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STATISTICAL MODELING OF SEQUENCE AND GENE EXPRESSION DATA TO INFER GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS by Xiting Yan A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY) August 2009 Copyright 2009 Xiting Yan
Object Description
|Statistical modeling of sequence and gene expression data to infer gene regulatory networks
|Yan, Xiting
|Author email
|firstname.lastname@example.com; firstname.lastname@example.com
|Doctor of Philosophy
|Document type
|Degree program
|Molecular & Computational Biology
|College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
|Date defended/completed
|Date submitted
|Restricted until
|Date published
|Advisor (committee chair)
|Sun, Fengzhu
|Advisor (committee member)
Chen, Ting
Schumitzky, Alan
Nuzhdin, Sergey
Waterman, Michael S.
|Understanding the gene regulatory network has always been one of the important and challenging tasks to understanding the mechanisms behind different biological processes or behaviors of organisms. Development in biological experimental techniques has produced a deluge of data to help accomplish this task, including the microarray data, ChIP-chip data, sequencing data, etc. Based on these techniques, biologists have designed different experiments to investigate the regulatory networks from different aspects. However, due to the random effects during the production of these data, statistical and probabilistic models are needed to extract reliable regulatory relationship from the data. Moreover, integration of different sources of data is also critical for obtaining complete and accurate information regarding the biological mechanisms.; In this dissertation, I try to infer the gene transcription regulatory networks by first detecting the downstream or regulated genes in the network, which tend to be differentially expressed under different conditions such as different tissues or treatment versus control experiment. Two different methods are developed to detect the differentially expressed transcripts or genes from the sequencing data and the gene expression microarray data. The first method estimates the expression levels of all the annotated mRNAs in available database using the mRNA sequencing data and identifies the differentially expressed mRNAs based on the estimations. In this way, however, the mRNAs are considered independently which contradicts the fact that interactions between genes are commonly observed. Therefore, the second method was developed which detects sets of genes that are enriched in differentially expressed or more generally speaking, phenotype associated genes. The sets of genes are predefined so that genes in each set interact with each other in certain way. Due to the limited knowledge of the interactions between mRNAs, currently this method can only be applied to the gene expression data. Applications of both methods to simulated data sets and real data sets show robust and accurate predictions. After the downstream genes are detected, the genes that regulates the expression of these downstream genes are critical to infer the regulatory networks. Thus, we propose another analysis method which utilizes an EM algorithm to predict the gene regulatory network from the gene expression data, sequence data and allele-specific expression data in certain number of genotypes. Preliminary simulation studies suggest the minimum number of genotypes that are needed to achieve satisfactory detection accuracy. Due to the lack of real data set, so far as, this method has only been applied to simulated data sets.
|sequence; gene expression; regulatory networks; data analysis; statistical modeling; inference
|Part of collection
|University of Southern California dissertations and theses
|Publisher (of the original version)
|University of Southern California
|Place of publication (of the original version)
|Los Angeles, California
|Publisher (of the digital version)
|University of Southern California. Libraries
|Electronically uploaded by the author
|Legacy record ID
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Yan, Xiting
|Repository name
|Libraries, University of Southern California
|Repository address
|Los Angeles, California
|Repository email
|Archival file
|Page 1
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Repository email
|Full text
|STATISTICAL MODELING OF SEQUENCE AND GENE EXPRESSION DATA TO INFER GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS by Xiting Yan A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY) August 2009 Copyright 2009 Xiting Yan


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Microsoft is facing legal action over its gaming hardware after an intellectual property owner claimed to own all rights to tech that tracks players' movement and enables gaming without a controller.
Ohio-based outfit Impulse Technologies reckons Microsoft's Xbox Kinect goes against seven of its patents, Patent Arcade reports, and has filed a lawsuit alleging intellectual property theft.
The patent describes a "system and method for tracking and assessing movement skills in multidimensional space" as well as an "education system challenging a subject's physiologic and kinesthetic systems to synergistically enhance cognitive function".
The company says it contacted Microsoft before filing the lawsuit - booked into the US District Court of Delaware - claiming its patents cover a "wide variety of games where the movement of a player is tracked in three dimensions... and certain exercise games where the motion of the player is tracked to effect movement of a virtual avatar, and the exertion of the user is monitored, including where the tracking of the player is done by use of a camera".
Impulse hasn't targeted Microsoft exclusively. Eight developers from EA to Konami are also accused of infringing the patents, by making various games that feature movement-based controls.
Impulse is seeking a permanent injunction, damages, treble damages, interest, attorneys' fees and costs.
Earlier this month, Nintendo was accused of infringing on patents for glasses-free stereoscopic images. ®

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Message Board
Howard V. Hendrix Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Hendrix has written!
Author Hendrix's Book Reviews
Empty Cities of the Full Moon
In the immediate future, a scientist develops what she believes is a cure for psychological problems such as schizophrenia. She uses a derivative of a prion. The technology with other advances leads to an epidemic that devastates the human population and destroys civilization except for a small group exiled on the Bahaman islands. Thirty years later, a mutation in the disease imbues a snot nosed 20 something with extraordinary powers who eventually def...
The Labyrinth Key
Del Rey, Apr 2004, 13.95 ISBN: 0345455977 The modern arms race goes way beyond the obvious weapons of mass destruction. The contest between countries involves economic skirmishes and technology wars. The current battle focuses on which nation's research computer scientists will create the quantum computer and code breaker. The prime contestants are China and The United States, but the Americans have the edge because the world's leading expert ...


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2e colloque Bilans GES registration deadline : 23 october 2015
If you are able to pay registration fees online, you can register directly on this website. Click on the "registration" tab.
If not : Please download the registration form (pdf file) under the Registration heading, and send the completed form to :
ADEME - Brigitte BOUHOURS - Régisseur des recettes
27, rue Louis Vicat - 75737 PARIS cedex 15
Tél : 01.47.65.23.73 - Fax : 01.46.38.37.19
Incomplete registration forms cannot be processed, and registration will not be confirmed.
Conference resgistration fees are 350 euros for 2 days and include luncheon and refreshments during breaks.
(*) net price(establishment not subject to VAT, exoneration granted by the Budget Ministry, 15 July 1993)
Payment in full can be submitted ...
- via our dedicated website www.colloque-bilanges2015.ademe.fr (secure payment)
- by bank or postal cheque submitted with the registration form, made out to the order of "régisseur de recettes de l'ADEME",
- or by bank payment card. The card account will be debited as soon as registration is processed by ADEME. Only Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Name, address and signature of the card holder are mandatory.
Payment is full (by cheque or banck card) is required for all physical or moral persons domiciled outside of France.
... payment on receipt of invoice :
- by bank or postal cheque submitted with the registration form, made out to the order of "Régisseur de recettes de l'ADEME"
- or by bank transfer or administrative money order. Please indicate clearly the reference "Bilans GES 3&4 nov. 2015" and the name(s) of participant(s) in the heading of your transfer.
Account information : Direction Départementale des Finances Publiques de Maine et Loire, 1 rue Talot, BP 84112, 49041 ANGERS cedex 01 - code banque : 10071 - code guichet : 49000 - N° de compte : 00001000206 - Clé : 07 - N° Siret : 385 290 309 00454 - Code APE : 8413Z - N° IBAN : FR-76-1007-1490-0000-0010-0020-607 BIC TRPUFRP1
Bank fees for money transfers must be paid by the registrant.
Any modification or cancellation of registration must be communicated in writing no later than Friday 23 october 2015. No fees will be reimbursed or credit issued after this date.
This conference is not a training course, and ADEME cannot establish a training certificate in relation to this event.
Requests for an attestation of attendance should be submitted to Brigitte Bouhours - Régisseur des Recettes - 27, rue Louis Vicat - 75737 PARIS cedex 15


