text:
IIn Singapore we often hear that that the income gap is the result of meritocracy. Nothing can be further from the truth. The wealth gap represents an unlevel field rather than the superior talents of some to contribute to society. The PAP govt exercise extreme parsimony in helping the poor, sick and disabled but gives handouts to big businesses in the form of low taxes, cheap foreign labor and pro-business policies. At the same time the govt reduced the benefits and protection of our workers and force them to struggle by importing cheaper labor to compete against them and making them endure the rising cost of living. This is how we end up with such a large income gap and an un-meritocratic system.
Meritocracy is destroyed by the advantages of wealth and an unlevel playing field. Workers at the bottom 30-40% in Singapore have the lowest wages in the developed world, live in a city that is 6th most expensive in the world, and have no independent collective power to improve their situation. The system has so many obstacles in the way of people making their way up:
The PAP often says that social mobility is one redeeming characteristic of its system. But when asked for data on this by an NMP, they admit that they have no data to track social mobility. They are actually in denial of the facts.
Link] plotting the (positive) relationship between inequality and inter-generational social immobility in countries around the world. It shows a strong correlation between income inequality and lower social mobility.


text:
Arc Flash Analytic Software Program
ARCAD has introduced the new ARC Flash Analytic (AFA V4.1) software program for arc flash, shock hazard analysis.
ARCAD has introduced the new ARC Flash Analytic (AFA V4.1) software program for arc flash and shock hazard analysis. AFA V4.1 has been developed based on NFPA 70E and IEEE 1584 as an easy-to-use and comprehensive tool for calculating arc incident energy; calculating the flash protection boundary; determining limited, restricted, and prohibited shock approach boundaries; and determining the risk category required by NEC, CEC, and the new Canadian Z462 standard when work is to be performed on or near the energized equipment. Among various key capabilities, the AFA V4.1 performs analysis using metric or imperial units, saves input configurations, saves calculation results for future reference or printing, and generates arc flash warning labels in electronic formats.
Log in or create an account to submit your comment for this article.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
from Trinity Blood! Thanks to Zark and Zoe!! ^^
Sort: Most Views | Most Comments | Last Comment | Newest Image | Oldest Image
More galleries by Lady Integra
All photos by Lady Integra (106)
Junior Warrant Officer Schrödinger (3)
Non from Majokko Megu-chan (2)
Alcyone from Magic knight rayearth (4)
Ryomou Shimei from Ikki Tousen (4)
Rothy and Magna Carta Group (4)
Shiva from Final Fantasy X (5)
Juclecia and Magna Carta group (3)


text:
CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy bolstered their midfield on Friday with the signing of veteran French midfielder Laurent Courtois.
Formerly of Chivas USA, the versatile wide midfielder will be eligible for selection starting with Saturday's match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at StubHub Center. Courtois brings a wealth of experience to the Galaxy midfield as the Frenchman is a veteran of top clubs in Spain, France, and England.
READ: LA Galaxy sign midfielder Laurent Courtois
WATCH: Courtois scores vs New England
Courtois drew high marks from the Galaxy coaching staff during his two-week training stint with the team as well as during his 45 minute appearance for the Galaxy reserves last week. With the club preparing to play a considerable number of matches in the coming weeks and months, Courtois believes that he'll have plenty of chances to contribute.
"I just signed this morning and I'm really excited, and really happy. I just look forward to seeing what I can add to the team especially because there are so many games coming," Courtois said after training on Friday. "I can bring a different profile on the wings, but I can definitely be helpful with so many games coming. I know that I have a lot of experience and I'm creative, so I look forward to seeing what I can bring to the team to help them get results."
Signed by Chivas USA in August of 2011, Courtois appeared in 33 games while scoring three goals and one assist until he was released by the Rojiblancos in June. During his time with Chivas, Courtois played on both sides of the midfield while also seeing time as an outside back.
With the Galaxy eager for depth out wide, LA head coach Bruce Arena is expected to utilize the Frenchman as a wide midfielder. This means that he'll join the likes of Colin Clark, Landon Donovan, Hector Jimenez, and Robbie Rogers in the battle for playing time out wide.
Where Courtois ends up playing is irrelevant to the Frenchman, however, as he feels like he can provide something different no matter where he's stationed.
"Before coming to this league, I spent the last two years on the right side because it's more based on my ability and decision making. When I'm wide on the left, it's more about the dynamic part of my game and the fact that I can provide service," said Courtois. "It's a different game for me on either side because I feel like a totally different player, but I like both. It's what I've been doing all my life and I really look forward to contributing to the Galaxy."
The midfielder admits that he'll still have to build his fitness up before he can challenge for a spot in the Galaxy's starting XI, but he's optimistic that he can make an impact with the team soon.
"I need to work a little bit on my aerobic side and I need to get a little bit more rhythm [with the team], but I feel great," said Courtois. "I feel dynamic and strong. I think that I can be helpful as a sub and work my way up. I'm really looking forward to passing the ball with those guys and seeing what happens."
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he deserves re-election, despite the nation's economic troubles.
Obama said in a pre-Super Bowl interview on NBC that his administration is creating more than 250,000 jobs a month, the most since 2005, and a reversal from the 750,000 jobs the economy was losing three years ago.
The president said American manufacturing still needs a boost and "We have got to make sure we are pushing American energy, not just oil and gas, but clean energy."
Obama also said the country needed to return to "old-fashioned American values," so "everyone gets a fair shake."
Three years ago, Obama said if the economy hadn't turned around by this time, his presidency would be "a one-term proposition."


text:
PMMI and FPSA Part Ways After Healthy Pack/Process Expo
PMMI and FPSA part ways, but not before a reasonably healthy Pack/Process Expo.
There was a good amount of optimism – in both the economy and show attendance – when Pack Expo and Process Expo staged their last trade show together in Las Vegas Oct. 5-7.
The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI) said the show had the second largest attendance since the Pack Expo Las Vegas show began in 1995 (Pack Expo Las Vegas alternates with the bigger and older Pack Expo International, held in Chicago in even-numbered years). The 22,721 true "visitor" attendees (not including exhibitor and association personnel) were just below the 23,864 that attended the 2007 affair.
Together with Process Expo, staged by the Food Processing Suppliers Assn. (FPSA), and the Converting & Package Printing Expo, the three co-located shows this year had 1,140 exhibitors taking up 521,147 sq. ft. (both numbers also down a bit).
Technically, the stated theme was "Maximizing Performance, Sustainability & Economics." And Pack Expo, which plans the conference program, caters to many industries besides food & beverage. But if the daily keynote addresses were any indication, the theme was food and specifically the growth of private label. Speakers from A&P (Monday), Supervalu (Tuesday) and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets (Wednesday) extolled the virtues – and higher margins – of store-branded products.
On the show floor, the theme seemed to be "things are finally getting better." Many exhibitors we talked to said they had just strung together the first two or three consecutive months of order increases, leading them to hope that an economic recovery was under way.
"Given the economy this year, we are extremely pleased with the turnout," said Charles Yuska, president/CEO of PMMI. "Trade shows mirror the industries they serve, and the strong attendance may indicate an economic recovery as consumer goods companies leverage the show for their capital equipment investments and packaging innovation efforts."
The two shows have been together, though often in separate halls, since 1997. Pack Expo has outgrown many expo centers and, as a result, the 2008 Process Expo was in a hall disconnected from the rest of Chicago's McCormick Place and far removed from Pack Expo. Process exhibitors were not happy with the foot traffic.
Starting next year, Process Expo will co-locate with the Institute of Food Technologists' Food Expo: July 18-20 in Chicago's McCormick Place. Pack Expo officials say they are cultivating processing suppliers to maintain that element of their next show, which will be in Chicago Oct. 31-Nov. 3, 2010.
Most of the vendors we talked to said they were planning to exhibit at both shows next year until a clear winner in the food processing world emerges.
Some of the exhibitor highlights from the show:
<< Urschel Laboratories (www.urschel.com) showed the year-old CCX-D cheese shredder, which produces a wide range of slices and shreds within its highly polished (Ra32) stainless steel body. The DiversaCut Sprint dicer offers small and mid-sized processors simple changeovers from one type of product cut to another and in minimal floor space. The bigger DiversaCut 2110 now features a rounded tube frame and accepts infeed products up to 10 inches in any dimension.
Key Technology (www.key.net), long known for its sorters and vibratory conveyors, introduced SmartArm, a wireless performance monitoring system for vibratory conveyors. The system measures and reports speed and stroke to provide realtime analysis of shaker function, line-flow conditions and trends at a glance. It sends an alert when speed or stroke are out of tolerance or when a breakdown occurs. It's available as an option on new Iso-Flo vibratory conveyors and as an upgrade for the installed base of Iso-Flo shakers.
Lubriplate (www.lubriplate.com) SFGO Ultra Series are synthetic food-grade fluid lubricants. These high-performance, NSF H-1 registered, polyalphaolefin (PAO)-based lubes have been designed to meet the demands of wide variety of applications, thus reducing the need to inventory a myriad of application-specific lubricants. They're recommended for air compressors, hydraulic systems, bearings, gearboxes, pumps and chains. And a suite of "green" products across several application and product lines now meet the highest levels of environmental requirements for biodegradability and aquatic safety.
For just over a year now, Dover Corp. has consolidated six different pump divisions under one name, and that PSG/Pump Solutions Group (www.pumpsg.com) was front-and-center at Process Expo. Wilden, probably the unit's leading brand name for food & beverage, showed the new 25 mm (1 in.) PX2 Hygienic Series stainless steel pump, designed for the most demanding sanitary and hygienic applications. Also interesting was the SLC model under the Mouvex brand, which claims to be the only hygienic pump without mechanical seals. It's 3A and EHEDG certified, has no slip, adds very little shear and can run dry. A predecessor model has been around for 10 years, but the SLC – at lower cost because it's a casting and other economies – is brand new. >>
A novel technology for cleaning was shown off by Cold Jet (www.coldjet.com). The machine sprays tiny dry ice (carbon dioxide) crystals to clean process surfaces and other areas. Like a high-pressure deck washer, the sprayer can adjusted from mild (it safely cleaned my eyeglasses) to aggressive (it cut through wood). The crystals are abrasive enough to remove even baked-on debris (without chemicals or solvents) but they dissipate into carbon dioxide, not water -- so there's no moisture (electronics are safe) and no chemical residue or wastewater. The cold temperature even helps to kill E. coli.
Join the discussion
We welcome your thoughtful comments.
All comments will display your user name.
Want to participate in the discussion?Register for free
Log in for complete access.
No one has commented on this page yet.
RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments


