.Klein was in a difficult position. Gordan was recognised as the leading world expert on invariant theory and he was also a close friend of Klein's. However Klein recognised the importance of Hilbert's work and assured him that it would appear in the Annalen without any changes whatsoever, as indeed it did.
Gordan also worked on algebraic geometry and he gave simplified proofs of the transcendence of e and π. One rather unsuccessful idea which he embarked on quite late in his career was to apply invariant theory to chemical valences. His work on this, however, came in for criticism from mathematicians such as Eduard Study, and chemists were totally unimpressed with the ideas too. This was rather an unfortunate episode since it resulted in Gordan, who had enjoyed a fine reputation, losing respect from his colleagues.
The style of Gordan's mathematics, which lead to his difficulties with Hilbert's basis theorem, is described in [1]:-
The overall style of Gordan's mathematical work was algorithmic. He shied away from presenting his ideas in informal literary forms. He derived his results computationally, working directly towards the desired goal without offering explanations of the concepts that motivated the work.Gordan's only doctoral student was Emmy Noether, the daughter of Max Noether who was also at Erlangen during this period. One would have to say that this lack of numbers is more than made up for by the remarkable quality of that one student who would do so much to set algebra on the path it is still on today.
References (show)
- C S Fisher, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990). See THIS LINK.
- A I Borodin, Mathematical calendar for the 1986/87 academic year (Russian), Mat. v Shkole (1) (1987), 73-74.
- M Noether, Paul Gordan, Mathematische Annalen 75 (1914), 1-41.
Additional Resources (show)
Other pages about Paul Gordan:
Other websites about Paul Gordan:
Honours (show)
Honours awarded to Paul Gordan
Cross-references (show)
Written by J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update May 2000
Last Update May 2000


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JF Ptak Science Books
L. Lewin. Phantastic, die Betaubenden und Erregenden Genussmittel fuer Artze und Nichtarzte., Berlin; Verlag von Georg Stiler: 1927. 2nd edition. 465pp. Cloth. Fine copy. $225.00 ("Narcotics and Stimulating Drugs, their Use and Abuse).
Luke Howard achieved some fame and did the world a great service by (finally) identifying and classifying some of the most-overlooked objects in the natural world--clouds. Throughout the history of humans giving names to things, even in the groups of the greatest of the classifiers, like Aristotle, clouds managed, somehow, to escape their classifying grid-vision--until Luke Howard, which took until the early 19th century. (I wrote about him here.)
Louis Lewin (1850-1929)--Dr. Lewin--classified another sort of "cloud", more of the internal, botanically-induced psychoactive variety than the outside, high-in-the-actual-sky clouds. Lewin was a pharmacologist and leading toxicologist, and what he did, really,was help to establish the field of ethnobotany through his deep scientific investigation of drug use around the world. This was an entirely new approach to this issue: by investigating how the plants produced their effects Lewin took another step into a new field apart from the prevailing anthropological approach, which looked at the methods and beliefs and such in the use of the drugs. Lewin experimented with peyote, te, heroin, coffee, annabis, alcohol, opium, kava and of course tobacco, as well as many other drugs, and published them in his book Phantastic, die Betaubenden und Erregenden Genussmittel fuer Artze und Nichtarzte ("Narcotics and Stimulating Drugs, their Use and Abuse) in 1924, expanding it in a second edition in 1927.
Lewin organized and classified the drugs into categories that remained basically unchanged: Inebriantia (inebriants such as alcohol or ether) ; Exitantia (stimulants such as khat or amphetamine) ; Euphorica (euphoriants and narcotics such as heroin) ; Hypnotica (tranquilizers such as kava); and of course the Phantastica (hallucinogens or entheogens such as peyote or ayahuasca). [This list with links transfered from an article on Lewin from wiki.]


