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Hungarian GP 2007
Friday Press Conference
TEAM PRINCIPALS: Flavio BRIATORE (RENAULT), Christian HORNER (RED BULL), Colin KOLLES (SPYKER), Aguri SUZUKI (SUPER AGURI)
Q: A question to all of you: the 2008 calendar has been released; what are your feelings about it and the lack of a US Grand Prix?
Aguri SUZUKI: It's OK because our sponsor is not the United States and is very important in the Asian market or something like that. But Formula One is very important in the United States because it is a World Championship of Formula One. But otherwise the rest of the calendar is OK.
Colin KOLLES: We are basically happy with the calendar. It's unfortunate that there isn't a race in the USA but it isn't up to us.
Flavio BRIATORE: Very happy. I believe that if you have the USA, we need a proper Grand Prix. Sure, that is not Indianapolis. The logistics are not great. If we do something in the future in America, I believe in doing it in the right place with the right advertising, the right commitment from everybody and make sure people know we're there.
Christian HORNER: It's disappointing to lose a US race. It's an important race for us. For Red Bull it's our biggest market, so hopefully it won't be too long before it's back on the calendar. Otherwise the new calendar looks good with Singapore, with the new Valencia street race. It's going to be an exciting season.
Q: Aguri, how has your team developed over the last year; has it grown, what has happened with the team?
Suzuki: Of course, but it depends on the budget. So I am trying very hard and my staff is working very hard as well and just now I am making plans for next year. Of course, the team has to grow. It's very difficult to say how much it has grown but everyone has been working very hard.
Q: Is the intention to build your own car for next year?
Suzuki: Of course. Yes.
Q: Have you everything in place for that?
Suzuki: Yeah, sure.
Q: What about the drivers? The performance seems to be a little bit up and down.
Suzuki: Yeah, because Formula One is very difficult and we are a very small team. We try to get a good result at every race but it's very difficult, many very strong competitors, all trying very hard. If something happened in Spain or Canada, which was a very tough race, or something like that, we can get some points or a good result, but if it's a normal race, it's very difficult.
Q: Colin, we've seen three drivers in one of your cars over the last three races; just give us a rundown how that happened?
Kolles: Well, obviously this will be the last one because we are not allowed to make any more changes as far as I know. Our young driver programme will probably be finished with Sakon. Well, the situation with Christijan was clearly stated, there's nothing more to say about it. We couldn't find a replacement that quickly, so we put Markus in the car for his home race, it was his home race. We reached quite high publicity, good PR and we will finish the season with Sakon.
Q: Presumably what you're waiting for are the future developments on the car for Turkey.
Kolles: We will have this so-called B-spec car in Turkey. It's very difficult to have it tested because it's really very tightly scheduled. We tested the rear end and the gearbox at Silverstone last week and we had no issues.
Q: So you're quite hopeful of... how much of a step forward?
Kolles: I don't know. Let's be surprised.
Q: Flavio, the team seemed to have taken a leap forward in terms of performance from what we've seen so far today.
Briatore: I'm not sure what you mean. It's nothing, today. It's Friday. Every Friday everybody does a different programme, testing and to be competitive on Friday doesn't necessarily mean to be good on Saturday and Sunday. We're working on the car, we have new pieces. I believe we've done a little step but I don't believe we are strong enough to be finishing close to the podium. If you count to four, the podium is gone already.
Q: What do you think you can achieve in the second half of the season or are you looking forward to 2008 already?
Briatore: First we need to look at 2007. Sure our performance is not what we expect. Sure it's not where we want to be in 2007. But you know the car was late, everything was late - it's a long story. The fact is that we hope to be fighting with BMW at the end of the season. We have to be realistic because for us McLaren and Ferrari are really really too far ahead, and to be what we hoped to be at the start of the season. At the beginning of the season it was really a disaster and little by little we have put the pieces together and the team is performing better etc. etc. And we have some aerodynamic pieces here and we have a big step in Monza and from Monza we have another step in Spa. We are still working to be competitive, to finish the season well before we start thinking about... talking about 2008. We are doing our best to look good between now and the end of the season.
Q: Christian, ten points at the Nurburgring. I'm sure that put a smile on the team's face...
Horner: Nurburgring was a great weekend for us. We had a very good Sunday afternoon but one of the most encouraging factors of all was Mark's qualifying performance on Saturday, third row of the grid. Both the drivers used their heads, the team made the right calls at the right time and it was great to be on the podium and get Renault's first podium of the year.
Briatore: I won't forget this Sunday, good for you, good for the engine too!
Q: And the reliability was good too. We seem to have been talking about the reliability all year so far.
Horner: Unfortunately our reliability record has been pretty poor this year. I think we've only achieved just over 50 percent reliability which is disappointing. But the car's potential has been clear. We have qualified in the top ten in eight out of ten races. The potential has clearly been there but we haven't been able to capitalise on that potential but the whole team's working very hard to get on top of the issues and hopefully, following a good test in Jerez, two reliable cars in Nurburgring, hopefully we can have a good reliable run this weekend and get somewhere near the points.
Q: (Peter Farkas - Auto Motor) A questions for all of you. Ron Dennis said in his statement two days ago that whistle blowing should be encouraged in Formula One. What do you think of that?
Kolles: I think we are not in a position to comment.
Suzuki: Yeah, I think so too.
Kolles: It is not our problem.
Horner: It's a difficult one. Formula One is a competitive business, people move from team to team and obviously when they move from team to team they take ideas and knowledge with them in their head.
Briatore: Yes.
Horner: But it is supposed to be in their head, not on pieces of paper. I don't have any drawings of any Renaults.
Briatore: Are you sure? (laughter)
Q: (Anne Giuntini - L'Equipe) To Flavio and Christian, sorry for the others. It was said that some other teams attended the last world council meeting. Were you there at the world council as observers? And in the court of appeal there could be some observers. Would you be there?
Briatore: We already had somebody in Paris last time. We have our lawyer to assist the meeting in Paris in the world council. Already we have somebody there.
Q: (Anne Giuntini - L'Equipe) And will you be in the court of appeal as well?
Briatore: Absolutely, of course.
Q: (Anne Guintini - L'Equipe) Why is it interesting for you to be there?
Briatore: Because I am in Formula One like McLaren and Ferrari. This issue about this story involves everybody sooner or later and I want to know exactly what is going on because I think it is part of our job. If you see the newspapers in the last two months we are not talking about which drivers won the race, lost the race... The spy story, if you want, was predominating everything and because we are part of this business we demand to know exactly what is going on because it is probably damaging everybody a little bit including me, including everybody. Stuff like this is not good for the sponsors, it is not good for anybody. We hope we find a final step and we hope something happens. I think that is the way we stop talking about that.
Horner: We didn't have anybody in Paris last week and we won't have at the appeal. The matter doesn't concern our team, nor any employees of our team. We trust in the governing body to make the right decisions, so we won't be present.
Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) A question for all of you. Are your drivers allowed to publicly criticise your teams and if they are not and they do, do you have a policy to deal with that?
Kolles: This is actually confidential information.
Kolles: Exactly.
Horner: From a Red Bull point of view, our drivers have reasonable freedom of speech. We have got an Australian and a Scottish guy who are both fairly vocal. Yes, they have freedom of speech but obviously it is not very wise to criticise you employer too often. They are both sensible guys and they don't really have any restrictions.
Briatore: Renault is not a dictator. If somebody is not happy, they criticise the team. Sometimes the team is not doing a good job and has not really done a great job and I think the driver has the right to complain like I have the right to complain if the driver is not doing his job. But I think it works in both ways. At the beginning of the season our driver said our car was not competitive and I think the driver is right. The media is very important, the public is very important and I never defend the driver if he makes a mistake and I never defend the team if it is not performing well. It's as simple as that.
Suzuki: Yeah, our team is nothing because it is a very small team and last year it was a very bad car. So the driver understands that it is a team that is not performing very well. But still, now our team is growing up but I don't think our team is something.
Q: (Sal Zanca - Associated Press) A question for all four. Did you agree or disagree with Ron Dennis when he said Ferrari had an illegal advantage in the opening race?
Suzuki: We don't know, it is not our decision. So we don't say anything...
Kolles: We don't have the seven hundred pages, you know?
Briatore: I think the floor changed after the race. Looked like it was not right in the first place.
Horner: Obviously there was an issue with it. There was a clarification that came out from the FIA after Australia but obviously the car passed scrutineering and was deemed legal. So after that the clarification came out about the floors and I think Ferrari weren't the only team that had to make adjustments.
Q: (Joe Saward - Grand Prix Special) The question of intrigue, and whether it is good or bad for the sport. There are a lot of people who think intrigue is good for the sport. Where is the limit between what is good and what is bad?
Kolles: You know the limits, most of the time, after you try the limits. It is very difficult to say for me. I don't know.
Suzuki: Me too.
Horner: I'll let Flavio answer first. I'll listen to what he says.
Briatore: Depending on what you are looking for, and what is the rule, you go as closely to the rule as possible and this is the limit. After that, when we are talking about something else, it is the way somebody is operating. Some teams are operating some ways and some teams are operating different ways, there is no limit.
Q: (Joe Saward - Grand Prix Special) The point is that you have said that intrigue that is bad for the sport. I would argue that it is good for the sport but there is a point that it turns bad. At what point does it turn bad? Is it when it goes to court?
Horner: I'll try and answer Joe's question. I think intrigue is a part of Formula One, it always has been and I think it has to fundamentally remain a sport. Formula One is obviously a glamorous sport and there is a degree of, you know, Hollywood involved in the business. But it should stop short of ending up in the courtroom, a civil courtroom with a kind of industrial espionage type scenario that currently exists between two teams. So I think intrigue in Formula One, with drivers, with teams, will always exist and can be healthy for it.
Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) What are the chances that Giancarlo Fisichella will be driving for the team next season?
Briatore: I have never bet on anything in my life, so I'm not betting about Fisichella. I don't know.
Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) It is your decision, isn't it?
Briatore: Yes. Today I don't know. It is your decision for something but today I have not decided yet. I have three or four races to see what is going on. We started in a difficult way with a difficult car but I wanted to see with the performance of Heikki as well and then I try to choose the best for my team in the future. At this moment I am thinking and I believe I will decide in September around Monza time, I don't want to decide before. I have the option until September, I don't want to really decide before. It is only the result that makes me decide yes or no in the future.


