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Quarterly Economic Outlook for Third Quarter 2014
July 17, 2014 | By John Greenwood
After the unexpectedly sharp downturn of the US economy in the first quarter of 2014 due to severe winter weather, US growth has resumed a more normal trajectory, with the economy growing at a pace closer to its potential than we have seen for several years. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is on course to end its asset purchases by year end, but rate hikes will probably not occur until mid-2015.
In the euro area, growth is still anemic, and although the European Central Bank (ECB) announced a series of stimulatory initiatives in early June, the prospects for a strong upturn in the single-currency zone are still remote. Meantime, consumer prices are approaching deflation.
The UK recovery has continued to be strong, although there have been signs of cooling in the housing market, and, as yet, real wage increases remain elusive.
Japan's economic upswing has paused following the imposition of the consumption tax hike in April. Ahead of the tax increase, spending was very buoyant in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, but since then spending has slowed abruptly. Thanks to the tax hike and previous yen depreciation, inflation is temporarily elevated.
The outlook for China depends heavily on the prospects for global trade, which remains stalled, and domestic spending, which is constrained by the understandable reluctance of the authorities to ease monetary policy. Elsewhere in the emerging market arena, growth has been generally weak, notably in the largest emerging economies of Brazil, India and Russia.
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Quick Links
|Table 1 - Inflation and Growth Forecasts
|2013 Actual
|2014 Consensus Forecast
(Invesco Forecast)
|Real GDP
|CPI Inflation
|Real GDP
|CPI Inflation
|2.2% (2.0%)
|1.8% (1.5%)
|1.1% (1.0%)
|0.7% (0.6%)
|3.0% (2.7%)
|1.8% (1.8%)
|1.5% (1.8%)
|2.6% (2.7%)
|3.1% (3.0%)
|2.7% (2.8%)
|2.2% (2.2%)
|1.8% (1.9%)
|7.3% (7.2%)
|2.5% (2.5%)
|5.4% (5.2%)
|7.8% (7.5%)
Source: Consensus Economics, survey date June 9, 2014. Eurozone countries now number 18 with the addition of Latvia at the beginning of 2014. Actual 2013 eurozone data is for 17 countries, while forecast data is for 18 countries.
As I have previously predicted, there are two important bright spots ahead: sustained low inflation (especially in the developed world) and a longer-than-normal business cycle upswing. The common reasons for both these developments are that balance-sheet repair implies lower-than normal rates of growth of money and credit, and that subpar growth will ensure excess capacity persists for several more years.
Following the disruptions due to severe winter weather, lower-than-expected health care spending and disappointing export performance, US economic growth in the first quarter of 2014 was revised sharply downward to -2.9% annualized. However, growth appears to have rebounded across a broad front since then, resuming a much more normal trajectory of close to 3%. A revival in business capital spending, combined with moderate growth of housing activity and continued steady growth of consumption, has buoyed domestic demand. For example, core capital goods shipments increased by 0.4% in May, and manufacturing output increased by 0.7%, while survey indicators of consumer confidence, as well as regional and Institute for Supply Management surveys of manufacturing and services continue to register healthy expansions, all suggesting solid underlying momentum. Unemployment has fallen to 6.1%, and nonfarm payroll growth has averaged 231,000 per month since December.
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream. Data as of June 15, 2014
Thus, although overall gross domestic product (GDP) forecasts for the calendar year have been revised down due to the very weak first quarter (e.g., the consensus for the year is now 2.2%), the performance of the three subsequent quarters looks likely to approach a vigorous average of 3.5% annualized.
In response to this buoyant backdrop, the Fed has continued to reduce its asset purchases at the measured rate of $10 billion per Federal Open Market Committee meeting, implying an end to its quantitative easing operations by year end. Fortunately for Chair Janet Yellen and her colleagues, the commercial banks have been taking up the baton of credit creation from the Fed by increasing their lending at a rate of 8.7% annualized so far this year, or 5% year-on-year. As yet, this pace of credit growth is modest, giving support to the economy but not so much as to threaten inflation. On the contrary, even though the amount of slack in the economy will steadily be reduced, inflation is likely to remain subdued through 2014 and 2015.
For the year as a whole, I expect 2% real GDP growth and 1.5% consumer price inflation.
The eurozone
Real GDP growth for the euro area slowed to 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2014, down from 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2013, registering only 0.9% year-on-year. The recovery is at best bumping along the bottom and remains acutely vulnerable to a rise in global oil prices or even a mild financial shock. Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing across the eurozone slowed to 51.8 in June, the lowest level so far this year, with Greece (49.4) and France (48.2) both showing contractions. Consensus expectations for real GDP growth this year amount to just 1.1% — well below the 2.5% rate experienced between 2004 and mid-2008 before the crisis erupted in 2008 and 2009.
There are three broad reasons for the failure of the eurozone to resume normal economic growth in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009:
- First, the fiscal and monetary authorities have not provided sufficient stimulus to promote economic recovery. Austerity programs on the fiscal side and the ECB's reluctance to engage in pre-emptive balance sheet expansion on the monetary side have held back any possible growth of spending.
- Second, the failure to repair private sector balance sheets — especially among those households, companies and financial institutions that became over-leveraged going into the crisis — has meant that even with low interest rates it is proving very difficult for private sector entities to repay loans and clear up balance sheets.
- Finally, the strength of the euro has inhibited any possibility of an export-led recovery.
The composite PMI for June was 52.8, suggesting a slightly better rate of real GDP growth in the second quarter of perhaps 0.4%. However, the signals continue to be very mixed. While costs have been falling and competitiveness has been improving in the periphery, bank lending in the core area has been declining. Also, the risks of longer-term disruption to oil and gas supplies from Russia through Ukraine remain significant unless some kind of geopolitical settlement can be reached in the coming months. The weakness of the upswing is reflected in the data for unemployment, which remained at 11.6% in May, only slightly down from 12% over the past year, in contrast with steeply declining unemployment rates in the US and the UK.
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream. Data as of May 30, 2014
Against this background of weak GDP growth and inflation falling well below the ECB's 2% target, the ECB finally acted at its June meeting to implement a broad-ranging program of expansion. The package of measures included:
- A 0.1% charge (or negative deposit rate) on commercial banks' funds held at the ECB above required reserves.
- A 400 billion euro targeted lending plan to be implemented in stages over the next four years.
- The de-sterilization of prior bond purchases under the Securities Markets Program.
- An announcement that the ECB will explore purchases of asset-backed securities.
- Forward guidance implying the anchoring of interest rates until 2016.
- And, perhaps most importantly, a promise (dependent on macro developments and, critically, inflation) that the ECB is not yet finished. ECB President Mario Draghi signaled that this could even include the purchase of sovereign government debt if inflation fails to pick up.
Because the ECB's plan was well discounted in financial markets ahead of the actual announcement, it did not have any dramatic impact on bonds, equities or the currency. Moreover, as we saw with the previous long-term refinancing operation program in 2011 and 2012 (which coincided with a decline in bank lending), lending to banks is far less effective in increasing money and credit growth than purchases of government securities from nonbanks — as conducted by the Bank of England. It will therefore be surprising if this plan is enough to revitalize the stumbling eurozone economy.
I forecast eurozone real GDP growth for the year as a whole to reach just 1%, while the inflation rate will undershoot the ECB's target again, falling to 0.6% at best. I maintain my long-standing forecast for deflation in the eurozone.
The recovery of the UK economy continued during the first half of 2014 with numerous indicators suggesting that the UK's recovery is stronger than any other leading developed economy. For example, the PMI for manufacturing in June recorded 57.5, well ahead of any euro area economies, Japan, and even slightly ahead of the US.
In the first quarter of 2014, real GDP grew at 0.8% quarter-on-quarter and 3.0% year-on-year, and expectations remain firm for the remainder of the year. Private consumption spending also expanded by 0.8% over the quarter, and this has been echoed in continuing strong growth of retail sales (up 5.0% year-on-year in volume terms in the three months to May). Meanwhile, fixed capital formation expanded by 2.4% in the first quarter, showing that the recovery is by no means limited to consumer spending only. In effect, the economy is firing on all cylinders with manufacturing, services and construction all growing strongly. If the current pace of activity continues, the UK will exceed its precrisis peak level of GDP in real terms during the second or third quarter.
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream/Fathom Consulting. Data as of June 15, 2014
Progress in the labor market has been particularly encouraging, with employment rising strongly from 28.8 million at the trough in 2009 and 2010 to almost 30.5 million in the three months ending in April, an increase of 1.7 million jobs. At the same time, unemployment has fallen rapidly to 6.6%, below the level at which the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had previously said they would start to consider raising interest rates. The housing market has also shown strong buoyancy with the Nationwide index of house prices increasing 11.8% in the year to June, although most of the price increases have been concentrated in London and the southeast. In addition, housing starts in England increased to 36,450 in both the first quarter of 2014 (up from lows of 17,000 in the first quarter of 2009), but still below the precrisis peak of almost 49,000 in the first quarter of 2007.
To cool the housing market, the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee introduced in June macro-prudential restraints on mortgage loan-to-income ratios — setting a maximum of 4.5 times income for 85% of new residential mortgages — and required banks to conduct stress-testing of householders' ability to repay in the event of a 3% rise in mortgage rates. Mortgage approvals had already fallen from 76,000 in January to 62,000 in May, and there have been signs that prices in London are softening.
Reflecting strong economic activity, rising property prices and the expectation that UK interest rates would be raised before year end, the pound has appreciated to the highest levels since 2008, retracing about one-half of its depreciation during the crisis.
Looking ahead, the pace of economic growth is unlikely to accelerate much from here, but various indicators suggest that the growth will be maintained at somewhere between 2.5% and 3%. The available spare capacity in the economy and in the labor market, combined with the appreciation of sterling and moderate rates of money and credit growth, should ensure that inflation risks remain minimal through 2014 and 2015.
Turning to monetary policy, the Bank of England's once-clear forward guidance has been overtaken by a series of mixed messages not only from MPC members, but also from Governor Mark Carney himself. After he abandoned the 7% unemployment threshold in February in favor of a set of 18 indicators, while promising that rates would stay low for an extended period, the strength of the economy has forced a recent volte-face. In June, the governor advised that rates could rise by year end. Inevitably, this chopping and changing has undermined the bank's credibility in the eyes of market participants. Forward guidance now means little more than that the bank will rely on its own discretion in assessing the timing of rate hikes.
For this calendar year, I now expect 2.7% real GDP growth and 1.8% Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation.
In Japan, consumer spending picked up strongly ahead of the 3% increase in the consumption tax on April 1. This spending surge drove up real GDP by 1.6% quarter-on-quarter, or 6.7% at an annualized rate in the first quarter of 2014. Since then, spending has slowed abruptly, and the critical question is: When will Japan return to a more normal growth rate? Given that the initial impetus from President Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" had already been starting to fade, the real test of the policy will be how quickly the economy returns to a sustainable trajectory over the coming months.
Retail sales dropped an astonishing 13.6% in April as consumers stayed away from department stores and supermarkets, and the declines continued into May. Vehicle sales plunged in April, May and June, while industrial production fell 2.8% in April but recovered by a respectable 0.5% in May. However, it is widely expected that in the aftermath of the tax hike, real GDP growth will fall by 3.2% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter and 0.8% in third quarter, pulling down the year-on-year growth rates to 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively. For the year 2014 as a whole, I expect 1.8% real GDP growth.
From a longer-term perspective, the success of Abenomics is still in doubt. Although there has been a temporary growth spurt, much of this was due to the depreciation of the yen in 2012 and 2013 and the spending surge ahead of the April tax hike. A stronger yen and a continuation of the spending slump after April and May would raise doubts about the sustainability of the program. During the annual spring negotiations between unions and larger companies, wage increases were moderate, with the result that wages at smaller firms did not increase much. Consequently, the May index of wage earnings in all industries increased by just 0.6% year-on-year, implying a continuing decline in real terms.
Moreover, the deterioration of the external trade and current accounts is continuing to act as a drag on growth. This is due mainly to increased imports of oil and gas to replace the power lost from Japan's nuclear energy providers whose plants were closed down following the tsunami damage to the plant at Fukushima. Despite the yen's 30% depreciation against the US dollar, the current account has switched from a surplus of 4% of GDP in 2010 to deficits since 2012, and is now running at about 1% of GDP. Meanwhile, the trade balance has also switched to large and persistent deficits.
So far, most of the inflation can be attributed to the weaker yen and higher imported commodity prices — especially energy products and food items — not stronger domestic demand. While the weaker yen may help to achieve Prime Minister Abe's goal of 2% inflation in the short run, unless wages and personal incomes rise more than 2% on a continuing basis, the result could simply be an episode of temporary imported inflation, followed by a resumption of weak domestic spending and growth as inflation subsides again.
On the monetary policy front, the Bank of Japan has refrained from any significant action since it announced two enhanced lending schemes on Feb. 18 — the Growth-Supporting Funding Facility and Stimulating Bank Lending Facility — both designed to encourage more bank lending. Since then, there have been few signs that commercial bank lending has picked up much, but the whole period has been disrupted by the surge in spending followed by the slump in spending in reaction to the consumption tax. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, the authorities have understandably announced that if growth were to weaken persistently, they would be prepared to adopt further easing measures.
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream. Data as of June 30, 2014
For the year as a whole, I expect Japan's national consumer prices to rise by 2.7% (including the effects of the consumption tax hike).
China and non-Japan Asia
The momentum of the Chinese economy remained subdued in the first half of 2014 as policymakers tried to support the economy with modest fine-tuning measures on the one hand, while taking care not to engage in large-scale stimulus measures on the other. Among the easing moves, the deliberate depreciation of the Chinese yuan from around 6.05 per US dollar in January to 6.25 in April and May was probably the most important. Although the depreciation was widely considered to be an attempt by the authorities to inject some two-way uncertainty into the yuan/dollar exchange rate, it came at a time when Chinese exports were continuing to struggle, growing at low single-digit rates in an environment of weak world trade growth and rising wage costs in China. Since May, the currency has resumed a mild recovery, strengthening to China yuan renminbi 6.20, but the prospects for a sustained recovery of exports depend more on the revival of overseas demand than anything the Chinese government can do in the short term.
At home, the housing market has weakened from its recent peak in 2013, and excess capacity problems in various parts of the manufacturing industry have persisted, adding to the pressure on banks' asset quality. The overall official nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio of the banks as published by the China Banking Regulatory Commission is just 1%, but sectoral data suggest a more worrying picture, with NPLs rising to 2% to 5% in key manufacturing sectors such as steel.
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream. Data as of July 9, 2014
The practice of evergreening NPLs — lending more to enable borrowers to pay interest due — especially to state-owned enterprises (SOE) is widespread, and the growing involvement of cash-rich SOEs in shadow-bank lending to financially vulnerable small and medium enterprises have also contributed to the general perception that Chinese corporate and financial balance sheets are less healthy than the official ratings suggest.
Against this background, economic activity in China showed further signs of moderation. After real GDP growth of 7.4% in the first quarter of 2014, the official manufacturing PMI, which focuses on larger, state-owned firms, remained barely above the 50% threshold between expansion and contraction in April and May, though it did improve to 51.1 in June. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's (HSBC) PMI, which focuses on smaller, private companies, fell below 50 from January to May and as low as 48 in March, returning to 50.7 in June. At the same time, aggregate house prices in 70 cities declined in May (month-on-month) for the first time since mid-2012, while property transaction volumes remained sluggish. These indicators suggest China continues to work through a growth adjustment phase.
I expect China's real GDP to continue to soften toward 7% by year end (averaging 7.2% for 2014), while CPI inflation will remain calm at 2.5% for the year as a whole.
The remainder of non-Japan Asia is suffering from the same weakness in world trade that has been holding back China. However, with only a few exceptions (such as India, Indonesia and possibly Korea) the regional economies do not have large enough domestic markets to provide a locomotive effect. Consequently, the entire region is watching and waiting for progress in the developed economies, and especially the eurozone, to begin a more vigorous upturn.
Readers of this report will know that I have been somewhat bearish on the outlook for commodity prices for the past year. The second quarter of 2014 has been notable for further falls in iron ore prices (from $113 to $90 per metric ton), Australian coking coal and the copper price. All three commodities basically reflect weak economic activity in China, other emerging economies and the developed world. This weakness of prices has been echoed by the flatness of the Reuters-CRB Index and the range trading in the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Price index.
Another event in the quarter from April through June that temporarily drove energy prices higher was the ISIS (or jihadist-led) attack on numerous towns and cities in Iraq, prompting a brief spike in Brent from $108 per barrel to $115 in June, as well as in other internationally traded crude oil prices. The failure of this and earlier food price surges to be sustained is further evidence of the weakness of global demand, specifically the subpar growth rate witnessed until recently in the US, the eurozone and the UK, together with the slowing trend of growth in the leading emerging market economies of China, India and Brazil.
Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream. Data as of July 9, 2014
Although central banks have been promoting faster credit and money growth with near-zero interest rates, my view has been that as long as balance-sheet repair remains the order of the day among commercial banks and their customers then rapid growth of mass purchasing power will not happen. As central bankers often say, inflation expectations are well-anchored. The fundamental driver behind this trend is that balance sheet repair is inherently disinflationary, or even deflationary. Consequently, as long as the major economies remain in balance sheet repair mode, commodity price surges can result only from local or temporary supply disruptions, such as occurred with oil prices in June. This broad diagnosis remains intact. A broad surge in commodity prices is neither imminent nor likely.
In the financial markets, there is a recurrent debate about the apparent disconnect between high bond and equity prices and the contrast with weak global economic activity. In my view, this reflects two broad misunderstandings.
- First, asset prices are driven primarily by the business cycle, with monetary conditions at the forefront. Currently near-zero central bank interest rates have been effective in promoting equity and other risk asset prices, but not yet effective in ensuring repair of private sector balance sheets or restoring normal growth. On this basis, it will be a long time — perhaps several years — before the business cycle and asset prices peak.
- Second, financial markets are principally reflecting the favorable effect on long duration assets of abnormally low short-term interest rates. As normality returns to household and bank balance sheets enabling growth to resume, higher short-term interest rates will be counter-balanced by stronger economic activity underpinned by recovering wage and profit growth. In other words, a PE- or multiple-driven equity market will give way to an earnings-driven environment.
Naturally there are risks in such an outlook, but low money and credit growth provide some assurance that we are not in the same environment as in 2005 to 2007, when rapid credit growth and high leverage made balance sheets acutely vulnerable to any adverse shocks. In short, this is not a financial bubble of the kind that occurred before the financial crisis. On the contrary, a key feature of the current environment is the gradual healing of household and financial sector balance sheets, to be followed later by the healing of public sector balance sheets.
Thanks to the slow growth of money and credit, inflation will also stay lower for a longer period of time than in previous business cycle upswings. In addition, a more gradual profile for rate hikes will at least partially insulate longer duration risk assets from downward shocks. In short, continued moderate GDP growth implies that larger exposures to risk assets are warranted for several years ahead.
All data provided by Invesco unless otherwise noted. Data as of July 10, 2014 unless otherwise noted. Unless otherwise specified, data was supplied by Mr. Greenwood.
All material presented is compiled from sources believed to be reliable and current, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. This is not to be construed as an offer to buy or sell any financial instruments. This does not constitute a recommendation of the suitability of any investment strategy for a particular investor. Where John Greenwood has expressed opinions, they are based on current market conditions as of July 10, 2014 and are subject to change without notice. These opinions may differ from those of other Invesco investment professionals. Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. An investment cannot be made in an index.
Invesco Advisers, Inc. and Invesco Distributors, Inc. are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Invesco Ltd.