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You'll want to use a normal purple eggplant (not the small Japanese variety), but you can easily vary the amount by varying the eggplant size and amount of pasta. A smaller eggplant and 1/2 pound of pasta will make enough for two people, while a large eggplant and 1 pound of pasta will make enough for four. I've made it both ways, and didn't adjust any of the other ingredients...it turned out very well in either case.
Check out some other awesome pasta recipes from Haalo of Cook Almost Anything, in this week's Presto Pasta Nights round-up, which will be posted this Friday. You can also find out more about Presto Pasta Nights here and check out the original host, Ruth, at Once Upon a Feast.
Spicy Roasted Eggplant Penne (adapted from Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada de Laurentiis)
2-4 servings, depending on the size eggplant and amount of pasta you choose (see above)
1 eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, whole
3 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 to 1 pound penne pasta
1/4 cup torn fresh mint leaves
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. In a large bowl, combine the eggplant, cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Spread the vegetables on the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Roast in the oven until the vegetables are tender and the eggplant is golden, 35 minutes.
2. While the vegetables are roasting, lightly toast the pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat until browned. Watch them very carefully, as they can burn quite easily.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, 8-10 minutes. Drain , reserving 1 1/2 cups of the pasta water. Return pasta to pot.
4. Transfer the roasted vegetables to food processor. Add the torn mint leaves and the olive oil. Pulse until the vegetables are pureed, but still somewhat chunky with some distinct bits of vegetables. Season to taste with more freshly ground black pepper.
5. Transfer the vegetables to the pot with the pasta and heat gently to make sure everything is warmed through. Add the pasta cooking liquid if needed to thin the sauce (I didn't need to do this). Serve with the toasted pine nuts and Parmesan sprinkled on top.


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WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The most likely book readers in the United States are high-school students, college-age adults and people in their 30s, with e-book use highest among 30-somethings, a survey released on Tuesday showed.
Seventy-eight percent of Americans had read at least one book in the previous 12 months, with the rate 83 percent among those aged between 16 and 29, according to the survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project.
The survey is part of Pew's effort to assess U.S. reading habits as e-books change the reading landscape and the borrowing services of libraries.
The highest percentage of readers by age was 88 percent, among the 18-24 age group, followed by 86 percent in the 16-17 range. Readers in the 30-39 group trailed at 84 percent.
The lowest percentage of readers was among people older than 65, at 68 percent. The survey covered books in print, in electronic formats and audiobooks.
Among Americans who read e-books, those under 30 are more likely to read them on a cell phone, at 41 percent, or on a computer (55 percent) than on an e-book reader (23 percent) or tablet (16 percent).
Forty-seven percent of younger Americans read long-form e-content such as books, magazines or newspapers. But the highest e-book use was among people 30 to 39, at one quarter.
The findings were the result of a phone survey of 2,986 people aged 16 and older conducted between Nov. 16 and Dec. 21. The margin of error is 2.2 percentage points.
In a separate May 2012 survey, 60 percent of respondents under 30 said they used a library in the past year.
"Many of these young readers do not know they can borrow an e-book from a library, and a majority of them express the wish they could do so on pre-loaded e-readers," the Pew report said.
The library survey was done online, with 6,573 people answering at least some questions and 4,396 completing the questionnaire. No margin of error was given. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; editing by David Brunnstrom)