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Artist Alley
Check out some of great artists you will see at Anime Conji's Artist Alley!
– – –
AA registration will cost $60, and includes the following- 1/2 of a 6 ft table, one chair, and one badge. Please note that Linens and Pipe & Drape are not provided by the convention.
Those that have pre-registered their badge can purchase the AA add-on for $30, which will include 1/2 of a 6 ft table and one chair. Due to space constraints, there is to be only 1 artist and 1 assistant per Artist Alley space . AA assistant badge add on is $20.
Artist Alley applications will close on April 25th, 2018. If accepted, Payment and signed contracts are due no later than May 20th, 2018. Please email any questions to firstname.lastname@example.com.
All Artists and Vendors must have the following to sell at Anime Conji. You will need to apply for your permits once you are approved by the Anime Conji Vendor/Artist Alley Coordinator.
1. California State Form BT-410-D Swap Meets, Flea Markets, Or Special Events Certification.
2. Permanent or Temporary California Seller's Permit
All dealers must fill out and sign the "BT-410-D Swap Meets, Flea Markets, Or Special Events Certification" form. On this form, please note "Section 3, STATUS." If you hold a California State Board of Equalization Seller's Permit, have a Seller's Permit, check that box and enter your account number in the space provided. If you do not have a Seller's Permit, and are not selling either Exempt Property, or your sales are not exempt Occasional Sales, then you must fill out the Temporary Seller's Permit. If you collect California Sales Tax, you will need to submit payment with appropriate attached forms. Additional copies of all forms may be found at http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/staxformsn.htm
If you have any questions about this regard, contact your local office of the California State Board of Equalization (as listed in the front of your White Pages) or the main office at: State Board of Equalization, Post Office Box 942879, Sacramento, CA 94279 – Telephone: (800) 400-7115
Updated: May 27, 2018

subset: commoncrawl


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We have limitations. We require better training and an increase in our forces. But in turn, we are conscious of the global economic crisis and our own national reality. The only path to travel is through interoperability in missions, inter-agency cooperation, and a closer working relationship with our citizenry. Each in its own way contributes to meeting our needs.
We reiterate that the navy of the Nicaraguan Army, structured and appropriate to the economic realities of our country in these times of crisis, has been able to maintain and meet operational and strategic goals throughout its jurisdictional area.
Our actions will continue to address achievment of effective force growth combined with the means and the strengthening of patrol plans to combat emerging threats against the stability of the Central American region.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Click on the "Google Translate" button under the photo box and choose the language into which you would like the section translated.


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Challenge taps GrabCAD's 2 million members to rethink the research satellite
A growing number of aerospace companies are embracing 3D printing as they transform how they prototype and manufacture.
To support innovation in aerospace engineering, Stratasys, a global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, and its subsidiary MakerBot, announced the CubeSat Challenge on GrabCAD, home to a community of mechanical engineers.
The CubeSat Challenge invites the GrabCAD community to use 3D printing to rethink the CubeSat, a standard small research satellite built by universities, aerospace startups and independent makers around the world.


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Charlie and Alison have been drawing patterns on coordinate grids. Can you picture where the patterns lead?
Can you locate the lost giraffe? Input coordinates to help you
search and find the giraffe in the fewest guesses.
A tilted square is a square with no horizontal sides. Can you
devise a general instruction for the construction of a square when
you are given just one of its sides?


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Bleecker Slim Fit Jeans
Colour:saco indigo
Sorry, couldn't add to bag...
We only have limited stock
We're reducing the environmental and social impact of production by crafting cutting-edge clothes from recycled materials.
These slim fit jeans with faded detailing are crafted from recycled cotton and fuse style with sustainable sourcing of materials.
• Recycled stretch cotton denim
• Fading at thighs, knees and back
• Zip with button closure
• Contrast stitching on buttonhole
• Five-pocket styling
• Signature tape on coin pocket
• Tommy Hilfiger branded button
• Tommy Hilfiger logo patch on waistline
• Tommy Hilfiger flag embroidery on back pocket
Shape & fit
• Slim fit
• Our model is 1.86m and wears size 32/34
Composition & care
• 90% recycled cotton, 8% polyester, 2% elastane
• 11oz denim
Style #: MW0MW08106
- • Standard delivery is usually within 2-3 working days
- • Returns are always free
- • Perfumes can only be shipped with standard delivery
- • Visit our customer services section for more information regarding payment methods or contact our customer service team for further questions.


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Sunday, September 13, 2015
Review: Night Owls by Jenn Bennett
Alternate Title: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart
Author: Jenn Bennett
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published Date: 1 October 2015
Buy: Amazon | The Book Depository | Dymocks Australia
I received this book through NetGalley from Simon & Schuster (Australia) for review.
Feeling alive is always worth the risk.
Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco's night bus—turns Beatrix's world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive...and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists.
But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is. (summary from Goodreads)
Night Owls is a great emotional contemporary full of weird and wonderful characters - but I just can't help feeling it was missing something.
I have a lot of love for Bennett's characters. They're kind of brilliant in that each of them are quite unique in some sort of stand out way. Beatrix is determined in everything she does and her interest in anatomical drawing was creepily fascinating. This isn't a talent I've experienced in a book before, and Bennett writes it in a way that is captivating and moving. Jack's art is equally beautiful and meaningful. They're both kind of perfectly suited to each other and their relationship is lovely. It starts a little fast. I get instant connections, which these two absolutely had, but after only one meeting they can't stop thinking about each other and Jack's declarations come on a little too strong and quick for my comfort. But then it slows down and builds nicely, which was much more enjoyable. Bennett's secondary characters are also memorable, but I hesitate to go into detail. Some of them offer elements to the story that shouldn't be spoiled. Read Night Owls and learn about and love them for yourself!
The story of Night Owls is everything I should love. It's certainly got all of the contemporary YA makings - new romance, struggles with questions of who they are and what they want to do, strained family relationships. Truly the story is charming, and Jack's family life adds a depth I wasn't expecting. I would have liked more of Jack and his family, actually. As Night Owls is entirely from Beatrix's point of view, we only get a glimpse into his world and I think some potential for this story to be just a little more is missed. The thing is, I built up my own expectations of this book to be something a bit different than what it is, and so while I really liked Night Owls, I can't help but feel like I wanted more. More of what though I'm having trouble defining. I guess more fun, more of that alive feeling and risk the tagline alludes to. The midnight rides and city rooftops are not that prevalent. Neither are the excitement and danger of Jack's graffiti. The story is very enmeshed in Beatrix, which isn't a bad thing at all, but I'm left with a feeling that Bennett was building to something that just never came to par.
Night Owls is an enjoyable story with delightful characters, but it simply left me wanting.
Posted by Baggins at 9:30 PM
Tags: 3 stars, ARC, contemporary, Jenn Bennett, netgalley, Night Owls, review, Simon & Schuster, ya
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Resources & Referrals
This section compiles information that might be of service... some of our favorite resources. Whether it's web sites, books, videos, services or people, you can connect to something useful for you.
To start you off, here is an excerpt of a Fortune Magazine interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt sharing the best advice he ever got. In this clip, Schmidt captures an essential truth:
"The one thing that people are never good at is seeing themselves
as others see them. A coach really, really helps."