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851 0049
FitBALL Balance Disc
The FitBALL Balance Disc is a versatile core stability cushion that easily adjusts for your challenge level. Used while standing, kneeling or sitting, the FitBALL Balance Disc improves balance and joint stabilization, strengthens and tones core muscles, and encourages proper posture. Higher profile and longer tactile points than our FitBALL Seating Disc. 14" Diameter.
|Brand Name
|FitBall USA
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The past few days we've received over 12" of snow. It's been a long time since we've seen that much snow in one snowfall. I don't think the boys have even seen such a large snowfall in one period. When I was their age, growing up in Northern Minnesota, we had snowfalls like this all of the time.
Between Steve plowing the driveway, sidewalk, shoveling the roof and ice fishing; the boys sliding, skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling; and me snowshoe running, skiing and shoveling it seems that we have a constant pile of wet winter clothing and boots out in the mud room. My dryer is constantly running while drying mittens, gloves and hats. I have to say though: we love it!
This morning Topaz and I headed out for a shorter 8 mile snowshoe run. The snow is so deep that I am doing more breaking trail via hiking than running I am afraid. My heart rate was through the roof and my legs were becoming tired from high stepping the snow. It felt like going through the root section (Sonju) during the Superior Sawtooth 100 mile run! Ah, not quite!
After breaking trail to the lake we turned around and headed the 4 miles back to the car. Again, covered with snow. After a quick removal of snow and ice we headed home. I stripped off my wet clothing and put on dry shorts, bra, socks and shoes so I could hop on my treadmill and actually run for 5 miles! Topaz laid at the treadmill and watched.
The Northwoods Snowshoe Marathon is in a few weeks. I haven't decided if I'm going to run it yet again. I think I've run it the past 8 years. Hard to believe that 2 of those years we ran it in trail shoes..there was no snow in Duluth! This weekend, Duluth received 26" of snow. Wow. I am going to run the Winter Carnival 1/2 Marathon and I'd imagine I'll be at Northwoods too. It's the final year for the race and I'll probably find myself there.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Winter Wonderland
2 comments:
Hey Julie
Love your blog..........you are a true inspiration!! I have a quick question. I just received snowshoes for Christmas. Very excited to get started with them. What kind of footwear should I be looking for to wear with the snowshoes? ie winter type boots, hiking boots, gortex running shoes??? Appreciate your help.
Thanks, Marj
- Julie B said...
Thanks, Marj! I have Northern Lights snowshoes and use them for running. I wear Gortex Inov 8 trail shoes with them. For socks I wear Smartwools, the thicker ones. They work great! I hope you love your snowshoes!! Happy New Year :O)
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
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Catégories > Reform / Modernization of the State
Sujet > peru
Trier par Ordre alphabétique
- Agriculture and Rural Development
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Results of the Civil Service Development Index (CSDI), obtained from diagnostics of the institutional quality of civil service systems in 16 Latin American countries. The IDB supported the design of a methodology that evaluates critical points to assess the civil services and carried out country evaluations in 2004. Between 2011 and 2013, a second group of diagnostics second group of diagnostics were completed (with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank, and in the case of Central American countries and Dominican Republic with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development –AECID- and the Central American Integration System-SICA). Scores are available for 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 (year of second and/or third measurement varies per country). During the first assessment, 93 critical points were identified; each of those fed a subsystem and an index. In 2010 the methodology was simplified to 33 critical points and the base line was recalibrated to ensure comparability. The methodology is based in the identification of critical points that feed 8 subsystems: 1. Human Resources Planning, 2. Work Organization, 3. Employment management, 4. Performance management, 5. Compensation management, 6. Development management, 7. Human and social relations management, 8. HR Function organization; and 5 indexes: 1. Efficiency, 2. Merit, 3. Structural consistency, 4. Functional capacity, and 5. Integrating capacity.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/ddw5-db4y
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/ddw5-db4y
Sujet uruguay república dominicana perú paraguay peru et 13 de plus
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The Public Management Evaluation Tool (PET) evaluates five "pillars" of the public policies' management cycle that are considered important for the implementation of Management for Development Results (MfDR): (i) results-based planning, (ii) results-based budgeting, (iii) public financial management (including auditing and procurement), (iv) program and project management (including the public investment system), and (v) monitoring and evaluation of public management. These pillars are broken down into components that track the maturity of institutional systems. The components are in turn composed of indicators and minimum requirements that these systems must have in an MfDR environment. All of these measures (minimum requirements, indicators, components, and pillars) are scored on a scale from 0 to 5, where a 5 indicates an ideal institutional situation.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/c89t-dh9r
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/c89t-dh9r
Sujet uruguay trinidad y tobago suriname peru paraguay et 21 de plus
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text:
AMB GOLD (Alternative Market Briefing GOLD subscription) is the new premium service from Opalesque.
Only Alternative Market Briefing (AMB) GOLD subscribers can:1. Access the Opalesque Solutions Emerging Manager Database
The Opalesque Solutions Emerging Managers Database is an extremely niche and specialized fund (performance) database of Emerging Hedge Fund Managers.
The Opalesque Real Time service will email you all hedge fund news and updates intra-day, as they happen.
Opalesque Tracks allow you to set up any number of search-words (tracks). As soon as we publish a story which includes your search-word, we will instantly email you. As of today, other Opalesque users have set up already 14889 Opalesque Tracks. A number of sizable fund of funds ($20bln+ firms) and hedge fund investors already use Opalesque Tracks to efficiently monitor the news flows related to the hedge funds they are invested in or which are on their watch list, which can be over 500 funds.


text:
Shutdown seeking Kosala state hits life in Odisha
Published: 26th August 2013 04:35 PM | Last Updated: 26th August 2013 04:35 PM | A+A A-
Normal life was hit in many parts of western Odisha Monday following a day-long shutdown call by Kosala Kranti Dal (KKD) seeking a separate Kosala state, officials said.
Rail and road services were partially affected while shops, business establishments, private and government offices were closed in many places.
Activists of KKD, which is a political party, blocked the rail tracks, obstructed roads by burning tyres and carried out rallies in towns like Bolangir, Sambalpur, Bargarh and Rourkela, a senior state police official told IANS.
"Rail services were hit for a while at some places but have now become normal," said Jyoti Prakash Mishra, chief public relation officer of East Coast Railway.
The Sambalpur-Puri intercity was halted for about 50 minutes at the district headquarters town of Sambalpur, about 320 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
Another passenger train was halted for about half an hour at Bargarh as demonstrators squatted on tracks, he said.
"The western region has always been neglected by both central and state government. A separate Kosala state is the only solution," said Deepak Panda, a protest leader.
"The people in Kosali region speak Kosali language. Our culture and traditions are different," he added.
The demand for separate state of Kosala picked momentum after a decision was taken to carve Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh.
The Kosala Kranti Dal and several other local organizations are demanding separate statehood for 11 western districts -- Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Sundergarh.
The region, known as Kosala, is a victim to poverty and backwardness and has a high infant mortality rate. It witnesses a large number of deaths due to malnutrition.


text:
- changed status to resolved
Adjusted documentation in b362d4634d33
This is a copy of http://bugs.python.org/setuptools/issue62:
On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 6:40 PM, Phillip J. Eby email@example.com:
Phillip J. Eby firstname.lastname@example.com added the comment:
At 02:58 PM 2/25/2009 +0000, Arve Knudsen wrote:
According to WorkingSet's documentation, it should call find_distributions with False for the only-parameter.
Where in the documentation is this? It should be fixed.
In the method's docstring, at least per version 0.6c9.
In reality, it passes True, however.
This is correct.
The documented behaviour is what I was after,
Then you probably want an Environment, not a WorkingSet.
Adjusted documentation in b362d4634d33


text:
Even old pros need to warm up before a big show sometimes.
Conan O'Brien, off the air since departing "The Tonight Show" in January, is planning to stream an Internet-only preview program in advance of the premiere of his new TBS show," reports UPI.
Entitled "Show Zero," the program will stream live on November 1 at 11 p.m. EST to TeamCoco.com, Facebook and YouTube.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
"Following the extremely successful 'Live Coco Cam,' a 24-hour look behind-the-scenes at the 'Conan' offices, Conan O'Brien is letting his fans in on the ultimate warm-up for his new TBS show," the network said in a news release.
"Show Zero" will be be beamed out of the Conaco Production offices at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank and is scheduled to have celebrity guests, Conan's sidekick Andy Richter, and parts of the new in-house music group, The Basic Cable Band.
"Conan" debuts on TV November 8.


