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Dazed fashion editor Elizabeth Fraser-Bell goes back to her roots with photographer Rachel Chandler, shooting a story based on the enduring nothingness of hanging out. Pay attention to the details: model Philip wears necklaces like young Fraser-Bell did back in Heswall's 'Mirror Park', the Wirral, thrown on top of an authentic Brit casual/sportwear wardrobe. "The cameo of a hyperactive Staffy called Rosa was a highlight," Elizabeth explains. "And every time I turned around I'd see Conor hanging upside down off a pole or a piece of the building." Put that down to an abundance of sugary Coca Cola.
Watch the 'Killing Time' video here: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/16133/1/killing-time


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The winner of the 2016 Man Booker Award for fiction will be announced this coming Tuesday. Of the six books on the shortlist, Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing is my choice to win the coveted prize. The Canadian Thien, who now lives in Montreal, covers ground in this book that has been pretty much ignored in contemporary English language fiction; namely the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the harsh toll it took on the lives of writers, artists, and most especially, in the context of Thien's novel, musicians. As the Nazis did in Hitler's Germany, the Red Guards burned books. But in their assault on bourgeois culture, the Red Guards took it a horrifying step further by savagely destroying pianos and violins as well.
Do Not Say We Have Nothing focuses on three brilliant musical talents, who try to function in the constricted artistic world of revolutionary China, but ultimately all their lives are destroyed by the oppressive environment in which they lived and worked. The narrative tells us how Zhuli, the young woman with extraordinary violin skills, Kai, the passionate and versatile pianist, and Sparrow, the pioneering and imaginative composer, all are artistically and personally victimized in the Cultural Revolution. It takes the Canadian progeny of Sparrow and the Chinese progeny of Kai to discover the secrets of the past, and to tie all the troubling and confusing loose ends together by the conclusion of the book.
There are other worthy books on the Man Booker shortlist, but none have the literary heft and emotional impact on the reader as does Thien's novel. I especially liked Deborah Levy's Hot Milk and Graeme Macrae Burnet's His Bloody Project, and I would not be shocked if either of these would win the prize. I would be shocked and disappointed if either one of the two American novels, The Sellout by Paul Beatty and Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh, or All That Man Is by Canadian-born British writer David Szalay, happens to be selected as the winner.
2 thoughts on "My Pick for the Man Booker 2016 Literary Prize"
Thanks for the 📚 recommendation. I look forward to reading Do Not Say We Have Nothing.
Sent from my iPhone Michael S. Lurey firstname.lastname@example.com Phone: (310) 454-5661 Fax: (310) 454-2496

subset: commoncrawl


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Build, scan, score sums up LEGO's Life of George perfectly. Building with LEGO bricks is combined with the competitiveness of a game developed for mobile devices, namely those on the iOS and Android platforms. Players can build as part of single and multi-player games as well as quizzes, scan their creations in an attempt to achieve a high score. With the LEGO Life of George 2 game itself downloadable from the Apple App Store and Google Play, the physical set itself will come complete with 144 pieces, a play mat and a George sticker.
Source: ToysNBricks


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Webbox Wildlife
Webbox creates delicious and nutritious food to support and satisfy your local wildlife. Specially formulated, these tempting treats are high in fibre and packed with vitamins and minerals to keep your garden visitors happy and healthy.
This product range has been developed specifically for garden visitors including hedgehogs, birds and more. Packed with essential nutrients, our Webbox Wildlife products contain top quality ingredients to provide a healthy, balanced addition to our friends' natural diet.
With the help of Webbox Wildlife, your garden will soon become a haven for your local wildlife.


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|An Exciting Spectator Event
The world´s best orienteers. 25 women and 25 men. 3 kilometre courses.
Spectacular controls in exciting surroundings. Winning times of 12-15 minutes. Top cash prizes.
The Park World Tour puts the world class orienteers into the spotlight. The Tour takes them to new countries and new continents, where the sport is on its way to becoming established and increasing in popularity.
With professional organisation, modern techniques and spectator-friendly competitions, the races are easy to follow. With functional transport, great catering, accommodation and social activities for the elite runners. With massive marketing and publicity. With a solid framework, but a great deal of flexibility. All with the objective of increasing the knowledge and awareness of orienteering all over the world, to gain interest for the sport and to attract new target groups.
The Park World Tour gives the public and the media new opportunities to follow the orienteers. A chance for everyone to watch one of the world´s toughest sports from close up. Intense races, lasting no longer than a football match, providing lots of speed, excitement and action. Youngsters in particular have become very enthusiastic for this latest new discipline of orienteering, which has received a lot of publicity in the newspapers, on the radio, on TV and on the Internet.
On site, everyone has the opportunity to test the courses themselves with a map and a compass, taking all the time that they require.
|© Park World Tour 1996-2020, created by //deimos.ch - www.p-w-t.org


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10-Jan-2017: Eastern States is now on Facebook. Follow us to get updates and deadline reminders.
Remember Me
1/9/2017Eastern States on Facebook
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Click here to view past events and photos »
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The breathable bugaboo seat liner makes every journey even more comfortable and colorful. It protects the stroller from accidental spills & crumbs and can be easily removed for machine washing.
Key features:
- Breathable fabric treated with bamboo charcoal to regulate the child's temperature and wick away moisture
- Additional padding for your child's comfort and protection from accidental spills & crumbs
- Choice of colors to complement your stroller
- Easy attachment to all bugaboo strollers seats for a secure ride
Additional Information
Model No. (SKU) : 80532SB01
Color: Sky Blue
Manufacturer: Bugaboo
Age: No
Size: No
Condition: New
Type: No
Discontinued: No


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In the group stage matches Spanish team valencia will be hosting Scotish giants Ranger at Mestella on Tuesday 2nd November, in the previous meeting the drew with goal each. This group is wide open as apart from the bottom side Bursaspor all the teams are very close in terms of points, Although Machester United might feel they have a upper hand but the battle between valencia and Rangers is very interesting as one of them is most likely to join Manchester United in the next round. You can Watch live streaming of this match here, links will be available closer to start of the match.
Valencia vs Rangers Champions League Live & Highlights:
Date: 2 November 2010, Time: 20:45 GMT
It is a very important game for both the side, and the fact the United are playing against Bursaspor and expected to win will surely put them in the next round, while if Rangers win this game than Valecia will have a uphill task to qualify for the next round. Valecia are currently 3rd in the group with 4 points from the three games while Rangers have 5 points and lying 2nd.
Match Highlights and Goals Video
[Valencia 3-0 Rangers]
33′ [1 – 0] R. Soldado
66′ [2 – 0] R. Soldado


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Comedian/Actor Kevin Hart is turning his sex tape scandal into a joke that will no doubt have him cashing in.
In the trailer for Kevin's upcoming Irresponsible tour, he openly shades himself for doing things he knew damn well he shouldn't have been doing.
Watch clip:
View this post on Instagram
BREAKING NEWS !!!! Tickets for the 1st leg of my #IrresponsibleTour go on sale this week… click the link in my bio for tickets and show information….This is just a snippet of the video that I am dropping on Friday….I REPEAT this is the FIRST LEG….There will be a SECOND LEG & a THIRD LEG!!!! #comedicrockstarshit #irresponsibletour
View this post on Instagram
In 2 Days the 1st leg of my Irresponsible tour tickets will be on sale people. Here is a 60sec clip of The Kevin's Conversation with Kevin….Im dropping the 4min video on Friday!!!!! Let's gooooooooo…. #IrresponsibleTour #comedicrockstarshit ONCE AGAIN THIS IS JUST THE 1st LEG OF MY TOUR….THE 2nd ANNOUNCEMENT WILL BE THE REST OF THE DOMESTIC DATES & THE 3rd WILL BE THE INTERNATIONAL!!!! I AM GOING EVERYWHERE DAMN IT!!!!!! #irresponsibletour


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Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a very happy New Year. From your friends at
Category: Miscellaneous
ACE Updates its Website
ACE Updates Website Out with the old and bring in the new. ACE updates its old interface with a bold wordpress design and integrated shopping cart. Bringing with it an updated look. "We still bring the same superior product quality and customer service," says Flores, President of ACE, " with our redesign and update our product line to […]


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I did not buy the rough for this gemstone as cuprian and I did not know it was cuprian until I check it out with my spectrometer. I have no idea whether the copper content effects the color of this round, but it does make it more interesting.
The posted round, without any concerns about copper, is a beautiful gemstone. It is a determined light yellow that stays yellow. And when I had to test it under the twisted florescent light in a yellowish shade, the bright yellow rays were practically blinding. It is complete eye clean and has excellent crystal, which is unusual for cuprian material from Mozambique. I should say this, that it is the case for the purples anyway. This beautiful and rare round weighs 2.67 carats.