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'Even in our wildest dreams we didn't think we could win 4-0'
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said his side never thought of routing a quality team like India 4-0 in the just-concluded ODI series and felt the unexpected triumph would be a confidence booster for the Black Caps in the two-match Test series beginning Thursday.
"Even in our wildest dreams we didn't think we could win 4-0 against such a quality side," a fired-up Hesson said as New Zealand turned their sights towards the Tests series.
"We know it's a different format (Tests), and there'll be a few new guys, but we'll definitely take some confidence into the Tests," he said.
The first Test starts in Auckland next Thursday while the second will be played here from February 14-18.
'It was as good as it gets from a coach's point of view'
The gulf between the two sides on the ODI rankings table may be vast but New Zealand showed it mattered little as they wrapped up the series with an emphatic 87-run victory in the fifth and final match in Wellington on Friday.
After the ODI series, India dropped from first to second in the ICC rankings while New Zealand gained a spot from eighth to seventh.
It is a similar margin at Test level where India are number two with New Zealand in eighth place, but Hesson said his players proved in the ODIs that was no barrier.
"It's all very well having plans but you need quality players to execute them and we certainly saw that. It was as good as it gets really from a coach's point of view," he said.
Image: Mike Hesson
Photographs: Getty Images
'What's important is to have a positive intent'
A number of different players stood up throughout the series at key times.
"At times we bowled really well but at the same time we have to back ourselves to play the shots, the kind of cricket, that we're known for," he said.
"You may lose a few games but it's also important to see the kind of attitude you bring and try to play aggressive cricket. Even if you get out you get out. What's important is to have a positive intent right from the start."
Image: Team New Zealand celebrates the fall of an Indian wicket
Photographs: Getty Images


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By Tom Burch and Mary Lou Marzian
Representatives from Jewish Hospital, University Hospital and the University of Louisville have been reassuring patients that reproductive health services will not change after the merger with a Catholic medical institution, St. Mary's Healthcare. Their reassurances have not worked. Several hundred people have signed a statement opposing the move.
We think they have a right to be worried. St. Mary's is a division of Catholic Health Initiatives, which means the hospital will soon be playing by different rules. The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services govern Catholic-owned or affiliated institutions, including hospitals, and they follow a different calculus for patients' treatment.
According to Michael Rowan, executive vice president of Catholic Health Initiatives, the merger "will mean greater access to care." In reality, the directives will assure women less access to reproductive health care.
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Abortion will be prohibited, as well as contraception and medically indicated treatments for potentially dangerous ectopic pregnancies. Both men and women will be dismayed to see their advance medical directives are not respected in a Catholic hospital.
Yet an advertisement released by the heads of the three hospitals assured readers "the merger partners are committed to expanding, not limiting, services," including tubal ligations performed at the time of Caesarean sections. We applaud their intentions, but we fear they may be somewhat naive. Anyone who has been paying attention to similar mergers across the country has to ask, what will happen to the creative solutions for providing ERD-banned services when the local bishop doesn't like what he sees?
At St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Sister Margaret McBride lost her job for approving abortion care that saved a woman's life. Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted had her removed. Do we want local hospital workers to obey an authority that puts anything above the life of the patient?
Most Catholics would say no. Though the bishops often claim the directives represent the views of all Catholics, a poll found that 65 percent of American Catholic voters believe that hospitals and clinics that take taxpayer dollars should not be allowed to refuse to provide procedures or medications based on religious beliefs.
This comes as no surprise when one considers that 98 percent of Catholic women have used a birth control method the bishops find objectionable. Catholics utilize family planning and abortion care at the same rate as do other American women. The bishops have simply been unable to convince the faithful to adopt their hard-line stance against comprehensive reproductive health care. Their new tactic is to enforce in hospitals what they couldn't do from the pulpit — on Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
We hope that it doesn't take a life-or-death situation before hospital administrators realize that business as usual and complying with the ERDs are mutually exclusive. Women should never have to question their doctor's allegiance, and providers should not have to worry that they will be dismissed for giving comprehensive care. As Catholic lawmakers, we second the apprehensions of both patients and doctors and look forward to the details of a plan that will keep a full range of reproductive health care for all citizens.
Rep. Thomas J. Burch and Rep. Mary Lou Marzian are Democrats from Louisville, and both are Catholics.


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Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering
The Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering (Farmer to Farmer) is a network of 34 farm organizations from throughout the United States that endorsed the Farmer Declaration on Genetic Engineering released in December 1999. Farmer to Farmer seeks to build a farmer driven campaign focused on the risks of genetic engineering in agriculture and to provide a national forum for farmer action on agricultural biotechnology issues.
Farmer to Farmer accomplishes these goals by:
Publishing educational materials and conducting workshops on the agronomic,
economic and legal liabilities that genetic engineering poses for family
farmers and rural communities,
Farmer to Farmer is working with farm, environmental and consumer groups on campaigns to:
Establish strict economic, environmental and public health standards
prior to commercialization of genetically engineered wheat,
For years the biotechnology industry has trumpeted that it will feed the world, promising that its genetically engineered crops will produce higher yields.
That promise has proven to be empty, according to Failure to Yield, a report by UCS expert Doug Gurian-Sherman released in March 2009. Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields.
Genetic Engineering News
Big Ag has 'Troubling' Control Over Seed Market, Report Finds (12.29.09
- New West)
U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis Criticizes Agribusiness-Backed Global Harvest Initative's Failed Ideas to Feed the World (09.22.09) The September 22 Global Harvest Initiative Symposium on Agriculture at a Crossroads relied heavily on panelists who have consistently pushed unproven biotechnologies that have been linked to farmers loss of land, suicides and environmental contamination, and free trade in agriculture as the solutions to feeding the world.
U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis Criticizes Clinton/Vilsack Tour of Kenyan Pro-Biotech Institute (08.04.09) - The Working Group believes a new approach to agriculture research is needed instead of the broken status quo that emphasizes biotechnology and industrial agriculture models.
NFFC Signs Onto Trinational Statement Against Monsanto GM Wheat (06.01.09) - In response to a call from industry groups advocating for commercialization of genetically engineered wheat, NFFC signed onto a statement with groups from Canada and Australia reminding Monsanto consumers have already rejected GM wheat. Read the full counter statement here.
U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis Urges G8 to Reject Failed Green Revolution Policies for Africa (04.16.09) - The U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis urged Agricultural Ministers at the G8 meeting in Treviso, Italy, to reject the approach of S. 384, the Global Food Security Act. Instead, the G8 should listen to the recommendations of the recent UN/World Bank-backed report recommending more agro-ecological practices as the best way to solve global hunger.
U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis Criticizes Senate Hearing on Global Food Crisis (03.26.09) - The U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis expressed deep disappointment with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Alleviating Global Hunger: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Leadership" held on March 24. The hearing relied primarily on testimonies from industrial agriculture and genetic engineering apologists.
February 2, 2008: New Rules Needed for Future GE rice research? A critique of the USDA's proposed new rules for GE rice oversight (Southwest FARMPRESS)


