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Over the past weekend, Eco-Villagers re-shaped an existing neglected raised bed. For a few years, this area behind the Bimini Terrace building has had a large triangle-shaped raised bed. The bed was a little too big to garden easily; one would have to lean over and stretch out to reach things, or step in the garden. Lately some mint had been spreading its way through the triangle… not an entirely bad thing, but mint can spread and take over if it's not contained. (more…)
February 20, 2012
Retooled Raised Bed Out BackPosted by Joe Linton under Gardening | Tags: laecovillage, laevgarden, raised bed |
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January 29, 2012
First Day Back in the Garden in a WhilePosted by Joe Linton under Gardening | Tags: laecovillage, laevgarden, neglect, starters |
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I've been telling myself that I needed to get back into the regular tending of my garden… truth is that it's been seriously neglected since around the April 2011 CicLAvia. I spotted California poppies blooming already yesterday… which tells me that I do need to get plants going. In this part of Southern California, it's easy to garden year round… other than it being difficult to get stuff started during the heat of the summer. Winter and Fall gardening work well… and late Winter and Early Spring are the best time to get plants going for a productive Summer. (more…)
May 30, 2011
Water Harvesting Map of L.A. Eco-Village from 2008 WorkshopPosted by Joe Linton under Gardening, Permaculture | Tags: laecovillage, laevgarden, map, rainwater |
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Here's a slightly out of date, but still mostly ok, map/guide to some water harvesting features at Los Angeles Eco-Village. This is part of an 8-page booklet (pdf) I made for the Landscape Rainwater Harvesting workshop where we started building las trincheras. The booklet owes a great deal to lessons I've learned from Brad Lancaster's Rainwater Harvesting books.
April 24, 2011
Ripe Mulberries on the Bbong NamuPosted by Joe Linton under Gardening | Tags: laecovillage, laevgarden, mulberry |
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I was riding home today and ran into a Korean woman named Tae Sook Eum who was checking out my garden. I'd spoken with her a couple of times before. She attends the Mijoo Peace Church across the street, so now and then on a late Sunday afternoon, I come across her happily exploring the front yard garden. I enjoy running into folks in garden, which a front yard garden is condusive to (see my musings on this here and here.) When we run into each other, Ms. Eum and I converse a bit – though my Korean is more limited than her English.
Today she was standing underneath the mulberry tree. This tree is right outside my front door. Like me, it used to live across the street. It was initially planted on the east side of Bimini Place, just south of White House Place, next to the fourplex that L.A. Eco-Village recently acquired. During a street project in 2007 or 2008, the city decided to remove the tree; it was getting big and making it difficult for drivers to see the stop sign. Instead of just destroying the tree, LAEV worked with the city to relocate it. We trimmed a lot of tree branches, and about a dozen folks helped carry the tree across the street, where we re-planted it in a large hole we had dug. Despite how large that hole seemed, it was still too small – and we had to further trim some roots. The tree is really tough and has grown gangbusters in the front yard. Mulberry trees grow to be huge.
Tae Sook Eum spotted the ripening mulberries. She said she was happy to see trees that she was familiar with from her time spent in Korea. She was referring to the mulberry, persimmon, and jujube trees. She told me (and wrote out) the Korean names, respectively:
- Mulberry Tree: 뽕나무 'bbong namu'
- Persimmon Tree: 감나무 'gam namu'
- Jujube Tree: 대추 나무 'dae chu namu'
(Namu meaning tree – or plant – or maybe larger plant – which I vaguely remember from studying Korean briefly when I moved to L.A. I also remember 'gam namu' from talking with Mr. Lee when I used to live on White House Place. We planted a persimmon tree there, but it was later removed by the landlord, Mr. Lee's brother.)
Mulberries, the fruit, start out fairly light – a sort of white-ish green. As they ripen the fruits redden then become nearly black: black with a hint of red. They're not all that sweet until they get dark. I've heard (from a guy at the Papaya Tree Nursery) that there also are really wonderful Persian mulberries that are white when ripe… I am not sure of what specific type of mulberry is in the front yard here.
The fruit actually falls from the tree when fully ripe… but that's somewhat uncommon for this tree. It's more likely that the squirrels and birds will eat these berries before I get to them. They're just ripe this week… so Ms. Eum shared a few ripe berries. I gave her an artichoke and explained how to cook it, and I rushed off to help teach a consensus workshop for new eco-villagers.
March 17, 2011
Trees-a-SpringingPosted by Joe Linton under Gardening | Tags: jujube, laecovillage, laevgarden, persimmon, Spring |
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One of the simple pleasures of Spring is seeing the fruit trees go from barren to leafy. Here're two pretty uninspired photos of early leafing out. Both photos were taken Sunday March 13th 2011. I like to date stuff on this blog, because, in future years, it can help me look up what was happening when in the past. Above is the jujube tree planted in January 2009. I think the tree got a little stressed the first year… it's never thrived, never fruited, but it's certainly alive. I am hoping it gets its bearing and gets going soon. I noticed its tiny leafing out about a month ago… and this past week, it's taking off nicely.
Below is the persimmon tree along the alley – which was transplanted 3-4 years ago. It fruits a lot… but it's along a heavy pedestrian traffic alley… which means most of the fruit gets picked before I get a chance. The new leaves really shoot out – a bright light-yellow-green surprise! Both of these trees leaf a bit later than other fruit trees (for examples: peach, apricot, etc.) with the persimmon later than the jujube.
March 7, 2011
Artichokes on the Way!Posted by Joe Linton under Gardening, Local Food | Tags: artichoke, laecovillage, laevgarden |
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Last weekend, I finally spotted baby artichokes on the way. It's been a wet season for the artichokes – the love all the rain, interspersed with sunny days like this great La Niña winter has given us. The perennial artichoke plants, which die back each summer then re-grow from the roots, seem bigger than ever. The tiny chokes in the center of the plants – they're, of course, the flower – should grow into yummy full-sized delicacies in a little over a month. I can hardly wait!
February 4, 2011
Horse Poop in the GardenPosted by Joe Linton under Gardening, Organics | Tags: compost, laecovillage, laevgarden, manure, stable waste |
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My good friend Paul is in town, and he has a truck. We made our usual pilgrimage to the local horse stables located in North Atwater Village. We took our forks and shovels and loaded up a truckfull of stable waste. It's free, and there's plenty… and it's great for the garden.
The trick is that, like cheese or wine (well… maybe not), you have to wait. The stuff we pick up locally is about 4/5ths wood-shavings and about 1/5th poop. The woody stuff has been urinated on… so it's all very rich in nitrogen. It's too strong to be spread directly in the garden – supposedly it can hurt plants – though I am not entirely sure just how. So, it has to cook first. (more…)


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A summer salad packed with pasta, roasted corn, creamy avocados, nutty Tortuga! Black Beans, and spicy-lime sauce is the perfect twist to your normal Mexican Street Corn recipe.
Mexican Street Pasta Salad
Serves 6
2 cups Tortuga! Black Beans
2 cups bowtie pasta, uncooked
2 cups corn kernels
1 large avocado, diced
¼ cup green onion, chopped
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
½ cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
2 tsp olive oil
2/3 cup mayo
¼ cup lime juice
1/4 ground cumin
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp hot sauce
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
- Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain, rinse, and toss in olive oil.
- Toss corn kernel with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast corn in a skillet on medium-high for 5 minutes.
- While pasta is still cooking, begin to make sauce. In a small bowl, combine mayo, lime juice, cumin, paprika, chili powder, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth.
- Once the pasta is prepared, place pasta and prepped salad toppings (Tortuga! Black Bean, roasted corn, avocado, green onion, cilantro, and Cotija cheese) into large bowl. Toss.
- Toss together the sauce and salad until well coated. Enjoy!
*Cook according to package directions.

subset: commoncrawl


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Amy Schumer SCREAMS Back At Animal Fur Protestors
There were BIG dramas at Amy Schumer's recent book signing at Barnes & Noble in NYC.
Fur protestors crashed the event because Schumer had sported fur and began chanting and being disruptive in the middle of her event.
The group were obviously pissed off because Schumer wore a coat this past winter made by Canada Goose - a company the protestors claim engages in animal cruelty, according to a report on TMZ.
Amy first tries to calm them down by being playful, but they failed to back down. Security eventually tossed them out, but not before they made quite the scene.
A rep for Schumer tells TMZ the whole thing was unfortunate, especially since the protesters didn't hear her out.
The rep says Amy got the jacket as a gift, and once she learned about allegations Canada Goose harms animals, hasn't worn it since.
Source: TMZ


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Spireites break duck in style
Alex Mendy, Craig Westcarr and Leon Clarke scored their first Chesterfield goals as the Spireites won 3-0 at Bournemouth.
Last Updated: 10/09/11 6:16pm
Alex Mendy, Craig Westcarr and Leon Clarke scored their first Chesterfield goals as the Spireites won 3-0 at Bournemouth.
Newly-promoted Chesterfield broke their League One duck with the victory, while Bournemouth crashed to a fifth successive defeat.
Chesterfield had gleaned only two points out of their initial six matches since lifting the League Two championship last season, but once Mendy had headed them into a 32nd-minute lead at Dean Court there was no looking back.
Mendy's first goal in English soccer - he has been playing in the Czech Republic for the past eight seasons - came completely against the run of play, Bournemouth having forced a spate of corners before the Frenchman scored from Clarke's byline cross.
Chesterfield doubled their lead on the hour - Westcarr cutting in from the left to send a rasping left-foot shot into the top corner.
The profligate Marc Pugh saw a shot palmed onto the Chesterfield crossbar before the on-loan Clarke celebrated his Spireites' debut with a third midway through the second half.
Playing his first match since his much publicised tunnel punch-up with Swindon boss Paolo Di Canio a fortnight ago, Clarke scored from close range - only to be booked for over-celebrating.