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Why Bloggers need Wordfence
So as you know I am not a technical blogger and so I seldom do review on anything technical but I wanted to share with you my experience of using Wordfence over the last week.
You might have seen on my Facebook wall a couple of weeks ago that my site was acting very strange. In fact my site and my friend Gavin Mountford's sites were mysteriously going down and coming back at exactly the same time.
Different servers, different hosts…
How could this be?
We check the plugins were using to see if there were any similarities and we also we also considered that it might be a optimise press vulnerability.
Then someone in a wordpress group asked if I had run wordfence to see if there was anything showing up?
I didn't know what it was, but I did some investigating and found that it was a free wordpress security plug in. That does some pretty cool stuff. I'm not going to tell you what it does exactly, because I don't talk computer language, but I can show you in Beth language what it does so you can see if this is something you might want to use yourself.
What I do know is, since running it and fixing things, my site has been happy, which makes me happy too.
According to the Wordfence website, this is what Wordfence does:
"If one WordPress site running Wordfence is attacked, the attacker is blocked and all other sites also running Wordfence block that attacker.
Wordfence is the only WordPress security plugin that provides this kind of real-time distributed protection as it learns from other sites that are attacked.
It's part of what makes us the best WordPress security plugin in the business. But that's just the beginning of what we do to protect your site and help you recover from an attack"
Here's my non techy beth review.
Have you used Wordfence? What has your experience been? Do you have any wordpress hacking nightmares to share?
To Your Simple Blogging Success,


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LucidWorks Names Search and Open Source Expert Paul Doscher CEO
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Dec. 20th, 2011 — LucidWorks [formerly Lucid Imagination], the commercial company for Apache Lucene and Apache Solr search technology, today named search and open source expert Paul Doscher the company's new chief executive officer. Doscher brings nearly 30 years of technology management experience to LucidWorks, including a focus on open source and search technologies at Exalead S.A. and Jaspersoft Corporation. Doscher will lead LucidWorks to its next phase of growth, as the world's leading commercial open source platform that accelerates and simplifies the development of highly accurate, scalable and cost-effective search applications. As the big data trend looms large, LucidWorks is uniquely positioned to help organizations quickly uncover trends hidden in unstructured data, and learn from that data in real time to fuel faster and more appropriate business decisions.
"With its use of Lucene and Solr in its LucidWorks search platform, LucidWorks is helping to drive a sweeping transformation of the enterprise search and retrieval market," said Ravi Mohan, LucidWorks board member and Managing Director at Shasta Ventures. "Paul Doscher combines a deep background in open source and search technologies with a stellar track record of executive management success, making him the perfect individual to take LucidWorks to the next level."
Doscher's mission will be to build LucidWorks into a world class commercial open source search and solutions provider. Prior to joining LucidWorks, Doscher led Exalead and Jaspersoft. Earlier, Doscher held key roles as Executive Vice President Worldwide Sales at VMware, General Manager for the Americas at Business Objects and Vice President Channels, Americas for Oracle.
"With the recent acquisitions of the leading commercial enterprise search vendors LucidWorks is poised to become the independent market share leader using this new wave of technology that enables enterprises to manage massive amounts of information with super speed and efficiency to improve decision making," Doscher said. "The mature and broadly used open source technology under LucidWorks means new search enabled applications will scale more cost effectively and deliver solid returns for the long term."
- Watch the future of search unfold on the LucidWorks blog.
- Follow LucidWorks on Twitter @Lucidworks and Facebook.
About LucidWorks
LucidWorks is the commercial company exclusively dedicated to Apache Lucene/Solr open source enterprise search technology. It provides search solution development platforms built on the power of Lucene/Solr open source search via enterprise-grade subscriptions. The company's LucidWorks Search Platform makes the power of Solr/Lucene open source search more accessible to the broad range of application developers and slashes the learning curve for search solution development. Unlike "black box" products, the LucidWorks Search Platform allows organizations of all sizes and types to continuously tune their search to fit the ongoing needs of their users and achieve a consistently lower cost of growth. LucidWorks also offers free software for developers, documentation, commercial-grade support, high-level consulting, and comprehensive training. Customers include AT&T, Sears, Ford, Verizon, Cisco, Zappos, Raytheon, The Guardian, The Smithsonian Institution, Salesforce.com, The Motley Fool, Qualcomm, Taser, eHarmony, and many other household names around the world. LucidWorks is a privately held venture-funded company. The investors include Shasta Ventures, Granite Ventures, Walden International, and In-Q-Tel. Learn more about the company at lucidworks.com.


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Origin of until
words often confused with until
Words nearby until
Example sentences from the Web for until
It may be fun and it may get them paid, until oversaturation ruins our sense for irony and destroys the market for it.Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
At the time (and until 1913), U.S. senators were not popularly elected but were selected by the state legislature.The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate|Philip Dray|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As Sutton shows in his book, the important shift took place gradually, from the end of the Civil War until World War II.The Evangelical Apocalypse Is All Your Fault|Jay Michaelson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Until concern trolls like Sarah Ditum came along trying to cover it up again.Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In fact, Americans had to wait several hours until film of the event reached New York for it to be broadcast.Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of 'Selma'|Gary May|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I again refused, and we stood higgling, until we agreed that I should pay him six, and one by way of a dress for himself.The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan|James Morier
She moaned and wept and refused all comfort, until one night she closed her eyes on the world which had been so harsh and bitter.The Bishop's Secret|Fergus Hume
A man does not really know, until he gets out of the office, what the strain is.Ethics in Service|William Howard Taft
I had to round them until I got upon the south-east course again.Explorations in Australia, The Journals of John McDouall Stuart|John McDouall Stuart
Slowly that great shadow filled the room, took on human shape, until at last it would be only thus that he would appear.The Golden Scarecrow|Hugh Walpole
British Dictionary definitions for until
conjunction (subordinating)
Word Origin for until
usage for until
Idioms and Phrases with until
see put off until tomorrow; talk one's arm off (until blue in the face). Also see under till.


