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"It was Kansas City but it was North Carolina I wanted;
whole hog smoked low and slow over fruit woods and doused liberally with a vinegar-based sauce.
It was North Carolina but it was Texas I wanted;
king beef sliced into juicy brisket prepared over post oak and glistening with a sweet tomato-molasses based sauce.
It was Texas but it was Memphis I wanted;
unctuous pork slow smoked over hickory and served "wet" in a tomato and vinegar-based sauce.
It was Memphis but it was Kansas City I wanted;
a medley of magnificent meats smoked over a variety of woods and dusted generously with a dry rub.
It was all of America's four dominant barbecue regions, but it was New Mexico I wanted;
applewood-smoked meats of all types imbued with the piquancy of red and green chile sauces.
My search is over. ABQ BBQ is here!"
For years, the promotional machines behind America's barbecue have been telling us there are four distinct and dominant barbecue regions across the fruited plain. This assertion has been repeated so long, so loud and so often that most of us accept it as gospel truth. Culinary historian and food writer Robert F. Moss decries the absurdity of such a notion, declaring on The Local Palate that "claiming America has four major barbecue styles is like saying there are four major kinds of music: rock, classical, rap, and elevator." He acknowledges there are "countless sub-varieties" including "a lot of notable styles."
"Regional styles," he explains "are defined by the types of meat used, the style of pits on which they are cooked, and the wood used to fire them. It includes the sauce that accompanies the meat and the dishes served alongside—recipes and techniques handed down from one cook to the next over the decades." By that strict definition, it would be hard to argue that there has ever existed a truly distinctive New Mexico barbecue style…at least one that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Nor has there been any uniqueness to the type of meat, style of pit, type of wood or sauce used across the Land of Enchantment…at least not in any traditional fashion (unless you're willing to cede members of the Zia Pueblo roasting prairie dogs as a style of barbecue).
Albuquerque Chef Jon Young is hoping to change all that with the June, 2018 introduction of New Mexico-style barbecue that showcases the roasted flavor and piquancy of the Land of Enchantment's official state vegetable, chile, in both its red and green varieties. Sure, other chefs have added chile to their barbecue sauces in the past, but none have made it the cornerstone of their barbecue. This not-at-all-secret ingredient is the differentiator for Chef Young who spent months developing and polishing his recipes. For many of those months, a housemade red chile BBQ pulled pork sandwich has been a mainstay at Fresh Bistro, his other restaurant, and it's been flying off the menu to significant popular acclaim.
ABQ BBQ is located in the Los Ranchos space which previously housed Marley's BBQ, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant. Other short-lived tenants at the location include Taste of Himalayas, Paddy Rawal's OM Fine Dining Cuisine and Annapurna Ayuredic Cuisine. It's a pristine and capacious location, but it has no real street storefront presence or prominent signage. The telltale sign that you've reached your destination may well be the siren-like plumes of smoke that waft into the air. That smoke is irresistible. You get a lot more of it when you enter the New Mexico themed space, the cynosure of which is an overhead balloon gondola from which colorful fabric fans out in all directions. The colors of the fabric are also New Mexico-centric—red and yellow for the state flag and orange to represent our spectacular sunsets.
Great barbecue is truly a sum of all its parts. Every element—meats, smoke, wood, pit, sauces—has to work together in perfect four-part harmony. Chef Young has mastered them all, none moreso than the unique sauces. You'll find six of them on the caddy at your table. Sauces are categorized as either "original" or "local." All of them have red and (or) green chile. Local means the sauces have more piquancy; they're made with local tastes in mind. There's even a "Christmas-style" sauce which, as New Mexicans know, means it's made with both red and green chile. Chef Young confided that some of the volcano-eaters among us have complained that even the local sauces don't have enough heat so he's developing a sauce he'll call "Muerte," the Spanish word for death. Unlike barbecue at some restaurants, the sauces aren't lacquered on during or after the smoking process. You're in complete control as to what sauce you use (though you will want to try them all).
Within days of its launch, ABQ BBQ received high praise from two highly credentialed critics. Larry McGoldrick, the professor with the perspicacious palate, declared on his Yelp review "Chef Jon Young has for some time dreamt of marrying traditional BBQ techniques with New Mexico's favorite chiles, and the result is sure to knock your socks off. Jon _never_ oversalts anything–just enough to make the other flavors pop. This new venture is the third jewel in Jon's crown (Fresh Bistro and Fresh Mobile Bistro are just down the street, and both among my very favorites). ABQ BBQ is already a favorite." Gary West, the long-time and excelsior proprietor of The Smokehouse, a much-missed Rio Rancho barbecue institution, posted on Facebook "Just got done eating some excellent New Mexican BBQ @ ABQ BBQ! The Ribs, Brisket & Wings we're lightly Smoked as to compliment all the different sauces that Jon has made up to try! The Pinto Beans, Potato Salad and the Green Chile Cornbread were to die for! Do yourself a favor and go check out this new place with a New Spin on Local New Mexico BBQ!"
With rousing endorsements from two highly respected barbecue aficionados, I just had to try ABQ BBQ for myself—even though my Kim was out-of-town and would be sorely disappointed at not having visited with Chef Young and his beautiful bride Melissa. The menu isn't especially large—four plates (pulled pork, pork ribs, brisket, pulled chicken and chicken wings), tacos (a half-pound of meat served with lettuce, tomato and queso fresco), sandwiches (a half-pound of meat served on a green chile Cheddar roll with pickled red onions), desserts and sides. For larger appetites, there's the "El Cochino," (Spanish for "the pig") a behemoth sandwich with two pounds of slow roasted pulled pork and other toppings. Dessert-lovers will love the Chingon (Mexican slang for really great) dishes—six ounces of cherries, blackberries or peaches sautéed in butter, brandy and brown sugar and topped with roasted pinon crumble. There are "all kinds of sides," most of which showcase New Mexico chile.
17 June 2018: To ensure my Kim wouldn't completely miss out, I ordered two plates—a half-pound of applewood-smoked and slow-roasted pulled pork and a half pound of applewood-smoked, herb rubbed and slow roasted brisket, both of which were accompanied by one side. Both of the meats had a light smoke which meant smoke didn't overpower the meats. My favorite of the two was the brisket which was moist, tender, delicious and lean with just enough fat for flavor. Experimenting with the different sauces was a fun experience though it didn't take me long to determine the "local" sauces suited my masochistic tendencies best. The "Christmas" sauce was especially bold, a melding of green and red chiles in a sauce that clearly was a barbecue sauce and not a salsa (though it would be great with chips). How Chef Young concocted this alchemy is a reflection of his talents.
17 June 2018: Instead of thick and thin tangles of pork pulled with a fork or by hand, ABQ BBQ's pulled pork has a very light, almost snowflake-like texture and uniformity. The pork on the plate is like an Ivory soap commercial of yore in that it is 99 and 44/100% pure with none of the fat or sinew that sometimes gets mixed into pulled pork. Because of its delicate flavor and texture, the less assertive sauces—the original red, for example—work best. It went very well with the green chile cornbread, so buttery and moist that nothing else is needed. My favorite of three sides was the roasted street corn topped with queso fresco and a lime crema.
30 June 2018: You don't need to wait until Taco Tuesday to enjoy tacos, an everyday treat at ABQ BBQ. Best of all, your tacos can be constructed with your choice of brisket, pulled chicken or pulled pork. Three terrific tacos per order include lettuce, tomatoes, queso fresco and a rich, delicious crema on your choice of flour or corn tortillas. The Brisket tacos are superb, an adjective I rarely use about tacos sans salsa. They were so impressive, in fact, that I didn't even add any of the barbecue sauces. My side, calabasitas coleslaw (squash, onion, grilled corn and green chile) was a nice compliment. It was creamy, lively and fresh.
30 June 2018: Spanish speaking New Mexicans don't use such anemic adjectives as "awesome" or "great" to describe something we like. We use the term "chingon" (no, not the Federation's enemy on Star Trek). Chingon describes something that is not just extremely awesome, it's f'ing awesome. Desserts at ABQ BBQ are all Chingon, so good they're suffixed with the term. There are three desserts on the menu: Cherry Chingon, Blackberry Chingon and Peach Chingon. A Chingon is a sort of cobbler, six-ounces of your chosen fruit or berry with butter, brandy and brown sugar topped with a roasted piñon crumble. It's even more Chingon if you top it with ice cream.
Should New Mexico-style barbecue someday be acknowledge as a unique barbecue region with an incomparable style, perhaps the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque should change the last portion of its name to "Albarbecuerque" with Chef Young as its mayor.
7520 4th Street, N.W., Suite A
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 361-2278
Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 30 June 2018
1st VISIT: 17 June 2018
BEST BET: Pulled Pork, Brisket, Green Chile Cornbread, Roasted Street Corn, Red Chile Macaroni and Cheese, Local Christmas Sauce, Brisket Nachos, Cherry Chingon