text:
The Manchester Scene Rocks to sE!
Roger Lyons is at the centre of the Manchester music scene engineering with New Order and producing a supergroup featuring Hooky, Andy Rourke (The Smiths) and Mani (Stone Roses and Primal Scream). They are even getting Liam Gallagher involved in this latest project and when you're working with the best musicians, you need the best microphones…
Meet Roger Lyons, a man very much at the heart Manchester's music scene. Name a famous band or artist from the area and the chances are that Lyons will have either worked with them or plans to! Roger first found fame with Justin Robertson as part of Lionrock in the 90s…
"I prefer to think of Lionrock as being 'on hold'," says Roger. "Me and Justin are still friends. We had a really good time doing it all… in the studio and on tour. Good times!"
After Lionrock, Roger got involved even more in the production side of things and produced Olive's second album before setting up his production company Major Tweaks UK. He has since worked with Ian Brown, FC Kahuna, the Bee Gees and Heather Small, but his pet projects are both New Order and supergroup Freebase, which counts Hooky, Mani and Andy Rourke among its members…
"We've done about 17 tracks but not one has a completed vocal yet as everyone has commitments and they all overlap," says Roger. "Liam Gallagher is going to do the vocal on one and Pete Wylie on another while Howard Marks is going to do a reading of one of his works over one. It'll probably be finished by 2025!"
While Roger awaits the vocalists at least he knows for certain the mics that they will be using as he's fallen in love with the sE range…
"Like a lot of people I was quite sceptical about the whole Chinese thing which is really unfair," he recalls. "When I was a kid people were the same with Japanese gear and now look at it! I'd been speaking to a guy one day who was saying how much he liked this Gemini mic and I thought it was a US company. It sounds ace. I've used loads of mics over the years and this has its own character and puts a sonic imprint on whatever you are doing with it, but at the same time whatever I've done with it sounds great and I wrote an email to sE to tell them so!
"I've just been using it on the soundtrack for Cracker with Steve and Gillian from New Order. I used the Gemini to record a string quartet. sE sent me a load more mics on loan to see what I thought of them and I like pretty much all of them. They are really good mics and blow any old stigmas against Chinese manufactured mics away."
"I'm getting another Gemini as I like it so much but also have a pair of sE3s (which you can use for pretty much anything) and Z5600a's which I use for ambient drum recording. They sound great – really warm and crunchy. I've mainly been using the Gemini on vocals; it really does have a fantastic sound. I can sing but don't particularly like to… I wouldn't stand up on stage and do it, but I've done some vocals with this mic and all of a sudden I have some confidence back in my own voice as it sounds so good!"
It's hard to know where Roger finds the time but he is also working with a Portuguese band Loto who are set for big things and his own band CircusGirls "We don't have a deal but it's on iTunes and selling well. It's the sum of all our influences, Glam Rock, electronic, Beach Boys with a contemporary twist."
And with projects as varied as Roger's it shows just how flexible the sE mics are!
Related Products
SE Electronics H1 Vocal Condenser Microphone
The 'H1' Hand Held Condenser is based on the sE2a condenser capsule, re-voiced and tuned to accept an SPL of up to 145dB. The H1 has been designed to meet the needs of both the project studio user and the live/touring market. The H1 has a specialised 'internal shock mount' which allows it to be hand-held during a…
Web Price:99.00
Availability:Call 0844 815 0888
SE Electronics RF Pro Reflexion Filter
The Reflexion Filter is a portable device for recording live sources with reduced room ambience. It is an advanced composite wall which is positioned behind any microphone by means of a variable position stand clamp assembly which ships with the product. The main function is to help obtain a 'dry' vocal or instrument recording. This is especially useful in studios…
Web Price:119.00
Availability:Call 0844 815 0888
SE Electronics Metal POP Filter
The mesh head is made entirely from steel, rather than the old-style 'ladies tights' design. It almost completely eliminates unwanted vocal pop, while leaving the vocal phase coherent, and with no significant loss of high frequency content. This thing REALLY works, and will make a big difference to the quality of your vocal recordings… Try it and be truly amazed!
Web Price:19.00
Availability:Call 0844 815 0888
SE Electronics SE1a
Building on the incredibly popular SE1, the SE1a retains the same capsule but mates this with even quieter electronics, all housed in a very sexy new look body. This end fire small diaphragm microphone really is astonishing value for money. Great for drums, pianos, acoustic and amplified instruments the SE1a is a must have for any size studio. …
Web Price:79.00
Availability:Call 0844 815 0888


text:
When you walk inside JJ Fin's there are few reminders of its former incarnations as Dead River Vic's or Harborside. The space that once had the interior ambience of a badly lit Denny's is now welcoming and fun.
The inside bar has been moved to provide a view of the riverside deck, giving the room better flow. Customers walk by an inviting and icy fresh-fish station that signals the chef running this kitchen is interested in top-quality ingredients.
Come to think of it, the menus and food at Dead River Vic's or Harborside, rarely brought to mind that a certified chef was in the kitchen.
The JJ Fin's menu is extremely broad in scope with everything from sushi to Blue Moon beer battered fish and chips, with lots of pasta and steaks and fillets in between. And the kitchen is managing to do most things extremely well.
What will appeal to many is the extensive "Small Plates" section of the menu, a collection of light nibbles and noshes. We started with the grilled Wing-K-Bobs ($4.99 for 6, $7.99 for 12) with Thai chili sauce, a flavorful baste that had a pleasant, restrained peppery kick. These are not kebabs per se. But instead of just dumping the wings onto a plate, the flats and drummies are skewered together.
The yummy fried green tomatoes ($4.99) were hand breaded with noticeable but indiscernible fresh herbs in the batter and served with straightforward chipotle ranch sauce.
The light blue corn fish tacos ($7.99) are stuffed large pieces of blackened sweet white fish dressed with slaw and mandarin oranges. One quibble: too many sweet orange sections overpower the fish.
Smoked wahoo fish dip ($6.99) comes in a raddicchio cup with yellow and blue corn chips. The dip is ample for sharing and thankfully not drenched in liquid smoke.
The rock shrimp and lobster fritters ($5.99) were the most anticipated and most disappointing. More like beignets than fritters, with little shellfish flavor in the soft rumpled pillows. The accompanying pineapple-habanero sauce was excellent.
The hand-tossed, thin crust pizzas were a big surprise. The Meat Lover's Pie ($10.99) rose from a thick creamy bed of provolone and mozzarella and was piled with sausage, pepperoni, ground beef, bacon and basil.
The big and juicy "classic" burger ($6.99) was topped with American cheese and strips of applewood smoked bacon (choose from pretzel roll or wheat or kaiser bun) and came with so-so seasoned fries and slaw.
The open-faced prime rib ($7.99) was assembled with blackened beef, nutty gruyere cheese, deeply flavored caramelized onions with a cabernet au jus and horseradish cream.
This is no longer your run-of-the-mill boater bar. The riverside deck area has been spiffed up quite nicely, with more bar seating and a better layout of tables. Host stands inside and out make sure servers get to tables promptly.
JJ Fin's specializes in casual fare crafted with care and thought for the flip-flop and deck-shoe crowd as well as landlubbers looking for good food.
See for yourself: JJ Fin's Dockside
Where: 3351 W. Burleigh Blvd. (U.S. Highway 441 at the Dead River connecting lakes Eustis and Harris)
When: 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Alcohol: Full bar.
Price range: $4.99-$21.99.
Call: 352-742-3467.
Live music: On the deck.
Wheelchair access: Yes.
Online: JJFins.com
New online guides to restaurants
We've put together galleries with pertinent info to help you choose a dining destination along Sand Lake Road's famed Restaurant Row, Sanford's First Street or in New Smyrna Beach. More to come! OrlandoSentinel.com/dining
TASTE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA'S DIVERSITY: The ethnic grocery guide is a showcase of international flavors. OrlandoSentinel.com/ethnicgroceryguide
CALORIES FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Help Central Florida's top chefs end childhood hunger at Taste of the Nation Aug. 29. OrlandoSentinel.com/thedish
Four Rivers SmokehouseAuthentic Texas-style barbecue comes to Winter Park this month at 2103 W. Fairbanks Ave. Ten percent of proceeds from the new Four Rivers Smokehouse will benefit local charities.
Columbia adds vegetarian itemsThe Columbia Restaurant has added three vegetarian entrees to its dinner menu at its six locations that include Celebration, Ybor City, Sarasota, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg and Clearwater Beach. Look for eggplant "Riojana" ($17.50), pasta con trufas "Cristalino" ($16.95) and Vegetarian "Cubana" ($16.95).
Antonio's wine dinnersAntonio's in Maitland (611 S. Orlando Ave.; 407-645-1039) is hosting monthly wine dinners in the upstairs restaurant. Call the restaurant for more information.
A little twitter and shoutFollow my local dining and foodie updates on Twitter:OS_thedish.