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The issuer of a municipal bond receives a cash payment at the time of issuance in exchange for a promise to repay the investors who provide the cash payment (the bond holder) over time. Repayment periods can be as short as a few months (although this is rare) to 20, 30, or 40 years, or even longer.
The issuer typically uses proceeds from a bond sale to pay for capital projects or for other purposes it cannot or does not desire to pay for immediately with funds on hand. Tax regulations governing municipal bonds generally require all money raised by a bond sale to be spent on one-time capital projects within three to five years of issuance. Certain exceptions permit the issuance of bonds to fund other items, including ongoing operations and maintenance expenses, the purchase of single-family and multi-family mortgages, and the funding of student loans, among many other things.
Because of the special tax-exempt status of most municipal bonds, investors usually accept lower interest payments than on other types of borrowing (assuming comparable risk). This makes the issuance of bonds an attractive source of financing to many municipal entities, as the borrowing rate available in the open market is frequently lower than what is available through other borrowing channels.
Municipal bonds are one of several ways states, cities and counties can issue debt. Other mechanisms include certificates of participation and lease-buyback agreements. While these methods of borrowing differ in legal structure, they are similar to the municipal bonds described in this article.
Repayment schedules differ with the type of bond issued. Municipal bonds typically pay interest semi-annually. Shorter term bonds generally pay interest only until maturity; longer term bonds generally are amortized through annual principal payments. Longer and shorter term bonds are often combined together in a single issue that requires the issuer to make approximately level annual payments of interest and principal. Certain bonds, known as zero coupon or capital appreciation bonds, accrue interest until maturity at which time both interest and principal become due.
The type of project or projects that are funded by a bond affects the taxability of income received on the bonds held by bond holders. Interest earnings on bonds that fund projects that are constructed for the public good are generally exempt from federal income tax, while interest earnings on bonds issued to fund projects partly or wholly benefiting only private parties, sometimes referred to as private activity bonds, may be subject to federal income tax.
The laws governing the taxability of municipal bond income are complex; however, bonds are typically certified by a law firm as either tax-exempt (federal and/or state income tax) or taxable before they are offered to the market. Purchasers of municipal bonds should be aware that not all municipal bonds are tax-exempt.
In addition, there are several other types of municipal bonds with different promises of security.
The probability of repayment as promised is often determined by an independent reviewer, or "rating agency". The three main rating agencies for municipal bonds in the United States are Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch. These agencies can be hired by the issuer to assign a bond rating, which is valuable information to potential bond holders that helps sell bonds on the primary market.
This relationship can be demonstrated mathematically, as follows:
For example if rc = 10% and t = 38%, then
A municipal bond that pays 6.2% therefore generates equal interest income after taxes as a corporate bond that pays 10% (assuming all else is equal).
Alternatively, one can calculate the taxable equivalent yield of a municipal bond and compare it to the yield of a corporate bond as follows:
Because longer maturity municipal bonds tend to offer significantly higher after-tax yields than corporate bonds with the same credit rating and maturity, investors in higher tax brackets may be motivated to arbitrage municipal bonds against corporate bonds using a strategy called municipal bond arbitrage.
Some municipal bonds are insured by monoline insurers that take on the credit risk of these bonds for a small fee.
by US local government since 1812