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Second Annual Turkey Trot for Hospice Near McHenry Homes
If you want to start your Thanksgiving day festivities off the right way and burn plenty of calories so that you can eat that extra piece of dessert, register now for the Second Annual Turkey Trot for Hospice being held near our McHenry homes.
Taking place on Thanksgiving Day beginning at 8 a.m. at McHenry High School Estate Campus, this 5K run/walk benefits JourneyCare Hospice and Palliative Services in memory of Carlene Siman. Last year's race generated $17,000 in proceeds, and this year's event promises to be even bigger. After the race, $200 cash prizes will be awarded to the overall first place male and female finishes, gift certificates for running shoes from The Running Depot will be presented to the overall second place winner and medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in each age group. There will also be a variety of raffle prices.
After you've participated in this year's race, we hope many of you will enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving meal in one of our new homes. Whether you're one of our McHenry real estate homeowners or you're visiting one of our residents, we know you'll find that our beautiful homes at The Trails at Pheasant Ridge and Liberty Trails to be delightful.
If you aren't yet a resident, we invite you to come see why more families are choosing to celebrate their blessings every day in one of our McHenry homes. With semi-custom Richmond homes priced from the $160,000s at Pheasant Ridge and homes from the $190,000s at Liberty Trails in McHenry, these communities combine the best of affordable, spacious living without sacrificing location.
In addition to these two communities, we also offer Poplar Grove real estate from the $160,000s at The Trails of Dawson Creek and Williams Bay real estate from the low $200,000s at Bailey Estates.
From our homes to yours, we hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
To learn more about all our homes, please give us a call at 815-385-4495.

subset: commoncrawl


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Parenting Evening – Presented by Dr Peta Lilley & Sonia Nazareth
"Promoting Resilience in Young People"
A 1 hour introductory workshop for parents of all ages – presented by Dr Peta Lilley and Sonia Nazareth
It is never too early to start promoting resilience in young people. It is an ongoing process and this brief introduction will provide parents and caregivers with some ideas and strategies to apply with the young people in their world.
WHEN: Tuesday 21st March 7-8pm
WHERE: Lilley Place Clinical Psychology – Level 4 of the Office Tower in Indooroopilly Shopping Centre
For bookings and enquiries please contact Lilley Place.
Phone: 3378 9130
Email: email@example.com
Leave a Reply


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Tourism – why is similar area improving currently so rapidly and why is everybody advised to benefit from such opportunity?
Author: Consuelo Ternero
Source: http://www.flickr.com
Travelling is certainly an activity that plenty people are keen on. Except safety terms there is no other potential disadvantage referred to the fact that we visit new places. Hence, plenty people since about twenty years ago started to travel increasingly.


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Attending events at the "The California Club" requires that you adhere to the club's strict dress code. (No jeans, tennis shoes, or shorts.) If you plan on attending the event please review the club's policy here.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: April 10Woodward Canyon Winery In-Store Free Tasting
Later Event: April 24Piedmonte In-Store Free Tasting


text: Blog Posts in January, 2015 Posted By Berry Law Firm 28-Jan-2015 Nebraska Criminal Law Case Summaries State v. Piper, 289 Neb. 364, Oct. 31, 2014 Issues on Appeal: The issues on appeal were whether the trial court erred in (1) holding that the rules of evidence do not apply at suppression hearings and (2) denying Piper's motion to suppress based ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 27-Jan-2015 The Legal Enterprise of Conspiracy and Theft One specialty of the Berry Law Firm, is the defense of persons charged with drug trafficking along the Intestate in Nebraska. It is very common for an eastbound vehicle in Nebraska to be pulled over, and the driver arrested and cited for possession ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 21-Jan-2015 Legal Loopholes to Criminal Charges Relating to the Possession of Marijuana in Nebraska The legalization of marijuana in Colorado combined with Interstate 80 have resulted in a increase in the number of criminal arrests and convictions in the State of Nebraska for people traveling with marijuana. In the State of Nebraska, it is illegal ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 20-Jan-2015 Asset Forfeiture Forfeiture is a penalty used to take the profit out of crime. It is also big business for the government. However in January of 2015, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he would not allow local and state police to continue to seize cash and ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 19-Jan-2015 Prescription Drug Crime Charges For Doctors, Pharmacists, Marketers, and Logisticians Prescription medication is rapidly developing. Doctors want to use the best in science and medicine to help their patients. One of the negative effects of modern medicine is the patient's potential addiction to prescribed drugs resulting in ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 16-Jan-2015 False Confessions The goal of any police interrogation is to get a confession. Police do not interrogate people they believe to be innocent. There is a long history of people confessing to committing crimes they did not commit. In Nebraska, one need look no further ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 15-Jan-2015 Prosecutorial Misconduct If the police violate a citizen's constitutional rights, the evidence unlawfully obtained is not admissible in court. Often when a judge suppresses the illegally obtained evidence, the defendant wins the case. Thus because law enforcement ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 12-Jan-2015 The Keystone Pipeline, Nebraska Supreme Court, Standing, and Constitutional Law The Keystone Pipeline is again in the news as Congress gets ready to approve the pipeline route through Nebraska. The pipeline, which has already been completed in several states, is a 36-inch pipe that would carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil per ... Continue Reading Posted By Berry Law Firm 5-Jan-2015 First Visit With an Attorney: When To Do So and What Happens During the Visit Attorneys rarely see people at their best. Typically, there is a problem, be it a crime, injury, contract dispute, trouble dispersing a deceased loved one's assets, etc, and talking to an attorney is seen as a "last resort" in order to ... Continue Reading