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Santos & Botafogo Claim Disney Titles!
Team Chicago Academy-Santos and Botafogo both claimed Disney College Showcase titles today. For Santos it was the second year in a row they claimed the Disney title.
Santos faced ISA from New York in the U17 final which proved to be a very tight and physical contest. Heather Handwork got Santos on the board first after a great, mazy run midway through the first half. Madi Harris and Katie Ciesiulka assisted on the goal. Unfortunataly, ISA was able to strike back just before the half.
Santos took control from the start of the 2nd half and created a number of good chances, but unfortunately hitting the crossbar was as close as they came. The game went into 2 5-minute overtime periods, but Santos only needed 90 seconds for Kristen Brots to record the game-winner from 30 yards out after Hannah Rodgers' pass.
The win capped a great week for Santos with very convincing performances against top-level teams from New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, and New York.
Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo also claimed the Disney title with a convincing 6-2 win over Javanon from Kentucky. The game was televised on ESPN3 and can be found at this link http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/744360/size/condensed/
Botafogo conceded an early goal, but responded with 2 goals in the next 3 minutes to take a 2-1 lead into the break. The first goal was by Zoe Swift from Meegan Johnston and Gianna Dal Pozzo's assists, and the second goal was a perfect Jenna Romano header off Hope D'Addario's corner.
Botafogo quickly ran away with the game in the 2nd half as Zoe Swift scored twice in two minutes from perfect Zoey Goralski assists. Ashley Handwork made it 5-1 halfway through the 2nd half and Molly Piech got the final goal in the 89th minute from Meegan Johnston's cross.
The win was Botafogo's first Disney title after being runners-up the past two years.
Team Record
Mon, Jun 05 | vs. Team Chicago-2005... | ( Stats ) |
Sun, May 28 | at Memorial Day Tour... | ( Stats ) |
Sat, May 27 | at Memorial Day Tour... | ( Stats ) |
Wed, May 17 | at WC lions | ( Stats ) |
Sat, May 13 | vs. Team Chicago-2005... | ( Stats ) |


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UAE High School Students' Perceptions of Teachers' Feedback on their Writing
For most teachers, marking students' papers and responding to their writing is a daunting and tedious task. It is also a practice that could carry potential dangers and requires careful consideration. However, feedback ...


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Please contact Public Works at 559-876-6300, option 5.
Show All Answers
You can phone us at 559-876-6300. Our phone line hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also come into City Hall (1700 Seventh Street), to the Finance public counter and sign-up for service in person. Read more about the utilities and water service.
Please contact the Finance Department, 559-876-6300, ext 1100. Read more about business licenses.


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Garcon Roadmap for Xfce 4.8
Please note that garcon is not a core component (only an essential dependency) but it is especially relevant for the Xfce 4.8 development cycle for two reasons:
- It's (going to be) used everywhere (xfce4-panel, xfdesktop, xfce4-appfinder, …)
- It's not finished (main thing missing is monitoring)
Fine-Grained Monitoring (postponed, for now basic monitoring will do: 100%)
libxfce4menu 4.6 used a dead simple approach for menu and menu item monitoring: destroy existing menus upon changes and require applications to rebuild their menu from the bottom up. This is very inefficient. Now with garcon we have a proper, very detailed representation of the menu tree and its elements in memory. We can use that to handle many of the changes that can be made to the file system. Everything from the destroy-and-recreate approach up to menu tree patching and fine-grained menu monitoring is possible.
This is discussed in more detail on garcon.
Completed: 60-70%
Assignees: Nick, Jannis
Difficulty: Tough
(Menu Editing APIs)
I've presented some of the ideas I have in mind for making it possible to write full-fleshed menu editors on top of garcon on http://gezeiten.org/post/2009/02/Thoughts-on-libxfce4menu-for-Xfce-48. This is optional for this cycle as it is not required by an core components of Xfce.
Completed: 0% (Optional)
Assignee: Jannis
Difficulty: Tough