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What: Shares of The Container Store (NYSE:TCS) jumped 25.2% last month according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
So what: There was no significant fundamental news out on The Container Store during February. Instead, the jump in the stock price seemed to be driven by a recovery in the S&P 500, which bounced off a 22-month low at 1,829, and a short squeeze.
The Container Store was one of several battered stocks to jump sharply along with the recovery in the broad market as investor fears of a recession were allayed. The stock is still down close to 90% from its post-IPO high, however, as it has failed to live up to high-priced growth expectations.
Short-sellers have raided the stock with 29% of the float sold short as of the end of January, and the stock's bounce-back likely caused many shorts to cover their bets, forcing a squeeze as shorts rushed in to buy back shares.
Now what: The Container Store's most recent earnings report was characteristically ugly as same-store sales grew just 0.5%, and the company reported a per-share loss of $0.03 against the analyst consensus of a $0.05 profit. It projected full-year earnings of just $0.10-$0.13 per share, and shares fell 42% on the news as investors seemed to give up hope on the company delivering meaningful profits.
Considering the generally weak retail results over the holiday season, I wouldn't expect the storage-themed retailer's performance to be particularly strong. Investors may be heartened by the recent bounce in the stock price, but it shouldn't change anyone's thesis. The long-term outlook for The Container Store looks questionable at best.
Jeremy Bowman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends The Container Store Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Greetings blogosphere!
Did you miss me?
I got caught up in spending time with family and really cut back my running for the last couple of months, so I stopped updating the blog. I seem to be back now, however.
Lots to catch up on but I'll spread that out over the next few posts.
Reasons I'm back:
- I managed to run my traditional Boxing Day marathon earlier this week. It half killed me as I hadn't been running enough to really be able to do it easily. Lesson learned.
- I just upgraded my Apple Watch (original) to the Apple Watch Series 2 Nike+ version… and it is lovely.
Today's run was my first with the new watch and it worked great.
I had a music playlist on the watch and connected my Bluetooth headset to it to get some good sounds for my run.
I then used the built-in Nike+ application to record my run…and I left my cell phone at home!
The Nike+ app (Nike+ Run Club) is really well executed, easy to read, use and it gives good feedback through the headphones, too.
As for the gps tracking on the new watch, well it was within 0.01 of the distance that is usually measured by my iPhone, so I'm going to call that accurate. Given that the iPhone number can vary by more than that on any one run, I'm thinking this is in the right range. It was old to see the route instantly on my watch when I completed. For some reason it hasn't picked up my heart rate info from the Apple Watch so I'll have to investigate that.
The watch looks cool (now I sound old) and I went with the model that has the light watch and strap with Volt colored inset holes on the strap.
It goes well with my shorts and belly in this shot. Yeah, I'm going to need to work on that a little. 🙂
I'm quite looking forward to giving some updates so I won't blow it all on this first post. Have fun out there and enjoy your New Year training routines.


text: Blue Mountain Inc. is in the process of flying seven million acres of LiDAR. This will cover areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Once flying is completed, we will have on demand 2 ft. contours for your project needs. Please contact us if you have a project area you are interested in.


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There's a Christmas in July Sale going on in my Etsy shop!
10% off everything that is $10.00 and over!
Just put in the coupon code CIJULY at checkout.
You can find books...
things for the home...
Offer good through 7/25/13
If you don't find anything in my shop, just put CIJ in the Etsy search box and find loads of sales in other shops.
You can also head over to The Vintage Village to find even more sales!


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Healthcare IT Services
Your Healthcare IT is Worthless without World Class Compliance Safeguards
Congratulations, you operate in one of the most heavily regulated industries… the US healthcare industry.
Because of HIPAA, few industries are more minutely observed, onerously burdened, and heavily punished by regulatory demands.
And with cyber-attacks at an all-time high and all over the news, that means one thing: Your IT systems and support have almost zero value unless they are coupled with world-class compliance safeguards.
You must insist on an IT partner that puts compliance FIRST rather than as an "oh, by the way, we do that too…"
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Yes, we have vast experience with healthcare EHR and practice management software, like Allscripts™, eClinicalworks, and others. And, yes, we've partnered with numerous practitioners both small, medium and large. So, when it comes to the "nuts and bolts" of your IT, we know our stuff.
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Schedule Your Free IT Strategy Session Today!
When you're running a medical practice of any sort, you rely on technology and just expect it to be there supporting your business. Regardless of your specialty, you need to be confident that your IT support team:
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While it is true that a timeshare contract is a binding legal document, it is often mistakenly thought that such a contract cannot only be cancelled. In fact, most timeshare companies maintain that their contracts are non – cancellable. This misconception is perpetuated by timeshare companies and user groups that are funded, maintained and controlled by the timeshare industry.
The FHA 203k loan program provides home buyers the opportunity to buy and fix up a property, without exhausting their personal savings.
(TheNicheReport.com) -- Economic recoveries tend to begin when certain indicators reach their lowest point. This point is often referred to as a bottom by many investors, and it is like a Holy Grail of real estate investment. In the past, opportunistic real estate investors waited to strike at that right moment when a bottom was clearly manifest and clear signs of upward recovery were evident. In essence, this is the proverbial "buy low, sell high" moment of oversimplified investment philosophies.
Real estate investors in the United States have waited long enough for a housing bottom, and after many false alarms a true bottom seems to have arrived in the form of all-time low figures of housing starts and sales of new homes. As with many other macroeconomic indicators, bottoms can be appreciated in retrospect, usually a few weeks after they edged up considerably. This is the case now with housing starts of multifamily housing, namely apartment buildings and townhouses.
A Closer Look at Multifamily Properties
The number of new multifamily housing construction projects has finally reached a bottom. This can be appreciated by the number of new permits filed and the increased presence of busy construction crews at future apartment building sites. There is a healthy demand for rental properties, as evidenced by the number of families who are looking for lease contracts and the increase in the value of those agreements.
The demand for rental properties is diametrically opposed to the early days of the 21st century when American home builders could not complete single-family residential projects for buyers fast enough. There are a few reasons for this reversal. One is that mortgage lending has become very strict for many would-be house hunters who no longer qualify for home loans, and thus they look for rentals instead.
American families searching for rentals would love to find a reasonable lease agreement on a single-family homes, but the large amount of distressed properties makes it difficult to find an unencumbered house that can be lawfully rented. Quite a few multifamily projects fit this unfortunate description as well, which is why so many new ones are being built. Besides, investors want to entice renters with new properties.
As more multifamily projects are completed, they will become available on the market, ready to attract would-be renters at a nice profit. This does not bode well for investors of single-family residential units, as the market will forget about these homes for a bit, thereby preventing overall median prices from improving.


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Ex-Coronation Street star set to make a shock return after 14 years
Of all the people potential to return to Coronation Street, Suranne Jones was nowhere near the top of the list.
But, apparently, she is in talks to make a return on the show. Suranne played Steve McDonald's wife Karen on the show between 2000 and 2004.
During her time on Coronation Street, she won two British Soap Awards for Best Actress and the National Television Award for Most Popular Actress.
She left the show to pursue other acting interests including a hugely popular series Doctor Foster, for which she won numerous awards.
Now, it appears she wants to go back to where it all started and make an appearance. Even though The Sun is claiming that she is making a 'shock return', nothing is confirmed yet and even if she does appear on the show, it's not a long-term plan.
She admitted that she would be up for playing the role of Karen McDonald again for Comic Relief.
According to The Sun, she said, "If it was for a good cause and we were going to raise a lot of money, I'd definitely consider it for Comic Relief.
So, we'll just have to wait and see.


