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[EYES ON THE PRIZE: The Duxbury girls' swim team poses after finishing in 5th place at the South/Central Sectionals at the MIAA Swimming & Diving Championships at MIT on Saturday. They will compete for the State title Sunday at Harvard.]
A total of 15 female athletes traveled to the MIAA South/Central Sectional Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday held at the Zesiger Pool at MIT. With 12 swimmers and three divers, the talented group placed fifth overall out of 44 schools. At least one Lady Dragon qualified for and competed in every event of this meet. Contributing to this placement were the team's scorers: juniors Shelby Rader (45 pts) and Ellie Johnson (27 pts), senior Abby Mullen (22 pts), sophomores Hannah Hutchinson (20 pts), Jessie Goldberg (13 pts) and Kelsey Golden (11 pts), senior Sam Tougas (7 pts), sophomores Katie Eagan and Michaela Morris, and junior Caroline McSherry (6 pts each) and freshman Avery Pisani (1 pt).
The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay. In an effort to better their standing at next weekend's State championship meet, the girls fought hard for fifth place, with Rader setting the pace in the backstroke (28.45), Johnson continuing in the breaststroke (32.80), Mullen maintaining in the butterfly (27.36) and Hutchinson finishing in the freestyle (25.70). Their final time of 1:54.31 cut almost five full seconds off their seed time.
Goldberg and Eagan were next for the Dragons in the 200-yard freestyle. Although both swimmers had already qualified for States, Eagan pushed hard to come in at 2:13.41, while Goldberg improved her time with a 2:07.79.
The difficult 200-yard individual medley proved to be no problem for Johnson, who snagged sixth place with a season low of 2:15.87, bettering her seed time at States.
The 50-yard freestyle, the fastest race of the meet, had two strong swimmers. Hutchinson shaved 2/10s of a second off her time, finishing with a 26.47, improving her already-secured position at States. Rader swam an extremely close and exciting race, grabbing third place overall with a time of 25.22; the highest place of the meet for Duxbury.
Amid the noise and commotion of the swimming events, the divers had to complete 11 dives each. Out of 23 divers, three Lady Dragons, all of whom already secured their positions at States before heading into this meet, made a fine showing of their skills. Newcomer Pisani finished 16th with a score of 298.65. In her fourth and final appearance at Sectionals, Sam Tougas finished 10th with a score of 328.20, while Kelsey Golden placed eighth with a final score of 351.85.
Four girls swam in the 100-yard butterfly. At her first Sectional appearance, sophomore Miranda VanDingstee immediately qualified for States with a time of 1:05.64. Eagan, who already had a State-qualifying time, finished with a 1:04.73. In a fight to first place in their heat, Mullen touched the wall first with a 1:03.23, followed closely by Morris who qualified with a 1:03.46.
The lone Lady Dragon in the pool for the 100-yard freestyle was Goldberg, who has been chasing down the State qualifying time all season. She finished with a personal best of 58.40, a time which now qualified her for States.
In the longest race of the day, VanDingstee improved her already-qualified State time in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:46.05. Mullen held the lead in her heat the entire time, lopping almost 14 seconds off her seed-time, firmly guaranteeing her a spot at States (5:40.89).
A swimmer and crowd favorite, the 200-yard freestyle relay had four Lady Dragons battling for place in the final heat. With a finish of 1:46.74, swimmers Goldberg (27.03), McSherry (27.10), Eagan (26.87) and Hutchinson (25.74) carved almost two seconds off their seed time.
The 100-yard backstroke brought some excitement to the pool. In her Sectionals debut, freshman Mary O'Sullivan completed her swim season with a solid 1:07.90, while veteran Rader came from behind, bumping several swimmers out of place in the final heat. She took nearly four full seconds off her time, finishing fourth with a 1:00.78.
As the meet neared a close, three Lady Dragons took to the pool in the 100-yard breaststroke. In their first, hard-earned performance at Sectionals, sophomores Emily Nichols (1:16.62) and Jill Coghlan (1:17.60) finished the season on a high note. Johnson swam a close race, finishing 10th overall, with a personal best of 1:12.14.
In the final event of the day, four experienced swimmers hit the water in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Rader again led the way (55.14), followed by Mullen (56.73), Goldberg (58.32) and Hutchinson (59.10). The season-best time of 3:49.29 put them in fifth place in the event and secured the team's overall fifth-place finish.
The strength and depth of Coach Jay Craft's team will make another showing next Sunday evening at the final meet of the season; the MIAA Division 2 State Championships held at Harvard's Blodgett pool.
The 11 qualifiers hope to better last year's third-place finish.


text: Porto's historic city centre has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for good reason. Undoubtedly, one of the best things you can get up to during a stay in Porto is simply to wander and wonder; to engage in the well-established art of flânerie - to walk around idly and aimlessly. Here are some things to look out for on your strolls around the city.

subset: commoncrawl


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Bad times. Mini BMW/Prodrive partnership gonna be terminated tomorrow or an announcement anyway to such effect. Not good times for WRC. Praise de lord Ford stayed in.