text:
John Portman: A Life of Building
John Portman: A Life of Building Previous Broadcasts
KQED World: Sat, Dec 13, 2014 -- 2:00 PM
This program examines the work and legacy of one of the world's most daring and influential architects. Over the last 45 years, John Portman's iconic urban structures and eye-popping interiors steadily rose in 60 cities across four continents, helping redefine cityscapes in the United States and skylines in Asia. Once considered a maverick because he eschewed long-accepted industry standards, critics and leading architecture schools now fully embrace Portman's design approach, which emphasizes function, purpose and sensory experience.
This documentary showcases Portman's buildings using dramatic time-lapse footage. It also features interviews with Portman, architecture critic Paul Goldberg (The New Yorker), Harvard professors Mack Scogin and Michael Hays, business associates Mickey Steinberg and A.J. Robinson, architect Jacque Robertson, art critic Robert Craig and Portman's children.


text:
Tips to Transform a Rental with Paint
"What can I do with my rental apartment to give it a face lift? It looks like it was dipped in glossy paint and rolled in lint, but I don't want to spend a fortune because it is a rental…" If you're lucky enough to be able to paint, the answer, once again, is color.
Paint is cheaper than wallpaper, drapes, furniture or art, and is the first place you should go for a bang-for-your-buck upgrade. Though before and afters can't quite capture it, the paint finishes in this instance were particularly egregious, and looked like a slumlord painted the walls with his feet.
But the apartment in question is so cute! It's a duplex, two bath, slipper of a thing with a spiral staircase leading up to heaven, a deck with more heaven and all those windows.
1. Start With White For starters, any paint schedule of mine lately includes Ultra Flat Ceiling Paint in white.
2. Finishes are Important! After a flat ceiling, I like matte walls, satin trim and where possible, I'm using Bath and Spa paint from Benjamin Moore in my water areas — it has a matte finish and is water and mildew resistant.
3. Select an All-Around Color We needed an all-around color and settled on Farrow&Ball Pavillion Gray 242.
4. Add Accents of Coordinating or Contrasting Color This is really egalitarian — what follows is one paint color from each company. The office is a Frenchy blue from Benjamin Moore's Affinity line, Instinct AF-475, (you can see it through the doorway between the kitchen and sofa). The kitchen backsplash is S2060-r from Fine Paints of Europe — it's a bit more expensive but that quart is well-used for its scrubbable dense pigment.
5. Choose a Focal Point The centerpiece of our color design is that dark wall behind the stairs. At first, we were going to put Ralph Lauren Blue Leather VM147 behind the console when you enter the room, but the more I thought about it, it wanted to be in the middle of our color collage, to suck you into the room, balance out the kitchen and office and lead you up those stairs.
What lies up those stairs is the subject of next week's article.
Ultra Flat Ceiling Paint, white
Farrow&Ball, Pavillion Gray 242
Benjamin Moore Affinity, Instinct AF-475
Fine Paints of Europe, S2060-r
Ralph Lauren Blue Leather VM147
- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter


text:
Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
The Historic Riviera Theatre presents "A Musical Cooking Lesson With theCalamari Sisters" on Thursday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m.
The Calamari Sisters are local celebrities in Brooklyn, and the singing, dancing and cooking stars of the public access cable cooking show, "Mangia Italiano." In this rare treat, Delphine and Carmela have taken their culinary expertise on the road to spread their unique brand of Italian teaching to the masses with outrageous musical numbers, hilarious family anecdotes, and some help from some of you.
All tickets are priced at $34. For more information, call the Riviera Theatre at 692-2413 or visit www.rivieratheatre.org.


text:
Clinical Specialties
Prostate Cancer
English , Russian , Spanish , Ukrainian
Education & Training
|Free Standing Institution-United Kingdom
Prostate Cancer
English , Russian , Spanish , Ukrainian
|Free Standing Institution-United Kingdom
Research in my laboratory is focused on signal transduction mechanisms that protect prostate cancer cells from apoptosis. This information is necessary to design more effective therapies for advanced prostate cancer and other therapy-resistant cancers.
Recently, we have identified BAD as a convergence point of several anti-apoptotic pathways downstream from PI3K/Akt, EGFR, and GPCRs (Fig. 1). Detailed analysis of these signaling pathways revealed a complex network of remarkable redundancy that connects signals from the tumor microenvironment with BAD phosphorylation.
These findings have formed a foundation for several research projects described below.
1. Emotional stress and prostate cancer.
Almost two millennia ago, Galen observed that emotional stress may lead to cancer. However, results of modern-day epidemiological studies that address the connections between stress and cancer remain controversial. This controversy is largely due to the lack of mechanistic understanding of how stress could influence tumor development and therapy resistance.
While analyzing the anti-apoptotic network in prostate cancer, we have found that epinephrine (at concentrations observed after chronic emotional stress) protects prostate cancer cells from apoptosis via the PKA/BAD mechanism. Recent experiments show that injections of epinephrine or emotional stress counteract the anti-tumor effects of PI3K inhibitors on prostate cancer xenografts in mice. Based on these observations, we hypothesize that emotional stress activates anti-apoptotic signaling in prostate cancer cells and, as a result, contributes to the progression of prostate cancer and resistance of advanced prostate cancer to therapies. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it will provide a mechanistic explanation for the connection between emotional stress and cancer.
The project will be developed in the following directions: a) prostate cancer xenografts and a transgenic mouse model of prostate cancer will be used to test the role of emotional stress and depression in cancer development and therapeutic sensitivity; b) the signaling pathways activated by stress hormones and their role in apoptosis regulation will be analyzed; and c) stress hormone levels in prostate cancer patients and their responses to therapies will be assessed.
2) The role of BAD phosphorylation in prostate tumor development in vivo.
Use of a prostate cancer xenograft model and genetically modified mice are proposed in these experiments. For experiments with xenograft tumors, we generated C42Luc prostate cancer cells that express firefly luciferase and either wild-type BAD or BAD2SA with mutated phosphorylation sites. Growth of C42Luc xenografts was followed in live mice by noninvasive optical imaging. To test the role of BAD phosphorylation in mouse models of prostate cancer, genetically modified mice in which endogenous BAD is replaced by mutant BAD3SA (BAD3SA knock-in mice) will be bred with mice that develop prostate cancer due to prostate-restricted expression of PTENp-/- or c-myc. If expression of phosphorylation-deficient BAD prevents prostate cancer development, then signaling pathways that control BAD are plausible targets for anti-cancer therapy. Subsequent efforts will be focused on identification of kinases that control BAD in prostate cancer cells and testing effects of inhibition of these kinases on tumor growth.
3) Prostate tumor-targeted kinase inhibitors.
This interdisciplinary project provides a unique training opportunity by including all stages of drug discovery: computer modeling of drug-enzyme interaction (with biophysicist Dr. Freddie Salsbury), chemical synthesis of candidate drugs (with chemist Dr. Mark Welker); in vitro and invivo testing of synthesized drugs in mouse models of prostate cancer (with Dr. George Kulik). The goal is to synthesize prostate tumor-specific inhibitors of signaling pathways that control BAD phosphorylation and apoptosis. Prostate tumor specificity will be achieved by a) generating an inactive pro-drug activated by prostate tumor-secreted protease (PSA); and b) targeting pro-drug to prostate tumors by prostate-specific antibodies. Computer modeling will be used to analyze interactions between activated pro-drugs and target kinases; candidate pro-drugs selected based on this modeling will be synthesized and tested in vitro and in vivo using luminescent xenografts models of prostate cancer.


text:
Hailee Steinfeld: The Cab 'Endlessly' Video - Watch Now!
Hailee Steinfeld stars in the official video for The Cab's latest single "Endlessly"!
"I love this group. I love this song," the 15-year-old actress wrote on her Twitter account. "I hope you all love this video endlessly."
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Hailee Steinfeld
"'Endlessly' has always been a very special song for us, and we are so excited to be sharing the music video with you today," the band wrote on their official site. "It's such an honor and we feel so privileged to have Hailee Steinfeld be a part of this song, and a giant thank you to Elliott Sellers our amazing director. We may be biased, but this could very possibly be Hailee's greatest role so far."
Hailee Steinfeld: The Cab 'Endlessly' Music Video


text:
Do you agree to our Terms of Service and wish to continue? Your requested items will be sent to your account immediately.
We have update V-bucksfree.tk Fortnite generator today, many user has been success generated V-bucks and V-bucks for free.
Here, you can generate unlimited V-bucksfree.tk Fortnite Resources
and enjoy playing with your devices.
V-bucksfree.tk Fortnite Hack Team
> Connecting to the global server... Done
> Initializing exploit functions... Done
> Connecting to V-bucksfree.tk Fortnite database... Failed
> Retrying...
> Attempt (2) to connect to database... Done
> Attempt (1) to bypass the Security System... Buffering
> Attempt (2) to bypass the Security System... Done
> Sending requested amount of V-bucks to your account... Buffering
> Sending requested amount of V-bucks to your account... Done
> Sending requested amount of V-bucks to your account... Done
> Changing the packets in the database... Done
> Disconnecting from the global server... Done
> Disconnecting from the database... Done
> Shutting down exploit functions... Done
> Process was completed successfully.
Your hack almost done generate V-bucksfree.tk Fortnite resources. Just complete the captcha.
Waiting user verification completion
Loading activity...
The only thing you have to do is use our online generator. This generator saves you a lot of time as well as money. Thanks to the team of developers & hackers who managed to find some loopholes & exploit the server of V-bucksfree.tk Fortnite.