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TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – May 4, 2016) – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REI.UN) –
RioCan's HIGHLIGHTS for the three months ended March 31, 2016 were:
- RioCan's Operating Funds From Operations ("Operating FFO") for the three months ended March 31, 2016 ("First Quarter") was $148 million or $0.46 per unit compared to $138 million or $0.44 per unit for the first quarter in 2015, representing an increase of $10 million or 7.0%, (4.8% on a per unit basis);
- RioCan's AFFO payout ratio for the twelve months ended March 31, 2016 improved to 89.2% as compared to 94.5 % for the twelve months ended March 31, 2015;
- RioCan's concentration of annualized net rental revenue in Canada's six major markets as at March 31, 2016 increased to 75.0% from 73.6% as at March 31, 2015;
- Committed occupancy improved 160 basis points in Canada, to 94.8% at March 31, 2016 from its lowest point in the prior year of 93.1% at June 30, 2015;
- RioCan continues to make progress backfilling the vacated Target Canada stores. As of the date hereof, RioCan has lease agreements that are either successfully signed, conditional, or are in advanced discussions representing 114% of the former Target base rental revenue;
- In RioCan's development portfolio, RioCan and its partner Allied Properties REIT began construction at King – Portland Centre, in Toronto, Ontario, and in Calgary, Alberta the Trust RioCan and the residential developer, Embassy BOSA, began construction at Fifth and Third (formerly CPA Lands). RioCan has also made significant progress on its greenfield development projects at East Hills and Sage Hill; and
- During the First Quarter, RioCan renewed 1.0 million square feet in Canada at an average rent increase of $1.05 per square foot, representing an increase of 6.2%.
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust ("RioCan") today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.
"We have generated solid growth in Operating Funds from Operations again this quarter, largely from our acquisitions that were completed in 2015. The sale of our U.S. portfolio is continuing to progress towards completion, and we are looking forward to finalizing the sale process so that we can reduce the Trust's leverage and invest in the Trust's urban development program," said Edward Sonshine, Chief Executive Officer of RioCan. "We began construction at two of our major developments in April and will be commencing construction at our Bathurst College Centre in Toronto shortly. In addition we have made great progress towards the backfilling of the vacated Target space and are on track to more than replace the rental revenue generated by Target over time, with net leases and a diverse group of tenants."
Financial Highlights
All figures in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. RioCan's financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). Consistent with RioCan's management framework, management uses certain financial measures to assess RioCan's financial performance, which are not generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) under IFRS. For full definitions of these measures, please refer to the "Use of Non-GAAP Measures" in RioCan's 2016 Management Discussion and Analysis. As a result of the previously announced sale of its U.S. operations, RioCan has reclassified the assets and liabilities associated with this U.S. disposal group to "held for sale" at March 31, 2016 and we are reporting our former U.S. geographic segment performance as "discontinued operations" with comparative income statement amounts adjusted to reflect this change, unless otherwise noted.
|Three months ended March 31,
|(in millions except percentages and per unit values)
|% Change
|Operating FFO (i)
|Operating FFO per Unit
|A non-GAAP measurement. Operating FFO includes both continuing and discontinued operations. A reconciliation to net earnings can be found under "Results of Operations" in RioCan's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ending March 31, 2016.
|Three months ended March 31,
|(in millions except percentages and per unit values)
|% Change
|Net income from continuing operations
|Net earnings from continuing operations before taxes and fair value adjustment
|Net earnings per unit from continuing operations attributable to unitholders – diluted
|(in millions)
|March 31,
|December 31,
|Total enterprise value (i)
|Total assets
|Debt (ii)
|A non-GAAP measurement. Calculated by the Trust as debt at RioCan's interest plus common Unit market capitalization plus total Preferred Unit market capitalization.
|Debt is defined as the sum of mortgages payable, mortgages held for sale, lines of credit, and debentures payable.
Net income from continuing operations attributable to unitholders (Canadian Operations)
First Quarter
Net income from continuing operations attributable to unitholders for the first quarter of 2016 is $108 million compared to $45 million during the same period in 2015, representing an increase of $63 million or 140%. Excluding $49 million in fair value adjustments, net income from continuing operations attributable to unitholders for the first quarter of 2016 is $111 million compared to $97 million in 2015, representing an increase of $14 million or 14%.
The increase of $14 million is largely explained by the following:
- $9.8 million contributions from property acquisitions (net of disposals) and, to a lesser extent, from completed redevelopments, partly offset by the following: $3.2 million lower lease cancellation fees, $1.6 million lower Canadian same store performance, $2.3 million lost rent related to Target's exit from Canada and $1.5 million in lower straight-line rents, resulting in an overall net increase in operating income of $1.3 million;
- $9.9 million in lower debt redemption charges; and
- $2.0 million in reduced corporate and other expenses primarily reflecting $1.5 million in lower transaction costs from reduced property acquisition and disposition activity.
Net income from discontinued operations attributable to unitholders (U.S. Operations)
First Quarter
Income from discontinued operations attributable to unitholders is $39 million this quarter compared to $44 million in 2015. The decrease of $5.1 million was primarily the result of $22.4 million in lower fair value gains, offset in part by a $17.9 million reduction in the tax provision mainly due to the strengthening of the Canadian dollar since December 31, 2015.
During the quarter, we recognized a fair value gain of $21 million, which is largely due to positive valuation adjustments for accrued realty taxes, net of property specific write-downs.
Operating Funds From Operations (includes Continuing and Discontinued Operations)
First Quarter
OFFO for the First Quarter is $148 million compared to $138 million during the same period in 2015, representing an increase of $9.8 million or approximately 7.0%. On a per unit basis, OFFO is $0.46 compared to $0.44, representing an increase of approximately 4.8%.
Continuing Operations
In the First Quarter, OFFO from continuing operations increased $5.9 million compared to Q1 2015, primarily due to higher NOI of $4.1 million as a result of acquisition activity, $0.9 million in higher income from marketable securities and lower interest expense of $0.7 million.
Discontinued Operations
In First Quarter, OFFO from our U.S. discontinued operations increased $3.8 million compared to the first quarter of 2015, primarily driven by higher NOI of $3.5 million, which is partly offset by $0.5 million of lower earnings generated from our equity accounted investments due to the sale of a U.S. property during the third quarter of 2015.
Corporate Developments
U.S. Portfolio Sale
The closing of the sale transaction, which had been expected to be completed before April 30, 2016, but was subject to certain closing conditions, is delayed. This is a result of the time involved in obtaining the consent of various third party lenders required to fulfill one of the principal closing conditions.
The transaction documents contemplate a closing at any time up to the end of August 2016. The sale process continues to progress well and management is confident that the sale will be completed during the second quarter of 2016. RioCan will provide a subsequent update once completed.
Contract Extension for Edward Sonshine
As announced on February 18, 2016, Edward Sonshine, RioCan's Chief Executive Officer, accepted an amendment to his employment contract, agreeing to a commitment to remain as CEO of the Trust until at least December 2018. As part of this commitment, Mr. Sonshine agrees to use his best efforts to provide the Trust with 12 months' notice of his interest to resign or retire.
Portfolio Activity
On March 1, 2016, we completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% interest in Huron Heights at a purchase price of $12.5 million. This remaining 50% interest was acquired from former partner Kimco and is a continuation of the previously disclosed unwind process (the joint venture was substantially unwound in the fourth quarter of 2015). Huron Heights is a 87,000 square foot unenclosed community shopping centre located in London, Ontario. The centre is anchored by Talize and Shoppers Drug Mart, and contains national tenants including Scotiabank, Fit For Less (Goodlife Fitness) and Subway.
During the First Quarter, RioCan completed the acquisition of 85 Bloor Street West, in Toronto, Ontario. The 14,000 square foot retail property in Toronto's high end shopping area of Bloor Street is currently occupied by COS, a banner of fashion retailer H&M. The property was acquired free and clear of financing at a purchase price of $38 million.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2016, we disposed of interests in three income properties aggregating $57 million, comprised of approximately 190,000 square feet. The Trust's mortgage obligations related to these properties was $16 million.
Operational Highlights
Canadian Same Store and Same Property NOI
|Three months ended March 31,
|Same Store Growth (decline)
|Same Property Growth (decline)
|Refers to same store and same property NOI growth on a year over year basis.
The primary driver for the decline in RioCan's Canadian same store and same property NOI for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was higher vacancies as a result of the carry over effect of the challenging operating environment encountered in 2015, and co-tenancy rent reductions in the first quarter. Partially offsetting these declines were increases in NOI from new leasing, rental revenue on renewals, and vacated space that has since been backfilled by new tenants.
The key performance indicators related to operating and leasing for the Canadian portfolio over the last eight quarters is as follows:
|(in percentages)
|Committed occupancy
|Economic occupancy
|Retention rate
|% increase in average net rent per sq ft
- The Trust renewed 1.0 million square feet in the Canadian portfolio at an average rent increase of $1.05 per square foot, representing an increase of 6.2% while retaining 84.4% of its tenants in the First Quarter.
- Consistent with RioCan's stated Canadian strategy, its portfolio is concentrated in Canada's six major markets (consisting of Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Vancouver). Assets in these markets contribute approximately 75.0% of RioCan's Canadian annualized rental revenue as at March 31, 2016 (73.6% at March 31, 2015). The increase was driven by RioCan's acquisition of Kimco share of assets located primarily in these six major markets; and
- The percentage of annualized rental revenue generated by national and anchor tenants in Canada was relatively unchanged at 84.2% of RioCan's total annualized rental revenue as at March 31, 2016, as compared to 84.1% as at March 31, 2015.
Target Leasing Update
Since Target's departure, RioCan has made good progress towards leasing the vacated space and has successfully entered into either committed and conditional lease agreements, or is in advanced negotiations on leases that collectively represent approximately $12.4 million or 114% of the total base rental revenue lost through Target's departure (at RioCan's proportionate share). There is an additional 0.3 million square feet (0.2 million square feet at RioCan's interest) that the Trust is currently marketing for lease that is expected to generate additional rental revenue.
The expected total cost of the redevelopment work pertaining to the deals currently included in our backfill progress (see table) is estimated to be approximately $131 million (approximately $102 million at RioCan's proportionate share). The overall redevelopment costs will evolve as additional tenants are secured, development plans are completed and construction costs finalized.
feet at
feet at
annual base
rental revenue
at RioCan's
interest (i)
|Former Target Canada space
|Backfill progress:
|Leased space where tenants have taken possession
|Committed space
|Conditional agreements
|Advanced discussions
|Total backfill progress
|Space currently being marketed (ii)
|Total NLA upon completion of redevelopment
|Potential GLA converted for landlord uses (common area, loading docks, etc.) (ii)
|Space for demolition/potential redevelopment
|Total (iii)
|"n.a." – not applicable.
|Amounts in millions of Canadian dollars.
|Represents square footage based on current redevelopment plans and is subject to change based on tenant demand. Space currently being marketed includes marketed NLA at Flamborough Power Centre, which was included with Greenfield development in Q1 2016.
|Expansion space at RioCan Niagara Falls results in an additional 26,000 square feet of net leasable area at this property.
Development Activities
As at March 31, 2016, RioCan had ownership interests in 16 development projects that represents approximately 6.8 million square feet upon completion (3.7 million square feet at RioCan's interest). In addition to its development projects, RioCan continued its urban intensification activities, primarily in the Toronto, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta markets. In the First Quarter, RioCan transferred from properties under development to income producing properties $65 million in costs pertaining to 165,000 square feet of completed greenfield development or expansion and redevelopment projects.
Residential Development
RioCan has currently identified 46 properties that it considers to be strong possible intensification opportunities, all of which are in the six major markets and are typically located in the vicinity of substantive transit infrastructure. RioCan's objective is to obtain the appropriate zoning and approval for approximately 18,000 residential units over the course of the next ten years. Given the early stage of the evolution of this strategy, there can be no assurance that all of these developments will be undertaken, and if they are, on what terms.
As at the date of this report, RioCan has obtained planning approvals for 7 mixed use projects. In total, RioCan has filed rezoning applications for 20 mixed use projects which, if all planning permission requests are granted as applied for, is expected to comprise a total of approximately 12.6 million square feet. This projected space includes residential rental units held for long-term rental income, condominiums for sale that will in most cases be developed by third party partners through the sale of air rights, and incremental commercial gross leasable area. The mix between condominiums (including air rights sales) and rental residential may change over time depending on market conditions. The majority of these properties are located directly on, or in close proximity, to major transit lines such as the existing Toronto Transit Commission's subway lines or the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line, which is currently under construction. The ability to intensify its existing retail properties into transit-oriented mixed use developments is indicative of both the locational attributes of RioCan's land holdings and its development capabilities.
Liquidity and Capital
|Rolling 12 months ended
|March 31,
|December 31,
|Interest coverage ratio – RioCan's proportionate share
|Debt service coverage ratio – RioCan's proportionate share
|Fixed charge coverage ratio – RioCan's proportionate share
|Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio – RioCan's proportionate share
|Net Operating debt to Operating EBITDA – RioCan's proportionate share
|Unencumbered assets (millions) (i)
|% of NOI generated from unencumbered assets (i)
|Unencumbered assets to unsecured debt (i)
Coverage metrics include results from both continuing and discontinued operations except for (i) which is calculated on a continuing operations basis.
Financing Highlights for the First Quarter
Credit Facilities
At March 31, 2016, RioCan has five revolving lines of credit in place having an aggregate capacity of approximately $1.2 billion with $618 million available to be drawn. During the First Quarter, we amended the terms of two existing operating lines to temporarily increase the Trust's borrowing capacity by $300 million to a total of $1.2 billion. The additional operating line capacity was used to fund certain property acquisitions and subsequent to the quarter end fund the redemption of the Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Trust Units, Series A. We anticipate that the proceeds from the sale of the Trust's U.S. Operations will be used to repay lines and will repay additional long term debt as part of the RioCan's strategy to lower leverage.
Term Financing
In Canada, RioCan obtained approximately $27 million fixed-rate mortgage financing during the quarter at an average interest rate of 2.88% and a weighted average term to maturity of 5.5 years. RioCan also obtained $23 million floating rate financing at a weighted average interest rate of 2.37% and a weighted average term to maturity of 4.7 years.
RioCan has reduced its contractual interest rate on its Canadian outstanding debt to 3.60% at March 31, 2016 from 3.65% at December 31, 2015.
Preferred Units
On March 31, 2016 RioCan redeemed all 5 million outstanding units of its Series A Preferred Units at the cash redemption price of $25.00 per Series A Unit, for total redemption proceeds of $125 million.
RioCan's Interim Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2016 is available on RioCan's website at www.riocan.com.
Conference Call and Webcast
Interested parties are invited to participate in a conference call with management on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. You will be required to identify yourself and the organization on whose behalf you are participating.
In order to participate, please dial 416-340-2218 or 1-866-223-7781. If you cannot participate in the live mode, a replay will be available until June 1, 2016. To access the replay, please dial 905-694-9451 or 1-800-408-3053 and enter passcode 6787586#.
Scheduled speakers include Edward Sonshine, O.Ont. Q.C., Chief Executive Officer, Rags Davloor, President and Chief Operating Officer and Cynthia Devine, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Management's presentation will be followed by a question and answer period. To ask a question, press "star 1" on a touch-tone phone. The conference call operator will be notified of all requests in the order in which they are made, and will introduce each questioner.
Alternatively, to access the simultaneous webcast, go to the following link on RioCan's website http://investor.riocan.com/investor-relations/events-and-presentations/events/ and click on the link for the webcast. The webcast will be archived 24 hours after the end of the conference call and can be accessed for 120 days.
About RioCan
RioCan is Canada's largest real estate investment trust with a total enterprise value of approximately $16 billion as at March 31, 2016. RioCan owns and manages Canada's largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 303 Canadian retail and mixed use properties, including 16 properties under development, containing an aggregate net leasable area of 46 million square feet. For further information, please refer to RioCan's website at www.riocan.com.
Non-GAAP Measures
RioCan's consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS. Consistent with RioCan's management framework, management uses certain financial measures to assess RioCan's financial performance, which are not generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) under IFRS. The following measures, RioCan's Interest, Funds From Operations ("FFO"), Operating Funds From Operations ("Operating FFO"), Adjusted Funds From Operations ("AFFO"), and Adjusted Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA"), Operating EBITDA, Interest Coverage Ratio, Debt Service Coverage Ratio, Net Debt to Operating EBITDA, Net Operating Income ("NOI"), Same Store NOI, Same Property NOI, Total Enterprise Value, and RioCan's Proportionate Share as well as other measures discussed elsewhere in this release, do not have a standardized definition prescribed by IFRS and are, therefore, unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other reporting issuers. RioCan uses these measures to better assess the Trust's underlying performance and provides these additional measures so that investors may do the same. Non GAAP measures should not be considered as alternatives to net earnings or comparable metrics determined in accordance with IFRS as indicators of RioCan's performance, liquidity, cash flow, and profitability. For a full definition of these measures, please refer to the "Use of Non-GAAP Measures" in RioCan's first quarter 2016 Management Discussion and Analysis.
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. This information includes, but is not limited to, statements made in "Financial Highlights", "Corporate Developments", "Portfolio Activity", "Operational Highlights", "Development Activities", Liquidity and Capital" and other statements concerning RioCan's objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management's beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "objective", "may", "will", "would", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "plan", "continue", or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. All forward-looking information in this News Release is qualified by these cautionary statements.
Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future events or performance and, by its nature, is based on RioCan's current estimates and assumptions, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described under "Risks and Uncertainties" in RioCan's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended March 31, 2016 ("MD&A"), which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the forward-looking information contained in this News Release. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those related to: liquidity and general market conditions; tenant concentrations and related risk of bankruptcy or restructuring (and the terms of any bankruptcy or restructuring proceeding), occupancy levels and defaults, including the failure to fulfill contractual obligations by the tenant or a related party thereof; lease renewals and rental increases; the ability to re-lease and find new tenants for vacant space; retailer competition; access to debt and equity capital; interest rate and financing risk; joint ventures and partnerships; the relative illiquidity of real property; unexpected costs or liabilities related to acquisitions and dispositions; development risk associated with construction commitments, project costs and related approvals; environmental matters; litigation; reliance on key personnel; unitholder liability; income and indirect taxes; our U.S. investment and the related purchase and sale agreement entered into for the sale of our U.S. net assets, property management and foreign currency risk; and credit ratings.
The sale of our U.S. portfolio remains subject to certain closing conditions and there are risks and uncertainties with respect to the completion of the transaction on the terms agreed upon, or at all, together with other statements concerning RioCan's objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management's beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, leverage ratios, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts, including but without limitation, to the intended use of sale proceeds.
RioCan currently qualifies as a real estate investment trust for Canadian tax purposes and intends to qualify for future years. The Income Tax Act (Canada) contains provisions which potentially impose tax on publicly traded trusts that qualify as specified investment flow-through entities (the SIFT Provisions). However, the SIFT Provisions do not impose tax on a publicly traded trust which qualifies as a REIT. Should RioCan no longer qualify as a Canadian REIT under the SIFT Provisions, certain statements contained in this News Release may need to be modified. RioCan is still subject to Canadian tax in its incorporated Canadian subsidiaries.
RioCan's U.S. subsidiary qualifies as a REIT for U.S. income tax purposes. The subsidiary expects to distribute all of its U.S. taxable income (if any) to Canada and is entitled to deduct such distributions for U.S. income tax purposes. The subsidiary's qualification as a REIT depends on the REIT's satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, unitholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. We anticipate that the subsidiary will continue to qualify as a U.S. REIT until the closing of the sale of our U.S. asset portfolio. Our U.S. subsidiary is subject to a 30% or 35% withholding tax on distributions to Canada. Previously, we expected to flow-out any withholding tax paid to unitholders as foreign tax paid. Based upon the intended sale of our U.S. retail asset portfolio, however, RioCan expects to deduct U.S. withholding taxes paid or payable, if any, related to the disposition proceeds.
Other factors, such as general economic conditions, including interest rate and foreign exchange rate fluctuations, may also have an effect on RioCan's results of operations. Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to: a stable retail environment; relatively low and stable interest costs; a continuing trend toward land use intensification, including residential development in urban markets; access to equity and debt capital markets to fund, at acceptable costs, future capital requirements and to enable our refinancing of debts as they mature; and the availability of investment opportunities for growth in Canada and the U.S. For a description of additional risks that could cause actual results to materially differ from management's current expectations, see "Risks and Uncertainties" in RioCan's MD&A in its 2015 Annual Report and for the period ended March 31, 2016 and in "Risks and Uncertainties" in RioCan's most recent AIF. Although the forward-looking information contained in this News Release is based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with this forward-looking information. Certain statements included in this News Release may be considered "financial outlook" for purposes of applicable Canadian securities laws, and as such the financial outlook may not be appropriate for purposes other than this News Release. The forward-looking information contained in this News Release is made as of the date of this News Release, and should not be relied upon as representing RioCan's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this News Release .
Management undertakes no obligation, except as required by applicable law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Cynthia J. Devine
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
and Corporate Secretary
(647) 253-4973