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Last year, I signed up to have the Miss Bindergarten doll visit as she traveled around the country. I met Lisa Collins, via the Miss Bindergarten Facebook page, thought it would be fun to send her to various schools and record her adventures on Facebook and in the blog, Miss B Travels. When I heard we would finally be getting her last year, it was our last week of school and I had to let Lisa know that we wouldn't be able to participate. Lisa let me know that the response had been so positive, that she had decided to send her on more adventures as school as school reconvened in the fall. I admit I was excited as the kids to learn shortly before Thanksgiving that she was on her way. Here's the entry we posted in her travel journal about her visit with us in Pre-K.
Greetings from Mrs. Ayn's Georgia Pre-K class at Oakbrook Country Day School in Evans, Georgia! In our class! We have 20 students, a lead teacher, Mrs. Ayn and a paraprofessional, Ms. Tiffany. Our town is on the outskirts of Augusta, Ga., home of the Masters golf tournament. People come from all over the world each year to see our town and watch the Masters. Our town is right next to the Georgia/South Carolina border.
We had a great surprise when we returned from our Thanksgiving break. Miss Bindergarten arrived while we were away and was waiting to greet us when we returned to school on Monday.
We enjoyed having her sit with us at circle time while we read about her classroom adventures.
She took turns sitting with each student.
During center time this week, we were able to sit with Miss B and read her books.
Miss B enjoyed visiting with our class mascot, Mr. Scruffy. Mr. Scruffy visits with one of our families each weekend. Mr. Scruffy has a travel journal like Miss B.'s for families to record adventures and pictures. Mr. Scruffy enjoyed hearing all about Miss B.'s travels, but decided that he's still not quite ready to travel that far from home yet.
We have really enjoyed having Miss B visit our class. We love to read her books and have enjoyed reading her travel journal and looking at all her pictures. She is so AWESOME and we will miss her. Thanks for visiting, Miss B! You are welcome to visit Pre-K anytime!
Our last activity with Miss B was dictating our entry for her travel journal. We packed her up and sent her on her way to Alabama. We can't wait to hear more about her adventures as she travels around the country! We will be following the Miss B Travels blog to see more of her adventures!
Correction: Earlier, this post stated that Lisa Collins was the creator of the Miss Bindergarten Facebook fan page. I believe the creator is Ashley Wolff.


text:
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Another First: Orienteering
After trying to coerce each of my human family members into attending the Sand Dunes Orienteering with me and finding myself unsuccessful I went to Topaz. He eagerly agreed to be part of my first experience of compass and map reading.
The Sand Dunes State Forest is a few blocks from my home. The whole area is thick with trails, trails that I have never really navigated. There are snowmobile trails, horse trails, single track trails, bike trails. All dirt, all great for a trail runner. Glad I finally went over to investigate.
I explained to the registration girl that I had never tried this before and that I wasn't acquainted with the trails. She suggested the "White" level. I paid $8 fee, plus $1 for compass rental and $1 for a really nice detailed map of the area and a whistle. I was able to keep the map and whistle. I gave her my keys for collateral for the compass.
She gave my my paperwork and told me after she said 'go' I was to go to the white map board and copy down the trail I was to take as well as the 'control points'. I had to be sure I wrote in the correct way to go and labeled the control points. I didn't realize copying down the map correctly onto my map was part of the event. Luckily I was able to copy it correctly.
I removed Topaz from the car, strapped on his leash and off we went. Then I realized I didn't know how to read the compass. A man was on his way out and must have seen I was scratching my head and looking confused as he walked right over and began to help me out. I had no clue. He showed me how to line up the edge of the compass with the line of the trail on the map, then move the dial on the compass to match the compass lines on the map. Remove the map from under the compass, put compass at stomach and move around until the red arrow is in the designated place. Then follow the arrow. Alrighty then. I did it a few times for him until I was sure that I knew what to do.
The first control point wasn't too difficult to find. We came up to it, I used this little punch thing to punch on my card labeled "1". Each check point had an individualized punch so that the control center would know you approached the points in the correct order. OK, onto 2. Well, I did my little compass ritual and Topaz took off after a wolf. Or a fox. A gray big fox? I think not. I called him back and followed N on my compass. Straight through the brush and a big pile of pine trees. Are you serious? I should have worn pants. Eventually I came out to control 2. Well, here I could have taken a horse trail to the same spot-but I wasn't looking at the horse trails on the map, I was just cutting to the next point...even if it was through thick woods that I could barely get through. Fun!
Control points 4 and 5 were along the sandy horse trail. Topaz stayed pretty close to me, not knowing this area. He was a bit leery, wondering what we were doing. Pretty soon we were deep in the woods again and I noticed a person taking a long way around on the horse trail. Oh, I didn't notice it again! Apparently you can take the easy route to the control point, via trail, that meanders here and there and eventually gets to the control, even though the route I drew on my map was through the woods-the straight line between the two controls.
Pretty soon I could hear the set up area and sure enough, there was control 9 and I had completed my first try at this. I was going to try the next level but then decided one was enough for the first time! It took me an hour to go 2.2 kilometers!
The trails here are just beautiful for running upon. There are thick pines, plenty of low water areas for Topaz, nice steep hills, lots of sand; tomorrow we can run right from the house over there. I'll have my map along with me!
I had a blast. It was good to learn to read a map and a compass. I'm anxious to give it a whirl at the next event. Maybe I'll try the next level - orange!
2 comments:
- Carol said...
Cool, Julie! That sounds fun! My sister and I keep saying we are going to try it next time we see it offered at a State Park. We just haven't done it yet. I think it would be a bit overwhelming at first. I bet a person feels kind of proud of themself when you get to the designated area!
- Kel said...
As a long time member of MNOC, I'm a little disappointed that nobody offered some basic instruction before sending you on your way :(
You can usually run more than one course without having to pay twice if you reuse the same map. If you were comfortable with navigating on the white/yellow course, I would absolutely recommend moving up to orange next time. I would also recommend getting comfortable with each level before continually moving up - you will improve your skills quicker in the long run (I hope that made sense).
Sand Dunes is one of the tougher local areas to navigate (lots of sand, poison ivy, and prickly ash if I remember correctly. Also lots of very shallow depressions for control points which almost require controlled hallucinations), so if you did well there you'll do fine anywhere else!
Congrats on your first (?) O-meet!


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East Texas Performing Arts Present Nine Day Music & Theatre Festival
JEFFERSON- Drama (Sightings and High Tide), a superb musical stage play (Bye Bye Birdie), comedy (The Bowden Early Experience), and lots of great featured musicians in concert (Richard Bowden, John Early, Lacie Carpenter and the Southern String Line, Marcus Leary, Daniel Foster, Shane Mathews, and Sarah Griffin) take the stage at East Texas Performing Arts' nine day festival August 2 – 10 at Jefferson's Transportation & Visitor Center, 305 E. Austin.
Experience refines performers and makes them better. Richard Bowden and John Early have more than enough experience! In addition to their great music, they entertain with humor and musical parodies. Get a glimpse of where today's Country/Rock craze came from. Now you can see them in person, right here in Jefferson kicking off the festival on Friday, August 2, and closing the event on Saturday, August 10, both at 7:30.
Sightings and High Tide, two one-act dramas by Brad Slaight, were first performed at American Conservatory Theatre's Young Conservatory in San Francisco. Both plays explore and define the pressures that young people face and the reality of complicated relationships. In Sightings, Jared Morton eagerly awaits his rendezvous with beings from planet Zun. He asked his best friend, Julie, to take this journey with him. Unfortunately, this falls on prom night. Julie reluctantly meets him. Jared's dialog with Julie, the woman he has loved all of his life, is emotional and heart rending.
Director Sara Whitaker received an award for her 1994 direction of this play at the Lenea Festival at California State University at Sacramento. She is thrilled to direct it with a new set of eyes, and a talented cast. Sightings features Cristiana McMullen and Jesse Vinton, both in Bye Bye Birdie, and ETBU Theatre student Trace Craver.
High Tide focuses on Brian and Keith as they grieve the death of their beloved friend Kirk. These buddies discover they never really knew their friend. Tension arises between them as two girls arrive seeking their help. Brian sorts out his feelings about his friend's passing and tells the truth about what really happened to Kirk. See some of East Texas Performing Arts finest young talent: Trace Craver, Haley Hanks, Cristiana McMullen, Tyler James-Watson Smith and Jesse Vinton. "I am so proud of the commitment from these young actors," said Whitaker. "They go places emotionally that they are unusual on stage. They are fearless. I am so excited!" Sightings/High Tide performs Wednesday, August 7 at 7:30 and Saturday, August 10 at 2pm.
Marcus Leary, Shane Mathews, Sarah Griffin will provide country fusion music at its best. These East Texas favorites bring their friends and get Jefferson stompin' & clappin'. Don't miss this kickoff for the week's great entertainment on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 7:30.
Lacie Carpenter and The Southern String Line (Sarah Griffin, and Shane Mathews) are well loved in Jefferson. They bring new music and old favorites. The show's theme, "Around the World and Back Home" will take the audience on a memorable journey with a Country/Rock flavor. This is a must-see performance on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 7:30.
The Texas Tumbleweed Cowboy Extravaganza with the Bear Creek Boys, Derek Duncan, Teonna Hall & Friends brings
truly authentic bluegrass, original cowboy poetry, and moving gospel music on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, Aug. 3. The next afternoon will be Sunday Gospel, Country, and Classic Rock with Daniel Foster, The East Texas "Man in Black" with Darby Warren and Friends.
Two performances of Tony award winning Bye Bye Birdie at 7:30, Saturday, August 3, and Friday, August 9, give an opportunity to once again enjoy this beloved American musical. Students from five different East Texas school districts are on stage backed by Tom Moss' spectacular sets that transform quickly from New York's Penn Station to Sweet Apple, Ohio, to the MacAfee home and back again. This musical American satire is set in 1958 and inspired by the phenomenon of Elvis Presley's Army draft notice. The rock star character's name, "Conrad Birdie" was a word play on the name Conway Twitty, best remembered for his long career as a country music star, but in the late 1950s, he was Presley's rock and roll rival. This family friendly musical represents a simpler time in America. "It was an era when a kiss on television was scandalous and going off to war was routine," adds Whitaker.
Tickets are available online at www.etxpa.org or at Roys Rails (602 N. Polk) and Fashion & Art Revival (115 E. Austin). For more information call 925-366-7360 or email email@example.com The Jefferson Transportation and Visitor Center is located at 305 E. Austin St. in historic downtown Jefferson.
Performances: Jefferson Visitor & Transportation Center
Friday, August 2 @ 7:30pm (Richard Bowden and John Early)
Saturday, August 3 @ 2pm (Texas Tumbleweed Extravaganza)
Saturday, August 3 @ 7:30pm (Bye Bye Birdie)
Sunday, August 4 @ 2 pm (Daniel Foster with Darby Warren and Friends)
Tuesday, August 6 @ 7:30 pm (Marcus Leary, Shane Matthews and Sarah Griffin)
Wednesday, August 7 @ 7:30 pm (Sightings and High Tide)
Thursday, August 8 @ 7:30 pm (Lacie Carpenter and The Southern String Line)
Friday, August 9 @ 7:30 pm (Bye Bye Birdie)
Saturday, August 10 @ 2 pm (Sightings and High Tide)
Saturday, August 10 @ 7:30 (Richard Bowden and John Early)