text:
Texas woman sentenced to life in starvation death
DALLAS (AP) — A North Texas jury on Wednesday sentenced a woman to life in prison for the 2011 starvation death of her 10-year-old stepson.
Elizabeth Ramsey, 33, must serve 30 years in prison before she becomes eligible for parole. The Dallas County jury imposed the sentence a day after taking less than an hour to find Ramsey guilty of intentional serious injury to a child in the death of Johnathan Ramsey.
Ramsey's husband, 35-year-old Aaron Ramsey, the father of the child, already is serving a life sentence in the death.
Prosecutors say the two locked the boy in his room, slowly starved him on a diet of bread and water, and dumped his emaciated body in a rural area south of Dallas in 2011. The body was found the next year in a creek.
Elizabeth Ramsey's attorneys had argued her husband kept her from reporting Johnathan's ordeal.
The boy's grandfather, Edward Ramsey, had contacted police early in 2012 to ask them to search for the child because he had not seen the boy for more than a year. The boy's biological mother, Judy Williams, and other relatives had not seen him for months. Williams lives in New Mexico and has custody of the couple's other son, according to relatives.
Police said Aaron and Elizabeth Ramsey initially said the boy had gone to live with his mother but later confessed to starving the boy.
According to police, Aaron Ramsey said he put his son on "military rations" because the boy began to misbehave early last year. Ramsey said the boy had punched his stepmother in the stomach when she was pregnant, causing a miscarriage. Ramsey said he hit Johnathan in the chest and then locked him in a bedroom, according to court records.
Jurors in Elizabeth Ramsey's trial heard testimony that Ramsey was not pregnant after all.
Johnathan was found lying on the bedroom floor in August, according to court records. Aaron Ramsey told detectives he changed his son into his favorite T-shirt, placed him in a sleeping bag and inserted a dryer sheet to mask the smell of his body, the records said.
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.


text:
It's a basic law of economics in the fitness industry. The market price of a personal training session, group exercise program or a standard fitness assessment is the intersection of member demand and a club owner's resources. When supply equals demand, prices move towards a fair price. But what happens when demand outweighs supply? Or when supply isn't exactly high quality? Fitness facility owners are dealing with this problem.
"It's hard to find good, quality trainers," says Mark Thom, vice president of fitness services at Life Time Fitness, Eden Prairie, MN. "You look at them on paper, and they meet qualifications, but those qualifications have to come to life. The practical application is the challenge."
The ability to find quality trainers may become even more difficult as more people turn to personal training services. Between 2004 and 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor projects a 27 percent or more increase in the employment of fitness workers.
This year, Life Time Fitness plans to hire 700 personal trainers, due to turnover and club growth. The club chain currently employs more than 1,200 personal trainers in its 60 centers in 13 states. Besides having an in-house program that prepares all its trainers, the company recruits recent four-year graduates.
Life Time Fitness is not alone in seeking four-year degreed trainers. An increasing number of fitness employers favor employees with a bachelor's degree in a field related to health or fitness in addition to a national certification, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although Life Time Fitness doesn't require its staff to have a four-year degree, the benefits of having one are evident, Thom says.
"We know a lot more about someone with a four-year degree because we know they've been in school four years, they're organized, they've managed their time, have a good work ethic, etc.," he says. "And that says a lot."
The issue for many club operators, though, isn't just finding personal trainers and other fitness staff with a four-year degree. It is finding the right employees. Many times the typical exercise science or physiology degree doesn't fully prepare students for the real health club world.
"The degrees are still too general. Some students never receive an opportunity to intern or work in a health-related facility," says Jasmine Jafferali, fitness and wellness manager at the East Bank Club in Chicago. "This makes the graduate vulnerable to experience that they never learn in a collegiate setting, such as customer service skills, interpersonal relationship skills and marketing, to name a few."
More than 35 degreed and certified fitness professionals conduct upwards of 1,000 personal training sessions each week at the 450,000-square-foot East Bank Club. Each trainer must have a four-year health-related degree and a specified certification. To work on the club floor, a degree isn't required but is preferred. Many times, the club hires candidates who are working towards their degree in exercise science, says Jafferali.
"We have to remember that we are still in the infancy in our industry, and there is still a lot of growth and change that needs to happen," she says.
Smart Start
A handful of universities are tapping into the demand for this type of education, including two Indiana schools: Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington and Purdue University in West Lafayette.
IU started its fitness specialist program in the fall of 2003. The 124-credit-hour program consists of four years of exercise science courses, 24 credit hours of core fitness classes (including fitness management) and 18 hours of electives, along with general education classes, off-campus field experiences and an internship. After completion, students leave with a bachelor of science through IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
"We've watched our number of students grow from 35 to 70 to 150-plus students," says Michelle Miller, IU fitness specialist degree coordinator. "It's almost bigger than we are."
The program is different from most.
"Students who want to major in fitness often begin in exercise science curriculums and find they want to work with people and not be scientists," says Carol Kennedy-Armbruster, lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology at IU. "At IU, we have accommodated for that by having a fitness specialist program 'within' the exercise science area of concentration where the students take the hard sciences, applied leadership and a fitness management class versus focusing only on the hard sciences."
Starting in the 2005 fall semester, Purdue began offering its undergraduates who were pursuing a health and fitness major a specialization in personal fitness training. While the health and fitness major focuses on the exercise physiology basics, the personal fitness trainer concentration covers topics related to aging, injury prevention, nutrition, business and marketing, and weight management. Purdue's students also participate in eight, six-week rotations in various locations such as commercial health clubs, as well as centers for cardiac rehabilitation, physical therapy, athletic training, senior fitness, children's fitness and worksite wellness. Now in its second year, about 30 students are enrolled in the program.
"By incorporating degrees emphasizing the skill sets that large health clubs to small personal training studios have been requesting for a number of years, not only will the students graduating from degree programs have better job opportunities, but also employers will be able to increase the value of their businesses by having a well trained and educated staff to design exercise programs for many members with different health concerns and goals, and to have employees who know how to implement the proper systems to administer and manage the business aspects of a health and fitness department," says Ken Baldwin, assistant director and program coordinator for Purdue's personal fitness training major.
Several groups have been interested in the Purdue program — fitness facilities looking to recruit graduates and universities interested in starting a program of their own, Baldwin says.
"In the last couple of years, I've had an opportunity to see colleges and universities interested in changing their degree programs to provide courses to students interested in careers in personal training and becoming a fitness professional," he says of his experience presenting lectures on developing degree programs for both two- and four-year institutions.
Other schools should consider offering this type of degree because the need is there, Kennedy-Armbruster says.
"Our industry needs to value it, encourage it and hire those that are getting degrees when it is possible," she says. "It will be a while before the supply of fitness professionals equals the demand. Right now, I believe the demand for professionals with a degree is higher than the supply, so often a non-degreed person fills that spot."
Though less intensive than a four-year program, two-year certificate programs are increasing in popularity, too. Olivia Templeton, faculty at the Glendale Community College's fitness and wellness department in Glendale, AZ, receives inquiries about the college's personal training certificate program from other schools looking to start a similar program. The community college started offering the certificate in the spring of 1990. Since then, more than 700 people have completed the program, which usually takes about two years because most students take classes on a part-time basis. The program is 13 credits and includes hands-on experience.
"There are always a few exceptions, but on the whole, the best trainers are the ones that have had training from a credible institution with educated instructors and lots of practical skills training," she says.
Head of the Class
Both degreed and non-degreed fitness professionals work at the North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC) Wellness Centers in Tupelo, MS. While some fitness instructors and personal trainers have degrees in physical education, fitness management and exercise science, some of the centers' fitness assistants and personal trainers don't have a degree, but they are certified.
"I think that our members are comfortable with both levels [of education]," says Hank Boerner, director of three NMMC Wellness Centers and president of the Medical Fitness Association. "It just depends on what they are looking for in a trainer. We charge the same for both."
Nationally, about 35 percent of Life Time Fitness' personal trainers are degreed. The company doesn't advertise its trainers' qualifications, but it does make their biographies available, although the public probably doesn't understand the different acronyms, Thom says.
However, education can elevate the effectiveness and safety of a workout that a personal trainer designs for a client, says Miller.
"Most clubs tend to have the philosophy that the more we know the more liable we can be," she says. "But what if we did have people out there with a higher level [of education]? It's what you can lose versus what you can gain."
Programs that focus on business and provide hands-on learning can also help club owners solve the dilemma of hiring a strictly business person or a fitness person, says Kennedy-Armbruster.
Better educated personal trainers may also indirectly equate to higher profits, better retention and drawing in new members, a possibility that some clubs reward their trainers for financially. Graduates from these programs will be paid more for one-on-one training and for their ability to manage departments and implement systems, Baldwin says.
However, pay can vary widely from one facility to another, Miller says.
"I would like to think of it in these terms — if five individuals are in line for a job, then our kids would move to the front due to their education and experience," she says.
After a six-month period, Life Time Fitness trainers with a four-year degree jump to a higher pay range than those with only a certification.
Four-year degrees may also help bridge the gap between the fitness industry and the medical community, possibly making insurance reimbursement more universal. Whenever any field becomes more professional and the knowledge base is raised within, it will get more respect from other professionals, says Kennedy-Armbruster.
"Of course, the other fact is that insurance companies and corporations have to value and invest in prevention, which is a long-term investment," she says. "This is often hard for businesses to do. However, due to the rising cost of health care, I think it is now becoming imperative to embrace prevention efforts and thus look for quality people to assist with these efforts."
Although it may be a while before the supply of degreed fitness professionals with practical and business knowledge meets the demand, many believe this higher level of education will eventually help fitness graduate to professional status.
"We need to raise the bar on how this profession is viewed," Thom says. "Experience is really the killer qualification."