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Go Back
Posted by:
Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 4/1/2008 5:00:00 PM
I should have known better.
I recently received an email from a government website that I have used for purchasing savings bonds for my nieces and nephews. I guess I should say I used it once. After that first time, I realized it wasn't worth the hassle.Let me tell you why:
There are lots of other ugly aspects to the site, but those were the most immediately frustrating. So, I stopped using it. Then last week I got an email from the site telling me that I could expect some snail mail from them. Apparently, they are adding in some kind of additional security feature that involves an access card.
Of course, since I'm insane, I tried to send them an email suggesting that they were making the site impossible to use with all this security. (Doing this was an additional hassle, as their contact form limited the # of characters I could input, but didn't tell me what the limit was or how many characters I was over. Thanks!) They promptly replied that all this security was for my protection..
I explained to them (again) that as a web application developer I understood their concerns, but that they were making the site completely unusable for most people, and that this should be an additional consideration. Of course, they just replied again trying to tell me how wonderful all this security is, especially telling me why the virtual keyboard makes things more secure. If they had read my email, they would have realized that I understood that the virtual keyboard increased security - I just didn't agree that the pain was worth the increase.
I don't know why I bothered. An organization who implemented this feature and left it there for more than a year clearly doesn't care about usability (or accessibility!) But there are bigger lessons for us all in this:
I guess I'll go back to standing in line at the bank!
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Top 5 Programmers to Avoid
What everyone should know about bugs
How to tell if an estimate sucks
The Secret to Building a Crappy User Interface
The Problem with Selecting the Lowest Bidder
5 Ways to Control Software Development Costs
Avonelle is a rare IT professional who can communicate with business users on a level they can understand, and who can recommend creative technical solutions that are in line with the business goals and the business budget. Avonelle is conscientious not only about meeting deadlines, but also exceeding her customers expectations around quality software while providing superior customer service. Avonelle is an inspiration to me.
Valerie Vogt, Director of IT Advisory Services @ Inetium
Copyright © 2013 Avonelle Lovhaug. All Rights Reserved.
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Boxer shorts in cotton jersey with short legs, elasticized waistband, and lined front.
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- Cotton 95%, Elastane 5%
- Art. No.
- 0748516005
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Delivery: Shipping is available to an address within Canada. Payment: We accept credit card payments via MasterCard and Visa. You can also pay with PayPal or H&M giftcards. Learn more on our customer service pages.
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"DD Review: Dusted – Blackout Summer."
Score: 9/10
If Brian Borcherdt on the 2018 LP Blackout Summer sounds disarmingly and curiously calm, it could be because this Toronto lo-fi project encompasses a repast from his amped-up electro project Holy Fu**, a legitimate progenitor of new sounds and styles and music. Blackout Summer finds the mellow Deerhunter albums Microcastle and Halcyon Digest as probably its closest influence reference point, Borcherdt's voice though coming across as measurably nasal and thick with genuine peeved emotion, as if singing this music to him amounts to sort of scratching some sort of essential, preternatural itch.
One feather in this album's cap, upon even a cursory listen, is variety, one advantage it has over Bonny Doon, whom I've just covered. Instead, in other words, of coming across as based upon one single, static and warmed over "groove" method, these songs seem as if birthed from on high, the light and celestial guitar (which again calls to mind Lockett Pundt and company) coming across as more conceptual technical. In other words, these delicate but intricate pop songs are plied from extremely small nodes, like birds' feathers, rather than being blueprints or reprints of overall SCORES or completions that have come before. The inspiration comes from the world itself.
The first three tracks on Blackout Summer sidle along with semi-believable ambient intimacy. It was on track four, though, "Cut Corners" that I really realized Borcherdt was making a music lover's album. Freeing itself from drums, the beautiful and gentle ode "Cut Corners" swathes itself in this deep and textural rhythm guitar which might call to mind a blur ballad like "No Distance Left to Run," the mood of melancholy and resignation roughly aligning therewith as well. "Dead Eyes" then cuts even deeper: the "Dead eyes / They got nothing left inside / Doesn't mean they've got nothin' to hide" stanza which opens the song unveiling an important modification on what had prior been considered the nadir of human spirituality. This is pop music which is sure to play as anthemic for any punctilious, patient listener with an appreciation for subtle genuineness.
"Will Not Disappear" then, again, is defiantly languid and soft, but beautiful, needless of drums and with a vocal that sidles stylishly in and out of falsetto, flanking a gentle electric guitar tone every bit worthy of the most intimate moments on Exile in Guyville. To be sure, this isn't an album you'll put on at a party or a barbecue, but then, we're all sober on SOME nights, aren't we? We'll maybe be a little more ably so, now, with the help of Blackout Summer, from the cold part of the continent.


