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As I sat in my 400-person lecture, I scavenged across the deepest craters of my imagination for just about anything to distract me. It was 11:20 a.m., which meant I still had 45 minutes to endure. I laid out my options: pay attention and do well, read something interesting or get up and leave. The first and the third option required too much effort for a lazy college student like me, so interesting reading would have to suffice.
I began on Buzzfeed.com and soon realized why I don't read BuzzFeed articles. Then I took a jab at Twitter, but nothing "big" happened that morning so good tweets ran few and far between. Eventually, I diverted my attention to what's praised as the holy mecca of modern journalism: The New York Times. What I saw when I scrolled across the opinion section reminds me of my first semester at college: overwhelming and too much politics.
Let's face it: American society thrives off partisan divide and breaking news stories, so expecting any less from one of the leading publications is just unrealistic. Granted this realization, what I did not expect to see was 17 articles relating to American politics. Of the most recent opinion pieces, 17 of 20 had been written with a "fresh new take" on the dead-beaten horse that is our political climate. Did I accidentally click on the politics or the world tab? Are my eyes lying to me?
No. I clicked on opinion and my eyes told nothing but the truth. Before President Trump came into office, opinion pieces ventured much less into the realm of politics and more into engaging topics and studies, like this opinion piece about one man's struggle to overcome his addiction with money, drugs and alcohol; or this one, about a physician's experience diagnosing others with cancer until he realized it was him who needed diagnosing.
The opinion section should serve as a platform for expressing individuality through storytelling and captivating experiences. Now, it's just another breeding ground for political disputes. As if the politics section wasn't enough room to argue, disputes that continue to polarize liberals and conservatives have spilled over into the world of opinions, where no one is wrong and no one is right; nobody wins.
The contention is good, to a degree, as well as inevitable. As long as there is free press there is disagreement, and it is our duty as journalists to write articles that promote learning something new instead of force-fed opinions to those who already agree. Furthermore, we as both journalists and media consumers must go to greater lengths just to read something new and creative.
Publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal break their opinion sections up into different categories like business and cultural commentary in an attempt to divert readers from the other widely trafficked pages. This is an issue because the people who need to read something new and creative the most are the people least likely to seek out the fine print that separates the general opinion section from the business opinion section. It shouldn't be a hassle to make journalism appealing.
Some may argue that the life and arts and sports sections are all the same too. Why is this guy ripping apart the opinion section for doing what every other section does? To this, I say it's not the same at all. The life and arts and sports sections exist in a vacuum; the content published in these sections stays in these sections. There's not nearly as much overlap regarding politics in fashion articles as there is in general-opinion articles.
The opinion sections of these major publications need to be making room for more nuanced topics that don't have a place to succeed elsewhere. Arts and life, although producing more broad content than the politics and opinion sections, still has a structure to follow. Each published article relates to arts and life, nothing that's too bold and content that's easy to digest. Opinion pieces have the potential to be bold, make a statement no matter how outward, support it with evidence and a strong claim and let the feedback roll in. Let's make the opinion section interesting again.
Class ended a bit early that day, at 12 p.m. instead of 12:05 p.m., and I couldn't wait to write this all down. I thought about how uniform the news has become and noted a couple of articles I wanted to read later. There was one covering everything you missed at the 92nd Oscars and an article about a former football player turned corn hole professional. All this distracted reading and I found myself leaving the lecture hall with a notebook devoid of notes and a mind pervasive with journalistic wonder. I thought to myself, "Yeah, I'd like to read something new again."
Maxwell Schwartz is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].


