text: On Tue, 21 Aug 2007, stephen white wrote: > On 21/08/2007, at 3:38 PM, Kim Hawtin wrote: >> and would be interested in a sane web framework... =) > > Apple WebObjects 4.5.1? http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html? > artnum=75190 > > SOPE? http://sope.opengroupware.org/en/ > > GNUstepWeb? http://www.gnustepweb.org/ > > AJRDatabase? http://sourceforge.net/projects/ajrdatabase/ Having played with OpenGroupware, I found the SOPE config stuff rather unusual and particularly bound to its environment. No idea about the rest of the library, however, except that you probably need to be writing your web app in Objective C :-( > As a bonus, you can have all of your source code to the left without > any indentation at all! Now that's progress! [tab]hehe.... -- Chris Foote <chris at inetd.com.au> Inetd Pty Ltd T/A HostExpress Web: http://www.hostexpress.com.au Blog: http://www.hostexpress.com.au/drupal/chris Phone: (08) 8410 4566


text:
Tim Howard apparently scored a goal for Everton today on a fluke punt.
OT: Tim Howard (USA Goalkeeper) scores for Everton
If serious, it's a soccer team in England. It's his club team when he isn't playing for the national team.
what Michigan State is to Michigan. Only picture Spartan Stadium within view of Michigan Stadium, they are about 600 yards apart.
Little bro'
What do Liverpool and the US Navy have in common?
They each paid 50 million for a sub.
Andy Carrol is making 10 million per goal right now. now THATS efficiency.
efficiency at Chelsea : )
haha. Newcastle won last January so hardcore.
And it wouldn't surprise me to see Demba Ba go for huge money this month and then do nothing at Chelsea, Liverpool, or Arsenal. It'd be nice to see the Magpies spend some of their cash.
As a Newcastle fan I would be livid if Ba went anywhere.
Who's been waiting for January 8th to arrive this entire holiday season? This guy, that's who.
...split off from the same club. The owners of Everton had a falling out in the 1890s with the man who owned the field where they played (Anfield)--they moved Everton to a new grounds (Goodison) and the Anfield owner created a new club (Liverpool).
Doesn't look like it will matter though, still down 2-1 to Bolton in the final minutes.
Edit: video
Just saw it. It was absolutely amazing - loved his reaction...or lack thereof.
I love Tim Howard and I love the USMNT. They come in second to Michigan Football and Basketball.
I'm glad that Landy Cakes is back on loan with Everton, even if it is only for couple months. I can't wait to go back to see the LA Galaxy play this year.
Was so awesomely professional. I like that he consoled the other keeper after the game since he had the same thing happen to him years back. Tim Howard is a badass!
EDIT: Extra great footy day as Newcastle United laid waste to those Red Devil Man United bastards!
That was one crazy high and hard bounce. Must have been little backspin on the ball.
Wow...USA guy making some noise in the BPL

subset: commoncrawl


text:
hey, i would like to share with you about my passion for the Old Testament (OT). my students call me 'rabbi' or 'reb' for short. the reb's passion in life (apart from God and wife and family) is the OT. the reb used to teach the OT in a seminary. he also does a lot of weekend teaching and preaching in churches. and he writes and authored 9 books... email: email@example.com
Friday, 16 November 2007
60th anniversary of the Dead Sea Scrolls
ever since i saw some of the dead sea scrolls on display in the shrine of the book museum in jerusalem in 2005, i always wish to spend more time with this fascinating find. someone called it the monumental find of the OT in the 20th century. this year, 2007, is the sixty anniversary of their discoveries in the judean desert. here is an article from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) about a conference in jerusalem to mark this anniversary.
Sixty Years Since the Discovery of the Dead Seas Scrolls
In honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Israel Antiquities Authority is convening an international committee of experts to offer advice on the Digitization of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is regarded as one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century. These ancient Hebrew scrolls were accidentally discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in November 1947, having been hidden for almost 2000 years in remote caves in the Judean Desert.
The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal a wealth of information about the history of the Second Temple period, a time of crucial developments in the crystallization of the monotheistic religions. Some of the scrolls, biblical and sectarian, were written as early as the end of the third century BCE but most of them date to the first century BCE and the first century CE. They contain fragments of all of the books of the Bible (with the exception of the Book of Esther) as well as a complete text of Isaiah. Especially significant are the fragments of the Apocrypha, previously known only in Greek and Latin. The scrolls preserve the original Hebrew and Aramaic versions. The sectarian texts reflect the beliefs and apocalyptic expectations of the community that wrote them.
During the first forty years since their discovery only a very small number of the c. 900 texts known to us today were published. In the beginning of the 1990's, shortly after the founding of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Authority initiated the establishment of a committee of scholars for the advancement of the publication of the scrolls and appointed Professor Emmanuel Tov of the Hebrew University to head it. The publication project, which included dozens of scholars from all over the world, was completed in 2001 and was celebrated in a festive ceremony that took place at the residence of the President of Israel.
The conservation and preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls have concerned both scholars and conservators since their discovery. Conservation measures to preserve the scrolls were first taken by researchers during the early 1950's. In the ensuing years it has become clear the scrolls suffered extensive damage due to inappropriate conservation measures that stemmed primarily from a lack of knowledge. Therefore, concurrent with the establishment of the committee of scholars, the IAA set up a unique conservation laboratory dedicated solely to the preservation of the scrolls. The laboratory's treatments are accompanied by constant research and professional consultation with experts from all over the world. The conservation work is ongoing; the task is extremely complicated and time consuming. However, in light of past experience the IAA is collaborating through the Italian Ministry of Culture with Italian experts in conservation and preservation of ancient manuscripts to re-examine the current methods of treatment and to research conservation problems that have yet to be solved.
In addition, since many of the thousands of fragments of scrolls were only photographed once, close to the time of their discovery in the 1950's, the IAA has decided to convene an international committee of experts to evaluate innovative techniques and methods of documentation. The committee will assist the Authority in selecting the most appropriate means of digitizing the scrolls for publication, research and conservation purposes. Invited experts will include, among others: Prof. Yaacov Choueka - The Friedberg Genizah Project; Dr. Greg Bearman - JPL - NASA; Prof. Ferruccio Petrucci - Image Spectroscopy, Uni. of Ferrara; Simon Tanner - King's Digital Consultancy Services, London; Orly Simon - Head IT Department, JNUL. All together we will have ten experts from various fields of photographic technologies and managing of digital projects databases.
The conference will take place in Jerusalem from November 4 -7, 2007.
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
the golden compass - to ban or not to ban? Part 2
so, the debate continues on - to ban or not to ban the movie? why ban the movie when the books on which the movie is based are not banned? if the movie is deemed 'offensive', so are the books. the books have achieved a huge fan following, with one critic comparing the trilogy to the Lord of the Rings and the Narnia Chronicles. one even called pullman the 'last of the great fictional writers of the 20th century'. concenring his style and writing, i would definitely agree.
as i mentioned in my earlier post, if christians are offended by the movie (or by the books), they can always practise self-censorship (just as they did with the harry potter series). let us not be like Garfield (one of my favourite cartoons) who when he couldn't sleep at night woke up poor Jon and said, 'If I can't sleep, neither can you!'
in my opinion a better way to respond is to talk with our children about the form of 'atheism' found in the book (as charged by many Christians). actually, it is not even 'atheism' in the trilogy. if pullman was pushing his atheistic agenda, why bother to talk about God, the church etc? he could have abandoned them completely and write his triology purely on a materialistic or secularist level. the fact that he still uses these themes can bring another debate - was pullman trying to discredit the institutional church and her beliefs in God? i prefer the latter view, as i think pullmann was trying to put across his reaction. ok, maybe he had a bad childhood epxerience with the church or something happened that caused him to look down upon the church. that's his view, we can accept that. it is true that the institutional church through the ages has committed many 'gross abuses'.
so, let us talk about pullmann's 'reaction' with our children. they are never too young to understand important topics like these. my 2 children are 'critics' of the church in their own right - they know when a pastor on the pulpit is not 'preaching the word' or 'when the action of a local church is not a christian one' etc. after all, they are PKs (pastor's kids) all their life. they can tell me when pullmann is trying to pull a fast one on the church in his trilogy. when they cannot understand some other things like the meaning of the Oblation Board, here is an opportunity to explain to them the meaning of the word 'oblation' and how pullmann is trying to connect it with the hideous experiments on the children in the artic.
even if our children are too young to understand all these things, we can always tell them that the triology is basically fiction (although based on many actual facts. i find pullmann's description of oxford city in lyra's universe a very accurate description of Oxford as it really is, having spent a considerable amount of time living there in the last 6 years. the description of the part of the city called jericho and the river isis brings back memories since the place where i studied called OCMS is near jericho). the triology may be based on the idea of a multiverse or parallel universes which co-exist with one another, things which we cannot 'prove' anyway. ideas like travelling through diferent universes still remain on the fiction level. or the fanciful idea that our daemons can be outside us and talk with us and change shape at will!
Sunday, 11 November 2007
BERSIH peoples' protest in kuala lumpur 10th nov 2007
by now, most of you will have read about the BERSIH people's gathering in kuala lumpur. my friend bob has written extensively on his blog, so that there is no need for me to repeat. go to his blog here:
and steven's blog:
jack said
the national newspapers, star and new straits times, reported only a turnout of '4,000' people. do you believe that? see nat's blog for the actual real pictures:
nat's blog
and also from this blog:
and steven's blog:
jack said
the national newspapers, star and new straits times, reported only a turnout of '4,000' people. do you believe that? see nat's blog for the actual real pictures:
nat's blog
and also from this blog:
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text: I have just finished coding of a tracker for My fiat linea. Its available online at trackmylinea.zzl.org. If anybody is interested in joining the project he may pm me. Following are the long term goals (6m) Door alarm integration with system CAN bus. Intimation if another car (fiat) is nearby.. like Google Latitude Intruder Detection using Passive Infrared Sensor I will shortly post the system install snaps of my car. For those who are interested or already have a tracker following are the hardware details http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320684027122