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Prencipe, Giusi*; Azzari, Chiara†; Moriondo, Maria†; Devito, Rita‡; Inglese, Rita§; Pezzullo, Marco||; Piersigilli, Fiammetta¶; Trucchi, Alessandro¶; De Benedetti, Fabrizio*; Auriti, Cinzia¶
*Laboratory of Rheumatology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome
†Department of Pediatrics, Anna Meyer Children's University Hospital, Firenze
‡Division of Pathology
§Clinical Chemistry Laboratory
||Core Facilities
¶Department of Medical and Surgical Neonatology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Cinzia Auriti, MD, Department of Neonatology, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, 00165 Piazza S. Onofrio 4, 00165 Rome, Italy (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com).
Received 29 September, 2011
Accepted 2 February, 2012
The study was supported by the Health Department of the Italian Government (Italian Ministry of Health: Grant 200602P/001751) and by Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital.
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether polymorphisms of the mannose-binding lectin (MBL-2) gene and MBL serum levels on admission to neonatal intensive care unit are associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants and to verify MBL expression in NEC bowels.
Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 107 neonates (41 with NEC and 66 controls) were included. MBL-2 genotyping for the promoter polymorphism −221 and for the exon 1 variant alleles at codons 52, 54, and 57 was performed. MBL levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 55 infants. Immunohistochemical staining for MBL expression was performed on bowel specimens. The main study outcome was severe NEC (Bell stages II/III).
Results: The −221 Y allele and the MBL-2 YY genotype were more frequent in neonates with severe NEC than in controls (P = 0.04 and P = 0.004, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, the MBL-2 YA/YA genotype was associated with NEC (odds ratio = 3.03, 95% confidence interval 1.13%–8.13%, P = 0.024). Neonates with NEC had MBL level on admission >400 ng/mL more frequently than controls (P = 0.043). Among neonates with severe NEC, the deceased neonates were carriers of high or intermediate producing MBL-2 genotypes (P = 0.035). Finally, MBL was highly expressed in intestinal tissue from infants with NEC.
Conclusions: MBL-2 genotypes associated with high MBL serum levels represent a risk factor for NEC. This finding, together with the MBL expression in bowel tissue, supports a role for MBL in the pathogenesis of NEC.
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common and serious gastrointestinal disorder among preterm infants. It is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality: approximately 12% of premature infants weighing <1500 g will become afflicted with NEC, and about one-third of them will succumb to the disease. Although prematurity, gut motility, intestinal impaired blood flow, formula feeding, and bacterial colonization have been implicated, the pathogenesis of NEC remains unclear (1). Numerous data suggest that the unifying hypothesis between these pathogenetic factors could be the uncontrolled exuberant inflammatory response to bacterial colonization together with the inadequate anti-inflammatory response observed in the immature intestine (1).
The innate immune system represents the first line of defense before the neonates can mount an appropriate adaptive immune response (2). Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a receptor of the innate immune system. It is particularly important because it binds and opsonises a variety of pathogens and activates the lectin pathway of complement, providing rapid protection against microbial invasion (3). MBL serum levels are genetically determined (4). Three structural single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the MBL-2 gene exon 1, at codons 52, 54, and 57, interfere with the assembly of the protein, causing decreased functional MBL levels. In addition, the −221 X/Y promoter SNP affects the protein expression, the −221Y variant being associated with higher MBL levels (5). Human MBL is characteristically produced by hepatocytes, but an extrahepatic transcription in the human intestine has also been described, suggesting that MBL expression may participate in the local immune defense in this site (6).
We hypothesized that MBL may have a role in intestinal injury during NEC and that SNPs of the MBL-2 gene related to high MBL expression could be a risk factor for severe NEC. Therefore, we have investigated whether SNPs of the MBL-2 gene and high serum MBL levels were associated with severe NEC in a retrospective cohort of preterm infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
To further support the relation between the induction of the proinflammatory response and the intestinal tissue injury, we have also examined the expression of MBL in biopsy bowel sections from preterm neonates who underwent surgery during NEC.
This retrospective cohort study comprised 107 neonates, with a gestational age (GA) of ≤32 weeks, consecutively admitted to our NICU between January 2005 and December 2008. Among these neonates, 41 had NEC and 66 were not affected. Among 41 neonates with NEC, 33 (80.5%) developed the disease during hospitalization in our unit and 8 (19.5%) were referred to our NICU because of either suspected or overt NEC. A whole-blood sample was collected for the 107 neonates enrolled, together with informed consent from parents, for genetic analysis. From 55 of 107 neonates, a serum sample was collected on admission to the NICU (median day of life 1; interquartile range [IQR] 1–8) for measurement of MBL levels. Serum samples were not obtained from neonates with symptoms of infection or suspected or overt NEC.
Patients' characteristics and clinical data were searched retrospectively, using the neonatal database of the unit and the patients' charts. The following demographic and clinical characteristics on admission to the NICU were recorded: sex, birth weight (BW), GA, prenatal steroids exposure, mode of delivery, Apgar score at 5′, need for intubation and ventilation at birth, mode of delivery, presence of respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus beyond the third day of life, and development of infections during hospitalization.
NEC was defined according to the Bell classification system (7). For the analysis, "severe NEC" definition included Bell stages II and III, and "NEC" included Bell stages I, II, and III.
Genomic DNA was extracted from ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid blood samples using QIAmp DNA Blood kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Typing of the MBL gene exon 1 (mutant codons 52, 54, and 57) and promoter (position −221) was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. For exon 1, the wild-type allele was designated as A, whereas B, C, and D were, respectively, mutants in codon 54, 57, and 52. For the promoter, the wild-type allele was designated as Y (position −221), whereas X was the mutant. The 3 MBL-2 structural gene mutations B, C, and D (collectively referred as O) are in linkage disequilibrium with the promoter region polymorphism X/Y, so that only Y associates with variant alleles (5). According to Garred et al (8), we grouped MBL-2 genotypes in high (YA/YA), intermediate (YA/XA, XA/XA), and low/deficient (YA/YO, YO/XA, YO/YO) MBL-expressing groups.
Serum MBL was measured using an immunoassay (MBL oligomer ELISA, Antibody Shop, Copenhagen, Denmark) according to the instruction provided by the manufacturer. The linear range was 0.25 to 40 ng/mL. Sera were diluted 1:300 in the sample diluent provided by the manufacturer. The lowest detectable MBL concentration was 0.075 ng/mL. Results below the limit of detection were allocated a value of 0.05 ng/mL for statistical purposes.
Intestinal specimens were obtained from infants with NEC stage III who underwent surgical bowel resection (n = 9). Both necrotic and perilesional areas were examined. Moreover, healthy intestinal specimens were obtained from patients who previously had NEC and underwent ileostomy (n = 12), as well as from age-matched patients (n = 3), who underwent ileostomy because of Meckel diverticulum. Intestinal tissue was fixed in neutral buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin. After moist heat-induced antigen retrieval with 1 mmol/L ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid at pH 9.0, 3-μm sections were incubated with a mouse monoclonal antibody to human MBL (Santa Cruz Biotech, Santa Cruz, CA) for 1 hour at room temperature or with an irrelevant mouse immunoglobulin G1. After washing, the presence of MBL was revealed with the labeled Streptavidin-Biotin2 System (Dako Cytomation, Carpinteria, CA), based on the use of a biotinylated secondary antibody and peroxidase conjugated streptavidin. The procedure was in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer. 3-3′ Diaminobenzidine was used as a chromogen and counterstaining was done with hematoxylin (Dako Cytomation).
For the statistical analyses, we used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL) and STATA (StataCorp, College Station, TX). Quantitative data were expressed as medians and IQRs, and frequencies were compared by the χ2 test or the Fisher exact test. For the genotype frequency analysis of the promoter −221 XY, we classified patients into 2 groups: those carrying at least 1 MBL-221 X allele (XY and XX) and those carrying the YY genotype because only 1 patient was a carrier of the XX genotype.
We performed uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses: the main outcome was the occurrence of NEC (severe NEC and NEC). All of the variables associated with the risk of NEC in univariate analyses with P < 0.05 were included in the multivariate analysis. P < 0.05 was considered significant.
Among 107 preterm neonates included in the study, 41 were affected by NEC (stage I, n = 20; stage II, n = 3; and stage III, n = 18) and 66 were not affected (controls). Neonates with NEC were analyzed as 2 groups: severe NEC (stages II and III) and NEC (stages I, II, and III) and compared with controls. Table 1 shows the clinical characteristics of the patients: low GA, low BW, confirmed infections, and death were more frequent in severe NEC neonates compared with controls.
We have genotyped 4 common SNPs of the MBL-2 gene: codons 52, 54, and 57 in the exon 1 and −221 in the promoter region. Allele and genotype frequencies for all of the studied SNPs are summarized in Table 2. The frequency of the promoter −221Y allele was higher in patients with severe NEC than in controls (P = 0.04). Moreover, neonates with severe NEC showed an increased probability of carrying the YY genotype compared with controls (odds ratio [OR] 5.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.55%–16.8%; P = 0.004). Conversely, the allelic frequencies of the exon 1 polymorphisms C and B were similar in neonates with severe NEC and in control neonates; we did not found neonates with the D variant allele. Naming "O" the MBL-2 structural variant alleles B and C, the frequency of AA, AO, and OO genotypes between neonates with severe NEC and controls was similar.
At the genotypic analysis, the frequency of the high-MBL-level related YA/YA genotype was increased in neonates with severe NEC compared with controls (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.13%–8.13%, P = 0.024) (Table 3). When we looked at all of the neonates with NEC (stages I, II, and III), the allele and genotype frequencies of the considered SNPs were similar to those observed in neonates with severe NEC. At univariate analysis, GA and infections were significantly associated with severe NEC. At multivariate analysis, with GA, BW, and infections as covariates, the YA/YA genotype remained independently associated with severe NEC (OR 4.42, 95% CI 1.11%–17.49%, P = 0.03) or with NEC (stages I–II and III) (OR 3.48, 95% CI 1.22%–9.94%; P = 0.02). Similar results were obtained eliminating from the cohort all nonwhite neonates (data not shown), excluding the possibility that the inclusion of these neonates could lead to a bias.
We did not observe a significant difference in the frequency of the YA/YA carriers between deceased and survived infants (data not shown); however, all 11 deceased neonates with severe NEC carried a high or intermediate MBL-2 genotype. Conversely, 4 of the 10 survivors were low/deficient genotype carriers (YA/YO or XA/YO or YO/YO; P = 0.035, by Fisher exact test).
A serum sample collected on admission to the NICU, in the absence of symptoms of infection, was available from 55 of 107 neonates enrolled in the study. Twenty of these 55 neonates subsequently developed NEC (stage I, n = 12; stage 2, n = 1; stage III, n = 7) during hospitalization. Neonates with and without NEC were similar in baseline characteristics, with exception of BW, which was lower, but not significantly, in neonates with NEC than in the others (median BW 905 g, IQR 805–1105 vs 1176 g, IQR 841.25–1537.5; P = 0.08).
MBL levels on admission to the NICU were determined in sera from all 55 neonates. MBL values were stratified by structural exon 1 genotypes (AA, AO, and OO). As expected, we observed high, medium, and low values, respectively (P < 0.01). Subdividing these genotypes by the −221 SNP, we observed a trend toward higher serum MBL levels in the YY carriers compared with XY carriers (median value 1.13 μg/mL, IQR 0.28–2.33 vs median value 0.85 μg/mL, IQR 0.17–1.80; P = 0.2).
Based on previous investigations in preterm neonates (9,10), we set the cutoff value to 400 ng/mL to discriminate MBL deficiency. We observed that 8 of 8 (100%) neonates with severe NEC (stages II and III) had MBL level >400 ng/mL on admission to the NICU. Among neonates who did not develop NEC during hospitalization, 19 of 35 (54.3%) had MBL levels >400 ng/mL on admission to the NICU (Fisher exact test, P = 0.043). This difference was also evident in all of the neonates with NEC: 18 of 20 (90%) neonates with NEC at stages I, II, and III had MBL serum levels >400 ng/mL (OR 7.58, 95% CI 1.52%–37.3%; P = 0.007). Finally, in a multivariate model of analysis, MBL levels >400 ng/mL remained associated with NEC (OR 8.3, 95% CI 1.6%–42.6%; P = 0.01) after adjusting for GA.
To confirm the functional association of MBL with development of NEC, we investigated whether MBL was expressed in the intestinal tissue of preterm infants. Immunohistochemical staining with an anti-MBL antibody was performed on intestinal biopsy specimens obtained from infants with NEC during bowel surgical resection. The analysis revealed that MBL is highly expressed in intestinal tissue from infants with NEC. In particular, MBL is expressed in diseased mucosa, in endothelial cells, and in histiocytes of the small intestine (Fig. 1A–C) and of the proximal colon (data not shown). MBL expression was also evident in enterocytes of perilesional uninvolved bowel segments of the same patients (data not shown). Moreover, MBL expression was observed in enterocytes of healthy bowel biopsy sections obtained during surgery for ileostomy from patients, not deficient in MBL expression, who previously had NEC (Fig. 1D–F) or who underwent ileostomy because of Meckel diverticulum (data not shown). As negative control for the immunohistochemical analysis, we performed MBL staining on intestinal tissue obtained during surgical ileostomy from a NEC preterm patient who, being OO homozygous, was MBL deficient (Fig. 1G–I).
Evidence indicates that an abnormal response by the premature infant to the microbial flora that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract may be involved in the pathogenesis of NEC. Indeed, a stronger interleukin-8-driven proinflammatory response is provoked in immature intestinal cells when exposed to commensal organisms (11). Several proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, have also been found in intestinal samples of infants with NEC (12). Recent studies demonstrate that Toll-like receptors (TLRs) could be central players in the pathways that signal in response to enteric bacteria, favoring the development of NEC (13,14). Moreover, microarray analysis shows that in the immature intestine, the expression of genes involved in upregulation of inflammation is increased, whereas the expression of negative regulators of inflammation is decreased (15). It is therefore reasonable to hypothesize that the onset of an uncontrolled inflammatory response by the neonatal intestine to exposure to luminal bacteria may trigger the onset of NEC.
As TLRs, MBL is a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) and plays an important role in innate immune system, coordinating, amplifying, and synchronizing innate immune defense mechanisms (3). Indeed, MBL, together with the MBL-associated serine proteases, initiate the lectin pathway of the complement system. Moreover, it has been established that MBL has a central role in regulating PRR signaling and inflammatory cytokine production, acting as a TLR-2/6 co-receptor (16,17).
In the present study, we found that the −221 promoter MBL-2 variant allele Y, being associated with higher serum MBL levels, is significantly more common in neonates with NEC than in control neonates. Moreover, we observed a significant association of the −221 YY promoter genotype and of the combined exon 1/promoter −221 YA/YA genotype, both causing high MBL protein levels, with a higher risk of developing NEC, independently from GA. Interestingly, we observed that MBL-2 genotypes related to low MBL levels were associated with a decreased mortality among neonates with severe NEC, suggesting that MBL levels may affect the outcome of NEC and further supporting the hypothesis of a role of high MBL levels in contributing to intestinal damage. We also found that neonates with NEC had MBL serum levels >400 ng/mL on admission to the NICU more frequently than controls without NEC. Our observations on serum MBL levels complement the findings of a recent study (18): high MBL-associated serine protease-2 cord blood levels have been found to be associated with an increased risk of NEC in preterm neonates. It should be noted that, in the same study, the authors did not find an association between MBL cord blood levels and NEC. This may be because they measured MBL cord blood levels and not serum MBL levels. Cord blood MBL levels may not reflect MBL levels in the first days of life (19).
MBL is expressed by hepatocytes, but recent evidence in mice indicates an extrahepatic expression in small intestine, in which MBL-C is expressed by villous epithelial cells (20). In humans, Seyfarth et al (6) observed low extrahepatic levels of MBL-2 mRNA, predominantly in small intestine. We detected the expression of MBL protein in the diseased guts of preterm infants with NEC: MBL was strongly expressed in enterocytes, in endothelial cells, and in histiocytes of the small intestine and colon. Moreover, we observed a positive staining for MBL also in enterocytes of intestinal tissues from healthy infants. It should be noted that we did not detect any staining in the intestinal tissue from an MBL-deficient infant. Our results are in apparent contrast to the negligible MBL expression reported in the intestinal mucosa of both adult healthy controls and patients with Crohn disease (21). The discrepancy between these data and our results in neonates may be related to the age of the patients. Indeed, the gastrointestinal tract of the premature infant differs largely from that of an adult. It has a fragile surface area covered by a thin monolayer of epithelial cells that overlies a highly immunoreactive mucosa, and there is accumulating evidence that in the newborn, especially in the premature neonate, the defense mechanism that normally maintains a healthy balance in intestine may be inadequate, or at least functioning at different levels compared with what occurs in adults (1). This is also supported by the previously mentioned gene expression profile data (15). Therefore, these data sustain the hypothesis that in neonates, MBL could be an important factor in intestinal immunity, contributing to local innate defense and that the local production of MBL may be biologically relevant.
Our results suggest that genetically determined high MBL production is an independent risk factor for the development of NEC, further supporting the hypothesis that PRRs of innate immunity and their mediators could be important players in the initiation of an exaggerated inflammatory response, ultimately leading to intestinal injury. Moreover, these results support the emerging hypothesis of a dual role for MBL: Low MBL levels would not be disadvantageous, but, in some circumstances, also confer a benefit (22). Although an increased susceptibility to infections has been reported in MBL-deficient patients, including premature infants (23,24), other studies support a role for MBL in ischemia-reperfusion injury (25,26), with high MBL levels associated with more severe disease. Interestingly, ischemia and reperfusion injury has emerged as a possible cause of NEC (27).
The relatively small sample size is the main limitation of the present study. Future studies on larger groups of preterm infants may be needed to clarify the role of the lectin pathway during the neonatal age in determining the high susceptibility of this population to NEC. Moreover, we did not genotypize the 4 P/Q and −550 H/L MBL-2 SNPs; however, the polymorphism at position −221 in the promoter region of the gene induces the strongest upregulating (Y variant) effect, and it is marginally influenced by the 4 and −550 SNPs (4).
In conclusion, this is the first study to our knowledge that explores the potential association among MBL-2 genotype, MBL serum levels, and development of NEC in preterm neonates. We report that MBL genotypes, which are associated with high serum MBL levels, were significantly more common in neonates with NEC than in controls; neonates with NEC had MBL serum levels >400 ng/mL on admission to the NICU more frequently than controls without NEC; neonates with severe NEC carrying low-expressing MBL-2 genotypes had a smaller probability of death; and MBL is highly expressed in healthy intestinal tissue and in intestinal biopsy specimens from infants with NEC. Our findings add to the knowledge that genetic factors, leading to an overexpression of MBL, may be involved in the pathway causing NEC and may influence its outcome in preterm neonates; however, it is likely that other polymorphisms exist at multiple points in genes regulating the inflammatory cascade, which may account for individual susceptibility in the development of NEC. Genetic analysis of the MBL-2 gene polymorphisms may help to identify subsets of premature infants at risk of developing NEC and subsets of infants with NEC at risk of severe outcome. Finally, because recombinant human MBL is being developed as a therapeutic approach (28), studies aimed at investigating the role of MBL in the neonatal period may be useful to understand whether its administration may be beneficial (possibly lowering risk of infections) or rather dangerous in this delicate age group.
mannose-binding lectin; MBL-2 gene; necrotizing enterocolitis; preterm infants
© 2012 by European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology,
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The suffering six
China | Will the Obama administration address human rights abuses when China's next president comes to call?
When Xi Jinping visits the United States next week, the Chinese politician-set to become the communist nation's next president-will have a full agenda, including visits to the White House, the Pentagon, a soybean farm in Iowa, and a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game in California.
Human rights groups hope that U.S. officials have another item planned for Xi: a frank discussion of human rights abuses in China, and a plea to release some of the most high-profile dissidents languishing in Chinese prisons.
Hudson Institute fellow Michael Horowitz said he's helping with an effort to urge President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to press the cases of six Chinese dissidents during meetings with Xi at the White House next Wednesday. The effort includes asking leaders of religious and human rights groups, as well as members of Congress, to urge the Obama administration to call for the dissidents' release.
Chinese officials have accused the six dissidents-including human rights lawyers and pastors-of crimes like "subversion of state power" for activities like criticizing government policies or conducting church services without state registration. Horowitz hopes that urging their release would open the possibility of freedom for scores of similar dissidents in prisons across China.
It's unclear whether Obama or other officials will initiate in-depth discussions of human rights with Xi. The Chinese leader's first trip to the United States as the presumed future-president of China would likely focus on issues like trade and economics, as Xi seeks to establish himself as a competent statesman. (Xi is set to assume leadership of China's Communist Party later this year, and take over the presidency from Hu Jintao next year in a once-in-a-decade transfer of power.)
Vice President Joe Biden met with a group of human rights advocates on Wednesday to discuss their concerns about Chinese abuses ahead of Xi's visit. After the meeting, a Biden spokesman said that human rights form "a fundamental part of our foreign policy," but didn't indicate whether officials would press the issue with Xi.
Earlier this week, Horowitz of the Hudson Institute released background information compiled by ChinaAid on the six dissidents he hopes the administration will mention to Xi:
- Gao Zhisheng, 45, is a human rights lawyer who has defended Christians and other religious minorities from government abuses. Authorities convicted Gao of "inciting subversion of state power" in 2006. The attorney is serving a prison sentence in a remote province in western China, and prison officials have turned away visiting family members worried about his condition.
- Chen Guangcheng, 40, is a blind human rights lawyer under brutal house arrest since finishing a four-year prison sentence in 2010. Authorities convicted Chen on charges related to his work exposing 130,000 forced abortions and forced tubal ligations in 2006. Chen, his wife, and their daughter remain under 24-hour surveillance in their home. Human rights groups report that Chinese officials have severely beaten the couple at least three times.
- Liu Xianbin, 43, has written articles and web postings critical of the Chinese government and has spent years in and out of prison. Authorities arrested Liu-one of the protesters in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations-again in 2010 for his writings and sentenced him to a 10-year prison term.
- Guo Quan, 43, has published articles critical of the Chinese government and called for political reform. Authorities detained Guo in 2008, and sentenced him to a 10-year prison sentence.
- Alimujiang Yimiti, 38, is serving a 15-year prison term for offenses related to his work as a Christian pastor. He and his wife have two young sons.
- Yang Rongli is a woman and a church leader serving a seven-and-half-year prison sentence for offenses related to her work at the 50,000-member Linfen house church in Shaanxi province. Authorities raided the church and ministry site in 2009, beating some Christians and arresting Yang. Her husband-also a church leader-is serving a three-year-term.