text:
Package talk:Funtoo Newsletter/Communication
Hey guys I think that starting a Funtoo News letter or information source, an official Blog may suite our purposes better, would be a great idea for keeping the community informed about the things going on in the world of Funtoo. I think we could provide a lot of information once instead of answering the same questions over and over again. It would also be a good time to bring out the best that Funtoo has to offer. Here are just a few ideas that I have concerning frequency and content.
I think that it would be good to at least to start out with once a month and then as content increases to go to bi weekly or even based on the subject.
I think we should be real open handed about the subject matter but closed handed on the quality. What I mean by that is I think we should include things from developer interviews all the way to user reviews (maybe a Q&A section), and really anything that strikes our fancy and is Funtoo related. I also think that the quality of the content needs to be enforced. Maybe having a couple of people read each article or issue objectively and then say yeah this is good before we ship it out. Tell me what you guys think? Is this a Good Idea?


text:
Campus Calendar
Dean's Office Thursday Lunch
Date: Thursday, February 15th, 2018
Time: 11:30 am
Duration: 2 hours
Location: Weeks Lounge,
Pearsons Hall,
700 College St, Beloit, WI 53511
Sponsored by: Academic Affairs
Contact: Kathryn Johnson, firstname.lastname@example.com, x2667
Dean's Office Thursday Lunch for faculty and staff. Cost for lunch is $5.00; no RSVP is needed.
Event Admission Fee: $5.00


text:
'Breaking Bad': Take our pre-finale quiz
We feel your pain, "Breaking Bad" fans. The Emmy-winning drama completes its electrifying five-season run on Sunday (9 p.m. EDT, AMC) and we're going to deeply miss Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Skyler and the gang.
To mark the moment - and to rekindle some memories - we've compiled this quick, 10-question quiz about the show. Check it out, and while you're at it, have an A-1 day.
1. What is the plant Walt used to poison Brock?
A. Narcissus
B. Lily-of-the-valley
C. Black Nightshade
2. What is Walt's middle name?
A. Archibald
B. Matthew
C. Hartwell
3. What is the name of the boy Todd shot in the desert?
A. Drew Sharp
B. David Stewart
C. Donnie Solis
4. What is the model of Walt's original car?
A. 1987 Toyota Tercel
B. 2004 Pontiac Aztek
C. 2006 PT Cruiser
5. Before becoming Walt's partner, Jesse cooked his meth with what special ingredient?
A. Chili powder
B. A1 Steak Sauce
C. Oregano
6. What movie does Saul refer to when suggesting that Walt kill Jesse?
A. "The Godfather"
B. "Old Yeller"
C. "Mean Streets"
7. What book is Hank reading on the toilet when he gets his first clue that his brother-in-law is Heisenberg?
A. "Catcher in the Rye"
B. "Leaves of Grass"
C. "Heart of Darkness"
8. How much money did Walt have buried in the desert?
A. $80 million
B. $90 million
C. $120 million
9. The title of the pivotal episode, "Ozymandias," refers to what?
A. A special brand of blue-colored crystal meth
B. The chemical Walt uses to dispose of corpses
C. A poem by Percy Shelley
10. In a fortuitous twist of fate, "Breaking Bad" was set in Albuquerque, N.M., because of film-crew tax breaks. Where did creator Vince Gilligan originally intend to set it?
A. Riverside, Calif.
B. Tacoma, Wash.
C. Missoula, Mont.
1. B. Lily-of-the-valley; 2. C. Hartwell; 3. A. Drew Sharp; 4. B. 2004 Pontiac Aztek; 5. A. Chili powder; 6. B. "Old Yeller"; 7. B. "Leaves of Grass"; 8. A. $80 million; 9. C. A poem by Percy Shelley; 10. A. Riverside, Calif.
Chuck Barney: cbarneybayareanewsgroup.com


text:
20th Anniversary Spirit of Enterprise Dinner & Awards Ceremony
For 20 years, Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania has been recognizing significant business leaders and organizations. In celebration of two successful decades, the 20th Anniversary Spirit of Enterprise Dinner and Awards Ceremony took place at the Westin Convention Center Hotel. John Ryan of Mine Safety Appliances was awarded the Business Hall of Fame Laureate, Robert Randall of TRACO received the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award, American Eagle Outfitters was acknowledged as the Impact Company of the Year, and Maxwell King of the Heinz Endowments was recognized with the Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award. Photography by David Bachman.Read More
22 / 22


text:
You have the power to guarantee that our community continues to grow and thrive for years to come. Together we can care for those in need and inspire and engage Jews in our community, in Israel and around the world. On behalf of those your donation will touch, thank you.
We have several gift options to meet your needs:
Give Now to the Annual Campaign:
Make a payment online to the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater (UJFT) using your credit card. Why Give?
Make Your Pledge to the Annual Campaign:
Submit your pledge amount for the UJFT Annual Campaign, and we will bill you.
Support the Holocaust Commission:
The Holocaust Commission of the UJFT encourages teachers, students, and the community at large to apply the lessons of history to the moral decisions they make each day.
Tidewater Jewish Foundation (TJF) Giving Options:


text:
HONESDALE – When it came to promoting flu prevention, the staff of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) didn't simply encourage patients to roll up their sleeves. They led by example.
Nearly 100 percent of the organization's 140 physicians, nurses, medical assistants, front office and administrative staff were vaccinated themselves. Their efforts earned them state recognition from the PA Immunization Education Program, which awarded WMCHC a Certificate of Excellence from the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC).
The IAC informed WMCHC it was now officially on the group's Influenza Vaccination Honor Roll. According to the IAC, "the best way to prevent transmission of influenza to our patients is to mandate vaccination of healthcare personnel." A non-profit organization endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the IAC is committed to increasing immunizations rates through education of both healthcare professionals and the public.
As a clinical affiliate of Wayne Memorial Health System, WMCHC adopted Wayne Memorial Hospital's immunization policy for the 2013-2014 season requiring all employees to either be vaccinated or wear a mask while within close proximity of patients to prevent the spread of flu.
Kendra Waters, LPN, vaccine coordinator for WMCHC, attributed the success to effective teamwork including efforts by Judy Williams, PhD, MSN, MS, RN-BC. Williams completed an 80 hour externship with WMCHC focused on immunization projects while earning her Masters degree in nursing with an emphasis in public health. "Judy did so much not only to vaccinate, but also to provide education to the staff about the importance of vaccination." Waters elaborated that equally important was "the compliance of the staff and the plan set in place by WMCHC administration to provide all the vaccinations."
For more information on Influenza, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at www.cdc.gov.
HONESDALE – When it came to promoting flu prevention, the staff of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) didn't simply encourage patients to roll up their sleeves. They led by example.


text:
The nice woman pays her bill, right there in my office, placing $200 in cash on my coffee table. She exits. I count the cash. There are not 10 $20 bills. There are 11. I'm holding an extra $20.
I'm astonished by the thought that pops into my head as if you'd switched on a television. The thought is alien and unbidden. But it's there, too late to deny or excuse.
I'm $20 up. And she'll never know.
Whoa! Where did that come from? What am I thinking? A shadowy chill falls across me. I beeline out the door, across the waiting room and into the parking lot. I call her name, and hand her the bill. "Thank you," she says. As if I did her a favor.
Wrong. I did myself a favor. And I sit in my office for a few minutes, breathing through the experience. That was weird. I'm surprised by the random eruption of sordid thoughts and sometimes actions in me. What my religion calls my "sin nature."
It's there in me. In you, too. In everyone.
I enjoy thinking of myself as a good man. But I'm not good. Yes, I have goodness in me. But that's not to say I'm good. I have this other, relentless, competing identity, too. A nature entitled, hedonistic, self-preserving, frequently aggrandized, capable of blithe selfishness and disturbing disregard.
That's why, I'm sure, my father-figure, Rex, would so often say to me, "Character is what you have when no one is watching. When no one would ever know."
Last Sunday I told you the story of a television producer contacting me about a new docudrama about people leading double lives. I talked about how double lives tax our soul. Yet, I also observed the danger of reckless, undiscerning confession. Apparently the discussion has begun a ricochet in my mind. I'm still pondering the implications.
More than once in this space have I admired the traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous — The Twelve Steps. Alcoholics come to admit they are "powerless over alcohol," the first step but, really, that's pretty much the end of The Twelve Steps' focus on drinking. The rest of the journey is about developing a core spirituality. AA is like "spirituality for dummies," and I mean that as a high compliment.
I'm saying that, even if you're not an alcoholic, most people would do well to work some version of the steps.
When I think of my "sin nature," I think of how AA's Twelve Steps is dominated by Steps Four through Ten. This is the real guts of it. The rigor and work of it. Of any authentic spiritual path.
Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Translation? I told myself the truth about me. The unvarnished, unedited, undefended, unexplained unjustified, often unlovely TRUTH. We name it. We own it. This is freedom. Truth begets choices.
Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Now it's not a secret. Now it's in the light. It is always an honor when someone asks if I'll be the "other human being."
Step Six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Entirely ready. Yikes. The reason I recognize "sin nature" as sin nature is because that part of my identity hangs on for dear life to ideas and behaviors that are so obviously and measurably destructive and depleting to happiness. Mine and others.
Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
I cannot, by the mere power of my own will, decide, in every case, to stop desiring what is hurting me and others. This is the immutable reality of the human condition.
Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Ah, the list. Are you willing? I notice that, for some people on my list, just thinking about them makes me start to explain and justify my behavior. My "sin nature" believes deeply that my anger at these people is the only credential I require.
Step Nine: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
This is the deep wisdom of The Twelve Steps. I've told myself, God and another human being the truth. Step Nine demands we give pause, that we practice a sober discernment before we go running off at the mouth to everyone.
Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
And so on, now as a way of life. A good life.
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Las Vegas Psychiatry and the author of "Human Matters: Wise and Witty Counsel on Relationships, Parenting, Grief and Doing the Right Thing" (Stephens Press). His columns appear on Sundays. Contact him at 702-227-4165 or skalas@ reviewjournal.com.