subset: commoncrawl


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Armani Lip Wax Better than Balm, Less than Lipstick
Giorgio Armani's Lip Wax in Cardinal Red (#5) ($26.00) is described as a "bright, transparent red" in color. Lip Wax is a new product designed as a compact lipstick that's a "blush of color" once applied to lips. It has GA's Micro-fil technology in it to give you smoothness and act like a second-skin. I definitely consider this product to be more like a lip stain than a lipstick, just because it feels so lightweight and gives you just a touch of color once applied to the lips. It comes in a nifty compact case, gleaming and all, but you'll need to make sure you have a retractable lip brush at the ready in your purse if you want to tote it around. I think it'd be cool if they could somehow give you a super short handled lip brush inside the compact, just for on-the-go. I also wonder if this could be used as a blush stain… hm. Have any of you tried Giorgio Armani's new Lip Waxes?
See skin and lip swatches…
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text: Tibco is 'the fastest growing enterprise software company,' CEO says — despite sales missteps March 28, 2013 9:00 AM | Matt Marshall Imagine this: You're a founder of a Silicon Valley enterprise software company. It's only 15 years old, but it's already worth $3.5 billion. You've never lost money, and you've left your initial competition in the dust.


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- Details
Category: Hats Off!
Published: 09 September 2013
Hats Off! to Mary Struble Deery who won the 2012-2013 Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Contest sponsored by the Charlotte Writers' Club. Randy White and Tamra Wilson received Honorable Mentions. Winners will be invited to read their work during the Charlotte Writers' Club September meeting.


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Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) June 24, 2014
zumBrunnen, Inc., an independent building consulting firm, is proud to announce recent project commissions. zumBrunnen has been retained to provide services for clients in 17 states, including a project in Hawaii.
zumBrunnen's services for the new clients include: pre-closing document review, construction monitoring services, completion and compliance reports, property condition assessments, physical needs assessments, reserve studies, the firm's featured Strategic Capital Replacement Budget (SCRB) and their trademark Campus Wide FacilityForecast® (CWFF), as well as CWFF report updates. The new projects span a variety of industries and market sectors including projects in: education, mixed use, multi-family, senior living and condo/home owner associations (HOA).
"As independent building consultants, we assist investors, building owners and property managers in making smart business decisions about their facilities," explains John zumBrunnen, Founder and Managing Partner of zumBrunnen, Inc. "We are seeing a strong uptick in pre-closing document review services indicating an increase in new construction. We are also seeing a trend in senior living systems, not just the individual communities, of conducting assessments for their entire portfolio of properties for improved coordination and planning. We are continuing to see strong activity in senior living facilities, multifamily properties, condo and home owner associations as well continued work in mixed use and education. We sincerely thank our ongoing clients for their continued business and extend a warm welcome to our new clients."
zumBrunnen's new projects include:
About zumBrunnen, Inc.:
zumBrunnen, Inc. was founded in 1989. With offices in Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC, the firm specializes in construction consulting, property condition assessments, facility condition assessments, long-range capital reserve study planning and thermal imaging services for a diverse list of national and select international clients. The firm is also recognized for their proprietary FacilityForecast® Software System, a unique facilities condition assessment and budgeting tool designed to forecast and manage long-term capital replacement expenses and to provide custom reserve funding plans designed to their client's business model.
The firm has completed notable projects in a variety of market sectors including senior living, educational, multi-family, healthcare, institutional, mixed use, retail, office, warehouse, industrial, hospitality and public assembly. The firm is involved with numerous associations including LeadingAge (formerly the American Association of Homes & Services for the Aging or AAHSA), LeadingAge North Carolina (formerly NCANPHA), LeadingAge Florida (formerly FAHSA), LeadingAge Georgia (formerly GAHSA), LeadingAge Illinois (formerly Life Services Network), Coalition for Leadership in Aging Services (CLAS), Community Associations Institute Georgia (CAI-GA), Community Associations Institute North Carolina (CAI-NC) and the Community Associations Institute South Carolina (CAI-SC).


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Book Search
China's Transition from Communism – New Perspectives
Series: China Policy Series
As China moved from a planned to a market economy many people expected that China's political system would similarly move from authoritarianism to democracy. It is now clear, however, that political liberalisation does not necessarily follow economic liberalisation. This book explores this apparent...
To Be Published October 6th 2015 by Routledge
Socialist China, Capitalist China
Social tension and political adaptation under economic globalization
Series: China Policy Series
China is currently encountering increasing social problems, together with the rise of mass discontent and public protest, despite having achieved enormous economic growth after nearly thirty years of market socialism and embracing globalization. The future of China thus depends not only on the...
Published April 27th 2015 by Routledge
China's Challenges to Human Security
Foreign Relations and Global Implications
Series: China Policy Series
This book looks at human security in China's foreign relations. It discusses the concept and theory of human security, and their implications for China. The book goes on to analyse environmental security issues, including climate change and water resources, as well as looking at issues from an...
Published June 23rd 2014 by Routledge
Zhao Ziyang and China's Political Future
Series: China Policy Series
What legacies have previous reformers like Zhao Ziyang left to today's China? Does China have feasible political alternatives to today's repressive 'market Leninism' and corrupt 'state capitalism'? Does Zhao's legacy indicate an alternative to the past and for the future? For those who are...
Published May 15th 2012 by Routledge
China Turns to Multilateralism
Foreign Policy and Regional Security
Series: Routledge Contemporary China Series
China's recent rapid economic growth has drawn global attention to its foreign policy, which increasingly has had an impact on world politics. In contrast with China's long-standing preference for bilateralism or unilateralism in foreign policy, recent decades have seen changes in the PRC's...
Published March 4th 2011 by Routledge


