text:
LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015
I feel that to be successful at consistently taking an animal each year, you need to know about that animal. Most articles that you read are about scents or hunting tactics, but often overlooked are articles about the particular animal. How does an animal actually use their sense of smell? How does odor work? How do they see? What do they see? I think it is ironic that we as hunters spend millions of dollars each year on the latest and greatest camouflage patterns on the market that are manufactured to please the human eye and not hide us from a deer's vision, the exact purpose of camouflage. In fact with so many manufacturers and styles we now treat it like a fashion show. The real issue is what camouflage pattern is most effective to fool the deer's eyes?
Last year I wrote an article on scents and scent elimination. I now want to take time and cover the topic of how a whitetail's vision differs from ours. In this article I will cover the information on how we as humans see the world versus how deer and other animals see the world around us. I will also cover topics such as Ultra Violet (UV) and UV brighteners in hunting clothes and how this affects the camouflage patterns, and which camouflage pattern works best to fool a deer's eyes, not the hunter's.
First to be able to understand and picture how a deer sees the world, we need to understand how our eyes work and why we see what we do. By understanding how you see will help the hunter better picture the world that a deer sees. Use of this knowledge will assist in picking the right camouflage pattern, right back ground in a tree, and even when to move and when not to move while in the stand.
Understanding how a deer sees makes you a better hunter an can ultimately help you score on bigger bucks.
To start off with, in the retina, located in the back of the eye, consists of two types of light sensitive cells called rods and cones. These cells collect light that the brain perceives as vision. Now the simple version is that rods are for night time or low light vision and cones are for color and daytime vision. The hunter's eye consists of three types of cones. One is for short wavelength light (blue), consisting of approximately 10% of our cones. The second is for middle wavelength light (green), the second most common cone in our eyes. And the third is for long wavelength light (red), the most common cone in our hunting eyes. Having these three cones is called Tri-chromatic vision. By having Tri-chromatic vision allows us to see a broad spectrum of color, everything from blue to red. Hunters see the green-yellow spectrum of color the best out of the three different cones. Humans also have a UV (Ultra Violet) filter in our eyes. This protects our eyes from the sun's damaging UV rays. This UV filter also allows a clearer and crisper vision. This is also the reason most target shooters wear amber or yellow colored shooting glasses. This allows us as hunters to see fine objects and read fine print. The down side of this filter is that it lessens our sensitivity to short wave length colors (blue) and does not allow us to see UV. If we did not have this UV filter it would cause the short wavelength light to blur the image. We as humans use the center of our retina the majority of the time to look at an object. This area of our eye is full of cones and no rods; the rest of our eye consists of rods and cones. This allows us great detail and color and very poor night vision. Also we are predators. Our eyes are positioned at the front of our head similar to other predators such as bears, foxes and wolves. Prey animals such as deer have eyes on the side of their heads giving them a broader field of view. If you think about it, as a predator we lock on to our prey and focus on the animal. A prey animal is constantly scanning, looking for danger as it goes about its day. As a hunter we see a broad range of color under a bright lighting condition, however because we are able to see such a broad range of color, our eye used up the majority of its room on cones, and we have less rods. By having fewer rods, causes us to have poor vision under low light condition.
Now that we have an idea of how our eyes work, let's take a look at a deer's eye and how it differs from ours. Knowing that we humans have almost all cones in the central part of our retina, and a low number of rods in the remainder of our retina allows us to see a greater spectrum of color. A deer's eye consists of more than 90% rods giving deer excellent night vision. By having more rods than cones a deer can see more detail in low light than it can during bright light. Humans have three types of cones (Tri-chromatic vision) but deer only have two types of cones (Di-chromatic vision) The two cones they have are short wavelength light (blue) and middle wavelength light (green). Deer do not possess the long wavelength cones, so they cannot see reds, oranges, browns, and most shades of greens. These colors can be seen by deer, however, are perceived differently than we see them. They are most often perceived as different shades of yellow because they don't have the long wavelength cone. A deer's most sensitive vision is that of short wavelengths (blue) and they do not have the UV filter that humans do. This allows deer to see the blue spectrum much better than we do. They can also see UV while we cannot. However, by not having the UV filter, their vision is slightly blurred and thus not as crisp as ours under good lighting conditions. Because deer are prey animals their eyes are on the side of their head, giving them a much larger field of view, also since they don't focus on an object like we do, they have better peripheral vision allowing them to pick up movement much faster and better than we can. Just because they have a blurred vision during day light doesn't mean you will get away with movement much easier. Also deer can see better in low light conditions than they can under bright lighting conditions, which is the exact opposite of that of a human.
My 2009 buck. Knownig which camouflage pattern to use during the right situation is a subtle hint that can tip the odds in your favor.
Now looking at the central region off the eye in a human, we posses all cones for great color vision. In a deer's central region of the eye, they posses both rods and cones and rods are about one thousand times more sensitive to light than cones and deer have a higher ratio of rods to cones giving them a great night vision. So we now know that deer can see better at night but lack the ability to see the long wavelength colors such as reds and oranges, however they can see short wavelength color better than we can which is blues, violets, and UV. We now know that they have a better vision under lowlight than they do during the day time. So how can they see much better at night and what does their night vision look like to them? First off, a deer is designed for low light conditions which would make sense because that is when they are most active. A deer's eye is all about light gathering. They have a reflective membrane on their eye called a tapetum. A tapetum reflects the light not absorbed by the receptors on its first pass to be absorbed a second time, basically recycling the non used light. The tapetum is what causes the deer's eyes to shine under a light at night. A deer's pupil can also open much larger than ours can also allowing more light to reach the retina, and the fact that a deer's eye is 90% rods. The use of rods in a deer's vision under low lighting conditions causes the deer to see in shades of black and white when the lighting conditions are too low for cones to work; essentially a deer's night vision consists of the black and white color spectrum.
Deer see far better than we do at night, however, their vision is at it's best during low light conditions. Namely, dawn and dusk.
Now that we have a better understanding on how deer see the world around them, what does this mean to the hunter? First off we need to start paying attention to UV and UV brighteners that are in our hunting cloths. So what are UV brighteners? They are what cause your "whites to be whiter and your brights to be brighter." UV brighteners gather light from a wide range of wavelengths and reflect the light in a strong band that is best seen by deer from their short wavelength cones and rods, also they do not have a UV filter on their eye like we humans do. Most fabrics that are used to make cloths are dyed with UV brighteners; this makes the color on the fabric look much brighter and crisper to the human eye. When camouflage companies buy their fabric to be printed and made into hunting cloths they want the fabrics to be UV brightened. This makes their camouflage pattern look brighter, crisper, and better to the human eye. Essentially most camouflage companies are trying to fool the human eye and not the deer's eyes. This can cause the exact opposite affect that we the hunter want our camouflage to do for us. Because the UV light spectrum appears to be a glowing blue to a deer or an animal without the UV filter on their eye, making you look like a radioactive smurf sitting in a tree, versus blending in with your surroundings. To avoid this you have several different options. The first is that there is a company that makes a UV inhibitor that eliminates UV from reflecting off of your clothes. You spray the UV inhibitor on your cloths and allow it to soak in and dry prior to hunting. Second option is use natural wool clothing. The old time hunters have used wool forever and swear by its warmth, they just weren't aware of an additional benefit was that natural wool does not contain UV brighteners. You can also look for camouflage fabrics on the market that say on their tag that they do not contain UV brighteners and dyes. When it comes time to wash your cloths make sure that the soap that you use for your hunting cloths is not the same for everyday laundry. Number one reason is the scent and number two reason is because they all contain UV brighteners. Use soap designed for hunting cloths that say right on the bottle that it does not contain UV brighteners.
Deer are grazers and because of this, their eyes are positioned on the side of their head to better scan for predators while feeding.
Now that we understand the importance of not glowing like a radioactive smurf, let's talk about choosing a camouflage pattern. We know that deer can see shades of blue much better than we can so wearing blue jeans is out of the question if you don't want to get spotted by a deer. I feel that matching your camouflage shade is much more important when picking out camouflage. For example, if you hunt a darker area such as pine trees or evergreens you will want a darker color shade of camouflage. If you hunt open hardwoods during the rut you will want a much lighter shade of camouflage. Modern camouflage companies are catching on to this and are marketing camouflage patterns designed for tree stand hunting and open sage country. One company is Sitka; I just saw a recent ad in a magazine for their camouflage. Their design is based on how deer see. I have never used this camouflage or seen it in person but it does spark my interest.
Whichever camouflage pattern you choose is up to you, however if you really want your camouflage to be effective and more than just a fashion statement, you will want to make sure you do the following: eliminate any UV brighteners, match the shade of the background you plan on hunting and make sure it breaks up your outline. If you have ever been spotted by a deer and wondered how they saw you, chances are it was one or all of these things that caused the deer to see you even if you thought you were well hidden.
Hopefully in this article I was able to provide you with information on how we see the world versus how deer see the world, and that this information will help you better blend into your surroundings this fall. After all a big old buck sometime seem impossible to get a shot at, and we need as much to our advantage we can get. Until next time I'll keep you posted.


text:
It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
joind on: Aug, 18 2016
last visit: Nov, 28 2016
applause received: 0
member posts: 154
member threads: 9
member flags: 142
member stars: 554
ave. flags per thread: 15.78
ave. stars per post: 3.6
ave. posts per day: 1.51
WATS score: 5
member karma: 63