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Fantasy Pros has a great Average Draft Position tool, that can show you the difference in a players value between Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, NFBC, Fantrax and RT Sports leagues. We took a look at the top 100 players overall, on average, drafted in Yahoo, ESPN, CBS and NFBC leagues and found which players the "average" (Yahoo, ESPN, CBS) fantasy baseball owners were over/under valuing compared to the "elite" (NFBC) fantasy owners.
Most Overvalued Players
- David Ortiz
- Matt Holliday
- Masahiro Tanaka
- Hisashi Iwakuma
- Cole Hamels
- Masahiro Tanaka
- Jacob DeGrom
- Jake Arrieta
- Evan Gattis
- David Ortiz
Obviously with Tanaka's health unknown, fantasy owners are confused at when/if to draft him. David Ortiz is now 39 years old and I wouldn't mind having Big Papi on my team, but I agree with the NFBC players, his ADP of 68 is a bit early and selecting Ortiz with the 91st pick would be a better option. Yahoo and ESPN owners are taking him in the 5th round!
Jon Lester, Carter, Holliday, Ortiz and Tanaka were found to be overvalued in Yahoo, ESPN and CBS leagues by at least 10 picks, compared to his NFBC ADP of 54.
Jon Lester, Carter, Holliday, Ortiz and Tanaka were found to be overvalued in Yahoo, ESPN and CBS leagues by at least 10 picks, compared to his NFBC ADP of 54.
Most Undervalued Players
- Chris Davis
- Evan Gattis
- Starling Marte
- Jason Kipnis
- Dee Gordon
With an ADP of 56, Dee Gordon is coming off draft boards as the 5th or 6th 2B and for a guy who doubled his career AB totals in a single season, that is a little to early for me. NFBC owners love him and with an ADP of 40 are taking him before all other league owners. Speed is a serious distraction in fantasy baseball.
Marte is the only player Yahoo, ESPN and CBS leagues agree is being overvalued by NFBC leagues. Marte has an ADP of 35 in NFBC leagues, yet his average ADP is 46 and Yahoo owners are waiting until the 58th pick to select the Pirates OF.
Polarizing Players
- James Shields
- CBS owners must hate Shields because his ADP of 103 is nearly 20 slots lower than his average ADP of 86! ESPN owners love him at 67, Yahoo owners understand him at 83 and NFBC owners are a bit weary of him with an ADP of 93.
- George Springer
- Springer is coming off boards right around pick 40, and the NFBC ADP is 37, but Yahoo and ESPN owners are waiting until 10 picks later to draft the Astros OF, while CBS owners are reaching and grabbing Springer before the 3rd round is over!
- Jeff Samardzija
- With an average ADP of 71, Samardzija is being selected 62nd overall in CBS and ESPN leagues, right around 74 in NFBC and 86th in Yahoo leagues!
- Zack Greinke
- CBS owners are not fond of Greinke either, with an ADP of 63 compared to his average of 46. Yahoo and ESPN owners will reach for him about 10 picks early while the NFBC owners understand his true value at 48.


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Hey Inquisitive writers! I got nominated to do the Sunshine Blogger Award for the second time! I got nominated by Angelina Kerner ~ thanks for the nomination! You can also see my previous award here.
- Thank the person who nominated you
- Answer 11 questions from the person that nominated you
- Nominate other bloggers and ask them 11 questions
1. What's you favorite thing about holiday shopping? Hm, well I love going to TJMaxx, decorating my home, drinking Gingerbread lattes (I'm pretty sure that's holiday shopping..😉) and the spirit of it all.
2. If you can have any magical pet from any fictional novel, which one would it be and why? Probably Slyvestre, Serafina's best friend in the novel Deep Blue. He is so calm and quiet!
3. Which would you pick: being world-class attractive, a genius or famous for doing something great? Why? I'm pretty much stuck between a genius and doing something great. But if I had to choose, it would be for doing something great because then I would probably be remembered for a long time and I would be very proud of myself.
4. Would you rather live a week in the past or future and why? Probably in the future because I wouldn't want to mess something up in the past to affect the present.
5. What are your 3 favorite books? Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, and Sea Spell by Jennifer Donnelly.
6. What are your 3 least favorite books? Jane Austin goes to Hollywood by Abby Mcdonald, Sit, Stay, Love by J.J. Howard, and The Meanest Girl by Deborah Allie.
7. Who would play you in a movie of your life? I have no idea.
8. Do you ever talk to yourself? When and what do you say? No, not really.
9. Like Tammy: which book universe would you like to be a part of? Chloe by Design: Balancing Act by Margaret Gurevich, because it takes place in NYC!
10. What's your favorite pizza? Veggie/ spinach pizza 🍕
11. I will follow the examples of Naraja and Sam, so give a shout-out to 5 bloggers you want others to know about and Share the Love! ❤ The bloggers I want to give a shoutout to are my nominees! ⬇
I nominate:
A Barefoot Gal ~ I love your positive attitude and your photography.
Artsysmartz ~ I love your creative DIYS!
Curly Girl Abroad ~ Love your travels and the way you tell them!
Leen ~ You writings are down to Earth and amazing.
Bern's Bakes ~ Love your cooking and your positive attitude!
Here are my questions:
- What inspired your blog's name?
- How long have you been blogging?
- What makes you smile?
- Do you think you are making the most out of life right now?
- Do you think you're a young or old soul?
- Which music style do you favor the most? (Ex. rock, indie, classical)
- Have you ever been read by a palm reader? If not, would you want to know your future?
- What hobby do you love to do?
- What is your least favorite food?
- Where is your favorite place in the world?
- Do you have a favorite scent? If you do, why do you like it so much?
Thanks again for the nomination! ☀ Also be sure to link back to this page when posting about this award!