text:
The general public may remember the Great Recession as the time when their wages were frozen, their retirement investments took a dive, and their brother was unemployed for two years. But for science, the memories will be of better solar panel technology, a leap toward an HIV vaccine, and a hive of robotic bees.
Those are some of the advances that were made when the government plunked megabucks into science while trying to reverse an economic downturn. In early 2009, with the nation's economy and morale zipped into a downward double helix, President Obama managed to propel a major spending package through the U.S. Congress. (Try to imagine that happening today without guffawing.) Of the $800 billion in stimulus funds, roughly a third went to tax cuts and another third to social services programs for the newly broke. The last third attempted to create jobs and invest in infrastructure and innovation by funding shovel-ready projects—or in the case of science, microscope-ready projects.
About $15 billion was distributed to researchers and labs in the sciences, and billions more were plowed into the young field of green energy. The money went in thousands of directions: The National Science Foundation bought itself a long-coveted Arctic research vessel. NASA spent $160 million designing its next-generation crewed space shuttle. Practically every research university in America landed new lab equipment. The cancer genome atlas was expanded. Electric vehicles were improved. Duck penises were measured.
Yes, it's true, duck penises were measured. (They're much longer than you might expect.) Also in the category of public funds stimulating the economy in ways that angered conservatives: a study on how men feel about condoms. Another that gave cocaine to monkeys. A third teaching South African men to wash their genitals after sex. (While these studies may sound frivolous, their authors said they were worth the investment because they contributed to crucial public health research. Or, in the case of duck genitalia, the studies provided insight into evolution and are just plain fascinating.)
For every scientific project that drew an askance look, there were many that even conservatives would begrudgingly grant should benefit the country in the long run: The world's largest photovoltaic solar plant and wind farm were financed. The nation's nuclear transuranic waste was relocated to better facilities. Research tested new treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease. One study followed thousands of pregnant women of varying ethnicities and will eventually establish new nationwide standards on fetal growth.
With a handful of exceptions, the stimulus grant money all had to be spent by this past Monday. Any unspent money must be returned to the government. The folks who worked under Vice President Biden to execute and oversee the stimulus have already moved on to other projects. The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board—the agency created to investigate the waste of stimulus dollars—is now mostly monitoring Hurricane Sandy spending instead.
Now that the stimulus has wound down, the question hangs: Did it stimulate? Naturally, the government says yes. The main goal of the stimulus was to create jobs, and it clearly did that—as many as 3.3 million of them in its first two years, according to the Congressional Budget Office—although whether it did so efficiently enough has been the subject of robust debate among economists.
The stimulus also had the secondary and somewhat more amorphous goal of spurring advances in science and health care. Did it do that? So far, answers to that question have been piecemeal, mostly focusing on the efficacy of individual programs.
But the agencies that received and doled out the funds say the results speak for themselves. The National Institutes of Health, which received more than $10 billion in recovery funds, point to new strategies for the treatment of alcoholism, better approaches to combat childhood obesity, the isolation of the gene that causes the debilitating Kabuki syndrome, and a new national database for autism research—all of which owe their existence to the recovery funds.
Sally Rockey, deputy director for extramural research at NIH, says the stimulus grants created an average of six to seven jobs each, but that the real legacy of the stimulus will be research that improves the health of people around the world.
"That benefit that may not be measurable right now, but it will certainly be measurable in the future," Rockey says.
Had the projects not been funded by the government through the stimulus, it's possible they wouldn't have been funded for quite a while, says Michael Grunwald, author of The New New Deal, a book about the creation and influence of the stimulus bill. In 2009, investors and venture capitalists were in wait-and-see mode, and corporate America dropped much of its research budget.
"So not only was this the biggest one-time investment in science since World War II, but it was an increase instead of a massive decrease," Grunwald says.
The infusion of cash for research allowed the government to take on some edgier science than the safe bets it usually spends public dollars on. And while those higher-risk projects didn't all pan out, some did in big ways.
For example, a machine built on the untested premise of a new archaeological dating technique is exactly the kind of thing that wouldn't normally get funded, says archaeologist Carl Lipo at California State University–Long Beach. At best, a project like that would be told to come back with more preliminary research in hand, he said. Instead, Lipo's team landed a $300,000 grant to build a machine that would test rehydroxylation, a recently conceived method of dating prehistoric ceramics by measuring how much water weight they've gained over time. The researchers are still refining the method, but thanks to the grant, they were able to quickly make progress in transforming the theory into practice.
"There's so little money in archaeology that they never fund risky stuff," says Lipo. "But they had this windfall and needed to spend it, so we were able to try something entirely new and outside the box, something that had this groundbreaking potential. And ultimately that's where the big returns are—when you take some risk."
These high-risk investments were even more common in green energy. The stimulus funded a new agency to steer federal money into potentially transformational new technology. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, modeled after the maverick defense research agency DARPA, would fund only projects that could potentially revolutionize energy, says Grunwald.
"That's their whole mantra, that they're not looking for incremental improvements—game-changers only," Grunwald says. "They knew some of it wasn't going to work, but if some of it did, it would have a major impact in getting us away from fossil fuels."
So obsessed was the agency with fostering innovation that it created an entirely new scientific discipline, electrofuels, on the idea that it might be possible to make biofuel without photosynthesis. They wrote up a request for proposals and got interest from researchers from all over science. Two years later, the head of ARPA-E was holding a vial of electrofuel, Grunwald says.
"There's still all kinds of questions about if it can scale up, but it definitely works," he says. "And it was just this crazy idea that a couple of these bureaucrats had."
Another crazy idea came out of Johns Hopkins University, where cosmologist Charles Bennett conceived of a telescope that could detect ripples in gravity. If it succeeds, it would substantiate inflation theory—the idea that the universe expanded from infinitesimal to astronomical in its first trillionth of a trillionth of a second.
Like most other researchers who received government funding after the recession, Bennett can't say whether his group would have received the grant even without the windfall stimulus dollars.
"The fact that they had a considerable bit of extra money to give away certainly helped the odds," he says. "There's no doubt there's a good deal of extra science that's being accomplished because of the stimulus."
So exactly how much extra science? What quantity of innovation was induced by that big dose of public funds? And was it worth the extra public debt? Those are fuzzy questions, and we may never have adequate answers to them.
On the other hand, thanks to the stimulus, we may finally answer the question of what happened in the universe's first trillionth of a trillionth of a second.
Read the rest of Slate's coverage of the government shutdown.


text:
Accessibility tools
Service tools
Language selector
Navigation path
Left navigation
Additional tools
European Commission
Press release
Brussels, 21 March 2013
Environment: Commission takes Belgium to Court over untreated urban waste water
The European Commission is concerned that Belgium is failing to protect its citizens from the effects of untreated urban waste water. Despite earlier reminders from the Commission, a number of towns in Belgium are still failing to comply with European norms. Discharge of untreated urban waste water is a threat to human health and the environment. In an effort to urge Belgium to speed up its actions in this area, the Commission is therefore taking Belgium to the EU Court of Justice, on the recommendation of Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik.
Under an EU law agreed back in 1991, Member States had to have in place a system for collecting urban waste water from agglomerations of between 2,000 and 15,000 inhabitants by 31 December 2005. They also had to ensure that water entering collection systems undergoes "secondary" treatment to remove pollutants, to prevent them from being discharged into the sea or freshwater. The Commission first raised the issue of Belgium's compliance with the legislation in 2007, and a letter of formal notice was sent in 2009. This was followed by a reasoned opinion in 2011, indicating that 67 small towns in the Flemish and Walloon regions were still not connected to a suitable sewage system, and 116 small towns in these regions lacked secondary treatment facilities.
The situation has since improved somewhat, and according to the latest information available to the Commission, 4 agglomerations in the Flanders region do not comply with the Directive, while 33 in the Walloon region are falling short of their obligations. But according to current projection, full compliance will not be achieved until 2015, a decade after the deadline. The Commission is therefore taking Belgium to Court.
Agglomerations (towns, cities, settlements) across the European Union are required to collect and treat their urban waste water under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Untreated waste water can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and viruses and thus presents a risk to public health. It also contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous which can damage freshwaters and the marine environment by promoting excessive growth of algae that chokes other life, a process known as eutrophication. The Directive requires Member States to ensure that collecting systems are provided for smaller agglomerations which generate waste water equivalent to between 2,000 and 15,000 inhabitants by 2005.
It should be noted that while the present case is restricted to small agglomerations, Belgium also has problems with larger agglomerations. A case on large agglomerations –including Brussels-capital – is at a more advanced stage, and is now before the EU Court of Justice for the second time (Case number C-533/11).
For more information
See also:
On the March infringement package decisions, see MEMO/13/261
On the general infringement procedure, see also MEMO/12/12
Side Bar


