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David Chen here:
About 18 months after I first launched my movie Kickstarter, THE PRIMARY INSTINCT (my first film with Stephen Tobolowsky) is now available for purchase across all VOD platforms. In fact, we're on the front page of iTunes Movies right now!
I hope you'll consider checking out the film and, if you like it, that you'll leave a review for it. This movie was an insane labor of love that never would've happened without the consent and enthusiasm of Blaine Ludy, Jason Hakala, and Michael Gaston. Now it's time to see if the world sees what we see: That Stephen is a brilliant storyteller whose work is worth preserving and spreading.
You can find all buying options for the film at http://www.theprimaryinstinct.com/
The film is $9.99 on most platforms, but there's a special package on VHX for $12.99 which includes 40 minutes of special features.
Let me know what you think of the film! Honest reactions appreciated.
-David Chen
Originally published backstage.com Nov. 28, 2014, advice for actors series.
I was working on a production of "The Glass Menagerie" many years ago in upstate New York. We were rehearsing Tom's "drunk scene." The director called up to the stage, "What are you two doing up there?"
I shouted back, "Acting!"
He said, "I know that. But I can't understand anything."
The actor playing Laura yelled, "Do you need us to be louder?"
He laughed and said, "No. Just better. I don't know what's going on."
Laura yelled back in fury, "What do you want? A spotlight on my tears?"
The director started walking down the aisle. "No. But just so you know, I couldn't tell you were crying. From back there it just looked like a mess."
Rude? Yes. Super rude? For sure. Right? Hmmm.
The problem with harsh criticism is that you often never hear what is being said. It took years for me to unravel that moment and learn for myself what our director was telling us in a very nonproductive way: Feelings are not your friend. They are too unpredictable. That is their virtue. The foundation of acting is clarity of thought.
Throughout my career I have had directors ask, "So what emotion are you going to play in this scene?"
I have directed actors who explained, "I know what I am doing now is wrong. This is just the base level of emotion. I will add layers of other emotions on top of this one."
Maybe this works for some actors. I don't see how. It seems to be a sure-fire way to be inward-focused on your work rather than actively being in the scene.
The truth is, I don't think the audience is interested in emotions. How many times have you watched an actor tearing the daylights out of a scene and you are curiously unmoved?
I would argue what we look for in a performance is not feelings but behavior. I don't want to play at words here. What is the difference?
The foundation of any story, any scene, is logic. The first job of an actor is to understand that logic. That requires a different type of work than throwing a plate of angst against the wall and seeing what sticks. It requires asking specific questions to define the boundaries of a situation.
Some of the simple questions I start with are:
Is this a new situation or an old situation?
Did I expect this to happen?
Is the character in the scene telling me the truth?
What will my life look like tomorrow because of what is happening now?
Will I be able to look this person in the eye again?
I work toward specific answers.
If you start with thought and not feelings, you will know who you are and what you want. Then you don't have to worry about emotions. They will happen as they happen. They may surprise you. They may surprise the audience. You may not know what will happen next. Then we have behavior. That's when the fun begins.
Two glorious weeks in the never-ending rain. As they say in Iceland, "There is no such thing as bad weather—only bad clothing." I am doing seven different shows, including some of my favorite stories from the past and some new ones that I love.
I think we have everything taken care of…the new podcast is out, thanks to David Chen! You can find it here:
The Primary Instinct, the film of me telling stories at a concert in Seattle, has a distributor! Thank you Filmbuff. It will be available near the end of September.
Ann has posted the music for the new podcast (under the Tobolowsky Files tab above, Playlist)…thank you dear one. New stories are on the way!
This October I am conducting a writing workshop in the mountains of upstate New York. Beautiful. I am thrilled about the change of scenery. I am excited about the workshop. I am going to be teaching improvisational techniques for writers.
I have 10 years experience teaching improv for actors and comics. It has been fun. I get a lot of good feed back. Several of my students have gotten jobs. Not necessarily in acting. I ran into one of my students about five years ago. I asked the standard teacher question, "So how are things going?"
"Great. I got out of show business."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. It was your class that made me quit."
"No. It was a good thing. I'm a writer now. I've had two books published. Working on my third. I owe it all to your class."
I was confused. We talked a little more. Quite by accident, the ideas I had developed for one disciple were very suited for another: The writer.
I focused on creating a program that was writer specific. Since then I have taught several writer groups. I was brought up to Seattle to work with the writers of their NPR station, KUOW. The stories that came out of the sessions were wonderful.
The writers not only appreciated doing something different, the exercises we did inspired them to approach their work in new ways. I ran into Jeff Hansen, the program director of KUOW, last week in Seattle. Jeff said the staff was still talking about the workshop and wondered if I could do another one.
Improvisation for writers not only directly attacks the so-called writer's block, but informs new ways to look at structure, character, and the tone of a piece.
If you are thinking of a creative getaway in October, put writing in the Adirondacks on your list.
Here's the link for more pictures and complete information for Dartbrook Writers Retreat.
Photo: Alex Anfanger, Lenny Jacobson as Jack and Ben Dolfe in Comedy Central's Big Time in Hollywood, FL
Photo credit: Jesse Grant
I had a great acting teacher, Ed Kaye-Martin, who said, "Comfort is the enemy of the artist." I found this encouraging. I was in graduate school at the time and was almost always uncomfortable. The downside was I had no idea what he meant. It went against everything I learned in undergraduate school. At SMU we studied Stanislavsky who said actors must always be relaxed. Very relaxed. To that end, we practiced slow breathing. We shook our hands and feet to relieve ourselves of tension. In movement class we did deep relaxation exercises that usually resulted in me falling asleep on the floor of the theater lobby. I got an A, so I guess I was doing it right.
Now I know what Ed's great truth means. I can't recreate it, but I recognize when the groove of chaos is working. Shooting Groundhog Day was a study in being uncomfortable. Besides the bitter cold, we kept getting new script pages daily. The arc of the film was honed as we shot it. Harold Ramis hadn't decided yet what the singular day in the film was going to look like, so we shot and reshot the street scenes in various weather conditions – meaning we never had a day off. We never had an hour off. When the snow or rains came, we got the call and Bill Murray and I ran back to the street and began shooting again.
Big Time in Hollywood, FL achieved a level of creative chaos I have rarely experienced on television. Underline "creative." Chaos is nothing new in television. There is never time. There are always last second changes. When I did Designing Women (in its first season), I started a scene, we stopped unexpectedly. I asked our director what was happening. He explained it was 9 pm, and it was time for the studio audience to go back to prison. Deputies arrived and the entire audience was escorted out and put on buses. We continued our live audience comedy with no audience at all. That was chaos. But not good chaos.
Big Time in Hollywood, FL always reaches for higher and higher levels of madness while keeping its feet on the ground. That makes for a lot of discomfort. Our creators, Alex Anfanger and Dan Schimpf, took the uncomfortable choice of taking good writing and risked ruining it by throwing out new ideas for us to try in the moment. This was never an exercise in trying to find more excess. Often Dan and Alex would shout out an idea, laugh, stop, confer and then call out to us, "Never mind. It's funny, but it doesn't make any sense."
What does that mean? What is "sense?" And why is "sense" the final arbiter of an idea getting shot?
The 19th century novelist, George Meredith, had a brilliant insight. He said comedy only exists when there is civilization. There must be rules before the rules are broken. There must be a norm for an audience to enjoy the norm collapsing. In this way even something as off the charts as Big Time becomes universal. Making cop movies in a garage, hoping to make show biz connections in drug rehab, and accidentally shooting a dead private eye in a motel room becomes our story. It shows us in an unapologetic and unrelenting way what happens when we lie, when we are ambitious, jealous, afraid, vicious, and courageous. Yes, even courageous.