text:
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Pomeranians are named for the Pomeranian region of Central Europe that is classified as a toy dog because of its small size. The Pomeranian is thought to be a descendant of spitz type dogs, specifically the German Spitz. Pomeranians are very lively, dogs loyal to their family. Their liveliness and spirit make them liked by people who don't really like dogs normally. They do well with other dogs and people as long as they are introduced properly. Pomeranians are prone to dislocated knee caps, heart problems, eye infections, tooth decay and early hearing loss. An average pomeranian lives up to 15 years. They come in a variety of colors. They are usually black, white, grey, brown, tan, or orange. They are required to be groomed up to every 6 weeks due to their long fur that gets knotted easily.
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text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|20 May 1997
|Filing date
|1 Mar 1995
|Priority date
|9 Mar 1992
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Alan Olstein
|Original Assignee
|Optical Sensors Incorporated
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (22), Non-Patent Citations (2), Referenced by (36), Classifications (20), Legal Events (5)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This application is a division of 07/911,175, filed Aug. 12, 1992, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/848,627, filed Mar. 9, 1992, abandoned.
The present invention relates generally to optical sensors for measuring dissolved gases in a fluid, and more particularly relates to a novel optical sensor system containing a gas permeable membrane of a cured perfluorinated urethane polymer.
Chemical sensors are generally known for use in a wide variety of areas such as medicine, scientific research, industrial applications and the like. Fiber optic and electrochemical approaches are generally known for use in situations where it is desired to detect and/or measure the concentration of a parameter at a remote location without requiring electrical communication with the remote location. Structures, properties, functions and operational details of fiber optic chemical sensors can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,109 to Hirschfeld, U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,814 to Kane, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,783 to Blaylock, as well as Seitz, "Chemical Sensors Based on Fiber Optics," Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 56, No. 1, Jan. 1984, each of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Publications such as these generally illustrate that is it known to incorporate a chemical sensor into a fiber optic waveguide, an electrochemical gas sensor or the like, in a manner such that the chemical sensor will interact with the analyte. This interaction results in a change in optical properties, which change is probed and detected through the fiber optic waveguide or the like. These optical properties of chemical sensor compositions typically involve changes in colors or in color intensities. In these types of systems, it is possible to detect particularly minute changes in the parameter or parameters being monitored in order to thereby provide especially sensitive remote monitoring capabilities. Chemical sensor compositions that are incorporated at the distal end of fiber optic sensors are often configured as membranes that are secured at the distal tip end of the waveguide device or optrode.
Gas sensors of this general type are useful in monitoring gas concentrations such as oxygen and carbon dioxide in bloodstreams and the like. Also, it is sometimes desirable to provide sensors that monitor other parameters such as pH. Ion concentrations can also be detected, such as potassium, sodium, calcium and metal ions.
A typical gas sensor device positions the sensor material at a generally distal location with the assistance of various different support means. Support means must be such as to permit interaction between the gas indicator and the substance being subjected to monitoring, measurement and/or detection. Known approaches in this regard include the use of permeable membranes and composites incorporating micro-encapsulation. With certain arrangements, it is desirable to incorporate membrane components into these types of devices. These membrane components must possess certain properties in order to be particularly advantageous. Many membrane materials have some advantageous properties but also have shortcomings. Generally speaking, the materials must be biocompatible, they must be permeable to the gas being monitored, and they must be capable of supporting the gas-sensitive indicator, while at the same time possessing the strength adequate to permit maneuvering of the device without concern about damage to the gas sensor. It is also desirable to have these materials be photocurable in order to facilitate locating the gas sensor composite on the device.
In summary, the present invention is addressed to novel polymer compositions which have been found to be particularly suitable for use as membranes and membrane-like components which incorporate gas-sensitive indicators to form the active gas sensor component of a gas sensor device. The polymer compositions are particularly useful in fiber optic sensors for measuring dissolved gases, particularly O2 or CO2, in a fluid. The polymer compositions are cured perfluorinated urethane polymers formed by cross-linking a perfluorinated urethane precursor using a suitable cross-linking agent. Relative to previously known and used gas sensors, the present polymer compositions provide for gas sensors of superior sensitivity, resolution, solvent resistance and photostability. In addition, gas sensors fabricated with the present polymer compositions display increased resistance to fluid flow and shear, because of increased adhesion of the polymer composition to the fiber substrate. Also, the polymer compositions described herein generally require a lower level of cross-linking agent, and will typically contain very little or no residual monomer after cure. Finally, the present polymer compositions have been found to increase the life of the gas sensor by eight- to ten-fold.
The following references relate to one or more aspects of the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,497 to Low et al. describes a polyurethane resin derived from a hydroxyterminated perfluoroether.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,012 to Sharma describes perfluoroacyl modified cellulose acetate polymers which are stated to be useful in forming thin gas-permeable membranes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,814 to Kane describes an optical probe useful for measuring pH and oxygen and blood. The device includes a membrane constructed of a hydrophilic porous material containing a pH-sensitive dye.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,783 to Blaylock describes a fiber optic chemical sensor which, at the distal end of the optical fiber, is provided with a photocrosslinked polymeric gel having a dye adsorbed therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,480 to Zdrahala et al. relates to fluorinated polyether urethanes and medical devices (e.g., catheters) fabricated therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,666 shows a thermoplastic fluorinated polyurethaneurea having free amino groups, and discloses the use of such polymers in forming antithrombogenic surfaces in medical devices.
PCT Publication No. W088/05,533, inventors Klainer et al., describes a fiber optic sensing device for measuring a chemical or physiological parameter of a body fluid or tissue, in which a polymer containing photoactive moieties is directly bound to the fiber optic tip.
European Patent Publication No. 224,201, inventors Caporiccio et al., describes a process for conversion of high molecular weight perfluoropolyethers to provide lower molecular weight, neutral perfluoropolyethers.
European Patent Publication No. 322,624, inventors Birkie et al., describes perfluorinated polyethers useful in electrical applications.
U.K. Patent Application No. 2,132,348 to Bacon et al. describes an oxygen sensor in which the gas sensitive indicator component is a luminescent organometallic complex.
H.J. Hageman et al., "Photoinitiators and Photocatalysts for Various Polymerisation and Crosslinking Processes," in Radiation Curing of Polymers II, ed. D.R. Randell (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1991), at pp. 46-53, identify a number of materials which will act to catalyze radiation curing of multifunctional monomers or oligomers.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to address the above-mentioned needs in the art, by providing an optical sensor for measuring dissolved gases in a fluid, wherein the sensor has improved sensitivity, resolution, solvent resistance, photostability, and resistance to shear.
It is another object of the invention to address these needs by providing an optical gas sensor which includes a membrane of a cured perfluorinated urethane polymer and a gas-sensitive indicator component.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such a sensor in which the prefluorinated urethane polymer comprises a perfluorinated polyurethane acrylate.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a gas permeable membrane for use in such a sensor, which comprises a polymeric matrix of a cured perfluorinated urethane polymer, and, incorporated therein, a gas-sensitive indicator component.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a membrane in which the perfluorinated urethane polymer comprises a perfluorinated polyurethane acrylate.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method of making an optical gas sensor by polymerizing a precursor to a perfluorinated urethane polymer on a fiber optic tip.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a method of making an optical gas sensor by polymerizing a photocurable polymeric precursor on a fiber optic tip by irradiating the precursor through the fiber.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
In one aspect, a cross-linked gas permeable membrane useful in optical gas sensors is provided, wherein the membrane comprises a polymeric matrix of a cured perfluorinated urethane polymer, and, incorporated therein, a gas-sensitive indicator component as will be described in detail herein. In a preferred embodiment, the perfluorinated urethane polymer is a perfluorinated polyurethane acrylate which comprises a perfluorinated polyurethane acrylate precursor cross-linked with a cross-linking agent.
In another aspect, an optical sensor is provided for measuring dissolved gases such as O2 or CO2, which comprises an optical waveguide having a distal end portion for monitoring a gas component within a fluid, e.g., a bloodstream or the like, and a proximal end portion for communication with means for receiving a signal from the distal end portion, and wherein the distal end portion has a gas sensor means comprising a cross-linked gas permeable membrane as summarized above and as will be described in detail below.
In still another aspect, a method is provided for making the aforementioned optical sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the method involves polymerization of a photocurable polymeric precursor on the fiber optic tip, by irradiating the precursor-coated tip through the optical fiber. In another embodiment, polymerization of a perfluorinated urethane polymer precursor may be effected by contacting the precursor-coated tip with a cross-linking agent in solution or the like.
In yet another aspect, a cured perfluorinated urethane polymer is provided which is useful in the above-mentioned contexts.
In the course of this description, reference will be made to the attached drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a generally schematic view of a chemical sensor device according to the present invention which is incorporated in a fiber optic gas sensor device;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged, detail and generally schematic view of the distal end portion of a gas sensor device generally in accordance with FIG. 1 and incorporating a monolithic cross-linked fluorocarbon polymer according to the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating a composite membrane arrangement.
Before the present compositions, membranes, sensors and methods of manufacture are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to specific sensor formats, specific membrane compositions, or particular cross-linking agents or curing processes, as such may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.
It must be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a perfluorinated urethane polymer" includes mixtures of such polymers, reference to "a perfluorinated urethane polymer precursor" includes mixtures of two or more such polymers, reference to "a cross-linking agent" includes reference to two or more cross-linking agents, and the like.
In describing and claiming the present invention, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set out below.
The term "polymer" as used herein is intended to include both oligomeric and polymeric materials, i.e., compounds which include two or more monomeric units. Similarly, the term "perfluorinated polyether" linkage is intended to mean a linkage containing at least two perfluorinated ether mer units, i.e., ether mer units in which each hydrogen atom normally present has been replaced by a fluorine atom.
The term "urethane" is used herein in its conventional sense to denote organic compounds containing a recurring --O--(CO)--NH--linkage. The term "urethane acrylate polymer" is intended to mean a urethane polymer derived from polymerization of a urethane oligomer having acrylate termini --O--(CO)--CH═CH2.
The term "precursor" is used herein to mean a compound which when polymerized and/or cross-linked will give rise to a desired polymer. For example, the term "perfluorinated urethane polymer precursor" denotes a compound which when treated with, for example, moisture, radiation, cross-linking agents, or combinations thereof, will give rise to the desired "perfluorinated urethane polymer" as will be described in greater detail below.
In describing chemical compounds herein, the term "lower alkyl" is used in its conventional sense to mean an alkyl group of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, e.g., methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, t-butyl, and the like. "Lower alkylene" refers to a difunctional saturated branched or unbranched hydrocarbon chain containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and includes, for example, methylene (--CH2 --), ethylene (--CH2 CH2 --), propylene (--CH2 --CH2 --CH2 --), and the like. The term "alkylarylene" refers to a difunctional hydrocarbon moiety containing 1 or 2 monocyclic aromatic moieties, either unsubstituted phenyl rings or containing one to four substituents such as lower alkyl, halogen, nitro, or the like. "Alkylarylene" linking groups may also contain lower alkylene spacers adjacent the aromatic rings, in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms normally present may be replaced with fluorine atoms.
The polymeric compositions which are used to formulate the gas permeable membrane of the invention are cured perfluorinated urethane polymers; the membrane itself comprises a matrix of such a polymer and, incorporated in the matrix, a gas-sensitive indicator. The cured perfluorinated urethane polymers are typically perfluorinated urethane polymer precursors cross-linked with a cross-linking agent. Generally, such precursors have the structural formula ##STR1## wherein Ar is a monocyclic aromatic moiety and X is a perfluorinated polyether linkage containing approximately 2 to 100, preferably 10 to 50, most preferably 15 to 25, recurring perfluorinated mer units having the structure .paren open-st.CF2 O.paren close-st., .paren open-st.CF2 CF2 O.paren close-st., or combinations thereof. Preferably, Ar is phenylene, either unsubstituted or substituted with one to four substituents which are selected so as not to interfere with polymerization or use of the cured polymer in the gas sensor; such substituents include, for example, lower alkyl (C1 -C6), halogen, nitro, and the like.
The precursor of Formula (I) may be cross-linked using water or an organic diol HO--R--OH wherein R is a hydrocarbon substituent of about 2 to 20 carbon atoms, and in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms normally present have been replaced with fluorine atoms. Preferably, R is an alkylene linking group, i.e., an alkylene linking group containing from about 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or an alkylarylene linking group containing one or two monocyclic aromatic moieties and, depending on the number of aromatic moieties, two or three lower alkylene spacer groups, again, in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms normally present have been replaced with fluorine atoms. Exemplary organic diols include bisphenol A and hexafluorobisphenol A.
In a preferred embodiment, the precursor of Formula (I) is converted to a perfluorinated urethane acrylate precursor prior to curing, by replacing the terminal isocyanate moieties --N═C═O with acrylate termini --NH--COO--(CH2)n --(CO)--CH═CH2 where n is typically in the range of 1 to about 6. This may be effected by reacting the diisocyanate precursor (I) with, for example, hydroxymethylmethacrytate (in which case n is 1), hydroxyethylmethacrylate (in which case n is 2), or the like. The perfluorinated urethane acrylate precursor so provided, having the structural formula ##STR2## may then be cured in the presence of a suitable photoinitiator or photocatalyst using radiation. In a variation on this embodiment, the diisocyanate-terminated precursor of Formula (I) may be reacted with virtually any compound having a hydroxy terminus and a vinyl terminus, typically containing about 2 to 10 carbon atoms, to provide a vinyl-terminated precursor and to enable cross-linking.
Suitable photoinitiators for carrying out the cross-linking in the aforementioned case, i.e., to cure the perfluorinated urethane acrylate precursor of Formula (II), are radical photoinitiators that are well-known to those skilled in the art. Examples of such photoinitiators include α-alkoxy deoxybenzoins, α,α-dialkoxy deoxybenzoins, α, α-dialkoxy acetophenones, benzophenones, thioxanthones, benzils, and other compounds identified by H.J. Hageman et al., "Photoinitiators and Photocatalysts for Various Polymerisation and Crosslinking Processes," in Radiation Curing of Polymers II, ed. D.R. Randell (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1991), at pp. 46-53, cited supra. The disclosure of the aforementioned reference is incorporated by reference herein.
In another embodiment, the diisocyanate-terminated precursor of Formula (I) is converted to an epoxy-terminated precursor having the formula ##STR3## wherein Ar, X, and n are as defined above. This conversion may be readily effected by reaction of the precursor of Formula (I) with two equivalents of a compound having the structural formula ##STR4## (i.e., glycidol when. n is 1). This epoxy-terminated compound may then be cured with radiation in the presence of a cationic photoinitiator, e.g., a sulfonium salt, an organometallic complex such as that manufactured under the name Irgacure� by Ciba-Geigy Corporation, or the like.