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In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11, 2011, a permanent road to recovery was formed with the help of caring organizations and passionate young Japanese leaders. Part Three of our story details the response from Christian groups who had been working in the area for years.
Tim Cole, a TEAM Missionary working in Tokyo with a ministry called Family Focus Japan, grew up in Ishinomaki. When the earthquake hit, he was in Shinjiku, the center of Tokyo, with skyscrapers all around. It's the place that he has always referred to as the "worst place to be during an earthquake." The final preparations were being made for the National Prayer Dinner that was to take place on the evening of March 11th. As the building rocked and swayed, Tim and the other participants took shelter and began to pray. He realized that if it was this bad in Tokyo, it would be devastating up north.
Unable to communicate with his wife, Katie, he spent the night in a hotel and returned home after the trains started running the next morning. In the days and months since the earthquake, Tim has been encouraged by the response of the local church body to the needs of the Japanese people. Local organizations sprang into action in the directly affected areas, as did national organizations such as CRASH Japan (Christian Relief, Assistance, Support, and Hope). Tim and other missionaries throughout Japan are coming alongside the Japanese people to bring hope to the devastated areas.
Jonathan Wilson, director of CRASH Japan and pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship in Tokyo, describes the organization as a "very broad based consortium of people who normally have different jobs: missionaries, churches, pastors, and local denominations." A six-year-old organization, CRASH has coordinated relief efforts in China, Haiti, Indonesia, New Zealand, and other major disaster areas around the world, all for the purpose of bringing the hope of Jesus Christ to those overwhelmed in a time of hopelessness. CRASH has also been involved in training and equipping organizations in Japan on how to respond to disaster, and had a significant network already intact and ready to respond. The work that Jonathan has done with CRASH has enabled him to deal with the biggest quake that he had experienced in his 20 years of living in Japan.
"I knew this day would come," he said. "I didn't know when, I didn't know where, but I knew it would come."
Jonathan explained that CRASH would do much of its work by ministering to the body of Christ and therefore ministering through the body of Christ. CRASH puts a heavy focus on church partnership when reaching out to an area affected by a major disaster. Through this church-focus, Jonathan said that the body of Christ in the disaster areas emerges stronger. Even churches not directly affected by the disaster gain strength and unity as they reach out and minister to needs around them.
God had already been at work, preparing many for the tragedy that struck on March 11th. CRASH Japan partners with ministries like Campus Crusade for Christ, OMF International, JEA (Japanese Evangelical Association), JBF (Japanese Baptist Fellowship), Churches Helping Churches, and Feed the Hungry, just to name a few. CRASH is also endorsed by Medical Teams International and Japan Evangelical Missionary Association.
Establishing Bases
While the volunteers worked quickly to determine a response method, CRASH workers contacted churches in the affected area to find out if they were okay, if they needed help, and if churches could help their community with the supplies from CRASH.
Since then, CRASH has established five bases of operation to help mobilize thousands of volunteers into the disaster area. Those bases prepare large amounts of supplies and offer a safe place for people to work from while reaching out to the hundreds of small coastal villages affected by this disaster.
The first base CRASH established was in Sendai. A team was on the ground within the first week of the disaster, and the first shipment of relief supplies went out about two weeks after the earthquake.
The farthest base camp north is the Tono (Iwate Prefecture) base camp, followed by the base camp located in Ichinoseki (Iwate Prefecture), Sendai (Miyagi Prefecture), Nasu (Tochigi Prefecture), and Hitachi (Ibaraki Prefecture). From these five base camps, tens of thousands of volunteer hours have been participating in activities such as cleaning and removing debris, distributing food and supplies, emotional care, training seminars, briefing and debriefing training for volunteers, cooking, and carpentry.
Each of these base camps is located in the Tohoku region. This is the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, and is one of the least churched areas of Japan. Working through the local communities and using churches as distribution centers gives credibility to the presence of the churches in their respective communities. These local churches are familiar with the needs that are present in their areas, and they are well positioned to meet those needs with the support of an organization like CRASH.
As a gateway to the Tohoku region, a base camp was set up at a small family-owned boarding house called "House of Rest" located in Nasu city. The Kondo family oversees this establishment and leads the Nasu-Kogen Bible Church situated right beside the boarding house. Initially, they considered accepting evacuees from the radiation evacuation zone near the nuclear plants in Fukushima, but were contacted by CRASH about the possibility of opening up the pension as a base camp. Wanting to aid in the relief process in any way possible, the Kondos agreed to house CRASH volunteers working in the area. Pastor Kondo already had numerous connections into the business circles of Nasu, as well as relationships from their years of service in the area.
From the Nasu base camp, it is about an hour's drive up to Koriyama city where the large multi-purpose complex turned evacuee center, Big Palette Fukushima, houses nearly 2,500 evacuees. The ministry of CRASH volunteers helped these disaster survivors and hundreds more across Japan, bringing the light of Jesus during this dark time.
-Written by Robert Johnson
-Photography by Robert Johnson
[Originally published in TEAMHorizons, Septermber 2011]Download This Issue of TEAMHorizons