Comedy isn't just about everything falling apart. It is very funny to watch these dear lunatics possess the virtues we often lack.
David Chen approached me last January and said, "Why don't we do a concert film. Can you tell stories for an hour or two?"
David does things like that all of the time. He makes suggestions that unleash a sea of work, fear, and hopefully triumph. The story of The Primary Instinct is the latter.
The idea was to raise money through something called Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a fundraising method that resembles a bad relationship. You ask for what you think you can get – not what you need. If you don't reach your pre-set goal, you get nothing.
We asked for 40K. The K means thousand. That's right. We were asking for five figures. This is how much I needed to live a year in Los Angeles when I first moved out here. The only thing that keeps this tale from being the ramblings of a mad man is we got it. We got 50K. But then some people didn't pay their pledges. And then Kickstarter took their cut. It was like working with divorce lawyers—they are your friends until they bill you. We ended up with 40K. We hired a film crew. We were going to film me doing a one-man show in Seattle.
What one-man show? Oh right. We didn't have one.
However we did have support. Adam Zacks, who runs several nice venues in Seattle, said he would let us rent one of his theaters for a couple of nights. Jeff Hansen, the program director at KUOW in Seattle, began playing The Tobolowsky Files again on the radio to gin up an audience.
We started to sell tickets. We sold 900. Now all we needed was a show.
I began writing a series of stories that seemed to take on a life of their own. What began as a story about my family in Dallas ended up being a story about stories…what a story is and why we tell them. I called it The Primary Instinct.
Our first screening is Sunday in Boston. April 26. It will be a thrill to come back to Boston. Boston is where The Tobolowsky Files began. This was back in the days when David Chen was a student at Harvard University and I offered to pay him in sandwiches if he would edit the podcasts. Harvard was where I did my first Tobolowsky Files live performance. I did "Conference Hour" in a small lecture hall with forty of David's friends and a couple of people who got lost on campus. It was at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge where David and I did our first shows for the public.
Homecomings are a beautiful thing. If you are in the area, come by and see the movie. (You can get tickets here.) Stick around. Afterwards, we can celebrate with a beer and maybe even split a sandwich.


text:
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This valuable book explores how theology, ethics, and public policy are related in the thoughts and lives of Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan, and Reinhold Niebuhr--three individuals who have each had a great impact on Christian thinking about justice.
Harlan Beckley is Director of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he as taught since 1974.

subset: commoncrawl


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Gilda's Audition
kihcarasNov 30 2012,
Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 May 20, 1989) was an American comedienne and actress, best known for her five years as part of the original cast of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award. Radner's death at 42 of ovarian cancer helped increase public awareness of the disease and the need for earlier detection and treatment.
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Constrained minimal cut sets (cMCSs) have recently been introduced as a framework to enumerate minimal genetic intervention strategies for targeted optimization of metabolic networks. Two different algorithmic schemes (adapted Berge algorithm and binary integer programming) have been proposed to compute cMCSs from elementary modes. However, in their original formulation both algorithms are not fully comparable.
Here we show that by a small extension to the integer program both methods become equivalent. Furthermore, based on well-known preprocessing procedures for integer programming we present efficient preprocessing steps which can be used for both algorithms. We then benchmark the numerical performance of the algorithms in several realistic medium-scale metabolic models. The benchmark calculations reveal (i) that these preprocessing steps can lead to an enormous speed-up under both algorithms, and (ii) that the adapted Berge algorithm outperforms the binary integer approach.
Generally, both of our new implementations are by at least one order of magnitude faster than other currently available implementations.
Keywords:Metabolic network analysis; Elementary modes; Minimal cut sets; Knockout strategies; Integer programming; Berge's algorithm
The aim of metabolic engineering is to (re-)allocate available cellular resources in order to induce/stimulate cells to produce substances of interest. For instance, by redirecting intracellular carbon fluxes, product yields can be boosted and optimized [1,2]. However, the identification of engineering targets is not straight-forward as cellular metabolism is a highly interconnected and regulated system of reactions. Consequently, naïve interventions sometimes are ineffective or worse, adversely affect other, even quite distant cellular functions. To deal with the complex interactions in cellular metabolism and to identify promising engineering targets several in silico approaches have been developed [3-9]. Here we are particularly concerned with two algorithms [10,11], which are based on elementary mode (EM) analysis [12,13] and eventually compute intervention strategies as minimal cut sets.
EM analysis was successfully used to identify engineering targets for the production of amino acids [14], biofuels [15,16], and secondary metabolites [17] in various organisms from C. glutamicum[14] to E. coli[15,16] to S. cerevisiae[18] to A. niger[19]. In fact, EM analysis is ideally suited for metabolic engineering [20,21] as it allows for an unambiguous and unbiased decomposition of the analyzed network into inseparable, biologically meaningful steady-state pathways. Any intracellular flux distribution can be represented as a properly weighted combination of these EMs. Thus, the full set of EMs describes all possible steady-state functions. Conversely, the cell's metabolic capabilities can be restricted if EMs are removed from the network. To remove an EM from the network it suffices to delete at least one contributing reaction [12,13]. However, as each reaction supports more than one EM, other network functionality will be affected, too. Now the question may be phrased as an optimization problem. The task is to find a minimal intervention strategy, which removes all unwanted functionality from the network while, at the same time, keeps desirable network properties.
Recently, Hädicke and Klamt [11] introduced the concept of constrained minimal cut sets (cMCSs) to predict suitable minimal intervention strategies for a given design criterion. They also presented an algorithm (adapted Berge algorithm [11]; see also [22,23]) by which cMCSs can be computed from EMs. Jungreuthmayer and Zanghellini [10] conceived an alternative method to compute cMCSs by solving a binary integer program (BIP) over the EMs.
By adapting the BIP originally presented in [10] we first demonstrate that both algorithms deliver indeed equivalent results. Inspired by the theory of integer programming, we then develop efficient preprocessing procedures, which allow both methods to handle problems with hundreds of millions of EMs. Finally, by computing intervention strategies in several realistic networks, we benchmark and compare the computational performance of both algorithms.
EMs are an unbiased way to characterize metabolic networks. An EM is defined by three properties [12,13]: (i) it is a non-trivial, steady state flux distribution through the network, (ii) it obeys all thermodynamic constraints on reaction reversibilities, and (iii) no subset of an EM exists which also is an admissible flux distribution and obeys (i) and (ii). By this definition, an EM is a minimal, biologically meaningful, steady-state pathway through a network. An EM can be represented as a (flux) vector or by the set of active reactions in the EM. Herein we will mainly use the latter.
In the following we assume that all EMs are known. Several tools to calculate EMs are freely available [24-27].
cMCS theory
Hädicke and Klamt [11] defined cMCSs as solutions I of an intervention problem
Here, D and T denote sets of desired and target modes, respectively. The latter contains all EMs, which need to be removed from the network. The former contains all EMs with favorable functionality. An intervention I will be a set of reactions that are deleted (knocked-out) in the network. An EM is hit (and becomes inoperable) if at least one reaction of I is part of the EM. The variable n denotes the minimum number of desired EMs, which have to "survive" the intervention. For a given intervention I, we collect all the surviving desired modes in the set DI.
A proper solution I of equation (1) is a set of reactions obeying two conditions: First, the removal of the reactions in I will delete the complete target set, T, from the network
and no subset of I will do so. This is the MCS property. To be a constrained MCS the intervention I will keep at least n desirable EMs unaffected, i.e.
