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According to the Sba only 2/3 of all small company start-ups survive the 1st a couple of years and fewer than half make it to 4 years. With those sort of statistics it might behoove a company owner to be utilizing their available resources to the fullest. On this page become familiar with 3 solid business tips you can quickly and easily implement with your business to aid avoid failure and having successful.
Obtaining the Right Perspective
When in operation, in order to survive and stay successful, it is important to contain the correct mind-set. Not possessing the best mind-set is among the logic behind why companies that begin on the right foot arrived at a screeching halt or completely crumble after they come across unforeseen problems. And like whatever else in daily life you'll almost certainly encounter problems and obstacles with your istikhara online. There is certainly simply no way to avoid this. However, keeping an open mind and remaining flexible in your plans might help provde the perspective had to over come most all these dilemmas.
The successful small business owner usually posses a good perspective and chooses to see the glass half full rather than half empty, or use one other cliche "make lemonade from lemons." So instead of seeing a problem in ever opportunity like all kinds of other {online istikhara they see an opportunity from the problem and approach it out of this perspective. Using this type of kind of tolerant thinking they often times over come the issue and often go on to discover success and rewards some may didn't have realized if they hadn't looked at the problem from your different perspective.
Know Your Strengths
Being a private business owner often requires wearing many hats, thus requiring different skills and knowledge sets. And after all most of us usually do not posses every one of the knowledge and/or skills required to successfully run every aspect of an enterprise. So it will be vital that you acknowledge your weaknesses and strengths during these different areas immediately.
Start with centering on your strengths and apply these to keep growing your organization, while finding other ways to handle your weaker areas. One such alternative is always to outsource these areas to several individuals with a job-by-job basis or possibly work with a regular assistant that has the skills information necessary to fulfill your weak areas. Another approach that may help solve this dilemma is usually to develop a network.
Being a small company owner its smart to generate a network of well suited entrepreneurs, friends, and associates. Joining your neighborhood Eee is a superb way to network and meet other businesses in the area. Another good source to develop a network are forums on the net. Many businesses take this path and turn out creating or joining a mastermind group that incorporate other well suited people who posse different amounts of business knowledge and talent sets.
In addition networking provide support, feedback, and potential work from home opportunities. Nevertheless it is often changed into a barter type scenario where different members provide their service expertize free of charge or on sale in substitution for the receiving member's service expertize. Thus setting up a win, win situation for both members.
Do you take time to implement and benefit from the above 3 tips. Because to keep the proper perspective, acknowledging your strengths and weakness, as well as networking you will find a far better potential for success to over come the countless hurdles you may face as being a new small business operator.


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I've decided to make an official chat. This is a public matrix/riot chat room for my video project.
Why is this step necessary? mastodon.sdf.org might not be the server where you are registered, so we need to redirect you to your home server first.
Don't have an account? You can sign up here

subset: commoncrawl


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As virtually everyone reading this post will be aware – Britain is currently embroiled in the decision to exit the European Community.
Thinking back – it was on this day, Thursday 17th February 1972 – that the then Prime Minister Edward Heath narrowly won a vote in the House of Commons on whether they should, or should not, ratify a treaty for the United Kingdom to join the European Community.
Two years previously, just prior to the 1970 election, Edward Heath had stated that it would be wrong for any Government to consider joining the European Community to take this step without the 'full hearted consent of Parliament and people'.
Of course – just because he thought that then it was not necessarily right to do the same thing again – so, on this Thursday in 1972, he ignored his earlier statement and turned the matter into a vote of confidence by pledging to resign and to call new elections saying that "If the House will not agree … my colleagues and I are unanimous that in these circumstances, this Parliament could not sensibly continue."
By a margin of just eight votes (309–301), the Bill was passed.
Later many challenged the validity of this vote – claiming the decision and the vote was contrary to British law, and that it breached a constitutional convention requiring prior consultation of the people via a general election or a formal referendum. In other words – Heath was right first time round, and wrong the second time.
So, coming forward to Friday 17th February 2017, one wonders what our population in another thirty-five years' time will be saying. I'll leave that to my grand-children to resolve! Of course, there is the possibility – or is it a probability – that there will not be any form of union anyway.


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Which infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection benefit from antiviral therapy?
You are referred a 3-day-old infant born to a mother with a history of cytomegalovirus (CMV) seroconversion at 11 weeks gestation. The infant is well with no evidence of microcephaly, petechiae or hepatosplenomegaly. A newborn hearing test reveals bilateral hearing loss. CMV is detected by PCR in urine collected on day 2 of life. You diagnose him with congenital CMV infection and wonder whether antiviral treatment is indicated.
Structured clinical question
In infants with congenital CMV infection (patient), does antiviral treatment (intervention) improve clinical outcome (outcome)?
Search strategy and outcome
Medline and EMBASE were searched using the OVID interface (1996 to current) in June 2013. The following key words were used: (Ganciclovir OR Foscarnet OR Antiviral agents) AND Cytomegalovirus.af. AND (Infant, Newborn OR Infant, Newborn, Diseases OR Newborn* OR Neonat*) and language was limited to English. This identified 228 articles. Case reports and case series that included less than 10 infants and studies of ganciclovir-resistant CMV-infected children were excluded leaving eight relevant articles. The references of all relevant publications were reviewed and no further articles were identified. An additional conference abstract was identified and included (table 1).
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Congenital CMV infection occurs as a result of maternal primary CMV infection, reinfection or reactivation during pregnancy. Primary infection is more likely …
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This Used Ozone R-1 13m is in excellent condition with little signs of use or wear. Pick up one of the fastest race foils on the market for a fraction of the price.
Developed without compromise using proven Chrono technology, the R1 produces breath taking speed and performance. The ultra clean leading edge, smooth surfaces and number of cells give an insight into its capabilities. But it's what you can't see that makes this race focused kite so special, the feeling on the bar and the responsiveness of this high aspect wing is unique.
Our newly calculated sail tension brings a level of stability that surpasses every high performance kite we have ever produced by far. Combined with new diagonal ribs, a high aspect ratio planform, reduced cell width and a new high performance profile the boundaries of performance have been re-defined again. The R1 is truly a race pedigree performance kite that will inspire confidence to the rider while delivering outstanding racing performance on the water, land or snow.
The R1 is for advanced riders only who have previous foil kite experience. It is not difficult to fly but there are techniques required to fly a high aspect ratio foil kite.


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Uluru (Ayers Rock).
Alice Springs is in the Hot Red Centre of Australia. It is mostly famous for being near Uluru (Ayers Rock). Actually, it's not always hot (or even very red) and not very close to Uluru.
Several hundred kilometers to the south west of Alice Springs there is a very large red rock.
And it's called Mount Conner.
Another hundred kilometers west brings you to Yulara and the Ayers Rock Resort adjacent to the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park. You cannot camp in the national park nor by the roadside (Penalties Apply), so short of returning one hundred kilometers to Curtin Springs, the only place to camp is in the resort campsite. Which is of course booked up.
Luckily, the resort does make an overflow camping area available for a modest 12 Euros (no water, no toilets, no electricity and no grass).
Uluru (Ayers Rock) is one of the great natural wonders of the world. A sandstone monolith 350 metres high and about 3,500 metres long.
There are a limited number of things you can do with 3,500 metre long rock. You can look at it at sunrise, at sunset (or some time in between), you can walk round it and you can climb it.
The great thing about looking at Uluru at sunrise (or sunset) is that it changes colour! The park thoughtfully provides two car parks, one optimally positioned for sunrise and one for sunset. On our first evening at Uluru we parked Man at the sunset car park with a good view of Uluru and waited.
As sunset approached the car park filled with other campervans and 4x4s (there is separate area for coaches).
A rather malnourished dingo tried, unsuccessfully, to scavenge food from the onlookers (Penalties Apply - for feeding the wildlife).
About 15 minutes before sunset a hushed excitement descended on the car park as Uluru started to change colour...
from a subtle reddish brown to...
...to a sort of soft brownish red. Then to a dim...
...reddish brown. And finally to...
... dark greyish reddish brown. Awesome!
It is about 10 kilometers round the base of Uluru. On the day we walked round Uluru we saw a total of about 50 people. The Ayers Rock Resort contains several large hotels and a large (full) camp site. Dozens of busses make day trips from Alice Springs to Uluru. There is a significant airport. So what do all the other (2000?) people do between sunrise and sunset?
The rock is remarkably interesting close up.
Uluru has great significance to the local Aboriginal community and this is explained in some detail at the visitor centre (no photographs are permitted) and on notices around the base of the rock.
Even if we had wanted to climb Uluru we could not have done so on the day we were there.
It is rather strange that whilst some areas of Uluru are protected by "No Access" signs (with severe penalties) the decision on whether to climb the rock is left to the visitor (at least when it's dry and cool).
I only saw one Aboriginal person within Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park and no Aboriginal person within the Ayers Rock Resort.