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Release Date: November 21, 2017 This content is archived.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rodney M. Grabowski, a highly accomplished fundraising executive with more than 25 years of experience, has been named vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement at the University at Buffalo.
Grabowski's appointment, announced today by UB President Satish K. Tripathi, followed a national search and is effective Dec. 4.
"We are thrilled to welcome Rod Grabowski to our university family," Tripathi said. "Now more than ever, it is critical that we harness the power of philanthropy and alumni engagement from every corner of our community to achieve our vision of excellence for UB. With a successful career spanning nearly three decades, Rod has the depth of skills and breadth of strategic experience to accomplish just that.
"He is acutely aware that inspiring greater philanthropic giving and alumni engagement means the difference between being a very good public research university and being in the highest tier of public research universities," Tripathi added. "And he has the demonstrated record of exemplary leadership to help us realize these ambitious and transformative goals."
Grabowski will serve as the university's senior officer for philanthropy and alumni engagement, working closely with the president, provost, deans, executive director of the UB Foundation and other university leaders and volunteers to guide the work of philanthropy and alumni engagement at UB.
"Rod's prior success in articulating the value and importance of philanthropy and alumni engagement adds significant strength to UB's senior leadership team and to the UB and Western New York communities," said A. Scott Weber, UB vice president for student life and chair of the search committee.
"While we had many strong candidates for the position, the search committee felt that Rod brought a unique understanding of UB's dynamic role and value to the region and beyond. I have no doubt that his leadership will further elevate the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement at UB, and I look forward to his joining the university community."
Under Grabowski's leadership, the university will seek to increase overall fundraising outcomes, with an emphasis on developing and implementing strategies for securing more and larger major gifts, particularly from individuals, but also from corporations and foundations.
Grabowski will work to successfully conclude a comprehensive campaign currently underway to help advance UB, one of the nation's leading public research universities, to the next level of excellence. The university's campaign is focused on supporting faculty through endowed professorships, increasing student scholarships and improving the physical environment for teaching and research.
He also will direct university-wide efforts to strengthen UB's relationships with more than 255,000 alumni worldwide, with the goal of increasing participation in all university alumni engagement programs and engaging alumni as lifelong and involved partners.
Grabowski said that during the interview process for the position he was "thoroughly impressed with the passion, vision and direction of the University at Buffalo as expressed by the volunteers, staff and leadership of UB."
"I am excited to join President Tripathi as we work together to strengthen philanthropy and alumni engagement that will benefit the students, faculty and programs at UB," he said. "The University at Buffalo has a strong history and an exciting future that will be certain to enhance Western New York, the nation and world for decades to come."
Grabowski formerly served at the University of Cincinnati, where he was president of the University of Cincinnati Foundation, as well as vice president of advancement at the university and president and CEO of the UC Health Foundation. At Cincinnati, Grabowski successfully concluded the Proudly Cincinnati $1 billion campaign, surpassing the goal by 10 percent in 2013. He was responsible for raising more than $200 million annually and substantially surpassed base fundraising goals each year, which grew from $170 million in fiscal year 2014 to $258.9 million in fiscal year 2016.
He led a team to develop comprehensive proposals to donors that resulted in multiple seven-figure gifts in 2016, including the largest gift ever to the Innocence Project ($15 million) and Linder College of Business building gifts of $11 million and $5 million, and a $5 million gift toward renovating the university's athletic arena.
A native of Phoenix, N.Y., Grabowski began his career in higher education fundraising at Alfred University, where he served as senior development officer and associate director of annual giving and alumni relations. He was an integral member of the university's campaign management team and assisted in the planning and coordination of the $70 million New Millennium Campaign.
Search committee member Liesl Folks, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said she is delighted Grabowski is joining UB's leadership team.
"I very much look forward to working with Rod to achieve our goals of growing the support base for the university's mission and increasing alumni engagement," Folks said.
"His broad experience in philanthropy and alumni engagement at top-ranked institutions is going to be tremendously valuable as a resource. I am confident that he will fit right in with our culture, too, given his prior Western New York experience. I'm excited to welcome him to campus and to partner with him to do great things."
Michael Anderson, BA '97, president of the UB Alumni Association who also served on the search committee, said Grabowski's extensive background in philanthropy stood out among committee members.
"Rod brings an abundance of experience in philanthropic development, as well as successful collaboration among faculty, staff and alumni constituent groups," said Anderson, area retail leader, vice president at Key Bank Corporation. "His leadership experience will be integral in driving UB strategic initiatives in the years ahead."
Prior to his tenure at the University of Cincinnati, Grabowski served at the University of South Florida (USF) as senior associate vice president for advancement and campaign director, where he was responsible for the overall management of the university's $600 million fundraising campaign. He also served as interim vice president and CEO of the USF Foundation and as the university's associate vice president for central development. At USF, Grabowski led the university's advancement operation, which secured a university record $111.6 million in gifts in fiscal year 2011, surpassing the previous record by more than $30 million.
He also served as associate vice president for development, and director of constituent programs and planned giving at the University of North Florida, and as executive director of development at Jacksonville University. His leadership helped both institutions to complete comprehensive campaigns.
Grabowski is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CRFE) who earned an MBA from the University of North Florida. He is an alumnus of Syracuse University, earning a bachelor of arts degree in international relations. His volunteer and service accomplishments include several committee roles and presentations for the Association of Fundraising Professionals and CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. An Eagle Scout, he is active in the Boy Scouts of America.
John Della Contrada
Vice President for University Communications
521 Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260
Tel: 716-645-4094 (mobile: 716-361-3006)
Twitter: @UBNewsSource