As each EM represents a unique pathway through a network, removing it from the network means to block that path, which is easily doable by deleting at least one contributing reaction. Thus, to meet condition (2), the task is to find a (minimal) hitting set such that all pathways in T are blocked [see equation (2)]. Mathematically, this problem is also known as dualization of a (hyper-)graph, a fundamental problem in discrete mathematics [28]. Several algorithms for calculating hitting sets are available, of which the Berge algorithm [22] has been shown to perform favorably for the problems considered herein [23]. However, minimal hitting sets ensure only that all target modes are hit but do not per se ensure the constraint (3), i.e. the survival of n desired modes.
A simple strategy to fulfill equation (2) in combination with the constraint in equation (3), is to first calculate all possible minimal hitting sets and then, in a second step, to only select those solutions which also obey equation (3). However, the computational performance can be optimized if the constraint equation (3) is checked "on the fly", leading to the adapted Berge algorithm presented in [11].
A pseudo-code of the adapted Berge algorithm can be found in [11], in the following we give a small example to explain basic principles of the Berge algorithm. Consider a hypergraph with hyperedges ε1={a,b} and ε2={a,c} (in our application, ε1 and ε2 would represent target EMs). The algorithm finds first all minimal hitting sets (cut sets) for the first edge, i.e. γ1={a} and γ2={b}. It then adds the next edge, ε2, and checks whether the already calculated cut sets are also cut sets for the current edge. Since γ1 is hitting ε2, γ1 is kept unchanged. However, γ2 is not a cut set for ε2 and, thus, is removed from the list of cut sets. Instead, two new cut sets are created by individually adding each element of ε2 to γ2, i.e. γ3={b,a} and γ4={b,c}. To guarantee minimality the algorithm checks if a newly created cut set is a superset of an already existing one. That is, γ3 gets removed from the set of cut sets as it is a superset of γ1. Next, a new edge is added to the system and the calculation cycle starts over. Execution stops when all hyperedges are processed. To account for the intervention problem and accelerate the classic algorithm, Hädicke and Klamt suggested to first check if a newly generated cut set is consistent with the constraint (3) and only then check its minimality against all previously calculated cut sets [11]. This modification leads to the adapted Berge algorithm [11] which will be used in the following.
cMCSs can be formulated as a BIP
In a recent paper [10] we showed that if |D|=n then the intervention I=I(T,D,n) is representable as a BIP. However, even the general problem that at least n out of |D| modes need to survive the intervention can be formulated as a BIP.
Let e be an EM of a metabolic network with m reactions, fulfilling the steady state condition, and b=b(e) its binary representation,
bi indicates whether reaction i is part of the EM e.
A solution x to equation (1) can be found by solving the following BIP:
Here we used the indices d and t as a reminder that the EM vectors, bi, are elements of the sets D and T, respectively. The solution vector, x, is the binary representation of a single cMCS, where xi=0 marks reactions which get deleted, while xi=1 stands for reactions that remain unaffected by the genetic intervention. The elements of the binary, auxiliary vector, y, indicate whether or not a desirable mode survives the intervention (1 and 0, respectively). Note that our notation uses superscripts to denote coordinates of vectors and subscripts to denote different vectors. Finally, represents the multilinear norm of x.
Suppose yd=1, then equation (5c) always holds and can be omitted. Equation (5b) requires that , ∀i∈{1,…,m}. Only then the product of and x is equal to the norm of bd. Thus, bd is included in the final design. In contrast to bd, bt will be removed from the network as equation (5d) requires that the product is smaller than the ||bt||. This is the case only if at least one reaction in bt is deleted. Except for equation (5e), the systems of equations in this case resembles the BIP problem presented in Jungreuthmayer and Zanghellini [10].
If yd=0, then equation (5b) is ineffective. Equation (5c) however simplifies into a "kill constraint", thus eliminating bd from the surviving modes.
The binary auxiliary variables y=(y1,…,y|D|)T were introduced to guarantee that at least n out of |D| modes survive the intervention. In both cases ||y|| counts the number of surviving desired modes, and equation (5e) makes sure that at least n desired modes survive the intervention.
Alternative MCSs may be calculated by excluding existing solutions xj by adding the following constraints [10] to the set of equations (5a)-(5g):
where we used 1 to denote an all-one-vector. Equation (6a) guarantees that new solutions are found in subsequent steps, whereas equation (6b) prevents the calculation of solutions that are supersets of already existing solutions. Note that the term 1−xj represents the binary complement of xj.
The number of constraints added to the BIP can almost be cut in half (in fact, n/2−1) by keeping in mind that the norm of the current solution xj will never be larger than the previous optimum xj−1. To sequentially calculate all MCSs the full BIP reads
If iteratively applied, the BIP in equation (7) returns all MCSs, xj, sorted in increasing order of deletions. Note that although the constraint in equation (7e) is redundant, it significantly enhances the computational performance of the BIP solver.
Preprocessing methods
Mathematically, BIPs are classified as NP-hard problems. However, extensive research has focused on improving the formulation of BIPs. The basic idea is to use simple logic rules which turn a BIP into a "better" formulation, which is easier to solve [29]. Standard BIP preprocessing rules essentially fix variables, improve bounds or detect inactive constraints [29].
In the following we will be concerned with standard BIP preprocessing methods to reduce the size of the intervention problem in equation (1) but not with the internal structure of the algorithms. These preprocessing procedures will allow to reduce the size of the intervention problem in equation (1), which can then be solved by the Berge algorithm or a BIP. In the following, by "Berge algorithm" we mean the adapted Berge algorithm reported by Hädicke and Klamt [11] which extends the standard Berge algorithm to compute only minimal hitting sets (cut sets) that comply with the constraint (3) on the desired modes [11].
We assume that all EMs are converted to their binary representation according to equation (4). Furthermore, we split the complete set of EMs in three sets, D, N, and T. Here the neutral set, N, contains all (binary) EMs, which are neither element of D nor T.
Step 1. First, we remove all reactions that are simultaneously zero in all EMs of T. These reactions do not support any EM in T. Deleting them will not remove any unwanted mode.
Step 2. Next, essential reactions are identified. If deleting a reaction reduces the number of surviving modes in D to less than n [i.e. violates equation (3)], then this reaction is considered to be essential and cannot be knocked out. A reaction i is essential if |D|−si<n, with .
Consider the example in Table 1 with |D|=5 and n=3. R1 and R7 are essential reactions, as for them |D|−si=5−3=2<3=n, which indicates that knocking out R1 or R7 will kill more desirable modes than allowed. We note that if |D|=n, all active reactions are essential.
Table 1. Example of determining essential reactions
In general, the more essential reactions we find, the more the system can be reduced. Consequently, it is beneficial if n is large (ideally n=|D|), as this results in the maximum number of essential reactions. Removing all essential reactions from the system is a critical step that opens the possibility to apply several other preprocessing procedures.
The removal of all essential reactions results in an important change of the system. By definition EMs are non-decomposable, i.e. an EM is not a subset of any other EM. However, if the essential reactions are removed then the residual EMs may become subsets or duplicates of other modes. Hence, the next step is to find all duplicate modes in T and to remove them from the system.
Step 3. Next, we screen T to find and remove residual EMs that are supersets of other residual EMs in T. Consider the target set (of residual EMs), T, shown in Table 2. The modes are sorted in order of ascending norm. The example illustrates that mode t1 can be removed by knocking out reaction R2. However, knocking out reaction R2 also kills t2, as t2 is a superset of t1.
Table 2. Set of (residual) target modes before and after subset-superset elimination
The same procedure can be applied to the other modes as well. Mode t3 has a norm of 2 and is killed either by knocking out reaction R4 or reaction R7. As both reactions are part of t4 and t5, they are certainly removed if mode t3 is killed.