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- Home
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- All Tires
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Mastercraft Tires
Mastercraft Tires, a subsidiary of the Cooper Tire Company, has a wide range of passenger car, truck, SUV, Crossover, winter tires and sporty performance tires at mid-range, value pricing. Cooper Tire is committed to ensuring the Mastercraft Tires over-deliver on performance and reliability. Some of the same technology that goes into their flagship Cooper brand carries over into the lower cost Mastercraft tires, so you can rely on them for long service, safe traction, and durability. Mastercraft has the following:
● Low cost Passenger Car tires – The Mastercraft Avenger Touring LSR tire has T, H and V rated sizes for economy sedans and compacts of all makes and models. This is an excellent, long-wearing tire for the money. There is also an Avenger G/T tire with raised white letters for Muscle Cars. The Mastercraft A/S IV tire is the cheapest Mastercraft tire. It is available in a wide range of late-model car tire sizes, and a good fit for a tight budget. If you want a more premium ride and longest mileage for a newer sedan, then the Mastercraft LSR Grand Touring tire is for you.
● Reliable Light Truck, SUV and CUV tires – Mastercraft has over a dozen tread patterns in the Courser family of tires in hundreds of sizes. The Mastercraft Courser HSX Tour tire is a long-lasting, fuel-efficient all-season highway tire. The Mastercraft Courser A/T2 tire gives you off-road grip that you can count on while versatile for highway driving.
● Durable M/T Tires - The rugged Mastercraft Courser MXT tire gives you the traction you need in mud, sand and on rocky dry trails.
● Great priced Winter Tires – The Mastercraft Glacier-Grip II tire and the Mastercraft Courser MSR tire for SUVs both have dense concentrations of zig-zag, full depth sipes in the tread blocks for extra traction on snow and ice.
With the backing of American ingenuity, tire building know-how, and a commitment to quality and value, Mastercraft is an excellent choice. Use our convenient search tool to enter your tire size and find the tires you need today!


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I personally know the power of community and how having covenant fellowship can be life transforming in your own walk with the Lord. Many of us have the idea that fellowship just means a common love for pizza, small talk, and a nice clean evening of fun among those in the church. However, I agree with David Mathis when he says that fellowship really means a "partnership in the gospel." It is a willingness to come together for a life or death mission in taking the faith worldwide and to truly get close, go deep, and exhort one another. That is so far from where what we are doing today, if we even are gathering together and connecting.
As a junior in college I started attending a weekly Wednesday night Bible Study group on campus. It was probably my second time at the group when my phone started buzzing like crazy in the middle of the lesson. I didn't want to be rude so I just decided to call back whenever the Bible Study was over. When the group dismissed I went outside into the hallway and listened to the voice messages on my phone. It was my brother saying that my godsister was in a car accident and they didn't think she was going to make it…
Tears immediately began to flow and I stood in the middle of the hallway shocked, alone, not knowing what to do next. I found myself walking right back into the Bible Study group of young ladies, weeping, asking for prayer. They took me in as family and I felt the love of God from their care and concern. I never expected to call me during the week and check on me. I never expected them to bring me food. I never expected them to pray with me. Yet, they were there in a very difficult time of loss in my life. That was one example of God showing me the power of fellowship and community in my life.
God uses others to demonstrate His grace and providence when we need Him. The enemy will use isolation as a means to attack you. We were not meant to go on this mission alone, nor can we be successful alone.
If you know anything about the formation of geese flying together, you know that they can teach us a lot on what it looks like to fly in fellowship. When one goose becomes ill, is shot or injured and drops out of the formation, two other geese will fall out of the formation and remain with the weakened goose. They will stay with and protect the injured goose from predators until it is able to fly again. We need our fellow believers to pray for us when we are weak and dry until we are back up again on our feet. Tell me, are you connected in the power of community? Be Blessed! Be Revealed!


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This idea came from theartofdoingstuff.com. I think that ambient light can have a profound impact on any space, whether it's mood lighting in a library, can lights in a hallway, or, in this case, accent lights outdoors.
To do this project you need:
- Any number of glass light fixture cases, such as the spherical ones found in old hallways. You can buy these at pretty much any home improvement store, or you can often get these at second hand stores for cheaper.
- Enough old Christmas indoor/outdoor lights to stuff in the cases. Don't worry about whether some individual lights are burnt out.
- Spray-on aerosol frosting, or etching cream, if needed.
1. If the glass shades are not already frosted, clear a workspace, preferrably outside, that you don't mind getting dirty. Frost the glass casings as per the instructions on the frosting or etching package. Allow it to dry–usually for between half an hour and an hour.
2. Once the casings are dry, stuff them with the lights. Usually one lights string will be enough for each casing.
3. Arrange the stuffed casings upside down outside–maybe in a flower bed, or in some mulch around a tree.
4. Et voila! Plug the lights in, and enjoy!
Image from: theartofdoingstuff.com


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What You Should Know About Resources This Year
Top 5 Merits of Patent Protection
Patent protection is critical if you have an innovative idea that is also practical. Though the intellectual property concept has been in existent for long, the introduction of IT has made it increasingly important in the past few years. You need to protect your invention due to the 5 reasons highlighted below.
Your idea can make you millions, particularly if it becomes a global sensation. Any person can, however, copy or steal the idea and market it as his. Many investors have no cash to turn the ideas into a products and services, meaning that they cannot move forward. Such individuals turn to investors and explain how their ideas work in the hope of convincing them to fund their ideas. If the investors are dishonest, they can simply dismiss the ideas as unworkable or state that they have no cash, and proceed to file their own patent application. Even if the real inventors come later on to file patents, it will be late in time.
You will get protection from competitors who use outdated technology for several years. Making super profits from your creative idea is a possibility. For example, the invention of a new drug by your firm means that you can generate an income from it for a considerable period before rivals start using the idea behind it.
The fact that a patent is an asset means that you can sell it for cash. What is most interesting is that it is an appreciating asset whose value increases over time. There is the option of selling it immediately or waiting for it to fetch a substantial amount later on. License holders can even collect royalties from the companies they have sold the licenses to and make huge sums, especially if the latter are numerous. For loan and other purposes like selling a business, patents are assets, meaning that they increase the value of a firm.
The absence of other products or services that are similar to what you have to offer means that you can charge higher than normal prices. Your firm's profit margins have the capability to grow considerably due to such a scenario.
With patent protection measures in place, innovation is encouraged since people are not reluctant to put forward their creative ideas. In case such measure are not there, no one can risk their ideas getting stolen or copied. Without innovation, mankind cannot take any step further. For instance, it will be time to bid farewell to new drugs, meaning that we may never get the cure for certain terminal illnesses.
Supporting reference: Our site


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Well my first stab, think this requires a bit of modification to improve the cooling.
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First stab...
Started by Rykaro, Jun 25 2010 09:24 PM
Posted 25 June 2010 - 09:24 PM
Posted 25 June 2010 - 09:33 PM
advice for the hose routing there mate, on the gpu, the fitting on the right of the block, put it on the opposite side of the card (so it's the same side as the other one)
Less hose = more flow.
same goes for the res>rad area.
Looking smart though!
Less hose = more flow.
same goes for the res>rad area.
Looking smart though!
Posted 25 June 2010 - 09:44 PM
def agree with matt there and love the silver tubing mate that looks nice its different
Posted 25 June 2010 - 09:55 PM
ooooh shiny
Posted 25 June 2010 - 09:56 PM
looks smart under UV light
Posted 03 July 2010 - 09:29 AM
looks sexeh mate.
Posted 03 July 2010 - 08:43 PM
oh very nicey, love ya mobo to i got such a soft spot for these gigabyte mobos
Posted 05 July 2010 - 03:59 PM
Nice work Fella. Thumbs up. Not too bad at all for a first stab
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The Real Her
Yesterday I left with my family to go to Oakville Place, to go shopping. But ended up in Sears, buying a new fridge, stove and dishwasher. BORIIING! We stayed in Sears till 10:00 pm when the mall closed, and I was promised to go shopping -.- . So hopefully, we'll got tonight! Let's keep the hope up!
Christmas break is just around the corner! I am pumped, and I'll tell you right now. I'm not going to do ANYTHING! Only listen to music, catch up on all my missed episodes from Criminal Minds, read, and CHILL. That's it!