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Blue Mountains geology field trip
posted in: Landscapes | 1
Keen students from a Sydney High school examine Ashfield Shale in a road cut in the Blue Mountains north-west of Sydney. It's an excellent outcrop in a quiet street that can be researched at leisure. The Ashfield Shale directly … Continued


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Best in-ear headphones for amazing sound
If the best camera is the one you have with you, then the best in-ear headphones are usually the ones you got for free in the box with your phone. Well, not really.
Paying for a pair will elevate your music to a whole new level of audio fidelity. But you already knew that, didn't you?
That's why you've alighted on GQ's pick of the best earbuds you can buy. Whether you're on a budget, want a sporty pair or prioritise sound quality above all else, we've tested a slew of top-notch earphones here. Compared to over-ear headphones these models are sleeker and more discreet to wear, while offering audio that's almost on par with a massive pair of audiophile-friendly cans. First up, a few pointers on what to look for in a new pair of in-ear headphones.
1) Do you want a pair of wireless earphones?
Ever since Apple dropped the headphone jack from its iPhone range, the future of audio has been wireless. 'Cos let's face it, you're going to lose that dongle in a month tops. While wired headphones will almost always cost less and deliver more detailed sound, there are plenty of advantages to embracing the wireless revolution. Aside from not getting tangled up in your bag, wireless earphones generally look a lot sleeker to wear and can offer added voice assistant smarts from the likes of Siri and Google Assistant.
2) Do wireless earphones offer good sound?
Initially, wireless earphones struggled with connectivity meaning you'd get a lot of dropouts in sound. Better Bluetooth tech has put pay to those issues with the models we've tested here, while design-lead improvements have made for improved audio quality. Especially if you're willing to spend a bit of money and not just opt for the cheapest pair at the airport duty-free store. Better still, new features such as active noise cancelling have been added to top tier earphones that help subdue the hubbub surrounding you and let your tunes shine through.
3) What about earphones for exercise?
Although you can get away with donning any old pair of earphones on your morning jog, this isn't the best choice in the long run. Sports-focused headphones are always designed with fit in mind and often come with fins on their tips to make sure they stay put in your ears, even in the middle of the middle of the most challenging CrossFit reps set. They're also usually IPX4 sweat-resistant to avoid any corrosion via your vapours. Lovely.


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Graph symbols and fonts in Stata 11: Part 2
As we saw last week, Stata 11 can display graphs using the full Greek alphabet (upper and lower case), math symbols, as well as boldface and italics. This week we will illustrate how to display text using different fonts. Consider this basic graph below which includes a title.
. use allstates, clear
(Data on 50 States)
. graph twoway (scatter propval100 popk) (lfit propval100 popk), ///
> title(Property values by population)
The title is displayed using a sans serif font. Let's instead display the title using a serif font.
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> title({stSerif:This is the title in a serif font})
We can even mix up serif and sans serif fonts within the title, as shown below.
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> title(This part {stSerif:is in a serif font} {stSans:and now back to sans serif})
You can also specify a monospaced font and a symbol font. Below, the title is shown in a serif font, the subtitle in a sans serif font, the caption in a monospace font, and the note is in a symbol font. The symbol font displays greek letters
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> title("{stSerif:This is the title in a serif font}") ///
> subtitle("{stSans:This is the subtitle in a sans serif font}") ///
> caption("{stMono:This is the caption in a monospace font}") ///
> note("{stSymbol:ABCDEFG abcdefg}")
So far, all of these fonts are general fonts that are available on all platforms. You can specifically refer to fonts that are available on your platform, on your particular computer. For example, I am using Windows and I have a font named Gigi on my computer (and you may have it too). Below I specify that the title should be displayed using this font.
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> title({fontface Gigi:This is the title in Gigi})
In fact, I am going to go crazy in the example below and display the title in Gigi, the subtitle using the Papyrus font, the caption using the Parchment font, and the note using the Pristina font. Note how I am able to use the size() option to increase the size of text, even when using these custom fonts.
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> title({fontface Gigi:This is the title in Gigi}) ///
> subtitle({fontface Papyrus:This is the subtitle in Papyrus}) ///
> caption({fontface Parchment:This is the caption in Parchment}, size(vhuge)) ///
> note({fontface Pristina:This is the note in Pristina}, size(large))
Below I mix the standard font, the Papyrus font, and the Gigi font all within the subtitle.
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> subtitle(This is {fontface Papyrus:a very} crazy {fontface Gigi:subtitle})
Sometimes, the name of a font contains a space within it. For example, I have a font on my computer named Elephant Italic. In order to specify this font, I need to enclose the name within double quotes, as shown below. Because this introduces a double quotation within the title option, the title is surrounded by compound quotes, i.e., the title begins with `" and ends with "' (see help quotes).
. scatter propval100 popk, ///
> title(`"{fontface "Elephant Italic":This is the title in Elephant Italic}"')
Finally, how did I discover which fonts I have on my computer? I went to Control Panel and then I selected Fonts. That lists the different fonts that are available on my computer. The image below shows a portion of the fonts listed.
The highlighted font is Elephant Italic. Note that when I referenced it, I did not included the words (TrueType). This is not part of the font name, but instead describes the type of font (that it is a TrueType font).
This concludes this tidbit for this week. For more information, you can see help graph text.
You can download the example data files from this tidbit (as well as all of the other tidbits) as shown below. These will download all of the example data files into the current folder on your computer. (If you have done this before, then you may need to specify net get stowdata, replace to overwrite the existing files.
net from http://www.MichaelNormanMitchell.com/storage/stowdata
net get stowdata
If you have thoughts on this Stata Tidbit of the Week, you can post a comment. You can also send me an email at MichaelNormanMitchell and then the at sign and gmail dot com. If you are receiving this tidbit via email, you can find the web version at http://www.michaelnormanmitchell.com/ .