One of the advantages of fabricating optical gas sensors with the aforementioned polymer compositions is that relatively low levels of cross-linking agent are required. Conventional systems typically require a very high level of cross-linking agent, on the order of 20 wt. % of the total polymeric composition. The present perfluorinated urethanes, however, typically require only about 0.5 to 5 wt. % cross-linking agent, more typically about 0.5 to 1 wt. %, to provide dimensional stability.
In formulating the gas permeable membrane, it is preferred that the above-described cross-linking reaction occur in the presence of the gas-sensitive indicator component which will then be incorporated into the polymeric matrix which serves as the membrane. the gas-sensitive indicator will generally be physically entrapped within the polymeric matrix, but it may also be covalently bound thereto. The gas-sensitive indicator is typically an inorganic complex which is a luminescent material quenchable by the oxygen, carbon dioxide, or the like, i.e., the dissolved gas which is undergoing measurement. Examples of suitable gas-sensitive indicators useful for O2 determination may be found in U.K. Patent No. 2,132,348, cited supra, and include complexes of ruthenium (II), osmium (II), iridium (III), rhodium, rhenium, and chromium (III) with 2,2'-bipyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline, 4,7-diphenyl(1,10-phenanthroline), 4,7-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, 4,7-disulfonated-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline, 2,2'-bi-2thiazoline, 2,2'-bithiazole, 5-bromo-1,10-phenanthroline, and 5-chloro-1,10-phenanthroline, and complexes of VO (II), Cu (II), platinum (II), and zinc (II) with porphin etioporphorin tetraphenytporphyrin, mesoporphyrin IX dimethylester, protoporphyrin IX dimethylester and octaethylporphyrin. Preferred gas-sensitive indicators for fabricating oxygen sensors are ruthenium complexes. For CO2 sensors, virtually any pH-sensitive fluorescent or absorbent dye can be used, although preferred indicators include fluorescein and fluorescein derivatives such as carboxyfluorescein, seminaphthorhodafluor, seminaphthofluorescein, naphthofluorescein, hydroxypyrene trisulfonic acid, dichlorofluorescein, and the like.
The cross-linking reactions which give rise to the gas permeable membrane are preferably carried out on the fiber substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the precursor is photocurable and is cross-linked on the fiber substrate using radiation transmitted through the fiber. Alternatively, the membrane may be prepared separately and deposited on the surface of the optical fiber; in such instances, it is typically necessary to prime the fiber surface prior to deposition of the sensing membrane thereonto. An example of a suitable glass primer is γ-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane. Alternatively, the distal tip of the fiber may be dipped into a solution of the precursor and the gas-sensitive indicator and taking suitable steps to cure and cross-link the solution. Once cured, the gas sensor thus formed is cleaned of residual unreacted monomer by rinsing with a solvent such as acetone. The present invention, however, minimizes the potential for unreacted monomer and rinsing may be a superfluous step.
The polymer composition--i.e., the cross-linked perfluorinated urethane polymer--will typically represent on the order of 80 to 99 wt. % of the gas permeable membrane, more typically 95 to 99 wt. % of the membrane. Any photoinitiator used will be present at customary catalytic levels, typically substantially below 1 wt. % of the membrane. Gas-sensitive indicator will generally represent on the order of 0.05 to 1.0 wt. % of the membrane.
FIG. 1 shows a typical fiber optic gas sensor arrangement. The illustrated device 11 includes a light source 12 for directing probe radiation into the device, as well as a light detector 13 for sensing and detecting radiation from the device. Device 11 includes one or more optical fibers 14 that are joined to light source 123 and to light detector 13 through a suitable junction assembly 15 at a location which is proximal of the distal end portion 16 of the optical fiber 14. As is generally known, each optical fiber 14 includes a core surrounded by a cladding or covering.
Distal end portion 16 has a distal tip 17 which is a membrane of a cross-linked perfluorinated urethane polymer matrix, and, incorporated therein, a gas-sensitive indicator as described above. The gas-sensitive indicator enables the matrix to undergo a known change in color, color intensity or other property, which change is observed by the light detector 13 in a manner generally known in the art.
With the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a distal end portion 16' has a distal tip 17'. The tip 17' is a composite membrane suitable for multifunctional monitoring, such as for monitoring pH conditions or the like and gas concentrations. Microparticles 21 of a polymer matrix comprising a perfluorinated urethane polymer and a gas-sensitive indicator are included within the composite membrane at the distal tip 17'. Also included are other indicator components 22 such as fluorescent pH indicators. Both the gas sensor microparticles 21 and the other indicators 22 are encapsulated within a known type of gas and ion permeable hydrophilic polymer 23 which provide needed support for the microparticles therewithin.
As noted earlier, the primary utility of the present invention is in the detection and measurement of dissolved gases such as O2 and CO2 in the bloodstream. However, the membrane and sensor of the invention may also be used in a variety of other contexts, e.g., for on-line sensing in a flowing fluid stream.
It is to be understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with preferred specific embodiments thereof, the foregoing description, as well as the examples which follow, are intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention. Other aspects, advantages and modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.
The objective of this example was to prepare a radiation curable fluoropolyurethane for fabricating an H2 O and H+ impermeable membrane with good elastomeric properties. A difunctional, isocyanate-terminated fluorinated polyether having an equivalent weight of approximately 1500 (Fluorolink.sup.™ B, obtained from Ausimont, Morristown, New Jersey) was used as the polymeric precursor. The reactions which were carried out (1) replaced the diisocyanate termini of the precursor with acrylate moieties, thereby providing a photocurable compound, and (2) cured this latter acrylate-terminated compound, as follows.
Five g of Fluorolink B was weighed out and 0.43 g dry hydroxymethacrylate (HEMA) (obtained from Aldrich Chemical, Milwaukee WI) was added over a 4 Å molecular sieve. The reaction was permitted to proceed at room temperature uncatalyzed. After 1 hour, no apparent exotherm occurred. The reaction was incubated at approximately 20� C. for 18 hours. At that time, it was found that the preparation had not cured; accordingly, 5 μ1 dibutyltin laurate (obtained from Air Products and Chemicals under the name T-12) catalyst was added, and the preparation bubbled slightly.
The acrylate urethane was found to be soluble in Freon 113 trichlorotrifluoroethane; 5μ1 of the cationic photoinitiator Irgacure� 500 (Ciba-Geigy) was added, and the polymer solution was thus cured under a stream of N2. The structure of the polymer was verified using infrared spectroscopy.
The objective of this example was to prepare an O2 sensor by dissolving an O2 -sensitive indicator in a cross-linkable, curable polymer matrix that is permeable to O2. As in Example 1, Fluorolink™ B was used as the precursor to the cured perfluorinated urethane acrylate polymer which serves as the primary component of the poller matrix. In this example, cure was effected with moisture.
1.9 mg tris(diphenyl phenanthroline) Ru-HCl2 (obtained from Florida International University) was selected as the O2 sensitive indicator, dissolved in 0.1 ml CH2 Cl2, and miscibilized in 1.0 g of the perfluorinated prepolymer Fluorolink B. The sensor (Ensign Bickford glass-on-glass, 110μ, numerical aperture 0.39) was dipped in the polymer/gas indicator preparation and cured at 50� C. in a humidified forced air oven for 18 hours.
The following day the sensor was tested in a 39� C. tonometer using 100% He and 100% O2 . The signal values at 70% lamp intensity were 6,000 at 100% He and 200 at 100% O2. Therefore, there is greater than a 90% loss of signal at 760 mm O2. Also, no substantial "burn-in" effect was observed.
In this example, an O2 sensor was prepared using the radiation-curable perfluorinated polyurethane acrylate, as follows. 1.5 mg tris(diphenyl phenanthroline) Ru�HCl2 was dissolved in 0.1 ml CH2 Cl2 and miscibilized in 1.5 g of the uncured polymer prepared in Example 1. 90 mg Irgacure� 500 was added and a cleaned 110μEB connectorized fiber was dipped in the solution to coat the distal end. The fiber was placed in a test tube under argon and exposed to an external source of ultraviolet radiation (3.4 mW) to cure for 60 seconds.
The fiber was coupled to an OSR-1 (Optical Sensors Consultants, Inc., San Carlos CA) and the distal end placed in a tonometer at 37� C. Under 100% Ar sparge, a 603 nm emission was observed (1500 cps); under 100% O2 sparge, signal loss was greater than about 90% (with observed value at approximately 250 cps). Response time was very rapid, less than about 30 seconds. Very little signal loss was observed over the 90 minute experiment.
O2 sensors were prepared using different polymers. In the following tables, the polyurethane/urea material was prepared as described in Example 1, and the procedure of Example 2 was used to make the sensors, except for sensor numbers 7, 8 and 9 which were prepared using the procedure of Example 3. "S.V.k" represents the Stern-Vollmer constant; as may be seen from the S.V.k data, the polyurethane/urea-based sensor displays a sensitivity approximately two-fold greater than that of the commercially available sensors.
TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________Diphenyl Phenanthrolene Ruthenium PO2 Sensor SummaryFiber Size Polymer S.V.K. Signal % Quench Draft Rate Useful Life__________________________________________________________________________240 μm Poly- 0.25 40000 84% 1.2%/hr 5.8 hr urethane/ urea125 μm Poly- 0.018 15000 83% 1.4%/hr 5.0 hr urethane/ urea240 μm FX189 0.008 45000 70% 5.0%/hr 1.0 hr perfluoro acrylate125 μm FX189 0.007 2500 69% 5.6%/hr 0.75 hr perfluoro acrylate240 μm Photo- 0.0009 45000 85% 0.8% 6.75 hr polymerized polyurethane polyurea__________________________________________________________________________
An optical carbon dioxide sensor may be prepared using the methods and materials of the invention, as follows:
Three mg fluorescein disodium salt (Aldrich) are dissolved in 0.01 M sodium bicarbonate buffer containing 0.9% NaCl. This buffered fluorescein solution (0.15 g) is then dispersed and emulsified in a solution of 1.0 g perfluorinated polyurethane dimethacrylate (80% solids, 20% ethyl acetate), and photocured on the distal end of a pretreated reactive fiber optic. The fiber optic carbon dioxide sensor so prepared has a 485 nm signal 4507, a 455 nm signal 1237 (ratio=3.64) @1% CO2 ; the sensor has a 485 nm signal 3772, and a 455 nm signal 1111 (ratio=3.39)@10% CO2. Carbon dioxide sensors may be made to have enhanced signal change by buffering in a medium closer to the pKa of the indicator, i.e., 6.8.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|18 Dec 1970
|20 Jun 1972
|Polyurethane resins from hydroxy terminated perfluoro ethers
|20 Sep 1979
|23 Mar 1982
|Buckles Richard G
|Method for quantitative analysis using optical fibers
|20 May 1983
|2 Apr 1985
|Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company
|Curable substituted urethane acrylates
|13 Aug 1984
|22 Oct 1985
|Sharma Ashok K
|Fluorinated cellulose acetate polymers
|22 Jul 1986
|13 Oct 1987
|Ausimont S.P.A.
|Fluorinated polymers and resins prepared therefrom
|12 Feb 1986
|1 Nov 1988
|Ausimont S.P.A.
|Fluorinated polyurethanes containing polyoxyperfluoro-alkylene blocks, endowed with improved mechanical characteristics
|11 Aug 1987
|22 Nov 1988
|Cordis Corporation
|Optical probe for measuring pH and oxygen in blood and employing a composite membrane
|14 Dec 1987
|28 Mar 1989
|Becton, Dickinson And Company
|Blood electrolyte sensors including crosslinked polyetherurethane membranes
|3 Sep 1987
|27 Jun 1989
|Cordis Corporation
|Method of producing fiber optic chemical sensors incorporating photocrosslinked polymer gels
|21 Jul 1987
|14 Nov 1989
|Ausimont S.P.A.
|Thermoplastic polyurethane endowed with improved characteristics of resistance to heat distortion
|20 Mar 1989
|19 Jun 1990
|Becton, Dickinson And Company
|Fluorinated polyetherurethanes and medical devices therefrom
|15 Feb 1989
|2 Apr 1991
|Allied-Signal Inc.
|Fluorinated surfactant monomers for polymer surface modification
|15 Sep 1989
|25 Jun 1991
|Ausimont S.R.L.
|Fluorinated polyurethanes endowed with improved mechanical properties, containing rubber-like polyoxyperfluoroalkylene-structure blocks and hydrogenated rigid blocks
|19 Jun 1989
|16 Jul 1991
|Becton, Dickinson And Company
|Amine rich fluorinated polyurethaneureas and their use in a method to immobilize an antithrombogenic agent on a device surface
|15 Sep 1989
|27 Aug 1991
|Ausimont S.R.L.
|Cross-linkable polyurethane rubbers containing polyoxyperfluoroalkylene blocks
|31 Jan 1990
|29 Sep 1992
|Sagami Chemical Research Center
|Fluorine-containing α,β-bifunctional compounds and process for their production
|19 Jun 1992
|11 Jan 1994
|Puritan-Bennett Corporation
|Optical fiber pH microsensor and method of manufacture
|22 Dec 1992
|26 Jul 1994
|Ausimont S.P.A.
|Fluorinated polyurethanes and polyurethane-ureas, and methods for preparing them
|20 Nov 1986
|3 Jun 1987
|AUSIMONT S.p.A.
|Functionalized perfluoropolyethers and process for their preparation
|12 Dec 1988
|5 Jul 1989
|Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
|Radiation-curable liquid resin for the insulation of thin wires
|Title not available
|12 Jan 1988
|28 Jul 1988
|Kelsius, Inc.
|Amplification of signals from optical fibers
|H.J. Hageman et al., "Photoinitiators and Photocatalysts for Various Polymerisation and Crosslinking Processes," in Radiation Curing ofPolymers II, ed. D.R. Randell (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1991), at pp. 46-53.
|H.J. Hageman et al., Photoinitiators and Photocatalysts for Various Polymerisation and Crosslinking Processes, in Radiation Curing ofPolymers II, ed. D.R. Randell (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1991), at pp. 46 53.
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|11 Mar 1997
|12 Oct 1999
|University Of Washington
|Acrylic and fluoroacrylic polymers for oxygen pressure sensing and pressure-sensitive paints utilizing these polymers
|18 Jun 1998
|25 Apr 2000
|Institute Of Critical Care Medicine
|Patient CO2 Measurement
|19 Feb 1999
|6 Jun 2000
|Institute Of Critical Care Medicine
|Device and method for assessing perfusion failure in a patient during endotracheal intubation
|21 Aug 1998
|22 Aug 2000
|Bayer Corporation
|Optical oxidative enzyme-based sensors
|21 Jan 1998
|20 Feb 2001
|Bayer Corporation
|Oxygen sensing membranes and methods of making same
|21 Aug 1998
|27 Mar 2001
|Bayer Corporation
|Metallic overcoating as a light attenuating layer for optical sensors
|24 Sep 1998
|10 Apr 2001
|Institute Of Critical Care Medicine
|Method and device for assessing perfusion failure in a patient
|21 Jan 1998
|3 Jul 2001
|Bayer Corporation
|Optical sensors with reflective materials
|21 Jan 1998
|23 Oct 2001
|Bayer Corporation
|Optical sensor and method of operation
|31 Jan 2001
|9 Apr 2002
|Bayer Corporation
|Metallic overcoating as a light attenuating layer for optical sensors
|29 Aug 2001
|14 May 2002
|Bayer Corporation
|Method of operating an optical sensor adapted for selective analyte-sensing contact with a plurality of samples
|29 Aug 2001
|3 Dec 2002
|Bayer Corporation
|Optical sensor and method of operation
|14 May 2001
|9 Dec 2003
|Omnova Solutions Inc.
|Fluorinated short carbon atom side chain and polar group containing polymer, and flow, or leveling, or wetting agents thereof
|16 Sep 1999
|6 Jan 2004
|Omnova Solutions Inc.
|Radiation curable coating containing polyfuorooxetane
|30 Jun 2004
|8 Aug 2006
|Omnova Solutions Inc.
|Polymeric surfactants derived from cyclic monomers having pendant fluorinated carbon groups
|26 Oct 2007
|17 Nov 2009
|Vasamed, Inc.
|Device for assessing perfusion failure in a patient by measurement of blood flow
|29 Aug 2006
|15 Jun 2010
|Vasamed, Inc.
|System for automated measurement of skin perfusion pressure
|29 Jan 2008
|13 Mar 2012
|Vasamed, Inc.
|System and method for assessing capillary vitality
|25 Apr 2006
|28 Aug 2012
|Dexcom, Inc.
|Oxygen enhancing membrane systems for implantable devices
|15 Jan 2010
|28 Aug 2012
|Dexcom, Inc.
|Oxygen enhancing membrane systems for implantable devices
|25 Apr 2006
|28 Aug 2012
|Dexcom, Inc.
|Oxygen enhancing membrane systems for implantable devices
|1 Jul 2005
|26 Feb 2013
|Bayer Healthcare Llc
|Methods of manufacturing a light guide test sensor
|20 Jul 2011
|9 Dec 2014
|Dexcom, Inc.
|Oxygen enhancing membrane systems for implantable devices
|22 Jan 2013
|27 Jan 2015
|Bayer Healthcare Llc
|Light guide test sensor
|18 Oct 2012
|9 Feb 2016
|Vasamed, Inc.
|Method and system for assessing severity and stage of peripheral arterial disease and lower extremity wounds using angiosome mapping
|30 Oct 2014
|21 Mar 2017
|Dexcom, Inc.
|Oxygen enhancing membrane systems for implantable devices
|4 Oct 2002
|10 Apr 2003
|Ocean Optics, Inc.
|Enhanced scattering membranes for improved sensitivity and signal-to-noise of optical chemical sensors, fiber optic oxygen sensor for real time respiration monitoring utilizing same, and method of using sensor
|11 Dec 2002
|21 Aug 2003
|Omnova Solutions Inc.
|Radiation curable coating containing polyfluorooxetane
|23 Sep 2003
|1 Jul 2004
|Kimball Victor E.
|Device for assessing perfusion failure in a patient by measurement of blood flow
|30 Jun 2004
|2 Dec 2004
|Medsker Robert E.
|Polymeric surfactants derived from cyclic monomers having pendant fluorinated carbon groups
|25 Apr 2006
|24 Aug 2006
|James Petisce
|Oxygen enhancing membrane systems for implantable devices
|29 Aug 2006
|21 Dec 2006
|Optical Sensors Incorporated
|System for Automated Measurement of Skin Perfusion Pressure
|1 Jul 2005
|13 Mar 2008
|Reynolds Jeffrey S
|Light Guide Test Sensor For Use In Determining An Analyte In A Fluid Sample And Methods For Manufacturing The Same
|26 Oct 2007
|1 May 2008
|Kimball Victor E
|Device for Assessing Perfusion Failure in a Patient by Measurement of Blood Flow
|29 Jan 2008
|31 Jul 2008
|Optical Sensors Incorporated
|System and method for assessing capillary vitality
|1 Jul 2005
|9 Feb 2006
|Bayer Healthcare Llc
|Light guide test sensor for use in determining an analyte in a fluid sample and methods for manufacturing the same
|U.S. Classification
|528/59, 528/85, 528/70, 525/460, 528/65
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|30 Oct 2000
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|3 Nov 2004
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 8
|24 Nov 2008
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|20 May 2009
|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
|7 Jul 2009
|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee
Effective date: 20090520