Step 4. In a final preprocessing step, we remove duplicate reactions across all EMs in both sets, D and T. Using the illustration in Table 2, this would mean that we remove duplicate columns. Note that this step is most effective after all supersets were removed. For instance, in Table 2 columns R1, R3 and R8 are identical only if t2, t4, and t5 are removed. In this step it is not possible to analyze D and T separately. Reactions need to be identical in both sets, D and T, in order to be removed.
We implemented the BIP algorithm in C using Gurobi Optimizer 5.0, http://www.gurobi.com/ webcite for solving the BIP problem. The adapted Berge algorithm was implemented in C. The software is available from the authors on request. The simulations were all carried out on an Intel Xeon CPU X5650 @ 2.67GHz under a Linux operating system.
Test cases
We used the E. coli core model, E0, [30] and two smaller models, E1 and E2, which were derived from the E0 model by removing several reactions. Compared to the E0 model, glucose was considered as the only carbon substrate for E1 and exchange of α-ketoglutarate, acetaldehyde, acetate, formate, lactate, and pyruvate was not allowed. In addition to these modifications we also removed the glyoxylate shunt and the (NAD and NADP dependent) malic enzymes to obtain the E2 model from E1. All three models are illustrated in Figure 1. Their main topological properties are summarized in Table 3. A list of reactions for these models may be found in the (Additional file 1).
Figure 1. Overview of the different E. coli models. For simplicity we only show pathways. Cofactors etc. are suppressed. Metabolites contributing to the biomass are depicted in yellow. Pathways included in the E2 model are indicated in red. E1 contains the red and blue pathways only, while E0 [30] incloses all reactions, including the non-colored pathways. A detailed listing of all models may be found in the Additional file 1.
Table 3. Topological properties of the E. coli models used
Additional file 1. tar gzipped archive of the SBML files for the models E0, E1, and E2.
Format: ZIP Size: 14KB Download file
To test the numerical efficiency of the implemented MCS algorithms we set up the following intervention problems: We first identify the most efficient EMs in all models. Efficiency is defined as the product between growth rate and ethanol secretion. Next, we classify all EMs to be desirable, whose ethanol secretion is larger or equal than the excretion of the most efficient EMs. Targets are all other modes that do not utilize ethanol. Modes which take up ethanol (negative secretion) are considered neutral, as ethanol uptake is repressed in the presence of glucose in the growth medium [31]. Therefore these modes do not need to be targeted. In Figure 2 we illustrate the intervention problem and the choice of D, N, and T for the E2 model. The major properties of the design criteria for the different E. coli models are listed in Table 4.
Figure 2. Phenotypic plot of all EMs in E2. Flux values are normalized to the total carbon influx (C- fluxin). EMs are color coded with respect to the modes' efficiency, defined as the product between normalized growth and normalized ethanol secretion (etohout). The most efficient EM is marked by an arrow. The areas D, N, and T indicate the corresponding sets of EMs for the intervention problem In(T,D,n) with n ∈ {1,…,nmax}.
Table 4. Cardinalities for the sets involved in the intervention problem In(T,D,n) with n∈ {1,…,nmax}
Berge algorithm outperforms the BIP
Figure 3 shows the computation time to calculate all MCSs using either method as a function of the minimally required number n of surviving desired EMs. We used the design criteria outlined above. At n=2 we found 81,168 and 441,095 MCSs in E2 and E1, respectively. (The number of MCSs as function of n may be found in Additional file 2: Figure S1.) In all tested situations the adapted Berge algorithm clearly outperforms the BIP. Even in the most demanding case (n=2), the Berge algorithm calculated all MCSs in E1 in less than 10 min. On the other hand, it already took the BIP 22 hours to calculate all 331 MCSs for n=85 in the smaller E2 model. In the same situation the Berge implementation finished in 0.4 sec.
Figure 3. Runtime for the Berge algorithm (left panel) and the BIP (right panel) for the models E2 (red) and E1 (blue), respectively. The runtimes for preprocessing (circles) and calculating MCSs are plotted as function of n. n is the lower bound of desired EMs, which must survive the intervention. Table 4 gives the size of the intervention problem for both models. As the trend is clearly visible, we did not evaluate the BIP for n < 80.
Additional file 2. Total runtime with and without preprocessing for the Berge algorithm.
Format: PDF Size: 70KB Download file
This file can be viewed with: Adobe Acrobat Reader
It is interesting to observe that over a wide range of values for n the runtime in both methods changes according to a power law (see Figure 3). However, only for the Berge algorithm the exponent remained approximately constant in both test cases.
Preprocessing-times are essentially independent of n and only scale with the total number of processed EMs. For cases with very few MCSs (see Additional file 2: Figure S1) the Berge algorithm took even less time than the preprocessing.
Preprocessing reduces overall computation time
To test the impact of our preprocessing procedures we set up identical intervention problems for all models. That is, we solved I0=I(T0,D,n), I1=I(T1,D,n), and I2=I(T2,D,n), where we used the indices 0, 1, and 2 to denote the dependence on the models E0, E1, and E2, respectively. We used identical sets of desired EMs in all models, i.e. D0=D1=D2=D and n0=n1=n2=n. Ti,i∈{0,1,2} consisted of all EMs not contained in D. Values for D, n, Ti and the runtimes for the Berge algorithm in two different cases (n/|D|≈1 and n/|D|≪1) may be found in Table 5.
Table 5. Runtime of the Berge algorithm with and without preprocessing (PP) for two intervention problems I(T,D,n) with differing n
In the most demanding case (n/|D|≪1), the Berge algorithm with preprocessing identified 1,720 MCSs in less than 30 minutes in the large E0 model with its 124 million EMs (see Table 5). Only 1% of the computation time was used for the Berge algorithm. Ninety-four percent of the computation is spent on preprocessing. After preprocessing the initial system of 124 million EMs was reduced to approximately 300,000 modes. In all tested cases with enhanced preprocessing, reading EMs and preprocessing took at least 90% of the total computation time. We repeated the same simulation without preprocessing. While the total runtime with and without preprocessing is comparable if only a few MCSs are found, the runtime savings in MCS calculation more than outweigh the runtime losses due to preprocessing if many MCSs solve an intervention problem. To emphasize this point we show the total runtime as function of the number of MCSs for Figure 3 in the Additional file 2: Figure S1.
Finally in Table 6 we show several examples from the literature, which can be easily and efficiently solved by either method. As a comparison we have also listed runtimes using the current version (version 2012.1) of CellNetAnalyzer (CNA) [32]. CNA uses a MATLAB implementation of the Berge algorithm. However, its preprocessing capabilities are less developed. That is why both programs, our Berge-algorithm and BIP, outperform CNA in all instances by at least one order of magnitude. Note however that CNA uses a MATLAB script, while our programs are implemented in C. A significant part of the performance difference may therefore be attributed to the slower performance of MATLAB compared to native executables written in C.
Table 6. Runtime analysis for the Berge algorithm and BIP using several examples from the literature with different design objectives
Preprocessing strongly reduces the system size
In Figure 4 we used a BIP and show the computation time as a function of the number of MCSs for the aerobic E. coli[33] model of Trinh et al.[16] (see line number 2 in Table 6 for model details). Note that although Table 6 lists 55,488 different MCSs, the BIP (and our Berge algorithm for that matter) only needs to calculate 164 solutions. Due to preprocessing the original network is reduced from 71 reactions and 429,275 EMs to an equivalent system with only 23 columns and 28 rows. This smaller system has 164 MCSs, which are then reconstructed to the full set of MCSs by expanding duplicated columns. A similar observation may also be made in Table 5. In these examples the system size is at least reduced by a factor of 30 (case E2, n2=40).