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Original Research ARTICLE
Loss of CB1 receptors leads to differential age-related changes in reward-driven learning and memory
- Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Previous studies have shown that cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor signaling dissociates between reward-associated and aversive memories. The influence of CB1 receptors on the aversion-driven spatial learning in the Morris water maze test is strongly age-dependent: mice with genetic deletion of CB1 receptors (Cnr1−/−) show superior learning when young but inferior learning when old compared to age-matched wild-type mice. Whether the reward-driven spatial learning is influenced in the same way by CB1 receptor signaling as the aversion-driven learning remains unclear. Thus, we examined the performance of Cn1−/− and their wild-type littermates at ages of 2-, 5-, and 12-months-old in the eight-arm radial maze test—a reward-motivated model of spatial learning. Interestingly, 2-months-old Cnr1−/− mice had a superior learning ability to wild-type mice. At the age of 5-months, Cnr1−/− mice showed the same performance as the wild-type littermates. However, 12-months-old Cnr1−/− mice showed significantly impaired performances in each parameter of the test. Accordingly, this study provides compelling support for our previous result that genetic deletion of CB1 receptor leads to early onset of age-related memory decline, similarly affecting both reward and aversion-driven learning.
Emotional arousal facilitates memory formation therefore memories about highly emotional situations are usually vivid, long-lasting, and resistant to extinction. The cannabinoid system influences the formation, extinction and reconsolidation of emotional memories but the latter two phases are dependent on the emotional significance of the memory. Increased endocannabinoid signaling either via inhibition of endocannabinoid uptake (Chhatwal and Ressler, 2007) or inhibition of anandamide degradation (Varvel et al., 2007) facilitates the extinction of fear-related memories whereas pharmacological or genetic blockade of cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors impairs fear memory extinction (Marsicano et al., 2002). The extinction of reward-related memories is not affected by pharmacological activation or blockade (Manwell et al., 2009) or by genetic deletion of CB1 receptors (Holter et al., 2005). The effect of cannabinoids on the reinstatement of fear- and reward-associated memories also differs. Activation of CB1 receptors blocks the reconsolidation of fear memories (Chhatwal and Ressler, 2007), whereas the reinstatement of reward-associated memories are decreased by CB1 antagonists (Ward et al., 2009). The dissociation between the effects of the cannabinoid system on fear and reward-associated memory was also shown in humans. Carriers of a minor gene variant of the fatty acid amide hydrolase, the degrading enzyme of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide, show decreased threat-related reactivity in the amygdala but elevated reactivity to reward related signals in the ventral striatum compared to bearers of the major allele (Hariri et al., 2009). We have previously shown that the effect of CB1 receptor on spatial memory depends on the age of the animal: animals lacking CB1 receptors (Cnr1−/−) at the age of 6-weeks showed an improved performance in the Morris water maze test whereas 12-months-old Cnr1−/− mice showed inferior performance (Albayram et al., 2011). The Morris water maze is one of the most widely used behavioral model to test hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory (Morris et al., 1982). This model is aversion-driven because being in water is aversive for mice and they try to escape to dryer territory (Akirav et al., 2001). Whether the effect of CB1 receptor on reward-motivated learning is also age-dependent is not known. Therefore we now asked whether the learning phenotype of Cnr1−/− mice in the reward-driven eight-arm radial maze model also differs between the age groups.
Materials and Methods
Experiments to test the consequence of a constitutive deletion of the CB1 receptor were carried out with group-housed male and female Cnr1−/− and Cnr1+/+ littermates on a congenic C57BL6/J background at 2, 5, and 12 months of age (Zimmer et al., 1999). Care of the animals and conduction of all experiments followed the guidelines of European Communities Directive 86/609/EEC and the 1998 German Animal Protection Law regulating animal research.
Eight-Arm Radial Maze
The procedure was carried out with slight modifications as described previously (Heldt et al., 2007). Briefly, the eight-arm radial maze was constructed of white painted wood. It consisted a central platform (30 cm in diameter) with eight-arms (70 × 10 cm) surrounded by walls (10 cm in height) and placed in a sound and light isolated room with a camera on the ceiling. The behavior of the animals was followed by an experienced observer unaware of the genotype from an adjacent room through a monitor and evaluated using The Observer software (Noldus, Netherland). During the training, animals were single housed and maintained at 80–90% of their body weight by dietary restriction. To familiarize the animals to the radial maze, the mice received one daily habituation session for 4 days prior to training. During the habituation trial, all the eight-arms are baited with 1 food pellet, and the mouse was allowed to explore freely until it had taken all the pellets. After habituation, all mice were tested with 1 trial per day for 17 days (Figure 1). During the test trial, four randomly selected arms are baited with 1 pellet of food each; the baited arms are kept unchanged throughout the experiment. The mouse is allowed to move freely in the maze until it has collected the 4 pellets of food or until 10 min have elapsed, whichever occurs first. Entry into a non-baited arm was scored as a reference memory error, while re-entry into baited arms that had been previously visited was scored as a working memory error. The decrease in the number of arm entries per trial was used to indicate memory acquisition. The effect of deletion of CB1 receptor on the performance was evaluated separately in the age groups using Three-Way mixed ANOVA (between factors: genotype, sex; within factor: trial) followed by Bonferroni test.
Figure 1. Experimental setup of eight-arm radial maze test used for assessing reward—motivated learning and memory.
The total number of arm entries required to collected the food pellets or reach the cut-off time was significantly lower in 2-months-old Cnr1−/− (genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 8.28, p < 0.01) (Figure 2A1) and higher in 12-months-old Cnr1−/− (genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 13.93, p < 0.001) (Figure 2C1) mice compared to age-matched WT controls. However, the number of arm entries did not differ between the genotypes at 5 months of age (genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 2.63, N.S.) (Figure 2B1). The sex of the animals did not influence the mean number of arm entries (Genotype × sex effect: 2-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.811; N.S.; 5-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.731; N.S.; 12-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.805; N.S.) (Figures 2A2,B2,C2, respectively).
Figure 2. Age-related changes in the number of arm entries in the eight-arm radial maze test between wild-type and Cnr1−/− mice. Each value represents the number of arm entries made until the mouse acquired all the rewards; mean ± S.E.M. (A1,B1,C1) on each of 4 blocks of 3 trial days. Graph inserts show the average of all trial days separately by age group. (A2,B2,C2) Show the main effects of genotype for males and females mice separately by each age group, mean ± S.E.M. for each sex and genotype averaged over the all trial days. The data were analyzed by Two-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test or One-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett post-hoc test; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. (n = 12 mice/group; 6 females and 6 males).
The number of working (Figure 3)—and reference (Figure 4)—memory errors generally showed similar results as the total number of arm entries. 2-months-old Cnr1−/− animals showed significantly less errors (the number of working memory errors: genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 8.30, p < 0.01; the number of reference memory errors: genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 8.55, p < 0.01) while 12-months-old Cnr1−/− animals made more errors (the number of working memory errors: genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 14.39, p < 0.001; the number of reference memory errors: genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 8.88, p < 0.01) during the task compared to age-matched WT littermates. There was no difference in both parameters at 5 months of age between Cnr1−/− and Cnr1+/+ mice (the number of working memory errors: genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 2.41, N.S.; the number of reference memory errors: genotype effect: F(1, 264) = 2.11, N.S.). The sex of the animals also did not influence the number of working memory errors (Genotype × sex effect: 2-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.829; N.S.; 5-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.778; N.S.; 12-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.833; N.S.) or the number of reference errors (Genotype × sex effect: 2-months-old: F(1, 11) = 1.209; N.S.; 5-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.678; N.S.; 12-months-old: F(1, 11) = 0.245; N.S.).
Figure 3. Age-related changes in the working memory errors in the eight-arm radial maze test between wild-type and Cnr1−/− mice. Each value represents the working memory errors made until the mouse acquired all the rewards; mean ± S.E.M. (A1,B1,C1) on each of 4 blocks of 3 trial days. Graph inserts show the average of all trial days separately by age group. (A2,B2,C2) Show the main effects of genotype for males and females mice separately by age group, mean ± S.E.M. for each sex and genotype averaged over the all trial days. The data were analyzed by Two-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test or One-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett post-hoc test; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. (n = 12 mice/group; 6 females and 6 males).
Figure 4. Age-related changes in the reference memory errors in the eight-arm radial maze test between wild type and Cnr1−/− mice. Each value represents the reference memory errors made until the mouse acquired all the rewards; mean ± S.E.M. (A1,B1,C1) on each of 4 blocks of 3 trial days. Graph inserts show the averaged of all trial days separately by age group. (A2,B2,C2) show the main effects of genotype for males and females mice separately by age group, mean ± S.E.M. for each sex and genotype averaged over the all trial days The data were analyzed by Two-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test or One-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett post-hoc test; *p < 0.05 (n = 12 mice/group; 6 females and 6 males).
It was previously suggested that high levels of vigorous and impulsive activity, which is typical in young rodents, could interfere with the performance in learning paradigms (Dodart et al., 1999; Ward et al., 1999). This phenomenon was also present in our study: in the first phase of the experiment at days 1–3, the speed of the young animals expressed as number of arm entries within a minute was significantly higher in 2-months-old mice compared to the other age-groups (Figure 5A1). A similar, but not significant tendency was observed in Cnr1−/− mice (Figure 5B1). However, there was no difference in the speed between the age groups when we evaluated each trial together (Figures 5A2,B2).
Figure 5. The ratio between number of arm entries and time spent until the mouse acquired all the rewards in the eight-arm radial maze test. There is a significant age effect on day 1–3 (A1,B1), 2-months-old mice initially made more errors in a shorter period but quickly learned the task. The data were analyzed by One-Way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett post-hoc test; *p < 0.05 (n = 12 mice/group; 6 females and 6 males). No significant age effect for the 12 trials average of all trial days by each genotype (A2,B2) using One-Way ANOVA.
In the eight-arm radial maze test of appetitive conditioning, Cnr1−/− mice begin to show impairments at 12-months-old compared to age-matched WT controls that is similar, albeit at a slightly older age, to results using an aversive conditioning paradigm (Albayram et al., 2011).
Our present study using the radial arm maze shows that the life-long deletion of CB1 receptors has opposite effects on young and old animals, as also found in the Morris water maze test (Albayram et al., 2011). Thus, our result suggests that age-related effect of CB1 receptor activity is the same on reward and aversive-driven models of learning.
Cannabinoid signaling is involved in reward signaling and influences stress reactivity. Genetic deletion or pharmacological blockade of CB1 receptor decreases sensitivity to reward (Xi et al., 2008; Oleson et al., 2012) but exacerbates stress reactivity (Griebel et al., 2005; Riebe and Wotjak, 2011; Gunduz-Cinar et al., 2012). These data together with findings showing that cannabinoid signaling differently affects memories with positive and negative emotional valence (Marsicano et al., 2002; Laviolette and Grace, 2006; Terzian et al., 2011) strongly suggests that the role and activity of the cannabinoid system differs in reward and fear-related neuronal pathways and brain areas. In aging, however, our study now suggests that the effect of enhanced neuronal loss (Bilkei-Gorzo et al., 2005) and increased neuroinflammation in the hippocampus of Cnr1−/− animals (Albayram et al., 2011) generally impairs hippocampal learning and memory affecting both reward and aversion-driven spatial learning.
Previous studies have also shown that THC treatment impairs performance in the radial arm maze test (Lichtman and Martin, 1996), the effect of which was attenuated by the systemic (Lichtman and Martin, 1996) or intrahippocampal (Wise et al., 2009) injection of the CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716A. Pharmacological blockade of the CB1 receptors produced an opposite effect: mice injected with only SR141716A made fewer errors in the acquisition phase (Lichtman, 2000) and the CB1 receptor antagonist CE improved consolidation of spatial memory (Wise et al., 2008). Nevertheless, our study now proves that lack of CB1 receptors in Cnr1−/− mice leads to similar improvement in the performance of young mice in the radial arm maze test as pharmacological blockade of CB1 receptors. Although experimental evidence about the effect of CB1 receptor antagonist on old animals in the eight-arm maze test is lacking, it is unlikely that long-term pharmacological treatment can equate life-long deletion of the CB1 receptors and thus long-term antagonist treatment would be not feasible (Kunos and Tam, 2011).
An interesting aspect of our work is that males and females showed a similar performance although earlier studies using the Morris water maze paradigm suggested that the spatial learning abilities differs between the sexes (Clinton et al., 2007; Hebda-Bauer et al., 2007). A possible reason for this discrepancy is that the test situation is highly aversive in the Morris water maze test (Thorsell et al., 2000), whereas the eight-arm radial maze test condition is much less stressful, since it is based on the innate drive of the to explore the environment and seeking for food (Lehmann et al., 2010). Environmental stress influences memory formation differently in males and females (Andreano and Cahill, 2009; Oldehinkel and Bouma, 2011). Epidemiological studies in humans (Luine, 2002; Richardson and VanderKaay Tomasulo, 2011) and experimental studies in rodents (Sanders et al., 2011; ter Horst et al., 2011) together suggest that sexual dimorphisms in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response are responsible for these effects. Apparently, females are more sensitive to the effect of stress due to fluctuations in gonadal hormone levels (Paris et al., 2011). Indeed, recent studies have revealed that gonadal hormones have a beneficial effect on memory formation in females under stressful conditions (Streeten et al., 1984). However, the stress response is not consistently different between the sexes in adolescents (Stoney et al., 1987; Gallucci et al., 1993; Greenspan et al., 1993), whereas this effect is present when testing adults (Peskind et al., 1995; Thorsell et al., 2000). Thus, we propose that the difference in the learning ability between the sexes in the Morris water maze test is based on their difference in stress sensitivity. This phenomenon was probably not present in the less aversive model of spatial learning—in the eight-arm maze paradigm—and therefore did not influence the performance of the animals.
Multiple lines of evidence prove that more emotional events are remembered better than non-emotional ones (Hamann, 2001; LaBar and Cabeza, 2006). Although the input of emotions on memories is also present in the old, especially when emotional arousal is high (da Silva et al., 2007; Kensinger, 2008; Ramirez-Lugo et al., 2009), its effect becomes less and less pronounced during ageing (Comblain et al., 2004; Bressler et al., 2010). Our results now suggest that the decreasing CB1 receptor signaling during ageing (Wang et al., 2003; Canas et al., 2009) does not contribute to this effect.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
This work was financed by the grant of the German Research Council (FOR926 SP2, SP3, SP6, CP2, and SFB645TBP7). We highly appreciate the help of Dr. Sophie Imbeault for reading and correcting the manuscript and the help of Dr. Anastasia Piyanova and Kerstin Michel helping by the design of eight-arm radial maze test.
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Keywords: cannabinoid receptor, aging, emotional valence, motivation, spatial learning, mice
Citation: Albayram O, Bilkei-Gorzo A and Zimmer A (2012) Loss of CB1 receptors leads to differential age-related changes in reward-driven learning and memory. Front. Ag. Neurosci. 4:34. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2012.00034
Received: 23 August 2012; Paper pending published: 20 September 2012;
Accepted: 19 November 2012; Published online: 05 December 2012.
Edited by:Gizem Donmez, Tufts University School of Medicine, USA
Reviewed by:Junming Wang, University of Mississippi Medical Center, USA
Ashok Kumar, University of Florida, USA
Copyright © 2012 Albayram, Bilkei-Gorzo and Zimmer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.
*Correspondence: Onder Albayram, Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany. e-mail: email@example.com