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Colorectal cancer is a tumor of colon and rectum, which occurs with high frequency in both men and women in Western countries. Most cases of colorectal cancers arise in a benign adenoma; some evidence suggests that some cancers arise directly from the mucosal cells. With regard to genetic mechanisms of colorectal cancer, the disease appears to result from an increase in the number of genetic mutations, mostly acquired, that accumulate in the genome of the evolving cancer cell. The histopathologic changes associated with the development of colorectal cancer are driven by the progressive accumulation of definable genetic changes, including the activation of one or more oncogenes plus the inactivation of several tumor suppressor genes and by endogenous and exogenous promoting agents. These genetic changes proceed from cellular hyperproliferation to small, benign adenomas to more dysplastic, larger adenomas and then can become cancer and ultimately metastasize. Identification and removal of these premalignant lesions are considered important in order to design a rational approach to reduce the incidence and mortality of colon cancer.
In studies of various human diseases, it is critical that reliable animal models both chemically induced and transgenic are developed that demonstrate similarity to the human disease. Animal models are extremely valuable in our understanding of the human disease, but one has to be familiar with the limitations of the model system that is being used to study the human disease. Animal models should bear relevance to human colorectal cancer with similarities not only in terms of histopathology and molecular and genetic lesions during early and promotion/progression stages of carcinogenesis, but also adequacy of the model for prevention studies. The animal models should also reflect the efficacy of both effective and ineffective nutritional and chemopreventive agents that have been evaluated in humans. It should also be recognized that extrapolation of data obtained in animal model systems entails inherent sources of uncertainty that must be taken into account in predicting human responsiveness. This brief article discusses the carcinogeninduced colon cancer model to study the relationship between chemopreventive agents and colon carcinogenesis.
Animal models have been developed to study the multiple environmental factors involved in the pathogenesis of cancer of the colon. These animal models are (a) induction of colon tumors in rats through aromatic amines such as 3,2 -dimethyl-4-aminobi-phenyl (DMBA); (b) derivatives and analogs of cycacin such as methyazoxymethanol (MAM), 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), and azoxymethane (AOM) in rats and mice of selected strains; (c) direct-acting carcinogens of the type of alkylureas, such as methylnitrosourea (MNU) or N-methyl-N`nitro-Nnitrosoguanidine (MNNG); and (d) heterocyclic amines such as 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[ 4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP). The spectrum of epithelial lesions induced in the colon by these carcinogens is similar to various types of neoplastic lesions observed in the colorectum of humans. Several studies have utilized these relevant animal models to investigate the modulation of colon carcinogenesis by nutritional and chemopreventive agents.
A. Alkylnitrosoureido Compounds
MNNG and MNU are direct alkylating agents, which do not require metabolic activation, and thus they are topical and potent carcinogens. Intrarectal instillation of NMU or MNNG induced colorectal tumors in rodent models. Because of the fact that biochemical activation is not required for these carcinogens, it is an ideal way of inducing colon tumors in animals and of studying modifying effects during the postinitiation stage of colon carcinogenesis without involving metabolism of the genotoxic, initiating carcinogen. Intrarectal administration of MNNG at a dose rate of 1-3 mg/rat/week for 20 weeks induced colon tumors in 100% of male F344 rats of which 43% tumors were adenocarcinomas and 57% were adenomas. The neoplasms were all located in the distal colon and rectum, as MNNG and MNU are locally acting carcinogens.
No metastatic lesions were usually observed. Although MNNG and MNU given intrarectally provided the most reliable model for the topical and selective production of tumors in the distal colon and rectum, the major weakness of this model is that the technique of intrarectal injection requires highly skilled technicians and quantification of carcinogens instilled intrarectally is difficult.
B. Heterocyclic Amines
2-Amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quiniline (IQ), a heterocyclic aromatic amine produced from food pyrolysis, was first isolated from a variety of broiled or cooked fish and meat. Among a number of heterocyclic amines that have been demonstrated to be highly mutagenic and tumorigenic in rodent models, IQ and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) have attracted a lot of attention because they demonstrate a multitarget organospecificity with specific cancer induction in Zymbal gland, skin, colon, oral cavity, and mammary gland of rodents. Colon tumors were induced in male F344 rats by administering PhIP daily in the diet at 100 and 400 ppm for 52 and 104 weeks. Although the colon tumor incidences were about 43 and 55% in animals given PhIP at 100 and 400 ppm, respectively, there was severe toxicity due to PhIP. We have also utilized heterocyclic amines such as IQ and PhIP to induce colon tumors. Results of these studies from our laboratory indicate that when these agents were administered daily in the diet for 52 weeks, the tumor incidence was very low, ranging between 5 and 28%.
C. 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine
1,2-Dimethylhydrazine is an effective carcinogen for the induction of tumors of the colon and rectum in rats and mice by systemic subcutaneous or intraperitoneal injections. The usefulness of this organospecific carcinogen, which induces selectively tumors in the colon, was confirmed by several laboratories. Despite the differences in doses, schedules, and animal strains used by different investigators, there is some consistency in their results in using DMH as a colon carcinogen. Subcutaneous injection of DMH at a dose rate of 20 mg/kg body weight, once weekly for 20 weeks induces colon adenomas and adenocarcinomas in about 60% of male F344 rats. However, the major weakness of this model is that multiple injections of DMH are required to induce colon tumors in the laboratory rodents.
D. Azoxymethane
Azoxymethane, a metabolite of DMH, has been used extensively by many investigators to induce colon tumors and to study the effects of nutritional factors and chemopreventive agents in colon carcinogenesis. AOM is a potent inducer of carcinomas of the large intestine in various strains of male and female rats. We have used a two-dose (15 mg/kg body weight, once weekly for 2 weeks sc) regimen in all our chemoprevention and nutritional studies since mid-1985.
Our results and those of others indicate that the just mentioned dose regimen in male F344 rats induced colon tumors in about 80% of animals with a mean of three tumors/rat after 40-50 weeks following the second AOM treatment. Endoscopic examination of animals revealed that the first endoscopically visible colonic tumor can be detected 15 weeks after the AOM treatment and that the mean latency period of such tumors is about 20 weeks.
Of all the model systems, use of Fischer (F344) rats and AOM seem to be appropriate because rat colons have light and electron microscopic morphology as well as histochemical properties that are quite similar to that of humans and biological behaviors of AOMinduced rat colon carcinomas have close similarity to those of human colon carcinomas. AOM-induced carcinomas metastasize to regional lymph nodes and liver, and these carcinomas are transplantable. Epithelial neoplasms of colon induced by AOM in F344 rats include both adenomas and adenocarcinomas.
Based on our past experience with this model, about 70% of colon tumors are adenocarcinomas and the rest are adenomas. Histologically, adenomas of the colon are benign, with mild or moderate epithelial atypia. Malignant neoplasms of the colon (epithelial origin) are adenocarcinomas, the majority of which are well-differentiated, frank malignant tumors showing invasion across the line of the muscularis mucosa. Some of these are poorly differentiated, which are highly infiltrative, and often reach the intestinal wall and the serosa and may even invade the neighboring organs. In our past experience with this model, the extension of lesions into the adjacent peritoneal tissues can occur, and metastic lesions, if present, can be seen in the mesenteric lymph nodes, lung, or liver.
Similar to the regional distribution of tumors in human colon, AOM treatment induces colonic tumors predominantly in the distal colon. AOM treatment also induces ras oncogene mutations at codon 12 of K- and H-ras and increases the expression of the ras family of protooncogenes that have been causally associated with colon tumor development. Enhanced ras oncogene expression has been observed in a variety of human colon tumors. AOM-induced colon tumors also demonstrate enhanced cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression similar to human colonic tumors. Mutations in the tumor suppression gene, APC, are known to be early events in the colon cancer process in humans. APC gene mutations have been identified in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, who have germline mutation in one of the APC alleles, and in sporadic colorectal cancer. Evidence in humans thus implicates the APC suppressor gene as causal in large bowel carcinogenesis. Studies indicating the presence of APC mutation in AOM-induced colon tumors in mice strengthens the concept that these models are appropriate for human colon cancer studies.
The developmental strategies for chemoprevention have been markedly facilitated by the use of relevant animal models mimicking the neoplastic process that occurs in humans. The F344 rat model for AOM induced colon cancer has been used extensively to obtain critical information on the chemopreventive efficacy of several agents.
A. Phytochemicals
Several studies have demonstrated that generous consumption of vegetables reduces the risk of colon cancer. Although the nature of the constituents of these vegetables and other food items that are responsible for reduced risk has not been fully elucidated, it is clear that the plant foods contain chemopreventive agents, including several micronutrients, such as vitamins, and minerals and also contain nonnutrients, such as organosulfur compounds, polyphenols, and isoflavones, to cite a few. The diversity of these compounds is a positive feature, indicating that a variety of approaches to cancer prevention by these agents may be made so that the optimal selection will emerge.
Mechanisms of chemopreventive activity of these agents range from inhibition of carcinogen activation to detoxification of the carcinogen, blockage of binding of critical carcinogen metabolites to DNA, scavenging reactive electrophiles, and inhibiting arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism. Phytochemicals and their substituted and synthetic analogs tested for their efficacy in the AOM colon cancer model assay included anethole trithione, oltipraz [5-(2-pyrazinyl)-4- methyl-1,2-dithiole-3-thione], diallyl sulfide, and curcumin, to cite a few.
Administration of organosulfur compounds such as diallyl sulfide, oltipraz, or anethole trithione during the initiation and/or postinitiation stage significantly suppressed the incidence and multiplicity of AOMinduced colonic adenocarcinomas in male F344 rats (Table I). The inhibition of colon carcinogenesis by these agents was associated with an increase in the activities of detoxifying enzymes, such as glutathione S-transferase, quinone reductase, and UDPglutathione transferase in the colonic mucosa and tumors.
TABLE I Chemopreventive Efficacy of Naturally Occurring and Synthetic Agents against Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis in F344 Rats
|Chemopreventive agent
|Dosage μg/g diet (ppm)
|% Inhibition
|Piroxicam + DL-difluoromethylornithine
|150 + 1000
Curcumin [diferuloylmethane; 1,7-bis-(4-hydroxy- 3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione)], which has been identified as the major pigment in turmeric, the powdered rhizome of Curcuma longa Lim, possesses both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Importantly, dietary administration of curcumin inhibited AOM-induced colon tumor incidence and multiplicity in a dose-dependent manner (Table I). Curcumin, given as a dietary supplement during the promotion/progression period, dramati- cally inhibited colon tumorigenesis, suggesting that curcumin may retard growth and/or the development of existing neoplastic lesions in the colon and that this agent may be an effective chemopreventive agent for individuals at high risk for colon cancer development, such as patients with polyps.
B. Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs
In recent years, attention has been drawn to the potential chemopreventive properties of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Several casecontrol and cohort studies have provided unequivocal evidence for the inverse relationship between colon cancer and the use of NSAIDs, specifically aspirin. There has been ample and consistent experimental evidence from laboratory animal model studies to indicate that NSAIDs, including indomethacin, piroxicam, sulindac, aspirin, ibuprofen, and ketoprofen, inhibit chemically induced colon cancer (Table I). More importantly, piroxicam and sulindac administered during the promotion/progression stage significantly inhibit colon tumorigenesis. Results generated in this preclinical model assay provided baseline information for eventual clinical evaluation of the efficacy of NSAIDs in the late intervention/prevention protocols of colonic tumors in high-risk individuals, such as patients with sporadic colonic polyps of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).
One of the mechanisms by which NSAIDs inhibit colon cancer is through the modulation of cyclooxygenase 1 and 2 (COX-1 and COX-2), which leads to a reduction of eicosanoid production, which in turn affects cell proliferation and tumor growth. However, these drugs can cause unwanted side effects, including gastrointestinal ulceration, bleeding, and renal toxicity, through the inhibition of constitutive COX-1 activity. Overexpression of COX-2 has been observed in colon tumors, and many commonly used NSAIDs have very little selectivity for COX-1 or COX-2; therefore, more specific yet minimally toxic inhibitors of COX-2 were developed and tested for chemopreventive efficacy. Celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor that induces very few toxic side effects, has been found to be significantly more effective than the commonly used NSAIDs in the chemoprevention of colon carcinogenesis in laboratory animal models; it may thus be an effective chemopreventive agent against colon cancer (Table I). A recent clinical trial has shown a reduction in adenomas in patients with FAP-administered celecoxib.
C. Combinations of Low Doses of Various Chemopreventive Agents
There is increasing interest in the use of combinations of low doses of chemopreventive agents that differ in mode of action, rather than administering single agents as a means of obtaining increased efficacy and minimized toxicity. This approach is extremely important when a promising chemopreventive agent demonstrates apparent efficacy but may produce toxic effects at higher doses. An example of combination of agents producing positive results in laboratory animal models has been a study in which the NSAID piroxicam and DFMO, a specific irreversible enzymeactivated or suicide inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), were evaluated for their chemopreventive efficacy. An important finding of the study was that the lowest dose levels of piroxicam (100 ppm) and DFMO (1000 ppm), when administered together, were more effective in inhibiting the incidence and multiplicity of colon adenocarcinomas than administration of these compounds as single agents, even at higher levels. These data strongly support the view that the use of combinations of chemopreventive agents having diverse actions should have beneficial applications in human cancer chemoprevention trials. This should be one of the approaches used in future research and human intervention trials.
D. Organoselenium
Epidemiological studies have also pointed to an inverse association between dietary selenium intake and colon cancer risk in humans. A randomized clinical trial demonstrated that supplementation of seleniumenriched brewer's yeast reduced the incidence and mortality from cancer of the colon. This finding was corroborated by studies with selenium supplementation of the diet in chemically induced colon carcinogenesis in laboratory animals. Humans ingest primarily organic forms of selenium, such as selenomethionine and selenocysteine, by eating grains, vegetables, and animal products. Chronic feeding of inorganic and certain organic forms of selenium at levels >5 ppm produced toxic effects. Therefore, substantial efforts were made to find and/or develop forms of organic selenium compounds that have the maximal chemopreventive efficacy and lowest possible toxicity. Studies in our laboratory have indicated that certain synthetic organoselenium compounds, such as 1,4-phenyulenebis(methylene)selenocyanate (p-XSC), hold great promise as chemopreventive agents because they have been found to be superior to historically used selenium compounds, such as sodium selenite and selenomethionine. More importantly, the chemopreventive efficacy of this agent is more pronounced when given along with a low-fat diet, thus making a strong case for the use of low-fat dietary regimens along with a chemopreventive agent as a desirable approach for primary prevention in the general population and for secondary prevention of colon cancer in high-risk individuals.
An impressive body of observation supports the concept that chemoprevention has the potential to be a major component of colon cancer prevention and control. Accumulating evidence indicates that several NSAIDs, including aspirin, piroxicam, and sulindac, can reduce the incidence of colon cancer in laboratory animals and in humans. Celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor that induces very few toxic side effects as compared to traditional NSAIDs, has been found to be more effective than the commonly used NSAIDs against colon carcinogenesis in laboratory animal models. Studies have also indicated that the synthetic organoselenium compound p-XSC holds great promise as a chemopreventive agent because its chemopreventive index is higher than inorganic and naturally occurring organic forms of selenium. Growing knowledge of the mechanisms by which chemopreventive agents act offers opportunities to use combinations of specific chemopreventive agents, the aggregate action of which would be clinically beneficial while toxicity would be minimal. How to best use such knowledge toward prevention and control of colorectal cancer is a primary challenge for the future.
Bandaru S. Reddy
American Health Foundation, Valhalla, New York
See Also
cancer chemoprevention Intervention with chemical agents that may block the tumor initiation and promotion events that are the sequential stages of cancer development or delay the carcinogenic process.
preclinical efficacy Studies involving the evaluation of agents in a realistic laboratory animal model for cancer indicating the inhibition of carcinogenesis.
Clark, L. C., Combs, G. F., Turnbull, B. W., State, E. H., Chalker, D. K., Chow, J., Gover, R. A., Graham, G. F., Gross, E. G., Krongard, A., Lesher, J. L., Park, K., Sanders, B. S., Smith, C. L., and Taylor, J. R. (1996). Effect of selenium supplementation for cancer prevention in patients with carcinoma of the skin: A randomized controlled trial. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 276, 1957-1963.
Dubois, R. N., Radhika, A., Reddy, B. S., and Entingh, A. J. (1996). Increased cycloozygenase-2 levels in carcinogeninduced rat colonic tumors. Gastroenterology 110, 1259-1262.
Elwell, M. R., and McConnell, E. S. (1990). Small and large intestine. In "Pathology of Fischer Rat" (G. A. Boorman, S. L. Eustis, M. R. Wlwell, C. A. Montgomer, and Mackenzie, eds.), p. 43 Academic Press, San Diego.
Holt, P. R., Mokuolu, A. O., Distler, P., Liu, T., and Reddy, B. S. (1996). Regional distribution of carcinogen-induced colon neoplasia in the rat. Nutr. Cancer 25, 129-135.
Ito, N., Hasegawa, R., Sano, S., Tamano, S., Esumi, H., Takayama, S., and Sugimura, T. (1991). A new colon and mammary carcinogen in cooked food, 2-amino-1-methyl-6- phenylimidazo-[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP). Carcinogenesis 12, 1503-1506.
Kawamori, T., Lubet, R., Steele, V. E., Kelloff, G. J., Kaskey, R. B., Rao, C. V., and Reddy, B. S. (1999). Chemopreventive effect of curcumin, a naturally-occurring antiinflammatory agent, during the promotion/progression stages of colon cancer. Cancer Res. 59, 597-601.
Kawamori, T., Rao, C. V., Siebert, K., and Reddy, B. S. (1998). Chemopreventive activity of celecoxib, a specific cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, against colon carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 58, 409-412.
Kensler, T. W., Tsuda, H., and Wogan, G. N. (1999). United States-Japan workshop on new rodent models for the analysis and prevention of carcinogenesis. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomark. Prevent. 8, 1033-1037.
Kune, G. A., Kune, S., and Watson, L. F. (1988). Colorectal cancer risk, chronic illness, operations and mediations: Case-control results from the Melbourne Colorectal Cancer Study. Cancer Res. 48, 4399-4404.
Pozharisski, K. M. (1990). Tumors of the intestines. In "Pathology of Tumors in Laboratory Animals" (V. Turuso, and U. Mohr, Eds.), Vol. 1, pp. 159-198. IARC Scientific Publication No. 99, Lyon, France.
Rao, C. V., Rivenson, A., Simi, B., and Reddy, B. S. (1995). Chemoprevention of colon carcinogenesis by dietary curcumin, a naturally occurring plant phenolic compound. Cancer Res. 55, 2219-2225.
Rao, C. V., Rivenson, A., Simi, B., Zang, E., Kelloff, G., Steele, V., and Reddy, B. S. (1995). Chemoprevention of colon carcinogenesis by sulindac, a non-steroidal antiinflammatory agent. Cancer Res. 55, 1464-1472.
Rao, C. V., Tokumo, K., Kelloff, G., and Reddy, B. S. (1991). Inhibition by dietary oltipraz of experimental intestinal carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane in male F344 rats. Carcinogen. (Lond.) 12, 1051-1056.
Reddy, B. S., Hirose, Y., Lubet, R. A., Steele, V. E., Kelloff, G. J., Paulson, S., Siebert, K., and Rao, C. V. (2000). Chemoprevention of colon cancer by specific cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, administered during different stages of carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 60, 293-297.
Reddy, B. S., Maruyama, H., and Kelloff, G. J. (1987). Doserelated inhibition of colon carcinogenesis by dietary piroxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, during different stages of rat colon tumor development. Cancer Res. 47, 5340-5346.
Reddy, B. S., Narisawa, T., Maronpot, R., and Weisburger, J. (1975). Animal models for the study of dietary factors and cancer of the large bowel. Cancer Res. 35, 3421-3426.
Reddy, B. S., Nayini, J., Tokumo, K., Rigotty, J., Zange, E., and Kelloff, G. (1990). Chemoprevention of colon carcinogenesis by concurrent administration of piroxicam, a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, with D,L- -difluoromethylornithine, an ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor in diet. Cancer Res. 50, 2562-2568.
Reddy, B. S., Rao, C. V., Rivenson, A., and Kelloff, G. J. (1993). Inhibitory effect of aspirin on azoxymethaneinduced colon carcinogenesis in F344 rats. Carcinogen. (Lond.) 14, 1493-1497.
Reddy, B. S., Rao, C. V., Rivenson, A., and Kelloff, G. (1997). Chemoprevention of colon carcinogenesis by organosulfur compounds. Cancer Res. 53, 3494-3498.
Reddy, B. S., and Rivenson, A. (1993). Inhibitory effect of Bifidobacterium longum on colon, mammary, and liver carcinogenesis induced by 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoline, a food mutagen. Cancer Res. 53, 3914-3918.
Reddy, B. S., Rivenson, A., El-Bayoumy, K., Upadhyaya, P., Pittman, B., and Rao, C. V. (1997). Chemoprevention of colon cancer by synthetic organoselenium compounds, 1,4-phenylenebis(methylene)selenocyanate and p-methoxy benzyl selenocyanate, in low and/or high fat fed F344 rats. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 89, 506-516.
Reddy, B. S., Tokumo, K., Kulkarni, N., Aliga, C., and Kelloff, G. (1992). Inhibition of colon carcinogenesis by prostaglandin synthesis inhibitors and related compounds. Carcinogenesis 13, 1019-1023.
Reddy, B. S., Wantanabe, K., and Weisburger, J. H. (1997). Effect of high-fat diet on colon carcinogenesis in F344 rats treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine, methylazoxymethanol acetate, or methylnitrosourea. Cancer Res. 37, 4156-4158.
Singh, J., Hamid, R., and Reddy, B. S. (1997). Dietary fat and colon cancer: Modulation of cyclooxygenase-2 by types and amount of dietary fat during the postinitiation stage of colon carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 57, 3465-3470.
Singh, J., Kulkarni, N., Kelloff, G., and Reddy, B. S. (1994). Modulation of azoxymethane-induced mutational activation of ras protooncogens of chemopreventive agents in colon carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis 15, 1317-1323.
Thun, M. H., Namboodiri, M. M., and Heath, C. W. (1991). Aspirin use and reduced risk of fatal colon cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 325, 1593-1596.