text:
Rickus Lab
The Rickus Lab is located in the Bindley Bioscience Center at Purdue University.
Please also visit our Rickus Lab Websiteand the Physiological Sensing Facility Website
Physiological Sensing Facility
- Current List of Members
- Calendar for Reserving Multi-User Equipment
- New Members of the PSF:
- Location and Usage
In order to work in the PSF in the Bindley Bioscience Center you must first fulfill safety requirements.
Please click on the Safety link below and follow the instructions for New Lab Members. Be sure to document any safety training that you have received at the university either through an organized program or through your PI. After completing this safety section, alert Dr. Rickus so that she may review your documented safety training and identify any specific gaps.
- You must fulfill all safety requirements before working in the labs. See Safety Wiki for details.
Internal Lab Resources
- Rickus Lab Meeting Schedule
- Ordering Supplies
- Lab Duties
- Lab Protocols
- Useful References
- FlexStation II Users
Purdue iGEM
- 2008 Purdue iGEM official wiki
- 2008 Purdue iGEM OWW wiki
- Purdue Chapter of IBE OWW wiki
- Registry of Standard Biological Parts
References for Fundamental Design Principles in Synthetic Biology [Designing and engineering evolutionary robust genetic circuits JBE 2010]
- ABE 495 Honors Synthetic Life
- Nonlinear Dynamics in Biological Systems
- The Neuronal Biointerface CLA
- Biol 295F Quantitative Biology of the Living Cell. This class is no longer being offered.
Biological Engineering Internship and Job Opportunities
note that links are below, however, your best chances are rarely through websites.
- Institute of Biological Engineering Career Resources
- DowAgroSciences contact Dr. Rickus if interested
- J. Craig Venter Institute JVCI
- Genzyme
- Merck
- GenScript
- MIT Lincoln Labs look for their callouts on campus!
Undergraduate Scholarship Links
Graduate Fellowship Links
- Epilepsy Pre-doctoral Fellowships August deadline
Research Grant Links
- Epilepsy Foundation Research Grant August deadline
- [1] or [2] Epilepsy New Therapy Grants August deadline
- NSF Biomaterials Sept/Oct deadline
- ACS Institutional Grants for Junior Faculty (Purdue) October deadline
- Indiana CTSI Collaboration in Biomedical/Translational Research Pilot Program Grants Fall Deadline
- McKnight Foundation Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards letter of intent due December
- Advanced Neural Prosthetics Research and Development (U01)


text:
How Can You Protect Yourself From Bird-Flu?
China is killing all poultry at a Shanghai market as the bird-flu death toll rose to six people. Dr. Leo Poon of the University of Hong Kong tells us more about the newest strain of the virus.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... a new strain of bird flu in China has already claimed the lives of six people ... as the government moves quickly to prevent any further outbreak of the virus ... with me to discuss that today is after the Opel an ... associate professor of health at the University of Hong Kong ... the Shipman thank so much for joining us today ... tell me ... that the biggest question is how deadly is this new strain of the virus that they've discovered in China ... aam ... it is quite useful um and so far we have fourteen the court cases and six of them time to seize on this so um this is the view that Nico is much most of it then goes to the notion that inference of infection ... and the question is is that Annie's governments doing enough to try and contain ... the spread of this virus ... I think they have some of what they can do because at the moment on the six of them are as he's not that he filled in portrait ... so if they don't begin the package ... but the impact of the deal also signs that have not ... had would cut the rate in social fall so I he's quick Ithaca detected ... on an island and not to act to be tracing the source and now defunct out of PGN may be one of that area so aam none of them are on the spending have things ... to do some ... spending of policy and to try to remove this also the virus ... the question is is this a human to human contestable virus or is it just killing two birds ... so far there's no direct evidence to indicate that that piece of human physical and human transmission ... aam of course we cannot exclude the possibility of the moment and I think what we need to de stress after the tasting Coast people want what the horse ... was content ... it goes the patient to see that they have a new sign off infection ... and nine ... perhaps they may also have to undergo some of the Gnostic SNC but that they have any idea infection publication ... office of the moment not Guinea at the moment ... what kind of people at the greatest risk of contracting this disease as a people who actually deal with the poultry ... and can you get from eating poultry ... aam ... aam ... this awful awful goes public ... the truth ... aam Devi recipe to it and it's not in fashion so you say to keep ... an become a public office with and that they would not have the possibly keep on top like infection ... aam ... but what would you say the use of the virus on ... top ... he's become fond of doubt ... the stars to fall in the gym and maybe passing of the poultry so aam ... go school with ... the Democrats much at all of those who handle these poetry pool ... with a higher base ... and facilities out of these factors ... and what's the risk of this ... disease with this virus spreading beyond China at the moment ... aam has a set that's Nolan ... after the assault on human to human transmission of these pieces moderate patients ... ALM so aam ... but right now I think the of the major source of the viruses coming home poetry ... aam some ... EP ten able to control it to PCs socking poultry than zombie may be able to limit the spread they added ... of course the borrows is so unpredictable and that may have caught in a quiet ... on mutations than did that that the human cost institution human human transmission ... I'm that that the ALM that that the sustenance ... wonderful thank you so much for joining Dr Neil Cohen ... professor of public health at the University of Hong Kong ... for more in the store in for updates throughout the weekend is that it WS J dot com ... for Asia Today Ahmadi the Sanchanta


text:
How Cutting-Edge Technology & Science Are Powering The Future TPM Idealab
Lockheed Starts Using Virtual Reality To Test New Products
"You can virtually model anything," said Lockheed Martin spokesman Michael Friedman. "The lab is versatile enough that it can be leveraged for any of our programs."
But Jeff D. Smith, director of Lockheed Martin's special projects, does see why people would equate the CHIL project with the Hollywood version.
"This technology is being used in the movie industry, and that's kind of fictitious," said Smith in a video introducing the facility. "But this isn't fictitious. This is real."
That's as close as the company will get to calling CHIL a real-world holodeck.
The facility, the company said, is about cost-cutting initiatives -- but details about the company's investment in the facility are sparse. "This is about driving affordability of our products through using this virtual capability before we create it physically," said Smith.
Using motion tracking and virtual reality technology, CHIL lets engineers explore and troubleshoot products prior to the actual production process. The first project CHIL is being used for is the Air Force's GPS III system -- a $1.46 billion project Lockheed Martin was awarded in early 2008 that is touted as the "next-generation" GPS.
It's also expected to be used to test NASA's Orion project -- a space commuter vehicle that could take astronauts to the International Space Station, the moon or Mars.
CHIL has countless applications, Lockheed Martin believes, including testing space systems, satellites, launch vehicles and missile defense systems.
"Essentially, the idea is that its easier to move electrons than it is to move molecules," said Friedman.


text:
Construction has begun on U.S. Highway 90/State Road 10, from the east end of the Apalachicola River Bridge to Madison Street.
Motorists can expect intermittent lane closures to occur during construction. The $11.4 million project includes milling, resurfacing, drainage and sidewalk improvements, new signage and pavement markings.
All driveways will be maintained and open during all phases of construction.
Peavy and Son Construction Company Inc. of Havana is the prime contractor on this 330-day project.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Gadsden County Times, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


text:
And now, the bicycle jetpack
A cyclist hits the road with the Thrustpac – a petrol-driven propeller which enables bicycle users to hit speeds of up to 130kph (80mph).
The device is controlled by a special glove which allows the rider to accelerate or slow down simply by flexing their index finger.
Inventor Don Burgess said it can do 240km (150 miles) to the gallon, making it one of the most-fuel efficient modes of transport. Except, you know, actually cycling.
'This is a totally unique concept in the transportation world today,' said Burgess.
'The freedom from high fuel prices, the absolute fun of the wind in your hair while being pushed along effortlessly is amazing. Saving the environment has never been so much fun.'
What could possibly go wrong?


text:
Edward Bellamy
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) was an American novelist.
Dr. Heidenhoff's Process (1880)[edit]
- Forgiving sins, I should have known, is not blotting them out. The blood of Christ only turns them red instead of black. It leaves them in the record. It leaves them in the memory.
- Ch. 1.
- A sense of utter loneliness—loneliness inevitable, crushing, eternal, the loneliness of existence, encompassed by the infinite void of unconsciousness—enfolded him as a pall. Life lay like an incubus on his bosom. He shuddered at the thought that death might overlook him, and deny him its refuge.
- Ch. 2.
- No girl, however coolly her blood may flow, can be pressed to a man's breast, wildly throbbing with love for her, and not experience some agitation in consequence. Whatever may be the state of her sentiments, there is a magnetism in such a contact which she cannot at once throw off. That kiss had brought her relations with Henry to a crisis. It had precipitated the necessity of some decision. She could no longer hold him off, and play with him. By that bold dash he had gained a vantage-ground, a certain masterful attitude which he had never held before. Yet, after all, I am not sure that she was not just a little afraid of him, and, moreover, that she did not like him all the better for it.
- Ch. 3.
- The most dangerous lovers women have are men of Cordis's feminine temperament. Such men, by the delicacy and sensitiveness of their own organizations, read women as easily and accurately as women read each other. They are alert to detect and interpret those smallest trifles in tone, expression, and bearing, which betray the real mood far more unmistakably than more obvious signs.
- Ch. 4.
- But one thing it opened her eyes to, and made certain from the first instant of her new consciousness, namely, that since she loved him she could not keep her promise to marry him.
- Ch. 8.
- Why, when the world gets to understand about it I expect that two men or two women, or a man and a woman, will come in here, and say to me, 'We have quarrelled and outraged each other, we have injured our friend, our wife, our husband; we regret, we would forgive, but we cannot, because we remember. Put between us the atonement of forgetfulness, that we may love each other as of old.
- Ch. 11.
- The difference between the past and present selves of the same individual is so great as to make them different persons for all moral purposes. That single fact we were just speaking of—the fact that no man would care for vengeance on one who had injured him, provided he knew that all memory of the offence had been blotted utterly from his enemy's mind—proves the entire proposition. It shows that it is not the present self of his enemy that the avenger is angry with at all, but the past self. Even in the blindness of his wrath he intuitively recognizes the distinction between the two.
- Ch. 11.
Looking Backward, 2000-1887 (1888)[edit]
- Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. the idea of indefinite progress in a right line was a chimera of the imagination, with no analogue in nature. The parabola of a comet was perhaps a better illustration of the career of humanity. Tending upward and sunward from the aphelion of barbarism, the race attained the perihelion of civilization only to plunge downward once more to its nether goal in the regions of chaos.
- Ch. 1.
- Hold the period of youth sacred to education, and the period of maturity, when the physical forces begin to flag, equally sacred to ease and agreeable relaxation.
- Ch. 6.
- Buying and selling is essentially antisocial.
- Ch. 9.
- The nation guarantees the nurture, education, and comfortable maintenance of every citizen from the cradle to the grave.
- Ch. 9.
- When you come to analyze the love of money which was the general impulse to effort in your day, you find that the dread of want and desire of luxury was but one of several motives which the pursuit of money represented; the others, and with many the more influential, being desire of power, of social position, and reputation for ability and success.
- Ch. 9.
- Badly off as the men...were in your day, they were more fortunate than their mothers and wives.
- Ch. 11.
- [I]f we could have devised an arrangement for providing everybody with music in their homes, perfect in quality, unlimited in quantity, suited to every mood, and beginning and ceasing at will, we should have considered the limit of human felicity already attained, and ceased to strive for further improvements.
- Ch. 11.
- An American credit card...is just as good in Europe as American gold used to be.
- Ch. 13.
- Equal wealth and equal opportunities of culture...have simply made us all members of one class.
- Ch. 14.
- If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a close second.
- Ch. 18.
- Your system was liable to periodical convulsions...business crises at intervals of five to ten years, which wrecked the industries of the nation.
- Ch. 22.
- On no other stage are the scenes shifted with a swiftness so like magic as on the great stage of history when once the hour strikes.
- Author's postscript.
- Looking Backward was written in the belief that the Golden Age lies before us and not behind us.
- Author's postscript.
About Bellamy[edit]
- "Progress" is for the convinced ochlocrats a consoling Utopia of madly increased comfort and technicism. This charming but dull vision was always the pseudoreligious consolation of millions of ecstatic believers in ochlocracy and in the relative perfection and wisdom of Mr. and Mrs. Averageman. Utopias in general are surrogates for heaven; they give a meager solace to the individual that his sufferings and endeavors may enable future generations to enter the chiliastic paradise. Communism works in a similar way. Its millennium is almost the same as that of ochlocracy. The Millennium of Lenin, the Millennium of Bellamy, the Millennium as represented in H. G. Wells's, "Of Things to Come," the Millennium of Adolf Hitler and Henry Ford — they are all basically the same; they often differ in their means to attain it but they all agree in the point of technical perfection and the classless or at least totally homogeneous society without grudge or envy.
- Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn writing under the pen name Francis Stewart Campbell (1943), Menace of the Herd, or, Procrustes at Large, Milwaukee, WI: The Bruce Publishing Company, pp. 35-36