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- Artist
- Cornelia Parker CBE RA born 1956
- Part of
- Room for Margins
- Medium
- Canvas lining with ingrained dust and ink
- Dimensions
- Frame: 1210 × 905 × 35 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by the artist 2000
- Reference
Room for Margins became part of Tate's collection under highly individual circumstances. It was first conceived as a temporary installation for Cornelia Parker's 1998 exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery using archive material lent from Tate's conservation department. It comprises six (not seven as detailed in Tate Facts 1998-2000, London 2000) canvas liners and five sets of canvas tacking edges, all removed by conservators in the 1950s and 1960s, due to their deteriorating condition, from paintings by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) in Tate's collection. A canvas liner is an unprimed layer of canvas placed over a stretcher before attaching the primed canvas on which the artist paints. This is done to protect the back of the painted canvas and to help keep it flat. Tacking edges are the parts of the canvas which have been folded around the back of the stretcher. Parker first saw the liners and edges in Tate conservation in February 1998 and was intrigued by their fragile beauty. Each liner bears water damage or tearing, and variations in tone and texture reveal the 'ghosted' image of the stretcher, occasionally with the imprint of the cross-brace visible. In Parker's work, each piece is displayed with an adjacent label citing the Turner painting from which it had been removed. The liners act as 'physical stand-ins' or metaphors for 'removal', their deteriorated state an eerie reminder of the vulnerability of works of art and the threat of physical loss. Moreover, Parker's individual framing of each canvas stresses the beauty and power of the liners as visual objects in their own right.
Although they have research value as historical items, the liners and tacking edges are classified as residual or support material. Therefore, unlike the 'originals' from which they were removed, they were never accessioned into Tate's collection. By displaying them as a work authored by herself, Parker sought to question that classification and reveal it as arbitrary. The subsequent accessioning of the liners and edges in the form of the installation Room for Margins into Tate Collection adds to this meaning, effecting the shift in their status from temporary to permanent, from secondary to original material. Although the eleven pieces are regarded as part of a single installation, they can also be exhibited in smaller groups of no fewer than five.
Room for Margins recalls Parker's longstanding fascination with the positive and negative values that we attribute to materials and the arbitrary basis by which we ascribe them. Her interest in reclaiming the 'waste' or 'disposable' counterparts to products of worth similarily informs her 1996 work Negatives of Sound (Frith Street Gallery), which comprises the black lacquer excreted during the process of cutting grooves into a vinyl record. This strategy of transforming a material's status without enacting any physical change to it provides an interesting complement to Parker's more familiar practice of transforming the value of an object or material through the use of extreme physical force. Examples of the latter include Thirty Pieces of Silver 1989 (Tate T07461) and Cold, Dark Matter: An Exploded View 1991 (Tate T06949).
Further reading:
Cornelia Parker, exhibition pamphlet, Serpentine Gallery, London 1998, [p.4].
Cornelia Parker, exhibition catalogue, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston 2000, reproduced p.42.
Cornelia Parker, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin 2001, reproduced in colour, p.46.
Helen Delaney
December 2001
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Product Features:
We at Drinkstuff have sourced the finest, bar quality professional stainless steel products from around the world.
We've created an all-in-one set which provides you with everything you could need for: a stylish home bar, some casual drinks with friends or the perfect gift.
Set contains: Professional Boston Cocktail Shaker, White Plastic Ice Crusher, Double Jigger Measure, Wooden Cocktail Muddler, Twisted Mixing Spoon and six Hiball Glasses
These professional quality cocktail tools are sure to impress friends and family
This set comes with six hiball glasses that are the perfect size for serving Mojitos!
Pack Contains:
6 x Hiball Glasses
1 x Professional Boston Cocktail Shaker
1 x White Plastic Ice Crusher
1 x Double Jigger Measure
1 x 8inch Wooden Muddler
1 x Twisted Mixing Spoon
Brand: bar@drinkstuff
Country of Origin: China
Manufacturer Part Number:
Single: DS10442
Single: 5060152855250
Packaging Dimensions:
Single: 250 x 310 x 240mm, 3.35kg
Hiball Glass Capacity:
360ml (12.7oz)
Cocktail Shaker Capacity:
Tin: 800ml (28oz)
Glass: 450ml (16oz)
Jigger Measure Capacities:
25ml and 50ml
Hiball Glass: H 160mm Ø 63mm
Shaker Tin: H 175mm Ø 93mm
Shaker Glass: H 150mm Ø 88mm
Ice Crusher: H 230mm W 160mm D 115mm
Jigger Measure: H 88mm Ø 40mm
Muddler: L 210mm Ø 25mm
Twisted Mixing Spoon: L 280mm W 35mm D 32mm