text:
stepping outside - looking in
When you have been working so hard in therapy for 5+ years, you sometimes come to this place where you get so mixed up in the healing, that you need to step outside and look in. That happened for me 3 weeks ago. I was driving in the car with my husband and tears came to my eyes! I was seeing the tree's pass by, and I was thinking back to when I was lifting weights with my then trainer "ruth" and how she said to me "look in the mirror" and I wouldn't, and she said to me in that moment "there is a reason why you cannot look at yourself".
In that flashback of that training session with Ruth, I then flashed back to my first therapy session - walking in, sitting in the black leather chair, with my therapist holding a clip board.
What I realized in that moment of that flashback was "I am no longer IN the abuse, I am OUT of the abuse, and I have the power to talk about my story and feelings outside of the abuse not inside". I AM IN CONTROL.
Right after I had these flashbacks and realization, I emailed my therapist like we do every Sunday night in reflecting - I explained what had happened in the car (passing tree's, light shining on the tree's and then the flasbacks of how I got from the gym and to therapy 5 years ago to open up about what was inside).
I told him in the email how I feel am no longer IN the abuse, but OUTSIDE the abuse - I realize "there is no harm anymore in talking about the story or working with the timeline".
He wrote me back that Sunday night telling me he had tears in his eyes.. that he was emotional inside from my realization that he had to keep going back to my email, re-read it, trying to respond by each paragraph as quick as he could in excitement because this realization is a new place for me to talk about all that is inside from the outside, not the inside.
It's been 3 weeks since that moment happened in the car, and I have not gone through "TWO O'CLOCK" since. Yes that is right, Two O'Clock has not happened in 3 weeks, because I realized I am not longer IN the abuse, I am OUT and I have power over IT and talking about it.
As most of you know, living my life with Two O'Clock has been with me since I was a child.. it's been the unknown in my life that no one could ever figure out.
Since that realization, since that email, my relationship in therapy, with my healing work, with my therapist has been open, sincere, accepting, filled with so much truth - it's been so different.
When I have tears in therapy, it doesn't scare me anymore. I open up and talk about my feelings and parts of the story and I leave feeling lifted, connection and NOT ashamed!
Stepping outside of the abuse and realizing I am no longer in the past allows me to talk about the story from ME and not the fear! I have decided to start working on my time-line again which is so empowering for me. There is so much empowerment over working with your thoughts and memories from a place where I feel I am not in it.. it's just so empowering I cannot explain it.
Today in session my therapist and I sat and had a long sincere talk about the past 4 months.. and I have to say this, God was present because it was one of the most sincere conversations I have ever had in therapy.
We both stepped back, took a look at things that happened from the outside into the past 4 months, dissected it, made sense of things, talked to each other, and better yet "heard each other".
I later joked and said to my therapist "damn, I wish we had a transcript for this beautiful conversation" because it was filled with trust and honesty, my feelings about the past 4 months, his feelings about me and my work and how hard the past 4 months were, what I really see in my healing work going forward".. and then there were hugs of joy - Stepping outside looking in.
I am no longer sitting there with a calendar saying "OK by this date, I want to be HERE in my healing" or "by the end of summer, I want to have finished this part of the healing and go to this one". Its no longer an agenda or a check off list. this is my HEALING - a path WORTH taking!
Whatever I need, whatever comes, whatever needs to be here, I am FULLY accepting whatever is offered so that I can continue to be outside of the abuse looking in and say "I am not afraid to talk, and this is how I feel". and it's HEALING.
I can actually sit here and say I love therapy now .. after 5 years I love it because I am no longe afraid of what is here, because I know I m no longer in it.
THis has been a HUGE month for me on so many levels. Today was another part of this journey that I am SO honored to be on, and I am so honred to be walking it with someone who truly is by my side.
I am so blessed for the people outside of therapy who has also walked by my side.. you know who you are, and I love you dearly.
I am really looking forward to whatever comes on this new path in healing, in therapy, in my life .. life is so different healing from the OUTSIDE in rather than the INSIDE OUT.
Healing and working through healing is a gift, not a burden.