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- Methodology article
- Open Access
A Bayesian model for classifying all differentially expressed proteins simultaneously in 2D PAGE gels
© Wu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012
- Received: 14 December 2011
- Accepted: 30 May 2012
- Published: 19 June 2012
Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE) is commonly used to identify differentially expressed proteins under two or more experimental or observational conditions. Wu et al (2009) developed a univariate probabilistic model which was used to identify differential expression between Case and Control groups, by applying a Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) to each protein on a 2D PAGE. In contrast to commonly used statistical approaches, this model takes into account the two possible causes of missing values in 2D PAGE: either (1) the non-expression of a protein; or (2) a level of expression that falls below the limit of detection.
We develop a global Bayesian model which extends the previously described model. Unlike the univariate approach, the model reported here is able treat all differentially expressed proteins simultaneously. Whereas each protein is modelled by the univariate likelihood function previously described, several global distributions are used to model the underlying relationship between the parameters associated with individual proteins. These global distributions are able to combine information from each protein to give more accurate estimates of the true parameters. In our implementation of the procedure, all parameters are recovered by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) integration. The 95% highest posterior density (HPD) intervals for the marginal posterior distributions are used to determine whether differences in protein expression are due to differences in mean expression intensities, and/or differences in the probabilities of expression.
Simulation analyses showed that the global model is able to accurately recover the underlying global distributions, and identify more differentially expressed proteins than the simple application of a LRT. Additionally, simulations also indicate that the probability of incorrectly identifying a protein as differentially expressed (i.e., the False Discovery Rate) is very low. The source code is available at https://github.com/stevenhwu/BIDE-2D.
- Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE)
- Global Bayesian model
- Differentially expressed protein
- Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE) separates hundreds or thousands of proteins simultaneously by their isoelectric point and molecular weight [1]. There are two main approaches to analyse 2D PAGE: (1) an image-based approach, which analyses the raw or preprocessed gel images [2, 3], and (2) a spot-based approach, whereby a standard analytical pipeline is used to identify up- or down-regulated proteins by gel scanning, spot-detection and spot-matching using appropriate software [4, 5]. Data obtained are expressed as absolute or relative protein intensities, typically transformed into log-values. By detecting statistically significant differences in the spot intensities under different experimental or sampling conditions, 2D PAGE is a useful technique for exploring potentially differentially expressed proteins.
Most of the commercial packages for 2D PAGE analysis include several standard statistical analysis methods, for example, two-sample Student's t-tests, Analysis of Variance, and Principal Component Analysis [6, 7]. Nonetheless, a significant challenge with most 2D PAGE analyses is the problem of missing values, whereby spots on one gel are not identified, or matched with, spots on another gel [8]. This should not come as a surprise: the expression of proteins varies from individual to individual from one experimental condition to the next, along with technical variation between gels. Previously, we proposed a likelihood-based model that identified differentially expressed proteins, and which accounted for missing values by positing a class of proteins where the probability of non-expression is greater than zero [9]. In particular, we divided missing values into two categories, due either to the non-expression of a protein, or a level of expression that fell below the limit of detection [3, 10]. The likelihood function utilized a mixture of the two probabilistic models, thus allowing both possible causes of missing values. By applying a Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT), we classified a protein as "differentially expressed" if there was statistically significant support for either a difference in mean expression intensities or a difference in the probabilities of expression across the two categories.
In this paper, we extend our univariate likelihood model to a global model. The aim of a global model is to utilize the relationship between spots so that information about expression probabilities and differences in mean expression intensities can be modeled coherently across all spots. The global likelihood model proposed in this paper maintains all the advantages of the local model proposed previously, that is, the incorporation in the model of probabilities of expression and a limit of detection. Additionally, the global model includes several parametric probability functions that deliver the expected probability of expression and mean expression intensities for individual spots. In other words, the probability of expression and the mean expression intensity for any given spots are random variables drawn from global distributions of these variables, and the parameters of these global distributions are estimated from all expression data. While the characterization and use of global distributions of expression frequencies and intensities is not novel [11, 12], this is the first time that this type of approach has been applied to the problem of modeling protein abundance in 2D PAGE. The empirical distributions of these data sets lend themselves to approximations by well-studied statistical distributions, and their use in statistical inference delivers greater power to detect differentially expressed spots. We illustrate the properties of the global model using simulated data, where the true parameters of the probabilities of expression, and the mean expression intensities are known.
The Global Bayesian Model
In our paper, the global model is applied to a case–control experimental design, where subjects belong to either a Case (disease) or Control group. Under the simplest experimental design, individuals are assigned to either the Case or Control group, and each subject has a sample that is processed using 2D-PAGE. This approach produces as many 2D-PAGE gels as there are subjects, and after application of the appropriate software algorithms, a list of "spots" is produced (corresponding to proteins that were expressed on at least one gel), along with the intensities of these spots for each gel. Before any analysis is carried out, we calculate the relative intensities by dividing the intensity of individual spots by the sum of all intensities on the corresponding gel, followed by log 2 transformation. In many instances, there will be no intensity value for a given protein, indicating (as previously noted), that the spot was not expressed or not detected. These spots are indicated by "NA" in the dataset.
The global model proposed here is a hierarchical model with two layers. The first layer is referred to as the local layer. This layer calculates the likelihood for an individual protein, with each protein having its own parameters. The second or "global" layer connects all parameters from the local layers together. Parameters associated with this layer are referred to as global parameters. Since the model attempts to recover a large number of parameters, it is analytically and computationally cumbersome to obtain estimates within a likelihood-based framework. Instead, we have chosen to use Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) integration (described below), which is a computationally tractable approach. More importantly, Bayesian MCMC integration allows us to specify prior probability distributions that capture what we expect our parameters to look like when there is no difference between Case and Control. Since the point of Bayesian inference is to recover the posterior distribution (i.e., the distribution of the model parameters, after the incorporation of new data), any significant deviation between the posterior and the prior distributions is a signal that there are statistical differences between Cases and Controls.
The local layer
The local layer focuses on the expression of an individual spot and can be described by four parameters. These four parameters are: 1) the mean for control group expression intensity μ, 2) the difference between case and control mean expression intensities δ, (i.e., the mean for the case group is calculated by μ 1 = μ 0 + δ), 3) the probability of expression for the control group p 0 , which can be expressed as a function of κ and 4) the difference between probabilities of expression between the two groups, τ. The probabilities of expression for the Control and Case groups are calculated by and respectively. Both groups are assumed to have the same standard deviation for expression intensities, σs, the details of which will be discussed later.
where d is the limit of detection and ν is the maximum expression value.
- (1)
When the intensity, C x,s,i is less than the level of detection, the the likelihood function reflects a mixture of the possibilities that either the protein was not expressed (i.e., 1 – ρ x , where ρ x is the probability of expression), or that the protein was expressed but fell below the level of detection (the second term on the right hand side of the first row, in Equation 2).
- (2)
When the intensity is greater than the level of detection, the likelihood function is given by a truncated normal distribution, with the lower tail truncated at d, the level of detection (second row of Equation 2).
where L(Θ L ) is the likelihood for all proteins at the local layer and S is the total number of proteins in the 2D PAGE experiment.
The global layer
All proteins are assumed to have the same standard deviation of expression intensities (measured on the log scale), which is calculated by multiplying σ g by the spot standard deviation scalar parameter ψ. Therefore the spot standard deviation σ s = ψσ g is used to calculate the likelihood for each spot in the local layer. This allows the model to efficiently estimate the spot standard deviation and explore the potential relationship between σ s and σ g .
Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
Bayesian inference and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm
Here, p(D|θ) denotes the likelihood function, and p(θ) is the prior distribution of the parameter set θ. The posterior distribution p(θ|D) summarizes the degree of belief in θ, based on the observed data, D, and prior knowledge of the parameter set.
For complex analyses, including the estimation of parameters in many mixture models, it is often difficult to obtain the posterior distribution directly. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) integration is a computationally tractable and commonly used solution to the problem. It is an iterative procedure which attempts to recover the posterior distribution by sampling the permissible parameter space. One common implementation of MCMC uses the Metropolis-Hasting algorithm [13, 14], which can be described by the following steps.
Step 1: Begin with initial state Θ.
Step 2: Make a small change to the parameter θ i to θ* according to a proposal distribution q(θ*|θ i ).
Step 3: Calculate the acceptance ratio α, using the following formula:
Generate μ from U(0, 1) and accept θ i+1 = θ * if μ < α.
Otherwise θ i+1 = θ i .
Step 4: Set i = i + 1 and repeat Step 1.
The algorithm is repeated until the Markov chain is sampling from the target distribution, typically the (joint) posterior distribution of the parameter(s).
When the Markov chain reaches the stationary or equilibrium distribution, the 95% highest posterior density (HPD) region for the marginal posterior distribution for each parameter can be calculated. The 95% HPD region consists of the smallest collection of potential parameter values such that the marginal posterior probability of the parameter falling into this region is at least 95%.
Prior and proposal distributions
List of prior distributions used in the global model
Global parameterθ i
Prior distributionp(θ i )
μ g
Normal ∼ (μ = −3,σ = 5)
σ g
Γ -1 (shape = 0.001, rate = 0.001)
Uniform ∼ (0.001, 2)
λ δ
Exponential ∼ (λ = 1)
ϕ δ
Beta ∼ (alpha = 2,beta = 2)
μ κ
Normal(μ = 0,σ = 3)
σ κ 2
Γ -1 ∼ (shape = 0.001,rate = 0.001)
μ τ
Normal ∼ (μ = 0,σ = 3)
σ τ 2
Γ -1 ∼ (shape = 0.001,rate = 0.001)
For the global mean expression intensity μ g , we used a normal distribution centered at −3 with a standard deviation of 5 as the prior. The prior is centered at −3 as the data are log-transformed relative protein expression intensities. If a gel has 1000 proteins with identical expression intensities, then the mean relative percentage volume expression will be 0.1 for each protein, which is ∼ −3.3 when log2-transformed. However, since we do not know the true mean volume, a relatively large standard deviation was assigned to the prior distribution of relative expression intensities. There was insufficient information to provide a good estimate of the prior distribution for the global standard deviation σ g , therefore a relatively flat inverse-gamma prior σ g ∼ Γ -1 (0.001,0.001) was used [16].
The modified Laplace distribution is used to model the difference between two mean expression intensities. This distribution has two parameters: λ δ is the rate for the exponential distribution component, and ϕ δ is the proportion of up-regulated proteins. The rate parameter has an exponential prior of λ δ ∼ Exp (1). The proportion of up-regulated proteins ϕ δ is bounded between 0 and 1. If there is approximately an equal number of up- and down- regulated proteins then the value of ϕ δ will be close to 0.5. Therefore the density function for the prior should peak around 0.5 and decrease as ϕ δ moves toward 0 or 1, thus, a Beta (2,2) distribution was used as the prior for ϕ δ .
The means for both the probability of expression in the Control group, μ κ , and the difference between probabilities of expression between the two groups, μ τ , have more stringent priors. A normal distribution centered at 0 with a standard deviation of 3 is used for both parameters. Under the reparameterisation procedures described earlier, and , if the probabilities of expression for the control group are given by ρ 0 = 0.95, this would correspond to κ ∼2.94. We believe that it is unnecessary to distinguish the probability of expression between 0.95 and 1 because the difference is unlikely to be biologically significant. Therefore a relatively small standard deviation was assigned to the prior distribution to avoid κ s or τ s moving towards very large values. Consequently, this also prevents false positive results which may occur when the model attempts to distinguish the difference between probabilities of expression beyond 0.95.
List of proposal distributions for both global and local parameters
Global parameterθ i
Proposal distributionq(θ*|θ i )
μ g
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = μ g , lower = d, upper = log 2 (100))
σ g
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = σ g , lower = 0.01)
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = ψ, lower = 0.001, upper = 2)
λ δ
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = λ δ , lower = 0.01)
ϕ δ
ϕ δ ' = Normal ∼ (μ = ln[ϕ δ /(1-ϕ δ )]), ϕ δ * = exp(ϕ δ ')/[1 + exp(ϕ δ ')]
μ κ
Normal ∼ (μ = μ κ )
σ κ
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = σ κ , lower = 0.01)
μ τ
Normal ∼ (μ = μ τ )
σ τ
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = σ τ , lower = 0.01)
Local parameter θ i
Proposal distribution q(θ*|θ i )
μ s
Normal ∼ (μ = μ s )
δ s
Normal ∼ (μ = δ s )
κ s
Normal ∼ (μ = κ s )
τ s
Normal ∼ (μ = τ s )
The proportion of up-regulated proteins ϕ δ was bounded between 0 and 1. Therefore a logit transformation was applied to ϕ δ to obtain a value without boundaries logit(ϕ δ ) = ϕ δ /(1-ϕ δ ). A normal distribution with mean set to logit(ϕ δ ) was then used to propose a new value ϕ δ '. Finally, an inverse-logit transformation was applied to ϕ δ ' to obtain the candidate value ϕ δ * which is always between 0 and 1.
The global standard deviation, σ g , the rate parameter for the exponential distribution, λ δ , the standard deviation for the probabilities of expression, σ κ , and the standard deviation for the difference in the probabilities of expression, σ τ , all have the same proposal distributions, a truncated normal distribution with lower bound set to 0.01 and no upper bound. The theoretical lower limit for these values is 0, but 0.01 was used for two reasons. The first was that these values were extremely unlikely to be less than 0.01 for any 2D PAGE experiments. Hundreds of different proteins were separated in each 2D PAGE experiment and it is unlikely for all the proteins to have very similar means and probabilities of expression. The mean of the exponential distribution is 1/λ, and the theoretical maximum intensity for a protein on 2D PAGE is log 2 (100) ≈ 6.64. Therefore we expect λ δ to be greater than 0.01 because the mean value for δ s (the difference between two mean expression intensities) is unlikely to be greater than 100. The second reason was to prevent floating point underflow when computing extremely small likelihood values when the standard deviation approaches 0.
Adaptive MCMC
Since MCMC is a technique that relies on a stochastic perturbation to the current state to generate the next state in a chain, the states are autocorrelated. Depending on the proposal distributions used, there is a possibility for states to persist in a part of parameter space, and mix poorly. We used three different techniques to improve the mixing of the Markov chain: tuning parameters, block updating and parameter expansion.
where σ new is the standard deviation of the new proposal distribution and σ cur is the standard deviation of the current proposal distribution. ρ opt is the optimal acceptance ratio, ρ cur the current acceptance ratio, and Φ -1 is the inverse CDF of a standard normal distribution. If the acceptance ratio is higher than the optimal acceptance ratio, then the standard deviation for the proposal distribution is increased to lower the acceptance ratio and vice versa [18]. The standard deviation σ new is updated once every 500 iterations and the current acceptance ratio ρ cur is averaged over 3000 iterations.
At the local layer, we paired μ s and δ s together and κ s and τ s together. At the global level, we paired μ g and σ g together, λ δ and ϕ δ together, μ κ and σ κ together and, μ τ and σ τ together. Sometimes the variance parameter was not able to move freely, especially when it approached zero, resulting in poor mixing. The introduction of an additional parameter which links mean and variance together can potentially reduce this issue [20]. This is termed "parameter expansion" and it was implemented here to reduce this problem.
Prior and proposal distributions used for the parameters introduced in the parameter expansions
Global parameterθ i
Prior distributionp(θ i )
Proposal distributionq(θ*|θ i )
α μ
Uniform ∼ (0.01,10)
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = α μ , lower = 0.01)
α κ
Uniform ∼ (0.01,10)
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = α κ , lower = 0.01)
α τ
Uniform ∼ (0.01,10)
Truncated-Normal ∼ (μ = α τ , lower = 0.01)
With the combination of block updating and parameter expansion, there were twelve parameters, including nine parameters from the likelihood model and three tuning parameters (α) described above. These parameters were grouped and updated in eight different blocks.
Simulation analysis
Once we were confident that the Markov chain was sampling the target distribution, the 95% highest HPD for δ s and τ s was calculated. The local parameter δ s and τ s represent the differences in mean expression intensities between Case and Control groups and the probability of expression, respectively. There are three scenarios whereby a protein may be classified as statistically differentially expressed: 1) If the 95% HPD for δ s does not include zero, 2) if the 95% HPD for τ s does not include zero, or 3) if the 95% HPDs for both parameters do not include zero.
Simulation 1. Simulation based on a real experiment
100 differentially expressed proteins, with each protein having different parameter values, were drawn from a global distribution with the following parameters: the mean expression intensities for the control group followed a normal distribution with a mean of −5 and a standard deviation of 1. The standard deviation for each individual protein was 0.7. The difference between mean expression intensities was drawn from a modified Laplace distribution (described in the global layer section) with λ δ = 0.5 and ϕ δ = 0.5. The parameter associated with the probability of expression, κ s was drawn from a normal distribution with a mean of 1 and a standard deviation of 1, and τ s was drawn from a normal distribution with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 2.
Simulation 2. Varying the global distribution of the probabilities of expression
The second simulation was similar to Simulation 1, except that the values of κ s were no longer assumed to follow a normal distribution. Instead, for each protein, κ s was drawn from a uniform distribution between −1 and 3, and τ s was drawn from a uniform distribution between −2 and 2. All other global parameters were identical to those specified in Simulation 1.
Simulation 3. A smaller gap between mean expression intensities and different distributions for the probabilities of expression
In the previous two simulations, λ δ for the modified Laplace distribution was set to 0.5, which corresponds to a difference between two mean expression intensities of 2. In Simulation 3, the difference between two mean expression intensities was set to 1.5 times the protein standard deviation, which corresponds to λ δ ≈ 0.66. This was done because results from our previous study showed that LRT had a reasonable performance when the difference between the two mean expression intensities was approximately 1.5 times the standard deviation or higher. This simulation also tested the difference between two probabilities of expression when drawn from two different distributions. For each individual protein, κ s was still drawn from a normal distribution with mean 1 and a standard deviation of 0.25, but τ s was divided into two groups. Half of the proteins were simulated from a normal distribution with mean −3 and standard deviation of 0.25; the other half were simulated from a normal distribution with mean 2 and standard deviation of 0.25. Note that we assigned a relatively small standard deviation to these distributions to obtain two non-overlapping normal distributions. This extreme scenario is used to test the flexibility of the Bayesian model. All other global parameters were identical to Simulation 1.
Simulation 4. Estimating the false positive rate
This simulation attempted to investigate the number of proteins falsely classified as differentially expressed when there was no difference between two groups. The difference between local mean expression intensities δ s and the difference between local probabilities of expression τ s were fixed at 0 for all proteins. All other global parameters were identical to Simulation 1. This setting makes two groups identical and allows us to estimate the false positive rate of this model.
Application of model to 2D PAGE data
We also applied the global model to a 2D PAGE experiment reported previously by Wu et al [9] in which we selected differentially expressed spots based on a likelihood ratio test This experiment contained 24 individuals, with one gel per individual. Eight hundred and three spots were detected and matched using commercial software.
Results and discussions
Both the global model and the LRT previously defined in Wu et al (2009) were applied to the three simulations.
Simulation 1. Simulation based on a real experiment
Summary of the global parameters for simulation 1, which is based on a real 2D PAGE experiment
Global parameter
Mean from MCMC
Lower 95% HPD
Upper 95% HPD
True value
μ g
σ g
λ δ
ϕ δ
μ κ
σ κ
μ τ
σ τ
The recovered mean for the proportion of up-regulated proteins ϕ δ was 0.57 with the 95% HPD between 0.45 and 0.67 (the true value is 0.5). This implied that 57% of the spots were considered as up-regulated, that is, the mean expression intensity for the case group was higher than the control group. Nevertheless, this does not represent the proportion of statistically classified differentially expressed proteins because the statistical classification of up- or down regulation depends on whether the 95% HPD of δ s for each protein includes zero. Under this criterion, there were 38 spots that were (statistically) classified as up-regulated and 30 spots that were (statistically) classified as down-regulated.
Simulation 2. The effect of the underlying global distribution on the probabilities of expression
Summary of the global parameters for simulation 2 where the probabilities of expression were drawn from uniform distributions
Global parameter
Mean from MCMC
Lower 95% HPD
Upper 95% HPD
True value
μ g
σ g
λ δ
ϕ δ
μ κ
κ ∼ Uniform(−1,3)
σ κ
κ ∼ Uniform(−1,3)
μ τ
τ ∼ Uniform(−2,2)
σ τ
τ ∼ Uniform(−2,2)
Simulation 3. Smaller difference between mean expression intensities and alternative distributions for the probabilities of expression
Summary of the global parameters for simulation 3 where the difference between two probability of expressions were drawn from two normal distributions
Global parameter
Mean from MCMC
Lower 95% HPD
Upper 95% HPD
True value
μ g
σ g
λ δ
ϕ δ
μ κ
σ κ
μ τ
σ τ
Simulation 4. Estimating the false positive rate
The 95% HPDs were calculated for all the local parameters δ s and τ s , and all the HPD intervals contained zero. This implied that none of the proteins were classified as differentially expressed. The simulations were repeated with 18 and 24 gels in each group while all other parameters remained the same. Once again, in these further simulations none of the proteins was classified as differentially expressed. This demonstrates that the model we propose here has a very low false positive rate.
2D PAGE Example
Of course, because the global model uses a common variance for expression intensities, spots where the variances are significantly different from the common variance will not necessarily be identified as differentially expressed. This appears to account for those spots that are identified by the LRT and not the global Bayesian analysis.
We have demonstrated with simulated data that a global Bayesian model is able to correctly identify more differentially expressed proteins than the use of the LRT proposed in the previous study. In all three simulation analyses, the LRT classified approximately 60% of the proteins as statistically differentially expressed, and the global model classified between 75% and 89% of the proteins. Additionally, with our simulated data, the global model identified correctly identified almost all of the proteins also identified by the LRT. The global model accurately recovered the underlying global distributions in all simulations. The 95% HPD for the five global parameters, μ g , σ g , ψ, λ δ and ϕ δ , always included the true values used to simulate the dataset. The global distributions used in the model were fixed, but the results from the simulation analyses showed that it can be adapted to a wide range of different underlying distributions. In simulation analysis 2, the model recovered a wide normal distribution to overcome the fact that the underlying distribution was a uniform distribution. In simulation analysis 3, a very wide normal distribution with standard deviation 3.65 was obtained when two non-overlapping normal distributions were used as the true distributions from which data were sampled. Finally, simulations also demonstrated that the False Discovery Rate was very low.
When we applied the global Bayesian analysis and the LRT to real data, we uncovered some interesting disparities that appear to be related to how these methods apply variance estimates. In particular, the global Bayesian model estimates a common variance by combining data available from all spots. This allows the model to estimate the standard deviation more accurately if there is, indeed, a common variance of expression intensities. By using the 95% HPD to identify differentially expressed proteins, additional information is provided on whether a protein is differentially expressed due to the expression intensities, probabilities of expression or possibly both. The proportion of up- or down-regulated proteins can be accurately estimated from the model by the global parameter ϕ δ . In contrast, the LRT uses only the variance of expression intensities identified for each spot. If the number of expressed spots is low in both Case and Control groups, the power to detect differences is compromised. This is an advantage of the global model when the assumption of a common variance is appropriate. However, when this assumption is violated, the global model does not identify the same spots as being up- or down-regulated as the LRT. It may be possible to apply a mixture of distributions allowing different variances, to overcome this discrepancy. However, it is a common to find with MCMC procedures that adding more parameters, and integrating over these, affects mixing and convergence to the stationary distribution.
It is, of course, true that a realistic biological system involves several different groups of proteins, with each group associated with different biological pathways that are frequently interconnected. In order to capture this complex relationship, it is likely that the expressions of different clusters of proteins will be best explained by different underlying distributions. This will allow the model to separate proteins into several different categories, with each category being represented by a unique global distribution. Whereas the use of multiple global distributions may result in a more accurate estimate of these true global parameters, there is also the danger that introducing new distributions (and new parameters) will lead to overfitting and inflated variance estimates. Several global statistical models developed for other high throughput technologies such as microarrays, often attempt to incorporate biological pathways [22]. The challenge with 2D PAGE is that the true identity of each protein is usually unknown until differentially expressed proteins are determined and then subjected to mass spectroscopy for identification. Without this information, it is very challenging to develop a global model based on biological pathways.
Finally, one other assumption that our global Bayesian model makes is that the variances of expression intensities for the Case and Control groups are equal. We are aware that this may be an unrealistic assumption; however, if we assume the alternative (i.e., unequal variances for Case and Control), our implementation of the MCMC has difficulty converging when the probability of expression is low.
Any MCMC Bayesian analysis requires a choice of prior distributions. Although we have designed priors that appear to be a reasonable characterization of the uncertainty in our parameter values, the model is general enough to allow other priors to be substituted for the ones we use. In this paper, we have not tried different prior distributions, because we are demonstrating how the Bayesian MCMC scheme may be implemented, and we have applied our methods largely to simulated data. With real-world data, it is standard practice when applying Bayesian analyses to real data to test for the sensitivity to different prior distributions.
One drawback of the MCMC approach is the amount of time required for the Markov chain to converge. Multiple runs of Markov chains can be used to assess the convergence and accuracy of the results. An example of this is the Metropolis-coupled Markov chain Monte Carlo (MC3) approach [23]. A typical 2D PAGE experiments may have between 800 to 1200 expressed proteins. With the current implementation, it took around 1.7 hours per million iterations for an experiment with 800 spots on a Intel i5 2.67 GHz CPU. As the number of spots increases, the number of iterations and the time required for the Markov chain to converge may also increase. To improve the usability of this model, a more efficient implementation, such as parallel MCMC, should be used [24]. The source code and jar file are available for download at https://github.com/stevenhwu/BIDE-2D.
We would like to thank Professor Lesley McCowan (Principal investigator on the SCOPE project in Auckland, New Zealand), Rennae Taylor (project manager), research midwives and the pregnant women who participated in the SCOPE study in Auckland New Zealand. We would like to thank Kelly LeFevre Atkinson for performing the 2D-gel experiment which generated the observed data used in the study. This project was funded by NERF grant UOAX0407, Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, New Zealand. Health Research Council, New Zealand. SHW was supported by a Doctoral Scholarship from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The comments of two anonymous reviewers helped to improve this manuscript.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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Did you hear? Lady Gaga is playing a show in AC tonight.. If you want to hear all about that-then exit this site and go somewhere else. As for the rest of us-all signs point to this night being crazy. Jay Porks here to welcome all of you to the 29th edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series for the Flaming Lips at the House of Blues in Atlantic City. I'm coming to you live from my hotel, the NAME REDACTED Hotel and Casino here in the lovely Atlantic City. This is going to continue with the 'Summer Series' section of the little blog thing we have going on here considering the weather: It's 90+ degrees outside- a good day if your in shape. If you're me, then your stationed 21st floor in your room with the Air Conditioning pumping, set to a steady 65. The House of Blues website says that the Doors open at 9PM and the show is also listed to start at 9PM. Opening act is 'Fang Island', a band I haven't yet heard of. The House of Blues is located in the Showboat Casino, which is sort of a distance (a bus called the 'Jitney' goes there for $2.25) as oppose to the last time I stayed here, when I was attending Stone Temple Pilots and The Meat Puppets right across the way at the Music Box at the Borgata back on July 18th of last year.
The Flaming Lips performed 'Dark Side of the Moon' in it's entirety at this years Bonnaroo Festival. I got my hands on the audio days after the performance and was enamored. This is what's bringing us to the question of the night-Will the Flaming Lips do 'Dark Side of the Moon' here at the House of Blues for the 4th of July? Weeks of searching Google for show reviews and artist released info has left the hand un-tipped, as there is no inkling to
what they will do tonight. The beauty of this band-I mean seriously: Who knows what they're going to do? Will Wayne pull out the gigantic hands or tell us that we must do our part to fight for the legalization of Marijuana in America, who knows? Hell-they could come out and play a set containing not one song I know the name of and this shit is probably still going to be a life changer. At least one credible rock music publication has them on their list of "Bands you must see before you die". Well then, lets get to it.
Lets not overshadow the opening act, Fang Island- a band that just released it's debut album, which was self-titled, on Sargent House records in February of this year. They have to be cool if they're opening for the Flaming Lips right? Well, lets see how the night turns out
I finally got to the House Of Blues at like 9:30PM- and sure enough, show is at 10 not the 9 o clock it was listed on the website. Never a surprise. So I run into the Showboat casino to find this place and of course it's way deep in there- what felt like a mile.. I get there and it's this elaborate place- with a concourse downstairs from it and an escalator leading up to the venue.. When I got there I was greeted by an old fashioned cowboy sort of feel to the room. Imagine if there was a perfect looking place to see a concert-now picture a bunch of high rollers trying to imitate that kind of look to their establishment. It was a little overdone(the inside section where the shows take place is flawless-sound was top notch, sight lines are great and they didn't hassle me about video).. Concessions everywhere but since I thought I was late I was in a dash upstairs and not shopping around- I finally find the stairs that lead up to the balcony where my seat is and then proceed to head up four flights of steps at which point I was light headed-but I made it. here I am Row M- aisle seat.. The balcony seating is steep and elevates quite a bit- there is no way I can be blocked by anyone's head-Awesome.
So the story goes from what I heard from some security guy is that the "Opening act is at 10, The Flaming Lips at 11".. So here I am in my seat- at 9:44PM- as I await the set to begin.. And the crowd gets into the Star Spangled Banner before the bands hit the stage then clap for themselves.
Fang Island came on 10:03 and now I notice we have video screens to the left and right of the stage.. By 10:42 I had enough of these guys.. What's up with the keyboards? You guys have three guitarists- you have potential to rock and you choose not too. They played a few songs- not sure how many were songs and how many were just flat out noise jams.. Half way through the set I notice the balcony seating not even be half full- leaving people to pretty much sit where they want. I'm right where I need to be- the highest row you can be-awesome view..
Fang Island went off a quarter to 11 with roadies running on stage to set up for the act we all came here to see – the one, the only, the kings of the weird- THE FLAMING LIPS!!!
It's not until 11:10 that they start inflating the giant bubble Wayne uses to walk the crowd in.. Then a ramp was set up where all the other band members walked through a door that opened in the video screen and out on to stage to a big hand.. Then when they went into the first song with Wayne( after he stepped out of his bubble) fires streamers into the crowd, keeping with the 4th of July theme. The stage is set with almost everything orange, with tube/cannon shooter looking things on each side of the stage. These things shot out what must have been 1000's of balloons in all different sizes and they were everywhere. The balloons were filled with confetti which burst out from each when popped- I gotta say it was a sight. You got the light show going with the visuals on a big screen behind the band which varied between visual effects and a close up of Wayne's face.. He gave an emphatic 'thank you' after pretty much every song along with thanking the crowd for "being such freaks".
Every song they played seemed to have a different feel to it.. constant vibe shifts..
The set got more epic as the night progressed. We had "Mr. Catfish" on the side of the stage-one of the roadies in this big cartoon looking costume-its a great shot with that dude watching from the side of the stage. The later it got the more people started showing up and when I thought the props done I was so wrong.. Wayne heads off stage and comes back with the gigantic hands.. Those things are so great. I have it on video- he comes out with the hands and as the stage goes black each gigantic finger tip has a green light beaming onto the two big disco balls floating over the stage.. It was freaking crazy- I haven't seen that one on YouTube.
They did a basic Flaming Lips set- no dark side- but was still something that needed to be witnessed.. They played alot of songs off 'Embryonic', like 'I can be a frog', 'Convinced of the Hex'. 'See the Leaves', 'Sparrow Looks up at the Machine', 'Powerless'…I recorded a great version of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' .. They did that song 'the W.A.N.D.'- it was in a Dell commercial, 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah song'.. The show went on til about 1:10AM, when they ended with "Do You Realize?"- a song that will be stuck in my head probably until the next time I get my bank account out of a negative balance.. and that's a long, long time from now
Bonkers.. Complete shock that the show was that good-I thought there would be times where I would get lost in the deep cuts section of the show. Not so. This was everything I've seen in videos, everything from all the stories I've read and heard about seeing the Flaming Lips-it lived up to the hype.. what an awesome band. Also was great that by the end of the night it was like we all just saw 'Blue Man Group' as everyone was covered in confetti, streamers and pieces of balloons…What a night!
Jasons website