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This website accompanies our Team App smartphone app available from the App Store or Google Play. Download Team App now and search for Kangaroo Flat Junior Football Club to enjoy our team app on the go.
To access all the features of this site you need to Log In or Sign Up.
Sun, 18 Feb 2018
from 11:00am to 1:30pm
by Kangaroo Flat JFC
Posted: over 2 years ago
Visible to: public
Time zone: Melbourne
Reminder: None
Ends: 01:30pm (duration is about 3 hours)
Dower Park


text:
QAM(redirected from 4QAM)
In Q, or basic telecommunication code, it means, "What is the latest met (weather)?"
Quality Assurance Management.
QAM(1) (Quality Assessment Measurement) A system used to measure and analyze voice transmission.
(2) (Quantum Abstract Machine) An interface from Rigetti Computing for running programs in a hybrid classical/quantum computer environment. See quantum computing.
(3) (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) A modulation technique that employs both phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation (AM). Widely used to transmit digital signals such as digital cable TV and cable Internet service, QAM is also used as the modulation technique in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (see OFDM). The "quadrature" comes from the fact that the phase modulation states are 90 degrees apart from each other.
Analog QAM
Analog QAM uses two carriers 90 degrees out of phase with each other. Each carrier is modulated by an analog signal, and the resulting modulated waves are combined (see example below).
Digital QAM
In digital QAM, the number of modulation states determines how the digital signal is split up. For example, in 8QAM, each three bits of input alters the phase and amplitude of the carrier to derive eight unique modulation states (see example below).
In 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, 256QAM, 512QAM and 1024QAM, from four to 10 bits generate from 16 to 1,024 modulation states respectively. See modulation and binary values.
|Analog QAM
|Analog QAM modulates two carriers 90 degrees out of phase with each from two analog input streams. The modulated carriers are combined and transmitted.
|Digital QAM (8QAM)
|In 8QAM, three input bits generate eight modulation states using four phase angles on 90 degree boundaries and two amplitudes (4 phases X 2 amplitudes = 8 states). Digital modulation greater than 8QAM is difficult to visualize.
|Quadrature PSK (QPSK)
|QPSK is like 4QAM without amplitude modulation. QPSK uses four phase angles to represent each two bits of input; however, the amplitude remains constant.


text:
Get DVD Talk Feeds
Completely, deliciously, crazy. M-G-M's Limited Edition Collection of M.O.D. (manufactured on demand) cult and little-seen titles has released Golden Needles, the 1974 chop socky opus released by American International, directed by none other than Enter the Dragon's Robert Clouse, and starring human cement mixer Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Ashley, Ann Southern, Jim Kelly, and Burgess Meredith. That particular cast, starring in that particular genre of movie, should be enough right there to get your fingers flying over the keyboard to order this...this bizarre film. A genuine curiosity, in a fairly good transfer...but no extras.
Hong Kong, 1974. Los Angeles southern belle Felicity (Elizabeth Ashley) has a contract to fulfill: her employer has instructed her to purchase, for $100,000 dollars, a Sung Dynasty statue. Why is the statue worth that many dumplings? Apparently, the statue is a guide for seven acupuncture points―the Golden Needles of Ecstasy―that, if placed correctly on a man will bring him unending sexual pleasure and it's implied, immortality. If placed incorrectly: hideous death. Hong Kong gangster and rather odd body painter Lin Toa (Roy Chiao) has successfully stolen the statue, and now wants Felicity to pony up $250,000 dollars. A good Ohio girl with a solid Midwestern upbringing, Felicity cries foul and runs to old friend Kwan (Tony Lee), asking for help. Kwan suggests his former partner, Dan (Joe Don Baker), a large, unkempt, sweaty American soldier-of-fortune/detective/adventurer/antiques dealer/booze hound/pre-diabetic, steal it back―a deal he only agrees to for Kwan's friendship and for the chance to nail Felicity, who pragmatically offers up her ass to seal the deal. The bestial bruin Dan, surely the least fleet-of-foot martial artist in Hong Kong, manages to heist the statue back, deliver it to Kwan who will ship it back to L.A., and bang Felicity before she disappears with his dough and Kwan buys the farm at the hands of Lin Toa. Now it's up to Dan to return to L.A., hook up with his friend, antiques dealer (!) Jeff (Jim Kelly) and Chinese detective Su Lin (the paralyzingly good-looking Frances Fong), track down the statue, and return it to Felicity before crazy-as-a-bedbug millionaire Winters (Burgess Meredith) gets it first.
If you don't look too closely at the plot of Golden Needles, you can have a lot of fun with it by just grooving along with its incomprehensible but somehow delicious mishmash of oddly-timed fight scenes, weirdly-scripted dialogue scenes, head-scratching casting, the kick-ass score by master Lalo Schifrin, and the socko cinematography in and around Hong Kong. If you do start questioning Golden Needles, you're going to wind up asking yourself a whole lot of things, like who the hell, exactly, is Joe Don Baker here? An ex-spy? An ex-soldier? An ex-gambler? An ex-meat packer or ex-bus driver or ex-pro bowler or all the other occupations that Baker looks so eminently suited for? How about the statue itself? Are the actual golden needles important for the "live and let dong" procedure, or is it the statue itself? And does it give you a permanent Viagra® high, or immortality? How about this: how the hell did Jim Kelly become an antiques dealer? And why is Elizabeth Ashley "in bed" with Burgess Meredith? All that sounds kind of important, kind of on the level of, "I don't really get this picture if I don't understand at least a few of those questions."
But then...director Clouse (hot off his career peak with Enter the Dragon, working off S. Lee Pogostin (Hard Road to China, Hard Contract) and Sylvia Schneble's script, doesn't appear to care if you get it or not, because he's charging straight through the story the way Joe Don Baker charges through that plate glass window when he can't figure out any other way of beating up his assailants or escaping the, um...snakes that are all over the floor (inspired hilarity, this scene). I suppose one could blame the editing for the almost aggressively impenetrable continuity here (to be polite, let's just say it was the studio and not future Spielberg editor Michael Kahn), but I have a feeling that Golden Needles never made any sense, right from the beginning to anyone, including famed exploitation producer Fred Weintraub (Enter the Dragon, Black Belt Jones, Truck Turner, The Ultimate Warrior). With all the studios scrambling to recreate the monster worldwide success of Enter the Dragon, what better way to ride the chop socky craze than gather together the producer and director of the film that started it all and get some product, any product, out there.
But then...who the hell brought up Joe Don Baker's name? Don't get me wrong: Baker is beloved in my movie memories, if only for Walking Tall, but for so many more great titles like Framed and Mitchell and Charley Varrick and The Outfit and Checkered Flag or Crash. In 1974, he was probably the hottest actor on the slowly dying drive-in circuit, so it made sense, at least monetarily, to get him in on the kung fu craze. However, did anyone look at him? He looks like an unmade California King-sized bed, not a lithe martial artist. No one else wanted this film? To his credit, though, and to the credit of this crazy movie, he pulls it off in an almost nonsensical way, daring, with just his size and brawn, for anyone to take a swipe at him so he can jump up and down and stomp them to death like a linebacker Nero.
What struck me the most about Golden Needles was its arbitrary kookiness. One minute a crippled man gets the Needles of Ecstasy and starts flexing his fingers (what did you think I was going to write?), and the next thing you know, thieves kill him and all the women in his mansion, but not with guns―with flame throwers, for Christ's sake (they're even wearing silver fire suits). What the hell is that about? Why flame throwers? I'll tell you why: because it's f*cking cool, that's why. Why is gangster Lin Toa painting that nude guy in his office? And why does he "threaten" Elizabeth Ashley by painting her throat (her rumbly, whiskey voice absolutely paralyzes me)? I don't know, but it's memorable and weird. Or how about the "meet cute" scene between Baker and Ashley, where he sweetly/ominously talks about his mommy hugging him and loving him, before he asks her if she's told someone lately she loved them? And then he makes her say it right until he approves, with Ashley fighting back the urge to laugh before he slaps her on the ass? It sounds rather dumb, written out, but Baker and Ashley make it oddly...touching, in a weird-assed way, and also at the same time, hilarious and almost scary (their love scene, thank god, is PG-rated, although I hit the floor when she said he's "really beautiful" naked, but their food orgy scene is gross). Why do the fight scenes "work" when they're fairly tame and not particularly well-staged? I don't know, but there's something in the editing, and the music, and the surreal sight of Baker pummeling his foes with two ham-hocks for hands, his sweaty hair flying, that works, culminating in a flat-out terrific final foot chase through the tiny streets of Hong Kong (did Frankenheimer watch this just prior to French Connection II?) where Baker, barely able to squeeze his shoulders inbetween the buildings, runs like O.J. up impossibly steep steps without huffing and puffing, before throwing his fifth straight guy through a plate glass window. I honestly don't know why all of this comes together into a package that satisfies. It's all incongruous, and incomprehensible, and ill-timed, and herky-jerky, and often inscrutable. But it works because it's completely fearless at being all of those things. And sometimes, guts is enough.
The DVD:
The Video:
The anamorphically-enhanced, 2.35:1 widescreen transfer for Golden Needles is pretty good, save for some compression issues here and there (moire effects quite often). Color is correctly valued, blacks hold, and grain is acceptable. The last time I saw this, it was a horrible pan-and-scan VHS; this transfer is light-years ahead of that.
The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono audio track is servicable, with a solid re-recording level, some hiss, and little fluctuation. No subtitles or close-captions are available.
The Extras:
No extras (I would purely love to see how this film was sold).
Final Thoughts:
Bizarre, but completely entertaining...and I have no idea why. A must for 70s chop socky fans, and Joe Don Baker completists. I'm highly recommending Golden Needles.