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Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
The faculty members of the Division of Natural Science and Mathematics at Lindenwood University-Belleville seek to explore how we prepare students to make an impact on their society. Students in this Division have an opportunity to prepare for a number of exciting careers such as nursing, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.
The Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics offers a bachelor of science in Biology. Biology majors are presented with an integrated concept of life as manifested in animals and plants. Although the Division does not offer majors in nursing, chemistry or mathematics, it participates in collaborative programs with other institutions in pre-nursing such as Barnes Jewish Hospital. Upon completion of pre-nursing requirements, students could be admitted to the RN program at Barnes Jewish Nursing School.
We invite you to join us on our academic journey to broaden your horizons and to nurture the spirit through experiences that broaden our intellectual, organizational and social perspectives.
Our Division in Belleville is a separate campus and offers opportunities for specialization in biology and minors in biology, pre-professional studies in health sciences, pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, pre-optometry, pre-veterinary medicine, and pre-nursing.
We distinguish our Division from our competitors through:
Credentialed faculty. We recruit professors who bring both academic and professional achievement to the classroom. As a result, all of our full-time faculty members have a doctoral degree in specialty fields.
Extensive faculty-student interaction. We think the effectiveness of education is directly dependent on the quantity and quality of time our students spend with their professors. For that reason all of our classes are small to promote active student participation and all student advising is handled by full-time professors.
Early student contact with the business world. We want our students to develop meaningful contacts with the business leaders of the world before they graduate. We bring guest speakers to our classrooms and provide internship and mentorship opportunities.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Rahim G. Karimpour


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War in the North takes players back to Middle Earth to fight evil while Frodo and company head to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Taking place in the North, would-be adventurers will play their part in stemming the tide of darkness waiting to erupt from the cold, wintry holds there.
Players will rub virtual elbows with the big names from the story such
as Bilbo and Frodo within the small interludes set between the major
chapters, all of whom make numerous references that tie this "side
story" into the major arc. Tolkien didn't write this story, but the lore
does a decent job in keeping these particular characters well out of
the way of Peter Jackson's interpretation by nimbly dancing along its
edges while at the same time providing plenty of context to satiate
But don't expect anything more than the basics when it comes to dialogue. Players wishing to know more about the world the game takes place in can indulge in the extra choices that talking to NPCs can offer up, sometimes leading to extra quests for goodies and experience. If you're more interested in seeing more heads roll, however, the game advises you to literally button mash your way through the conversation choices to speed things along and focus on what it does best.
The goal is straightforward stuff – find Sauron's Right
Hand, a towering evil named Agandaur, and stop his plans before he tears
through the North with an army of evil. The gameplay, on the other
hand, takes as much creative liberty with Tolkien's world as EA's
movie-tie ins had with spells sallying forth as medieval bullets and
enough gory decapitations and dismemberments to make Mel Gibson's
Braveheart blush with envy.
Players can opt to jump in between these characters when starting a session or in following the completion of a section of one of the major areas. The downside is that you're locked into whoever you're playing at the moment with the others driven by the AI. You can't actively switch between them while adventuring which limits some of your options such as being able to move them along when the pathfinding gets them stuck on a ledge…which happened to me at one point.
Levels earned are shared across all of the characters though you won't have to upgrade them individually if you prefer to stick with only one unless opting in as someone else. The AI also sees to their equipment and skill upgrades with both characters appearing to change their armor and weapons more often than I did while keeping up with my own progress. Unfortunately, there's no way to manually inspect another character's inventory and plan out their upgrades outside of taking control of them when the game lets you.
Going up in levels earns points that can be spent on attributes and a skill point that is used for the unique abilities that the three classes have to distinguish themselves. Picking a new character to play as will allow you to manually upgrade their stats and skills with a pool of points earned while you were playing as someone else.
No one class is really like any of the others with a nice selection of skills to focus and refine what they do best whether it is providing better healing as Andriel, raising the party's effectiveness with Farin's Warcry, or evading the enemy with ninja-like invisibility as Eradan right before delivering a critically damaging blow from the shadows. Many skills also have multiple upgrades attached to them providing further incentive to keep leveling up, though there isn't a lot of grinding that is required as the difficulty and the XP rewards appear to scale reasonably well enough to avoid having to take too many side trips.
But that's only if there's a way to leave whatever area you are in because War in the North is a largely linear exercise in dungeon crawling, something that was also found with inXile's Hunted earlier this year. What this means is that it won't let you leave a zone until you reach certain points or finish the chapter out. Even worse news is that the autosaved checkpoints can also occasionally work against you. A brutal reminder of this was when I was stuck fighting a boss because the game's autosave had trapped me there until I beat him. If you're underpowered or had forgotten to fix your armor because it had worn down getting there, too bad. It's do or die.
Another aggravating example was when I had to defend a door from being broken down. I didn't do as good a job as I should have in keeping it intact, so the door was barely on its hinges when the last wave of bad guys came storming in – two giant trolls accompanied by a small group of dual wielding orcs.
Because the door was already beaten down pretty badly, this became a lightning round of slaughter, something that I failed to get through a number of times because someone would manage to sneak through and hit the door. Thanks to the autosave, there was nothing I really could do to escape the situation other than hoping that I could annihilate everyone in quick order. I managed to do this, but the repetition had only reminded me of how frustratingly broken the autosaves can make the game out to be.
Thanks to no manual save feature outside of forcing a save whenever you buy something at a shop or transition between areas, it makes it impossible to reload an earlier area to escape or when one wants to simply leave a zone to explore earlier places to slaughter more monsters. Until you finish with that area, and open it up for revisits later, you're forced to plow on through until you make it to a magical teleporter where you can buy and sell items or teleport back to the last town that the story had launched you from. After the first area, the game slightly opens up as you proceed with the story but only because you now have more places to pick clean.
Fortunately, the meaty combat tries to balance the linearity out with what the classes and their skill systems layer it with. Knowing when to use each skill at the right moments can mean the difference between another linear trip to where everyone had died or pushing forward to the end of an area adding variety to what could have become another button mashing series of battles. Each class is also different enough to focus on their particular strengths. Directly taking on bruising, giant-sized orcs wielding two handed hammers with Andriel's support abilities might not be as smart if it were Farin or Eradan instead.
In addition to combat abilities, each character also has a special ability. Eradan can see ranger tracks to find caches of hidden goods, Farin can mine for gems at special locations, and Andriel can mix together ingredients for potions. Dying in combat isn't necessarily the end, either. As long as any one character can make it to the downed companion, they can revive them by holding down on the "A" button as long as they aren't interrupted. Most of the time, the AI will do its best to save you from death because if you die, it's time to restart from the last autosave. On the other hand, if any of your AI companions go down, you can basically take your time to get back to them which is a good thing considering that everyone will be focused on who is left.
As for the loot, most of my gold came from selling off the extra junk found along the way and if you want to upgrade what space you have, forget it. Weapons and armor can be further augmented with magical gems adding a number of powerful advantages and some pieces are also part of a set that can bestow tremendous benefits if you piece them together.
There are also special "challenge" areas in the game, such as Osgiliath, that are basically LOTR-inspired horde mode zones. Waves of enemies will attack you and your companions allowing you to earn experience and goodies if you want to take a break from the campaign. Exiting any one of these, ironically, is made easier with glowy spots indicating where you can end the challenge.
Co-op can also substitute the AI with two other online companions to share in the glory, though this is restricted by the difficulty level that you are playing at. Finishing the game can take around ten or fifteen hours depending on how much grinding you want to do or how many armor sets you want to try and piece together in the same way. It also automatically upgrades the difficulty level of your next playthrough, so if you want to go back and play a game with your friends that are struggling through a game set on "Normal" by bringing in a seasoned build, you can't. And thanks to the linear saves that the game makes, there's no way to go back before the game upgrades you other than in starting an entirely new one.
War in the North's biggest problem isn't that it's cashing in on Lord of the Rings, but that it seems stuck in a place that most every other game has left behind. War in the North's potential is simply suffocated by its linear conventions crushing whatever hopes I had for it to capitalize on what the lavish LOTR theatrics bring to the table.
Fans of everything LOTR might be able to forgive its shortcomings and there aren't that many releases like this that dive into an old fashioned dungeon crawl with as much attention to its setting. Yet at the same time, if all you want is to mash through baddies and dialogue options, there are better ways to do this other than in being trapped within its one-track dungeons by things that no adventurer can fight against.
Lord of the Rings: War in the North
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Snowblind Studios
Xbox 360 / PS3 / Microsoft Windows (reviewed on Xbox 360)
Rated: M for Mature


text:
Stephen C. Pelly
Research Summary:
The field of medicinal chemistry is a particularly rewarding
We are also interested in the similar design and synthesis of novel anti-malarial compounds, specifically targeting the enzyme Spermidine Synthase. Malaria is another disease which places an economic burden on developing nations and therefore it is of the utmost importance that nations who are afflicted by the disease are proactive in seeking new anti-malarial drug molecules.
This research is made possible by well-equipped laboratories with access to all the required spectroscopic services (in particular, NMR, mass spectrometry and single crystal X-ray diffractometry) as well as modern molecular modeling facilities. Collaborations with groups (both national and international) provides the expertise in areas such as whole cell and enzymatic assays, which are so critical to the overall success of the projects.
Selected Publications:
Home | Site Map | Stellenbosch University | © Copyright 2007 | Terms & Conditions | Design by Two Fishes Design


text:
OQO 01+ Pocketable Windows XP Computer
If we hadn't seen the original model in person, we would have never believed what this tiny computer offers. The new OQO model 01+ ($1900) packs in a 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, a 30GB hard drive, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and FireWire ports, an internal speaker, an improved pen-based digitizer, and, of course, an 800 x 480 W-VGA 5-inch display and QWERTY thumb keyboard. "Whoa" indeed.