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Watch Ossy Brown Performs 'Love It 2x' on Loveworldplus.
Gospel R&B/Pop singer, Ossy Brown discharges the live performance video of his 2014's banger titled Love It 2x, on Loveworldplus Tv recently.
Ossy said "…Performing one of my all time classics "LOVE IT 2x" is always a pleasure as it is one song that expresses the tangibility of God's Love just the way I feel it".
Watch Ossy Brown Performs 'Love It 2x' video below.


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Whether its your next vacation or wedding let us design a custom package and bring the tanning salon to you!
Contact us today to book your appointment!
Body Glow by Rebecca – Based in Roseville & Serving the Greater Sacramento Area!
Call Now !
(916) 893-7293
Business Hours
Mon-Fri 8:00am-8:00pm
Sat Closed
Sun 10:00am-4:00pm (By Appointment Only)


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Each October during national arts and humanities month, we celebrate! Join us for a full month of celebrating arts and culture in our region. Head over to our events page, to check out October's many great artistic and cultural offerings.
Let us know what performances, exhibits, and other arts events you're planning and hosting in October so we can add them to the full Arts Month listings. Submit details via our Submittable site. The information deadline for potential print promotional materials was August 30, but events submitted after August 30 are still eligible for online promotions.
The first weekend in October is Fall Arts Tour—with gallery and studio exhibits and events throughout the city! Check back for more event details!


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Sangrita Grill + Cantina presents a post-Halloween Dia De Muertos ("Day of the Dead") party this Sunday, Nov. 1. The party includes live music by Indio & Avi, a costume contest and prizes. The evening's contestants will be judged in three categories: Best Dia De Muertos Face Painting, Best Costume and Best Overall. The whole deal kicks off a prix-fixe menu available for the months of November and December (a portion of proceeds benefiting Imua Family Services). 5pm. Sangrita Grill + Cantina (2580 Keka'a Dr., Ka`anapali); 808-662-6000, Sangritagrill.com
-Marina Satoafaiga (@sandtothecity)
Photo courtesy of Imua Family Services


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A vacation rental is a cheaper way to go than staying at a hotel if your visit to Toronto is going to be for more than one or two days.
Visit the Toronto Groupon page and you'll find savings of 50-90% on tours, boat cruises, theatre tickets, comedy clubs, activities, dinner spots and accommodations.
More ideas: Cheap, Fun Things to See & Do in Toronto
A downtown Toronto vacation rental offers you all the comforts of home: fully furnished; complete kitchen–so you can save money by not eating meals out every day, and laundry. Here are some thrifty Toronto vacation rentals that you can book for under $150 a day:
– Sherry's Loft in Liberty Village Vacation Rental, TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Winner. Two-story loft in a popular, trendy area with a great variety of restaurants, watering holes and coffee shops. Downtown is just a short ride away on public transit. Sleeps four.
– Dundas Square Studio Vacation Rental, 5 out of 5 Rating on TripAdvisor. Tastefully furnished and very clean. Steps away from live theatre, shopping at the Eaton Centre, movies, great restaurants and groceries. Sleeps four.
– Luxury Suite Vacation Rental across from CN Tower, Rated 5 out of 5 on TripAdvisor. Indoor pool. Parking included. Pub and full-size grocery store below the building. Short walk to many of the city's sites, restaurants and transit. Sleeps four.
Click on the links below:
One great way to save on Toronto hotel accommodations is to peruse Groupon, the money-saving website that features local discounts in 150 cities. Visit the Toronto "Hotels" Groupon page and you'll find savings of up to 50% on places to stay when visiting Hog Town. The Groupon Toronto "Hotels" page is a smart place to start when you're first planning your trip and even when you're in the middle of your Toronto visit because new deals get added weekly and even daily many times.
Be thrifty and practical! This information was accurate when published, but can change without notice. We recommend you confirm all details with the provider in question before planning your excursion.