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Wonderland Perfectly Clear Stamps by Stampendous
with some Powder Blue Color Fragments.
that blue is such a yummy color and your coloring of your images is just pefect beautiful card
thanks for sharing
Barb Housner
bjhouse2004 at yahoo dot com
*Squeeee* Alice in BLUE!! LOVE this!!! I think this is my fav stamp set - it is so pretty!
Oh gosh, that is truly beautiful! I love the color it's like robin's egg blue. Fantastic!
wow, what a beautiful card! LOVE the alice stamps, and that added texture is gorgeous! :)
Beautiful card and I like the colors you used.
Nice tip about heating from bottom and I could use that for other things as well. Thanks, mary Werner
What a pretty card, great tip on heating underneath. Shari (cricutrookie)
cricutrookie at aol dot com
Great card.
craftymom205 at yahoo dot com
I'm loving the color fragments. Your card is amazing. TFS...
So elegant and so cute at the same time Kristine! Love the blue and black combo! really striking!
just a gorgeous card thanks so much for sharing
Wonderful belated birthday card!
Love Alice in blue! Beautiful card! Cool detail with the clocks along the edge and the fragments along the bottom!
I adore your Alice card and these color textures added so much to the wonderful look!! ;D
This is so gorgeous, Kristine! What a delightful job you've done with the Wonderland set! Such a perfect belated birthday card - makes you want to miss someone's birthday on purpose.
Alice definitely looks good in that color! Beautiful card Kristine.
That is so perfect just adding the little sprinkling along the side and bottom! In this case, less definitely is MORE. Love this card!
Such a pretty card! Those fragments are so neat, I'm really enjoying seeing how everyone uses them!
I love it too! Alice is perfect! Love the color scheme too.
WOW! Your card is amazing! I love the blue color! So adorable!
Liked the design of your card and how you used the Fragments. Thanks for sharing.
OK now you've REALLY convinced me that I MUST have the wonderland stamp set. Here I buy again. LOL
Loving that blue with the black and white! Darling!
blue are beautiful
soft and delicate
yet eye catching
great detail
These fragments are interesting. Can't wait to try them.
veogg at att dot net
Great looking card love the sentiments.
your card is adorable. i love the stamp and how you showed off the flakes with the coloring.
Very pretty way to use the fragments.
slrdowney at hotmail dot com
Lovely, Kristine--that image is so pretty, and your color combo is delightful!
trishatoo at hotmail dot com
Beautiful card! I love the new Alice stamp collection! Your card is Fantastic with the new products!
Very pretty card>I love your color choices!
I LOVE this! Your card in the pretty blues is so very beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful card, Kristine!!! LOVE how you used the Fragments with Alice!
Love the color combo on this cards. Beautiful!
Fantastic, love your use of color.
Beautiful! Love the blue and black and white combo its stunning!
Love the Alice themed card.
Beautiful card!!
Your card "blues" match the blue fragments so beautifully! They really make the card special!
the more i see of these color fragments the more i love them
upnurse at aol dot com
Fabulousness!!!! Love the colors you chose. Perfect!!!! I hope you're having a super weekend!
Wow, great card, awesome colors!
Love the card. I am really liking the fragments. So many ways to use it.
Beautiful project!
Great card, the kind I always need!
Great card and perfect choice of stamps for the sentiment. I also like the way you used the blue fragments on this card. Thanks for participating in the blog hop and thanks for the great giveaway!
Thanks for sharing your creation - your card is lovely in every way.
Halloranpx at aol dot com
Xing fingers LOL
Such a beautiful card and like the colors
Really, really wonderful new projects and the new color fragments are beautiful. Thank you for sharing such a diverse set of projects. All of you are wonderful!
Love Love Love Alice in blue!! Those colors are fantastic! That blue is heavenly!
Such a gorgeously bright and cheerful card! Love it.
What a super cool card!!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
I love your Alice card! Very pretty! Thanks for sharing!
Lea Kimmel
BEAUTIFUL! LOVE that blue!
Blessings Bernie
Berniescraftcloset at gmail dot com
Gorgeous Alice card!! Love how you used the blue fragments... looks like magic Wonderland dust!! email@example.com
Great project! I love the way you used the color fragments.
This card is absolutely STUNNING. And the fragments just add that extra something special! WOW!
Very lovely card! Thanks for the inspiration!
Carol B
So pretty!
Love the stunning color combination and how you edged the image with Color Fragments!
I love your card!
Very clever use of the fragments.
Scrumptious... I love the new colors of Fragments!
This is so VERY pretty!


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Hi, just started java course, and will like to get some help here, this program runs in eclipse but not in web browser I dont know how to make it an Applet, I will appreciate if some one can look it and give me a hand, thank you..
<import java.util.Scanner; // I'will use something external to my program public class IT_And_Game_Design_Student { // the name of program public static void main(String args[]){ // declaration of a main method Scanner Students = new Scanner (System.in); // creates a "scanner" that is used to read input data int possibility; // declaring a Options int failed = 0; // declaring 2 as failed Student int passed = 0; // declaring 1 as passed Student for(int i = 1; i<11;++i){ // it will only loop 10 times since i the first student is greater or equal to the 12 Student System.out.println ("Display if " +i+ "º STUDENT PASSED (1) OR FAILED (2) and Ben Mondo's final result? "); possibility = Students.nextInt(); // next line if(possibility == 1) // when number 1 is pressed from keyboard { passed++; // the student passed } else if(possibility == 2) // when number 2 is pressed from keyboard { failed++; // student failed } else { System.out.println("wrong number!!!!!" + "Please Try again, remember you can only type 1 Or 2 Thank you..."); // print the argument i--; } } System.out.println("The number of succesful students in IT and Game Design is : " + passed); // print the argument System.out.println("the number of unsuccesful Students in IT and Game Design is: " + failed); // print the argument if(passed > 0) System.out.println(" And Ben Mondo was among the succesful Students, well done Ben"); // print the argument else System.out.println(" And Ben Mondo was not succesful this time"); } }// Ending the program>