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Bould thrilled despite 'nervy' performance
Arsenal assistant manager Steve Bould was pleased despite admitting his side were below their best in their 3-1 victory over Olympiakos.
Filling in for Arsene Wenger, who is serving the final match of a touchline ban, Bould oversaw a gritty win over the Greek champions at Emirates Stadium.
It took goals from Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey to seal the victory for Arsenal after Kostas Mitroglou had cancelled out Gervinho's opener.
"Listen, we've won the game, it's a great result for us. They made it tough. I thought they were very good," Bould said.
"I thought their organisation was excellent and they made it tough for us. I think we improved second half with the ball but we looked a little bit nervy I have to say at times. But overall we're delighted."
Bould went on to say that Saturday's English Premier League loss to Chelsea at home may have played a part in the below par performance.
"You know it's probably knocked our confidence a little bit, getting beaten (against Chelsea) even though we didn't play so great, we thought we probably should have got something from the game," he said.
"Maybe a little bit of a carry over, but we're hoping that, now we've won, that's gone, done and dusted and we get back on track.
"We've done great tonight, without being fantastic, but we've got back on track. Hoping a little bit more confidence for the weekend, and that will be a tough game (against West Ham).
"It's a results industry and we got a result. We ground it out. To be fair I don't think they had too many chances. We limited them to a few chances. We could have perhaps scored a few more so without being fantastic we've had a great result."
Gould reserved special praise for Gervinho, who continued his recent rich vein of form with another goal – his second from as many matches in the Champions League this season.
"Well, number one he is scoring goals so his confidence is sky high and number two I think his link play is gradually improving," he said.
"I think he's set Santi (Cazorla) up a few times in the last few games and he's learning his trade there. I don't think he's played there an awful lot. And he's a danger with his pace and movement at times. He could be a top player."