text:
Gordon Way
11 miles (18 km)
Explore the Bennachie range in Aberdeenshire on this challenging walk. The route starts at the Bennachie Centre and heads west through Bennachie Forest, past Oxen Craig (the highest of the range) to Suie in the west. The views from the Bennachie ridge are stunning.
The walk is waymarked with a black and white logo.
Please click here for more information


text:
THIS WEEK'S DOTW: Wi-Fi Endoscope/Borescope for $29.99
(reg. $49.99)
Dozens of potential uses: plumbing, wiring, automotive, education, aquariums, rescue operations, and more! Using the included two-meter flexible cable, you can snake this camera into areas you could never view before – even underwater! Built-in LED light array offers eight brightness settings. Can be plugged directly into your Android or iPhone, or broadcast it over Wi-Fi using the included rechargeable transmitter. Video signal is available in two resolutions: 640 x 480 and 1280 x 720. Hundreds of potential uses, including intraoral probes, aquariums, motor vehicle troubleshooting and repair, sewer and drain lines, search and rescue, criminal justice and customs applications, archaeology, home care, science education, aviation and aerospace industries, farm and heavy equipment maintenance, petroleum drilling applications, construction, and more.
- Resolutions: 640x480, 1280x720
- Viewing Angle: 70°
- Camera: 2.0 megapixel
- Focal Distance: 4-6cm
- Camera Head Diameter: 8mm
- Light: Six adjustable white LED lights
- Waterproof level: IP67
- Wi-Fi Frequency: 2.425-2.493GHz
- Wi-Fi Transmission Distance: 5-30 meters
- Includes Magnet, Mirror, and Hook accessory tips
- Supports Android and iOS, Windows and Mac
This offer runs from Friday, October 13th through Thursday, October 19th, 2017, or while supplies last. Sorry, no rain checks.