text:
Laura Thomson has posted her slides from the two presentations she's given at the MySQL User Conference this year - "Upgrading to PHP5" and "Secure Your MySQL and PHP Web Apps".
The Upgrading to PHP5 talk and Secure Your MySQL and PHP Web Apps" talk slides can be grabbed directly from her site.
She also notes an extensive recap that Mike Hillyer did on his site of the "Securing" talk.


text:
Servicios Personalizados
Links relacionados
- Similares en SciELO
Salud Pública de México
versión impresa ISSN 0036-3634
Salud pública Méx vol.51 no.1 Cuernavaca ene./feb. 2009
Culture supernatants from V. cholerae O1 ElTor strains isolated from different geographic areas induce cell vacuolation and cytotoxicity
Cepas de V. cholerae O1 biotipo ElTor aisladas de diferente origen geográfico inducen vacuolización celular y citotoxicidad
Jorge E Vidal, PhDI; Fernando Enríquez-Rincón, PhDII; Silvia Giono-Cerezo, PhDIII; Rosa María Ribas-Aparicio, PhDIII; Paula Figueroa-Arredondo, PhDIV
IDepartment of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Pittsburgh PA, USA
IIDepartamento de Biología Celular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Mexico
IIIDepartamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Mexico
IVPrograma Institucional de Biomedicina Molecular, Escuela Nacional de Medicina y Homeopatía del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the HlyA-induced vacuolating effect is produced by V. cholerae O1 ElTor strains isolated from different geographic origins, including Mexico.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Supernatant-induced haemolysis, vacuolating activity and cytotoxicity in Vero cells were recorded. PCR, RFLP analysis and molecular cloning were performed.
RESULTS: All ElTor strains analyzed induced cellular vacuolation. Ribotype 2 strains isolates from the U.S. gulf coast yielded the highest titer of vacuolating activity. Eight of nine strains were haemolytic, while all strains were PCR positive for the hlyA gene. We cloned the hlyA gene from two ElTor strains, a toxigenic (2514-88, ctxAB+) and a non-toxigenic Mexican strain (CM 91-3, ctxAB-). Supernatant from those recombinant E. coli strains induced haemolysis, cell vacuolation and cytotoxicity. RFLP-PCR analysis revealed similarities in the hlyA gene from all strains tested.
CONCLUSION: The HlyA-induced vacuolating effect is a widespread phenotype of epidemic V. cholerae O1 ElTor strains.
Key words: V. cholerae; haemolysin; HlyA; vacuolating effect
OBJETIVO: Analizar el efecto vacuolizante de cepas de V. cholerae O1 ElTor aisladas de diferente origen geográfico, incluyendo México.
MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se realizaron pruebas de hemolisis, vacuolización y citotoxicidad en células Vero, así como PCR, análisis por RFLP y clonación molecular.
RESULTADOS: Todas las cepas indujeron el efecto vacuolizante. Las cepas del ribotipo 2, aisladas de las costas del Golfo en Estados Unidos, presentaron títulos altos de vacuolización. El gen hlyA fue amplificado en las nueve cepas mediante PCR, aunque sólo ocho fueron hemolíticas. Se clonó el gen hlyA de una cepa toxigénica (2514-88, ctxAB+) y de una cepa no toxigénica aislada en México (CM 91-3, ctxAB-). El sobrenadante de las clonas recombinantes indujo hemólisis, efecto vacuolizante y citotoxicidad. El RFLP mostró alta similitud del gen hlyA de las cepas estudiadas.
CONCLUSIÓN: El efecto vacuolizante es un fenotipo ampliamente distribuido en cepas epidémicas de V. cholerae O1 biotipo ElTor.
Palabras clave: V. cholerae; hemolisina; HlyA; efecto vacuolizante
Cholera is a diarrheal disease prevalent in the world from ancient times and nowadays it still represents a serious problem in developing countries. The etiological agents, Vibrio cholerae O1 or O139, both must produce cholera toxin (CT) which is a potent enterotoxin responsible for lethal symptoms of cholera. Besides CT, other toxins contributing to cholera and cholera-like diseases have been described. For example, zonula occludens toxin (ZOT) and the accessory cholera toxin (ACE), both induce ion absorption alterations and loss of electrolytes through the intestinal epithelium.1 V. cholerae heat-stable toxin activates the guanylate cyclase and influxes of Ca2+ ions across the plasma membrane.2 The recently described cholix toxin, secreted by non-O1 strains, possesses ADP-ribose transferase activity against ribosomal eukaryotic elongation factor.3
V. cholerae ElTor haemolysin (HlyA) is another important toxin secreted by most V. cholerae O1 and non-O1 strains.4,5 In purified form, HlyA induces enterotoxicity, cytotoxicity, lysis of erythrocytes from several species, and it is lethal for mice.5,6 In vivo studies have demonstrated that HlyA is the most important lethal factor of V. cholerae O1 ElTor in a mouse model of intestinal infection.7 HlyA also induced fluid accumulation and histopathological damage when a strain of V. cholerae non-O1 was injected into rabbit ileal loops.8 We recently found that culture supernatants from V. cholerae non-O1 strains, isolated from different states of Mexico, induce cellular vacuolation as well as cytotoxicity on HeLa cells. We also demonstrated, using different approaches, that HlyA is responsible for the vacuolating phenotype. We blocked cellular vacuolation by pre-treating the culture supernatant with a neutralizing anti-HlyA antibody. Moreover, culture supernatant from an E. coli encoding the hlyA gene induced cell vacuolation and cytotoxicity. Those non-O1 strains were isolated from patients suffering cholera-like disease in Mexico, strongly suggesting that HlyA was the responsible factor for pathogenesis.9
HlyA is secreted as a pro-toxin monomer of 80 kDa which is proteolitically cleavaged to produce the active form of 65 kDa. Activated HlyA then binds to the plasma membrane forming a specific anion-selective pentameric channel that leads to cell swelling and lysis.5,10,11 It has also been shown that HlyA is internalized and reaches the late endosomal compartment as well as the trans Golgi network. As a consequence, HlyA-formed anionic channels become associated with intracellular compartments characterized by the presence of the v-ATPase. This v-ATPase pumps protons inside the organelles rendering the lumen acidic and forming the cytoplasmic vacuoles.12 In addition, recent evidence has suggested that autophagy significantly contributes to the formation of vacuoles.13
The HlyA-induced vacuolating phenotype has also been detected using culture supernatant from V. cholerae strain isolates from India, Brazil and Argentina.8,14,15 Cell-free culture supernatant from V. fluvialis strains, which encodes a hlyA-like gene (>81% homology), isolated from patients suffering cholera-like disease, induces cellular vacuolation and cytotoxicity.16 This vacuolating effect appears to contribute to the virulence of pathogenic Vibrio species and this can be an important factor contributing to the lethality of epidemic cholera.
The objective of this research work was to investigate whether the vacuolating phenotype is induced by V. cholerae O1 ElTor strain isolates from different geographic origins during the seventh cholera pandemic. These ElTor strains have been previously characterized by ribotyping, serotypification and presence of CT genes (ctxAB+) by Popivic et al. Ribotypes help to establish the clonality of V. cholera O1 epidemic strains, especially in areas where different ribotypes are present. This study analyzed Latin America epidemic strains belonging to ribotype 5, US gulf coast isolates of ribotype 2. Also used were a ribotype 10 strain from Australia and a ribotype 6 strain from Romania , which is actually the most widely distributed ribotype in the world.17 As previously reported, all those reference strains encode ctxAB genes and secrete CT.17 A non-toxigenic V. cholerae O1 ElTor strain (ctxAB-) of ribotype 12 was also included, which was isolated in Mexico and characterized by our group and others.13,17
Our studies showed that all ElTor strains, independently of whether or not they produce CT, induced cell vacuolation and cytotoxicity in Vero cells. This suggests that cell vacuolation is a widespread virulence phenotype of ElTor strains. Those isolates from U.S. gulf coast (ribotype 2) yielded the highest vacuolating titer among all strains analyzed. All other strains yielded low vacuolating titers. We also corroborated that HlyA induces cell vacuolation.
Material and methods
Bacterial strains. Strains used in this study are listed in Table I. All Vibrio strains were provided by the Cholera Laboratory at Mexico's National Institute of Diagnosis and Epidemiologic Reference (INDRE, which stands for Instituto Nacional de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológica de México). For DNA cloning, E. coli DH5a 18 was used as host. Recombinant E. coli strains were grown in Luria-Bertani agar (LB) with 100 µg/ml of ampicillin (Sigma). Experiments shown were performed at the Department of Microbiology of the National School of Biological Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (Departamento de Microbiología de la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del IPN ENCB-IPN) and the Department of Cell Biology, Mexico's Center of Research and Advanced Studies (Departamento de Biología Celular del Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, CINVESTAV).
Cell vacuolation assay and haemolysis test: Vero cells (ATCC CCL-81) were grown in DMEM (Gibco, BRL) and supplemented with heat-inactivated 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) (Invitrogen), 1% non-essential amino acids (Sigma), 1% glutamine (Sigma), penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomycin (100 µg/ml). Routinely, cells were treated with 0.25% trypsin, seeded in flat -bottom 96- well microplates (Falcon) and then incubated at 37 °C in a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere until they reached 70-80% of confluency.