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opportunity remedy, like the phrase implies is a form of drugs this is distinct from the popularly recognised one. it is an opportunity to what is practised by using the medical shape of medicine. it's miles more like an art instead of a technology. yet in lots of populations round the sector, it's miles regarded to have existed for over 5000 years.
it's miles the shape of drugs that our high-quality-first rate-grand-mother and father relied on before medical medicine got here to be. medical remedy appears to have kicked the older shape of medicine out of the way. but for the beyond decade, it appears human beings have been relying increasingly on opportunity medication to cope with their disorder. a few articles are virtually talking approximately a rise in that form of medication.
there are numerous sorts of opportunity remedy: Acupressure, Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, chinese language medicine, Chiropractic, natural medicinal drug, Homeopathy, Hydrotherapy, massage therapy, music remedy, Naturopathic, Reflexology, Reiki, Tai Chi, Yoga.
each of them may work primarily based on a distinct philosophy. most of these philosophies do now not but have any clinical proof. It seems to paintings very well with some patients. In different instances it doesn't seem to have any effect. One famous case is the one of the famous Steve Jobs. After being identified with cancer, he determined to rely upon alternative remedy to heal despite the fact that his doctors cautioned he alternatively undergo a surgery.
After 9 months of relying of opportunity remedy the most cancers got worse and spread via different organs. He ended up taking the surgical treatment but the medical doctors had to eliminated positive organs that were given inflamed because the most cancers unfold to them. a few critics are clearly the usage of this reality to support the concept that, if Steve Jobs had taken the surgical treatment in advance on, he ought to have lived a piece longer.
yet the variety of sufferers that rely on alternative remedy appears to boom every year, why is that? The reality is there are a few illnesses which have now not yet found any remedy for, in medical medication and appear to have located a solution for, in alternative medicinal drug.
decrease returned pains is known to be solved with chiropractic doctors. a number of ladies with childbirth issues claim they have been capable of get pregnant with the help of a medical doctor in acupuncture. Early research in aromatherapy and important oils appears to signify that it speeds up the recovery process of the body. it's far acknowledged that folks that practice yoga or tai chi have a tendency to get ill lots much less frequently as compared to folks who do no longer practice those things.
Is alternative medication better than scientific medicine?
opportunity medicinal drug is tons primarily based on finding the basis motive of the hassle the affected person goes via than just seeking to take away it. scientific medication is tons extra based totally on locating the symptoms causing the contamination then prescribing the desired drugs or surgical operation to remedy the trouble.
each method are neither precise nor horrific. mostly of thumb, the novel medication can be used to preserve fashionable health but when it comes to extreme cases it is always advisable to touch a traditional medical doctor. a brand new shape of medicine been born referred to as integrative remedy has a tendency to mix the 2, making the first-class out of the 2 faculty of notion.
research is still ongoing as to how the special styles of alternative medical technique paintings. The future will deliver us a better concept of what is really happening with opportunity medicinal drug.

subset: commoncrawl


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If you've reached this year without taking advantage of influencer marketing for your app, it's time to rethink your strategy.
Mobile apps are proliferating with no signs of slowing down, which means that your competition is becoming increasingly fierce. You could be tracking all the right app metrics, implementing the most savvy app store optimization strategies, and still find yourself struggling, simply because the market is so oversaturated.
To stand out in such a crowd, you need smarter marketing strategies.
Enter: influencer marketing.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a strategy that enlists individual "influencers" to promote your app to their social media (and sometimes blog/website) follower base.
Combining traditional word-of-mouth with newer platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, influencer marketing allows you to get in front of thousands or even millions of potential users who might never have seen your app otherwise.
In addition to reaching wider audiences, influencer marketing increases your credibility, since you have an actual person showcasing your app to followers who have already opted in.
Influencers are also able to include more elements of human-interest storytelling than would be possible in traditional paid advertising.
Sounds simple, right? When executed well, influencer marketing looks natural and seamless. But behind the scenes, it's a bit more complex.
Before an influencer publishes that post that promotes your app, you must research and select the right influencers on the right platforms, build your relationship with them, develop a campaign, and set your goals.
Prior to getting started, you should understand some influencer app marketing best practices and get familiar with some successful influencer marketing campaigns.
Influencer Marketing Best Practices
While the social media landscape is ever-changing, there's no need to completely reinvent the wheel when it comes to influencer marketing.
Follow these best practices to harness the power of influencer marketing.
Choosing the Right Influencers
Most likely, influencers are not going to come to you; you have to be proactive. Thankfully, there are a number of tools you can use to choose the right influencer for your app and your message. Here are just a few examples:
- Klout is a free platform (including their own mobile app) that measures influence in pre-defined categories. You can't search free-form, but you can explore experts in multiple areas that relate to your app.
- Klear is a similar tool with a limited free version that allows you to search millions of potential influencer profiles across networks and categories.
- BuzzSumo is a content curation tool that you can use to find trending content. Searching terms related to your app and analyzing content that has been widely shared can uncover influencers in niche areas.
- Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube searches can surface accounts and channels that you can reach out to for reviews and promotion.
As you're identifying potential influencers using these tools, you also want to consider some factors like these:
- How many followers do they have, and what are their audience demographics? (Don't discount those with perhaps a smaller reach, but a relevant niche and good engagement!)
- How engaged are their followers–do the numbers of likes, comments, and shares seem to correspond to the total audience?
- How active are the influencers at posting on their channel? Do they post in multiple places?
- Does the influencer have previous examples of working with brands? Mobile apps specifically? How well have their past campaigns performed?
Choosing the Right Platforms
Unfortunately there aren't many quick and easy tools to follow this best practice, but it's still an important one: pick the right platform for your influencer marketing campaign.
The right platform, whether it's Twitter, Snapchat, or the next hot thing, is the one that fits your users' preferences and tendencies. Determine where your app users already are and select individuals who are influential on those platforms.
Planning a Campaign That Works
As much or even more so than other marketing campaigns you'll run, plan your influencer marketing campaign carefully. No matter what, you're giving up the reins to another person who doesn't have as much stake in your success as you do.
Proper preparation and results tracking is key.
Once you've identified some potential influencers, reach out on social media or through their blog/website. Some influencers get innumerable pitches, so your chances for success are better if you're clear and genuine. That also sets the tone for good communication and trust throughout your relationship with the influencer.
While some new or up-and-coming influencers will give you a shout out for free, often you will be asked for compensation. Influencers are essentially online marketing consultants, and many treat their social media platforms as a kind of business. If you're unable or unwilling to pay for your influencer marketing campaign, be up front about it. If you will pay, work with the influencer to determine rates that work for you both.
Now let's look at some influencer marketing examples and how some brands used this type of marketing to boost their apps' success.
Successful Influencer Marketing Case Study: Audible
Audible is an Amazon company that produces audiobooks for iPhone, Android, Kindle, and other devices. In 2015, Audible used the immense popularity of YouTube to reach a wide variety of audiences across different demographics, promoting their brand and monthly membership service.
You can read more here.
Why it worked:
- The campaign targeted existing YouTube stars with engaged, trusting audiences.
- Influencers incorporated Audible promotion into creative content and stories.
- Audible provided their influencers with unique links so users can download their first audiobook free, increasing conversion.
Successful Influencer Marketing Case Study: Hotel Tonight
Hotel Tonight is an app that lets users book last minute deals on hotels. In an already-saturated travel category, they used influencer marketing to stand out, targeting bloggers on NYC-based lifestyle, culture, and wedding sites to drive app downloads and bookings.
Learn more about the campaign here.
Why it worked:
- Hotel Tonight focused their fixed budget in a targeted demographic (potential users in the Tri-State area).
- Influencers included bloggers of many sizes across different content types, e.g. informational stories and personal narratives.
- Special promo codes were used to track bookings per specific blogger.
Successful Influencer Marketing Case Study: Bejeweled
Gem-matching mobile game Bejeweled leveraged the power of influencer marketing on YouTube and Instagram to build brand awareness, increase downloads of the game, and rise in app store rankings. This was accomplished using a combination of sponsored YouTube short videos and branded Instagram shares.
Learn more here.
Why it worked:
- The Bejeweled team created videos like this one with popular YouTube stars to kick off the campaign.
- Instagram influencers used the branded hashtag #shinyplace to promote Bejeweled with a consistent message: use the game to take an enjoyable break.
Though popular platforms shift and mobile technology changes, influencer marketing is here to stay. Even if you don't have a huge budget, you can take advantage of influencer marketing to promote your mobile app in a strategic way.
Partnering with the right influencer will lend credibility and reach new audiences, and you can reap the benefits in the form of increased awareness and downloads.
Recommended Article:
About the Author
Rachel Wilson is a writer, marketer, and content creator living in NYC. She's worked for technology companies like BetterCloud and Microsoft, and believes her English degree prepared her to write about pretty much anything. She misses the ocean and the mountains of the Pacific Northwest but can't give up New York pizza.