text:
Who is TravelOP?
A global B2B marketplace for tour suppliers, local operators and overseas travel agents to meet, collaborate, transact online and achieve business growth together.
Enter Marketplace
Get In Touch With Us
We are TravelOP!
We hear your voice. We hope to build a platform that is easy to use and add value to the businesses of the small travel suppliers.


text:
Privacy notice for waste and recycling services
About us Norwich City Council is the data controller for waste and recycling services within Norwich and we have a legal obligation to process your personal information as a public authority. You may contact our data protection and information security officer by emailing email@example.com or by calling 0344 980 3333.
What will we do with your data? We use it to process requests for these services, to answer queries about these services and to investigate complaints about these services.
We intend to keep your data for seven years as stated in our retention policy available on our website.
What are your rights? You have the right to request access to your personal information; ask for errors to be corrected; restrict how your information is used; object to how it is processed; or request that your data is deleted. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office if you are not happy with how your data is processed.
What are the consequences of you not providing data? If the data is not provide we will not be able to provide services and we will not be able to investigate complaints.
How will we share your data? Information provided for waste and recycling services is shared internally and externally with Biffa plc in order that they may carry out their contractual obligation to provide these services.
Apart from where previously stated, we do not pass your details to third parties unless we are lawfully able to do so for the prevention and detection of crime and fraud, or for the collection of taxes. We will not use your information for marketing purposes unless you consent to it.