Vacuolating and cytotoxicity assays: Strains were inoculated in Craig medium [3 % Casaminoacids, 0.4 % Bacto yeast extract, 0.2 % glucose and 0.05 % K2HPO4 (pH 7.0)] and incubated at 37°C for 16 h in an orbital rotator (150 RPM). Bacteria were then pelleted and the culture supernatant was filter sterilized through a 0.22 µm-diameter filter (Millipore). A 100 µl-aliquot of sterile culture supernatant was either incubated with cells or serially diluted using DMEM (with 2% of FCS) and then added to the cell cultures. Treated cells were incubated at 37°C for 2 h. The titers of cell vacuolation activity and cytotoxicity were recorded following our previously established criteria.9 At the end of the experiment, cells were washed three times with PBS, fixed with methanol (Baker) and Giemsa stained. Pictures were then taken using an upright microscope (Nikon).
To detect haemolysis, strains were inoculated onto blood agar plates (Difco laboratories) containing 5% rabbit or sheep red blood cells and incubated under conditions described elsewhere.19 Haemolysis was scored as positive upon formation of a transparent halo around a single bacterial colony over a period of 48 h. To additionally confirm that the culture supernatant induces haemolysis, we utilized the haemolysis test tube.13 In short, 1 ml of a culture supernatant (prepared as mentioned above) was mixed with 1 ml of a 2% suspension of rabbit or sheep erythrocytes. This suspension was then incubated at room temperature for 1 h and pelleted by centrifugation. Haemolysis was detected by hemoglobin release into the supernatant at A570nm.
PCR procedures: A phenol-chloroform method was used for DNA extraction.20 Amplification of hlyA gene from strains was made by using the following primers: Hly Fwd (5´-CTG TCT AGA [XbaI] AGT GAG GTT TAT ATG CCA AAA CTC AAT CGT) and Hly Rev (5´-CTG CTC GAG [XhoI] TTA GTT CAA ATC AAA TTG AAC CCC TTT CAC CAA).9,21 The reaction mixture was prepared as follows: 1 µl of template DNA (0.10 µg), 0.5 U of Taq DNA polymerase (Sigma), 1.5 µl of reaction buffer, 2.5 mM of each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, and 10 pmol of each primer. PCR was performed in an automated thermocycler (Perkin-Elmer) for 30 cycles of 94 °C for 1 min, 60 °C for 1 min, and 72 °C for 1 min and a final extension at 72 °C for 10 min. Reactions were run in a 1% agarose gel and stained with ethidium bromide for visualization.
RFLP-PCR analysis: Each PCR-amplified hlyA gene was purified by affinity column (Qiagen) and then digested separately with RsaI, HindIII, HincII, BamHI, EcoRI, XbaI, and XhoI (all enzymes from Gibco, BRL) for 3 h at 37 °C. Reactions were electrophoresed as described above and photographed to analyze the digested fragments. To construct a phenogram, each fragment was scored as binary data. The presence (1) or absence (0) of a determined band was incorporated in a database, and coefficients of similarity were generated by the band-based method of Jaccard.22 A phenogram showing the similarities of the hlyA gene was then generated by the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). Analysis and construction of the phenogram was made using the NTSYSpc2.02j software. Jaccard's index of genetic similarity under 0.5 is considered diverse.
PCR-based cloning of hlyA gene: The hlyA gene was PCR-amplified as described above from either 2514-88 or CM91-3 strain. Each PCR product was ligated in pGEM-T Easy vector (Promega), transformed into E. coli DH5a competent cells and then plated in blood agar plates with ampicillin (100 µg/ml). Those recombinant E. coli hlyA-clones acquiring the haemolytic phenotype were analyzed by PCR (using primers amplifying the hlyA gene). To further confirm hlyA cloning, the plasmids were digested with XbaI and XhoI (restriction enzyme sites were added to both ends of primers) or EcoRI (sites flanking the pGEM-T multiple cloning site).
Culture supernatant from epidemic strains of V. cholerae O1 ElTor induces cytotoxicity and cell vacuolation. It has been previously showed that HlyA-containing culture supernatant from V. cholerae O1 ElTor isolates from India and Brazil induces cell vacuolation.9,14,15 To further evaluate whether V. cholerae O1 ElTor strains isolated from different geographic origins can produce cytotoxicity and cell vacuolation, we incubated the culture supernatant from epidemic ElTor isolates with Vero cell cultures for 2 h. As shown in table I, the non-diluted culture supernatant from all ElTor strains induced cytotoxicity in Vero cell cultures. This cytotoxic effect was characterized by rapid appearance of cytoplasmic vacuoles which was preceded by changes on cell morphology, cell contraction, rounding and detachment (figure 1B). A similar cytotoxic phenotype was induced by the culture supernatant from non-O1 V. cholerae strains (table I). Cytotoxicity in Vero cells was also induced by haemolysin-containing culture supernatant from V. parahaemolyticus, as previously described,23 but cytoplasmic vacuoles were absent (figure 1C). In contrast, culture supernatant from a non-hemolytic V. cholerae strain O395 belonging to the classical biotype (which encodes a truncated hlyA gene)24 was unable to induce cytotoxicity in Vero cells (figure 1A).
To better characterize the vacuolating phenotype, we incubated a two-fold dilution series of the culture supernatant with Vero cells for two h. As dilutions were incubated, the supernatant-induced cytotoxic effect turned into a striking vacuolating phenotype characterized by the presence of cytoplasmic vacuoles (figure 1D). All V. cholerae O1 ElTor strains induced this vacuolating phenotype (table I). Despite being cytotoxic, the diluted culture supernatant from a V. parahaemolyticus strain did not induce cellular vacuolation (data not shown). V. cholerae O1 ElTor strain isolates from the US Gulf coast yielded the highest vacuolating titers (up to 10240). All other ElTor isolates yielded low vacuolating titers (ranging from 40 to 320) (table I).
The haemolytic genotype and phenotype of strains using PCR and two haemolysis assays were next confirmed. As shown in table I, the hlyA gene from all strains were PCR-amplified. All V. cholerae O1 ElTor strains but one gave a haemolysis positive reaction. Those results and previous works 9,15 suggest that cell vacuolation is a widespread phenotype mediated by HlyA-containing culture supernatant from V. cholerae strains.
Cloning of the hlyA vacuolating gene: It has been previously shown that V. cholerae HlyA can be produced and secreted when the hlyA gene is cloned in E. coli. 9,25 Molecular cloning was used to further corroborate the role of HlyA in cell vacuolation. The hlyA gene was PCR-amplified from chromosomal DNA obtained from V. cholerae 251488 or CM91-3 strain and then ligated into pGEMT plasmid. The plasmid carrying the hlyA gene was then transformed into E. coli DH5α to obtain the strains JEV18 and JEV35. These recombinant E. coli strains were haemolytic on blood agar plates (table I and figure 2). Plasmids were also extracted and the insert was released using restriction enzymes cutting along the vector or at both ends of the hlyA gene (figure 2A). In addition, culture supernatant from JEV18 and JEV35 induced haemolysis and cytotoxicity and cell vacuolation in Vero cell cultures (table I and figure 2). Vacuolating titers of those recombinant strains were low (32 and 64, respectively) (table I). As expected, culture supernatant from E. coli DH5a encoding a pGEMT empty vector did not induce haemolysis or cell vacuolation (figure 2B). Results here shown confirm that HlyA secreted by V. cholerae ElTor biotype strains isolates from different regions during the seventh pandemic of cholerae induce cellular vacuolation and cytotoxicity.
RFLP analysis of the hlyA gene from epidemic ElTor strains: Since ElTor strains yielded different vacuolating titers, we analyzed the hlyA gene by RFLP. For comparison, three strains of V. cholerae non-O1 were also included. Each PCR amplified-hlyA gene was purified and then digested separately with seven different restriction enzymes named HincII (figure 3A), RsaI (figure 3B), HindIII, BamHI, EcoRI, XbaI and XhoI (data not shown). Those hlyA-RFLP patterns were nearly identical, indicating that the hlyA gene sequence is conserved among epidemic V. cholerae O1 ElTor and non-O1 strains. A phenogram depicted using the RFLP´s patterns (Material and Methods) showed one major branch including seven strains with 100% similarity in the hlyA-RFLP pattern. These strains exerted either high or low vacuolating activity (figure 3C). The non-toxigenic V. cholerae O1 CM91-3 isolated from Mexico showed a more distant hlyA-RFLP pattern in comparison to all other ElTor strains (figures 3A and B line 9 and 3C).
We described in this research that strains of V. cholerae O1 ElTor isolates from different geographic origin during the seventh pandemic of cholera induce cellular vacuolation and cytotoxicity in Vero cells. We also confirmed that HlyA is responsible for these phenotypes. Culture supernatant from two recombinant E. coli strains encoding the hlyA gene induced cell vacuolation and cytotoxicity. These results suggest that HlyA could boost the severity of infection in patients infected with toxigenic strains of V. cholerae O1 ElTor. Furthermore, it is also likely that the vacuolating factor is responsible for those clinical symptoms of cholera-like disease seen in patients infected with V. cholerae O1 CT-negative strains or V. cholerae non-O1 strains.