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Things to see and do - Balcik
Leaving for Bulgaria
Art gallery :
Nearby tourist sites
Nearby hotels
Victoria Family Hotel from26 €Book
Hotel Balchik from18 €Book
Hotel Mistral from44 €Book
Art gallery
Art gallery : Michelin's recommendations
Housed on the upper floor, the permanent exhibition of this art gallery presents works often inspired by Balchik. Note in particular paintings by Decko Uzunov (1877-1953), Bencko Obreškov (1899-1970) and Canko Lavrenov (1896-1978).The section devoted to "classical" art contains a Majstora (The Master 1882-1960), a fine Portrait of a young girl by Ilija Petrov (1903-75) and some remarkable sculptures by Boris Karadžov. Modern paintings include a landscape by Svetlin Rusev (1933). The ground floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions.
Useful Information
- Address : Ul Otets Paisiy BG - 9600 Balcik9600Balcik


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Explaining how climate change is affecting today's weather will be tricky, but it might bring home to the public the everyday reality of global warming
LULL in the conversation? You can safely bring up the weather – no matter who you're chatting with, no matter where in the world you are. Unless you're talking to a climate scientist, that is.
Unlike the rest of humanity, climate researchers have long avoided discussing what's going on outside the window – be it a heatwave or cold snap, drought or deluge. Their studies have revealed that the weather will change dramatically over the long term, but they shy away from what it's doing right now.
That's changing. Thanks to advances in climate modelling, researchers can now assess how much more or less likely climate change has made individual extreme weather events. With enough computing power, this could even become part of your daily weather report (see "And now the weather, featuring climate change blame").
Those driving this effort hope that discussing climate change in the context of today's weather, rather than last year's, will help make it more tangible to a largely confused or indifferent public. Will it? You could argue that when describing a system as complex, variable and chaotic as Earth's climate, it's a good strategy to avoid sweating the small stuff and focus on the big picture: the ample evidence that pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is causing the planet to warm, in turn causing the climate to change – with profound consequences (New Scientist, 7 December 2013, page 34).
The problem, of course, is that this picture has failed to stir much of the public to action: "global warming" still appears far down the list of US voters' priorities, for example. Climate change, as it is usually presented, falls squarely into the category of problems we find it hard to engage with – a seemingly remote threat calling for immediate sacrifices (16 August 2014, page 24).
The effects of the weather, on the other hand, are far more visceral: we don't need much persuasion to take an umbrella out when clouds loom. In fact, in recent years public opinion has been quick to attribute freak weather events to climate change. This may or may not have been warranted, but it does suggest that many people would be receptive to meteorologists revealing human fingerprints on the weather.
How much of this laypeople will really understand is a different question. Talk of climate change "increasing the likelihood" of a weather event, rather than simply "causing" it, is potentially confusing, but blurring the distinction would be disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst.
It will provide fodder for scepticism, too, of both the naive and calculated varieties. The unfair but enduring dictum that the weather forecast always gets it wrong is likely to be aired frequently, while those motivated to deny climate change will seek to highlight "anomalies" in the hopes of muddying the water, just as they gloat meaninglessly over every cold snap now. Lawyers, politicians and businesses will weigh in as and when it suits them.
All this potential for sound and fury should not obscure the value of talking about climate change in everyday contexts. In fact, the potential to reinvigorate the conversation is its value. Empty "debate" over the actuality of climate change has nothing to offer, so it's time to find a fresh topic. How's the weather where you are?
This article appeared in print under the headline "Stormy weather ahead"
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text:
SCHOOLS in the News: Hearings, Courts & Carnegie Hall
By Jackie Burrell
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 12:06 pm in Schools.
Top East Bay school headlines this week …
A petition to transfer Northgate High and its Walnut Creek feeder schools out of the troubled Mt. Diablo district just passed a major legal hurdle. The county school board's committee on district organization has accepted the petition and tentatively scheduled a public hearing for April 9 at 6 p.m. at Lafayette's Acalanes High School.
Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Acalanes choral coach James Toland and a judge lambasted investigators yesterday for providing false information, withholding relevant facts and acting "in reckless disregard for the truth."
Oakland's school bosses are writhing under the prospect of a dual-leadership system as the district transitions out of its state takeover.
Super spellers had their day in the sun as Contra Costa and Alameda counties chose their spelling bee champs. Pleasanton middle schoolers are playing at Carnegie Hall this week. And a San Ramon elementary school is in mourning following the death of a fifth grader in a tragic bicycle accident.
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]


text:
8th Annual Tools for School:
brought to you by
Wednesday, June 4th
Kick-Off Luncheon
at Amazing Joe's
11am to 2pm
Tickets are on sale for $10 per person.
Available at the door and also at
Atlas Collections, Center Township Trustee, and Christian Ministries.
Sponsorship: $100 = 4 free tickets
Saturday, June 21st
Concert for Kids @ Cornerstone Center
6:30pm – 11:00pm
Individual Tickets: $20
Reserved Table for 8 = $200
Friday, July 18th
Collecting Backpack,
School Supplies,
and New Tennis Shoes
at First Merchants Downtown
4am to 6pm
Saturday, August 2nd
"Tools for School"
Backpack/School Supplies/Tennis Shoe Giveaway Shoe for Pre-K through 12th
Client registration begins @ 9:30am
Delaware County Fairgrounds
Backpacks/School Supplies
in Heartland Building
Tennis shoes in Memorial Building
Parents or adult guardian must accompany children; adults must provide photo ID and proof of Delaware County residency.
Saturday, October 18th
Coats Against The Cold
10am to 2pm
Registration @ 9:30am
Heartland Bldg./Delaware County Fairgrounds
Donations of gently used coats, hats, gloves, & scarves may be dropped off at any time at Bailey's Cleaners, telling them it is for "Coats Against the Cold.


text:
Sonic to serve beer, wine at some of its restaurants
Some fast-food chains are planning to add alcoholic drinks to their menu.
Burger King was the first fast-food giant to introduce alcohol to their menu in a few cities last year. It debuted its whopper bars in Miami, Las Vegas and Kansas City. Starbucks, too, recently started serving local beer and wine in some Seattle stores.
Now Sonic will serve beer and wine on a trial basis at select stores.
"I think if they start selling beer here it's going to be awesome because I'm going to be coming here every night," said Nick Ault.
Sonic says alcohol will only be served for dine-in customers, not in the drive through. It will test the option in stories in Florida later this summer. Depending on the outcomes of the trial, the chain will then decide whether to branch out.
Would you like to contribute to this story? Join the discussion.


text:
CouchDb, PHP and the offline Web
For a while I've been kicking around an idea of how to integrate CouchDb with PHP. PHP is a great fit for CouchDb, both the development toolsets and runtime model should integrate nicely, and CouchDb can teach PHP a new trick: web apps that can work in a offline mode.
The Integration Model
The way PHP works, applications are typically just a directory of PHP/HTML files that interact with a database, usually MySQL. Also in the directory are various resource files needed by the application (.css, .jpg, .js, etc). These application files can be zipped up - code, HTML, images and all - into a single archive file and then redeployed on another server.
To integrate CouchDb with PHP, the same model is employed, with code in PHP files interacting with a CouchDb instance instead of a MySQL instance. The Couch/PHP application and resource files can be then zipped up into a single file, just like before.
With CouchDb, the PHP application zip file can be stored in the application database as an attachment to a design element. The design element can also contain the computed table formulas and other resources necessary for the app at runtime. A whole PHP/CouchDb application can be stored in a single design element.
These design elements are just a special documents that will replicate around just like normal application documents. Then, a small bit of code on the CouchDb/PHP server will monitor when CouchDb design elements are updated. When they are, it retrieves the compressed files and unzips the PHP application into a temporary directory on the PHP server. These files are served up like a regular PHP application.
The unzipped PHP application code will then interact with CouchDb normally: viewing, adding, updating documents and records, etc.
Replicate Applications, Not Just Data
Combine this application and distribution model with a locally installable, browser integrated PHP/CouchDb application host, then end users can easily take full PHP web applications offline with them.
These offline applications run the same PHP application code and access the same data (or a subset of the data) as the online hosts. They can browse, edit, and update the data in CouchDb just like they were connected, using the same browser interface.
Then when they reconnect to the network, they click a button and replicate all their changes back to the server and everyone else's changes back down locally. When the PHP application design is updated, the user will automatically get the updated PHP files during replication, where they again will be unzipped and deployed on the local machine.
The work to build the infrastructure for this should be relatively small in scope. A PHP server side package manager is necessary to unpack application files to the proper places and configure them to be served up. Much bigger work items are thing like a local installer and browser integration necessary for end user deployment.
Exploiting PHP
The beauty of this system is it is possible to use the whole PHP development stack and extend it to a new storage/distribution model. Development of PHP/CouchDb applications should be almost completely compatible tool-wise with regular PHP tools.
So for example the development/debug process shouldn't have to change, just the production deployment. During the development and update-debug coding cycle it wouldn't be necessary to deploy the zipped application files to the Couch server. Instead you keep all files wherever is handy during normal development and testing while updating the design document's computed table formulas, etc as necessary in the test database. When ready the PHP application files can then be packaged and stored in the Couch database, where they are automatically deployed by the application server.
One of the most interesting things about using PHP is the possibility of reusing popular free PHP/MySQL applications and porting them over to CouchDb. This can give new life and demand to many PHP application businesses already use but cannot access offline.
A couch being jumped on by actor Tom Cruise
One downside to using PHP is it supposedly has configuration problems, where apparently much of the core PHP behavior is tweakable in a server wide ini-file, make compatibility issues from server to server a problem for applications. I'm not experienced enough in PHP to know how bad this problem really is, but I've seen more than one complaint about it.
This application model could work with Ruby or Python or whatever instead of PHP. But the existing PHP application architecture is such a great fit I'm not sure another language and framework can be as easily and completely integrated. PHP may not have the meta-programming sex appeal of Ruby and Python, but it's damn productive for web development and its tools are already compatible.
However, the development of this PHP system wouldn't preclude other languages. It would just be the first language/framework integrated. It's perfectly possible to simultaneously integrate with any number of web hosts and languages in the same CouchDb database. Like MySQL, CouchDb is language agnostic at its core.
Ok, I hope I've explained this clearly for the tech heads out there. I need to make some pretty diagrams of a complete system and web application to help get the ideas across better. Any feedback on this idea is welcome, especially if you know why it's fatally flawed, technically or otherwise.
Posted October 8, 2006 12:02 PM