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Alistair Smythe was paralyzed in an accident, which his father Spencer blamed himself for.
Spencer struck up a deal with Norman Osborn of Oscorp Industries, who would construct a hoverchair for Alistair to use if Spencer succeeded in destroying Spider-Man, with Norman being blackmailed by the Kingpin into doing so. Spencer constructed a "Spider-Slayer" robot, the "Black Widow", to hunt Spider-Man. However, the Widow unintentionally kidnapped a Flash Thompson impersonating Spider-Man. Spider-Man arrived at Oscorp to save Thompson, which led to a large-scale battle at Oscorp resulting in a fire. Spencer was determined to finish off Spider-Man and insisted on staying in Oscorp while Norman got Alistair to safety. However, Spencer failed and seemingly perished when Oscorp exploded.
Shortly after Alistair lost his father, the Kingpin approached him. While reluctant at first, Alistair accepted the crime lord's offer of providing him with a labatory, which he would use to construct more Spider-Slayer robots to destroy the man he saw responsible for the loss of his father: Spider-Man. Alistair built several robots in his father's honor, although they all failed to eliminate the wall-crawler. Alistair's failure meant that he would have to continue to work for the Kingpin until he succeeded.
When Spider-Man bonded with a symbiote killed the Shocker, who was working for the Kingpin, the crime lord sent the Rhino and Smythe's "Mega-Slayer" robot to destroy Spider-Man. However, Spider-Man killed Rhino, and stuck a spider tracer to the robot which went back to Smythe's base. Spider-Man tracked it, and when he arrived at Smythe's base he confronted him before killing him.
Powers and Abilities
AbilitiesSmythe possesses a good deal of scientific knowledge and is capable of robotic engineering.
Confined to wheelchair/hoverchair.
Spider-Slayer robots, Mega-Slayer
Discover and Discuss
- Search this site for: Alistair Smythe · Alistair Smythe (Earth-50695)
- Discuss this and other characters on the forums


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A good egg: how to buy the best quality chocolate this Easter
Quality is often overlooked for quantity when it comes to Easter eggs, but for those looking for something special this year, here are a few tips.
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Gourmet chocolatier Cathy Yuryevich knows good chocolate. She has been making confectionary for decades and can spot a dud egg a mile away.
According to Mrs Yuryevich, when it comes to the humble Easter egg, it's often a case of 'you get what you pay for'.
"Cheaper chocolate does have a lot of added vegetable fats, this makes it more stable at room temperature which reduces problems with melting," she said.
"In a good quality chocolate you've got a larger proportion of cocoa butter and in a cheaper chocolate there isn't much cocoa butter at all, if any.
"So it's cheaper because vegetable fats are cheaper than cocoa butter."
The vegetable fat will help create a more robust product, less prone to cracking.
Good quality chocolate is made from a cocoa bean the traditional way, without additives and excessive sugar.
"A good quality Easter egg when you bite into it, will give you that nice crackle - what they call a 'snap' - so it will be crunchy, it will be beautiful and shiny and you can actually get a much thinner coating if you use a good quality chocolate.
"So if you're having a nice thin Easter egg or decoration you can do it much more easily with expensive chocolate."
Mrs Yuryevich said vegetables fats also come under the names of palm oil, coconut oil and shea butter.
Products including Easter eggs and hot cross buns have come under fire for containing palm oil, which is often not sustainably farmed.
Anti palm oil groups blame the product for large scale deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia and for killing wildlife, particularly the orangutan.
Another benefit to good quality chocolate is it often does not contain allergens common in cheaper chocolate. Chocolate made by hand using nut free utensils and good quality dark chocolate (which does not contain milk) can appeal to those with nut and dairy allergies.
"People think 'oh I'm just buying it for the kids, I'll buy the cheap chocolate' but if you use good quality chocolate it negates a lot of the things kids are allergic to, so they don't actually react to a good quality chocolate anywhere near as much as they would to a cheaper brand chocolate," Mrs Yuryevich said.
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Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Japan. Well that's what happens when you pick the wrong benchmark.
Back in Spring 2013 I remember writing a string of Japan linked posts and going back over them it really doesn't feel as though much has changed. Back then our greatest scepticism was that targeting inflation was a poor choice as inflation is a symptom of growth rather than a cause, especially in Japan. The post The Japanese Grand National highlighted the hurdles that Japanese QE had to overcome and our scepticism towards it doing so. That view has so far been pretty much vindicated. We can have a review of the points made then.
1) The cash injections are indeed huge and as a proportion of GDP, dwarf the US actions. On this basis alone decrease in the cost of money through the huge cash injection will dilute the money/goods ratio. But global connectivity spreads the flood increasing liquidity everywhere just as the US actions did. The melting of the Greenland ice sheets means sea levels in New Zealand rise a bit. Japanese banks may be queuing outside the study of the BoJ ready to have their orders to lend spelled out to them, but TMM wonder how much of it will ultimately remain domestic as the real demand for credit is in the West "Roll up, get your cheap funding here", rather than within a domestic culture that saves rather than borrows. The flow out of yen to achieve this moves the affect to FX (2). We are already seeing the liquidity tsunami with Japanese lifers hoovering European bonds at the expense of JGBs. Check France / Japan 10 year spreads today. (Note - remind Eurogroup to write thank you letter)
No reason to believe that this isn't still the case though the yield differentials have narrowed dramatically so the pressure for leakage is lessened.
2) FX driven inflation tends to be a one off shock, unless you can get your currency to crawl lower but then the incremental moves are just smaller. It's all good, but do it too much and things start getting bad quickly, either due to a lack of investor confidence or trade partners setting up tariffs. FX driven inflation can be seen as the wrong type of inflation if it doesn't drive wage demands higher but locally stifles purchasing power.
As suggested this appears to be what is happening and the lead/correlation between FX rate and inflation is real. Indeed it looks like growth tracks usdjpy, but not straight usdjpy, it tracks the rate of change of usdjpy. If usdjpy stays flat for a while growth falls. Perhaps this latest fall in growth is the 106-109 usd/jpy pause and we are seeing it reveal itself laggardly. Which if true, should see the new spike to 116+ reflected in a rise in next quarter's GDP figures. Which might be why Abe pulled the trigger early.
3) Expectations of inflation rising will most probably first be seen through the FX function, which as we said could be transitory (unless this goes Weimar). So once the FX starter motor of inflation expectation is done a continued domestically driven inflation has to take over. As with the west this will have to be associated with wage inflation which we know can be extremely stubborn and culturally even more difficult to kick off in Japan.
Yup, wage growth has been extremely stubborn and it isn't good inflation unless it comes with wage growth. And nope, there doesn't seem to be anything apart from FX led inflation around.
4) Propensity to spend now rather than later. If, as we gather, the BoJ is hoping to increase inflation in the service sector we wonder how increases in inflation expectations will increase demand, as most services are not hoardable. A consumer who anticipates the cost of haircuts going up cannot go and get his hair cut 20 times now in order not to have any later. The same applies for most of the service industries that we can think of. Entertainment, accountants, lawyers, medical services, transport, maintenance - it's all time spaced. So what do you do if you are a consumer who thinks inflation is going to go up. You don't buy tech as that depreciates faster than jpy can. Once you have bought a car a year early, and the furniture you were putting off, maybe had a holiday, there is little else apart from putting on financial hedges. Property? Japan considers property as a depreciating asset and "An unusual feature of Japanese housing is that houses are presumed to have a limited lifespan, and are generally torn down and rebuilt after a few decades, generally twenty years for wooden buildings and thirty years for concrete buildings" and is taxed as such. However this could imply that the price of the land that they are built on rises.
The dread part about this function is maybe that early growth was just this. The Householder stocking up on single purchase durables and now is done. Day to day services cannot be purchased early and hoarded. So what next?
5) Real rates are very important to the investor as a measure against returns, but TMM would suggest that to the man on the street the cost of a loan on something he isn't going to sell again (so won't consider for asset growth - see furniture, household stuff) is the cost of loan against how much more he thinks he will earn in the future. Wage inflation rather than CPI. So if wage inflation stays flat (as it has in the UK) then his real interest rate will not be negative. This is where the investor, who is always looking at resale value is very different to the consumer, who as a "consumer" by definition won't have anything left to sell on.
No wage inflation to devalue debt. So borrowing not perceived to be cheap. No joy here.
6) And where do they save? Overseas where the yields are and you are hedged against the expected FX driven inflation. BoJ policy change does not remove the incentive for Mrs Watanabe to borrow locally and buy Aussie bonds. It may even increase it.
If you know the next wave of JPY is about to hit then US Treasuries look damn attractive, especially as your neighbour who bought them a year ago is sitting on a 17% return in yen terms.
7) Domestic investment will react to FX moves as wage costs become more competitive. We see no problems with this last fence. In fact once this occurs the finish line of growth is clearly insight. We just have to hope that all the other fences have already been cleared.
Well we couldn't see any problems at the time as global competitiveness in a world of growth would have been expected. But the world is slowing and there is no sign of a race to switch production to Japan.
As said at the beginning of this post, the primary problem we saw and still see with Abenomics is the assumption that a symptom of growth (inflation) is a cause of growth. It now looks as though the result of Abenomics is higher inflation (success) but no growth (fail). Which is of little surprise.
It would look as though Abe is either going to have to go further than backing down on sales tax and issuing further Yen tsunami alerts and do something about the culture of Japan where 'saving' is an Olympic sport, and demographics would suggest that a healthy dose of immigration would be like a shot in the arm for balancing both the demographics and also diluting cultural habits. It's either that or a one way trip to the cabinet with the family sword in it.
But there is a glimmer of laggardly hope. The rise in USD/JPY seen over the last few weeks and the collapse in oil prices may be storing up a surprise lift in GDP for the next quarter.
Finally it really does feel that we are due a follow up to the 'Japanese Laughing Gas' post too, now that Dr Aghi has been proven correct and all the patients are back in A+E after they have come down from their Abe laughing gas high.
Maybe tomorrow.
2 comments:
- Anonymous said...
C Says,
Very good. Couple of things ;
1. Japanese output gap ,labour slack?
2.Wages , FX multiplier on repatriated earnings means those blue chips have not had so much to distribute for many a year.
In other words creating some labour based inflation in Japan looks a lot more likely t me than any other developed economy that I can think of.
IMO, their big mistake was the VAT increase - came much too early indeed when I thought about it I couldn't actually see the why behind it at all. To me they were presuming to tax the gains from increases in real spending beoofre they actually had created any ! So Japanese !
Frankly ,the Japanese have only one option although I don't know if they really understand it.
Debt to GDP over 200% plus. Population of 127 million but now falling in number. 23% are 65 +.
Compare to US debt/gdp 72% (ish) pop pf 300 million expanding at an healthy clip of 2 to 3% with only 12% over 65. Compare resources for energy and food production the staples of an economy.
Frankly, the great wonder of the 21st century is why is the JYen valued as it is? I suspect because for years far too many smart guys have been trying to screw the Jap bond market when in fact they should have been doing a Soros on the currency. Japan has got a UK sterling early 90's moment coming. They can zig and they can zag ,but it's coming anyway.
- 19 November 2014 at 12:49
- Polemic said...
thanks C
- 19 November 2014 at 17:06