Strains of V. cholerae O1 ElTor isolated from US gulf coast induced strong cell-vacuolating activity as measured by the titration assay in Vero cell cultures (table I). Correlating with their cell vacuolating activity, those US gulf coast isolates have been previously described as strongly haemolytic.26 Their ability to secrete into the supernatant high amounts of HlyA is still unknown. A putative candidate that up-regulate HlyA secretion is a regulatory protein called HlyU. It was previously shown that HlyU up-regulates hlyA gene expression at the transcription level.27,28 Genetic studies are needed to elucidate the role of HlyU in the cell vacuolating activity of those US gulf coast isolates.
The hlyA gene of those isolates used in this study showed genetic similarity. Seven strains had the same RFLP pattern (figure 3). Belonging to this group were strains yielding either low or high vacuolating activity, thereby we could not associate any hlyA RFLP-pattern with the vacuolating activity of strains. Only two ElTor strains (2270-77 and CM91-3) showed polymorphic sites along the hlyA sequence (figure 3). In agreement with our results, Byun et al. found minimum variations along the hlyA gene sequence from different V. cholerae isolates,29 thus indicating that its genetic sequence is well conserved.
Interestingly, ElTor strain C7986 (hlyA+) was unable to induce lysis of erythrocytes, while the supernatant induced cytotoxicity and cell vacuolation (table I). The loss of haemolysis suggests that the vacuolating and haemolytic activities could reside in different domains of HlyA. Rader and Murphy found that the sequence of the hlyA gene from two haemolytic variants of V. cholerae ElTor strain RV79 (called Hly+ and Hly") was identical.30 Further research is needed to clarify whether HlyA has different domains for inducing haemolysis or cell vacuolation.
HlyA has been previously linked to clinical symptoms induced by CT negative strains of V. cholerae.31 Our findings show that the culture supernatant from V. cholerae O1 strain CM91-3, which neither produces CT nor encodes ctxAB genes, induced cellular vacuolation and cytotoxicity. As CM 91-3 strain was isolated from a patient suffering cholera-like disease in Quintana Roo, Mexico and no other known toxin gene but hlyA was detected,13 our findings suggest that the gastrointestinal symptoms were mediated by HlyA.
In agree with this hypothesis, it has been recently shown that the supernatant containing an ElTor related haemolysin from clinical isolates of V. fluvialis also induces cellular vacuolation.16 The HlyA-containing culture supernatant of an Argentinean V. cholerae non-O1 strain (CT negative) but not an isogenic hlyA mutant, induces fluid accumulation in rabbit ileal loops and histopathological damage of the intestinal mucosa.8
In summary, the present study findings show that V. cholerae O1 ElTor isolates from different geographic origins induce cellular vacuolation and cytotoxicity. It was also demonstrated that these two activities were mediated by HlyA. This property of ElTor haemolysin can give an advantage to strains to potentially increase the clinical symptoms seen in cholera patients.
We thank Dr. Jacobo Zuñiga-Castillo for reviewing the manuscript and his suggestions. This work was generously supported by Mexico's National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT). JEV is a recipient of a postdoctoral scholarship from CONACyT. The authors thank Dr. G. Rodríguez-Angeles from the cholera laboratory at INDRE for supplying all Vibrio strains.
1. Kaper JB, Morris JG, Jr, Levine MM. Cholera. Clin Microbiol Rev 1995;8(1):48-86. [ Links ]
2. Hoque KM, Pal A, Nair GB, Chattopadhyay S, Chakrabarti MK. Evidence of calcium influx across the plasma membrane depends upon the initial rise of cytosolic calcium with activation of IP(3) in rat enterocytes by heat-stable enterotoxin of Vibrio cholerae non-O1. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2001;196(1):45-50. [ Links ]
3. Jorgensen R, Purdy AE, Fieldhouse RJ, Kimber MS, Bartlett DH, Merrill AR. Cholix toxin, a novel ADP-ribosylating factor from Vibrio cholerae. J Biol Chem 2008;283(16):10671-10678. [ Links ]
4. Honda T, Finkelstein RA. Purification and characterization of a hemolysin produced by Vibrio cholerae biotype El Tor: another toxic substance produced by cholera vibrios. Infect Immun 1979;26(3):1020-1027. [ Links ]
5. Zitzer A, Wassenaar TM, Walev I, Bhakdi S. Potent membrane-permeabilizing and cytocidal action of Vibrio cholerae cytolysin on human intestinal cells. Infect Immun 1997;65(4):1293-1298. [ Links ]
6. Ikigai H, Akatsuka A, Tsujiyama H, Nakae T, Shimamura T. Mechanism of membrane damage by El Tor hemolysin of Vibrio cholerae O1. Infect Immun 1996;64(8):2968-2973. [ Links ]
7. Olivier V, Haines GK, 3rd, Tan Y, Satchell KJ. Hemolysin and the multifunctional autoprocessing RTX toxin are virulence factors during intestinal infection of mice with Vibrio cholerae El Tor O1 strains. Infect Immun 2007;75(10):5035-5042. [ Links ]
8. Saka HA, Bidinost C, Sola C, Carranza P, Collino C, Ortiz S, et al. Vibrio cholerae cytolysin is essential for high enterotoxicity and apoptosis induction produced by a cholera toxin gene-negative V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139 strain. Microb Pathog 2008;44(2):118-128. [ Links ]
9. Figueroa-Arredondo P, Heuser JE, Akopyants NS, Morisaki JH, Giono-Cerezo S, Enríquez-Rincón F, et al. Cell vacuolation caused by Vibrio cholerae hemolysin. Infect Immun 2001;69(3):1613-1624. [ Links ]
10. Zitzer A, Zitzer O, Bhakdi S, Palmer M. Oligomerization of Vibrio cholerae cytolysin yields a pentameric pore and has a dual specificity for cholesterol and sphingolipids in the target membrane. J Biol Chem 1999;274(3):1375-1380. [ Links ]
11. Zitzer A, Palmer M, Weller U, Wassenaar T, Biermann C, Tranum-Jensen J, et al. Mode of primary binding to target membranes and pore formation induced by Vibrio cholerae cytolysin (hemolysin). Eur J Biochem 1997;247(1):209-216. [ Links ]
12. Moschioni M, Tombola F, de Bernard M, et al. The Vibrio cholerae haemolysin anion channel is required for cell vacuolation and death. Cell Microbiol 2002;4(7):397-409. [ Links ]
13. Giono-Cerezo S, Rodriguez-Angeles MG, Gutierrez-Cogco L, Valdespino-Gomez JL. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Vibrio cholerae O1. Rev Latinoam Microbiol 1994;36(4):243-251. [ Links ]
14. Coelho A, Andrade JR, Vicente AC, Dirita VJ. Cytotoxic cell vacuolating activity from Vibrio cholerae hemolysin. Infect Immun 2000;68(3):1700-1705. [ Links ]
15. Mitra R, Figueroa P, Mukhopadhyay AK, Shimada T, Takeda Y, Berg DE, et al. Cell vacuolation, a manifestation of the El tor hemolysin of Vibrio cholerae. Infect Immun 2000;68(4):1928-33. [ Links ]
16. Chakraborty R, Chakraborty S, De K, et al. Cytotoxic and cell vacuolating activity of Vibrio fluvialis isolated from paediatric patients with diarrhoea. J Med Microbiol 2005;54(Pt 8):707-716. [ Links ]
17. Popovic T, Bopp C, Olsvik O, Wachsmuth K. Epidemiologic application of a standardized ribotype scheme for Vibrio cholerae O1. J Clin Microbiol 1993;31(9):2474-2482. [ Links ]
18. Hanahan D, Meselson M. Plasmid screening at high colony density. Methods Enzymol 1983;100:333-342. [ Links ]
19. Richardson K, Michalski J, Kaper JB. Hemolysin production and cloning of two hemolysin determinants from classical Vibrio cholerae. Infect Immun 1986;54(2):415-420. [ Links ]
20. Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T. Molecular cloning : a laboratory manual. 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1989. [ Links ]
21. Mitra RK, Nandy RK, Ramamurthy T, Bhattacharya SK, Yamasaki S, Shimada T, et al. Molecular characterisation of rough variants of Vibrio cholerae isolated from hospitalised patients with diarrhoea. J Med Microbiol 2001;50(3):268-276. [ Links ]
22. Boldo XM, Villa-Tanaca L, Zuniga G, Hernandez-Rodriguez C. Genetic diversity among clinical isolates of Candida glabrata analyzed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis analyses. J Clin Microbiol 2003;41(10):4799-4804. [ Links ]
23. Nishibuchi M, Kaper JB. Thermostable direct hemolysin gene of Vibrio parahaemolyticus: a virulence gene acquired by a marine bacterium. Infect Immun 1995;63(6):2093-2099. [ Links ]
24. Alm RA, Manning PA. Biotype-specific probe for Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1. J Clin Microbiol 1990;28(4):823-824. [ Links ]
25. Alm RA, Manning PA. Characterization of the hlyB gene and its role in the production of the El Tor haemolysin of Vibrio cholerae O1. Mol Microbiol 1990;4(3):413-425. [ Links ]
26. Barrett TJ, Blake PA. Epidemiological usefulness of changes in hemolytic activity of Vibrio cholerae biotype El Tor during the seventh pandemic. J Clin Microbiol 1981;13(1):126-129. [ Links ]
27. Williams SG, Manning PA. Transcription of the Vibrio cholerae haemolysin gene, hlyA, and cloning of a positive regulatory locus, hlyU. Mol Microbiol 1991;5(8):2031-2038. [ Links ]
28. Williams SG, Attridge SR, Manning PA. The transcriptional activator HlyU of Vibrio cholerae: nucleotide sequence and role in virulence gene expression. Mol Microbiol 1993;9(4):751-760. [ Links ]
29. Byun R, Elbourne LD, Lan R, Reeves PR. Evolutionary relationships of pathogenic clones of Vibrio cholerae by sequence analysis of four housekeeping genes. Infect Immun 1999;67(3):1116-1124. [ Links ]
30. Rader AE, Murphy JR. Nucleotide sequences and comparison of the hemolysin determinants of Vibrio cholerae El Tor RV79(Hly+) and RV79(Hly-) and classical 569B(Hly- ). Infect Immun 1988;56(6):1414-1419. [ Links ]
31. Ichinose Y, Yamamoto K, Nakasone N, Tanabe MJ, Takeda T, Miwatani T, et al. Enterotoxicity of El Tor-like hemolysin of non-O1 Vibrio cholerae. Infect Immun 1987;55(5):1090-1093. [ Links ]
Received on: February 1, 2008
Accepted on: September 5, 2008
Address reprint requests to: Jorge E. Vidal, PhD. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
200 Lothrop St. Biomedical Science Tower W1114, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.
E-mail: email@example.com