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NEW next season! Vail Resorts is investing over $50 million to establish a connection between Park City and Canyons for the 2015/2016 season, creating the largest single ski area in the country with more than 7,300 acres of skiable terrain.
What does the connection between Park City and Canyons mean for me?
Next season, if you purchase an Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Epic 7- or 4-Day, Park City Youth, or the Tahoe Local Pass, you will have access to the country's largest ski resort that includes both Park City and Canyons. The two resorts will now operate as one unified branded experience under the name "Park City".
Is Canyons Resort going away?
Canyons Resort is not going away. For 2015-2016 it will be a part of Park City.
What are my options for Epic Passes?
There are multiple season passes within the Epic lineup which provide skiing and riding to Park City:
Unlimited skiing/riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton, and Arapahoe Basin - No Blackout Dates. Available for Adult (ages 13+) and Child (aged 5-12.)
A total of 7 unrestricted days valid at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, and Arapahoe Basin plus 7 FREE days at Afton Alps or Mt. Brighton. Available for Adult (ages 13+) and Child (aged 5-12.)
A total of 4 unrestricted days valid at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, and Arapahoe Basin plus 4 FREE days at Afton Alps or Mt. Brighton. Available for Adult (ages 13+) and Child (aged 5-12.)
Unlimited, unrestricted skiing or riding at Breckenridge, Keystone, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Arapahoe Basin with limited restrictions at Park City, Heavenly, Northstar & Kirkwood. Also includes a total of 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions. Restriction dates: 11/27/15–11/28/15, 12/26/15–12/31/15, 1/16/16, 2/13/16–2/14/16. Available for Adult (ages 19+), Teen (13-18), Child (aged 5-12) and College (Full Time student during 15/16 school year.)
Utah resident youth and college students only: Unlimited, unrestricted access to Park City. NO BLACKOUT DATES. Available for Teen (13-18), Child (aged 5-12) and College (Full Time student during 15/16 school year.)
The Park City EZ Access and other Park City only passes are not available for the 2015/2016 winter season.
Is the Park City (and Canyons) 4 Pack available?
The Park City 4 Pack is not available at this time.
Will night skiing and riding at Park City cost extra in 2015/2016?
No. Night skiing is included for free on all 2015/2016 season passes.
Is Fast Tracks returning for 2015/2016?
No. After carefully considering how to create the best possible guest experience at Park City Mountain Resort, we identified new opportunities to make even better use of our guests' time on the mountain.
What are the new opportunities replacing Fast Tracks?
The $50 million capital improvement plan in place for next season, including a new gondola and two upgraded chairlifts, is a significant leap forward for the Resort's guest experience. Also, as Canyons did not offer Fast Tracks and the two resorts are combined for the 2015-16 season, we need to align the experience and offerings the new resort provides.
What's that improvement project you mentioned?
We are set to embark on a $50 million improvement project this summer which includes turning King Con Lift from a quad into a detachable 6-pack and upgrading Motherlode Lift from a fixed-grip triple into a detachable quad. We will also be installing an 8-passenger gondola connecting Park City and Canyons to create a single ski area – the largest in the United States. These upgrades will mean a significant increase in the number of guests we are able to move up the mountain.
Will ski school and/or racers still enjoy expedited lift access?
Yes. All ski & snowboard school participants will continue to enjoy dedicated lift lanes – our ski school offers a range of programs, for destination guests and locals, across a range of price points. Also, race team members will enjoy the same privileges, provided they are accompanied by a coach or instructor.
Can I purchase a Parking Pass for the 2015/2016 season?
Yes, you can purchase a Park City Parking Pass at the Park City Season Pass Office later in the year. It is not currently available. It will not be available online and there will be a limited number sold. Visit the Park City Season Pass Office for more information.
How does summer access work on the Epic Pass?
2015/2016 spring season pass purchasers receive free summer 2015 sightseeing lift access. Specific Park City details coming soon.
What are the benefits to purchasing my pass now verse in November?
For one, pass prices are the Guaranteed Lowest Price in the spring. Additionally, the following benefits apply to all guests who purchase passes prior to 4/12/15:
What about my Park City Friends and Family tickets? Do I still get those in the 15/16 season? My food and beverage discounts?
The best discount for friends and family of pass holders is the 6 Buddy Tickets available when purchasing certain passes in the spring. We also offer 6 SWAF (or Ski with a Friend) tickets to most pass holders.
What is a Buddy Ticket? A SWAF Ticket?
Buddy Tickets are only available for spring pass purchasers. These tickets are a set rate per resort throughout the entire season. The pass holder simply visits the ticket window with their guest next season in order to purchase the discount ticket.
The SWAF (Ski with a Friend) Ticket is available during the entire sales season for pass holders. It is a varying discounted ticket available at the lift ticket window during the season with both pass holder and friend present.
If I have a 2014/2015 Park City pass, do I need a new pass card?
No. Your new card issued by Vail Resorts can be used year over year. If you have an old Park City Mountain Resort Pass you will need to get a new pass at a Park City Season Pass office.
Will the 6 and under Free pass continue to be issued?
The free 6 and under Park City season pass is no longer available. We now offer a 4 and Under free pass valid at all resorts with no blackout dates – Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood and Arapahoe Basin. This pass is available starting Labor Day weekend.
I purchased a Park City season pass in February of 2014. Will I be able to do this again this year?
No. Epic season passes are currently available at the Guaranteed Lowest Price with the best benefits through April 12.
What is rollover value?
Rollover credit means a past Pass purchaser is entitled to a pro-rated credit for unused value of an EZ Fast Tracks 10-pack. Credit must be applied towards the purchase of a pass product of equal or greater value by December 2015.
Do I have to use my rollover value on another season pass? Can I just get the money back?
The rollover value is only applicable to a resort season pass product and can only be used for the pass holder who earned the rollover. Value will not be refunded as a gift card or cash. Season passes are not available all season so the rollover credit must be used prior to December 15.
Do I get rollover value for my 14/15 10 EZ Access Pass in the 15/16 season?
Yes, 14/15 10 Day Passes receive rollover credit through December 2015. After that time, the rollover value is no longer available.
Can I use my 14/15 rollover value to purchase a 15/16 season pass even though the 14/15 season is not over?
No. The rollover value for the 14/15 season is available starting June 1 and spring prices and benefits will be honored for rollover guests at that time.
I have more credit in my roll over account than my 15/16 season pass will cost. What can I do with this extra money?
The rollover credit must be used on a season pass product so it is recommended the guest upgrade their pass (perhaps from an Epic 4 Day to a 7 Day) or purchase parking, etc. The rollover credit is non-transferable.
Park City Mountain Resort
1345 Lowell Ave
PO Box 39
Park City, UT 84060
(435) 649–8111
© Park City Mountain Resort
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AG Real Estate Services - Featured Searches
AG Real Estate Services - Miami and Miami Beach
Offering a broad range of real estate transactional advisory, financial consulting and brokerage services to owners, investors, tenants and lenders of commercial and high-end residential real estate in Miami, Miami Beach and the Caribbean. Commercial real estate consultants and commercial real estate brokers specializing in real estate investment services and solutions for Miami, Miami Beach and South Florida commercial properties:
- Asset management consulting and real estate brokerage services for property owners.
- Acquisition advisory services for real estate investors.
- Loan workouts and special asset recoveries for lenders in Miami, Miami Beach and South Florida.
- Tenant representation services for commercial properties in Miami, Miami Beach and South Florida.


text:
Art F City
Posts tagged as:
The Death Star, an Internet poet, Rembrandt, a pig-man, and video art you can't see.
The tenor of this argument has been making me uncomfortable; it sounds a lot like those concerned about the raggedy drummers and incoherent rants giving the larger movement a bad name. The truth of the matter is, no matter how elegant the language, the movement would still be attacked. That's what power structures do when they feel threatened.
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F1 and the Premier League join forces
Following yesterday's deal between Chelsea and Sauber, we look at some more potential partnerships...
Posted: 01 May 2012
McLaren and Arsenal
United's Ferrari deal meant McLaren swooped on Arsenal. Martin Whitmarsh and Arsene Wenger are said to have instantly "glued, like they were brothers… twins even." A far-reaching arrangement means the teams will share each other's highly scientific approach to long-term success. It is thought both teams will also visit their respective shiny new facilities to share ideas on expensive catering and keeping the floors scrupulously clean.
Arsenal players will also now replace McLaren mechanics on pit stop duty at the Spanish GP on the basis 'they could hardly do any worse'


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SDSU Library receives $2.25M collection
The Escondido owner of a science-fiction collection worth millions of dollars has decided to donate most of it to San Diego State University, which plans to put the material on public display.
University officials are touting Edward Marsh's collection as one of the largest in the world, and an independent appraiser has estimated the value at $10 million to $12 million.
The first portion of what SDSU has received is worth more than $2.25 million, said Gale Etschmaier, the school's dean of library and information access. It includes first-edition items, memorabilia and artwork, much of it from the "golden age" of science fiction between 1937 and the early 1950s. The gift will be exhibited in a room created specifically for it, and students and researchers will be able to review the holdings.
"I want the golden age to be preserved, and the kids today have no idea it even existed," Marsh, 61, said Friday at his home. "They've never seen a pulp magazine with these lurid covers. And all the movies they see come from stories written by the golden age guys."
Marsh grew up in San Diego and attended SDSU for two semesters in 1969. He began collecting science-fiction works in earnest in 2004 and has spent years and millions of dollars turning a guest house on his property into the 2,000-square-foot Marsh Library. Walls are adorned with original works of art that were used as book covers, and individual volumes are meticulously kept in custom book boxes that line floor-to-ceiling shelves in three rooms.
Several vanloads of material have been moved to San Diego State, and Marsh said he plans to make more donations to the university in the next few years. Etschmaier said Marsh has amassed "an incredibly significant collection" that will be prized by researchers in many fields including science, technology, politics, religion, philosophy, journalism and theater and film.
There are writings by noted authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, L. Sprague de Camp and Kevin Anderson, as well as classic science fiction by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Most of the books in Marsh's collection — there are thousands of volumes, he estimates — are signed first editions. The converted guest house also holds autographed photos, busts of authors, movie props, literary contracts and portraits. And there are works by great minds such as Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, George Orwell, Will Durant, Winston Churchill, Ian Fleming and William Burroughs.
"It is not so much the quantity but the quality of this collection," Etschmaier said. "It includes things like pulp magazines where these very famous science-fiction authors were appearing."
Besides his gift to SDSU, Marsh has donated materials to other organizations including the University of California Riverside, which houses The Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the largest publicly accessible collection of science fiction and fantasy literature in the world.
Melissa Conway, head of special collections and archives at that campus, has visited the Marsh Library and said the owner's level of organization and attention to detail are astounding.