text:
Hide Forgot
Description of problem:
If something goes wrong during an install, the boot loader might not get
installed since it is the last thing that happens before completing the install.
Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
fc6 dvd i386 release
Expected results:
Bootloader could / should be installed / configured as soon as appropriate files
are on the disk.
Additional info:
In the {occasional} times when an install fails to reach the end, it would have
been good to have a bootable system.
Perhaps the yum transaction could be split into two parts. First would get to
the point packages installed so far would allow grub-install would be run, so
that worst case, the machine could actually boot. Secondly, yum would install
the rest of the selected packages.
Given the amount of time it takes for grub to do it's thing before packages are
actually installed, there might also be an advantage in reduced total package
resolution time because each transaction would be involving fewer packages ?
err1: point _where_ packages
err2: amount of time it takes for _yum_ to {I'm awake now}.
There would also the possibility of using the multi-threading capability to
begin partitioning and formatting in the background while package resolution is
taking place; and if this completes before package resolution begins to start
downloading the first packages required; this could also be extended to
downloading packages {network} while installing {disk}.
Note: with kickstart and limited package selection it is possible to be running
in about 15-20 minutes in any case {on a fast machine}.
It's not quite that simple. The boot loader is arch specific. If we split the
installation in to two transactions, one for the boot loader set and one for
everything else, we still have the problem of figuring out what else should be
in the boot loader set that would make a system not only bootable, but also
usable. And once you've reached that point, what is the point really? You've
gained the same that the rescue CD gives you, but added a ton of complexity to
the installer.
It's a nice idea, but I think we provide enough recovery methods in the cases
where the installation fails and the system is unbootable.


text:
Vietnam Travel Advice
Security travel advice for Vietnam
Security information
Threat level: Low-Medium
The current travel safety advice for Vietnam is to remain cautious due to the crime rate in some busy areas. When visiting Vietnam the majority of trips should be relatively free of risk. It is advised that you check the weather forecasts in the region, as Vietnam is known for tropical storms.
Recent Security Risk Events
Be aware that there has been a reported increase in incidents of personal belongings and handbags being grabbed, usually by pairs and teams travelling on mopeds in big cities and around tourist attractions.
Security Risks
Most places in Vietnam are relatively safe however there are a few areas with particularly high crime rates such as in Saihon and Ho Chi Min where there have been a number of cases of attempted kidnapping. This is often carried out by fake taxi drivers who have demanded extortionate fees to release their victims. Travellers should be aware of their surroundings and only book taxis through reputable countries.
There are some isolated incidents of thieves resorting to physical violence and murder however this is very uncommon. It is recommended that money is kept in a hidden area on the body such as a neck wallet, and not in a handbag that's on display.
The political situation in Vietnam is now stable, with no known threats to Americans or other western tourists. Visitors should respect local laws and customs and avoid unauthorized gatherings or uncontrolled crowds. Exercise care in taking photographs; photographing things such as the military and law enforcement officers or other government facilities should be avoided as they may result in being detained and questioned by the authorities and this can possibly lead to the confiscation of personal possessions.
International Relations
The international relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Vietnam has been shaky, however they do share a common socialist background. Vietnam also has historical connections with bordering countries such as Laos and Cambodia which relate to the Vietnam War.
Travel considerations
Ensure that you always travel in licensed taxis and avoid using them late at night if and when possible. Companies such as Mai Linh and Vina Sun are reputable cab companies in Saigon, but there still are fake Mai Linh and Vina Sun taxis in the city.
If you want to drive yourself in Vietnam, you must hold a Vietnamese driving licence as International Driving Permits are not accepted (including motorcycles). There have been multiple fatal road side accidents in rural areas and in a number of Vietnam's national parks. It is highly advised not to stray off main roads onto country tracks when travelling and be aware that much of the off track terrain can be extremely hazardous and most of the time unsuitable for automobile bearing. You should follow safety guidelines and procedures and keep up to date will local news. Where appropriate take a licensed guide if you are travelling to none tourist areas that you are unfamiliar with.
Unexploded explosive ordnance such as land mines are a continuing hazard as former remnants of the Vietnam War, mines are particularly dense in the central Vietnam region and along the Laos/Vietnam Border, formerly traversed by the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Mined areas are often unmarked to this day.
General information
Religion: Buddhism, Islam & Christianity
Currency: Vietnamese Dong
Time now in Port of Hanoi:
Visa requirements
Visa requirements for entry into Vietnam vary depending on nationality. In a bid to attract more visitors to the country, its entry requirements were softened for many foreign visitors including French, British, Italian, German and other EU nationals. These visitors are permitted to stay in the country for up to 15 days visa free, stays longer than this will require a full Vietnamese visa for which you can apply online or via the embassy.
Other foreign travellers will have to arrange a visa prior to arrival in the country and this can be arranged through your closest Viatnamese Embassy. You may have to send off your passport which should have at least 6 months of validity. Contact your Embassy if you are unsure, or more information can be found here: Visa Information Vietnam
It is advised that visitors to Vietnam are up-to-date with primary boosters such as MMR. You should ensure that you have been further vaccinated against diseases such as Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio, which are usually administered when you are a young baby. You may also want to consider a Hepatitis A vaccination.
Although there is no direct risk of Yellow Fever in Vietnam, if you are coming from a country where there is a risk of the disease, or transiting for longer than 12 hours in an at risk country, you will be required to provide a vaccination certificate. Check with your local health professional prior to travel if you are unsure.
Other health risks
There is a a moderate risk of Zika virus transmission in the country and a low risk of Malaria in the Southern part of Vietnam. Dengue, which is another viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes is also present in the country. So, take your precautions against mosquito bites to avoid contracting the diseases.
Medical facilities are adequate for minor illnesses or injuries if you are based in a major city, however anywhere beyond these and anything more serious may require evacuation to a better equipped country. You should therefore ensure that you have comprehensive medical insurance that will cover you for this.
The doctor or nurse may demand you pay for treatment before it can occur, and this can sometimes prove costly. You should make sure you have enough funds to cover the cost of this.
Consular information
U.S. Embassy Hanoi
7 Láng Hạ,
Thành Công,
Telephone: +84 04 3850 5000
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
British Embassy Hanoi
Central Building, 4th floor,
31 Hai Ba Trung,
Jakarta Selatan,
Telephone: +84 04 3936 0500
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
News Feed
Other useful info
Police emergency: 113
Fire emergency: 114
Medical emergency: 115