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Certified foodies are all set again to rejoice as Rockwell's 3rd Ultimate Taste Test (UTT) event takes place on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at the Rockwell Tent, in partnership with the famous lifestyle blog Our Awesome Planet and in cooperation with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews. Enjoy a fun and delicious chance to become food critics for a day.
Have the ultimate food tasting adventure from Rockwell's restaurants, home-based food businesses and other up-and-coming food concessionaires. Lookout for curious-but-cool Choco Ampalaya Delight Cake by Amy's Fruit and Vegetable Cakes, Truffled Tuna Crudo from BITE by Chef Jam Melchor, Premium Duck Burgers from Goldenduck's Premium Meat Products, and Jalapeno Alfredo from Flavors on Fire Catering. Dessert and drinks like the Oatie Granolie treats by 2407 Weekend Bakery and Café, Black and White Cupcakes by Everyday Mom, plus a Green Cayenne Reboot by the Juice Barista are also up for grabs.
AUTT ticket entitles foodies to a wristband and a passport to enjoy a one-time sampling from all the participating concessionaires. In line with this, foodies get to critic and rate the product on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest. The Top 10 highest rating participants will be featured in Our Awesome Planet and will get other exciting prizes from Power Plant Mall.
Buy your ticket to Rockwell's 3rdUltimate Taste Test at the North Court Concierge Desk, R1 Level of Power Plant Mall. Tickets are sold at Php585, and each ticket comes with a free San Miguel Lifestyle Brews beer. The Rockwell Tent will be open from 11AM-9PM.For more information/inquiries, please visit www.facebook.com/PowerPlantMall or call 898-1702.


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The California Department of Pesticide Regulation's (DPR) pending decision to approve methyl iodide as a soil fumigant replacement for methyl bromide has received considerable public attention in the media in recent months. The fumigant, already approved federally by EPA in 2007 and used on more than 15,000 acres in the U.S., mostly in strawberries and vegetables in the Southeast, is awaiting final registration at the state level this summer.
Led largely by a campaign spearheaded by the Pesticide Action Network, a public advocacy group based in San Francisco, DPR received an unprecedented 50,000 comments and e-mails from the public during a recent 60-day public comment period ending June 29.
Much of the controversy surrounds the risk of exposure to applicators, workers and the public. There is no argument that fumigants by their nature carry risks when not handled properly. What is often ignored, however, are the great lengths to which registrants and state and federal agencies go to mitigate those risks. Balancing a compound's risk against its benefits of use and the ability to mitigate those risks is an important function of the registration process. Years of data and review go into that equation for every pesticide labeled for agricultural use.
DPR's proposed state label for methyl iodide goes well beyond already onerous restrictions on the use and application of methyl iodide at the federal level. State requirements would set maximum exposure levels for professional applicators at half the federally allowed level and just one-fifth the federal standard for field workers and neighbors. The state is also proposing large buffer zones ranging from 100 feet to a half-mile, along with reduced application rates and application limits on treated acreage to protect ground water. Compare that to Japan and Australia, where methyl iodide is being used with no buffer zones at all.
If methyl iodide is registered for use in California, growers will have to understand the mitigation measures as well as the soil and pest combinations they have present to determine when using it makes sense. For example, the current restrictions allow a maximum of 20 acres to be treated at one time with shank injections along with the use of a VIF tarp. Cost will also be a major factor in deciding which fumigant or combination of fumigants to use.
Almond growers fumigate the soil prior to planting for three distinct reasons: 1) reduce the impact of replant disorder when planting new orchards to ground that have previously been planted to tree or vine crops; 2) combat soilborne pests such as nematodes; and 3) destroy diseases, including Armillaria root rot (oak root fungus), a particularly tough disease that can lay dormant in dead roots under the soil for years, but will ultimately kill off trees within an orchard. Proper analysis of the soil, history of use, and previous problems can help guide the decision of when and which fumigant to use.
Research and experience have shown that there is a startling difference in tree growth and production once an orchard becomes established on ground that is fumigated compared to ground that is not where replant disorder or nematodes are an issue.
The California Almond industry for years has funded research to find alternatives and solutions to these vexing below ground problems, particularly as methyl bromide has been phased out under terms of the 1990 Montreal Protocol. In the case of replant disorder and nematodes, alternatives do exist, although methyl iodide combined with chloropicrin has proved to be an additional option.
Fallowing land for a year prior to replanting to ground where almonds or stone fruits were planted can help with replant disorder. Growers must weigh the benefits against the cost of losing an extra year of production. In research supported by the Almond Board of California, a recent trial looked at the efficacy of methyl iodide used in a premix with chloropicrin under the brand name Midas for replant disorder. The trial found that Midas used as a strip or broadcast treatment provided some of the greatest yield benefits compared to untreated and alternative treatments.
A mixture of Telone and chloropicrin provides good protection against nematodes, but Telone has its own significant use limitations. There again, methyl iodide mixed with chloropicrin has proved to be a viable alternative.
For the estimated 5 percent to 10 percent of the state's almond acreage that is plagued by oak root fungus, there simply are no good available alternatives to methyl bromide. Research has shown that methyl iodide works similarly to methyl bromide to penetrate deeply into the soil, and thus is likely to become the material of choice to kill the oak root pathogens.
Methyl iodide can also be an important methyl bromide alternative for nurseries to ensure that certified stock is completely free of nematodes and disease.
With or without the registration of methyl iodide, California growers are going to find it even more difficult and expensive to fumigate in coming years. EPA is in the process of developing more stringent label restrictions that will begin showing up on most registered fumigants around the first of the year to protect neighbors and farm workers from risks associated with soil fumigation.
In the end, the costs and requirements for applying all soil fumigants, including methyl iodide, will continue to mount and growers will have to make difficult decisions about how best to protect their crops from below-ground predators in an increasingly complicated and expensive regulatory environment. For information on coping with fumigant regulations, go to AlmondBoard.com/farmpress10.