text:
arm women and those involved in ag business have an unique opportunity to be involved in Annie's Project. The nationally recognized, six-part program is coming to Emmet County in March. In fact, we are one of six sites in the state to offer this program.
Those attending will gain a better understanding of issues critically needed to be an effective farm business partner. Participants will learn how to interpret financial information, marketing, agricultural terminology, insurance, legal issues and more.
Ron Hook, ISU Extension field specialist in farm management will teach the sessions along with local experts.
Annie's Project also features computer software that participants will obtain for their own use. Two of the six sessions will be computer based where participants will utilize software. With the volatility that we are seeing right now, I think being aware of business transactions may be more important than ever.
There is a fee to cover the six sessions which will be held March 9, March 12, March 16, March 19, March 26 and April 2.
For more information or to register, call or stop by our office at 26 S. 17th St., Estherville or call at 712-362-3434. Deadline to register is Feb. 27.
Class size is limited. Please call you have questions. I hope to see you at Annie's Project!


text:
Yes, and in another day or two, most people will forget. I feel like he can do anything and never lose much support. He is more immune to back lash than most politicians so far.
International Level: Politics 101 / Political Participation: 2 0.2%
That's because he appeals to a part of America who just thinks about their immediate needs but not America's future. I hope he is out in the next election, I really do.
International Level: Politician / Political Participation: 124 12.4%
Trump administration to impose new sanctions on Russia for attempted assassination of ex-Russian spy. The Trump team slaps new sanctions on Russia after concluding it was behind the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal, who were in Britain at the time. Ref. USAToday.
I don't think Russia cares and will likely ignore this as it has with other 'ultimatums' in the past.
International Level: Activist / Political Participation: 28 2.8%
US withdrawing from landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia, Trump administration says, citing violations by Moscow. In a move likely to add to tensions with Russia, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. Plans to end its compliance with the 32-year-old bilateral treaty. The United States has long accused Russia of violating the pact but critics have warned that abandoning it could free Russia to build more weapons and potentially lead to a global arms race. Ref. USAToday.
Its like going back in history and reading about the cold war except that its happening now!
International Level: Politics 101 / Political Participation: 5 0.5%


text:
Gregory Porter and Ledisi
Event Information
This event was postponed from March 25th 2020 to August 13th 2020. Previously purchased tickets will be honored.
Artist Information
Liquid Spirit marks Gregory Porter's Blue Note Records debut, which arrives on the heels of two critically acclaimed indie label albums that quickly propelled Porter to the upper echelon of contemporary male jazz singers and earned him two GRAMMY nominations. Don Was, President of Blue Note, encouraged Porter to stay true to his artistic vision. "I firmly consider myself a jazz singer but I enjoy blues, black southern soul, and gospel," Porter says, "Those elements make their way inside my music. And I've always heard them in jazz."
The singer retains the same core musicians that accompanied him on his previous two discs – pianist and music director, Chip Crawford, drummer Emanuel Harrold, bassist Aaron James, alto saxophonist Yosuke Sato, and tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott. On a few selections, Porter complements that ensemble with trumpeter Curtis Taylor, and organist Glenn Patscha. Producer Brian Bacchus also returns, as well as arranger and associate producer Kamau Kenyatta. Porter describes the making of Liquid Spirit as very organic. "I didn't say, 'OK, this is a Blue Note record, let me get a Freddie Hubbard sound,'" Porter explains, "I didn't have any agenda with this record."
Porter wields one of the most captivating baritone voices in music today. It emits enormous soul that conveys both the emotions and intellect of any given song without relying on vocal histrionics. In The New York Times, Nate Chinen wrote: "Gregory Porter has most of what you want in a male jazz singer, and maybe a thing or two you didn't know you wanted." Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater praised Porter in the pages of JazzTimes by saying, "We haven't had a male singer like him in a long time. He's such a wonderful writer. He tells these great stories."
Indeed Porter has an amazing gift for writing poignant songs based upon personal experiences with a relatable and emotional immediacy. Even more, his hooky melodies penetrate instantly. Recommencing with the water analogy that characterized his debut disc, Porter sees Liquid Spirit as a logical progression in his burgeoning discography as it touches on some of the same themes, particularly the highs and lows of romance, his childhood, and socio-political observations. More pointedly, he views the titled-track, a rousing, hand-clapping gospel-jazz romp, dealing with replenishing "thirsty" listeners with more substantial music, as the flipside to last year's "Bling Bling," a blistering song on his previous album Be Good on which the protagonist had so many artistic gifts to give but no one to give them to.
In part, "Liquid Spirit" is based upon Porter's reflections on new fans, worldwide, who come to him saying, "Where have you been?" or "How come I've never heard you before." "Not saying that I am 'what is,' Porter says, "But I think maybe what I'm doing is what people actually want to hear. There are some people who want that liquid spirit – a soulful, thoughtful sound – and they haven't been getting it."
Similar sentiments occur on "Musical Genocide" and his riveting take on the Ramsey Lewis-Dobie Gray classic, "The 'In' Crowd." On the former, Crawford hammers a dark rhythmic figure against James' bluesy bass accompaniment as Porter declares his refusal of accepting the insistent squashing of quality, diverse music and culture by a mainstream in favor of disposable, homogenized pap. The latter showcases Porter sauntering through a finger-popping groove as he croons Billy Page's lyrics about finally breaking into the big leagues of so-called A-listers. "I did this song in a way of being ironic. I'm so inclusive; I'm so against exclusive groups," Porter says, again reflecting on his ascending cosmopolitan fame. "Someone asked me recently if I felt like I was in the 'in crowd' of jazz. I answered, 'yes and no.'"
Liquid Spirit contains two other standards – a testifying reading of Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach's "Lonesome Lover" and a pithy treatment of Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne's "I Fall In Love Too Easily," which features Porter alongside Crawford's gorgeous piano accompaniment and James' emphatic bass counterpart. "On each record, I try to pull something from the people, who deeply influenced me. ["Lonesome Lover'] is me giving some love to Abbey Lincoln," Porter explains. Regarding "I Fall in Love Too Easily," he reveals that it's just one of those standards that speaks to him on a deeply personal level. "I can live in that song. It's a hard song to sing but given my personality, I'm cool being vulnerable."
Porter's "heart-on-the-sleeves" lyrics play an integral role in his appeal. Somehow heartache fuels some of his most winning compositions. Such instances happen on the misty-eyed piano-duo "Water Under Bridges," a lament dealing with challenges of shifting past a broken relationship. While "Movin'" boasts a peppy exterior thanks to its funky groove, the lyrics tells a different story as the protagonist tries to win back a fleeing lover.
Three of Liquid Spirit's best yet bruised moments are "Wolf Cry," "Brown Grass," and "Hey Laura." "Wolf Cry" is another piano-voice duo as Porter croons from the perspective of romantic martyr, who constantly comforts a friend, who never reciprocates the amorous affections but instead routinely returns to a bad relationship. On the somber ballad, "Hey Laura," Porter, on the brink of breakup, pleas for tenderness from a nonresponsive lover, while on the melancholy "Brown Grass," Porter admits to leaving a solid relationship for something that initially seemed more fulfilling but quickly revealed to be the very opposite.
Romance's sunnier side radiates on Porter's carefree "Wind Song," a subtly whimsical gem in which he sings of everlasting love and on "No Love Dying," which deals with the same conceit as Porter declares gently about his longstanding love regardless of unforeseeable bumps in the road.
Porter shares his socio-political insight on the startling ballad "When Love Was King," a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. and on the gritty jazz-funk workout, "Free," on which Porter reflects on the struggles of a working-class family that strives to make things better for their children.
* * *
Raised in California, Porter's mother was a minister, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound, as well as his mother's Nat King Cole record collection, as fundamental influences on his own sound. Porter began singing in small jazz clubs in San Diego while attending San Diego State University on a football scholarship, where he played outside linebacker. Eventually it was music that Porter chose to pursue full-time at the encouragement of local musicians including his mentor Kamau Kenyatta.
Kenyatta invited Porter to visit him in the studio in Los Angeles, where he was producing flutist Hubert Laws' album Remembers the Unforgettable Nat King Cole. When Laws overheard Porter singing along while he was tracking the Charlie Chaplin song "Smile," he was so impressed with the young singer that he decided to include Porter on the album.
Another fortunate twist of fate was the presence that day of Laws' sister, Eloise, a singer who was soon to join the cast of a new musical theater production It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues. Porter had minimal theatrical experience but was cast in one of the show's lead roles when the play opened in Denver, and he eventually followed it to Off-Broadway and then Broadway, where The New York Times, in its 1999 rave review, mentioned Porter among the show's "powerhouse line up of singers." It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues went on to earn both Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations that year.
Porter eventually put down roots in Brooklyn, and in 2010 released his debut album Water (Motéma Music), which earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. His sophomore album Be Good (Motéma Music) followed in 2012 and earned him his second GRAMMY nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Despite having now recorded or shared the stage with the likes of Van Morrison, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Nicola Conte, and David Murray, Porter remains grounded and humbled by all the new accolades. "Sometimes I haven't had a chance to absorb and enjoy some of the audiences that I've been in front of, especially some of the icons of the music like Wynton and Herbie," Porter says, "And they give me so much open-arm love; I couldn't fathom that two years ago." With the release of Liquid Spirit, Porter's soaring career will surely ascend even higher.
Performer LinksFacebookMySpaceOfficial WebsiteTwitter
- Thu, August 13, 2020
- $29.00 - $149.75
- All Ages
- Cancelled