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Well, I heard something today that I KNOW I would not have heard if we didn't live here. Faith said, "I love killing fish! I love to hit their heads on the pila and then shave their scales off with a knife!" She had genuine enthusiasm as she shared from the depths of her heart (not something you get much!). But you really need to be able to have the picture in your mind of the setting. We were in the back at our pond. Faith was covered, covered from head to toe in pond muck. She was with her new friend, Jose's youngest daughter, Susi. Faith had the fishing net, rope attached, and the net was secure with one of the weights in her mouth. She then slung the net, also covered in pond muck, in to the pond. As soon as the weight flew from her mouth she spit with such force I thought she was sick. She said, "You have to hold it in your mouth and you have to spit out the junk!" The girl was in paradise! After Faith took a few turns, it was Susi's turn. All the while Eli and Timothy are cheering them on and digging snails out of the pond. Not only did the girls catch 6 fish, but they then proceeded to clean and cook them (outside) all by themselves. I was astonished. Didn't know she could fish, didn't know she could catch, certainly didn't know she knew how to clean and cook a fish. You can be sure this knowledge was not passed on from me!
At dinner tonight I commented on how long it takes to catch, clean, and cook fish. She said, "Not much meat."
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Burial Flags
Why Does VA Provide a Burial Flag?
A United States flag is provided, at no cost, to drape the casket or accompany the urn of a deceased Veteran who served honorably in the U. S. Armed Forces. It is furnished to honor the memory of a Veteran's military service to his or her country. VA will furnish a burial flag for memorialization for each other than dishonorable discharged.
• Veteran who served during wartime
• Veteran who died on active duty after May 27, 1941
• Veteran who served after January 31, 1955
• Peacetime Veteran who was discharged or released before June 27, 1950
• Certain persons who served in the organized military forces of the Commonwealth
of the Philippines while in service of the U.S. Armed Forces and who died on or
after April 25, 1951
• Certain former members of the Selected Reserves
Who Is Eligible to Receive the Burial Flag?
Generally, the flag is given to the next-of-kin, as a keepsake, after its use during the funeral service. When there is no next-of-kin, VA will furnish the flag to a friend making request for it. For those VA national cemeteries with an Avenue of Flags, families of Veterans buried in these national cemeteries may donate the burial flags of their loved ones to be flown on patriotic holidays.
How Can You Apply?
You may apply for the flag by completing VA Form 21-2008, Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes. You may get a flag at any VA regional office or U.S. Post Office. Generally, the funeral director will help you obtain the flag.
Can a Burial Flag Be Replaced?
The law allows us to issue one flag for a Veteran's funeral. We cannot replace it if it is lost, destroyed, or stolen. However, some Veterans' organizations or other community groups may be able to help you get another flag.
How Should the Burial Flag Be Displayed?
The proper way to display the flag depends upon whether the casket is open or closed. VA Form 21-2008 provides the correct method for displaying and folding the flag. The burial flag is not suitable for outside display because of its size and fabric. It is made of cotton and can easily be damaged by weather.
For More Information Call Toll-Free at 1-800-827-1000.
"…Thank you for the reverent, dignified manner; you helped us through a difficult day. (Our loved one) would have felt pleased and honored."
"Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the help and kindness shown to us in our time of sorrow. You went above and beyond."
- W.F. Family
"Thanks for all your help - you made it easy for the family and done with a great deal of care."
99 Summer Street, Springfield, Vermont 05156-3502
Phone: (802) 885-3322 Fax: (802) 885-3332 Email: email@example.com
Member of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) and the Vermont Funeral Directors Association (VFDA)