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The package contains aged paper textures in 3 styles – clean, ornament A and ornament B. The old papers are in landscape and portrait view. Portrait papers have additional blue vintage effect.
- 9 JPG images 4000 x 3000 pixels with resolution 300 ppi
- 9 JPG images 3000 x 4000 pixels with resolution 300 ppi
- Read me file
You can use this Set in your own design, in web sites, backgrounds, textures, posters, flyers, cards, booklets, brochures, artworks, blogs, any kind of presentations & promotions, screensaver, wallpapers.
I'd really appreciate it if you could rate my file.
Feel free to contact me through my profile page if you have any questions, feedback, or need assistance.
Check out my BEST items
Check out my Backgrounds | Textures | Patterns | Prints


text:
Wizard Of Oz Wooden Welcome Sign Personalized With Your Name
First-of-its-kind wooden welcome sign showcases officially-licensed movie stills from the classic film. Personalized with a name. Made in the U.S.A.
Measures 10" W x 14" H
Courage and determination to return to her Kansas home led Dorothy on the adventure of a lifetime. Now, her amazing journey down the Yellow Brick Road is celebrated with first-of-its-kind The Wizard of Oz Personalized Welcome Sign, capturing a vibrant montage of officially-licensed imagery on a personalized welcome sign, exclusively from The Bradford Exchange. Personalized with a name of your choice, this custom The Wizard of Oz wooden welcome sign looks great in an entryway, on the wall, or in any room that you want to be reminded of the magical land beyond the rainbow.
Individually handcrafted by master artisans, The Wizard of Oz Personalized Welcome Sign is American made, and features a vibrant montage of movie stills with Scarecrow, Tin Man, Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion walking arm-in-arm down the Yellow Brick Road, while the Wicked Witch of the West schemes from afar. The Emerald City dazzles in the background and the entire scene is bordered in green and a handsome beveled edge. This personalized tribute is sure to transport you back to that magical first time you watched the famed cinema masterpiece, but strong demand is expected, so don't wait to own yours. Order now!
- Take your guests on a trip down the Yellow Brick Road with The Wizard of Oz Personalized Welcome Sign, a first-of-its-kind welcome sign customized with your family name, exclusively from The Bradford Exchange
- Personalize it! Provide your family name to create a one-of-a-kind tribute to the famed cinema masterpiece; see your personalized welcome sign now, before you buy, with the convenient preview function above
- The Wizard of Oz welcome sign showcases officially-licensed full-color movie stills with Scarecrow, Tin Man, Dorothy and Cowardly Lion walking down the Yellow Brick Road; in the background is the Wicked Witch of the West and the Emerald City
- The Wizard of Oz Personalized Welcome Sign features a green border and a handsome beveled edge
- Made in the U.S.A.
- Hanging device included for immediate and secure display
- Certificate of Authenticity
- Measures 10" W x 14" H; 25.4 cm W x 35.6 cm H
The Wizard of Oz and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Turner Entertainment Co. (s13)
©2013 The Bradford Exchange


text:
Microsoft Technical Security Notifications
Help protect your computing environment by keeping up to date on Microsoft technical security notifications. Notifications are available in RSS, mobile device, or e-mail format, and are also available online at the TechNet Security Bulletin Search page.
For IT Professionals
Basic Alerts
Microsoft's free monthly Security Notification Service provides links to security-related software updates and notification of re-released Microsoft Security Bulletins. The goal of this service is to provide accurate information you can use to protect your computers and systems from malicious attacks. These bulletins are written for IT professionals, contain in-depth technical information, and e-mails are digitally-signed with PGP.
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The free Comprehensive alerts serve as an incremental supplement to the Basic Alerts. These notifications are written for IT professionals, contain in-depth technical information, and e-mails are digitally-signed with PGP.
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Microsoft Security Advisories are a way for Microsoft to communicate security information to customers about issues that may not be classified as vulnerabilities and may not require a security bulletin. Each advisory will be accompanied with a unique Microsoft Knowledge Base Article number for reference to provide additional information about the changes.
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The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) blog provides a real-time way for the MSRC to communicate with customers. Topics include day-to-day, "behind the scenes" information to help customers understand Microsoft security response efforts; updates during the early stages of security incidents; and regular postings for the bulletin release cycle.
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To set your contact preferences for this and other Microsoft communications, see the communications preferences section of the Microsoft Privacy Statement at: <http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=92781>.


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Saturday, November 1st will be a red-letter day in Ottawa as Brian Gilchirst comes to speak at the second Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture at the LAC.
The lecture will be entitled "Developing a Research Strategy", and he will talk about "being stuck", and how to become unstuck, and move your research on again.
The session will present a number of options based on a review of your own notes, and leaning how to ask questions of people who can help, be it from networking with other genealogists, or with archivists and librarians, or on-line resources.
As the pre-publicity says, "There is a whole world of untouched resource material out there, and Mr. Gilchrist will help you learn how to access it".
He is the Archivist at the Peel Archives near Toronto, and has been given lectures ever since I first attended the OGS' Gene-O-Rama in Ottawa in 1993.
The Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture was started last year in Ottawa as a response to the 2006 death of Ryan, who had been a keynote genealogist in Canada and the United States.
The lecture will take place at the Library and Archives Canada Auditorium at 395 Wellington Street on Saturday, November 1st at 10:00 a.m., and is free.
See you there!


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Metro says serious crime has declined on the Washington-area transit system from 2010, but its crime rate was still higher last year than at five other major transit agencies.
Metro released a five-year crime report Wednesday. It listed 1,898 serious crimes last year, the majority of them thefts of some kind. Last year's figure was a decline from a six-year high of 2,270 crimes in 2010.
There was a five-year low in 2011 for crimes on buses and in parking lots and for motor vehicle thefts, according to the report.
The Washington Examiner reports Metro's crime rate is still higher than that in statistics from transit agencies in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Metro had 5.52 crimes per million riders, while New York's vast subway system had 1.55 crimes per million trips.
But Metro spokesman Dan Stessel says it's nearly impossible to draw clear comparisons without knowing how each transit agency reports crime.
Some agencies, like New York City, don't have parking facilities to patrol, while many of Metro's serious crimes are related to parking lots, Stessel said. Some transit agencies, including New York and Los Angeles, don't have their own police departments, so that can affect how crimes are reported and counted, for example, if a crime happens on a sidewalk near a subway station, he said.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


text:
As anyone who plays cricket knows, when you get a chance to field in at silly point or short leg, right next to the batsman, it's a chance to sledge your head off under your breath where the umpire can't hear you.
This thread is for all the plain banter. It's probably going to be part and parcel of an Ashes series, so if you feel like baiting, needling, gloating, then you can keep it in here. We don't want match threads and other threads in the sub-forum being sidetracked. Any of that posting outside of here will see you being warned.


text:
Wow! Where did that last week and a half go? Nothing exciting to report but I've been neglecting things here. As much time as usual seems to have been spent on researching things on the Internet, but this time it's not been music related but boring things such as how to fix a couple of electrical related problems on one of our cars. Yes, I know, yawn!
Back to the music – and another B side.
The Royalettes were a fine girl group from the Sixties, but seemed to operate mostly under the radar.
Their biggest hit (I think) was "It's Gonna Take A Miracle" in 1965. That release would have been on the black MGM label. Here's the B side of my copy which, being a blue and gold label means it must be a second issue and probably dates it to around 1968.
And you can see them perform this number in their shimmy dresses too:


text:
When the new Governor-General was sworn in yesterday, I found myself breathing a sigh of relief. I don't have a particular stake in seeing Michaëlle Jean occupy Rideau Hall, but the controversy surrounding her had left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. I've already blogged about the inherent sexism in the questions that came up about her husband's ties to separatist groups, but even more unnerving than that was the ordeal about her dual citizenship. Jean is married to a French citizen, and in 2004 she naturalized as French through marriage, becoming one of the 600,000-plus Canadians with multiple citizenships. But on Sunday, she bowed to some combination of public, political, and internal pressure (precisely how that combination of pressures played out is something I don't think the public will ever know) and renounced that citizenship again.
I was travelling in August and missed out on a lot, and so it was an American journalist friend who
Canadian law doesn't forbid multiple citizenships; in fact, it doesn't even prevent the Governor-General from having multiple citizenships. This means that the pressures that caused Jean to renounce her French citizenship aren't pressures of legality, but of ideology. I'd like some clarity, though, on exactly what that ideology consists of. What is it that makes someone Canadian enough for a position like Governor-General? Who decides what those criteria are? And if we as a society are saying--whether legally or merely through ideological disapproval--that a certain class of Canadian citizens qualifies, while another class doesn't, are we not also saying that latter class of Canadian is inherently second-tier? I find it difficult to interpret this in any other way, but if that is what we're saying, then we'd better be sure we're ready for all the things it implies, because some of those things aren't at all consistent with what Canada claims to be.
At the end of August, blogger James Bow wrote the following:
I understand the need for a distinction between landed immigrants and citizens in this country. Citizenship should take some time and effort to receive. But once achieved, that should be it: a Canadian citizen should be the equal of any other Canadian citizen regardless of whether or not that citizen was born in Canada, or in the United States, or elsewhere.