text:
The man continues his search and wanders further into the sand blown landscape where, his theory assures him, somewhere lays his chitinous quarry and a bid at immortality. He stumbles upon a deep pit, at the bottom of which he can make out a dwelling or hut of some kind. He steps to the edge to take a photo and almost loses his footing.
While recovering his composure at the edge of this deep abyss, he is disturbed by the sudden appearance at his side of a nervous old man. The old man seems at pains to find out whether or not the man is here for the purpose of 'inspection'. He explains that he is an insect collector and the man wanders off. A bit further on he sees three other men, whom the old man joins and the 4 men seem to have a heated discussion…then…the old man returns.
'Just as he was about to get back into focussing on his search for the beetle, the old man came rushing back.
'So, you're really not someone from the prefectural office?'
'Prefectural office?......no, you've got it completely wrong.'
As if he was fed up with all this talk, he abruptly took out his business card. The old man took a long time reading it, his lips moving as he did so.
'Oh, so you're a teacher then'
'I have no connection whatsoever with the prefectural office'
'Hmm, so you're a teacher'
Finally, apparently satisfied with this explanation, the corners of his eyes wrinkled up and he went back, respectfully holding the business card in front of him. It appeared that the other three men were similarly satisfied and with that they got up and left. But the old man came back again.
'By the way, what do you plan on doing now?'
'What am I..well I'm going to look for insects'
'But the last return bus has already gone'
'Isn't there somewhere around here I can stay for the night?'
'Stay for the night? In this village? The old man's face tensed.
'If I can't stay here, I can walk to the next village'
'Well as it happens I'm not in any particular hurry'
'No no, you needn't go to all that trouble……' he suddenly became quite voluble in his eagerness to help,
'As you can see, it's a poor village, there aren't any decent houses really, but you just need to say the word and I'll ask around for you and try to help you out.'
…………………………………………………………………………(Break in text here)
'Thank you, I would be grateful it if you would, and of course I will show my appreciation……I really like staying in these villagers houses.'
かまわず : Literally, not minding or being bothered. Here I have translated at the man focussing back on his task in hand and by implication not paying any mind to anything else.
県庁 : Prefectural Office. Government Office sounds a bit too vague and I suppose Prefectural Office sounds too specific. Then again there are so many slightly differing nomenclatures that it's hard to get a catch all term that just doesn't just 'slip off' due to being too loose and general – and I think that this is the very issue with such terms as 'government office'. Furthermore in British English it sounds very odd and something like 'Local Authority Office or Council Office might be more suitable…though that falls into the opposite camp. Hence I have decided to go for Prefectural Office to reflect that the novel is set in a Japanese idiom and not necessarily meant to be an everywhere/nowhere in the sense of a Beckett novel. As an aside there are an awful lot of American English translations of Japanese novels. I think that a British English translation would be quite different and for that reason alone this kind of project is quite fascinating.
もう沢山だと言わんばかりに : This phrase literally comes out as 'as if to say I'm not going to say so much about it', the sense being that the man is exasperated with the possibility of a long winded Q and A session and going round the houses to explain to the old man that he is not a G-Man. -ばかりに after と (here as -だと) ha the meaning of 'as if to'
目尻いっぱいに皺をよせ :'wrinkled up the corners of his eyes'. This makes for a vivid description of the coin dropping in the old man's mind and the light of understanding coming on. An interesting word here 目尻 literally 'eye ass/butt'.
どうって : I wanted to bring this out in my translation since it I feel that it is indicative of the insect collector's attitude to the old man – impatience and looking askance at his questions as if he should be able to work things out. It reminds me of the exasperation of Captain Mannering with the slower of his subordinates, or Ollie explaining things to Stan and Stan's rather simple and child like questions. I think that to miss this out is to miss something of the interplay between the two. This is brought out more in the way in which they speak to each other but that is harder to reflect since modern English no longer has such subtleties and nuances of register that Japanese has. The old mans speech is a sort of countrified way of speaking to a stranger, sort of a hotchpotch of polite terms and his country old geezer dialect mixed up. The only decent parallel I can think of for this are the excellent portrayals in the Ghost Stories of Montagu Rhodes James, where there is often a scholar who comes from a very academic and intelligent background dealing with a local bumpkin in order to glean information on a relic or ancient place. In this novel we have the urbanite educated man with the old uneducated villager trope.
上がりのバス : In Japan the Kanji Up and Down are used for direction of transport: the Up train would be normally used of the more important or significant station e.g. towards Tokyo or the major town or city on a line and the Down train away from the city towards the suburbs or lesser destination. We have an equivalent in English in 'going up to Oxford'.
老人の顔のどこかが、ひくついた : E Dale Saunders has this as 'The man's face twitched.' But there is bit more going on here surely. The literal translation has it as somewhere on the old man's faced twitched/tensed' and from that alone, you get a sense of a barely perceptible movement – a slight tensing, indistinct because of the どこかが.
I really think sometimes that translators try so hard to get a text punchy and crunchy and tight that something falls off in the process. I think that AK has more poetry in him than a strict new wave minimalist interpretation allows. I feel this is doing him an injustice and it's why I also don't put him even remotely in any similar category with other close contemporaries. One, his poetry, often denied in a too tight rendering and two his surrealism or downright irreality..Often imitated by later writers but never with his panache or level of disturbance.
まくし立てるような調子になり : E Dale Saunders has 'loquacious' for this phrase (literally 'bundling or wrapping it all up together') but I prefer 'voluble' since the former means just talkative and voluble has a sense of pouring out words in a rush in a sudden enthusiasm. So for me this is much better in the context of the old man, who, up until this point has been behaving like an exasperatingly (in the man's eyes) slow dullard. My pocket dictionary has this entry for the meaning:
言いたいことを一方的に言う。「早口で-・てる」 スーパー大辞林 三省堂
民家 : Literally 'private dwelling' but in this context 'villagers house', I might add it comes across slightly condescendingly from the insect collectors style of diction (pretentious and haughty).
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
3 comments:
In tranport terms, a train or bus is heading to Tokyo is 上り and leaving from Tokyo is 下り.
Yes, I should clarify the Up and Down by making them up the line and down the line. So in this context it would be the return train back up to the station or town. Thanks for the comment. I am surprised since I thought that no-one was reaing this blog apart from me, so I appeciate you dropping in and correcting my notes! I suppose that a smaller or less important station would always go up to the more important station..ie the bigger place right?ReplyDelete
I adjusted the notes. How is the new explanation?ReplyDelete
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TMC are now FORS accredited
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Are We Missing the Signs that Allow Dangerous Offenders to Continue to Walk the Streets, Rage and Kill?
By Mary Nelson-Haffner
The headlines in the news this past year that involved the suspected murder of a young 21 year-old Peruvian woman by Joran van der Sloot feels like a collective universal déjà vu that the world was first alerted to with the disappearance of popular, young, intelligent American high school senior, Natalee Holloway. For five years, readers have followed in disbelief the legal wrangling, interviews, hidden camera profiles and international spotlight on Dutch student, Van der Sloot, a young, educated, and some would say privileged and entitled young man. Like a psychological thriller you can't put down, people were immersed in the real life story, many expressing condemnation, others asking questions, because Van der Sloot didn't fit the expected profile of what we think a killer would look like.
In five years, to the day, between Natalie's disappearance, and now Stephany Flores death in Peru, criminal profilers, psychiatrists, and psychologists have all weighed in their analysis of what psychological disorders were to blame. We've heard everything from Van der Sloot being a narcissist, having antisocial personality disorder; a sociopath and some refer to him as a psychopath. A psychological profile released to the media this past summer, stated that Van der Sloot "at the time of the evaluation, does not show pathological disorders that prevent [him] from perceiving and evaluating reality." It also says that he "presents traces of an antisocial personality," and "is indifferent when it comes to the welfare of others."
It is certainly apparent that Van der Sloot's behavior throughout his life was reckless, impulsive, and lacked empathy. He used manipulation, exploitation, admits he is a pathological liar, and with his recent imprisonment in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores, the world can now see he was a ticking time bomb of rage, that was set off in an instance, with no ability for restraint or consciousnesses.
The story raises many issues regarding whether our global community's collective judicial, medical, and mental health community are doing enough to diagnosis these ticking time bombs earlier. Even in his own self-published book Van der Sloot wrote called, "The Natalee Holloway Case: My Own Story about her Disappearance on Aruba," he openly admits that he was in need of psychiatric help at a very young age. His mother also revealed in media interviews that doctors believe he was suffering from a mood disorder for years and was ironically, scheduled to be evaluated by a psychiatric hospital in Holland before he flew to Peru.
Dr. Michael J. Woulas, Ph.D., a Southwest Florida psychotherapist has been treating patients with mental and mood disorders for over thirty years. His research on Bipolar Disorder Type II, its symptoms and effects has him also weighing in on this story, as well as whether family, school officials, and maybe doctors missed some early telling signs. "Whenever I see someone who appears on the outside to be an ordinary functional person and then when provoked, turns into a raging, violent or abusive person, I suspect the existence of a Bipolar Disorder Type II. Both Type I and Type II bipolar mood disorders are serious behavioral conditions. Type I is often referred to as 'manic depression'.
People with Bipolar disorder, Type I have very high and low moods, which are obvious to most clinicians and to those individuals who are close to them. In their high moods, they tend to be overly talkative, hyper; as well as reckless with money, impulsive and they require very little sleep. This mood state will then eventually turn into a deep depression. Generally, people with Type I do not display the anger and rage, which is typical of Type II," Woulas explained.
But, what are these "missing signs" that parents, educators, the medical and mental health community are missing? Woulas details, "Parents who observe their child is easily angered with a bad temper should consider this a major indicator. Now I am not referring to the 'terrible twos' or the 'trying threes'. At theses ages it is common to see a tantrum when the child gets frustrated. It's when these tantrums turn into rages and continues well past the ages of four. The young child will appear moody, cry easily at times and becomes easily agitated or angered when ordinary limits and discipline are imposed. But it always goes back to the rages and potentially violent or abusive behaviors, which are the hallmarks of Bipolar Disorder Type II."
It has only been recent that the psychiatric community started recognizing Bipolar as a spectrum-disorder, but there is still a lack of awareness among medical and mental health professionals. Woulas explains that several different conditions could exist simultaneously with Bipolar Disorder Type II, such as substance abuse and attention deficit disorder. Or in Van der Sloot's case, the mood disorder could be discovered along with antisocial behaviors. The key behavior, in this case that was not addressed, was emerging volatility. "The anger and rage can become a steady emotional state which remains just under the surface. Many externalize the rage through violence; others internalize the rage or take it out on themselves. They generally engage in very self-destructive behaviors as a way of dealing with the anger and rage," says Woulas.
Because there are so many misdiagnoses that exist, Woulas has stepped up his advocacy to help educate people about the differences between the two types of bipolar disorders. "The biggest misconception is that these violent acts against families and society are not considered to be part of Type II bipolar disorder. It is misdiagnosed because there is often too much focus on the detection of mania symptoms by clinicians. Patients with type II have, as a rule, very low manic traits. The cycling of mood is more associated with anger, rage and depression than those with mania and depression. So the whole issue of a person's volatility being a bipolar problem is many times mistakenly removed from the equation. Thus, all the rage and violence continues against innocent people including close associates, family members and the final act of violence which becomes suicide," stressed Woulas.
As a psychotherapist, Woulas has witnessed first hand how patients with the correct diagnosis, medication, and therapy have learned to regulate their moods, contain and redirect their rage and anger in more positive ways. It is also possible that someone, even like Van der Sloot, with correct early intervention may not have spiraled out of control. There is no guarantee, but for many families that deal with violence and abuse, education and more understanding about Bipolar Disorder Type II may save lives. "I use the phrase anger, rage and emotional volatility as a subtitle to my new book, 'The Ticking Time Bomb,' which offers an excellent description of all the signs, symptoms and family experiences associated with Bipolar Disorder Type II. Individuals and loved ones can also go to our website www.HereIsHelp.net, which has been created specifically to help those with Bipolar Disorder Type II and their families," exclaims Woulas. Those interested in purchasing Woulas's new book can find a link to the publisher on his website.