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Leaving Your World Cleaner Than We Found It
If you are searching for the popular name in pressure washing, look no further. From exterior siding to roofs, to patios and fences, and much more, we tackle it all.
Let us help make your home siding and your world a little brighter!
WELCOME TO Pressure Cleaning Canberra
We have the best tools for the job. We only utilize specialized equipment which is created exclusively for the professional services we provide. We have the most proficient crew in the industry. We pride ourselves on our communicating skills before, in the middle of and after our work is complete. We respect you and your house. Because of this, we take the utmost care of your house or building at all times. Pressure Cleaning Canberra is an experienced pressure washing company that provides roof cleaning services, pressure washing services and a lot more.
We happily serve the entire Dunlop and surroundings areas. We deliver top notch workmanship, very affordable prices, our technicians are licensed and also fully insured for your safety.
Our Services
At Pressure Cleaning Canberra, we are totally committed to offering our clients with top quality expert pressure washing support services. We give top-notch services to all our clients; we additionally satisfy our promises to our customers by providing a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Have a glance below for a sample of just some of the services we offer.
Knowledgeable Experts
With years of service under our belts, the pressure washing experts at Pressure Cleaning Canberra can help;. No job is too big or too small for our skilled team.
Business with Integrity
We have been serving Dunlop and surrounding areas with an open and trusting approach. You can count on this team to always provide you with honest and open feedback throughout the entire job.
Fast, Efficient Quotes
We offer a FREE consultation and price quote to all of our customers. Contact us today so we can get the job done correctly and efficiently the first time.
Green Cleaning Practices
Here at Pressure Cleaning Canberra, we care about the environment and all the creatures in it, and because of this all of our cleaning and pressure washing products are always environmentally friendly.
Convenient Service Packages
Do you have more than one job that needs to be accomplished? No problem. We offer service packages for your convenience.
A Commitment to Satisfaction
We hold our clients at a very high regard. If you aren't happy, we aren't happy, that is why we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Do you need help with Pressure Washing?
We are here to help! Give us a call today.
We also provide Brick Cleaning service in the following suburbs
More About Dunlop
Pressure Cleaning Services In Dunlop You Can Trust
Pressure Cleaning Dunlop is the highest rated, professional pressure cleaning & exterior house washing business. We service all residential areas across Canberra.
Pressure Cleaning Of Old Plain Grey Concrete And Driveways In Dunlop
Pressure cleaning concrete, the plain grey stuff is generally considered a big job. Concrete looks great when new and is extremely cost effective when laying large areas for car parks and very large driveways which's probably why there is always so much of the stuff around to clean. Concrete cleaning large areas can be intimidating! Due to the fact that of its light colour concrete can become very undesirable extremely quickly given the right conditions.
Concrete can be really porous and harbours wetness and dirt promoting the growth of mould. Due to the fact that of its deep pours high pressure washing alone will not bring back concretes original new appearance unless a special treatment is utilized in combination with the pressure cleaning process.
Concrete cleaning in Dunlop is straight forward because we have the ideal power washing equipment. High powered industrial pressure cleaners accompanied by enviro friendly eco-friendly concrete cleaning treatments are the only sure ways of elimination. Another problem associated to concrete cleaning is the physical conditioning of an individual to handle large projects like cleaning concrete driveways.
Hard work for the amateur.
If all of this is starting to sound like anything but enjoyable, then you are starting to get the picture of what it takes to clean concrete. That is why it's much better to prevent this type of Do It Yourself job. That is unless you just like effort and you have actually got professional pressure cleaning equipment lying around or don't mind dumping a few hundred dollars on employing the equipment and buying the cleaners to do it yourself. Otherwise, you need to contact a professional who is properly equipped and has the experience and training to do the task and save you the time and effort.
You need to think about all of the important things described above and also the amount of time it will take to do this type of chore prior to jumping on a concrete cleaning job yourself.
If you don't have at least a weekend to devote to a task like cleaning your driveway, pathways and footpaths, then don't start to tackle it on your own; call a concrete cleaning professional to come to your home or office and offer you with a quote. In many cases, this will really save you money and permit you to continue on with your day, just like any other.
Exterior House Pressure Cleaning In Dunlop
Selling your house in Dunlop? Try our pre-sale makeover.
Nobody likes the exterior of their home to be filthy, neither do we. If you're sporadically cleaning up the exterior of your house, possibilities are you have actually got a great deal of dirt buildup that can become tough to get off.
That's where the specialists come in! With years of experience pressure washing homes in and around the Dunlop location, there's no one better. Our safe and effective power cleaning services are great for homes with the following materials as the exterior:
- Siding
- Sandstone
- Sheetrock
- Brick
- Stone
And much more!
Among the very best reasons for selecting us is our commitment to quality, our strategy and materials ensure your home's outside is safe and thoroughly cleaned. We never utilize extreme chemicals, so all overflow is totally safe for your family and the environment. We don't opt for anything less than remarkable.
We advise scheduling home cleaning in Dunlop on a seasonal basis in order to start out the new season on the best foot, weather and precipitation are huge aspects that can impact your home's outside, so keeping top of things with regular washings is an excellent idea.
Restore Your Sandstone And Bring The Colour Back To Your Walls & Floor Covering In Dunlop
High pressure water cleaning can be really destructive to sandstone if your not experienced. We have embraced an unique fingertip controller over the water pressure used when cleaning up sensitive substrates like sandstone and its reducing the water pressure that makes the difference. The truth is that porous surfaces like sandstone harbour algae deep down and high pressure water cleaning will only damage the stone. We have established a treatment for sandstone that has a surfactant base that assists deep penetration when applied wet reaching locations plain water can't reach killing all algae and the spoors giving way to removal with a low pressure clean.
Presentation is essential, which is why when it concerns sandstone cleaning driveways, sidewalks, retaining walls or footpaths, you wish to be certain the results are positive. When your sandstone surface areas goes black or green due to the invasion of algae, bring it back to life with our Power Washing process, we'll clean your sandstone surface area to make it look brand new again giving you that feeling you had when you had it first built and it looked so great!
Paver Cleaning Service In Dunlop For Clay Pavers, Brick Pavers, Concrete Pavers
Restore your lovely paving back to brand-new.
We can eliminate all the weeds growing in between your pavers.
Paver cleaning can be really labour extensive. The really rough nature of pavers is such that not just do you have a permeable material however to intensify the matter you also have joints at every edge allowing the ingress of all sort of particles including water. This produces a perfect environment for the germination of not only algae but weeds completely ruining the appearance of your gorgeous paved driveway or entertaining area.
If you haven't ever tried to clean pavers before, then make sure you get the proper pressure cleaning devices and treatment for paver washing. If you don't, you will quickly learn that non-commercial pressure cleaners will not remove built-up dirt and gunk or those terrible weeds very well and if you do not use a special treatment in conjunction with the pressure washing procedure you will discover that the moss, algae and weeds will return nearly right before your eyes. Also the work rate of little pressure cleaners will have you there for days chewing up your valuable weekends.
This is where expert paver cleaners and equipment make the difference and make it simple to achieve great results.
Don't squander your time trying to get the outcomes only a professional like we can accomplish. We have all the gear and the experience to make your paving come to life as soon as again.
Pressure Washing Of Bricks In Dunlop
New brick work generally requires to be brick cleaned at some stage after being laid. The quicker the bricks are cleaned up the easier the brick cleaning process is. Hydrochloric acid is used in this procedure to break down cement mortar residue left by the brick laying procedure. Some brick layers are messy and leave large amounts of cement all over the brand-new bricks making the brick cleaning process really tedious and time consuming. Some brick layers also utilize to much cement in the mortar mix making the mortar way to hard which also makes the cleaning process difficult.
Inexperienced brick cleaning professionals can burn the bricks "leaving them yellow" if there knowledge of light coloured bricks especially is restricted. Brick cleaning is difficult and selecting the wrong specialist can be fatal for the appearance of your home. We are experienced in all elements of pressure washing including the washing of freshly laid bricks. Select us if you would like your new bricks to look the way they should.
Roof Pressure Cleaning Solutions In Dunlop
We are an experienced roofing system cleaning company in Dunlop, with many years experience. We have actually cleaned countless roofing systems specialising in Terracotta tiles, cement tiles and metal roofing systems.
We will check your roofing and determine any prospective problems before formulating the best approach to clean your roofing.
We offer our clients a total solution to roof restoration that includes our sophisticated roofing system cleansing system, re-pointing and re-colouring your roofing. Your roof will appear brighter, richer and cleaner than it's been in years. In fact, it'll appear like you have actually changed the old tiles for new tiles! Something as easy as a water pressure washer can make all the difference to your roofing system.
If you're tired of seeing your roof faded and aged, then give us a call. Hire us to restore your roofing today, and delight in the facelift that it provides your home.
Tennis Court Cleaning Service Throughout Dunlop
Tennis is an enjoyable and interesting game no matter what your age, however if the tennis court isn't properly preserved, it produces a disappointment for everybody. Don't let dirt and debris mess up the fun for everybody, let us make your Dunlop tennis courts look brand-new.
With focused water pressure and accuracy application, we can get even the toughest dirt out of your tennis court. You 'd be amazed at how much dirt and grime can build up on your courts after just a couple of uses. After just one session with us, your tennis courts will look like they have actually never ever been played on!
We specialise in outdoor power cleaning applications, you can be sure we have the specific service you require. We provide a wide variety of pressure cleaning service.
Whether you're seeking to completely restore your tennis court or are simply searching for a power cleaning retouch, our team can do the job and exceed your expectations while doing so. We believe in providing extraordinary washing services at fair rates.
We utilizes a chemical treatment that has been specially created for synthetic surfaces that completely kills any remaining spoors at a tiny level while uniquely cleaning up and filtering the sand at the same time. Once dry the court is then power swept to rejuvenate the fibre ends and if required new sand is then included. Your tennis court now appears like brand-new.
Tough Tennis Courts, Care & experience counts.
Acrylic, Painted Concrete
An extremely hard wearing surface area that's useful considering our often severe Aussie climate. Vulnerable to maintaining wetness these surfaces supply the perfect environment for the accumulation of dirt and algae triggering the surface to end up being very slippery. We can chemically deal with and clean up any tough court surface area without harming the surface area making it look like new once again.
Graffiti Removal Solutions In Dunlop
We supply graffiti elimination services to all of Canberra and Dunlop. Graffiti is an eyesore to many people and the people who leave it behind have no regard for just how much it decreases the value of a properties look. Graffiti in almost all cases is removable. Spray paint forms a tight bond with any surface and the technique is peeling back the spray paint without harming the surface area beneath. With our hot water pressure machines and a few helpful chemicals we can eliminate the spray paint and leave the residential or commercial property searching in the very best shape possible. Our graffiti removal staff are the same personal who handle our pressure machines daily, this means you don't need to stress over the surface area being more damaged as all our staff are well trained and know how to operate our machines, they also understand the appropriate usage of chemicals needed.
The Process:
Graffiti removal with us is a 4 step procedure. Firstly we will dampen the surface to make sure the painted surface area is well saturated. Secondly we will use our graffiti elimination chemicals and leave this on for a couple of minutes to break down the paint. Thirdly we will remove the chemical and any paint that is removed. Forth we will hot pressure wash the surface area, this is usually where the paint will come off.
We Remove Graffiti On:
- Walls
- Brick
- Floors
- Garage Doors
- Shutters
- Painted Surfaces
- Rendered Surface
- Sandstone and more
Flexible, Friendly Service
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Model Agent: A Thriller = currently FREE
Product DescriptionThe human body consists of two-thirds water.
As concertgoers on a steamy day in Boston find out, water can kill as much as it gives life.
A terrorist attack at City Hall Plaza has the authorities perplexed. The government, in response, sends in a capable but young agent – an agent born from the ashes of terrorism itself – to handle it.
But as her partner dies and the terrorist strikes again, Jaclyn Johnson – code named Snapshot – finds herself in a situation she has trained a decade to face: She's up against a man with enough money to finance a war against his competition. With a deadline in place to stop him – and with a car holding enough hidden tricks to evade capture – Snapshot infiltrates his hidden installation and finds out her target's true end game, a secret that could have the world fighting over water.
Rogue Agent: A Thriller =
£8.05 £1.98
Product DescriptionWhen the 2012 Summer Olympics opened in London, security was at a fever pitch. They said it was going to be the safest Olympic Games yet.
They were wrong.
Heightened security did not stop a terrorist attack on the final group stage match of the Olympic soccer tournament between the United States and the host Great Britain, played at the fabled Wembley Stadium, the home of British football. And when an agent of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, it sent both the United States and the United Kingdom into a heightened state of alert.
There is only one problem for the terrorist: Outbound Eurostar service to Paris and flights out of Heathrow have been shut down – but flights into London continue to come in.
At the request of the President of the United States, the CIA calls upon the one agent – Jaclyn Johnson, a.k.a. Snapshot – he can trust to seek out the killers of many American citizens and bring them to justice.
But what occurs in London during Snapshot's mission leads to political maneuvering – and Jaclyn going against everything she knows.
Double Agent: A Thriller =
£8.05 £1.96
Product DescriptionWith an attack against the Las Vegas Monorail, CIA Director Alexandra Dupuis calls in the agent she counts on in dangerous situations – even though that agent feels betrayed by the very government she serves, the very country she protects – in order to protect American interests.
In Jaclyn Johnson's latest adventure, Dupuis sends the secret agent into the path of a radical Christian terrorist, one whose designs for Sin City would spell disaster for not only the entire southwest, but for the country as a whole, too.
Further: The Jaclyn Johnson, code name Snapshot series continues with Federal Agent
Steven Savile:
Silver (Ogmios Team Novels) = currently FREE
Product Description"There is a plague coming....For forty days and forty nights fear shall savage the streets. Those steeped in sin shall burn. The dying begins now"
With this chilling message a wave of terror unlike anything the world has ever seen sweeps the streets of Europe. Thirteen martyrs burn themselves alive in thirteen major cities simultaneously.
And this is just the beginning.
A religious cult calling itself the Disciples of Judas has risen in the Middle East. They twist the words of ancient prophecies to drive home the fear. Everything you believe in will be proved wrong. Everything you hold true will fail.
Day by day the West wakes to increasingly harrowing acts of terror. As fear cripples the capitals of Europe, the only question is where will be the next to fall? London? Rome? Berlin?
In a race against time - believing the terrorists intend to assassinate the Pope - Sir Charles Wyndham's unique Special Ops team, codename Ogmios, track a labyrinthine course through truth, shades of truth and outright lies that takes them from the backstreets of London to the shadow of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and all the way into the heart of the Holy See itself.
Further: The Ogmios Team also come in the prequel colours of Solomon's Seal with Steve Lockley, and WARGOD by Sean Ellis.
The Last Angel = £1.53
Product DescriptionGabriel Rush is a broken man.
Once a dedicated cop and family man, he is now little more than one of the walking dead. Busted out of the ranks of New York's finest, he's been reduced to P. I. work - of the sleazy variety - until he takes a photograph of a sad-faced woman in a café which, when he develops it, reveals on odd pattern on her cheek. The mark is the signature mutilation of the Trinity Killer, a brutal murderer who has New York living in fear.
As the mystery deepens, he discovers that the killer's fate is bound inextricably to his own past and future.
London Macabre =
£17.49 £3.17
Product DescriptionA man walks confidently through the night time streets. He is Nathaniel Seth, is one of the Brethren, a shadow society of occult dabblers and black magickers who hide away in the darkest parts of the city, in corners where they could not be seen by polite society. Little did Seth know that his own life was only hours from ending, his flesh to be taken as host for a daemonic entity clawed all the way out of hell's pit in the centre of the hollow earth because Seth himself breached the Catamine Stair. Now things are afoot. Strange things. The lions of Traflagar have fulfilled their prophecy, climbing down from the plinths around Lord Nelson's column to defend the city. The daemon is out, stalking tender prey through the gaslit streets, meat markets, fish stalls and slaughter houses of Whitechapel. He has a taste for women, though not ordinary women. These women are different. Special. They may look like whores but they have the blood of angels flowing in their veins. If he can kill enough of them, bathing in their innocent blood, then the daemonic Seth believes he can open the ancient Ald Gate–one of the seven great gates of London–the last gate to Eden, and go home, even if it means tearing London herself apart.
Disclaimer: Although I consider these authors friends, I am not affiliated in their work, don't make money from sales of their books, but recommend these titles as I truly believe they are damn fine reads <<< honest, guv!
P.S. Yes, I have noticed that they have the same initials…