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New comics Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
Dee Yun: (contact-deleteme[at]-deleteme-direman [dot] com) 2012-06-19 15:10:21
Real Money Auction House
I apologize for the lateness of this post. Tuesdays are fairly impacted for me, plus I've been trying to get at the root of our recent server hiccups.
So yeah, good on Blizzard. I could moralize about the "purity of the game" and so forth, but I'd be a complete hypocrite considering I used to scrape up beer money in college by pawning Diablo II SoJs on eBay. And my jingoist patriotism is stroked by knowing that an American business is at least getting a cut of the proceeds that Asian gold farms are raking in.
Last month, we did a comic strip about Diablo III accounts getting hacked, and I followed it up with a rather merciless excoriation of the less-than-astute individuals who allow this to happen to them.
One of the responses I received was this email:
So, what about those of us who a) didn't get keylogged (I checked), b) didn't fall for a phishing scam (I've been doing this for a while) or c) had a stupid password (I had a pretty decent random password), but who got hacked anyway?
That's rough. It was my intent to poke fun at careless and naive computer users who abuse Blizzard customer service reps for their own inadequacies, and this gamer is clearly more sophisticated than the bulk of the unwashed masses. If you even know what a "keylogger" or "phishing" is, you're doing better than most. I do apologize for casting aspersions on you specifically, Lamar. Computer security has so many vulnerabilities, a breakdown like this could potentially happen to anyone, regardless of any safeguarding measures.
However, I still adhere to my current belief that these security lapses did not occur on Blizzard's end. If their secured servers had been hacked, they would have been forced to admit it by now, and mandate password changes and issue warnings to monitor credit card activity (see: Sony). I do try to keep plugged into the gaming news cycle and maintain connections with industry peeps (including Blizzard employees) and I'm not aware of any incidents in which accounts were hacked when the "authenticator" was employed.
After our #800th strip on Friday, The Adventures of Dave the Direman will be taking a week's hiatus. (I'll be off on a family vacation.) I believe Vargas will be taking the time to produce new Squishy Comics for those of you who have been missing them, and I'm soliciting guest strips for Dave the Direman.
So, um, yeah...if you're interested in submitting a guest comic (I know it's short notice, sorry), contact me by clicking my name above.