text:
Editor's note: This is part of a series of articles linking the work of MIT's emeritus faculty members with the current state of research in their given fields.
In the spring of 1960, a mysterious liver disease killed hundreds of thousands of turkeys in the United Kingdom. The outbreak was soon traced to ground peanut meal, shipped from Brazil and contaminated with mold that produces a poison known as aflatoxin.
At the time, little was known about aflatoxin, but some scientists suspected it could be linked to liver cancer in humans. Soon after the U.K. outbreak, a young MIT toxicologist named Gerald Wogan launched a thorough, decades-long investigation into the toxin, eventually exposing it as one of the most potent carcinogens humans can encounter.
Throughout his career, Wogan not only made discoveries illuminating aflatoxin's role in liver cancer, which kills about 600,000 people a year, but he also used his knowledge to shape food-safety regulations in the United States and Europe, and helped develop new measures that could fight liver cancer in developing countries, where aflatoxin exposure is still common.
"A lot of people are content to do basic science, but he picked up that mantle of responsibility and went right into the regulatory arena," says John Essigmann, MIT professor of toxicology and chemistry and a former student of Wogan's.
A new toxin
Though he has become one of the world's foremost experts in toxicology, Wogan started his career as a physiologist. He came to MIT in the summer of 1961 to join a new program in food safety, which was part of the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology.
At the time, food safety was a hot topic. "It was right after Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, and there was a lot of concern about pesticide residues and chemical residues and contaminants," recalls Wogan, who turned 80 this summer.
Upon arrival at MIT, he planned to study a puzzling toxic agent known as chick edema factor (later shown to be dioxin), which causes the sack around the heart to fill with fluid. However, shortly after the liver-disease outbreak in British turkeys, a UNICEF scientist urged him to look into the pressing problem of aflatoxin.
By then, British scientists had isolated and named the poison, but hadn't determined its chemical structure or figured out why it was so toxic. In 1962, Wogan attended a conference on aflatoxin in London, where a British pathologist offered him a sample of the fungus. Wogan slipped two Petri dishes containing the fungal colonies into his coat pocket and carried them onto the plane and across the Atlantic, back to MIT.
When Wogan got the fungus (known as Aspergillus flavus) back to his lab, "we started growing the mold on everything we could think of" — not just peanuts, but also wheat, corn and rice. Wogan and George Buchi, a natural-products chemist in MIT's Department of Chemistry, became the first to figure out aflatoxin's structure and synthesize the two major forms of aflatoxin, in 1963 — just beating out a European team that was racing the MIT group to the structure.
Human health
Wogan and veterinary pathologist Paul Newberne then started measuring aflatoxin's effects in rats. Wogan used those results to persuade the FDA to establish guidelines, still in use, for the maximum allowable amount of aflatoxin in foods such as peanut butter.
"From the beginning, the goal was not only to understand the mechanisms of action and try to characterize it as completely as we could, but to try to understand what impact it had on human health," says Wogan. "The only reason I was interested in aflatoxin is because it was clear there was a large potential human risk."
To strengthen the link between aflatoxin and liver cancer in humans, Wogan set up an epidemiological study in Thailand in the late 1960s. Researchers from MIT and Thailand, in a collaboration dubbed MITHAI, measured aflatoxin levels in people's food and compared them with their liver-cancer rates.
After collecting data for five years, the researchers found a strong correlation between aflatoxin consumption and liver cancer. However, they needed more evidence to convince virologists, who already believed that the hepatitis-B virus was the most important contributor to liver cancer.
Essigmann, then a graduate student in Wogan's lab, made a key discovery that allowed the team to precisely measure aflatoxin exposure in humans, allowing them to prove the connection to liver cancer. Essigmann discovered that aflatoxin binds tightly to DNA, creating mutations that can lead to cancer. He and a graduate student, Richard Bennett, then developed a test that could detect the DNA-aflatoxin compound in urine.
Using that test, plus a blood test developed by Steven Tannenbaum, an MIT professor of biological engineering, the Wogan team could definitively track aflatoxin exposure. In 1992, two of his former graduate students, John Groopman and Thomas Kensler, now professors at Johns Hopkins University, published a study that conclusively linked liver cancer to the toxin. "It really did drive the nail home in the argument. Even the virologists started to refer to aflatoxin as a risk factor," says Wogan.
Wogan later showed that exposure to both aflatoxin and hepatitis B dramatically boosts the risk of liver cancer by 60 to 100 times that of being exposed to either agent on its own. That synergistic effect is still unexplained.
Fighting cancer with broccoli
While working out the mechanism of aflatoxin's toxicity, Wogan kept his eye on his overarching goal: reducing the risk of liver cancer, especially in developing countries, where aflatoxin is more frequently found in the food supply. His former students have carried on that legacy. In the late 1990s, Kensler found that a drug called oltipraz activates an enzyme that blocks aflatoxin's effects. A study he conducted in China, where aflatoxin exposure is common, found that giving the drug as a preventive measure dramatically reduced aflatoxin levels in the urine and blood.
However, oltipraz is prohibitively expensive, so the researchers looked for a dietary supplement that would do a same thing. It turns out that broccoli sprouts activate the same enzyme as oltipraz, so Kensler and colleagues are now studying the effects of a tea made from the sprouts. This has also reduced the amount of aflatoxin found in people who drink it.
Wogan, who founded MIT's Center for Environmental Health Sciences in 1978, still maintains a research lab at MIT, where he now focuses primarily on the cellular signaling molecule nitric oxide. However, three years ago, he, Essigmann and Tannenbaum resurrected their aflatoxin studies. This time, they're looking into a discovery Wogan made in the 1970s, that mice younger than 10 days old are very susceptible to aflatoxin exposure, but start to become resistant after 10 days.
By using the new tools of genomics and proteomics, the trio hopes to figure out what happens between the first and second weeks of life that makes the animals become resistant. "We can get lessons out of that that will teach us how to protect infants, and protect adults — it's a pure Wogan message," says Essigmann.
Roger Summons
December 7, 2010
This article on Gerald Wogan is very interesting from many perspectives. The text mentions his collaboration with George Büchi, an organic chemist at MIT during the 60's. This leads me to ask if it is purely coincidence that the accompanying photo shows Gerald with a Büchi rotary evaporator, one of the most useful tools of the natural products chemist?


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Court to Rule If Pa. County Clerk Can Continue Issuing Illegal Gay Marriage Licenses
A Pennsylvania court will decide at a hearing on Wednesday whether an elected county clerk can continue to issue same-sex marriage licenses - something he has been doing illegally for weeks now.
D. Burce Hanes of Montgomery County began issuing gay marriage licenses in July, a month after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and left in place a lower court ruling striking down California's Proposition 8 that banned gay marriage.
Within a week after Hanes began issuing licenses, the State of Pennsylvania, through the Health Department, filed a petition arguing that the county clerk had "repeatedly and continuously" violated the law by issuing 34 licenses and registering six same-sex marriages, and that his decision would lead to illegal claims for benefits.
This came just several weeks after the state's Attorney General Kathleen Kane, announced she would not defend the state in a federal lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage, because it violated her convictions. Instead she would be delegating the defense of Pennsylvania's marriage law, which defines the institution as strictly between a man and a woman, to Governor Tom Corbett's office.
The ramifications of the court's decision are still unclear, though it is not expected that a court decision would legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
For Wednesday, the court has asked lawyers to focus their arguments on whether the court has jurisdiction to rule, given that Hanes is a judicial officer, and if issuing marriage licenses constitutes a judicial act.
They have also asked lawyers to explore if the constitutionality of the state's current marriage law can be a defense in the case, and if the Attorney General's delegation of the case to the Corbett Administration via the Health Department is legal, and if not, what the rammifcations of Kane's decision are.
In a filing last week, Corbett' lawyers argued that there was only one principle at stake in the court ruling — and it was not same-sex marriage. Rather it was whether a local official could simply decide himself whether a current law in force was unconstitutional.
"This case is about one thing: whether a local official may willfully disregard a statute on the basis of his personal legal opinion that the statute is unconstitutional," they wrote.
Currently, another same-sex marriage lawsuit has been filed against the the state by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing Pennsylvania to overturn state law.
Pennsylvania's case is not the only county clerk case to hit the nation. In New Mexico last month, hundreds of same-sex marriage licenses were issued after a county clerk concluded that state law didn't prevent him from issuing gay marriage licenses. So far, clerks in six counties have begun issuing licenses, and a seventh has been ordered to do the same.