text:
PD&MS Opens New Brazilian Bases
Wilton Group company, PD&MS Energy, has launched two new operations in Brazil as part of an international strategy to grow the oil and gas design, fabrication, installation and maintenance specialist.
PDeMS Energy (Brazil) Soluções de Energia Ltda has already secured rig upgrade contracts with a global drilling specialist. The company, which now has bases in Rio de Janeiro and Macae, delivers a range of solutions from initial survey work to upgrades, repair and client specific modifications.
Bill Scott, Wilton Group Chief Executive, said, "Our international expansion forms a key part of the overall plan at the Wilton Group and we will continue to evaluate other oil producing areas as we look to develop the business."
Des Hatfield, Wilton Group Business Development Director, said, "We have worked with a number of drilling companies in the past and their expansion into Brazil has led to PD&MS Energy setting up our Brazilian operations at two locations.
"The new business unit will initially offer surveying, design and engineering support to drilling contractors. We estimate that there are currently 60 rigs in the area with the potential for this to almost triple in the next four to five years.
"This is the first step and we are looking to set up a design and repair facility in Brazil to support ongoing operations."
Garron Lees, Business Development Manager at PD&MS Energy in Aberdeen, said, "PD&MS can offer engineering expertise to add value to challenging, and technically demanding, deepwater projects.
"Our experience of working with drilling contractors means we have a strong understanding of their projects and requirements. There are also pipelaying and FPSO support vessel opportunities for PD&MS in Brazil."
Middlesbrough-based Wilton Group remains on track to record turnover of £50m-plus (US $80MM) this year following strong demand for its expertise and services in the UK and increased international revenues.
Wilton Group has three main business units – PD&MS Energy, Wilton Engineering Services and Universal Coatings – providing the capability to offer fully integrated turnkey packages across a range of onshore and offshore engineering sectors.
PD&MS Energy is based in Aberdeen, Great Yarmouth, Middlesbrough and Brazil, while Wilton Engineering, which has a 50-acre site, and Universal Coatings are both in Middlesbrough. Wilton Dundee, which has a 45,000sq ft facility, was set up by PD&MS in February (2011).
The expansion into Brazil is the latest chapter in the success story of the UK-based company. Wilton Group recently secured a top ten place in a prestigious league table which ranks businesses on their overseas sales performance.