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Y'all been askin' and we heard ya…introducing Rooster Wings – big, juicy, crispy southern fried chicken wings! 4 big wings come with your choice of sides:...Read More
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We are grateful to the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint for the great story on Red Rooster Catfish.Read More
For the Frog Leg Lovers in San Diego…come on down ALREADY!Read More
Super-Size Your Rooster Soul Food! 25 HUGE, crispy golden fried Tiger Shrimp. Pick the side of your choice: Southern Fried Okra, Sweet Potato Fries, Sweet Potato Puffs, Spicy...Read More
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Wish you so much success in your business. Can't wait to have another Catfish Party!"
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text:
Traders say demand for shark fin has fallen.
WildAid's campaign to reduce use of shark fin is making a huge impact in Asia by decreasing the demand for and the import-export business of shark fin. According to the South China Morning Post, the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong reported that shark fin imports have reduced from 10,292 tons to 3,087 tons from 2011 to November 2012; over a 70% decline.
Threatening the security and prosperity of wildlife and people around the world, the illegal wildlife trade has been raising serious concerns among the U.S. State Department, who last month revealed their plan to combat wildlife trafficking in a partnership meeting led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Recently protected as a migratory species under Australian law, international communities are picking up momentum to stem the rapid decline of giant manta rays, whose global numbers have dropped by 30%.
Charity Navigator awarded WildAid with a 4-star rating, outranking many other renowned organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International, as one of the most fiscally responsible, accountable and transparent charities in America.
The Government of Costa Rica declared zero tolerance to shark finning, in a ceremony held this morning at Manuel Antonio National Park, Quepos. There, with the presence of environmentalists, the President of the Republic, Laura Chinchilla, signed an executive order. Under this order, imports of shark fins into the country will be banned. Shark finning practices were already forbidden in the Costa Rica territory and waters.


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March 12, 2010 to March 14, 2010 – Redondo Beach, CA The Trust Birth 2010 Conference is coming up; And you can receive a discount just by being a member of Natural Baby Pros! This will be the last Trust Birth conference; you do not want to miss the op… Organized by Carla Hartley and Trust Birth | Type: educational, conference
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23 January 2011
If I have learned one thing about myself since I started listening to The Beatles, it is that I love a beautiful pop song with soaring vocal melodies, melodies that are sweet enough give a person a cavity. I crave more of these beautifully crafted songs, so will you guys share some of the songs you find enchantingly beautiful.
Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
And I Love Her by OUR BOYS
Baby I'm A Want You by Bread
Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers
Warm and Beautiful by Wings/Paul
Danny Boy by anyone
Wonderful, Wonderful by Johnny Mathis
I always claimed to be unaffected by romantic songs, and I still don't think it's the romance of these songs that gets me. It's the beautiful vocal melodies that draw me in, and I can't get enough of them. I'm trying to make an ultimate playlist, so help if you will.
All By Myself by Eric Carmen
I'm Not in Love by 10cc
The first two in particular are guilty pleasures, and always remind me of each other. And, of course, Without You has its Beatles connections in that the original was by Badfinger.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
1 May 2011
The two that immediately come to my head are The Beach Boys God Only Knows and The Fabs Here, There And Everywhere. Perfect love songs for me as neither are too slushy or saturated in sugar. A lot of love songs after a couple of listens your teeth begin to ache and you are suffering from a sugar rush.
21 November 2012
I love God Only Knows. It always reminds me of Christmas which I'm pretty much obsessed with. It's just the kind of song that's ''warm and cozy'' if you know what I mean.
Baby I'm A Want You is a good one too.
Hmm..what about..
John Denver-Annie's Song
Rolling Stones-As Tears Go By
23 January 2011
mja6758 said
Linde said
Baby I'm A Want You is a good one too.
Is that the Bread song?
21 November 2012
I suppose it depends on how you define the parameters of "pop" as it's by a country singer; but Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman", written by Jimmy Webb, does it for me. The vocal melody, chords, the soaring orchestral arrangement and the way it echoes and compliments the multi-faceted, existential lyric...a truly, truly sublime tune.
5 November 2011
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother - The Hollies
Buona Sera - Louis Prima
The Way You Look Tonight - Sinatra
On An Evening In Roma - Dino
Here, There And Everywhere - The Beatles
21 November 2012
14 December 2009
Just a few off the top of my head (perhaps further stretching the "pop" definition)
"The Tracks of My Tears", Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
"Going To California", Led Zeppelin
"More Than A Feeling", Boston
14 April 2010
Ben Ramon said
I suppose it depends on how you define the parameters of "pop" as it's by a country singer; but Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman", written by Jimmy Webb, does it for me.
I heard that song on the radio recently and was reminded of how beautifully melancholy it is.
Some that come to mind for me are...
'Surfer Girl' - The Beach Boys
'Desperado' - The Eagles
'Dust in the Wind' - Kansas
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What is the most useful/most standard/least surprising way to consistently write comment blocks for constructors and classes and files containing just a single class?
- Comment blocks for classes, not constructors
- Comment blocks for constructors, not classes
- Comment blocks for both constructors and classes -> In that case what sort of details should go in each?
And then the file itself? Does this need a comment block if it just contains a single class? What details should go there?
I want to try and avoid, as much as possible, repetition between class, constructor and file comment blocks.