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Technically the Cold War ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union finally fell apart. However, the war has stayed pretty chilly down in the Caribbean where the US and Cuba continue to party like it's 1969. As a reminder of how chilly things remain, just take a look at the recent blizzard that blew through Miami when Ozzie Guillen made the mistake of declaring his love for Fidel Castro. But then a funny thing happened. Sure, Ozzie got a five-game suspension, and yeah, plenty of people got pissed off, but no one tried to kill him and people are still going to Marlins' games. The times, they are a-changin'.
On the other side of the world, things are changing as well. Previously the province of rappers, drunk investment bankers and Joba Chamberlain, "making it rain" has been taken to entirely new levels on the Arabian peninsula:[youtube http://youtu.be/LD0ncYoVp_c]
Frosty in Florida, rainy in the desert? Looks like climate change is more widespread than we originally thought.


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Bots are complicated. They're made to process repetitive actions autonomously and can be fairly easy to build, but they aren't always working on the side of good. Here's what you need to know.
Each year, EContent magazine compiles a list of the 100 companies that matter most in the digital content industry.
Voting is now closed. We'll announce the results of the first-ever EContent 100 list chosen by the people!
Chris Seymour
Feb 04, 2013
Company: NBC News Digital NBC News Digital (NBC ND)-one of the world's leading news brands, with millions of unique visitors every day-has a reputation for delivering timely, compelling, diverse, and visually engaging stories. Formerly known as Msnbc Digital Network, NBC ND is part of NBC News and supports a variety of its brands, including The TODAY Show, MSNBC, Dateline, and NBC Nightly News. www.nbcnews.com
Business ChallengeAs mobile devices proliferated, NBC ND found itself faced with a problem that is familiar to digital publishers across the spectrum. The content management and video delivery solutions those publishers had relied on were not up to the task of delivering and monetizing content across a variety of devices and platforms in a simple, streamlined way. With these new considerations in mind, NBC ND went in search of a new video delivery and monetization solution.
Vendor of Choice: Unicorn Media Unicorn Media, Inc.-headquartered in Tempe, Ariz.-is a provider of internet video solutions that enable companies to maximize IP video profitability. Unicorn's patented technology, Unicorn Once, allows customers to ingest video content one time and deliver it to any internet-connected device via a single URL. Content owners can monetize their content on any device by dynamically inserting targeted ads and analyzing content and ad performance in real time on every platform, allowing for on-the-fly changes to maximize profitability. www.unicornmedia.com
Problem in DepthNBC News Digital strives to deliver the best original journalism, commentary, and local updates to popular mobile devices, so its workflow issues were paramount. When NBC ND first entered the world of mobile video delivery, it went with a fairly turnkey solution for handling video delivery to a range of devices and monetizing that content. But as the network's needs grew-and especially when it later entered app development for the iPad and other higher-end devices-its provider's limitations with content ingestion, ad stitching, and analytics were resulting in lost monetization opportunities and business agility. Thus, NBC needed a solution that allowed for a greater level of flexibility, performance, speed, and reporting capability for both ad and mobile video delivery.NBC ND had been using the Limelight Network Kiptronic service but needed more, says Anthony Baker, NBC News Digital's principal program manager of video platforms. "Kiptronic is a really good service for a number of businesses but what I found was that it didn't work well for the nature of our business, the news business," says Baker.
"The issue there was that we didn't have the flexibility ... it didn't provide us with the measure of flexibility that we really needed to run our business. Particularly, the mobile space continues to grow and continues to be in a state of flux," adds Baker.
Also, with its previous service, NBC News Digital did not have the ability to manipulate ads without retranscoding every piece of content. As a result, the company wanted greater visibility into transcoding status in order to increase the ROI and maximize yields. With so many visitors demanding immediate, high-quality media on hundreds of device types, NBC also wanted the ability to manipulate an asset so that only specific segments of a media item could be published on different devices for maximum profitability.
The SolutionEnter Unicorn Once, which allows content owners such as NBC ND to ingest media one time and deliver it everywhere with dynamic ad integration and real-time analytics across any internet-connected device. NBC ND began using the service in December 2011, according to Baker. "I started looking for an alternate and then came across Unicorn ... [and] I felt very strongly that their platform was radically different than the Kiptronic service and would provide really what we needed."
"We're focused on helping large media companies monetize their content," says Bill Rinehart, founder, chairman, and CEO of Unicorn Media. "That said, we also strive to simplify the process that allows them to easily reach every IP-enabled device in the world. The task is complex, and prior to using Unicorn Once, was actually very costly and time consuming. Our technology automated the process without disrupting the workflows they had in place that worked well for them, delivers high-quality content to devices everywhere faster than they previously could and allows them to insert pre, mid, and post roll ads anywhere in the stream."
Baker says NBC ND has implemented a system "where I can provide, very easily, a 100% server side video and ad delivery solution for an application." He continues, "And what that means is basically someone comes to me and says they need to get mobile video to this new application they are building. And what I'm able to say is, 'Ok, I can handle analytics for you; I can handle ad delivery-pre-roll advertising-for you; I can handle video delivery to you. You don't need to worry about: are you on a broadband connection or are you on a cellular connection? It's not a concern you have to have.'"
On the advertising side, Baker noted that "a huge difference" between the Kiptronic service and Unicorn Once is that ad stitching and delivery is "done on the fly."
"What used to happen in the stitching scenario with Kiptronic is they would pre-build so if I have five pieces of creative ... [and] one video potentially, you have to pre-build all five versions of that video in all the formats with that ad attached to it, so you had to wait for that six times," explains Baker. "With Unicorn they'll do it on the fly and only on request."
The OutcomeUnicorn Once says it made an impact almost instantaneously for NBC ND, exponentially increasing content quality and speed of delivery and greatly improving the user experience. In fact, NBC News Digital was able to monetize its Roku content for the first time ever.
"[NBC ND] simply provided a file with all the metadata associated and through our content synchronization tool, we allowed them to use their existing publishing workflows for everything from their mobile website to their mobile applications," says a Unicorn case study. "There were no customers facing changes other than a higher quality output, asset availability per device and speed-of-play. The simple, behind the scenes integration exponentially increased the speed of publishing, increased ad revenue and reduced costs across multiple divisions."
According to Baker, his company is on track to see an increase of 25% in mobile ad revenue in the current fiscal year. "Working with Unicorn Media and its integration with our ad decision platform, mOcean, we are able to quickly flight new campaigns across all devices with no difficulty on the part of our ad operations team," says Baker.
Unicorn has also been quick to meet NBC ND's requests for feature changes. "We have asked for specific feature changes at times which they've accommodated readily," notes Baker. "The nice thing about their platform is it's really not a mobile delivery platform per se; it's much broader."
For any company that may be considering Unicorn Once, Rinehart says he would tell them "we're in the business of making them money." He adds, "They'll deliver to more devices, place more ads, and grow their mobile audience-and they'll get higher CPMs on their advertising content. We're built for scale and we solve the hardest problems in internet video."
Baker adds he would wholeheartedly recommend Unicorn Once to another company. "We use it all over the place; it's been a huge advantage for us," says Baker. "I have absolutely no problem recommending them to somebody else; I think that they're ahead of the game. I think their platform is robust and I think it's wildly flexible."