text:
This weekend, we asked Figmenters to send us the first line of a story. Yesterday, over 600 people (!) voted for the winner. Congrats to Charles Albert Spellman V for his winning entry:
I didn't expect taking a man's life would be so easy, but then again, he didn't think cowards could pull triggers.
Congrats again, Charles. A big round of applause also goes to our other finalists, ranked as follows:
2. Martin Turner: There were just six simple rules at the orphanage, but it took me eleven years three months and one day to figure out how to break all of them in a single incident, without hurting the cat.
3. Adrian Corpus: The funny thing is, I didn't even like cheese.
4. Alexandra Wimberly: I always find it exceedingly difficult to explain why I fall asleep in one place, and wake up in another.
5. Kelsey Rebecca: I swear it was not my fault when everyone in the junior class got arrested.
6. Timothy Ore: Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe the end happens before the beginning?
7. Aaron Holmes: It began as many things begin: a soft rumble in the distance.
8. Corey Sanders: My life revolved around an ancient candle-stick, a silver dollar and a blind thirteen year old girl of dubious heritage.
9. Chloe The Strange One: The clouds cried over the vast wasteland, and silence swollowed the earth's surface.
10. Claire Greising: The wind whispered eerily through the naked trees and the air tasted of danger and opportunity.
Don't you think you should follow these people to find out when they write the rest of their stories? "What a brilliant idea, Lindsay!"
G'night, Figmentalites~
"It was a dark and stormy night."
Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (as well as A Wrinkle In Time by Madame L'Engle, and The Red Baron by Snoopy)
"There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife."
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
"First, the colors."
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
"Call me Ishmael."
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
"Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you're dead."
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
These are just a few lines that have become iconic openings to iconic works. Creating that perfect intro, though can be a tall order. So we challenge you to an OPENING LINE CONTEST! [insert gasps of astonishment here] Make it eerie or stunning, abstract or detailed, rambling or brief.
How to enter:
-Write your opening line. There is no length limit, but it must be a grammatically correct sentence.
-Email it to firstname.lastname@example.com
-Follow Opening Line on Figment
Entries are due by SUNDAY, 2/13 at 12:00 PM EST. Yes, it's a short contest. IT'S A SHORT ENTRY. On Monday (2/14), we will have the finalists on the blog for a round of blind voting to determine the winner, who will be announced on Tuesday. The winner will receive Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve (opening line: "That morning they were making paper boys."), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (opening line: "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman."), a Wizards & Dragons bookmark (superawesome), and a Figment tote (superawesomer). Good luck, all!


text:
The False Prince: Book 1 of the Ascendance Trilogy
By: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: April 2012
Reviewed By: Cory Bickel
Reviewed On: August 2, 2012
With the royal family of Carthya dead, civil war threatens the country as nobles vie for the empty throne. The regent Bevin Connor has a plan to restore peace to the kingdom involving a fraud designed to fool the entire country. Sage, a penniless orphan and thief, gets caught up in Connor's plan and must agree to his role or face death. But can a crude, feisty street urchin succeed in impersonating a prince?
Sage returns to his orphanage after a successful bout of thievery one day to find Connor waiting for him, having bought him to become an indentured servant, or so he says. Sage is knocked unconscious after resisting, waking to find himself in a wagon along with three other orphan boys who look just like him. At a stop for the night on the way to Connor's estate, Connor tells the boys that he needs their help in a dangerous plan, and that if any of them want to leave, now is the time to do it. When the boy Latimer asks to be taken home, he is killed by Connor's henchman, revealing how deadly and untrustworthy Connor is. Sage and the other two boys realize that they have no choice but to play Connor's game, the nature of which is revealed to them after their arrival at his grand estate. He needs a boy to impersonate the young Prince Jaron, who has been missing and presumed dead after his ship was attacked by pirates years ago. The recent deaths of the king, queen and crown prince have been kept secret so far, and Connor has only two weeks to train his "prince" before their deaths are made public and the prime regent Veldergrath makes his move for the throne. In the coming two weeks, Sage, Roden, and Tobias must learn as much as they can and compete to win the role of the false prince. And though winning means living a perpetual lie, the cruel end of Latimer leaves no question about the fate of the two who are not chosen. Sage's cunning and street smarts give him an advantage over the others, but his propensity for causing trouble makes him a less-than-ideal puppet for Connor. He makes tentative allies of Mott the henchman and the mute servant girl Imogen, but the competition between the boys soon becomes fierce and bloody. Sage has one last trick up his sleeve that he will need to save both his life and his country. But even if he wins, can he convince everyone that he is the heir to the throne?
Adults and young adults alike will enjoy this lively adventure. Sage is delightfully mischievous and sarcastic, and the real fun of this story is to watch him outsmart his enemies, only to land himself in more trouble again and again. The story is full of intrigue that will keep you engaged all the way to the final plot twist, where the full extent of both Sage's skills of deception and Connor's vile nature are revealed. This first book of the Ascendance Trilogy leaves us with the promise of great things to come.
Quill Says: Many surprises are concealed beneath the dirt and ragged clothes of an unruly orphan boy in this story of danger and deceit.
© 2017 Feathered Quill Book Reviews. All rights reserved.
Disclosure in Accordance with FTC Guidelines 16 CFR Part 255


text:
News About Snowhite Stakes
2009 Sandown Classic Day Race Results
16 November 2009
On Saturday, Betfair Park at Sandown was home to nine fantastic races including the Group 2 features, the Sandown Guineas (1600m) and Sandown Classic (2400m). Below is a complete list of all the race results from the day. Race 1 – $70 000 Cool Melbourne Plate (1700m) Placing Horse Jockey Trainer 1 TINTERN Nicholas Hall…


text:
Justices Won't Hear Absolute Priority Dispute In Castleton
The high court's refusal to hear Castleton Plaza LP's challenge to the appellate court's February ruling in its case against EL-SNPR Notes Holdings LLC is a win for creditors and a blow to bankrupt entities with insiders that want to hold onto their business...
To view the full article, register now.
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text:
Conscious Elegance
Reclaimed Silk & Vintage Fabrics
Lana is made of eco-chic Hollywood Glam and a train that just. won't. quit.
Lana Features:
- Halter top, fitted-waist and trumpet silhouette
- Fabulous train with choice of length and inset
- Bows detail optional and choice of size
- Train length and inset adjusted to suit
Our Ethical Pledge
The silk we use in our designs is either new hempsilk or reclaimed silk fabrics, repurposed from unwanted dresses which would have eventually ended up in a landfill. We believe that by giving pre-loved dresses a new life and extending their usefulness, we not only honor the initial sacrifice of the silkworms but we honor the laborers who wove the original fabric. We do this by reclaiming and re-using a resource that would otherwise be wasted.


text: I think this has been raised previously, so apologies in advance, but even if NSW get done tomorrow night, which I think is likely, at least we can take a bit of solace from the fact that no Qld team will make the 8. I can not see the Titans, Broncs or Cowboys getting within 6 points of 8 place. I just did the ladder predictor and I ended up with the Titans being the highest placed of these 3 teams on 24 points. Has that ever happened before that not 1 of the Qld teams made the 8?


text:
8, 10, 12
|Choose UR Cause
PETA, Feeding America, Save the Children, Stop Trafficking of People (STOP), The Nature Conservancy
Dog Shape Boys Navy T-shirt
SKU: BTS280NVY. Category: Kids Boys. Tags: adopt, animal lover, animal shelter, boys, charity, dogs, giving, help, love, navy, shirt, social good, t-shirt, tees.
This is the perfect shirt for your little dog lover.
- 100% baby rib cotton construction
- Will shrink an average of 1 size when put in the dryer.
- Made in the USA
- Water-based ink
4.00 out of 5 based on 1 customer rating(1 customer review)
1 review for Dog Shape Boys Navy T-shirt
4 out of 5
Roxy M – :
Love the detail of the design! My little one looks sweet in this tee. Good quality too.


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When it comes to comprehensive retirement planning, tax planning will always be a key component. When you are living off of a fixed income, as most are in their retirement years, the negative impacts of unanticipated taxes can be disastrous. But when it comes to tax planning, there is always a bit of guesswork involved, as short of having a magic crystal ball, no one knows exactly what the United States tax code and tax laws will look like in a few years like alone in twenty or thirty years.

While there are best practices and steps you can take with a certified public accountant (CPA) and certified financial planner (CFP) to help prepare for the taxes that will impact your retirement plan, having a tax-free retirement account is the only way to avoid the tax problem in retirement entirely. Does it sound too good to be true? It isn't, but there are limits and rules that govern how tax-free accounts work, and for all benefits there are also downsides. To explore the world of tax-free retirement accounts, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions.

Q: What does it mean if something is tax-free?

A: An account is considered tax-free if there is no federal or state tax due on income earned in the account both when the income is earned and when it is distributed or withdrawn. It is through these types of accounts that money can be invested and grow without owing future taxes on that growth even when you withdraw the funds to spend.

Q: What are examples of tax-free accounts?

A: There is only one type tax-free retirement account: the Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k) plans. Under defined withdrawal rules and annual income and contribution limits, after-tax money invested in a Roth IRA or a Roth 401(k) is allowed to grow tax-free and remains tax-free when withdrawn in retirement. There is no other such tax-free retirement savings vehicle. Because this is such a valuable tool for retirement planners but not for the IRS (as it loses the opportunity to tax what could become a substantial account value), there are strict rules governing how Roth IRAs can be used to remain tax-free.

Many people mistakenly also call Traditional IRAs tax-free accounts. While it is true that the money invested in a Traditional IRA is allowed to grow free from taxes, the account is actually a tax-deferred account meaning that the taxes are only delayed. In a Traditional IRA, withdrawals are subject to income taxes and because of the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules, by the time the account owners turns 70 ½, withdrawals must be made and therefore taxed. There are many more investment vehicles that offer this tax-deferral benefit over a completely tax-free benefit. For instance, in addition to Traditional IRAs, annuities and the cash surrender value of a whole life insurance policies also operate as tax-deferred accounts. At the end of the day, with a tax-deferred account, taxes are due at the time of distribution and with a tax-free account no taxes are due as long as the rules are followed.

Q: How is a tax-free account different from a tax-exempt account?

A: The primary difference between tax-free account and tax-exempt accounts is that in the United States, individuals can't establish tax-exempt accounts. However, individuals may invest in certain types of bonds like municipal bonds which pay tax-exempt interest. Typically, such interest is only exempt from federal tax unless it meets some other criteria to be exempt from state and local taxes as well.

Q: How does it work if an account is not tax-free?