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Crowder, Jack LVisitation:Date: Friday, October 14, 2016 Time: 10:00 AM Visitation Location:First Baptist Church of OsceolaService: Date: Friday, October 14, 2016 Time: 11 AM Service Location:First Baptist Church of OsceolaInterment:Smith Bend Cemetery
Memorials/DonationsJack Crowder was born February 26, 1928 to Jesse Carl Crowder and Edna May Taylor Crowder in Sedan, Kansas. He passed away October 10, 2016 in Raymore, Missouri.
He was the youngest of 8 children, 3 girls and 5 boys. Jacks mother died 3 days after giving birth to him. His family traveled a lot looking for work after loosing a prosperous farm during the great depression. Jack grew up in the Kansas City, Kansas area where he was married to Mary Lee Pryor who he had 4 children with. Later in life he moved to Osceola, Missouri where he met and married Marie Lego.
Jack worked for the Osceola School District as a custodian and later for many years at the St. Clair County Courthouse from which he retired. He also enjoyed doing various jobs such as cutting wood. Jack loved to fish and spend time outdoors. After retirement he traveled extensively with his daughter Wanda and her family all over the United States and Canada.
He was preceded in death by his parents Edna May and Jesse Carl Crowder; 4 brothers and 3 sisters and 3 step daughters.
Jack is survived by his children, Larry Eugene Crowder, Edward Lee Crowder and wife Lyn, Wanda Lucille Franco and husband David, Edna May Overstreet and fiancé Chris Alderton, grandchildren, Vicki Lea, Jessica, James, Jennifer, Edward Jeremiah, Amy, Matt and Michael, Dena Rae, John Douglass, Aaron, Dusty, great grandchildren, Patric, Alexander, Jack, Nicole, Chase, Trevor, Travis, Alyssa, Skylar, Ashlynn, Embrey, Talon, Josiah, Noah and Sarah; great great granddaughter, Azella Moone Sanchez, other relatives and friends.
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Finding the CVV on an AMEX
SmartTrade Allows you take Visa, MasterCard and AMEX from any major banks with just an app. You can also get 0% card fees on transactions on all these card types, even AMEX.
Taking AMEX cards can be a little different from taking a Visa or Mastercard. American Express have their own security measures and have both CVV (Card Verification Value) and CID (Card Identification Data) numbers on their cards which are often confused. The CVV number on a Visa or Mastercard can be found on the back of the card and are the three digits (see below), on an AMEX this would be a CID number and if you use this as the CVV number when processing a payment, it will be declined. The CVV number on an AMEX are the four digits above the last few digits of the card (see below) and is what you need to enter when processing a payment.
"CVV is an anti-fraud security feature to help verify that you are in possession of your credit card. For Visa/Mastercard, the three-digit CVV number is printed on the signature panel on the back of the card immediately after the card's account number. For American Express, the four-digit CVV number is printed on the front of the card above the card account number.
|A 3-digit number in reverse italics on the back of your credit card
|A 4-digit number on the front, just above your credit card number"
Source: https://www.strategicprofitsinc.com/cvv_info/cvv_info.html
Update: Though times are changing, the American Express cards out there have not. We still see customers asking us about the CVV on a daily basis, so this post is certainly just as relevant as always. However, do you know what the CVV is for and what actually happens? Here are a few neat little tips you may not have been aware of:
Why your card number is embossed, but the CVV is not
This clever little bit from the banks is a matter of your money's safety. One way of committing credit card fraud is to physically make an imprint of your card while holding it for just a brief moment. Afterwards they can give it back and you're none the wiser. The CVV is therefore not embossed in order to protect you from someone making an imprint of your card (ex. in clay) and getting away with everything you have!
Why the CVV is written on your card
You may think that this is so you can shop online and pay with your card not being present. However, this was not the original intention when writing the number on the card. This is in fact to make your card even more secure by protecting it from being skimmed, or scanned, as the CVV number is not contained within the magnetic strip on your card. Pretty neat!
Why is the CVV on the front of the card rather than the back?
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Solution Briefs
SSL Insight for Cisco FirePOWER and Cisco ASA
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Clinical: Culture Negative Surgical Site Infections
Surgical site infections (SSIs) are defined as infections of skin or underlying soft tissues at the surgical site, following an operation. These are common postoperative complications. Nearly 25% of cases develop SSIs, and are more common following emergency surgical procedures. SSIs are associated with tissue destruction up to varying depths, delay or even failure in wound healing, disfiguring or disabling scars, persistent or recurrent pain at the operated site, bacteremia, pyrexia, and incisional hernias. In addition, they also prolong the hospital stay and increase the costs.
This article is an overview of surgical site infections with emphasis on culture negative SSIs. For a detailed review, please refer to the published literature [1] [2] [3]
Management of SSIs is based on a structured protocol, which are as follows:
- Appropriate preoperative management, which include assessment and optimisation of various risk factors (Table 1).
- Initiating antibiotic prophylaxis to cover the common pathogens causing SSIs (Table 2).
- Controlling the operating theater environment and avoiding hypothermia.
- Appropriate intra-operative management of the tissues and incision.
- Appropriate postoperative management which include optimisation of hyperglycemia, supplemental oxygenation, judicious use of blood transfusion, nutritional support with emphasis on early enteral nutrition.
The incidence of SSIs can be reduced significantly with these evidence-based protocols [4] [5]. Despite the efforts, 2 to 10% of all elective surgical cases might develop SSI. Further management of such infected wounds is simplified to a certain extent by the culture and sensitivity reports, by being familiar with the hospital microbiological data and by administering nutrition supplements which facilitate wound healing. Such attempts may limit the prolonged hospital stay and will also reduce the costs [6].
Table 1: Risk Factors for the development of SSIs[7]
Patient Factors:
- Diabetes
- Malnutrition (undernutrition & obesity)
- Extremes of age
- Skin disease at operation site
- Irradiation at operation site
- Peripheral vascular disease (for lower limb surgeries)
- Hypoxemia
- Postoperative anemia
- Steroid therapy
- Chronic inflammatory conditions
- Infection at remote sites
- Staphylococcal carriers
Treatment Factors:
- Emergency procedures
- Inadequate and inappropriate antibiotic prophylaxis
- Prolonged preoperative hospitalisation
- Prolonged operative time
- Hypothermia
- Surgical drains
Environmental Factors:
- Inadequate skin antisepsis
- Inadequate sterilization of instruments
- Inadequate ventilation
- Contaminated medications
Table 2: Microbiology of surgical site infection[8]
|Incidence (%)
|Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus
|Escherichia coli
|Miscellaneous aerobic gram-negative bacilli
|Enterobacter sp.
|Klebsiella sp
|Miscellaneous anaerobic bacteria
|Miscellaneous aerobic gram-positive bacteria
A common problem is managing a patient with all the clinical signs of surgical site infection, but with "no bacterial growth" on the culture report! The incidence of such 'culture negative SSIs', based on published studies can be up to 30%[9] [10]This article will provide an overview of culture negative SSIs. For a detailed review on surgical site infections, please refer to published literature (see references).
Many micro-organisms (Table 3) and non-infective factors (Table 4) are responsible for causing culture negative surgical site infections.
Table 3: Micro-organisms causing Culture Negative SSIs[11]
Common: Atypical mycobacteria Mycobacteria fortuitium Mycobacteria abscessus Mycobacteria chelonae Genital mycoplasmas Mycoplasma hominis Ureaplasma urealyticum Anaerobes
Uncommon: "Small colony variant" Staphylococcus aureus Nocardia Actinomyces Legionella species Coxiella burnetti Gordona species Herpes simplex virus
Organisms incorrectly dismissed as "contaminants" (usually with foreign bodies) Coagulase-negative staphylococci Cornybacteria
Table 4: Non-Infectious causes5
Pyoderma gangrenosum Factitious inoculation