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Mohammadu Buhari: "People have accused me of becoming President with stolen funds.
That Amaechi and some others sponsored my election with stolen funds from their state treasuries. In all honesty, I cannot 'deny or confirm' that, since the last administration had failed to prosecute them. I knew some of them well; and if I had refused their voluntary sponsorship, Nigerians won't have a President that can protect them from corrupt leaders.… I will not spare any of the corrupt sponsors. But, I cannot investigate myself. Can I?"
The law implies that both the thief and the receiver of proceeds of theft are all thieves on different levels. From Buhari's statement above, he is not denying knowingly receiving proceeds of theft. Rather, he is justifying having participated in the stealing of Rivers state's treasury with the fact that Jonathan failed to probe him, Amaechi and others.
That someone refused to probe a thief does not exonerate that thief from his criminal act. It also does not stop a probe in the future. Buhari's statement confirms that he aided and abetted Chibuike Amaechi and others, in looting their states' treasury. Buhari knew that the source of money used for his presidential campaign was stolen. Yet he used that stolen fund to run for an election that was suppose to produce a crime-free fellow as president.
When you confess to have received stolen properties which means you are an indirect thief, and you know it, you ought to know that you are as guilty as those who physically stole what was handed over to you or what you benefited from. Buhari must be told that he is as guilty as Tinubu, Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Atiku, Okorocha, Aregbesola, Osho-Omo-Ole, e.t.c.
If we are to take Buhari serious, he must as a matter urgency, prosecute both the thief and the receiver of the proceeds of theft. In civilised countries, the needful in this case is for Buhari to resign so that an independet person, not involved in the theft case in question, can come in and prosecute both him, Buhari, and his partners in crime.
Otherwise, our thieving president of today has no moral right to prosecute or jail people who are only imitating his actions as in buying or receiving stolen goods from thieves.


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Johnny Mercer's explosive 'sh*t show' interview – the best bits
The Tory MP gave an excoriating interview to parliament's weekly publication.
To say that Johnny Mercer did not pull his punches in this week's interview with The House magazine would be something of an understatement.
Talking to journlaist Seb Whale, the rising star Tory said he would not vote Conservative if he was not already an MP for the party. He also suggested his values are no longer aligned with the party and said there would be "absolutely no chance" he would be a Conservative candidate now.
And there's more. The backbencher branded Theresa May's government a "shit show", said he would not join her administration if he was offered a job and there was no role for people like him anyway.
Then, as Downing Street was left reeling, Boris Johnson helpfully said the Tories were lucky to have MPs like Mercer…
On not joining the Tories
Would he have joined the Tories as currently constituted? "If the situation was like it is now, I can safely say there would be absolutely no chance that I would try and be a Member of Parliament."
On not voting for the Tories
How would the Mercer of old cast his vote at an election?
"I wouldn't go and vote," he replies.
That says a lot, doesn't it.
"Yes, of course it does. Just being honest, I wouldn't vote. Of course I wouldn't, no."
On the Tory 'shit show'
"It's very difficult because in my DNA I'm inherently a team player. But when you go home from here on a Thursday and go for a run across Dartmoor or whatever, and you're stripped to your core being, I mean, yeah, you realise it's a shit show."
On not wanting to be in government
"It was made very clear to me that… I can't, I can't. I mean, would I want to be part of this administration? No.
"Look, I think it's very clear that this current administration under this Chief Whip, under this Prime Minister, there is no role for people like me."
So what does he want?
"My ambition here has always been to be Defence Secretary. I'd love to be a Defence Secretary who had ten years to rip apart that department, make it work, get the offer right to our young people."
Any more fighting talk?
With military fervour, he concludes: "I'm not going to sit at the back of the bus and watch it head towards the edge of the cliff. I'm not going to let us go down without a serious shit fight."
Read the full thing here....
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Milan "El Metodico" Melindo said that Pacquiao achievements will no longer be surpassed and he wants to make a name for himself.
IBF World Light Flyweight champion Melindo is scheduled to face the WBA world light flyweight champion Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan on December 31, 2017 for a unification bout and he is planning to unify all world title belts at 108 lbs.
Melindo said via (sports.mb.com.ph):
"Manny Pacquiao's achievements will no longer be surpassed and the same thing can be said regarding Donnie Nietes and what I want is to make a name for myself, too,"
"Taguchi's best punch is his left (hook) to the body and if you can prevent him from throwing and landing, you'll beat him,"
"I've been there before…nothing new,"
"My goal is to remain the champion as we head into the new year because my ultimate goal is to win all the other belts at 108 lbs,"
"A win will not only be for myself and my family but for Philippine boxing," Melindo ended.
Source: sports.mb, ABS-CBN Sports


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Monday, April 14, 2008
Feature hunting...
I found this family at an Asheboro park. These kids had so much fun playing. I had a hard time photographing them because like any child when they see a camera they smile for it.
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Migrants aged 24 and younger are significantly more likely to experience abuse and exploitation, a new report shows. "We were just like slaves," a teen from Gambia is quoted saying of his experience in Libya.
A report just published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) denounces the widespread human rights abuses suffered by young migrants during their crossing to reach Europe.
According to the Harrowing Journeys report, 77% of teens aged 14 to 17 and young migrants aged 18 to 24 who travelled along the central Mediterranean route reported direct experiences of abuse, exploitation and practices that could imply human trafficking. Migrant children and youths were significantly more exposed to exploitation and trafficking compared to adults aged 25 and older, according to the report.
High rates of abuse
The percentage of people who reported abuses along the eastern Mediterranean route was close to twice as high among those younger than 25 (17% against 10%) and was also significantly higher along the central Mediterranean route (77% against 69%).
The document is based on the testimonies of some 22,000 migrants and refugees, including 11,000 children and youths interviewed by IOM. It also highlighted that children hailing from sub-Saharan Africa were more likely to be exploited, likely due to racism - 65% compared to 15% along the eastern Mediterranean route and 83% compared to 56% along the central Mediterranean route.
Children and youths who travelled alone or for long periods of time, along with those with a lower education level, were also more vulnerable to exploitation.
The Central Mediterranean route is particularly dangerous, according to the report: the majority of migrants who crossed through Libya reported falling victim to crimes and militias. Youths paid between 1,000 and 5,000 dollars per trip on average and often arrived in Europe in debt, which exposed them to further risks, the report states.
'We were just like slaves'
''If you try to run, they shoot you. If you stop working, they beat you'', the study quotes an 16-year-old unaccompanied teen from Gambia saying. The teen claimed he was forced to work in dire conditions by traffickers in Libya. ''We were just like slaves. At the end of the day, they locked you up'', he told the IOM.
''The stark reality is that it is now standard practice that children moving through the Mediterranean are abused, trafficked, beaten and discriminated against'', said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe. ''EU leaders should put in place lasting solutions that include safe and legal migration pathways, establishing protection corridors and finding alternatives to the detention of migrant children.''
''For people who leave their countries to escape violence, instability or poverty, the factors pushing them to migrate are severe and they make perilous journeys knowing that they may be forced to pay with their dignity, their wellbeing or even their lives'', said Eugenio Ambrosi, IOM's Regional Director for the EU, Norway and Switzerland.''Without the establishment of more regular migration pathways, other measures will be relatively ineffective. We must also re-invigorate a rights-based approach to migration, improving mechanisms to identify and protect the most vulnerable throughout the migration process, regardless of their legal status''.