A: All investments have the potential to pay income, increase in value, or both. Income from those investment comes from two primary sources: interest and dividends. If an investment is held in a taxable account, the income is added to the owner's taxable income for the year and results in a higher tax liability. Any sales of assets held in a taxable account which are sold for more than what was invested will also result in increased income and subsequent income tax. Whereas no tax would be due if the same investments were held in a tax-free account.

Q: Will I get a tax deduction for a contribution made to a tax-free account?

A: In general the short answer is no. The benefit of a tax-free account is the tax-free growth. The primary trade-off for that benefit (aside from the strict rules that govern tax-free accounts like Roth IRAs) is that you do not get a deduction for the initial contribution to the plan and that contribution must be made with after-tax money.

However, there is one type of account that may also be used during retirement that offers upfront tax benefits and tax-free growth of earnings - the Health Savings Account or HSA. With an HSA, you receive an income tax deduction when you contribute money, but when you use the money in your HSA for medical expenses and qualified health insurance premiums, these distributions come out tax-free.


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About Psychology In Music
I have noticed that some great songwriters and producers use techniques that can be explained using psychology. Understanding how musical techniques effect the listener, helps my own relationship with music, as a player and composer.
I will be looking at tunes by artists such as Alicia Keys, Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen to name but a few, and asking questions such as:
- What devices can we use, as musicians, that help grab the attention of a listener, and why do they work?
- What are the pros and cons of creating music using repetition?
- How can a 'wrong' note be used to create interest?
- How does a sense of expectation influence listener value judgments?
This site is great for musicians who want to improve and deepen their songwriting skills, and appreciation of music. Even though individual experiences may differ, there is often still an essence of commonality. All of the techniques on the website are grounded in current research.
I am passionate and fascinated by psychology in music, and I welcome questions and comments from peers. If you like what you see here please subscribe below.
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'I have noted that there are different expressions of surprise and that these expressions echo the primordial behaviours of fight, flight and freeze. Musical surprises are capable of initiating these responses, but the responses themselves are short-lived because an ensuing appraisal ultimately judges the stimuli as nonthreatening… Instead, the listener is left with a corresponding response of frisson, laughter, or awe… the pleasure associated with these responses arises from limbic contrast – a phenomenon I've called contrastive valence. Pleasure is increased when a positive response follows a negative response. While surprise is biologically bad, surprise nevertheless plays a pivotal role in human emotional experience'.Huron, 2006, Sweet Anticipation
About the Author


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Magnet Fun!
So PVC pipe and I really get along. I haven't mentioned it before but I'm a borderline addict to the stuff. I've got a whole list of one-day-soon projects to do with the stuff. This summer I discovered how easy it was to make a pocket chart stand and it snowballed from there.
I've got the larger pocket chart.
and 2 student sized pocket charts
and I made a simple little sensory box for my kiddo's.
Then I had an idea a couple of weeks ago when I was rearranging some things in my classroom and I kept looking at the drip pan stuck in a corner that I hadn't done anything with. I bought it a while ago, took it to school then discovered it was way too flimsy and too loud to just lean against the wall and my district isn't to keen on drilling into the walls, so it got stuck away until I could figure out what to do with it. Well take one Saturday afternoon, a couple of trips to Lowes and some intense math debates with my dad and you have my new magnet activity center. I'm pretty smitten with it! It's very sturdy, makes very little noise, is double sided and best of all (in my opinion) has enough storage in the middle for any magnet materials I have or will ever make.
|I talked to a teacher in the hallway for a second on the first day I had this in my room and when I came inside this is what they were doing:)


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The illegal wildlife trade of horns, tusks and body parts is 20 billion dollar industry. If poaching levels continue to grow at this increasing rate, Africa's remaining rhino populations may become extinct in the wild within just 20 years. Think about it, that means our children won't be able to see a Rhino in the wild when they grow up! Poaching is just one of many reasons we are losing our world's beautiful animals.
The Scarce Project exists to encourage responsible protection of the endangered and to never forget the beauty of the extinct. I paint extinct animals in black and white because they are forever gone. To the endangered I add a touch of color, for these there is hope.
Through the creation we see the creativity and majesty of a Creator. He is the great artist and he made all creatures for Himself. He put this Planet under our care, and we have proven to be poor stewards. Now is the time for action, let us work together to protect the last truly wild places on our planet and the creatures who call these places home.
%10 of all proceeds will go to different animal conservation foundations dependent upon each the painting.
Functionally extinct. Northern White Rhino. 48x48.SOLD | Prints available
Endangered| Snow Leopards. 48x48.SOLD | Prints available
Threatened. 48x48. $4,400
Great Grey Owl. 48x48. Sold | Prints available
Extinct. Javan Tiger. 36x48.SOLD | Prints available
Extinct. Quagga. 36x48. SOLD |Prints available
Critically Endangered. Philippine Eagle. 48x48. $4,400
Critically Endangered. Black Rhino. 35x48. SOLD |Prints available
Critically Endangered. Sumatran Rhino. Donated to the Cincinnati Zoo. | Prints available
Endangered. Eld's Deer. 36x24. SOLD |Prints available
Endangered. Ethiopian Wolf. 24x36. $1,600 | Prints available
Critically endangered. Black Rhino. Donated to the Columbus Zoo | Prints available
Endangered. Asian Elephant. 36x48. SOLD
|Prints available
Endangered. Florida Panther. 24x48. Sold |Prints Available
Endangered. Cape Seahorse . 24x36. SOLD
Vulnerable. Clouded Leopard. 36x48. sold
Endangered. Persian Fallow Deer. 24x48. Sold
Endangered. Loggerhead Turtle. 24x36. SOLD
Extinct. Xerces Blue. 12x16. Sold
Endangered. St. Andrews Beach Mouse. 24x30. $1,200 * Based off of Joel Sartore's photo from his book RARE. Twenty percent of the proceeds from this painting will go to his organization, Photo Ark.
Near Threatened. Tarsier. 36x36.
Critically endangered. Sumatran Tiger. Donated to the Dallas Zoo | Prints Available