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This shit is entertaining, listen to the shit they saying
from Slaughterhouse – Get Up Lyrics on Genius
Royce is not entertained by being unpopular and disliked…Rather, all four of the members have been in a struggle for recognition and popularity. However, the people have not been entertained by their lyrical style and as a result, they have never blown up. Eminem said nah, fuck that shit, their music is entertaining, just listen to the shit they're saying. The actual lyrical content these guys puts out should outweigh the average listeners instinct to only listen to a beat.
To help improve the quality of the lyrics, visit Slaughterhouse – Get Up Lyrics and leave a suggestion at the bottom of the page


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Add To Itinerary
Life is too short for average food! Baci's modern interpretations of regional Italian dishes have garnered superlative reviews. Baci's European cuisine and refined upscale atmosphere are perfect for a romantic dinner for two, an office dinner meeting or just a night out with friends. Specialties include filet mignon, lobster tail, assorted pasta, fresh seafood and imported wine and coffees. Stay after dinner and dance the night away with the in-house DJ.
Baci NiteClub and Fine Dining
5909 Milan Rd.
at Comfort Inn-Sandusky
Sandusky, Ohio
Local Number: (419) 624-9900
Tuesday: 5:00 PM - 12:00 AM
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Thursday: 5:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Friday: 5:00 PM - 2:30 AM
Saturday: 5:00 PM - 2:30 AM
Special Hours:
Fine Dining
American Express, Cash, Debit Card, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
European (other), Italian, Seafood
Dress Code: Business Casual
Smoking Policy: No Smoking
Reservation Policy: Suggested
Bar Scene, Happy Hour, Romantic
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Keep up-to-date with information from our custom Discover Ohio e-newsletters.


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Payroll tax cut decision should come soon
Steve Chiotakis
Interview by
Dec 14, 2011 David Mark, senior editor at Politico, explains why he thinks lawmakers will hammer out a deal on payroll tax cuts and the budget soon.
President Obama pushes for payroll tax extension
Juli Niemann
Interview with
Dec 6, 2011 A tax hike could be in store for all Americans at the start of next year if Republicans and Democrats in Washington can't agree. The current payroll tax cuts put money into the pockets of consumers.
Payroll tax decision nears end of the year deadline
Gregory Warner
Dec 6, 2011 Senate Democrats want another vote this week on extending a payroll tax cut for workers. But Republicans say they can't support the Democratic proposal.
President Obama pushes to get CFPB head approved
Gregory Warner
Dec 5, 2011 this week, President Obama's expected to put the pressure on Congress to approve his nominee to head the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. But Republicans vow to hold up any nominee until the bureau itself gets overhauled.
CFPB at a standstill until director is approved
Gregory Warner
Interview with
Dec 5, 2011 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can investigate complaints, but that's about it -- at least until a head of the bureau is approved by Congress.
Do payroll tax cuts help the economy?
Heidi N. Moore
Dec 2, 2011 The Senate yesterday failed to agree on a deal that would extend payroll tax cuts, a key part of President Obama's stimulus
GOP Economy: Rick Perry's economic plan
Kaitlin Parker
Jan 27, 2012 Texas Gov. Rick Perry initially based his economic plan on increasing domestic energy exploration and production while cutting regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. Recently, he's expanded his platform with a proposal that he says would reduce some Americans' income taxes and all corporate taxes to 20 percent.
GOP Economy: Newt Gingrich's economic plan
Sarah Golden
Jan 27, 2012 he former House speaker's pro-business "Jobs and Prosperity Plan" aims to trigger growth by slashing taxes across the board – including eliminating the capital gains tax and reducing corporate income tax to 12.5 percent from its current marginal rate of 35 percent.
GOP Economy: Rick Santorum's economic plan
Tom Dotan
Jan 27, 2012 Rick Santorum's economic plan draws as much from family values as it does from economics. Santorum insists that the strength of the American economy is predicated on the strength of the family.
GOP Economy: Herman Cain's economic plan
Julia Gabrick
Jan 27, 2012 Cain's "9-9-9" plan for a radical overhaul of the nation's tax system has turned him into one of the most popular candidates in the Republican field.


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Sealed in latex for your protection.
This post represents the first installment of old out-of-print vinyl-to-mp3 downloads being put online. I figured that I would start with John Bender, because back when I had my list of mp3s online, he was one of the most requested artist.
And who blames people for asking! The records have long been out of print and are fetching stupid prices that go well above $200 for a copy. I do sort of keep my eyes open for whether it has been reissued or not, but at the moment, it doesn't seem like it, so I'm thinking of starting a series of postings which will put some of my out-of-print collection online (that which I have with me, of course—I left most of it behind in the States)
This record is overall a pretty cool early electronic record. I don't know if John Bender actually influenced any current electronic artists, but you can certainly hear that he was doing some pretty cool stuff in the late 1970s and early 1980s that still sort of stands up well today….
These recordings were taken from vinyl and went straight to my HiMD recorder in the high-quality setting. I didn't bother split up the tracks, but if you go to my Vinyl to HiMD collection and view Disc 7, you can get an the track listing and a small version of the cover.
Anyway, here are the downloads:


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ADOI News
The Arizona Department of Insurance is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.
The State of Arizona will be sending insurer annual assessments on or about July 7, 2015. Insurers should receive assessment notices by July 10, 2015....
By 5/15/15, Arizona's major medical health insurers filed forms and rates that will be effective on 1/1/16. To view a list of the threshold rate increases (10% or greater) requested by health insurers in those filings, visit our Information about Health Insurance Rate Increases web page.
PHOENIX – With wildfire season upon us, the Arizona Department of Insurance reminds homeowners that now is the time to take steps to protect your property against loss. Although it's impossible to predict when and where wildfires will occur in Arizona, it is possible to predict that they will occur. Each year an estimated 1,500 wildfires occur in Arizona.
In an effort to increase administrative efficiencies, AZDOI will require all types of insurance form and rate filings to be submitted via
The Arizona Department of Insurance is trying to locate consumers who purchased Arizona home warranty contracts from Sensible Home Warranty, which went out of business last year. Partial refunds may be available for some Arizona consumers who pre-paid their premiums, or who paid to repair or replace equipment and did not receive a payment from Sensible Home Warranty....