Figure 4. Computation time of the BIP as function of the number of MCSs for the aerobicE. coli[33]model of Trinhet al.[16](line number 2 in Table6). The accumulated computation time for the respective models is plotted in the lower panel. The top panel shows the computation time for each solution. Note that it is impossible to calculate the runtime per solution for the Berge algorithm as the algorithm does not allow to continuously output the solution.
Surprisingly, the computation time does not monotonically increase with the number of solutions [i.e. with the number of additional constraints, see equation (7)] but drops dramatically whenever the norm of the solution decreases. Note that a decreasing norm means an increase in the number of required knockouts. In this model the computation time significantly drops after solution number 11, 53, 116, and 156. At these instances the number of required deletions changes from 11 to 12, to 13, to 14, and to 15, respectively. In all these cases the constraint in equation (7e) decreases too and introduces a tighter bound on the system. This allows the solver's internal preprocessing to more efficiently compress the system, which in turn brings down the computation time. If, however, the norm of the solution does not change then the computation time scales approximately exponentially with the number of MCSs. This behavior is expected as each solution adds a new constrain to the system, which makes it harder to solve.
Recently cMCSs have been introduced to predict optimal intervention strategies in order to achieve an arbitrary metabolic objective [11]. Two algorithmic approaches have been published for their calculation [10,11]. Here we showed that both methods are equivalent. We addressed the numerical efficiency of both methods in typical design problems and found that in terms of runtime the Berge algorithm is superior compared to BIP.
It may appear as a surprise that the Berge algorithm performs so well even for the large cases presented in this study, especially since the Berge method is known for its unfavorable performance in huge networks [34]. However, here we showed that efficient preprocessing can dramatically reduce the size of the networks. The adapted Berge algorithm could then be run on the reduced systems. Apparently, for small systems the Berge algorithm is effective.
The importance of preprocessing in the calculation of MCSs has been stressed earlier [23]. The preprocessing strategies introduced herein focus especially on the additional constraints posed by cMCSs, whereas [23] dealt only with (unconstrained) MCSs. We were able to show that our implementation outperforms the currently available tool for computing (c)MCSs (see Table 6). The performance gain can be attributed to both the improved preprocessing and the efficient implementation in C. Herein we used standard preprocessing routines, which are frequently applied in BIP [29]. Extensive literature on preprocessing in binary and integer programming is available, see for instance Savelsbergh [35] for a good summary of basic ideas. Since cMCSs can be stated as a BIP, these methods are readily adoptable. However, due to the algorithmic complexity of BIP (solving numerous linear optimizations as part of one BIP, etc.), a full enumeration based on BIP seems not be competitive compared to the Berge algorithm (see Figure 3). Rather the usage of BIP preprocessing rules followed by the Berge algorithm to calculate cMCSs is suggested as an optimal computation strategy.
The efficiency of preprocessing is dependent on the imposed design criterion. In the worst case the set of desired modes is empty (D=∅) and T contains all EMs of a network. This situation corresponds to unconstrained MCSs and thus to a full dualization of the hypergraph spanned by the target modes. Except for step 4, none of our preprocessing routines then provides an advantage and other solvers may be more appropriate [34]. However such cases are not relevant in the context of metabolic engineering, where we want to optimize favorable functionality. To fully utilize the potential of preprocessing the ratio n/|D| should be close to one. This means that many essential reactions will be removed from the system, and as a result of that many supersets will be detected, too. However, in practice it may suffice if only a few EMs out of the set of desired modes survive, i.e. n/|D|≪1. Still, preprocessing provides a significant performance gain as indicated in Table 5. The runtime costs of preprocessing will be outweighed by the savings in MCS calculation, if the intervention problem has many solutions. In practice, preprocessing will therefore be favorable, as typical applications have a few thousand solutions (see Table 6).
In our paper [10] we used weights in the objective function of the BIP to take experimental difficulties in the deletion of reactions into account. For instance, some reactions cannot be deleted as they are driven by diffusion, rather than catalyzed by an enzyme. Other reactions, on the other hand, may require the deletion of multiple genes as they are catalyzed by different enzymes in parallel. By an appropriate choice of the weights in the objective function BIP is able to predict the experimentally easiest deletion strategies first [10]. However, in the preprocessing procedures above we did not consider weights in the objective function. Identifying particular solutions in the complete list of MCSs has to be done in a separate post-processing step (for example by appropriately sorting the output, which can be done quite fast). Thus even with an additional post-processing step our implementation of Berge's algorithm will be faster than BIP. Note however that the integration of regulatory information into the cMCS framework is a unique feature of the BIP approach [10].
Both methods, the Berge algorithm as well as BIP, still show room for computational improvements. In the case of the Berge algorithm the computational bottleneck sits in the filtering of potential MCSs to determine if they are, in fact, true MCSs and not supersets of true MCSs [23]. Generating new MCS-candidates, however, is very quick. Therefore ways of enhancing the superset-filtering procedure will be the scope of future work.
One disadvantage of the Berge algorithm is its inability to predict MCSs continuously during the runtime. During execution all MCSs remain candidate-MCSs. Only upon termination, when the minimality of all candidate MCSs has been checked against each other, candidate-MCSs become MCSs and can be outputted. Thus, even if we were interested in only one solution, the Berge algorithm will – in general – return more than one MCS upon termination. However, other solvers are available [34]. Their adaption for the current situation is the scope of further work.
BIP on the other hand, is able to predict a single solution without the need to enumerate all. In fact, due to the optimization principle only one MCS with a smallest or largest number of deletions can be calculated. In Figure 4 we illustrated the runtime per solution as function of the number of MCSs. The drop in runtime after certain solutions indicates that more advanced preprocessing procedures may further reduce the runtime significantly. In fact, our preprocessing focused on standard procedures like variable fixing. More advanced methods will further reduce the runtime for both the Berge algorithm and the BIP. Additionally we used GUROBI, a commercially available multi-purpose optimization toolbox, to solve the BIP. However, a specialized knapsack solver may potentially boost the performance.
We predicted minimal metabolic intervention strategies in typical metabolic engineering problems using two different methods (an adapted Berge algorithm and a BIP). We investigated the numerical performance of these approaches. Both methods significantly profited from the enhanced preprocessing procedures developed here. Under the tested conditions, our implementation of Berge's algorithm performed best even outperforming other, currently available software.
BIP: Binary integer program; cMCS: Constrained minimal cut set; CNA: CellNetAnalyzer; EM: Elementary mode; MCS: Minimal cut set; PP: Preprocessing.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
CJ implemented the algorithms and participated in the design of the study. GN coded the models and helped in running the analysis. SK participated in the design of the study. JZ conceived of the study, and participated in its design and coordination. CJ, SK and JZ wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
C.J., G.N., and J.Z. gratefully acknowledge the support by the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth (BMWFJ), the Federal Ministry of Traffic, Innovation and Technology (bmvit), the Styrian Business Promotion Agency SFG, the Standortagentur Tirol and ZIT - Technology Agency of the City of Vienna through the COMET-Funding Program managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG.
S.K. acknowledges funding by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research(e:Bio - 0316183D) and by the Ministry of Education and Research of Saxony-Anhalt (Research Center "Dynamic Systems: Biosystems Engineering").
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(May 18, 2011)--The public has until May 20 to view "El Jardin de la Vida," an exhibition of the art of UTSA alumna Cecilia Paz Mujica. The exhibit pieces offer lush colors to evoke deep sentiments about the diverse nature of day-to-day life experiences. The exhibition is in the University Center Gallery 23 on the UTSA Main Campus.
To celebrate this unique exhibit, Gallery 23 published a limited number of "El Jardin de la Vida" commemorative books. The books are signed by the artist and contain images of each piece in the exhibit. It also contains images of the "Life Tree" mural hanging in the UTSA Inclusion and Community Engagement Center, "Rowdy the Roadrunner" hanging in the Office of Student Activities, as well as other works by the artist.