text:
Corzine is Going to be the Best Show Since Watergate
Courtesy of Russ Winter of Winter Watch at Wall Street Examiner
Finally after five months of investigations comes the Jon Corzine MF Global bombshell Friday [Bloomberg: Corzine Ordered Funds Moved to JP Morgan]. The Bloomberg article references an e-mail written by Edith O'Brien, the assistant Treasurer at MF Global and a memo written by congressional staffers. A few aspects are of note: first that Corzine "gave direct instructions" to transfer $200 million in segregated consumer funds to JP Morgan for payment on an overdraft and used a lower level functionary O'Brien to carry it out. Then in a clear violation of fiduciary responsibility JP Morgan's risk officer asked MF Global for a letter stating these funds were not customer segregated accounts, but then took the money anyway. The chief counsel for MF Global nixed the letter JPM sent over as "too strong".
O"Brien is to testify before Congress on Wednesday, but will plead the Fifth. This suggests she has not been offered a deal, or immunity.
The captured regulatory agencies have not weighed in on this now nearly five months after this historic crime. On the overall issue of fraud and regulatory capture, view this Max Keiser and Mark Melin clip.
The Corzine ties into the labyrinth of the Obama Administration are dark and deep. It is a virtual 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon sistema (the word used for this form of government in Brazil) and in every sense of the word a criminal enterprise. Here are various clips of Obama and Biden heaping praise on Jon Corzine.
This is what Obama says about Jon Corzine. I can see why Obama likes him so much. They both have the same moral compass.
"Like many of us in public life today, Jon is a leader who's been called to govern in some extraordinary times. He's been tested by the worst recession in half a century — a recession that was caused by years of recklessness and irresponsibility and a do-nothing attitude. It was caused by the same small thinking that has plagued our politics for decades — the kind of thinking that says we can afford to just tinker around with our problems, we can put off the tough decisions, defer the big challenges. We can just tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. Well that's not the kind of leader that Jon Corzine is."– Barack Obama, July 2009
-and "John Corzine is the smartest man in the room"….Joe Biden
It is hard for me to imagine that Obama can shuck and jive this one. Is he really going to revert to his shameful 60 minutes interview where he makes excuses for criminal conduct on Wall Street and twists the logic around to make himself look righteous. I have to think he may just turn the dogs loose on Corzine, but where does that lead? Corzine was more than a fund bundler, crony, and influence peddler. He was instrumental in stacking the Obama administration with his associates. What happens with CFTC apparatchik and former Corzine employee at Goldman Sachs, Gary Gensler for example? CFTC was charged with regulating MF Global. What about Eric "Empty Suit" Holder, Obama's attorney general, who never met a Wall Street crime he didn't like? And what about JP Morgan's role in this? This should and might be the biggest story since Watergate. My favorite from the wag comment gallery: "Can we possibly take down Corzine, JP Morgan, and Obama all in one fell swoop? No way my life gets that good!!! No way."
This will also be the supreme test of the two-tiered Justice system in this country. I am certain that Corzine will claim:
1. There was only an alleged call, no email from Corzine?
2. No form returned to JPMorgan?
3. Did JPM allow the transfer illegally?
4. And "Segregated accounts can include customer money and excess company funds." So if he did want the money transfered did someone mess up and not transfer just company funds?
1) Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense.
2) The violation of fiduciary duty could result in civil liability, even if Corzine is not criminally liable.
For additional analysis on many topics, including trading ideas, subscribe to Russ Winter's Actionable – risk free for 30 days. Click here for more information.


text:
After having recently viewed the film classic Plan 9 From Outer Space, we decided to see Cat-Women of the Moon. My wife and I highly recommend this fine motion picture for your viewing pleasure. (It's available on Netflix)
With an all-star cast including Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory and Marie Windsor, this 1953 film tells the story of our first manned Moon mission. Upon arrival, the crew explores, and finds an underground city inhabited by a small troop of cat-women, apparently the remnants of an ancient civilization, now running out of breathable air. (How they managed to keep the air within their unsealed redoubt was unexplained.) They had long ago dispensed with males, apparently having no need to reproduce, though this nuance was unexplained too. Anyhow, some of the cat-women had never seen a male, and get a taste of what they'd been missing.
But love is not really on their minds. The cat-women plot to steal the spaceship, take it back to Earth, and conquer the planet, using their telepathic powers (which only work on women). They use those powers to enlist the one female crew member, Helen, in their cause; Helen's loyalties go back and forth, as do her declarations of love for the Tufts versus Jory characters. The cat-women need to inveigle the crew to teach them how to operate the spaceship. In furtherance of this scheme, they hide the crew's space suits, without which they cannot leave.
The climactic scene is a chase to the ship, with three cat-women donning space suits. It ends abruptly, with two of them simply shot by a revolver (off-camera) and the other just whacked on the head. The earthlings returns to Earth. They don't seem to notice one missing crewman, who had earlier been lured away and murdered by a cat-woman. Also, one could quibble about the space suit count, and whether two of the suits would have been rendered useless by bullet-holes.
However, we found this film far more entertaining than the iconic Plan 9 (often considered the worst movie ever). Virtually every scene of Cat-Women was a gem of hilariousness. We particularly enjoyed the portrayal of the crew as a bunch of slacker bozos, entirely devoid of the gravitas one might expect for humanity's premier extraterrestrial voyage. (No "One step for a man …" upon first setting foot on the Moon.) At one point, seeing three of the men in a wrestling clinch, my wife remarked, "It's like the Three Stooges," and I replied, "No, the Three Stooges wouldn't act so dumb."
One also has to admire how economical this production was. Some black tights, some eyebrow make-up, and voila, there's an alien cat-woman!
We give it two thumbs up, five stars, and the Palme d'or.


text:
Those of you who've been wondering why US prez Barack Obama has not yet solved world poverty and hunger, halted global warming and given a lovely puppy to each and every child on Earth will be relieved to learn he's still on the case, but has just been a bit tied up of late on intergalactic business:
We kid you not. Ladies and gentlemen, look on in shock and awe at the mighty Japanese Barack Obama action figure (dreadful but entertaining English translation here).
Not a fan of Star Wars? No matter, because Obama is also available in exciting Samurai and James Bond versions, the better to dispense tough justice to those who threaten the American Way of Life™.
Well, we reckon Vladimir Putin won't take this provocation lying down. Look out for a "Vlad the Impaler" action figure forthwith, depicting the Russian hardman stripped to the waist and wrestling Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator. ®
Arigatou gozaimasu to Steve Fenton for the tip-off.


text:
NOTE: This article contains graphic language that some readers might find offensive. Please read at your own discretion.
R&B singer R. Kelly is in hot water again.
This time, the music star has been accused by a woman of knowingly giving her a sexually transmitted infection (STI) during a mutual eight-month relationship that began when she was 19 years old.
The woman, who remains unidentified, filed a criminal complaint in Dallas, Texas, against Kelly last week, saying he caused her "serious bodily injury" in December. She also accused Kelly, 51, of plying her with alcohol and illegal drugs.
READ MORE: Carrie Underwood returns to the stage for 1st time post-accident
Through her lawyer, Lee Merritt, the woman said she ended the relationship this past February when Kelly's erratic behaviour escalated — she said he was "predatory, controlling and abusive" — and it felt like she was being groomed.
In a press release, Merritt wrote "our client was the victim of several forms of criminal misconduct by Kelly, including, but not limited to, unlawful restraint, furnishing alcohol and illegal drugs to a minor, and aggravated assault (via the referenced intentional STD infection). These offenses occurred while our client was being groomed to join Kelly's sex cult."
Kelly "categorically denies all claims and allegations" put forth by the anonymous woman.
Kelly has been accused of holding women against their will in the past. In 2017, a report alleged that he was running an abusive sex cult. (Kelly denied these accusations at the time.)
WATCH: Family members allege R. Kelly has their 'brainwashed' daughters
One of Kelly's ex-girlfriends, DJ Kitti Jones, said he regularly starved, sexually assaulted and abused her over the course of their two-year relationship.
According to Merritt, Kelly "gradually introduced the cult to our client over the course of their relationship, culminating with an explanation that she would have to sign a contract and offer collateral information about herself and her family for Kelly's protection."
Much of Kelly's career has been shadowed by his behaviour out of the studio. He's faced numerous sexual assault allegations, starting in 1994 with his most famous indiscretion, when he married the underage singer Aaliyah. (At the time, she was 15 years old and he was 27. The marriage was annulled shortly afterward.)
READ MORE: Stan Lee sues ex-manager, alleging he stole millions (and his blood)
In 2008, Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges after a video circulated allegedly showing him having sexual intercourse and urinating on a 14-year-old girl. Additionally, he's agreed to several out-of-court settlements with women who've accused him of sexual assault, one even as young as 15.
He is one of the most successful R&B artists of the last two decades, with three Grammy awards, 12 studio albums and nearly 60 million albums sold worldwide.
© 2018 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.