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Spring and Fall are the times of year that you may hear the word "Thatch" being used quite often in reference to your lawn But what is thatch exactly?
Thatch is a layer of grass stems, roots, clippings, and other organic debris that settles on the ground and builds up faster than it is being broken down. It develops beneath the soil, so you cannot see it. Some thatch (1/2″ or less) is good because it provides insulation from extreme temperatures and changes in soil conditions. Too much thatch can choke your lawn, preventing vital nutrients, water and oxygen from reaching your lawn's root system; this leaves your lawn susceptible to disease, drought and lawn pests.
How can you breakdown thatch and relieve soil compaction?
You can have your lawn either Dethatched or have an Aeration service.
Lawn Dethatching, which is usually done in the Spring, can be either performed by hand raking, or by running a power raking machine over your lawn. The power raking machine has vertical blades that will cut into your lawn, breaking up the thatch, which can then be raked and removed.
An Aeration service, which is usually performed in the Fall, is the process of using a machine to pull 1/2″ wide 'plugs' of soil from the lawn. These plugs are typically 2.75″ deep and spaced about 6″ apart. When combined with an over-seeding service, it gives the seed direct contact with the soil, which is ideal for germination.
Protecting your Plants, Valuable. Protecting your Family, Priceless!
Call us today to get your property on our schedule for a Dethatching or Aeration service.
For more information on this or any of our services, please visit our website – http://www.deertickguard.com/