"This exhibit has been extremely well received by the UTSA community," said Tyler Archer Moran, exhibit curator. "This book allows you to enjoy these works at your leisure while supporting the Gallery 23 program."
The books are available at Roadrunner Express on the UC paseo next to Rios Golden Cut Salons. Softcover books are $34.99 and hardcover books cost $54.99. For more information, stop by Roadrunner Express or call 210-458-6159.
The works of art in the exhibit also are available for sale. For more information, contact exhibit curator Tyler Archer Moran at 210-458-7827.
Artists can submit proposals for exhibitions at the Gallery 23 website. At the site, select "Exhibit Application" to learn about the submission process.------------------------------
About Gallery 23
The mission of Gallery 23 is to offer cultural enrichment, enhance diversity and provide opportunities to explore the arts. The gallery is a professional space to showcase student, staff, faculty, alumni and local artists' works.
Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday-Thursday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday. Gallery 23 takes its name from its room number, University Center Room 1.02.23.
For more information, contact Tyler Archer Moran, program coordinator, at 210-458-7827.
The UTSA College of Architecture, Construction and Planning, in partnership with AIA San Antonio's Latinos in Architecture, presents architect Andrés Jaque, founder of the Office for Political Innovation, an architectural practice dually based in New York and Madrid.
Buena Vista Building, Aula Canaria Lecture Hall (BV 1.328), Downtown Campus
The UTSA Women's Studies Institute invites you to Take Back the Night, an international initiative to raise awareness and empower survivors while educating allies through a march, poetry, and testimonios. This is a gender-inclusive movement to shatter the silence surrounding sexual and domestic violence.
Sombrilla Plaza, Main Campus
Grad Fest is an event designed to prepare you for commencement while celebrating your achievement. You will have the opportunity to purchase commencement regalia, order class rings, diploma frames, explore graduate school opportunities, learn about successful Stafford loan repayment and discuss career outcomes.
H-E-B University Center Ballroom, Main Campus
Grad Fest is an event designed to prepare you for commencement while celebrating your achievement. You will have the opportunity to purchase commencement regalia, order class rings, diploma frames, explore graduate school opportunities, learn about successful Stafford loan repayment and discuss career outcomes.
H-E-B University Center Ballroom, Main Campus
Looking for a good read? Shop for yourself or for gifts and help change a life at the same time. Browse and buy children's stories, novels and more at the 2015 SECC Book Sale.
Sombrilla Plaza, Main Campus
The Texas Water Symposium will take a close look at the SAWS/Vista Ridge pipeline project. The program will feature a conversation about the regional, financial and ecological considerations of the 142-mile pipeline. The event is free and open to the public.
Main Building (MB 0.106), Main Campus
What would Dr. John Bartkowski say if it were his last lecture? The UTSA professor of sociology will speak about "The Power of Listening" in this annual event sponsored by the UTSA chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. A reception will follow.
Denman Room (UC 2.201.28), Main Campus
The UTSA Music Department presents Emmy-award winning Composer Larry Groupe. Groupe has composed music for films such as "The Contender," "Straw Dogs" and "Miami Vice," and TV shows such as "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Ren and Stimpy" and "American Gladiators." Lecture is free and open to the public.
Arts Building (ART 2.03.15-18), Main Campus
The Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series continues with Dr. Matthew Hughey, a scholar of race, racism and racial inequality.
Buena Vista Building (BV 1.328), Downtown Campus
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Performer, conductor will teach multidisciplinary courses in music marketing
As touch screens and e-books demand more and more attention from both casual readers and scholars, many people say the handwriting is on the wall for the printed page.
At UTSA, the handwriting is on the wall for a library that doesn't have any printed books.
Since March 2010, the bookless library in the Applied Engineering and Technology Building has given UTSA students an innovative way to read, research and work with each other to solve problems.
With ultra-modern furniture and a décor featuring desktop computers, scanners and LCD screens, the AET Library is designed to engage students in an online format. But it also offers group study niches and study rooms with whiteboards and glass walls on which students can write. The space encourages teamwork, communications and problem solving for the next generation of scientists and professional engineers.
Did you know? The UTSA AET Library is the nation's first completely bookless library on a college or university campus. It served as a model for Bexar County's first-in-the-nation public bookless library system and one of its branches, the Dr. Ricardo Romo BiblioTech.
The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.


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Originally posted on Pro Sports Daily | Last updated 9/29/13
PHILADELPHIA - DECEMBER 10: Daniel Alfredsson #11 of the Ottawa Senators skates against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 10, 2009 at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Niklas Kronwall was at a bachelor party just outside Stockholm and he was informed and he was sober and he was still in disbelief. The day was Friday July 5 and even after having received insider information thanks to phone calls with Henrik Zetterberg who had been in contact with a rogue Swede Kronwall was incredulous. Daniel Alfredsson was going to be a teammate. There it was in texts and on Twitter. And Kronwall's night just got better. "I wasn't drunk at that point" Kronwall said laughing. "Knowing what day it was I had my phone with me and I kept checking the updates. I had talked to Hank and he'd said that he'd talked to Alfie. But I never thought twice about it because what are the odds?" The odds seemed long because Alfredsson had spent his entire 17-season NHL career with Ottawa. They were shortened because Alfredsson at age 40 decided he wanted a better shot at winning a first Stanley Cup and so he looked around and judged the best contender. The pin landed on Detroit...
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Art Print
Fun & Funkyby Kimberly McGuiness
Collect your choice of gallery quality Giclée, or fine art prints custom trimmed by hand in a variety of sizes with a white border for framing.
Very nice pattern!
I love this pattern!!!
Oh Thank you so very much Pascal and Cosmic for your comment
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Looks like a quilt with beautiful patterns and colours
Thank you Thea for your nice comment :0)
Love the brilliant color and form.
Thank you so much Bebop!
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Ten years after the series finale, ETonline has an exclusive look back at HBO's progressive series. Read More
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text: Getty Images [ Who Is Deez Nuts and Could He Become President? By TheFW Staff August 20, 2015 | TheFW You think Donald Trump is the most unlikely presidential candidate? Think again. Read More|Comment Category: News Tags: Brady Olson, Deez Nuts, donald trump, hillary clinton, iowa, north carolina, presidential campaign, running for president Send to a friend! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr!


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Healthcare Equipment and Supplies
Company Overview of Saturix
Company Overview
Saturix owns and develops medical equipments including PerSew, a laparoscopic suturing device. The company is based in Tel-Aviv, Israel.
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Arizona Cardinals
Good riddance, Beanie Wells
So Beanie "the Bust" Wells wants to woo the other 31 teams in the NFL? Sure Beanie, go ahead. But not from the football field on Sunday. How about you do it at their facilities during some private workouts?
You see, after your comments regarding your future — or lack of future — in Arizona, I think it is best to cut ties with you now and I can only hope that Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt agrees and sits your ass as an inactive for Sunday's game against the 49ers. You see if all you really want to do is showcase yourself, then you are a selfish player who has no business putting on that Cardinals uniform this weekend.
I would've much rather you taken the blame for your ridiculous fumble that gave Chicago seven points on Sunday, took the blame for another lousy year and that awful 2.7 yards per carry average.
Maybe you should have said how you are looking forward to ending the season on a good note with a win against your division rival. Maybe you should have just taken the high road. But what we get out of your comments is that you really don't care about winning the football game or helping the offense get out of this season-long slump. Nothing about taking some of the load off of Brian Hoyer making his first start as a Cardinal. Nothing about having some pride. No, your comments display just how selfish you really are.