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On this travel gear blog I have bitched and moaned plenty about the lack of standardization with chargers for electronics, especially when I posted a review of something like the iGo charger or Callpod Chargepod. While these are both fine items I am happy to recommend, it's kind of sad that we need them. Why do three phones require three chargers anyway? It's just stupid. All those chargers do is transmit electricity, so the only reason to have a proprietary connector is to lock in your customers, annoy them, and make it harder for them to travel.
Either someone has been listening to people like me or the executives at these companies are finally realizing they are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to helping preserve the environment. I was shocked and elated to see this small headline in USA Today: "Standardized Phone Chargers Coming. "
Here's the full scoop on the announcement from the International Herald Tribune. It is filled with depressing factoids like these:
- Cast-off chargers generate more than 51,000 metric tons of waste a year
- Every 20 months, 48 million to 51 million mobile phone chargers become obsolete.
- The GSM Association...calculated a reduction of 13.6 million to 21.8 million metric tons a year in greenhouse gases from making and shipping replacement chargers.
So they are waiting until 2012 to make this happen because....?
See solutions online at iGo.com


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Lay's Announces New Flavor Finalists
Lay's Brand potato chips have announced the final four flavors submitted from flavor fans who are competing for a $1,000,000 purse.
Frito Lay's annual Do Us A Flavor contest flavors for 2015 are: Southern Biscuits and Gravy, Kettle Cooked Greektown Gyro, New York Reuben and Wavy West Coast Truffle Fries had made the cut.
The contestant who's flavor is determined the most delicious will walk away with bragging rights, worldwide distribution and $1million. The three runners-up won't exactly taste defeat; they'll each get $50,000. Voting begins online on July 27, and the winner is expected to be announced in October.
Fans can vote on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtags #VoteTruffleFries, #VoteBiscuits, #VoteReuben, or #VoteGyro.


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Tamron have confirmed that their firmware launched at the end of 2018 will work for the Nikon Z6 as well as the Z7.
The firmware was initially aimed at making the lenses compatible with the Nikon Z7, but with further testing completed, they have now confirmed that the firmware is suitable for the Nikon Z6 as well.
Using the FTZ adapter, the following lenses can be used on both Nikon models:
SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD G2 (Model A041) for Nikon
SP 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD G2 (Model A032) for Nikon
18-400mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD (Model B028) for Nikon
SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD G2 (Model A025) for Nikon
SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 (Model A022) for Nikon
17-35mm F/2.8-4 Di OSD (Model A037) for Nikon
See the Park Cameras range of Tamron lenses
Further details of the firmware updates can be found on Tamron's support pages.