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Disease Scare Prompts Clean-Up Order
Bali hotels have been ordered to take better care of their facilities after 11 cases of Legionnaire's disease surfaced in Australia among holidaymakers recently returned from Bali.
"I have instructed the hotels here to regularly clean their swimming pools and air-conditioners," Governor I Made Mangku Pastika said.
The hotels in which 11 tourists are thought to have contracted the disease had been given an official warning. "There's no need to name the hotels. But they have been summoned and sternly warned," Pastika said.
No new cases of the disease have been reported.
Bali's chief medical officer, Nyoman Sutedja, said last week there had been 11 recorded cases of foreign visitors contracting Legionnaire's disease, a virulent form of pneumonia spread by contaminated water from showers, spas, swimming pools, fountains and badly maintained air conditioners.
Governor Pastika said all those infected had visited the island for between seven and 10 days and were over 45.
The disease, named for its identification in a pneumonia outbreak that affected elderly American veterans at a 1976 American Legion conference in Philadelphia, usually affects middle-aged and elderly people, particularly those who smoke or suffer from a lung disease, diabetes, a kidney disease or a weak immune system.
Sutedja said the recent cases should serve as a reminder never to underestimate the importance of proper sanitation.
Pastika said this week he had explained to the Australian consulate general in Bali what the authorities here had done in response to the outbreak and the reissued Australian advisory that alerted travellers to the risks of contracting Legionnaire's disease.
The Australian embassy in Jakarta said this week the Legionnaire's alert was issued because the disease was a serious health concern.
Meanwhile tourism officials here say they are confident the scare will not harm the all-important tourism sector.
A thermal scanner has been activated at Ngurah Rai International Airport to monitor travellers. It was last used during the bird flu scare.Filed under: Headlines
2 Responses to "Disease Scare Prompts Clean-Up Order"
Jo Says:
February 3rd, 2011 at 9:24 pm
To be quite honest I feel Bali's Chief Medical Officer has a responsibilty to tourists of any nationality to disclose the names of the hotels concerned.
Sanur resident Says:
February 3rd, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Completely agree with Jo, it's the only way to ensure that others take notice