Modes of inoculation of microbes causing culture negative SSIs There are three ways by which microbes gain access to the wounds.
- Inoculation at the time of surgery is the most common way. This occurs from external sources like contaminated surgical solutions or implants. Examples are rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) and Legionella species.
- Inoculation from patient's own flora as a result of insufficient antisepsis at surgical site. Examples are Staphylococcus epidermidis and other Coagulase-negative staphylococci, Corynebacterium species (especially during genitourinary tract procedures) and Mycoplasma species.
- Inoculation during the postoperative period by hematogenous route from a remote site. Mycoplasma can at times gain access to surgical wounds by this infrequent method.
Causes of culture negative SSIs Various causes have been hypothesized for causing culture negative infection at surgical sites:
- The most frequent cause is thought to be due to culturing the infected site after commencement of antibiotics.
- Atypical organisms do not grow on standard culture media. Also they may grow rather slowly and the culture plates are discarded before the growth becomes apparent.
- Common contaminants (like S. epidermidis, Corynebacterium species) are often not given importance, when in fact they may be the actual cause of the infection at surgical site.
Role of microbiologist in detecting SSIs Various media like blood, chocolate, MacConkey agar and anaerobic media are routinely used for detection of the microorganisms. The standard practice is to incubate the culture material (from infected surgical sites) for 3 to 4 days. If no growth is seen, these plates are discarded and the result is reported as 'no growth' or 'culture negative'.
However, certain organisms like RGM grow only after 3-5 days of incubation. Mycoplasmas grow as tiny colonies that may be overlooked. Hence communication with the microbiologist should be a standard clinical practice to ensure optimal identification of the microbes. The laboratory would incubate the cultures for a longer period (5 days or more) and also use special media (Table 5).
Table 5: Duration & Types of Media Used in Identification of Microbes[12]
|Incubation Period
|Microbes Isolated
|Sheep blood agar
|Aerobic for 3 days
|Staphylococcus aureus & CNS
|MacConkey agar
|Deep tissues: 7 days
|Streotococci, Enterococci, G-ve rods,Corynebacteria
|Choclate agar
|Aerobic 4 – 7 days
|Most RGM, Nocardia species
SCV Staphylococcus aureus Occasional: Legionella & Mycoplasma
|Buffered charcoal-yeast extract agar (BCYE)
|Aerobic 4 -14 days
|Legionella, Mycoplasma & Nocardia, RGM. Fungi, SCV S. aureus
|CDC-anaerobic agar, CAN, LKV,
|Anaerobic 14 – 28 days
|Anaerobes, Nocardia species,SCV S. aureus, Brucella,
|A7 & A8 agar
|Aerobic 3 – 4 days
|Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma
|Thioglycolate broth (Blood culture bottles)
|Aerobic 7 – 14 days
|Growth for all routine microbes, Atypical remain alive for subculture
|10B Arginine broth
|Aerobic 3 – 4days
|Special broth for recovery of Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma
|7h9 broth with PANTA
|Aerobic up to 14 days
|Antibiotic supplements broth for recovery of Mycoplasma species
|RGM: Rapidly growing mycobacteria. SCV: Small colony variant
Microbes causing culture negative SSI on routine media Pathogenic microorganisms that cause surgical site infections and which do not exhibit growth up to 3 days on routine media are:
- Atypical Mycobacteria
- Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma
- Legionella
- "Small-colony variant" Staphylococcus aureus
- Anaerobic pathogens
Atypical Mycobacteria: RGM are a group of atypical mycobacteria. Important species of this group are Mycobacteria abscessus, M. chelonae and M. fortuitum. They take 5 days or more to grow on standard blood agar. SSIs caused by RGMs include:
- Breast operations
- Liposuction
- Spinal surgery
- Facial surgery
- Laparoscopy
- Pacemaker implantation
- Arthroplasty
- Minor cutaneous operations
- Body piercing (especially nipple)
Atypical mycobacteria are susceptible to a wide range of antibiotics, especially fluoroquinolones. Sensitivity of each isolate is recommended.
Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma There are many species of Mycoplasmas. In humans, Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum also called as genital mycoplasmas (GM) cause SSIs. Endogenous flora are the likely sources and immunosuppressed patients are more prone. On gram stain, presence of multiple white cells without visible bacteria is predictive of infection with GM. They require special culture methods for optimum identification, as these are not included in routine culture protocols and must be requested by the surgeon. However M. hominis may occasionally appear on standard media as characteristic "fried-egg" pinpoint colonies. SSIs caused by GM include:
- Cesarean section wounds
- Sternotomy wounds
- Vascular grafts
- Solid organ allograft
- Orthopedic wounds
- Maxillofacial wounds
- Cosmetic surgical sites
GM species are susceptible to tetracyclines and macrolides
Legionella Legionella species are known for causing lung infections, but can also cause SSIs by gaining access to surgical wounds by hematogenous route. They also spread by nosocomial route. They are thin gram-negative bacilli and are poorly visible on gram stain. They do not grow on ordinary culture media and need addition of special substances like cysteine and iron salts for optimal growth. Case reports of SSIs caused by Legionella species include:
- Hemodialysis fistula
- Hip surgery wounds
- Sternotomy wounds
Legionella species are generally susceptible to fluroquinolones or macrolides
"Small-colony variant" Staphylococcus aureus (SCV) These are a form of Staphylococcus aureus. They are not recognised on routine culture media as they grow slowly. They also have a delayed coagulase positive test which can be delayed up to 24 hours. The common (or the wild type) S aureus compared takes just 4 hours to exhibit coagulase positivity. For this reason, these are commonly identified as coagulase-negative staphylococci. The best way to recognise them is to incubate for at least 3 days and look for pinpoint colonies, and then to await the coagulase positive test.
These microbes have a reduced metabolic capacity and are therefore less pathogenic. However, it can persist intracellularly and cause chronic infection, and are resistant to routine antibiotics (which are effective against the wild type). They are very common in patients who have received or are on antibiotics, especially aminoglycosides. SSIs caused by SCV tend to be chronic, like a recurrent draining hernioplasty wound with an implanted mesh. They are generally susceptible to clindamycin and medications that are effective against MRSA.
Anaerobic Bacteria: The surgical site infections caused by these tend to be rare, but can result in a fulminant infection! Common organisms are Clostridium, Bacteroides and Prevotella species. They cannot be cultured on routine aerobic media and need special anaerobic media7. Appearance of dirty-water like exudates, which is culture negative, is a clue to the presence of these bacteria (C. perfringens). Infections caused by such organisms have a high mortality rate and debridement should be done early. They are susceptible to clindamycin and penicillins.
Pathogenic organisms commonly dismissed as contaminants Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) and Corynebacterium species are common pathogens which cause surgical site infections and yet diagnosed as 'contaminants'! If they are found on repeat cultures or are present in exudates at ~ 105 colony-forming units/ml then they should be diagnosed as the cause of SSI.
Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) Most commonly causes SSI in presence of foreign bodies, prosthetic devices (vascular grafts, shunts, prosthetic joints) and are easy to recognise. CNS can also cause SSIs in the absence of these aforementioned situations. These include complicated and soiled intra-abdominal surgical sites with persistent drainage and already on antibiotics.
Corynebacterium species ("Diphtheroids") These organisms are common skin commensals and appear in catheter related infections and as blood culture contaminants. However, they can cause infections of implanted devices and unfortunately are dismissed as contaminants! These grow within 3 days and are easily recognised as Corynebacterium species. Various species have been associated with SSIs and hence should not be dismissed as harmless contaminants.
Miscellaneous Pathogens These comprise of a mixture of microorganisms can be difficult to culture and cause SSIs. They are:
- Nocardia
- Actinomyces
- Coxiella burnetti
- Gordona species
- Herpes simplex virus type1 (HSV1)