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Nonpartisan Redistricting Would Strengthen Nonprofits' Voices
For decades, lawmakers in the majority party in the North Carolina General Assembly (regardless of which party has been in power) have used the redistricting process as an opportunity to "gerrymander" districts to keep their party in power. This could finally be the year that legislators decide to take politics out of the redistricting process.
Threats to Nonprofit Tax Exemption in 2019
Most 501(c)(3) nonprofits in North Carolina are exempt from most state and local taxes. Nonprofit tax-exemption isn't merely a handout or an anachronism, but rather is part of an important social compact.
Four Possible Sales Tax Proposals That Would Affect Nonprofits
State legislatures around the country are considering significant changes to their sales tax laws this year. If North Carolina follows this trend, there are four possible sales tax changes that could have a significant impact on nonprofits
Four Major Policy Issues for NC Nonprofits in 2019
When NC legislators prepare for their 2019 session in January, they'll consider a wide range of policy proposals affecting the nonprofit sector, including the Center's predictions for four major state policy issues that will affect North Carolina's nonprofit setor this year.
President's Message: Ringing in the New
The message Center President & CEO Jeanne Tedrow heard most often on her travels across North Carolina in 2018 was the need for relevant services to help nonprofits. Read about some of the solutions and new programs the Center is launching in 2019.
The Nonprofit Sector in North Carolina and the Triangle
In North Carolina, we are fortunate to have a robust network of nonprofits providing essential services to every part of our community. Not only do nonprofits impact the people who live in our communities, but they also help build and support the culture and economy.
President's Message: Walking the Talk of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Center President & CEO Jeanne Tedrow shares our work, challenges, and opportunities from our first-year journey on Walking the Talk: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in NC Nonprofits.
Enhance Your Resilience
Professional Coach Sackeena Gordon-Jones says, life happens but resilience helps us hurdle adversities. She emphasizes that being resilient is a conscious decision and outlines how to focus on it, enhance it, and keep the 'fire in our bellies.'
President's Message: Our Year in Review
Over the last year and looking into the next, Center President & CEO Jeanne Tedrow has a great sense of gratitude, optimism, and anticipation. Share her hindsight, insight, and foresight.
Heartbreak and Possibility: Is the Nonprofit Sector Ready for Reinvention?
Zulayka Santiago shares her experience, thoughts, and discussion around racial equity after a viewing party with her staff colleagues of one of the Center's Walking the Talk webinars.
Gut Checking: How to Re-wire the Unconscious Mind
Imagine that you are driving in an unfamiliar city and you happen upon a mural that you simply must stop to see. You pull over, park your car and get out, and pull out your phone to snap a picture. In your periphery, you see a group of young men walking towards you. What do you do? No matter your response, chances are your initial reaction will be influenced by what is known as unconscious bias. Unconscious bias, sometimes called implicit bias, refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.
How New Tax Laws Affect Nonprofits
On December 22, President Donald Trump signed into law a tax reform plan (H.R. 1) that cuts individual and corporate income tax rates and makes a variety of other changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Several parts of the tax plan affect the work of nonprofits.
Why Weaking the Johnson Amendment Would Be Devastating for Nonprofits
If you are involved with a North Carolina nonprofit, you've probably heard from the Center in recent weeks (probably more frequently that you would like!) encouraging you to take action to protect the Johnson Amendment. Based upon the high volume of calls, tweets, and letter signers from North Carolina (more than any other state!), it's clear that many nonprofit staff and board members are legitimately concerned about the potential politicization of our sector. However, it is certainly reasonable for some nonprofit leaders to question why this change would be such a big deal for their organizations. After all, even if the Johnson Amendment were repealed, nothing would require 501(c)(3) nonprofits to get involved in partisan politics.
It's Budget Season. Are You Accounting for the Right Things?
The Overhead Myth: The idea that you can reasonably evaluate a nonprofit's performance and trustworthiness by only looking at how much they spend (or don't spend) on overhead, including operating costs, administrative expenses and technology costs.
President's Message: Thanks for the Welcome
New Center President & CEO, Jeanne Canina Tedrow, shares her experience, impressions, and plans following her travels around the state to meet Members, boards of directors, supporters, and sustainers.
Tax Reform Implications for Nonprofits
This fall, Congress is in the process of rewriting the Internal Revenue Code with the dual goals of lowering individual and corporate income tax rates and simplifying our nation's tax laws. This tax overhaul has major implications for 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
Joan Garry Talks to a Martian
Joan Garry, the keynote speaker for our 2017 NC Nonprofits Conference, explains the "messiness" of the nonprofit sector to someone who doesn't understand the concept, a martian.
Retaining Donors is Key to Successful Fundraising
Retention of donors is critical and often overlooked, particularly when those donors have come in because of what they see in the news. Here's what you need to do to keep your donors from fundraising guru Kim Klein.
Debunking Five Common Myths About the Johnson Amendment
On May 4, President Trump and leaders in Congress took aim at nonprofit nonpartisanship with a pair of actions that were, in the words of the National Council of Nonprofits, "coordinated, ruthless, and effective." These moves follow up on President Trump's February announcement that he intends to "get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment."
Highlights (and Fabricated Statistics) from the 2017 Nonprofit Town Hall Series
In early 2017, the Center organized a series of Nonprofit Town Hall meetings around the state. These meetings – in Fayetteville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Research Triangle Park, and Asheville – gave nonprofits an opportunity to connect with elected officials, learn about nonprofit sector trends and policy issues, and share their concerns about how the current political climate may affect their organizations.
Worker's Compensation: Good for Nonprofit Employees and Employers
Workers' compensation in North Carolina provides medical treatment and wage replacement payments for employees who become injured in an on-the-job accident or develop a job-related disease or disorder. The goal of the workers' compensation system is to return injured employees back to work as quickly as possible. It's an important program, especially for small nonprofits. Here are five important reasons why nonprofit organizations need workers' comp in North Carolina.
Nonprofits Should Remain Nonpartisan
At February's National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump announced his plans to "get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment," a long-standing law that prevents charitable nonprofits from engaging in partisan, election-related activities. While the President's remarks focused on political speech by religious institutions, the underlying law he proposes to eliminate is essential to preserving the integrity of all charitable nonprofits, including food banks, hospices, child care services, hospitals, arts organizations, schools, and affordable housing providers.


text: The sky is the limit for British rider Bradley Wiggins after his recent win in France [GALLO/GETTY] Bradley Wiggins has made himself a credible Tour de France contender with his Paris-Nice victory, showing guts and composure to claim one of the biggest wins of his career on the road. A Tour route tailor-made for 'rouleurs', Alberto Contador's absence, a strong team and a few lessons learnt mean thatWiggins will have the biggest chance of his career to win the greatest cycling race in the world. The Team Sky rider won the Paris-Nice race after claiming the final time trial, a 9.6-km dash to the Col d'Eze on Sunday that suggested Wiggins still had plenty left in the tank after a week of climbing and racing in the wind and cold. He became the first Briton to win the week-long 'Race to the Sun' since Tom Simpson in 1967. The late Simpson never won the Tour, but Wiggins surely has what it takes to make 2012 a vintage year for British cycling. This year's Tour will feature 101.5 kms of time trials, compared with 65.5 last year and 60.9 in 2009, a great asset forWiggins while it should dramatically reduce the chances of Andy Schleck, a pure climber who has always struggled against the clock. "It's obvious that this Tour will favour Wiggins much more than the last two editions," Radioshack-Nissan team manager Johan Bruyneel, who guided Lance Armstrong to his seven Tour titles and Contador to his 2007 and 2009 triumphs on the French roads, said during Paris-Nice. Staying freshWiggins, however, believes freshness will be the key factor, especially in the final individual time trial, a 53.5-km ridebetween Bonneval and Chartres on the eve of the Champs Elysees parade. "It's more about freshness. If you're not fresh, your time trial abilities count for nothing," the 31-year-old Wiggins said before the start of Paris-Nice. In 2009, Wiggins finished a decent sixth in the final time trial in Annecy, and Sunday's performance in the uphill ride to the Col d'Eze suggested the three-times track cycling Olympic champion has enough energy to get through three weeks of racing - if he does not peak too early, that is. "You cannot win the Tour de France if you also want to win the Dauphine (a few weeks earlier)," Bruyneel said, referring to Wiggins's victory in last year's Criterium du Dauphine. Another factor in the June 30-July 22 race will be Contador's absence after the Spaniard was banned for failing adope test during the 2010 race. Contador would have been the favourite and his absence will undoubtedly leave a spot available on the podium in Paris. Defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia will probably start as the favourite now, but Wiggins will focus on himself. "You can't worry too much about if he's there...you just concentrate on what you're doing as a team and individually," he said. And in Italy...Joaquin Rodriguez of Spain broke away in the final kilometer to win the penultimate stage of the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race on Monday, while 40-year-old American Chris Horner maintained his overall lead.Rodriguez, who rides for the Katusha team, timed 4 hours, 38 minutes, 27 seconds over the undulating 181-kilometer (112.5-mile) leg starting and ending in Offida. The 2010 Spanish Vuelta champion, Vincenzo Nibali of Italy, was second and 2007 Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca was third, both with the same time as Rodriguez. Horner finished fourth and still holds a 5-second lead over Roman Kreuziger of the Czech Republic in the overall standings. Nibali gained a six-second bonus with his podium finish in the stage to now trail Horner by six seconds. The race ends on Tuesday with a 9.3-kilometer (5.78-mile) individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto, on the Adriatic coast. SOURCE: Agencies Sport Cycling Australia Czech Republic France