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Thirty years ago, scientists discovered that nanopores could detect biological compounds. Yes, you read that correctly: thirty years ago. Only recently, the ripples have converged into a tidal wave of technological advancement, particularly in the field of DNA sequencing.
One could say nanopore DNA sequencing technology is en vogue, the latest fashion in lab bench equipment. Its importance is being proven over and over, from healthcare through to conservation and back again. The Ebola virus genome was sequenced in West Africa just 2 days after some of the samples were collected, conservation efforts of endangered species – such as the European eel – and species identification are aided by genome sequencing, and parts of the human genome can be rapidly sequenced to aid with personalised medicines and diagnosis.
noun: nanopore; plural noun: nanopores
a pore or cavity with dimensions of only a few nanometres.
Companies such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies are revolutionising the way in which lab bench sequencing is achieved. Their MinION computer accessory is little bigger than an external hard-drive yet has the ability to gather up to 20 gigabases of DNA sequence reads (hundreds of millions of base pairs) every 48 hours. This technology rests on the discovery by the Bayley group at the University of Oxford that passing a current across a membrane with a single α-hemolysin nanopore inserted generates a stable signal and molecules passing through the pore will disrupt the current reading in a predictable and measurable way. This gives each molecule an electrical "signature", distinguishing divalent metal ions or each of the four DNA bases from one another despite their similar structures. The parallel sequencing of many strands of DNA at once by a large number of nanopores enables a high throughput and rapid sequencing. If you learn visually, have a look at this video on the Oxford Nanopore Technologies website about how their technology works.
Along with the technology and its inevitable improvement of scientific process, another key part of developing such equipment is the understanding of the vital processes within it. In 2010, the process of moving the polymer DNA through a nanopore was described by the Akeson group at the University of California in Santa Cruz. This year (2017) in August the dynamics of the DNA polymer translocating through an α-hemolysin pore were described by Ghosal, Ulrich and colleagues at the University of Cambridge. This incredible achievement will not only help comprehend this mechanism of polymer sequencing but will also contribute to understanding similar molecular motors and translocation systems. The applications to determining physical properties, such as the bending rigidity, of polymers at a molecular level make this an incredibly exciting technology for materials science as well.
Image: A double stranded DNA helix being unfolded and "read" through a nanopore embedded in a membrane. The electrical "fingerprint" trace represents individual base detection as the single strand is fed through the pore. http://sequencing.roche.com/en/technology-research/technology/nanopore-sequencing.html
A recent publication claims to have taken nanopore sequencing one step further into the realms of peptides and proteins. Understandably, the hype surrounding using proteins to reliably sequence DNA has led to a lot of excitement of applying this same principle to protein sequencing. However, this feat is much more difficult due to the greater variation in building blocks used to create proteins. There are 20 amino acids used in eukaryotic proteins, as opposed to just 4 bases in DNA (excluding any modifications to these bases), but there can also be some uncommon amino acids added – such as AIB in alamethicin, an antimicrobial peptide produced by the fungus Trichoderma viride.
Another issue to be overcome in protein sequencing is the folding of secondary, tertiary and even quaternary structure. Nivala and colleagues at UC, Santa Cruz attached ClpX to alpha-hemolysin to enable unfolding of the proteins before being threaded through the pore. ClpX is an AAA+ unfoldase which also forms a ring and pushes the unfolded peptides through the α-hemolysin protein in a ratchet-like fashion. An obvious issue with this particular system is if ClpX cannot unravel the protein, which means it can't be sequenced by this method.
Other techniques have proven fruitful to research groups around the world. Researchers in the Abu Dhabi branch of NYU have used DNA scaffolds to template the assembly of α-hemolysin monomers. The ability to program the size of an α-hemolysin pore could allow the detection of particles of a greater range of sizes such as full sized and fully folded proteins. Each would give a unique signal for detection. A group at the University of California in San Diego are in the process of applying machine learning techniques to aid detection of a wider range of proteins by nanopores. And researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have patented a nanopore technology that can distinguish between proteins of between 1.3 kDa and 2.5 kDa which differ by just one amino acid. An exciting technology in itself but no doubt an important step in the path to protein sequencing.
Is it just a matter of time before peptide sequencing is as simple as adding your pure sample to a USB device and returning a few hours later to a sequence? I very much hope so! For the lab I work in, such technology would reduce dependence on sensitive and expensive mass spectrometry equipment which can break very easily. Passive systems (ie., "add sample and wait") have much fewer "moving parts" for researchers to accidentally damage.
Have you heard about any other breakthroughs in nanopore sequencing technology? Get in touch in the comments and tell us about it!


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I started Wellness To Soul Purpose in 2009 to help educate our communities that they can maintain a lifestyle that maintains overall health and well-being. I am on a journey myself and it would be great meeting new friends to accompany me on my journey 2016.
I am a Nurse by profession, a Wellness Coach and Lifestyle Weight Management Specialist.(NESTA Certified). I am actively pursuing my Personal Trainer's certification.Our motto.Surrender your spirit...Renew your mind...Love your body.
You can find us on Facebook
I am continuing Walking for Weight Loss in my community and I am excited that I can go a step further to reach more friends, clients, customers and fellow entrepreneurs with "Living healthy in our Communities 2016". We walk everyday in our communities using the new technology of conference calling. Walking at 6.00 am weekdays and 8.00 am weekends. Our conference number is 712 432 1500712 432 1500 access code 612330". Thanks for your continual support.
Our Community
We are here to support each other reach their personal journey to optimum health and have fun while we are on our journey.
I am a Nurse by profession who enjoy teaching wellness. I am a Wellness Coach your partner in creating solutions to help you see and achieve the possibilities with accountability with action. [email protected]
Wellness is about the body, mind,and spirit thus reflecting the wide range of personal definitions of being well: exercising more consistently and effectively, losing weight, feeling stronger and more energetic, eating proper amounts of nutritious foods, practicing gratitude and appreciation, making time for you, experiencing a sense of connectedness and peace, feeling calm and balanced, being happy and energized.and finding a stronger sense of purpose.
When you take the focus off of your wants and desires and focus on the wants and desires of others, and how you can help them get them, your own wants and desires become a reality. When you help people change their lives, they want to help you change yours.....Come join me on my journey........to optimum health.
Our Spirit
It's time to re-awaken a sureness of purpose within
ourselves and all people.Vigilance, optimism and our
pointed participation are so needed now.
In our spirit knowing so deeply that this is a time of
transformation for you and me. Our awakening its our time to rise.......
Sacred space for healing and inner cheering. It will help you honor the
perfection God made and find and follow the divine right path life has prepared for you.


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Moule is watching over Boyce, who is lying on his back in a reclined surgical chair, wearing some kind of device on his head. The principal elements seem to be an opaque visor, pads over his temples and ears, and another pad at the base of his skull. Lucius finds it to be somewhat disturbing in appearance and notes the tight grip on a palm-held finger button. Boyce twitches and laughs at whatever he is experiencing, but there is a clear strain showing on his face, and his body is quite tense.
Moule kills the music.
"Advanced sensory immersion," she says. "It creates a visual and auditory perspective, as well as a sense of up and down. But the real trick is the overriding of the central nervous system, by way of the spinal cord, to achieve a convincing sense of presence. We call it the Tap."
Lucius has nothing but disdain for the name and lets it show.
Moule shouts into Boyce's ear to get his attention. "Boyce! Dr. Gray is here!"
Boyce clicks the finger button. His body relaxes—a moment, and he sets about disconnecting himself from the contraption.
"The brain interprets the signals as if they came from the body," Moule continues. "Kind of like being in a dream."
Lucius is aghast at the idea. "Is that thing safe?"
"Best to keep it under ten minutes."
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish


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Sheraton Boston, a Marriott Hotel
Boston, MA, US (BOS)
Hotel Specials
Package Specials
Package Specials
Club Double
- Club room EXTRAS
- Special Access to Club Lounge
- FREE Continental Breakfast
- FREE Wireless
- FREE Local Phone Calls
- FREE Bottled Water
Executive Club
- Club room EXTRAS
- Special Access to Club Lounge
- FREE Continental Breakfast
- FREE Wireless
- FREE Local Phone Calls
- FREE Bottled Water
Club King
- Club room EXTRAS
- Special Access to Club Lounge
- FREE Continental Breakfast
- FREE Wireless
- FREE Local Phone Calls
- FREE Bottled Water
Club Riverview
- Club room EXTRAS
- Special Access to Club Lounge
- FREE Continental Breakfast
- FREE Wireless
- FREE Local Phone Calls
- FREE Bottled Water
Deluxe Double
Deluxe King
Traditional Double
Traditional King
Traditional Queen
The beautiful Sheraton Boston Hotel is strategically located in the heart of downtown Boston and just 4 miles from Logan International Airport. Its prime location provides easy access to the financial district, Copley Square, Newbury Street, numerous shops, and museums.
Why Stay Here
- Room ServiceOnsite Dining
- Indoor/Outdoor Pool
- 24 Hour Concierge
- Bar/Lounge
- Free Wi-Fi
- Express Check-In/Check-Out
- Breakfast Available (surcharge)
Resort Details
From the moment you walk through the lobby doors, you are greeted with a warm, modern ambiance youre sure to enjoy. This high end Boston gem provides you with more than just cutting edge amenities and an amazing location, they provide amazing guest services that are sure to impress travelers of all kinds. Whether its a quiet night in the comfort of your premium accommodation, or youre painting the town red, the possibilities are endless when making this prime Boston hotel a part of your travels.
Accommodation Details
This incredible accommodation offers 1,200 guest rooms and suites that offer a calm respite from the buzz and activity of the thriving downtown Boston area. Featuring the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed, the guest rooms are both relaxing and practical, offering every amenity needed for a comfortable stay. Sink into the comfy plush-top bed, with triple crisp white cotton sheets topped with feather and down pillows. Conducting business is a pleasure with expanded work desks with ergonomic desk chairs, high speed internet and all you will need to maintain your daily flow as normal. Book a Club Room and have access to the Sheraton Club Lounge, where youll enjoy complimentary continental breakfast daily plus several more upgraded perks.
Nestled in charming and historic Back Bay, the Sheraton Boston Hotel is ideally situated for both business and leisure travel. The citys most popular attractions are just steps away! An indoor walkway connects the hotel to the Hynes Convention Center, Prudential Center, and Copley Place Mall, which boasts 200 shops, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Ann Taylor, Gucci, Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, Hugo Boss, and Bally. Restaurants offering every type of cuisine and setting are also located within the Sheraton making it very easy to shop, wine, and dine, all indoors. The hotel also sits just one block from famed Newbury Street, known for its designer boutiques.
The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- Breakfast fee: between USD $10.00 and USD $20.00 per person (approximately)
- Fee for in-room wireless Internet: USD $9.95 per night (rates may vary)
- Fee for in-room high-speed Internet (wired): USD $9.95 per night (rates may vary)
- Airport Shuttle fee: USD $17.00 per person (one way)
- Self parking fee: USD $40.00 per day
- Valet parking fee: USD $53.00 per day (in/out privileges)
- In-room microwave fee: USD $25.00 per stay
- Rollaway bed fee: USD $20.00 per night
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
- 24 Hour Security
- 24-Hour Front Desk
- 25 inch TV or larger
- AAA Approved
- ATM Machine
- Adjoining Rooms
- Air-Conditioning
- Airline Desk
- Attraction Tickets Available
- Audio/Visual Equipment (+)
- Banquet Facility
- Beauty Shop/Salon
- Bookstore
- Breakfast Room (+)
- Business Center (+)
- Business Services
- Cable
- Cafe
- Car Rental Desk (+)
- City View
- Coffee Maker
- Coffee Shop (+)
- Complimentary Coffee
- Complimentary Coffee
- Complimentary Use of Bathrobe
- Complimentary Use of Bathrobe and Slippers
- Concierge Desk
- Conference Rooms
- Continental Breakfast (+)
- Desk/Work Area
- Dry Cleaning Service (+)
- Eco-Friendly
- Elevator / Lift
- Event Catering (+)
- Executive Floor
- Express Check-In
- Express Check-Out
- Extended Stay
- Fine Dining (+)
- Fitness Facility
- Food Court
- Free Wi-Fi
- Full Breakfast (+)
- Full Cable
- Gift Shop on Property
- Great for Kids
- Great for Nightlife
- Guest Activity Desk
- Handicap Accessible Elevator
- Handicap Services
- Heated Pool
- High Speed Internet (+)
- Hypoallergenic Room Available
- Ice Machine
- Indoor Pool
- Interior Corridors
- Ironing Board
- Kids Stay Free (Based on Age)
- Laundry Services/Laundry Facility (+)
- Lounge/Bar
- Luggage Storage
- Multilingual Staff
- News Stand
- Non-Smoking Property
- Non-Smoking Rooms
- On-Site Check In
- On-Site Convenience Store
- On-Site Events
- Outdoor Pool
- Parking (Fee) (+)
- Pet-Friendly
- Porter / Bellhop
- Postal Services
- Restaurant
- Retail Stores
- Room Service
- Safe Deposit at Front Desk
- Sauna
- Secured Parking
- Security Guard
- Shoe Shine
- Shopping
- Shuttle To Airport (surcharge) (+)
- Sundry Shop
- Swimming Pool
- Town Car Services (+)
- Train Access
- Valet Parking (+)
- Vending Machines (+)
- Video Check-Out
- Video Game Console
- Wake-Up Service
- Walk to Nightlife
- Wheelchair Access
- Wheelchair Access Elevator
- Widescreen TV
- Wired Internet (+)
- Wireless Internet
- Wireless Internet Access (+)
(*) = Free, some restrictions may apply