text:
Release Date: 1993 |
Album Rating: 4.5First review in some time for me. Feel free to rip it apart.
Lets face it.
Aside from that, review is ok. I would remove the "recommended tracks" section towards the end though.
I never understood why anyone would do them.
Album Rating: 5.0"last few tracks aren't as strong as the first"
My favourite tracks off the album are "Crimes Against Skin", and "Who Gave Her the Roses" - from the
2nd half.
EHG deserves more attention and higher average ratings.
Anyway, pos'd.
good review, voted as such.
Album Rating: 4.0I don't know what it is, but this just doesn't have the same affect on me as Acid Bath or Crowbar.
Lets face it.
its Bower's soulful melodies
Its hard to sit here
Pretty good review aside from those minor grammar things. I think I'm gonna avoid this hahaha
Album Rating: 4.0"Feedback, bloody feedback."
I don't know what it is, but this just doesn't have the same affect on me as Acid Bath or Crowbar.
Album Rating: 4.0crowbar is mad homo
crowbar named themsleves after a tool that looks like a dick cause thats what they like, they like dicks
Album Rating: 4.5Acid Bath and Crowbar are completely different animals.
Let's face it. Most people will cringe within the first 30 seconds of this record. A drawn-out ring of feedback followed by a long agonizing groan. This is ugly music, made by ugly people, for ugly people.
Let's face it, most people will cringe within the first 30 seconds of this record. A drawn-out ring of feedback followed by a long agonizing groan. This is ugly musi, made by ugly people for ugly people.
This is just an example of how to clean up some of the punctuation throughout. Good review and pos'.
Album Rating: 4.5i downloaded this a little while ago but never listened to it because my computer's power supply decided to take a shit. i wanna hear this now
Album Rating: 4.5Thanks Wiz. I'll work on that.
@demigod- You should check out Southern Discomfort as well. I wanted to review that, but I thought that this needed a review first.
Album Rating: 4.0
Acid Bath and Crowbar are completely different animals.
Album Rating: 4.5Soilent Green is even more out of place, except for the fact that they're from New Orleans.
Lets go ahead and add Goatwhore and Pantera while we're at it.
soilent green sucs why are you people mentioning crappy bands in a thread dedicated to a good one
Album Rating: 4.0Not sure why I never listened to this album by these guys, but I've only heard Blank so far and it's heavy as fuck.
Digging: The Vandals - Hitler Bad, Vandals Good
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


text:
Please welcome Victoria James to the virtual offices today. She's here to chat about her holiday themed romance The Billionaire's Christmas Baby.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] Describe yourself in 140 characters or less.
[Victoria James] Mom, wife, daughter, writer, entrepreneur. I'm loyal, optimistic, a total sap, and a dreamer. Oh, and coffee addict.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] Can you tell us a little about The Billionaire's Christmas Baby?
[Victoria James] Jackson Pierce had a perfect childhood-until a death changed everything. The tragedy shattered his family, and he grew to hate the holidays, and everything that reminded him of the people he had lost. Hannah Woods, the woman who is about to challenge all his beliefs, grew up with nothing, with no one. And yet, it is Hannah who teaches him the importance of family ties, and the power of forgiveness. Somehow, the two of them must overcome their pasts and find a way to be the family that both of them secretly desire…
[Manga Maniac Cafe] How did you come up with the concept and the characters for the story?
[Victoria James] A few years ago, surrounded by my extended family, I started wondering about how much of who I was today was shaped by the people around me. I had always known the love of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins. But what if I hadn't? How would that have changed me? And that thought triggered the characters in THE BILLIONAIRE'S CHRISTMAS BABY. How would different people react to the holidays if they didn't have a family? If they had no one? Would they build walls around themselves? Or would they be in a perpetual search for a soul-mate, for love? The hero and heroine that took shape in my mind became larger than life. Their pain, their need for acceptance and unconditional love tugged at my heartstrings until I was forced to find a way to create a happily-ever-after for the three of them! And of course, it would have to take place during the holidays!
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What three words best describe Hannah?
[Victoria James] Hannah is determined, gutsy, and optimistic.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] If Jackson had a theme song, what would it be?
[Victoria James] Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor. LOL.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] Name one thing Hannah won't leave the house without.
[Victoria James] Her BlackBerry. It's her connection to her job-and she takes her career as a social worker very seriously.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What three things will you never find in Jackson's pockets?
[Victoria James] Cigarettes, pictures of his family, anything Christmas related.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What is Jackson's greatest regret?
[Victoria James] Not reconciling with his sister.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What are your greatest creative influences?
[Victoria James] Everything around me. I'm one of those people in a crowd who watches and observes-I'm not the talker or the life of the party. I love people-watching and often I get swept away by a scenario or a face, and a whole new story emerges! People's unique life journeys intrigue me. And I'm always inspired by people's real-life stories.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What three things do you need in order to write?
[Victoria James] Coffee, a quiet space, my laptop.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What is the last book that you read that knocked your socks off?
[Victoria James] OK-don't laugh (well, a little giggle is fine, I guess): Llama Llama Holiday Drama. Seriously, if you have small children you must get this book. I loved all the Llama Llama books, and this one is just so sweet and funny, I love reading it…with the kids, of course.
[Manga Maniac Cafe] If you had to pick one book that turned you on to reading, which would it be?
[Victoria James] Well, we're going back many years here, but I think the first books were the Laura Ingalls Wilder books…and in my genre, once I was older, it was Judith McNaught. I fell in love with her historical books, her heroes and heroines. I was a total historical-romance junkie for years!
[Manga Maniac Cafe] What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
[Victoria James] Mostly family stuff. We have small children and it seems like there's always something going on! But when I'm not doing 'kid-stuff' I'm putting my interior design background to use-I'm always rearranging furniture and pictures in our house. I still do freelance work as well. I love seasonal decorating. Basically, I drive my husband nuts, because he hates change…and thing are always changing!
[Manga Maniac Cafe] How can readers connect with you?
Visit Victoria James: www.victoriajames.ca
Twitter: @vicjames101
Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-James/412431258807271
[Manga Maniac Cafe] Thank you!
You can order The Billionaire's Christmas Baby from your favorite bookseller or by clicking the link below
About The Billionaire's Christmas Baby:
Jackson Pierce didn't make his fortune entertaining every half-cocked idea, especially one involving diaper changes. Not even the cute brunette who links him to the baby in her arms can crack his icy heart.
A baby on the doorsteps is the least of Hannah Woods problems–she has to find the baby's uncle, or the child will end up in foster care. She sleuths her way to the reclusive CEO's doorstep only to find six feet of holiday sexy–and a door slammed in her face. But when Jackson comes around, and urges they marry for little Emily's sake, Hannah finds herself falling for the jaded billionaire and wishing for a holiday miracle of their own…
About Victoria James:
Victoria James is a romance writer living near Toronto, Canada. Victoria is a mother to two young children, and one very disorderly feline. Victoria attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and graduated with a degree in English Literature, where she met and then later married, her own hero. After Queen's, Victoria earned a degree in Interior Design. After the birth of her first child she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing. Her dream of being a published romance author was realized last February, 2012, when Entangled Publishing bought her manuscript. Victoria is living her dream-staying home with her children and conjuring up happy endings for her characters.