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Making Fine Distinctions
München, 12/12/2016
LMU immunologist Veit Hornung's research focuses on how the innate immune system differentiates between endogenous cellular structures and invasive agents.
Life is an unending struggle. At all events, when one considers the functions of the human immune system at the cellular level, terms such as 'attack' and 'defense' present themselves automatically. Our bodies are battlegrounds in which our cells are pitted against the nefarious designs of adversaries such as bacterial cells and viruses that threaten our very lives. Evolution has equipped us with two different defense systems against invasive pathogens – the so-called innate and adaptive immune systems. Both systems must solve what sounds like a simple problem but turns out to be exceedingly complicated: They must be able to distinguish between 'self' and 'non-self' structures, between molecules that are normal constituents of our cells and exogenous or otherwise atypical components that could possibly do us harm.
The innate immune system is our first bastion of defense. "Its significance was underestimated for a long time," says Veit Hornung, Professor of Immunobiochemistry at LMU's Gene Center. "The adaptive immune system, which learns from experience, has always held center stage. Its specially trained B cells and T cells produce specifically tailored antibodies and act as highly specific killer cells, respectively. But in fact, the two systems are functionally linked, and the innate immune system has an important regulatory role." However, many crucial details of how the two systems interact and of the molecular mechanisms that ensure that immune responses are properly directed remain obscure.
Hornung's research group focuses on the innate system and, in particular, on the strategies that enable it to promptly perceive potential dangers to the organism. As an immunologist and physician, he wants to understand how, in cooperation with the adaptive arm, the innate system organizes and coordinates the body's defenses at the molecular level. The details of the molecular interactions explain how the innate system detects foreign genetic material -- and how it can sometimes be misled into classifying "self" molecules as dangerous intruders.
For it has become clear that the innate system not only plays a crucial role in the recognition of bacteria, viruses and deleterious substances, it is also involved in the pathology of widespread disorders such as gout, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis. These conditions are all associated with chronic inflammatory reactions, which are in part due to inappropriate activation of the innate immune system. Agents that inhibit the system could help to bring these reactions under control.
Tricked by putative allies
On the other hand, the immune system can be tricked into attacking the body's own tissues in a targeted fashion by "persuading" it that an infection is underway. Researchers hope that a better understanding of this attack mode will enable them to turn the innate system's attentions to certain types of tumors. Indeed recent advances have led to renewed interest in the use of immunotherapy against cancers. Following an initial phase of enthusiasm at the turn of the century -- which ended in disappointment -- the idea that one could use suitably modified vaccines to mobilize the body's own immunological resources against tumors largely went out of favor. Cancer cells turned out to be more wily than expected. They throw the attackers off the scent by sending out signals that identify them as allies and not foes. Since then, much more has been learned about signaling pathways, and it is now possible in the case of certain cancers to block the action of the signals that "camouflage" the nature of the tumor. This represents a significant step toward the goal of boosting our defenses against tumors.
Partly as a result of these encouraging findings, immunology is undergoing something of a boom. Much of the excitement concerns the innate system, and in particular a class of receptors that are specialized for the rapid recognition of molecules derived from foreign microorganisms. Thus immunologists Jules Hoffmann and Bruce Beutler won the Nobel Prize for Medicine 2011 for elucidating how the innate system is activated by so-called Toll-like Receptors (TLRs). "Among other things, they proved that the innate immune system actually does possess receptors that are capable of recognizing microbial products in the body," says Hornung.
Thanks to refined molecular biological methodologies, it is now easier to identify and characterize such pattern recognizing receptors and the signal pathways they control. Immunologists have in the meantime defined several families of these receptors. Indeed, most, if not all the relevant receptors have now been pinpointed. Hornung's team has discovered some, including AIM2, which recognizes foreign DNA in cells, and Hornung himself is now one of the most highly cited researchers in Germany.
"We now know of six or seven families of pattern recognition receptors," he says. They can be differentiated on the basis of their subcellular localization, their overall structural organization or their modes of action. However, the signal pathways that they regulate are not all known in detail. Thus it is not always clear, for instance, how they activate the immune system and what role they play in the course of infectious or inflammatory diseases, he adds. In some cases, not even the nature of the structures they recognize is known. "What spurs me on is the desire to understand how these systems work at the molecular level and how they are functionally linked in the cell."
Templates based on conserved traits
In principle, recognition of foreign structures follows a simple scheme. Each receptor possesses a dedicated binding site that acts as a template, which matches a specific molecular structure that is characteristic of an invasive pathogen. As a rule, these receptors bind to certain molecular components of the microbes that serve essential functions – and are thus evolutionarily conserved, i.e. unlikely to mutate. A typical example of such a conserved structure is the lipopolysaccharide coat found on the outer membrane of many bacteria.
Even the simplest organisms possess such molecular templates for microbe recognition, and they have been refined over billions of years of evolution from single-celled organisms to mammals like ourselves. The genetic blueprints for the synthesis of these proteins are inherited, hence the term 'innate' for the system they serve. The mechanism activated when an invader has been recognized is likewise conserved. Binding of the receptor to the foreign molecule rapidly triggers an alarm that activates an initial -- albeit relatively non-specific -- immune response, which alerts so-called phagocytic cells that attack and destroy the infected cells. If this response proves insufficient to eliminate the intruders, an inflammation reaction ensues, which results in the secretion of signal molecules that activate the adaptive immune system. In other words, the two systems cooperate closely with one another.
The damage identifies the culprit
Over the past several years Hornung has focused on one striking feature of the immune system: it is not only capable of reacting to foreign invaders but also to the deleterious alterations they induce in host cells. "It's as if an investigator were able to identify a housebreaker not by virtue of his fingerprints but from the broken lock or the shattered window he has left behind," he says.
From an evolutionary point of view, this indirect mode of sensing danger has the advantage that it is more difficult for bacteria or viruses to subvert it. When a pathogen has gained entry to a cell, it must inevitably perturb the cell's operations and constituents, and this too can betray its presence to the innate immune system. The molecular nature of the pathogen itself is of secondary importance in this context, since the system does not need to recognize any foreign components. Because the principle of "non-self" recognition is at the heart of the adaptive system, many immunologists were skeptical of the idea that the innate system might utilize an indirect mechanism to detect invaders. However, the evidence for such a mechanism is now incontrovertible.
Hornung will in future devote more attention to the ability of the immune system to recognize and react to cell damage, for it is now clear that this mode of immune activation also plays a role in pathologies where microbial invaders play no part. They include some highly prevalent diseases, such as gout and diabetes. "These conditions are characterized by what are called sterile inflammation reactions," says Hornung. "The inflammation reaction triggered by the immune system need not be the primary factor in such illnesses, but it has a decisive and negative influence on their long-term course." The innate immune system is obviously able to detect the consequences of the underlying metabolic perturbation, in the form of atypical modifications of cell components or other signs of cell damage. Immunologists refer to these characteristic signals as "damage-associated molecular patterns" or DAMPs for short, and they are recognized by the same basic types of receptors that are used to detect the presence of bacteria or viruses. "We would very much like to understand how such receptors recognize molecular patterns generated by specific types of cell damage and why the innate system sometimes overreacts to such signals," says Hornung.
Nodes in functional networks
The signaling pathways that mediate innate immune responses are usually highly complex. Quite often, several different receptors may contribute to the recognition of bacteria, viruses or cell stress. The proteins involved in signal transduction may generate intermediates which themselves have signaling functions, some more important than others. Researchers are always on the lookout for the central nodes in these functional networks. "One can spend years puzzling over a particular system in vain, simply because one of the elements has not yet been identified," says Hornung. "Once the missing piece has been found, everything falls into place."
Thanks to new technologies, it is now possible to view complex biological systems, even in human cells, in terms of interconnected subsystems. New methods of gene editing have made it much easier to introduce targeted modifications into mammalian genomes. Hornung's group has used the latter to knock out specific genes in cultured cells that are physiologically very similar to human monocytes. Since monocytes play a central role in controlling immune responses in the body, the modified cells provide an ideal model system in which to probe the effects of genetic changes on inflammation reactions and to identify the components that are crucial for signal transduction. And they can also be used to study how crucial receptors are activated. "So we are no longer dependent on the mouse, which has always been the classical model system in immunology."
Hornung and his team have recently used their monocyte system to analyze in detail how secretion of the messenger interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is regulated. IL-1β is a major protagonist in inflammatory reactions and also acts to induce fever in response to infections. To their surprise, the researchers discovered that an alternative and previously unknown pathway is involved in controlling the release of IL-1β by human monocytes. Here, a single stimulus was sufficient to activate the "inflammasome" (receptor complex) NLRP3, which plays a key role in sterile inflammation in gout, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. In mouse monocytes, simultaneous application of two different stimuli is required to trigger NLRP3-mediated secretion of IL-1β. "We believe that this novel signal pathway is a critical element of inflammation processes in humans," says Hornung. "Human cells behave very differently from murine cells in many respects. Our finding implies that some well-established mouse models used for the study of inflammatory processes may not reflect what happens in our own species."
Hornung hopes that his modifiable monocytes will facilitate a better understanding of the molecular bases of inflammatory diseases, and perhaps identify targets for the development of new therapies. The inflammasome NLRP3 is a possible candidate. "We are currently doing all we can to understand the function of this important node of the innate immune system. However, it is not yet clear precisely how NLRP3 is activated. All we know is that any kind of stress that results in an increase in the permeability of the cell membrane switches this inflammasome on. The targeted search for an inhibitor of its action can only begin when we know how the whole signal cascade works." In order to identify the components of this cascade, Hornung's group plans to knock out every gene in their human monocytes individually. "It is a huge task, but we believe the effort is worthwhile, in light of the central role we attribute to this mechanism in sterile inflammatory conditions." A better understanding of the process of damage recognition could have significant impact on the treatment of several classical diseases of affluence. Once the signal molecules are known and the architecture of the corresponding signal transduction pathways is clear, it ought to be possible to find new approaches to the therapy of chronic disorders such as gout, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Hubert Filser, Translation: Paul Hardy
Prof. Dr. Veit Hornung
Chair of Immunobiochemistry at LMU's Gene Center. Born in 1976, Hornung studied Medicine at LMU, headed a junior research group in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the LMU Medical Center and did a postdoc at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, USA. In 2008 Hornung was appointed Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at Bonn University Hospital, and later served as Director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine there. He took up his present position at LMU in 2015.