I wish the Cardinals could have been more selfish and asked for some of the money back that you stole from them since you were their first-round pick in 2009. So what did the Cardinals get out of the four years of Beanie Wells — a lousy 2,471 yards rushing, 24 touchdowns, 10 fumbles and one season in which you were able to play 16 games.
You were so good, Beanie, that the Cardinals had to use a second round pick just two years after drafting you on another running back because you weren't panning out. If you were any good they could have used that pick on other needs — and trust me, they have plenty of them.
So go take your ball and go home, but be careful not to drop it like you did Sunday.
Oh, and one more thing…don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Good riddance.
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Valentino's bright red leather tote with large bow is a bright and beautiful carryall. Carry it by the detachable shoulder strap to punctuate soft pastel shades. Shown here with an Oscar de la Renta jacket, Bassike top, J Brand jeans, Lanvin shoes, Yves Saint Laurent cuff and a Marie-Hélène de Taillac ring.
Bright red leather tote with a large bow detail on the front. Valentino bag has two handles, a detachable shoulder strap, studs on the bottom, an internal zip pocket, a zip fastening at top and is fully lined in cotton-canvas. Designer color: Nappa Red.
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Recent research has suggested that having a yearly mammogram "greatly reduces the risk" of mastectomy following incidences of breast cancer in women.
Presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, the study showed that regular screening had demonstrable benefits.
A total of 19 per cent of women aged between 40 and 50 who had been screened for breast cancer in the previous year required a mastectomy after diagnosis.
This is significantly less than the 46 per cent of women who had not been screened in the previous year, suggesting that regular screening has a clear health advantage.
However, Dr Marilyn Glenville, a nutritionist specialising in women's health, said that other studies have shown that "mammograms can trigger cancer and increase the risk by more than 50 per cent if the woman already has a family history risk of breast cancer".
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and in 2007 alone almost 45,700 women were diagnosed with the disease.


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Star Trek German Premiere Gallery
The stars of JJ Abrams' new Star Trek movie attended the German premiere of the film on Thursday, April 16. The red carpet occasion drew large crowds of enthusiasts eager to catch a glimpse of stars such as Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as they signed autographs and posed for photographs. Advance word on the Star Trek reboot has been hugely encouraging, with many critics raving about it following its world debut in Sydney earlier this month. The film opens in the UK on May 8, 2009.
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904.00 Long car rides? No problem. Plane trips cross country? Easy. The Travel Multi Game Set is the perfect way to pass the time whether you re traveling, vacationing, or just out for the day. This easy to carry bag includes mini chessmen, mini checkers, a playing board, mini backgammon, playing cards and a cribbage board with pegs. Challenge your friends and family to a game of skill or fun and watch the time fly by. There s a game here for everyone! So next time you have a long trip ahead of you, or are just looking for a fun way to pass the time, pick up The Travel Multi Game Set. There are so many games to play you ll never want to reach your destination. Features: -For ages 13 and up. -Playing board -Mini chessmen -Mini checkers -Mini backgammon -Cribbage board with pegs -Playing cards
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The video -- taken yesterday afternoon -- begins as civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) arrives at #OccupyAtlanta, hoping to express solidarity and articulate his support with some brief remarks. Unfortunately for him, the Congressman is totally unacquainted with the gathering's "rules," which make the US Senate look like a model of brisk efficiency.
4. The Obama Administration's Brutal Friday News Dump, by Guy Benson
Following the CLASS Act's implosion, roughly half of Democrats' illusory Obamacare "deficit savings"go up in smoke.
3. Dick Morris: Obama Will Lose 2012 In A Landslide, by Daniel Doherty
Fox News contributor and political pundit Dick Morris offers some interesting analysis in regards to the 2012 presidential election: Barack Obama will lose in a landslide.
2. Oklahoma Mother Gives Her Life to Save Unborn Child, by Katie Pavlich
An Oklahoma mother, Stacie Crimm, was overjoyed to be pregnant with a child, but during her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with neck and head cancer. Instead of having an abortion or taking medication harmful to her baby, she rejected chemotherapy treatment in order to save her child, instead of herself.
1. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Guarded Despite Hurricane, by Elisabeth Meinecke
The dedication and respect shown in this story is the reason why our military is the best in the world. Despite the crazy weather yesterday in Arlington, Va., as a result of Hurricane Irene, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was not forgotten.
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At an altitude of 4300 metres and 6 k.m. from the Kunzum Pass in Lahaul & Spiti district that connects Spiti Chander Tal Lake and Lahaul areas.
Surrounded by snows and acres of scree, this deep blue-water lake has a circumference of 2.5 k.m. This is the source of the river Chandra. According to some believers, this is the spot from where the god Indra's chariot took the eldest Pandava brother, Yudhishtra to 'swarga' (heaven) in his mortal form.
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"Is it really simple overdose killing people? For the most part, no. It turns out that most heroin deaths are probably not simple overdoses, but polydrug interactions, particularly between heroin and other nervous system depressants like benzodiazapines, tricyclic antidepressants, or alcohol."
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July 31, 2013 After more than 20 years as Chicago's Mayor, Richard Daley is working with the new Mayor of Gary, Ind., to try to revitalize that rust belt city. Daley is a senior fellow at the University of Chicago and his students are also helping in the transformation effort.
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July 24, 2013 In Chicago, there's a 2.5 mile roadway that the city's mayor calls the "Bat Cave." It's been around for more than a decade but it's more secret than public. The mini-highway was designed to ferry conventioneers to Chicago's massive McCormick Place convention hall. It's also a favorite of politicians with just the right amount of clout. Now, some want taxis to have access too.
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July 19, 2013 Chicago's school district is laying off 2,000-plus workers, more than 1,000 of them are teachers. These layoffs are in addition to 855 employees who were laid off in June because of the decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program. Chicago Public Schools is blaming this round of layoffs on the schools' $1 billion budget deficit and the lack of pension reform.
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July 8, 2013 Illinois is the only state with a total ban on concealed weapons. Lawmakers in the state are facing a court-ordered deadline on Tuesday to put a law on the books allowing people to carry a concealed gun.
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June 29, 2013 NPR conducted the poll of African-American communities with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. While the gap between the well-off and poor in the U.S. has stretched wide in recent years, we found that black Americans describe their financial divide as a nearly 50-50 split, and it affects how they view the world.
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The last high rise at Chicago's Cabrini-Green public housing complex was demolished in 2011.
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June 24, 2013 The city has torn down all of its high rises and says it's close to completing its plans to transform public housing. Chicago leaders want to use public housing funds to build not just homes for poor families, but stores as well. However, some say that breaks a promise to provide affordable housing.
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Protesters of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's plan to close dozens of city schools rally in the Capitol rotunda in Springfield, Ill., on Wednesday. The Chicago Board of Education voted to close 50 schools.
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May 23, 2013 The Chicago school board voted to close dozens of schools, despite community protests that the closings disproportionately affect minority students. Now the teachers union and community activists want to change the system and oust the elected officials who disagreed with them.
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May 9, 2013 Multiple counts of rape and kidnapping charges have been filed against Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive for about a decade. The women held hostage in his house escaped earlier this week. Two are now at home with family while the third remains in the hospital.
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May 6, 2013 The museum, already hard-hit by the economic crash, didn't meet projected fundraising and attendance numbers, and now must make up a $5 million budget deficit. The shortfall forced it to sell some items in its renowned collection.
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First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday speaks about 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed on the South Side of Chicago earlier this year.
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April 10, 2013 The first lady gave a personal and emotional speech in her hometown, two months after attending the funeral of a Chicago teen who was shot and killed earlier this year. Michelle Obama is encouraging business leaders to donate millions of dollars for programs to help at-risk youth.