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Market regulator Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on erstwhile Concurrent (India) Infrastructure for making incorrect disclosures related to the shareholding of promoters.
"...impose a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the noticee, Concurrent (India) Infrastructure Ltd, (now known as Shriniwas Power & Infrastructure Ltd)," Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in its order dated November 30.
The regulator said it had noted that the company filed incorrect and misleading information with the BSE related to the shareholding of two promoters--K Nirmala and K Nirupama for quarter ended March 2011.
Regarding the shareholding of the Nirmala, Sebi said out of 7.36 lakh Concurrent (India) Infrastructure Ltd (CIIL) shares pledged by the entity, two lakh CIIL shares was invoked on February 4, 2011.
Upon invocation, Sebi said Nirmala stake declined to 26.35 lakh shares or 6.15 per cent.
However, the shareholding pattern showed that Nirmala held 28.35 lakh scrips or 6.58 per cent holding in the company.
Similarly, in case of Nirupama, a total of 17 lakh CIIL shares was invoked on March 17, 2011 and March 18, 2011, subsequent to which her holding had fallen to 12.43 lakh shares or 2.98 per cent.
However, the shareholding pattern for the quarter ending March 2011 had disclosed 17 lakh shares to be encumbered and her shareholding to be 29.43 lakh shares or 6.84 per cent stake which is incorrect.
"The shareholding pattern indicates a higher shareholding of the said promoter entities (K Nirmala and K Nirupama) than the actual holding which was incorrect and therefore misleading to the general investors," Sebi said.


text:
The primary function is to add buttons to several of the Outlook ribbons to prevent people from doing a reply-all to your message, or forwarding it (using a facility built into Outlook & Exchange which is really lightweight compared to using IRM machinery, but which is not exposed in the existing UI). Additionally, it includes a check for email goofs such as omitting attachments or subject lines.
This works with Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016 (32 or 64 bit) running on Windows, as long as you're using an Exchange account.
Download it from here: please take careful note of the installation instructions on that page.
A number of people have noticed that Outlook & Exchange offer hidden flags that let you specify if people are able to reply to or forward your email - for example, Scott Hanselman describes a neat little bit of VBA that lets you access some of them.
However, I wanted to have the current state of those flags reflected in the Outlook ribbon but wasn't able to achieve that with just VBA, so I applied the might of VSTO instead - complete overkill for twiddling two bits, but definitely easy to write and looks quite nice at the end of it all.
|When you install this thing, you'll see extra buttons at the end of the ribbon on the email composition window. Clicking on the buttons will prevent recipients of your emails from performing a reply to all, forward or reply to anyone. Clicking again toggles the relevant option's state back again.
Normally, the actions are enabled for new messages and meeting requests, but you can set the default state to be disabled via the add-in's options page.
The corresponding button on ribbons of the mail viewing window and the Outlook main window (the latter only in Outlook 2010 and 2013, since Outlook 2007 does not have a ribbon on the main window) show the state for received messages and will let you re-enable the reply all, etc. options. Or to disable them should you want to do that - in fact, another facility available for people worried about ever accidentally replying to all is to disable reply all for all received messages - see the options page again.
Note that the email recipient does not need to have this add-in installed to have reply all disabled: the flags I mentioned are handled by Outlook and Exchange - as long as the sender and recipient are attached to the same Exchange servers, the flag settings get passed along; and if the recipient is using the Outlook desktop client, the flag setting will be honoured. Of course, the recipient could use the add-in to re-enable reply all! (If the recipient is using some other tool to read email, or is not on the same Exchange system, the flags are ignored.)
As I said above, this is a lightweight means of limiting the propagation of emails - it's also very weak, which I hope I've emphasised by making it easy for recipients to re-enable any facility that the sender had disabled! (It is actually very easy to re-enable them without having the add-in; I'm really not making things "less secure" here.) If you do want a mechanism for protecting your emails robustly and much more securely, take a look at the IRM facilities that Exchange offers.
And just because I could, I added an extra bit of functionality to warn you if you send an email with a blank subject line - since that's built into Outlook 2010/2013 this is only active in Outlook 2007. After doing that, I got a bit carried away and included a detector for missing attachments when you send an email (this is for 2007 and 2010, since Outlook 2013 includes similar functionality) - you can create a list of keywords (such as "attached" and "attachment" - whatever terms you're likely to use) on the add-in's options page; then, when you send an email containing one of those words, the add-in will check to see if there are attachments and warn you if not. Actually, the mechanism is slightly more sophisticated: there are two lists, the second intended to be contexts in which the keywords should be ignored (such as legalese in your email signature), so the rule is "issue a warning if any of the words in the first list appear unless they also match something in the second." The add-in attempts to distinguish between embedded images and other attachments so, for example, an email signature with an image shouldn't trick the tool into thinking an attachment is already present.
That context can be specified as a regular expression, allowing for more sophisticated rules. For example, the regular expression "(?m)^\s*> .*" will cause everything on a line starting with "> " to be ignored, and "(?s)(^|\n|\r)From: .*$" will cause everything including and following a line starting with "From:" to be ignored. Both of these are common patterns in email threads... They can be combined into a single regular expression as:
((?m)^\s*>.*)|((?s)(^|\n|\r)From: .*$)
No, a cat did not walk over the keyboard just then. See the MSDN documentation if you want to get a better understanding of regular expression syntax.
(This add-in isn't really related to the Research Desktop project, but sort of fell out of early investigations into the VSTO technology used in Research Desktop.)
If you want to find out how the thing works, I've written a series of blog posts on the technology behind this add-in.
Please use the Research Desktop forum or the blog for problem reports or any other comments about the tool.


text: AdChoices Terms of Use Privacy Policy Hide GALLERIES Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Pictures 2/58 Stevie Wonder AskMen Editors September 30, 2007 Share Tweet 0 Shares Discovered by Ronnie White of The Miracles in 1961, young Stevie was signed to a recording contract and marketed as the "12-year-old genius" after the huge success of "Fingertips (Part 2)." Wonder lived up to that reputation for two decades with hits like "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," "My Cherie Amour," "Sir Duke," and dozens more. In the '80s, he attracted a whole new generation of… Continue reading Stevie Wonder's profile. Next Slide gallery Comments Share your opinion Your name More Like This Galleries Meet The Stunning Lebanese Lawyer That George Clooney Is Giving Up The Single Life For Read More Galleries Heads Up, Comic Book Nerds: Wonder Woman's Here Read More Around the Web Special Features Gift Guide Top 25 Father's Day Gifts Read More Dating Tips A Guide To Hooking-Up Online Read More


text:
Hi everybody! As a newbie I need some help:
I just bought a Centaur CT (50/36 t.) crankset and front derailleur to upgrade my working bike (700C wheels) because I was not happy with the mtb triple it came with. Does anyone here know which bottom bracket length I need for installing them on my BSA (68 mm) threaded frame?