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What could be more magical than an Anam Cara forming your initial or teaming up to spell your name?
In the Irish tradition, Anam means Soul and Caras is friends. Anam Caras are guardian spirits from the Land of Soul with an important mission, world peace, and message "A compassionate world begins with you."
Hi, I'm Colleen Stratton. I've been drawing, painting and writing stories about these delightful, mop-top, busy-tailed spirits since I was a teenager. Now, I hope to inspire you with my collection of Anam Caras Fine Art Prints.
All of my prints are museum-quality, made to order and can be personalized. Hahnemühle paper is one of my favorite paper mills. They have been producing some of the world's finest papers business since 1548! Their papers are 100% cotton, archival, sustainably sourced and made with green energy.
Sign up for our mailing list or learn more about me and the Anam Caras.
Slán go foill,


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Int'l Election Observers Grumble, But Agree Not to Enter U.S. Polling Places Where Law Forbids
The OSCE, a grouping of 56 member nations in Europe, Central Asia and North America, says its members are obliged to have their elections observed, under an agreement signed in Denmark in 1990, which says member states will invite observers "to observe the course of their national election proceedings, to the extent permitted by law."Screw that, "agreement signed" and "will invite" shit. The operative, and most important phrase to recognize is -- "to the extent permitted by law" (in other words, "We got an out!"). To wit, the "Belly of the Beast" in which I live, along with Iowa, have not only said, "No!" -- but, "Ha-a-ayell no!"
Another one of those "points to ponder":
In its report after the 2008 election, the organization said its observers were unable to access polling stations in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas due to state laws, and had also faced difficulties doing so in some specific locations in Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia.I'm gonna keep my thoughts about that to myself. But can somebody explain to me why we can send folk like Jimmy Carter, all over the world, to observe "Other" elections (because of course, as a representative of these alleged, United States, he's invited), but we, here, can pick and choose -- even though, we signed that pesky 1990 agreement?


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Our active travel officers are giving young people, parents and staff the confidence, enthusiasm and skills to travel by active means to schools and colleges in Devon.
Executive summary
Commissioned by Devon County Council, we are delivering a programme of events promoting the benefits of cycling and walking to school. We're also making the environments around schools safer and healthier by helping schools to re-imagine the street design at the school gates.
Working with our Design and Engineering team, pupils co-develop designs that aim to overcome the barriers to active travel for the school run.
The project focuses on schools in key economic centres in Devon that have the potential to achieve mode shift and contribute to long-term reduction in localised congestion caused by journeys to school.
A strong vision for the future
Devon County Council has a vision that every child should be able to travel to school in a healthy, sustainable and safe way. The council recognises that instilling the principles of active travel in younger people can lead to lasting behaviour change with future health and economic benefits.
From 2012 to 2016, the council ran the Access to Education programme, which enabled active travel officers to engage students, parents and staff at specific schools and to develop a culture of sustainable school travel.
The council is using funding awarded from the Department for Transport's Sustainable Travel Transition Year to build on the successes of this programme. It aims to engage with even more schools and tackle health risks and safety concerns connected to the increased reliance on the car for journeys to school.
The challenges of poor air quality and congestion
The journey to education is a key contributor to congestion and poor air quality on local roads in peak periods. This makes shifting the modes used for travel to school a key priority for the council. They have helped schools develop travel plans that improve both the safety of the environment surrounding the school, as well as the long-term health of children.
Throughout the Access to Education programme, the council's focus has been on three economic centres in Devon - Exeter, Newton Abbot and Totnes – all of which are due to see significant growth over the next 15 years. The planned development of tens of thousands of new homes in these areas is likely to increase pressure on the existing travel infrastructure, which in turn creates a challenge to road safety and air quality.
The council recognises the current opportunity to promote healthy lifestyles and to encourage active and sustainable travel within new residents, employees and, most importantly school children, as they will be the ones travelling within these new developments following this period of growth.
" When you turn up with a can-do attitude and tell them that you're going to help make their school a better and safer place, the energy you get back from the staff and the pupils is incredible. "
Balancing costs and quality
Devon County Council issued a formal request for bids through the Supplying the South West procurement portal. From the responses it received, the council identified the suppliers it deemed capable of delivering the work both to spec and on time. In evaluating the responses, the council gave 40% weighting to the price quoted and 60% weighting to the quality of each response.
The council assessed the application of each supplier by measuring previous performance against a set of key performance indicators.
In our application, we took the opportunity to evidence Sustrans' unrivalled track record of active travel engagement through a set of case study examples. We also evidenced our vast experience in delivering events, surveys, training, travel challenges and recruitment of volunteer champions.
How we are helping
With such a short timeframe for delivery (September 2016 to March 2017), it was essential for our officers to start engaging with schools early on. We were able to overcome the initial challenge of approaching very busy schools by being sensitive to the pressures on them and by clearly communicating the benefits of active travel, including reduced congestion, a safer environment outside the school gates and healthier and higher performing students.
To complement the work being done to change behaviour, our Design and Engineering team are working with the Active Travel Officers in delivering a number of workshops. These workshops provide the school community with the skills to evaluate the quality of their street and provide design improvements to acceptable highway standards. They cover the following themes: Strategic Route Mapping, Street Analysis, Design and Vision for Change.
Our officers have helped schools to understand the travel trends amongst students, parents and staff, the impacts that those current trends are having, and the potential benefits that promoting active travel to school can have. We have been doing this by helping the schools to complete surveys and by running consultation sessions.
We have also recruited volunteer champions to work alongside our officers to give each school dedicated support as it works to embed active travel behaviour. These volunteers will provide support by delivering events that raise awareness, teach new skills and, most importantly, make active travel accessible and enjoyable.
Travel challenges take the fun of these individual events a step further. Our officers help to motivate pupils to walk, cycle or scoot to school on a regular basis by offering prizes and running competitions against other classes and schools.
Our impact
To date, our officers have improved the awareness of safety in hundreds of pupils in ten schools through workshops and events that promote the importance of wearing highly visible clothing while cycling and walking to school.
As part of the 70 events that our team is running throughout this project, the Dr Bike sessions have ensured pupils and students cycle on safe bikes and learn new skills in bike maintenance.
We have helped seven schools to complete surveys to understand how people are arriving at school and to identify the impact of congestion at the school gates.
These surveys, coupled with engagement sessions, will allow us to begin trialling street design improvements in early 2017 that will make the streets outside schools safer and healthier.


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*This is my 2nd post today, please scroll down for my FYI card.*
Hello and welcome to the Pixie Dust Studio Twilight Inspired Blog Hop! If you have just stumbled across my blog you can start at the begining, the Pixie Dust Studio Challenge Blog. If you have arrived here from Sammi's blog then you are right where you should be!
What is a hop with out prizes?! Well you have 3 chances to win! The grand prize will be awarded to the person who plays along with our Twilight Inspired Challenge, which will end on Wednesday, 11/23rd Noon CST. And the 2 other prizes will be awarded to those who have completed the hop and leave a comment on the Pixie Dust Studio Blog (Kathy's Blog.) Comments will close on Saturday, 11/19th Noon CST. All 3 winners will be chosen through Random.org and will be announced during next Thursday's Challenge (11/24th)
It was so hard to pic which image I wanted to use for my card today, all the Twilight images are FAB, but I finally went with Marry Me…Bella and love it! I just can't help but have a happy sigh thinking about Edward! lol
Paper: Bo Bunny Digi: Pixie Dust Studio (Marry Me…Bella), Sentiment is hand written Ink: Copic markers Accessories: Spica Glitter pen, Rhinestones, MFT Heart Die-namics, Vevet Ric Rac, Sewing machine.
The next stop on the hop is the lovely Margie! Thanks so much for stopping and enjoy all the Sparkly Twilight goodness!