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About Fred Eaglesmith
Country-folk singer/songwriter Fred J. Eaglesmith was one of nine children born to a farming family in rural southern Ontario. Often employing his difficult upbringing as raw material for his heartland narratives, he issued his self-titled debut LP in 1980. He recorded infrequently throughout the remainder of the decade, releasing only two more albums, The Boy That Just Went Wrong and Indiana Road. However, Eaglesmith gradually became an underground favorite in his native Canada, thanks largely to a relentless touring schedule in tandem with bassist Ralph Schipper and mandolinist Willie P. Bennett. In 1991, he released the double live collection There Ain't No Easy Road, followed two years later by Things Is Changin'. Another live set, Paradise Motel, appeared in 1994, and in 1995 Eaglesmith returned with Drive-In Movie. 1999 saw the release of 50-Odd Dollars. The double-disc Ralph's Last Show was issued in spring 2001, followed by Falling Stars and Broken Hearts in 2002, Dusty in 2004, and Milly's Cafe in 2006. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
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Jan 07 ThursdayDecatur, GA, US Eddie's Attic
Mar 11 FridayBarton-upon-humber, UK The Ropewalk
Mar 13 SundayCamden, UK Green Note
Mar 19 SaturdayGlasgow, UK Admiral Bar
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MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush
377 reviews
81% would repurchase
Package Quality: 4.1
Price: $$$
Package Quality: 4.1
Price: $$$
on 1/24/2013 4:51:00 PM
Age: 44-55
Skin: Combination, Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Brown, Other, Other
Eyes: Green
This is the brush that my eye make-up look depends on and is not the same without. And I've used so many brushes from different brands, never achieving the soft, perfectly blended and quickly achieved flawless look this gives me. I use the 218 to apply shadow and the 224 to blend. I also use the 224 to blend concealer under my eyes (I have two, one for shadow and one for concealer). I always keep the one I use to blend shadows clean and free of any product, and I think that is the key to getting the flawless look (learned this from the amazing Tanya Burr on youtube). I love all my MAC brushes and think they are superior to any other brand I've tried, but this one is my must have.
on 1/24/2013 12:34:00 AM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Other, Olive, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
Harsh eye shadow edges are effortlessly blended away with the 224! This is the secret to my smokey eyes looks, it just blends crease colours seamlessly with just a few 'swish-swish' motions. Every day I use this on my brow bone using my transition eye shadow (MAC Wedge) and it gives the most perfectly diffused Kardashian-style finish to my eyes.
on 1/1/2013 12:16:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Curly, Medium
Eyes: Brown
where has this brush been all my make-up wearing life?! i absolutely love this brush! it blends all my eye make-up like a dream.
i want to start this review by first mentioning that i have a lot of lid and brow bone space. if you also do, this is perfect for you too. if you don't have a lot of space, then you need a more condensed blending brush like MAC's 217, or any dense blending brush or even just a dense crease brush would work.
this is a big, fluffy tapered brush that blends EVERYTHING in a few swirls. it makes my make-up look a hundred times more professional and saves me so much time in the morning, because i like to combine a lot of colours on my lid and crease, and i always need a lot of time to make them all look blended and transitioned. not anymore! this also is really useful when i haven't done that great a job actually applying the colours as well because of how well it just blends them. it's great for blending as you go along, blending the finished result and using this with colours that you want 'blended in' to the whole finished look.
so now we've established that it works, i want to discuss a bit about the packaging and cost. this brush is very expensive! though i do believe it's worth the money, it still is something you have to think about before you buy. i would suggest testing this brush at MAC first. go and apply some colours and then do your own before and after! because it may be that it splays colour too much for your eye shape.
i removed one point for packaging quality, because it sheds. i have also noticed a piece of a bristle too, which means it not only sheds, but its bristles also break. my advice to minimise this as much as possible, is to be gentle when you clean and spot clean, and store it somewhere safe. so i don't think this brush is durable enough to just throw it solo in your make-up bag. store it in a brush roll, cup or just somewhere by itself. so that's one con. for the price it shouldn't shed or break. otherwise no complaints.
i would definitely repurchase. it's my staple blending brush now!
on 12/27/2012 3:22:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Very Oily, Dark, Warm
Hair: Black, Relaxed, Coarse
Eyes: Brown
I bought this brush for eye makeup blending purposes, but I find that this brush is a little too big for my eyelid. I tend to overblend my eyeshadow with this brush. My 226 and 222 allow me to blend my shadows a little better.
However, my major issue with this brush is that the other day, the ferrule separated from the brush. If I hadn't gotten it from the MAC counter, I would question whether the brush is authentic. I've only had the brush for about 8 months...so I don't know what the issue is. I've had other MAC brushes for 8 years, and I've never had an issue with a loose/separated ferrule. Maybe I just got a bad brush with this one. Regardless, I spent too much money for me to have an issue with the ferrule- especially, this early on.
on 11/29/2012 9:00:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Olive, Cool
Hair: Black, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Green
Whereas I personally do not "love" this brush as a blender for shadow I DO love it for my concealer! I use Select Cover Up and Prolongwear under my eyes, depending on the day, and I use this brush to blend out either one. Instead of giving a cakey, heavy made up appearance this gives an airbrush look. Just put a lil concealer on the back of you hand take the brush and pick up the product. I start on the inner corner doing small, circular motions until the product is completely is completely blended out. This does for your concealer what a 130 would do for your foudation. If you use any sort of heavy coverage concealer you NEED to get this brush to avoid a cakey look but still get the great coverage you desire. I like how gentle it is for my undereye area too....no pulling or tugging upon application! Sometimes when Im feeling super fancy I use it to apply eyecream and it gives a nice soothing effect. Great change to a standard, flat concealer brush, and def worth trying yourself if you haven't yet.
on 11/28/2012 11:49:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair, Neutral
Hair: Brunette, Other, Medium
Eyes: Blue
I love this brush! I can't do my eye shadow without now : )
Just makes blending out a dream, making my eye shadow application a no-stress job. LOVE and highly recommend!
on 11/25/2012 9:51:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Blue
Part of my makeup kit! Love this brush!
on 11/24/2012 11:53:00 AM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Normal, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I need this type of brush model maybe MAC 168. For expert application of cheek contour. This brush is a large angled contour - the fibres form a buffed edge and are soft and firmly bundled. MAC professional brushes are hand-sculpted and assembled using the finest quality materials. They feature wood handles and nickel-plated brass ferrules. macbrushset.com write this about model 168
on 11/24/2012 11:33:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I use it for blending eye shadow. Works well for me! (I use the 239 for application.)
on 10/22/2012 5:49:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm
Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Green
I own pretty much all the MAC brushes and I must say that this brush gets the least use out of all of them. Wish I would have spent the $30 on something else. The brush sheds and it is incredibly scratchy on my eyelids. It doesn't blend well nor does it apply color to the crease to my liking. I MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer the 217 to this brush. Save your money.
Edit: I discovered this brush is great for applying under eye concealer, so it's not a total failure... but I'm sure there are cheaper brushes that would work just as well. Not to mention, when you use it for this the brush does shed, and it's pretty annoying trying to get the shed brush hair out of your concealer.
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HINWIL, SWITZERLAND (AP) - Formula One team Sauber has unveiled its C-32 Ferrari car for the 2013 season along with its all-new driving team of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez.
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn says the car "is based on its predecessor, which was a very competitive car."
In 2012, Sauber placed sixth in the constructors' championship, getting four podium finishes from drivers Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi. Perez was hired by McLaren and Japan's Kobayashi has left the team.
Kaltenborn praises Hulkenberg as "a very efficient driver" who "if (he) gets an opportunity, he takes that and brings the result home."
The 25-year-old German finished 11th in the drivers' standings last year for Force India.
Gutierrez makes his F1 debut in Australia on March 17.