text:
Tom Hardy Was Being Courted To Play Snake Plissken
A bullet has been dodged, at least for now. New Line has decided that maybe remaking John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" isn't such a good idea after all.
The project has certainly had a colorful history. Over the years, Len Wiseman, Brett Ratner, Jonathan Mostow, Gerard Butler and Josh Brolin have all been rumored as potential directors and stars, but it seemed to gain steam last year when Breck "Dreck" Eisner ("Sahara," "The Crazies") signed on with Allan Loeb ("The Switch," "The Dilemma") and Jamie Moss ("X-Men: First Class") to write the screenplay. The project even seemed to have a stamp of approval of sorts from Carpenter himself, who snagged a producer credit and signed a contract stipulating the film's protagonist, Snake Plissken, must "always be a badass." Last fall, casting rumors (that later turned out to be false) swirled around Jeremy Renner as a possible lead and then...nothing.
Well, apparently there was an attempt to court Warner Bros. go-to guy Tom Hardy for the lead but it would appear that any momentum that was happening behind the project fizzled out and New Line decided to scrap it. That's not to say another studio can't pick it up and start the whole process going again -- studio heads love the smell of a potential franchise -- but the track record of Carpenter remakes leaves quite a lot of bodies in its wake. "Halloween," "The Fog" and "Assault on Precinct 13" all paled considerably to the originals and the forthcoming "The Thing" looks like it will continue that trend.
So breathe a sign of relief folks for at least for one moment, cooler heads have prevailed in Hollywood. [Deadline]


text: HMH AssessmentsCognitive / IntelligenceWJ III™ NU Woodcock-Johnson® III Normative Update Order Form Request More Info Shop Now WJ III™ NU Authors: Richard W. Woodcock, Fredrick A. Shrank, Kevin S. McGrew, Nancy Mather Ages: 2 to 90+ years Grades: K to graduate school Administration Times: Varies Scores: AE, GE, instructional zones, developmental zones, RPI, PR, SS, W Score, T Score, NCE, Z score, and Stanine Purpose: The Woodcock-Johnson® III Normative Update (WJ III™ NU), which includes the Compuscore® and Profiles Program NU and the NU Technical Manual, provides updated 2005 norms based on 2005 U.S. Census projections. The Normative Update effectively renews and refines the validity of the following tests in the WJ III NU family of products: Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement, Forms A and B Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement, Form C/Brief Battery Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities Diagnostic Supplement to the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz®: Pruebas de aprovechamiento Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz: Pruebas de habilidades cognitivas Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz: Suplemento diagnóstico para las pruebas de habilidades cognitiva Features System Requirements Assessment Service Bulletins Features General Information The development of an intermediate set of norms prior to a major content revision of the battery is a significant advancement in individual cognitive and educational assessment. This unprecedented normative recalculation reflects changes in general population characteristics reported in the 2005 U.S. Census projections. Based on census data specifications, 8,782 of the original Woodcock-Johnson® III subjects were selected for inclusion in the WJ III Normative Update (WJ III™ NU). The WJ III Normative Update Kit includes the WJ III NU Compuscore and Profiles Program and the WJ III NU Technical Manual. The WJ III Test Books, Subject Response Books, and Examiner's Manuals are unchanged. Examiners can use their current Test Records because the age-equivalent and grade-equivalent scores listed for each test are intentionally provided as estimated scores only–they may vary slightly from the age- and grade-equivalent scores produced by WJ III NU Compuscore. The WJ III NU Compuscore includes a number of revised interpretive procedures and report options. The WJ III NU Technical Manual includes many of the necessary administration pieces from the Examiner's Manuals. Features The latest, most up to date norms Revised interpretive procedures Enhanced interpretive procedures and report options for WJ III and Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz® Brief assessment options System Requirements System Requirements Windows® Microsoft® 98 SE, NT, 2000, XP, Windows 7 Ultimate, Premium, and Professional and Vista operating systems,128 megabytes (MB) of available memory (RAM), 10 MB free hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, Windows compatible printer Mac® OS X Apple system software versions 10.2.x through 10.5.x, 128 megabytes (MB) of available memory (RAM), 15 MB free hard drive disk space, CD-ROM drive, Macintosh compatible printer Assessment Service Bulletins WJ III Assessment Service Bulletins The following series of Assessment Service Bulletins (ASBs) provide education professionals and clinicians supportive technical data, feature comparisons, and practical applications of the WJ III family of assessments. Each ASB features a different topic that, when reviewed carefully, will help professionals maximize the breadth of information and depth of diagnostic utility available through the WJ III assessment system. Print and read the bulletins as needed, and share with colleagues who use WJ III to diagnose learning disabilities, plan educational programs, provide psychometric training, conduct research, or more. ASB #1: Comparative Features of the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales This document includes five tables that compare the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities to the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale®—Third Edition, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children®—Third Edition, and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence™—Revised. These tables make comparisons along a number of different dimensions, including content features, administration features, interpretation features, technical features and more. ASB #2: WJ III Technical Abstract This abstract outlines the procedures followed in developing and validating the WJ III. Throughout the development and the design of associated research studies, test standards as outlined in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association [APA], and National Council on Measurement in Education [NCME], 1999) were followed carefully. This abstract contains a summary of information from the WJ III Technical Manual (McGrew & Woodcock, 2001). ASB #3: Use of the WJ III Discrepancy Procedures for Learning Disabilities Identification and Diagnosis Several discrepancy procedures are available with the WJ III. This ASB provides distinctions among the various discrepancy procedures and differentiates the purposes of each for the assessment of individuals with learning disabilities. ASB #4: Calculating Ability/Achievement Discrepancies Between the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Third Edition and the WJ III Tests of Achievement This bulletin outlines a step-by-step procedure for calculating ability/achievement discrepancies between the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children — Third Edition and the WJ III Tests of Achievement. It includes a reproducible worksheet for calculating these discrepancies. The procedure is based on correlations between the measures obtained from a broad sample of non-referred individuals. ASB #5: Comparative Features of Comprehensive Achievement Batteries This document compares the major comprehensive achievement batteries along a number of different dimensions. It includes seven tables that compare the following elements of the tests: select content features, administration procedures, levels and types of interpretation, technical characteristics, academic abilities measured according to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory, coverage of learning disability assessment areas found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the variation in individual task characteristics. ASB #6: Calculating Discrepancies Between the WJ III GIA-Std Score and Selected WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities Clusters This bulletin outlines a step-by-step procedure for calculating discrepancies between the Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III) General Intellectual Ability–Standard (GIA-Std) score and selected WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities clusters. It includes a reproducible worksheet for calculating these discrepancies. ASB #7: Specification of the Cognitive Processes Involved in the Performance on the WJ III This bulletin integrates information on the WJ III, Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory, and selected research in cognitive psychology. Support for a specification of the cognitive processes involved in performance on the WJ III is described in terms of CHC theory with selected classic and contemporary cognitive and neuroscience research. ASB #8: Educational Interventions Related to the WJ III Tests of Achievement This bulletin relates the WJ III Tests of Achievement to a number of evidence-based educational interventions. The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) narrow abilities and a description of the cognitive processes required for performance on each test provides the conceptual basis for the links between the WJ III and the suggested educational interventions. ASB #9: Woodcock-Johnson III/Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update Score Differences: What the User Can Expect and Why This bulletin describes the differences between the 2000 U.S. Census projections and the 2000 U.S. Census statistics and the impact this had on the WJ III norms. It further describes how recalculation of the WJ III norms based on the final 2000 U.S. Census statistics and the use of state-of-the-art bootstrap resampling procedures resulted in the WJ III Normative Update (WJ III NU), a more current and accurate comparison of an individual's scores to the U.S. population. Finally, it provides recommendations for best practice use of the WJ III/WJ III NU scores in tracking individuals' performance across time, allowing users of the WJ III to have great confidence in the accuracy of the scores from this instrument. ASB #10 Educational Interventions Related to the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and the Diagnostic Supplement to the Tests of Cognitive Abilities This bulletin relates the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III® COG)and the Woodcock-Johnson III Diagnostic Supplement to the Tests of Cognitive Abilities (DS) to educational interventions and accommodations. The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) broad and narrow abilities and descriptions of the cognitive processes required for performance on each test provide the theoretical and conceptual bases for suggested links between the WJ III COG and DS and a number of evidence-based instructional interventions. Research discussed in this bulletin suggests that the CHC abilities (and, by inference, their constituent cognitive processes) are related to specific academic abilities. Consequently, educational interventions or accommodations that address related cognitive limitations may be foundational to improved performance in academic areas where learning difficulties are manifested. ASB #11 Development, Interpretation, and Application of the W Score and the Relative Proficiency Index The purpose of this bulletin is to familiarize users of the WJ III with the development, interpretation, and application of the W score and the RPI. Specifically, this bulletin describes the levels of interpretive information available in the WJ III, explains the special characteristics and usefulness of the W scale, and describes how the RPI fits into the hierarchy of information used to interpret test results, including, the differences between the RPI and peer-comparison scores, the usefulness of the RPI in clarifying diagnostic profiles and designing interventions and considerations for using the RPI in view of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004, and the use of the RPI in clinical research. ASB #12 Use of the Woodcock-Johnson III NU Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Tests of Achievement with Canadian Populations This bulletin examines the use of the Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update (WJ III NU) Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Tests of Achievement with a random sample of 310 school-age Canadian students. Results were compared with a matched sample of U.S. subjects selected from the WJ III NU standardization sample using WJ III NU norms. While some minor score differences are reported across the two samples, the study findings generally support the use of the U.S.-based WJ III NU norms with Canadian school-age populations.