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Host-Pathogen Interactions of Intestinal Protozoa
Chris received his M.D. degree in 1994 from Cornell University Medical College. He then served as an intern, resident, and chief resident in internal medicine at the University of Vermont. From 1998 to 2000, he was a fellow in infectious diseases at the University of Virginia, after which he received a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue his training. He joined UVM�s infectious diseases faculty in 2003 where he is now an Associate Professor. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.
Research Description
In our laboratory we study two waterborne intestinal protozoa that infect humans: Entamoeba histolytica and Cryptosporidium parvum. Both of these parasites are major public health problems in the developing world. They predominantly affect young children and, in the case of Cryptosporidium, immunocompromised individuals such as those with AIDS. Recently, both have garnered increased interest in the United States due to concern that they could be intentionally introduced into the water supply in an act of bioterrorism.
Entamoeba histolytica, the cause of amebic dysentery and liver abscess, infects an estimated 50 million people annually. We study two aspects of Entamoeba biology that correlate with virulence. E. histolytica phagocytosis of host cells, which is a prominent histologic feature of invasive amebiasis, is the first aspect. Studies from our lab and others have shown that there is tremendous redundancy in amebic phagocytosis receptors and the ligands that they bind. Nevertheless, non-clonal populations of E. histolytica trophozoites with variable phagocytic ability are evident in human pathologic samples and in vitro. We have taken a systems-based approach to begin understanding the differences between these phagocytic and non-phagocytic populations by sorting the populations and examining global gene expression. We find significant differences in expression of genes implicated in the phagocytic process, and, interestingly, the act of phagocytosis itself alters amebic gene expression in a manner that results in increased phagocytic ability. The data are consistent with a feed-forward regulatory mechanism. We are currently working to determine the molecular basis for this gene regulatory program and how it affects virulence. Our second Entamoeba project focuses on regulation of E. histolytica adherence by an amebic cell surface metalloprotease, EhMSP-1. EhMSP-1 deficient amebae are hyper-adherent and have reduced motility. Our working hypothesis is that EhMSP-1 controls amebic adherence by cleaving amebic adhesins and/or host ligands, thereby affecting both the number of adhesin-ligand interactions and outside-to-in cell signaling in E. histolytica. We are employing a combination of proteomics and cell biological methods to test this hypothesis.
Cryptosporidium species are apicomplexan parasites that cause severe diarrhea in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. The infectious oocysts are resistant to standard water treatment methods and Cryptosporidium has been associated with numerous waterborne epidemics including one involving more than 400,000 Milwaukee residents in 1993. Nitazoxanide is the only available treatment for cryptosporidiosis, but it only has modest efficacy in children and is equivalent to a placebo in immunocompromised people. Although new drugs are badly needed, drug development has been impeded by an inability to continuously culture the parasite in vitro, and by lack of economic incentive to develop new drugs for treatment of cryptosporidiosis, which predominantly affects people in low income countries. In order to address the clinical need for better anti-Cryptosporidium drugs while acknowledging the economic reality of who this disease affects, we are taking a drug-repurposing approach. That is, we have focused our efforts on identification of drugs that are already approved or for which a substantial economic investment has already been made for treatment of other diseases. To enable this approach, we developed and optimized a high-throughput cell-based assay for in vitro growth of Cryptosporidium parvum within intestinal epithelial cells that utilizes automated liquid handling, microscopy and image analysis. We have used this assay to screen several small molecule libraries and identify novel inhibitors of C. parvum growth, several of which we are now developing as potential treatments for humans with cryptosporidiosis. Students in my laboratory are also conducting studies to determine the mechanism of action for the most promising drug screening hits. Since genetic tools to study Cryptosporidium parasites are currently very limited, we believe that this chemical genetics approach has the potential to provide important new insights into the biology of Cryptosporidium species and related parasites.
Highlighted Publications
Heron BT, Sateriale A, Teixeira JE, Huston CD. Evidence for a novel Entamoeba histolytica lectin activity that recognizes carbohydrates present on ovalbumin. International Journal for Parasitology. 2011. 41:137-44. PMID: 20807536
Teixeira JE, Sateriale A, Bessoff KE, Huston CD. Control of Entamoeba histolytica adherence involves EhMSP-1, a M8 family surface metalloprotease with homology to leishmanolysin. Infection and Immunity. 2012. 80:2165-76. PMID: 22451519.
Vaithilingam A, Teixeira JE, Miller PJ, Heron BT, Huston CD. Entamoeba histolytica cell surface calreticulin binds human C1q and functions in amebic phagocytosis of host cells. Infection and Immunity. 2012. 80:2008-2018. PMID: 22473608.
Sateriale A, Vaithilingam A, Donnelly L, Miller P, Huston CD. Feed forward regulation of phagocytosis by Entamoeba histolytica. Infection and Immunity. 2012. 80:4456-4462. PMID: 23045476.
Bessoff K, Sateriale A, Lee KK, Huston CD. Drug repurposing screen reveals FDA-approved inhibitors of human HMG-CoA reductase and isoprenoid synthesis that block Cryptosporidium parvum growth. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2013. Feb 4 [ePub ahead of print]. PMID: 23380723.
* indicates equal contribution
Recent Publications
Roncolato EC, Teixeira JE, Barbosa JE, Zambelli Ramalho LN, Huston CD (2015) Immunization with the Entamoeba histolytica surface metalloprotease EhMSP-1 protects hamsters from amebic liver abscess. Infect Immun 83(2): 713-20.
Checkley W, White AC Jr, Jaganath D, Arrowood MJ, Chalmers RM, Chen XM, Fayer R, Griffiths JK, Guerrant RL, Hedstrom L, Huston CD, Kotloff KL, Kang G, Mead JR, Miller M, Petri WA Jr, Priest JW, Roos DS, Striepen B, Thompson RC, Ward HD, Van Voorhis WA, Xiao L, Zhu G, Houpt ER (2015) A review of the global burden, novel diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine targets for cryptosporidium. Lancet Infect Dis 15(1): 85-94.
Bessoff K, Spangenberg T, Foderaro JE, Jumani RS, Ward GE, Huston CD (2014) Identification of Cryptosporidium parvum active chemical series by Repurposing the open access malaria box. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 58(5): 2731-9.
Sateriale A, Roy NH, Huston CD (2013) SNAP-tag technology optimized for use in Entamoeba histolytica. PLoS One 8(12): e83997.
Sateriale A, Bessoff K, Sarkar IN, Huston CD (2014) Drug repurposing: mining protozoan proteomes for targets of known bioactive compounds. J Am Med Inform Assoc 21(2): 238-44.
Bessoff K, Sateriale A, Lee KK, Huston CD (2013) Drug repurposing screen reveals FDA-approved inhibitors of human HMG-CoA reductase and isoprenoid synthesis that block Cryptosporidium parvum growth. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 57(4): 1804-14.
Sateriale A, Vaithilingam A, Donnelly L, Miller P, Huston CD (2012) Feed-forward regulation of phagocytosis by Entamoeba histolytica. Infect Immun 80(12): 4456-62.
Selected Awards
Alpha Omega Alpha-Cornell University Medical College (1993)
Good Physician Award-Cornell University Medical College Given by class vote to the member of the graduating class who best exemplifies the intangible qualities of the "good physician". (1994)
Frank L. Babbott, M.D. Memorial Award-Dept. of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine (1997)
American Society forTropical Medicine and Hygiene Young Investigator Award (1999)
Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship for Physicians Project title: Characterization of the mechanism of apoptotic killing by Entamoeba histolytica (Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship for Physicians)
American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Investigator Award (2007)
Huston, M.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
Office: 302B Stafford
Lab: 302 Stafford Hall
Lab Members
Rajiv Jumani, CMB Student
Upcoming Events
Davis Auditorium
Laura Solomon
Davis Auditorium
Phyu Thwe
Recent CMB Blog Posts


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Austin Rodeo: Josh Abbott Band
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 7:00 pm
Luedecke Arena at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, TX
Sorry, this event has already taken place. Please see similar events below.
|Tweet | State Guides | Gift Certificates | Policies | Blog | About Us | TicketMasters sold out |


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Here are vids of some aggressive flights that many of us have seen. Andrew Merlino is one of the young and talented pilots in the industry and he pushes the performance of his Trex 700E and Trex 250 to their limits. Watch as Andrew gives us a taste of his flying talent to push these helis. Outstanding flying Andrew, keep it up.
Andrew flies for Team AMainHobbies, Castle Creations, and Morgan Fuels.
If you enjoy our post, feel free to subscribes to our rss feeds


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Netflix isn't working on a new 'Star Trek' series but 'there have been overtures'Add to Favorites | Star Trek
There's a rumor floating around the internet that there may be a "Star Trek" project in the works with Netflix. It all stems from an appearance at Phoenix Comicon by "Star Trek" author and producer Larry Nemecek.
It's been reported that he claimed Netflix and CBS, which holds the TV rights to "Star Trek," are in talks for a new series to air on the streaming service. Unfortunately for "Star Trek" fans, it's just not true. Nemecek used his own blog to clear up any confusion.
He points out that with Netflix's dive into original programming, it would make sense for them to look for familiar franchises to add to their lineup. "As I understand it, there have been overtures," he says. "But none taken. So far." It turns out it was just a case of someone hearing him talk getting a little too excited.
Luckily, fans still have the "Star Trek" movies to keep them entertained. Who knows, maybe one day Netflix will get to launch the next chapter in the long-running franchise?
Photo/Video credit: CBS


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Assessment and Data
Revamping Education Data: Cutting-Edge Strategies from Other Sectors.
Revamping Education Data: Cutting-Edge Strategies from Other Sectors
[pdf] This paper by Bryan C. Hassel explores two cutting-edge trends that have revolutionized organizations in other sectors: mining the mountain of data generated by the daily activities of employees and customers, and tapping the "wisdom of crowds." Appearing in the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's volume A Byte at the Apple: Rethinking Education Data for the Post-NCLB Era, the chapter highlights the experience of organizations ranging from Amazon.com and Google to Wal-Mart, Capital One, and the NYC Police Department to describe how these techniques have made quantum leaps possible in other sectors. Potential education applications include learning from the "clicktrails" that students leave behind as they engage in software-based activities; inexpensive randomization of instructional techniques to spur more rapid learning about "what works"; and tapping the wisdom of teachers nationwide to enable the best lesson plans to rise to the top. View Fordham's webcast of the release event here.
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Ohio Value-Added Primer
Ohio Value-Added Primer
[pdf] In 2008, Ohio added a new "value-added" component to its accountability system, which examines the academic gains made by students over the course of the school year. This 12 page primer, written by Bryan Hassel & Jacob Rosch for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, is designed to help non-specialists such as journalists, policymakers and the general public understand the basics of value-added, and what it means for schools and children in Ohio.
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Posts tagged disruptive technology
Get Qwerky with the retro keyboard of your dreams
July 15, 2014 | 3:21 pm
Retro tech buffs, steampunk fans, or veteran writers nostalgic for the days of the mechanical typewriter may all soon be in luck thanks to a highly successful Kickstarter campaign for "an 84 key, USB, Bluetooth-enabled, typewriter-inspired mechanical keyboard that simulates a tactile clicky feel of a vintage typewriter." The Qwerkywriter, which will feature "custom typewriter-inspired keycaps, an integrated tablet stand, and a detachable USB cable via mini-USB port," has breezed past its $90,000 funding goal with $129,164 pledged, and looks all set to go to market with a target shipping date of just over one year's time. Walnut Creek, CA-based Qwerkytoys,...
A Lesson In Publishing Innovation, Direct from the Shopping Mall
December 5, 2012 | 3:10 pm
I'm doing my holiday shopping this week, and it struck me how in some ways, the changes the publishing industry faces right now are a lot like the changes a family goes through as people evolve and grow. In my family, we don't buy for adults but we do buy small presents for little children, and the puzzle this year has been what to do about the baby niece. Her toddler brother is no problem; he's old enough to have a personality and is obsessed with dinosaurs right now, so we'll be buying him something dinosaur-themed. But his newborn sister doesn't...