These cause infections at various surgical sites. The case reports include chronic sternal infections and mediastinitis following cardiac surgery, carotid artery rupture following resection of oropharyngeal carcinoma, facial infections following facial-cutaneous surgery. These microbes need special culture media and PCR analysis to diagnose7.
Management of culture negative SSIs Can be described in the following steps:
- Discuss with the microbiologist and provide all the clinical details, including the antibiotics in use (immediate past and present). The microbiologist in turn needs to do the following:
- Review the gram stain. This includes original smears as well as stains of broth into which the specimen has been inoculated
- Review the original culture plate and hold it up to 2 weeks to allow growth of slow-growing' microbes
- Can subculture on specialised media
- Request for a fresh specimen, which should be sent to laboratory immediately, which can then be cultured for acid-fast bacteria and fungus
- Consider empiric therapy (after vigorous attempts have been made to identify the responsible pathogen in concurrence with the microbiologist) if SSI persists after routine treatment with first-line antibacterial drugs against common pathogens. The choice of antibiotics includes antistaphylococcal penicillins, cephalosporins, vancomycin, and β-lactum / β-lactumase inhibitor combination for suspected mixed infections.
- Consider additional diagnostic tests and special culture media and repeat cultures.
- Consider newer fluroquinolones like levofloxacin on long course basis, as these are active against Mycoplasma, Legionella and other atypical mycobacteria.
Conclusion Managing surgical site infections when microbiological diagnosis is not forthcoming is a common and a challenging clinical problem in our surgical practice. In such situations, an effective communication with the microbiologist and infectious-disease specialist will enable a positive outcome. The steps can be summarised as follows:
- The standard plates to be incubated for an additional 5 to 7 days, which allows the 'slow-growers' to be identified.
- Subculture the broth even in the absence of visible growth
- Repeat surgical biopsies if diagnosis is doubtful, with a request for special diagnostic studies
Practice Points to Minimise Incidence of Culture Negative SSIs
- Optimise preoperative morbidity
- Ensure adequacy of operation theatre environment
- Ensure adequate antisepsis at surgical sites
- Ensure appropriate tissue handling
- Prevent breakdown of infection control procedures
(a)Avoid rinsing instruments in contaminated surgical solutions, tap water or contaminated 'sterile water'. (b)Avoid contaminated gentian violet marking solutions
- Institute appropriate evidence-based prophylactic antibiotics
- ↑ Guidelines for Prevention of Surgical Site Infections. Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, January 1999
- ↑ Shawn S Forbes, Wesley J Stephen, et al. Implementation of evidence-based practices for surgical site infection prophylaxis: Results of a pre- and postintervention study. J Am Coll Surg. Vol. 207, No:3, September 2008
- ↑ Fry DE. The economic costs of surgical site infections. Surg Infec (Larchmt). 2002; 3 (suppl 1): S37-43.
- ↑ Guidelines for Prevention of Surgical Site Infections. Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, January 1999
- ↑ Shawn S Forbes, Wesley J Stephen, et al. Implementation of evidence-based practices for surgical site infection prophylaxis: Results of a pre- and postintervention study. J Am Coll Surg. Vol. 207, No:3, September 2008
- ↑ Fry DE. The economic costs of surgical site infections. Surg Infec (Larchmt). 2002; 3 (suppl 1): S37-43.
- ↑ Philip S Barie, Soumitra R Eachempati. Surgical Site Infections. Surg Clin N Am. 85 (2005) 1115-1135
- ↑ Philip S Barie, Soumitra R Eachempati. Surgical Site Infections. Surg Clin N Am. 85 (2005) 1115-1135
- ↑ Giacometti A, Cirioni O. Epidemiology and microbiology of surgical wound infections. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:918-922
- ↑ Twum-Danso K, Grant C, et al. Microbiology of postoperative wound infections: A prospective study of 1770 wounds. J Hosp Infect 1992; 21:29-37
- ↑ Giacometti A, Cirioni O. Epidemiology and microbiology of surgical wound infections. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:918-922
- ↑ Manual of Clinical Microbiology. Washington. D.C. ASM Press, 1999
| The basis of this article is contributed from Medpedia.com These articles are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License It may have since been edited beyond all recognition. But we thank Medpedia for allowing its use.
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A look at the upcoming Samsung flagship smartphone features with Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus rumours.
A concept rendered by wccftech.com
It's almost time for another Samsung mobile to sweep the world off their feet like the Galaxy S7 did last year. Except this year, there's a few twists.
Recently the world-renowned conglomerate themselves let information loose about a larger version of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on their website. So now it is almost certain that the Samsung Galaxy S8+ (product code: SM-G955FD) will be released alongside the S8.
Before we move on to more rumours, keep in mind that a lot of these rumours seem to contradict each other. The only way to confirm whether any of these are correct is when Samsung actually releases the product.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 phone will apparently not be launching at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) – which runs from 27th February until 2nd March. Samsung will instead launch the anticipated phone on March 29 and release it for sale around mid-April.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is purported to be 5.7" inches which is larger than its predecessor S7's 5.1-inch screen. Whereas, the Samsung Galaxy S8+ will feature 6.2" inch screen.
This means that both the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus will be larger than the Galaxy Note 7. The screens will have 2K AMOLED resolution – tamer than the ambitious 4K in the Note 7.
The Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ will feature three cameras: two rear-facing, and one front-facing. The front facing camera (or the 'selfie camera') is rumoured to have front actuators, which means autofocusing for your selfie photos.
The two rear cameras may be like those currently seen in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Fingerprint sensors has allowed many flagship phones to eliminate the flimsy home button feature. And that is exactly what the Samsung Galaxy S8 has done to the home button that was seen in its previous products such as the S7 and Note series.
Image from https://www.knowyourmobile.com
The slim bevelled edged and the larger screen size means retiring the home button from its design entirely. Rumours say there will be a fingerprint sensor integrated into model either on the back of the device or at the front. I know, these are two entirely different places but multiple sources have reported on multiple placements of this elusive Synaptics fingerprint sensor.
It would be a great disadvantage for both your finger and camera experience if the sensor was placed on the back beside the camera, as you could easily mistake the camera for the fingerprint sensor. However, if the scanner is located at the front, beneath the glass, and under the screen, it would be a beneficial feature to the phone. Let's hope for the latter.
There are also rumours about the S8 featuring an iris scanner – which was first explored in the Samsung Note 7 (now discontinued). The iris recognition feature scans your eyes with an LED light and camera, which adds to your security when using your phone.
S8 will come with the new Samsung Exynos8 processor or a Quadcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Currently there are more rumours pointing to the Quadcomm Snapdragon 835 chip.
Samsung may utilise 'Bixby' or 'Kestra'- their new trademarked names for voice recognition software, AI Voice Assistant – in the S8/S8+.
- 4GB Ram
- 64GB internal storage
- Dual speakers
- 3.5 mm headphone jack (uncertain)
- Android 7 Nougat (uncertain)
- USB type-C charging port
The internet has been overrun with rumours and clues and hints and rendered images about this upcoming smartphone. In fact, there's so much hype that it seems the world has forgotten about the Note 7 incident that occurred only a few months ago. Has the world forgiven Samsung for its mistakes? Only time will tell.
Samsung has already released information on how they are conducting battery checks and what went wrong with their previous phablet. They seem adamant to release a product that is safe and will not be singled out at every airport. So hopefully the next flagship will not sink as badly.