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Famous robotics company iRobot - maker of the noted Roomba autonomous floor-cleaner and supplier of war-bots to the US military - has announced a radical new development contract. The company is to create a "soft" robot able to wriggle its way through "openings smaller than its actual structural dimensions".
It almost goes without saying that the $3.3m in military blobotics funding comes from DARPA, the Pentagon boffin collective which is to the established military-technological paradigm what stun grenades are to tea-parties.
"During military operations it can be important to gain covert access to denied or hostile space," said Dr Mitchell Zakin of DARPA, suggesting that the squashy machines are intended to penetrate physical security covertly.
"We believe that a new class of soft, flexible, meso-scale mobile objects that can identify and maneuver through openings smaller than their dimensions to perform various tasks will be quite valuable".
"Consistently [tackling] challenges with robots has made us a trusted DARPA partner," said Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman of iRobot, offering a shrewd hint as to the best way of becoming friends with the radical military brainboxes.
The new flexi-penetration bot programme has been dubbed ChemBots. It was originally announced last year, as a modification to a wider enabling-techniques push, but nothing further was made public until now.
DARPA requires that the final $3.3m prototype machine:
- Travel a distance
- Traverse an arbitrary-shaped opening much smaller than the largest characteristic dimension of the ChemBot
- Reconstitute size, shape, and functionality after traversing the opening
- Travel a distance again
- Perform a function using the embedded payload
The Phase One version, which iRobot are now embarked upon, should be "approximately the size (but not necessarily the form-factor) of a regulation softball" which can move 5 metres in 20 minutes, pass through a 1cm opening and reassume its original shape in 15 seconds. Roughly speaking, then, we're talking about a cricket-ball sized job which can get through a keyhole. This might open up a few backdoors, in a security sense.
DARPA don't care how this is done, but they do note that "nature provides many examples of ChemBot functionality ... mice, octopi, and insects readily traverse openings barely larger than their largest 'hard' component".
The paradigm-punishing boffins reckon that the squidgy mechanoids could make use of "gel-solid phase transitions", "shape-memory", "magneto-rheological materials" or - perhaps rather more credibly - "geometric transitions, eg, folding". That last might be the one to bet on, perhaps combined with miniature, deflatable balloon tyres.
One might also note that payload and function are agreeably non-specific, and that many explosives - just for instance - are available in liquid or gel form. It would probably be within the rules of the game for the robot to simply blow up or release a gas in order to "perform a function".
But iRobot is an imaginative company, and makes lovely robots. (Even if the machines aren't all that good at cleaning floors.) It can probably come up with something a bit more cunning. ®


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Tell people what your various channels, pages, etc. are.
Sign up any join!
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Millions of readers will feel sadness at the passing of Australia's biggest-selling author, Bryce Courtenay, at 79, but those who called themselves more "literary" writers owed a great debt of gratitude to Courtenay too, key publishing figures have said.
Author Thomas Keneally said the title of Courtenay's best-known book, The Power of One, had entered the language as a phrase for good reason: he was a good narrative plotter who knew how to market his books "when other writers were stumbling around".
Keneally said writers such as Courtenay and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling have allowed "thousands of flowers to bloom", their bestsellers financing "the publication of of books that might sell more humbly".
He said it took "guts" that Courtenay - who succumbed to stomach cancer in Canberra late on Thursday with his wife Christine, his family pets, Tim, the dog, and Cardamon, the Burmese cat by his side - had finished his book when he was so ill.
"There's no doubting readers will feel sadness and I hope they will raise their glasses for a toast to Bryce as they unwrap their presents of his latest book on Christmas Day," said Keneally.
Keneally acknowledged many so-called "literary" writers were dismissive of Courtenay's work. "I'm not so certain we authors can afford to be so sniffy about each other, because who says any of our works will survive long after our deaths?"
Bestselling author Di Morrissey said: "What I loved about Bryce was his passion - for everything! But he was most passionate about writing and reading.
"He was such an advocate for popular fiction, puncturing the puffed-up pretensions of the literary establishment.
"He always told me that being a storyteller was a great and noble profession. And that it is a gift and how lucky he felt that he could entertain people, enthuse non readers to read and that becoming a writer had changed his life.
"He approached every book - as indeed he embraced life - with enthusiasm, excitement and exuberance.
"He encouraged so many people to read, to tell their own stories, and he helped countless people in so many ways. He was generous, outrageous, loveable and there's a huge hole left in the Australian publishing industry but his legacy will live on. But I'll miss him."
Author Matthew Reilly said: "I think we've lost one of Australia's greatest storytellers. He single-handedly paved the way for mass market authors like me and I thank him for that."
Australian fantasy author Fiona McIntosh said she was inspired to become a writer at one of Courtenay's masterclasses, held in Hobart 12 years ago.
"In five days it changed the course of my life. An epiphany occurred and everything made sense to me to me," she said. "I wrote a book and sold it within weeks to Harper Collins."
She described Courtenay as a "gutsy guy" who "lived his life on his terms, he had a good long life and he's gone out on his terms.
"He was teaching right up to (the end) ... I did a masterclass with him just two weeks ago. I though it was extraordinary that he was still teaching, still alert, still pounding these writers with the stuff he taught me years ago.
McIntosh said she saw Courtenay dozens of times over the past decade.
"He was brilliant. But I'm not allowing myself to be sad. I'm allowing myself to admire him and think back about what he's done for me and given back to my life."
The chief executive of the Australian Publishers Association, Maree McCaskill, said there was no doubt Courtenay was one of Australia's most popular authors.
"There's been much criticism about his literary merit but I don't think it's worth a pinch of salt," she said. "He sold millions and encouraged people who wouldn't normally read to pick up a book.
"He didn't have any literary snobbery and he was about getting his books read by as many Australians to read. We owe him a huge debt in Australia for making reading popular."
Christine Courtenay said in a statement released by Penguin publishers: "We'd like to thank all of Bryce's family and friends and all of his fans around the world for their love and support for me and his family as he wrote the final chapter of his extraordinary life. And may we make a request for privacy as we cherish his memory."
Courtenay recorded a farewell message in October in which he said his "use-by date has finally come up".
He said he didn't mind that he had only a short time to live because "I've had a wonderful life" and he added: "All I'd like to say as simply as I possibly can is thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."
with STEPHEN CAUCHI


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Views: 917
Actually, we are attacked by Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. Just because Bin Laden was Saudi does not mean we attack Saudi Arabia. He was an enemy and thorn to the Saudi regime. Just because Zawahiri was Egyptian, do we attack Egypt too? Bin Laden was in Afghanistan and prepared for the attacks under the harboring of the Taliban. Therefore, the Taliban were responsible in handing over Bin Laden or face retaliation. In fact, the Taliban should have been forced out of power irregardless as they were the worst violators of human rights in the world.
Some had connections with Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the nations themselves were not involved
Really? None of the nations were involved? Again, the Taliban controlled Afghanistan and were harboring Bin Laden.
In regards to Iraq, Saddam was defying the world for too long. He was bound to be removed eventually. The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein; my only quarrels are that the Islamic Republic was a bigger threat and regime change (aftermath) would have been much easier as Iranians are pro-American, pro-west, and a secular populace (the people, not regime).
Practically anything that anyone believes in can become militaristic, in my opinion. Fanaticism and extremism are problems that come up out of the minds of the unstable and sick who unfortunately, manage to get others on board by pandering to the fear and anger of the masses. If not religion it'll be something else.
However, observing countries whose people are close-knit, peaceful (at least in comparison to the middle east and the US) and see how they are functioning, some even with a national religion, we'd find more clues as to how societies work successfully without being driven by the war machine and greed. While I personally would love to see religion removed from our world, I think there are greater social factors at play in our 'civilization' that creates the demand for our militaristic needs (AKA: war).
I do think if we were less religious, we'd be less warlike because we'd spend our time solving resource problems rather than ranting and praying. Nowadays the dominionists cleverly use religion to keep people fighting.
Since rich people get richer from war, aka "Military Industrial Complex," they will continue to use religion and the afterlife and poverty as tools to get even richer.
Bottom line is we need better general conditions and education for the poor who usually become the fanatical religious "warriors" of all persuasions.
I agree with Anne. I think the public's religious sensibility is used as a tool for the military - God is on our side, fight for God and country. A disproportionate amount of recruits come from the Bible Belt and the lower socio-economic class. A more secular society and more even distribution of resources might produce citizens more unwilling to go to war.
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Remember the old days where we were just frothing at the mouth about the rumor of H&M moving into North Texas?
Now Grapevine fashionistas don't even have to drive to NorthPark or The Galleria to pick up the affordable fashions.
The Grapevine Mills location will open Thursday, Aug. 30 at noon with all the "unique energy and excitement experienced only at H&M store openings," says the press release.
We take that to mean two things: gift cards for the first 100 folks standing in line and crowds.
The first H&M outpost in DFW opened just over a year ago, Aug. 18, 2011, in NorthPark.