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It is a well known fact on nearly every planet that Kim Kardashian is hella vain and really, really appreciates herself. But although her case of egotism is an extreme one — and when combined with Kanye, borderline devastating — she's come … More
Happy Valentine's day week, almost! I know some of you are probably in relationships. That is fine. Some of you are probably not in relationships. That is also fine.
However I hope everyone IN THE WORLD has some manner of unrequited crush. If you do not have one, that is not fine, you should cultivate one immediately. If you need an incentive to do so, we're giving away a fantastic pack of perfume prizes. All you need to do is e-mail Jennifer [at] thegloss.com and write 600 to 800 words about your crush. And, of course, tell us your full name and mailing address (so we know where to send the prizes to) as well as the name you'd like the piece published under (if you like to keep it anonymous, we understand). We will post your submissions through Valentine's day week, and vote for the best one at the week. The winner will receive: More
Are men on Facebook hitting on you? This is how you handle them. I just thought you should know. Jen Dziura will demonstrate. Behold: More
Women get put in the friendzone all the time, they just don't go around shouting "I'm a nice girl, why do men only date bitches?" More
The relationship between Calvin Klein and ex-porn star/model Nick Gruber has always struck everyone at TheGloss as super weird. However, judging from his Page Six Magazine interview, you're about to think it's weirder.
I don't know what we're getting out of this item other than "The Onion tricked a paper into thinking they were an actual news source" but what the hell, let's snicker. Here, incidentally, is a picture that the People's Daily Online is using to evidence Kim Jong Un's sexiness: More
You know how sometimes you're out at, I don't know, a company picnic, and two men just break out into fisticuffs over you? Suddenly they just begin pummeling one another for your love? And they call one another rapscallions? And roustabouts?
I've never been to a company picnic. It seems like the kind of thing that might happen. With the right crudites, anything can happen.
Anyhow, wouldn't it be great if, instead of just using their tiny primitive fists, those men drew swords, or, hell, pearl handled revolvers and just began… oh. Then they'd die, probably.
Okay, we started this fun new column in a dark place, apparently. More
REJOICE! It turns out that Kevin Clash, the man who plays Elmo, did not sexually assault an underage boy after all! The accuser recanted! More
It is one of the banes of my existence that every time I see a movie or read a novel that details the life of Coco Chanel, they focus on one aspect. More
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HAH. More
Evil sex traffickers keep threatening the daughter of Liam Neeson's ass-kicking character, and he keeps killing them—this is the premise of the awesome Taken franchise. More
Buzzfeed claims he is about to be your new crush.
There is a scene in this behind-the-scenes clip from the upcoming Lindsay Lohan Lifetime movie Liz and Dick in which Lindsay says that Richard Burton was Elizabeth's Taylor's "one true love." And my first reaction was "yes! Look at how he is caressing her neck with diamonds!" More


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BlueStar, manufacturer of high-performance cooking equipment for the home, just announced that it has teamed with celebrity chef and cookbook author Marcus Samuelsson to launch an Inspired by Marcus line of ranges for the home chef. The new Inspired by Marcus line combines the power and high-performance that has become synonymous with BlueStar products, with unique cooking features and aesthetic sensibilities inspired by one of the world's leading chefs.
"This range embodies my vision for every home chef to have the best products with which to create their own culinary experiences," said Chef Samuelsson. Each model in the line features additional BTU power, giving the home chef more cooking power than has ever been available from BlueStar. "One of the reasons many restaurant entrees taste better than those cooked at home is due to the high heat of restaurant ranges. Searing quickly in high heat locks in the flavor and results in restaurant-level food. That's what's possible with this line," said Chef Samuelsson.
Now, for those of you unfamiliar with Marcus Samuelsson, here are his impressive credentials.
Chef Samuelsson is the youngest chef to ever receive two three-star ratings from The New York Times, the first of which was awarded to him after just three months as Executive Chef of Aquavit. He has received consecutive four-star ratings in Forbes' annual All-Star Eateries feature, named one of the 40 under 40 by Crain's, and was hailed one of The Great Chefs of America by the Culinary Institute of America. Also named by the World Economic Forum as one of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow, this Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised talent studied at the Culinary Institute in Goteborg, Sweden before apprenticing in Switzerland and Austria. Having made Aquavit a landmark in Scandinavian dining in New York City, Samuelsson has found additional success as the author of The Soul of a New Cuisine and New American Table. Most recently, Samuelsson was guest chef for the Obama Administration's first State Dinner honoring the Prime Minister of India.
Now to the range. With French Doors, rounded body sides, and slim, comfortable handles, the Inspired by Marcus line is striking in its contemporary design. The line features six unique color options handpicked by Chef Samuelsson and never before released by BlueStar - Infused Copper, Statuary Bronze, Ginger Spice, Enchanted Silver, Enchanted Sand, and Matte Black. Knobs and trims will be colored to match the selected range color and each range will come personalized with an Inspired by Marcus signature plate, with the customer's name inscribed.
Available in a 30" model or a 36" model, the range's cooktop can be custom configured. The standard 30" model will feature two 22,000 BTU burners, an 18,000 BTU burner, and a simmer burner. The standard 36" model will feature two 22,000 BTU burners, an 18,000 BTU burner, a simmer burner, and a choice between a 12" French top, griddle, or charbroiler. For the highest possible burner output on the Inspired by Marcus line, consumers can order a 36" cooktop with all burners - this configuration will include three 22,000 BTU burners, two 18,000 BTU burners, and one simmer burner. The extra large oven capacity on both model sizes provides ample space to cook more and larger meals simultaneously.
"It's exciting to collaborate on a product that reflects the performance requirements of one of the world's best-known and most discriminating chefs," said Mike Trapp, BlueStar's Vice President of Operations. "BlueStar has always delivered premium, professional-quality performance in a home kitchen environment, and with the Inspired by Marcus line, we feel we have upped the ante in the market for professional quality ranges."
The company is limiting production to 200 Inspired by Marcus ranges in 2010. Consumers can order their range through BlueStar dealers in the US and Canada - orders will start being taken on June 7th, 2010, with delivery 4-6 weeks later. To receive a reminder email when Inspired by Marcus are made available for order, consumers should sign up for BlueStar's email newsletter here. BlueStar
Posted in Announcements at April 22, 2010 10:15 AM
Appliancist is an online magazine about the latest Home Appliances & Home Appliance Trends. Covering High-End Luxury Kitchen & Bathroom Appliances.