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Issue: Currently my site has one particular page which has country specific data. So I've URLs like :
All these pages have 80-90% common content and 10-20% country specific content. currently all these pages canonically point to mysite.com/sale-united-states
The problem is when someone searches for "sale Sweden", Google correctly shows mysite.com/sale-united-states
page, which does not feel correct as it shows US page instead of Sweden.
Now I'm thinking of not using canonical url so that country specific urls are produced in Google saerch. But I'm not sure how 80% duplicate content is going to affect SEO? What should be the recommended approach for this situation?
A friend of mine suggested a "separate subdomain per country" based approach but it seems overkill for one page.


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Our planet's rain forests - rich matrices of life which exist primarily in tropical regions - provide us with unique opportunity to observe life in all of its manifold and perplexing beauty. Most rain forests date back some two to three hundred million years. This extreme age has allowed many unusual and complex relationships to develop among the inhabitants of these tropical ecosystems.
In the rain forest of the Cameroon in West Central Africa lives a floor dwelling ant known as Megaloponera foetens, or more commonly, the stink ant. This large ant - one of the very few to produce a cry audible to the human ear - lives by foraging for food among the fallen leaves and undergrowth of the extraordinarily rich rain forest floor.
On occasion one of these ants, while looking for food is infected by inhaling a microscopic spore from a fungus of the genus Tomentella. After being inhaled, the spore seats in the ant's tiny brain and begins to grow, causing changes in the ant's patterns of behavior. The Ant appears troubled and confused; for the first time in its life the ant leaves the forest floor and begins to climb.
Driven on by the growth of the fungus, the ant embarks on a long and exhaustive climb. Completely spent and having reached a prescribed height, the ant impales the plant with its mandibles. Thus affixed, the ant waits to die. Ants that have met their ends in this fashion are quite common in some sections of the forest.
The fungus continues to consume first the nerve cells and finally all the soft tissue that remains of the ant. After approximately two weeks a spike appears from what had been the head of the ant. This spike is about an inch and a half in length and has a bright orange tip heavy with spores which rain down onto the rain forest floor for other unsuspecting ants to inhale.