text:
This second excerpt from [Callenbach, Ernest. Living Cheaply With Style. Ronin Publishing, 1993.] resonates with my own attempts at expressing who I am. One of my favorite words has become enough: "sufficient to meet a need or satisfy a desire; adequate." Callenbach is definitely writing from within a specific political "box" (which is more than evident in later passages of his book), and I like to keep as far away as possible from partisanship, but much of his voice rings true for me. –SB
from: Living Cheaply With Style:
Thrift and "enoughness."
Until recently, America was a thrifty country. People recognized a virtue in doing things economically, in not wasting, in making do with what was available. During the wastrel years after World War II (fueled by a ravenous consumption of fossil fuels), thriftiness temporarily went out of fashion. But in the long run we must rely on this virtue again, and it is time to begin learning how. Much of the information in this book will help you to be thrifty in ways your grandparents would find familiar: re-using things rather than throwing them away and having to buy new; salvaging and repairing; sharing things with others; trading things you no longer need for things or services; keeping only a modest supply of things on hand; using up what you have before you think of buying more.
Some people are fanatics about thrift; there is even a publication called The Tightwad Gazette dedicated to showing you, through carefully calculated examples, how much you can save by ingenious re-use of milk cartons, or repairing battered toys found at the thrift shop. (Ask your library to subscribe, if it isn't yet available there.) It's a fascinating challenge to see what is the absolute minimum you can lead a good life on—and it is a lot less than most Americans imagine.
But it is not necessary to be a fanatic, only thoughtful. In Your Money or Your Life (Viking-Penguin, 1992), Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin argue that the essential is to seek honestly to understand what is really "enough." Beyond a certain point, once your real necessities of food, shelter, and medical care have been met, added expenditures bring decreasing returns of satisfaction. After that point, your precious life's time—the only resource you are born into the world with—is being used to procure things that may be halfway satisfying, or may be simply junk. You will be happier if you can find a way to live that keeps better control of your time and relies less on junk.
Another virtue our grandparents prized was competence and ingenuity—the ability to understand how things work, to use things efficiently, take care of them, repair them when needed, or figure out alternatives if they broke down. In our consumer society, we have come to depend on artifacts whose workings we do not understand and that we cannot fix when they break down. So a lot of the material in this book simply gives you information you need to cope with the basics of life—all those things that you didn't learn from your parents or in school, but that are essential to survive comfortably on modest amounts of money.
Even questions of diet are covered in some detail. Once we became a nation of fast-food eaters, we lost a sense of proper diet requirements. Recently many people have become conscious of the importance of eating right, but we still need all the help we can get; since doctors are taught almost nothing about nutrition in medical school, we have to be able to provide a decent diet for ourselves without advice from them.
Competence requires confidence, but trusting in our own abilities to learn and cope is the route to confidence. We should try to lean as little as possible on "experts," whether they are plumbers or psychotherapists. Everybody in so-called primitive societies knows how to build houses, dispose of wastes, find and grow food, prepare it, deal with common diseases and accidents, give girth, care for children, and so on. Our goal should be to achieve similar levels of competence in our modern circumstances. All your life you will be picking up pieces of useful information; this book gives you a handy and compact source for a lot of these pieces, and a framework for understanding the bits you accumulate on your own.
A constant theme in the pages that follow is: Think for yourself! Conventional ways of doing things may make sense, but often they make sense mainly to the people who profit from them, and you would be better off to find or invent another way. Learn to be critical and analytical about information; even apparently authoritative sources may contain large or small errors, and a wise person is constantly cross-checking and verifying things.
* above photo taken by S.A. Bort, 2013.
*Please also see: https://whenisapartynotaparty.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/living-cheaply-with-style/


text:
Overlooking the magnificent Indian River in Museum Point Park, the Regional History Center offers a glimpse at the foundation of our community. From our earliest known residents, the Ais Indians to the Creek and later the Seminoles, you can see their lifestyle in the artifacts and displays. Trace the rise of the fishing industry and the failed efforts at making us the "Pineapple Capital of the World." Go shopping in Cobb's General Store or take a walk down Main Street, past the doctor's office and the printing press. Step back into the 1900's with a tour of the fully furnished Gardner House.
Thanks to the St. Lucie Historical Society, the St. Lucie County Regional History Center is open.
If you are interested in volunteering, please call 772-461-8020 or visit http://www.stluciehistoricalsociety.org/.


text:
Worship & Sunday School
July 19, 2015 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am
An event every week that begins at 10:00 am on Sunday, repeating until June 10, 2018
Event Navigation
"First Church" is a warm Christian community inviting diversity in the heart of Fremont, California. We celebrate differing voices, views and experiences, yet we are unified in this vision: to be a church home to any who seek a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Normally, Communion would be offered on the first Sunday of the month. This month, though, Communion has been shifted to February 14.
Please accept this invitation to worship with us on Sundays at 10:00 AM in the sanctuary—the building closest to Washington Blvd. The sanctuary is wheel-chair accessible.
Children in Kindergarten through eighth-grade, join together during worship services for activities, Bible lessons, stories, and fellowship. On most Sundays they will participate in the service through the Time for the Child, and will rejoin us on the first Sunday of each month for communion.
The youngest members of the church family will find loving care in the church nursery during the worship hour.


text:
Watch CBSN Live
An outbreak of a rare but deadly form of fungal meningitis has infected 297 people in 16 states as of Oct. 22, killing 23.
The outbreak is tied to steroid injections, mostly used for relieving back pain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the tainted injections manufactured by the New England Compounding Center have been shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states. But because the company is licensed in all 50 states, all of its products have been recalled.
In this image, a vial of injectable steroids from the New England Compounding Center is displayed in the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Oct. 8, 2012.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP Photo/Hannah Foslien
Credit: AP Photo/Family Photo, George Cary
In this image, Dr. Robert Latham, chief of medicine at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., where more than 600 patients received steroid injections, is interviewed on Oct. 4, 2012, in Nashville.
The 23 states that may have received shipments of the tainted product. These states include: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas and West Virginia
Credit: Mark Humphrey
Credit: AP Photo/Stephen Lance Dennee
This undated photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a branch of the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The fungus blamed for causing a meningitis outbreak in nine states is widely distributed indoors and outdoors, but only very rarely makes people sick.
People inhale aspergillus fungus all the time without any problem. It's nearly impossible to avoid, found in such places as decaying leaves, trees, grain, other plants, soil, household dust, ducts for air conditioning and heating, and building materials. The fungus can also cause skin infections if it enters a break in the skin. The meningitis outbreak is linked to the fungus being accidentally injected into people as a contaminant in steroid treatments.
Credit: AP Photo/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Libero Ajello
Credit: Shelley Mays
Credit: Marshall Wolff
Credit: Bob Salsberg
Credit: Erik Schelzig
Credit: Stephan Savoia
Credit: Charles Krupa
Credit: Patrick Semansky


text:
Archive for the 'conference' Category
Apple's WWDC 2009 – See you there!
I will be representing Nitobi at Apple's WWDC 2009 in San Francisco, and will be in the various after-conference parties about town. I will be in SF from Sunday June 7th to Friday afternoon June 12th.
If you'd like to meet up and chat, send me an e-mail at email@example.com or ping me on Twitter. See you there!


text:
Program Archive - Scholarly Communications
New Approaches to Scholarly Communications and Publishing
Binghamton University Libraries
April 15-16, 2009
2009 Provost's Symposia Series
Publishing Workshop for campus faculty and graduate students
Gary Dunham, PhD, Executive Director, SUNY Press
December 11, 2009
(Note: see p. 3 of the newsletter for more information.)
Chemistry and Web 2.0: New Ways to Find Chemical Information
Chemistry Department Colloquia Series, Spring 2010
February 5, 2010
Professor Martin Walker, SUNY Potsdam
Publishing, Promoting and Preserving Scholarship @ SUNY
Binghamton University Libraries
April 7, 2011
A SUNY 2010-2011 Conversations in the Disciplines Symposium
Navigating Fair Use in Higher Ed: Keys to Correct Usage in Your Courses
November 3, 2011
Jointly sponsored by the Binghamton University Libraries and the Harpur College Dean's Office
Questions? Contact the Libraries' Scholarly Communications Officer: Elizabeth Brown, (607) 777-4882.