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McKenna Adds Ex-US Atty To DC Office
McKenna tapped Thomas M. DiBiagio, who started Monday after being a principal at Beveridge & Diamond PC, to boost the firm's white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation capabilities. DiBiagio spent 13 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, as U.S. attorney from 2001 to 2005 and assistant U.S. attorney from 1991 to 2000.
DiBiagio told Law360 on...
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Unearthing Jordan's Soviet Cinema
Al-Akhbar Management
By: Leah Caldwell
Published Wednesday, May 23, 2012
A collection of decades-old films uncover some forgotten truths about Jordan's dalliance with socialism.
In 2008, Ali Maher, a commissioner for Jordan's Royal Film Commission, received a phone call from a Russian friend. She was in the process of clearing out the old Amman headquarters of the Jordan-Russian (once Soviet) Friendship Society. The society had moved offices about 20 years prior, but had left behind piles of what appeared to be arcane junk. She thought that Maher might be interested in taking a look around, to see if there was anything worth salvaging.
Maher, a robust man with a greying beard and moustache, was the ideal person to call. Maher's deceased father, General Fawaz Maher, was once a member of the Friendship Society, and, as the former head of the Circassian tribes in Jordan, had strong ties with the Soviet Union. In the late 1970s, Maher himself studied architecture and art in Moscow and ever since his departure had felt bouts of nostalgia for the former Soviet Union.
When he arrived at the two-story building in the upscale Jabal Amman area, he was saddened by what he saw.
"They were throwing out old Soviet things that don't exist anymore, like posters, books, medals, whatever. There was a big room full of old movies. [My friend] was about to put it in the garbage, but I begged her to stop and wait," said Maher.
Not knowing what he was saving, but positive that it shouldn't be discarded, Maher had 850 dusty metal canisters of 16 and 35mm film transferred to a garage at the Royal Film Commission. These relics of "an era that has vanished," as Maher called it, sat at the film commission for about a year until, in the spring of 2009, New York University graduate student Matthew Epler, then teaching at the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts, peeked into the storage room and asked: what is this?
Three years later, the film trove is still a big question mark, but Epler continues to slowly piece together its contents.
The faded Russian and Arabic labels on the canisters provided some cursory clues: With Lenin in One's Heart, Stories About Lenin, and Watch Out for the Automobile are a sampling of the dozens of Soviet titles that dominate the collection. Ranging in date from 1930 to the 1980s, the varied trademarks of Soviet-era state film ventures are displayed prominently on the canisters, but the most ubiquitous label is that of SovExportFilm, a Soviet agency that exported films around the world.
The more local, and at times cryptic, finds were the Arabic-marked 16mm canisters, appearing to include both official state films from the Jordanian Ministry of Culture and Information, as well as more independent documentaries. The labels weren't too evocative though and Epler, with basic Arabic skills and zero Russian, had difficulty deciphering them. One would think the solution would be to just run the films through a projector, find out what's there, and be done with it, but things weren't that simple.
"We're looking right at them and we're still lost in the dark because of the medium," said Epler. That is, the medium of 35mm. There are few 35mm processors in the Middle East (the one in Beirut recently shut down), but even if there were, the precarious quality of the films means that running them through a projector holds the possibility of irreparable damage. It would take money and time to figure out what was in the collection.
The Royal Film Commission would've been the obvious choice for funding, but Epler said that there was little interest, despite one of their commissioners salvaging the trove. A glance at the commission's website hints at more of an interest in promoting Jordan's scenic filming locations to Hollywood than preserving a rusting batch of Soviet-era propaganda films.
Instead, Epler launched a no frills documentation process. With some help, he took photographs of all the canisters and posted them online with the hopes of crowd-sourcing the Arabic and Russian translations (125 of 850 are translated now). Then he fashioned a rig out of two cardboard boxes, a fluorescent bathroom light, and a point-and-shoot camera and photographed the beginnings of select reels. One frame featured images of King Hussein, who ruled Jordan from 1952 to 1999, and Queen Alia, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977. Epler suspected that this might be of interest to at least a few people.
The Forgotten Past
The Royal Court provided Epler with $10,000, but the money didn't last long. With some colleagues helping to select some of the more promising titles, Epler could only afford to send ten of the hundreds of canisters to a lab for digitization in Germany. The result was that he got the first moving glances of the films. "As it unravels, it just gets more and more strange," he said.
In a Soviet-produced film from 1976, a boat cruises on Lake Baikal, a sickle and hammer flag attached to its stern flaps in the wind. Low-grade humming and classical music frame a shot of King Hussein walking along the rocky shore of the lake with a bevy of men in uncomfortable business suits. The narrator's voice descends on the bright day, stating in Arabic that the clarity of Baikal's waters is reminiscent of "the Trevi fountain in Rome, where if you throw a coin in, you're ensured to return another time."
What follows is a propaganda film recounting King Hussein and Queen Alia's visit to the Soviet Union: a triumphant visit to an aluminum factory, leisure time in the Black Sea town of Sochi, and a visit with one of the heads of state, Nikolai Podgorny. "Peace and friendship. The Soviet Union is set to preserve and protect friendship with people of the world," the narrator intones.
Another digitized reel titled Hanh, A Teacher is 1960s-era Vietnamese communist propaganda entirely in Vietnamese with no subtitles. The opening credits declare in English that the film "is a moving indictment of the US aggressors who have brought immeasurable suffering to millions of Vietnamese families."
The trove is an eclectic bunch of films with socialist ideological underpinnings being the only tangible link thus far. Breaking from this trend of colorful propaganda is the discovery of some Andrei Tarkovsky films. The inclusion of the legendary Russian filmmaker's work in the collection would hint at what Jamie Miller, author of Soviet Cinema: Politics and Persuasion Under Stalin, described as a certain level of open-mindedness – depending on the decade – in the types of films exported by the Soviet Union. Yet, for the most part, according to Miller, the Soviet Union would export feature films and documentaries to countries with two hopes: profit and persuasion.
"Often, they would send films that were likely to persuade working class audiences of the glamour of that system. [SovExportFilm] was set up as a representative of the government to bring in money and to promote ideology essentially," said Miller.
Many of the films, like the 1976 state visit, also function as an ideological time capsule of Jordan and the Middle East's shifting significance in the Cold War. In the 1970s and 80s, Jordan was an "an incorrigible satellite of the West," as described by a Middle East Report article from 1980, but the royal family still boasted amicable trade and cultural relations with the Soviet Union.
"It was kind of an ideological war with the West to show that [the Soviets] are superior in culture, art, ballet, opera, and everything," said Maher. "Now it's just business for them, so culture is at the end of their priorities."
While King Hussein was peering into the clear waters of Lake Baikal in Russia, he was cracking down on communists at home. The Friendship Society where the films were found was the target of an arrest campaign in 1986 in Amman, according to the Russian daily Pravda, as cited in a book on Soviet policy by Robert Owen Freedman. The endurance of these films throughout decades of crackdowns on freedom of speech and the press in Jordan is noteworthy if not astounding.
The Palestinian Right
Included under the banner of repression in Jordan was the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which also has an interesting tie to the collection. One of the films discovered and then digitized is a 1969 Jordanian Ministry of Culture production The Palestinian Right. The short documentary is composed of shots of Palestinian refugee camps and invokes viewers to support the "just and heroic armed struggle of the Palestine people." The film's cameramen later went on to establish the PLO film unit and the film's director, Mustafa Abu Ali, did prolific work for the PLO, according to documentary filmmaker Azza el-Hassan.
Hassan's 2004 documentary Kings and Extras followed Hassan on a search for the lost PLO film archive that was reportedly stashed in an apartment in Beirut's Hamra neighborhood preceding the 1982 Israeli invasion. There are several theories as to the whereabouts of the archive, but Hassan said that every so often, one of the archive's films pops up in random locations, like the film that surfaced at the Palestinian embassy in Algeria. Hassan speculates that the Friendship Society's trove could well hold some of the PLO's earlier work.
"The PLO media unit started first in Jordan and then moved to Lebanon, so when they moved to Lebanon, they didn't take their stuff with them from Jordan. In a way, if this is part of the PLO's missing archive, it's not the missing archive, because the missing archive was in Lebanon," said Hassan.
The Palestinian Right is not a lost film, but it hints at the texture of the found collection and the potential for recapturing lost memories. While the PLO was in Jordan, there were many that "wanted to forget what happened during that period," said Hassan, citing the events of Black September. If more of the early films were found, it could help piece together an overlooked history of the Arab Left.
Oraib Toukan, an artist based in New York, is fascinated by the potential ability of the collection to shed light on "how the Left operated in Jordan." Toukan has done work in Jordan and many of her visual and textual projects use archival material. She noted that the archives of Jordanian Television have recordings of every official foreign affairs visit of the King and said that, in terms of content, there will surely be overlap with the found collection.
For Toukan, the collection also hints at the tangible history of skills exchange between Jordan and the Soviet Union since many Jordanian cameramen and technicians were trained there. It's just one of many stories that the collection could shed light on.
Despite the language of mystery framing the trove, perhaps its ordinariness is what makes it so interesting; the fact that lost films and hidden archives are often just under our noses. The canisters now sit in the basement of a business park in downtown Amman and Epler continues to solicit for translations.
"My dream for this would be to go to some festival somewhere and have one of these films screened and to hear somebody say that they never thought that they'd be able to see what they saw on that film," said Epler.


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FURLA #CANDYCOOL x Hong Kong
Last week, I attended the Furla #Candycool event. Not knowing what to expect, I was positively surprised when I learned more about this project. In short; # candycool is a global artistic collaboration program created by the Furla, where they work with local artists around the world to create different versions of "Candy Bags", each in … Continue reading
Blondie & Pixie DIY Experiment: Rhinestone Heels
Life is ironic. Carmen and I meet several years while studying Business at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Between the busy schedule of supply and demand, I found myself daydreaming about beautiful fabrics, dresses and shoes. I asked myself if there was anyone else "out-there" dreaming about a career beyond finance? Several years … Continue reading
As a full-time working employee and a semi-professional blogger, one of my day-to-day challenges is to dress appropriately for work as well as for evening dinners and events. Like many other Hong Kong gals, I always carry an "evening emergency kit" with make-up essentials, heels and accessories to quickly transform into evening mode. Experience has taught me that … Continue reading
On my mind: Quirky Shoes
There is no secret that I have a love-hate relationship with high-heels. With my 1.56-petite(love how all french words sound chic and beautiful)-centimeters, I've had a pair of heels on my feet as long as I can remember. Love in the sense that there is nothing more captivating (and what can do wonder for your … Continue reading
DIY Nautical Name Bracelet
I participated in a Fashion show organised by the lovely Fa Herrington at ITS Fashion project last summer and the theme of my collection was "Maritime Luxe". I came to think about it as I was looking through a lot of old pictures and found the inspiration board. The blue and white colour combo seem … Continue reading
DIY Crochet Bib Neckless
I've had a long break from crafting as I have been on the road – traveling from Hong Kong to Rome to Sweden – plus being down with flu and food poisoning. Finally, I'm healthy and back in my parents house where I'm being pampered like never before. Sweden during summer is a pitoresque dream; … Continue reading
Hong Kong Talent: Carmen Chan Jewellery
For some time, I kept seeing the same quirky-handcrafted-looking-jewellery across Facebook and Hong Kong social media. As a jewellery lover always keen to wear emerging Hong Kong design, the unique style of the jewellery really caught my attention. Delightfully – the talent behind the Jewellery – turned out to be a good friend of mine … Continue reading


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For Trainers
Thank you for your continued support of the Below 100 initiative. We hope that your training efforts have been successful.
Law Officer Magazine has compiled information and resources to help you implement the Below 100 initiative at your department. Below is a list of materials you can utilize to support and encourage officer safety.
Material that will help promote officer safety at your agency.
Material that will help educate and motivate officers at your agency.
Material that will help you draft policies to address your department's needs.
Discussion Board:
A place where you can post and share comments, concerns, questions, challenges, training tips, etc., with other Below 100 instructors. Please Note: Only verified Below 100 trainers are allowed to join the group.
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our Below 100 Events Page


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All Android applications categories
The best cheats for Where's My Mickey! This app will teach you al the secrets you need to know to beat every level of the game! These cheats will help you to boost your high score and to beat your friends. Whenever you are stuck at some level use our Where's My Mickey cheats app and get ahead in the game.
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Wimbledon, London.
Mens' Doubles Tennis match.
SV. H. Flamm and A. Larsen (U.S.A. / Americans) proceeding Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman (Australians) onto court. GV crowd shots. CU Young woman in strapless dress enjoying the sunshine. GV. Flamm serving. He wears white head-band. Nice rally. GV. Flamm serving to McGregor, exchanges between these two until Larsen hits a fast backhand which Sedgman miss hits over line. More shots of rally. CU man in crowd applauding - he has a newspaper on his head to protect him from the sun. GV. Flamm serving from near end to Sedgman. Flamm smashes Sedgman's return but McGregor returns with a very hurried overhead stroke which beats Larsen, who followed up too close to the net. McGregor and Sedgman win. Players congratulate partners and opponents. Crowd applaud. STV. Players leaving court.
(Orig.Neg.) (Title scene "M")
Selected Originals exist for this item - see other records.
Wimbledon, London.
- Archive
- British Pathé
- Issue Date:
- 03/07/1952
- Sound:
- Sound
- Media URN:
- 27056
- HD Format:
- Available on request
- Film ID:
- 16.06
- Stock:
- Black & White
- Duration
- 00:01:12:00
- Time in/Out:
- 01:05:53:00 / 01:07:05:00
- Canister:
- 52/54
- Sort Number:
- 52/054
Appears in...
- Categories
- Sport & Leisure Lifestyle & Culture
- WorkSpaces
- Wimbledon