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Home > News > ASU researcher gets grant
January 20th, 2005
A group of ASU researchers at the Biodesign Institute received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to explore innovative methods for generating hydrogen.
Neal Woodbury, director of the Center for BioOptical Nanotechnology at the Biodesign Institute, is the principal investigator on the ASU grant, which he says will explore new ways to efficiently convert water into hydrogen.
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Simple attraction: Researchers control protein release from nanoparticles without encapsulation: U of T Engineering discovery stands to improve reliability and fabrication process for treatments to conditions such as spinal cord damage and stroke May 28th, 2016
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More frequent Charlie Horses, but is it MS?
We all know that people with MS have cramps and Charlie horses but people who don't have MS have them too. I've heard that low levels of calcium or low magnesium or low
vitamin D or a combination of this trio being deficient can cause Charlie horses and cramps in the feet. I currently have very low levels of vitamin D. My appitite is poor and I eat like a bird. Could this be causing more spasticity? I tried to make a thread about this earlier but it never showed up on the board. I had a painful jab in the elbow like a knitting needle stuck me and then electric shocks ran along my arm to my hand. After 5 minutes it was gone.Show 'em who's got guts. Don't back down - Brian Wilson
******Surfer ED******
06-25-2011, 07:59 PM #2Registered Member
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Dehydration can cause muscle cramps also. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and not just tea, coffee or soda.
Maybe a nutritional drink like ensure could help you out with some of your dietary issues. My daughter has had health issues that made it nearly impossible to gain weight - she blended a whole banana with 1 ensure each day. She didn't gain weight but it did help her vitamin levels.
I don't eat much either - I keep baby food in the cupboard to help me get some food in my body. I just don't get hungry or have a big appetite. The smaller servings prevent too much waste. Its not delicious but it serves its purpose.
06-25-2011, 08:12 PM #3Registered Member
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I can tell a difference if it's not in my back or neck for some reason. Spasticity seems to hang on for hours or days, whereas a regular cramp is shorter lived. The other difference for me is, spasticity doesn't involve the entire muscle but can only be a part of it. It comes on more slowly and dissipates more slowly as well.
If you take a multivitamin, drink plenty of fluids, and aren't overworking, it might give you your answer. But what you're describing doesn't sound like a regular cramp that I've ever had.
I'm also finding out that what I thought was a strained muscle in the past was most likely the first signs of spasticity, because now they come on even without activity. And I'm pretty religious about my water and multivitamins these days, including the high dose vitamin D plus extra calcium.
06-27-2011, 11:35 AM #4Registered Member
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Sorry you are having trouble with spasms. I have had issues with spasticity that eventually led to a Baclofen pump.
I still get tight and at time break through spasms but it certainly has made a huge difference. My biggest problem now is that the spasms decided to begin above the area that my pump can help.
Low potassium also can increase muscle spasms. And I agree about being dehydrated. It doesn't take much and in the summer it is easier to become dehydrated.
What if you made slushies with fruit, yougurt, ice, or juice. You would add nutrition and water at the same time you were keeping yourself cool.
And I also read somewhere about putting a bar of ivory soap in the bottom of the bed- without the wrapper. I was skeptical but willing to try it. And it seemed to help.
I have no idea why and don't really care as long as I get the same results!
All of my vitamin levels are fine, i drink 8-10 glasses of water per day, take vitamin supplements even tho my levels tested fine and i get charlie horses frequently in my calves & feet constantly. Didn't have them before all this started so i don't know if they're related or not. Either way, i empathize with you! They hurt!"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference" Reinhold Niebuhr


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Madwell makes ideas. Ideas make things. Shop the things at THINGMADE.
Honestly, Burt's Bees' Facebook fans scare us a little. They're very passionate about those magical little tubes of beeswax lip balm, and there are over a million of them. So we were relieved when we debuted Hydration Wonderland, a joint Facebook application with our friends at Vita Coco, and those million+ fans had fun, shared it with friends and even told us how much they liked it.
The heart of Hydration Wonderland was a game called "The Icebreaker," where users removed squares of "ice" from an image of the day and were rewarded with a nifty hydration tip or a free sample of Burt's Bees and Vita Coco products. With over a million potential users playing the game at once, sometimes clicking on the same square, the app was an enjoyable technical challenge. To our knowledge, it was the first Facebook app hosted on two brand pages simultaneously, built on Amazon's brand-new Dynamo Database system – cross-pollinating fans and encouraging deep engagement nationally, among both brands' most desirable markets and target demographics.
We also did loads of work making Hydration Wonderland – an unreal place where you can ski from a snowy mountain to a Brazilian beach – come to life through custom illustrations, labor-intensive Photoshop and 3D work, and a custom prize shipper box mimicking coconut crates that brought the experience into the real world.
The typical user visted 3.76 pages and on average spent 3:02 exploring. 85.97% of users stayed in the app, and 46.42% played more than once.


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We live in an apartment in which there was obviously a flood in the kitchen before we moved in, causing the vinyl asbestos tiles to completely come loose from the wood subflooring. My husband promised me when we moved in, in 1995 that he would replace the floor. Now the tiles are beginning to crumble and his way of improving the floor is to buy those cheap flat rugs to cover the existing floor. You cannot imagine how disgusting they really are. They are horrible because they are crumbling and they leave piles of grey dust where the backing is constantly piecing off them. He now tells me that since it would be too dangerous to move the tiles, we have to leave the floor alone and just "live with it". He also cites the fact that since we still have the original dishwasher, if we put in a new floor and then the dishwashwer needs to be replaced, we will have to rip up the floor to get the old washer out and put a new one in. Finally, if I really nag him, he tells me to go buy a strip of lineoleum and he will nail it down over only the central portion of the floor (not under the stove or refrigerator). Our kitchen is a galley type, 13 ft. long and 4 ft. wide one. I believe I have displayed the patience of a saint but I have had it.
Please help! I am totally floored...
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An image of a tattoo on the chest of a breast cancer survivor is going viral on Facebook - because the social networking giant apparently kept removing it.
The shot, which shows the torso of a woman who has had a double mastectomy and an elaborate tattoo across her chest, is currently posted on the page for Custom Tattoo Design.
Accompanying text reads: "Facebook keeps removing the post as an offensive photo, due to nudity. However, we feel this woman is both brave and strong, so we're going to post it anyway and ask for your awareness and support."
The tattoo is featured on the Facebook page for Custom Tattoo Design
The image, taken from the book Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo, had been shared over 110,000 times at time of press.
More than 16,000 people have left comments, with the majority in favour, although some back Facebook's policy on nudity, stating "rules are rules".
Others praise the image for being "courageous and beautiful" and accuse Facebook of censoring breast cancer awareness.
Lee Roller, CEO of Canada-based Custom Tattoo Design told Huffington Post UK: "Facebook originally banned it from two other sites so when the image came to me I wanted to get the word out as fast as I could.
"We've had dozens of women contact us regarding having us design these tattoos and we will be doing several in the weeks to come. It's exciting for us as a company to back something this strong and we feel its taking two very different lifestyles and pulling them together."
Roller tells us he has since been contacted by Facebook and has been informed the image will not be removed again, but he adds some independent Facebook users have asked for it to be taken down.
"I have firmly let them know we will not remove the photo and in most cases I have removed these individuals from our site."
The terms governing nudity and pornography on Facebook currently read: "Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved. We also impose limitations on the display of nudity. We aspire to respect people's right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo's David or family photos of a child breastfeeding."
(Facebook has repeatedly come under fire for removing pictures of breastfeeding mothers, citing a violation of terms where photos feature a fully-exposed breast.)
In November last year Facebook flunked an "alertness" test run by web magazine Theories of the Deep Understanding of Things.
This image was removed and then reinstated from the Facebook page for Theories of the Deep Understanding of Things
The group posted an image of a blonde woman in a bathtub, which was swiftly taken down, after moderators apparently confused her elbows for her nipples.
An apology was forthcoming and the picture was eventually reinstated.
In 2011 images from photographer Michael Colanero's 'Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project' were removed from the site. (You can see the banned images here.)
The gallery featured photographs of the painted breasts of 25 post-mastectomy breast cancer survivors and was deemed "pornographic".
Colanero told Huffington Post he was "devastated" over the images' removal and the negative effects being labelled "pornographic" would have on cancer survivors.
He added: "Not a single one of our images have been returned. At one point or another every image of our survivors has been removed - some multiple times."
He also points out the existence of a Facebook group numbering some near 600 members, entitled 'Stop Facebook deleting our cancer photos in our cancer groups'.
It was set up by breast cancer patient Melissa Tullett, who had her account deactivated after posting a picture of her reconstructed breast on her wall.
The Huffington Post UK has made enquiries with Facebook about this incident and awaits a response.
Pay attention to the number of legs to understand this one.
You've GOT to be careful about how you hold your beer.
This probably happens every five minutes here.
And just think, this pair will never snag!
He's a swimmer, so.
This could have been prevented if she was wearing pants.
Maybe they should have gone with the black leather interior instead.
Another cute Facebook photo ruined.
Basically just never choose to sit in front for a picture.
So... yeah.
"...This party just got really crazy."
This is why Myspace pictures are so dangerous.
This had to be planned, right?
Regardless of the accident in this picture, why did this woman accept this pose?
Marilyn Monroe could have never seen this coming.
This slideshow is basically a PSA for pants.