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In a shocking incident, a girl studying in a medical institution near Kottayam in Kerala and her jilted lover on Wednesday died following serious burn injuries they suffered after the latter set her and himself on fire for allegedly spurning his love.
Police said 25-year-old Adarsh, a native of Neendakara in Kollam, set himself ablaze while hugging the 21-year-old student allegedly after chasing her with a can of petrol, police said.
The girl, from Chingoli in Kayamkulam, was a fourth year physiotherapy student at Mahatma Gandhi University's School of Medical Education (SME).
Both were admitted at the Government Medical College Hospital here with serious burn injuries.
Two other students of the institute have suffered minor burn injuries following their efforts to save the girl and the youth, police said. They are undergoing treatment at the Medical College, police said.
According to police, Adarsh, a 2013 batch student, came to the SME on Wednesday to enquire about the date of the supplementary examination for his failed subject.
Adarsh, who had professed his love for the girl, went to her classroom at 11 am and requested her to come out for a chat. But the girl allegedly turned down his request.
Infuriated by the rejection, Adarsh poured petrol from the can on her when she got out of the class at around 1 pm.
He also chased her when she tried to flee.
He later got hold of the girl near the library of the institute hugged her forcefully and lit a matchstick, setting them both on fire, police said.
Police said the youth and the girl had been in love for quite some time but the girl later withdrew from the affair following opposition from members of her family.
The youth had approached the girl's family with marriage proposal but it was allegedly turned down citing that he belonged to a lower caste, police said.
He, however, continued to approach her family with his marriage proposal.
Police said Adarsh and his father were summoned by police in Kayamkulam following a complaint by her parents that he was harassing their daughter.


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Our dedicated private jet charter team will offer you a variety of safe, cost-effective options for your private flight booking to/from De Bilt.
When you charter a plane to or from De Bilt KNMI Airport with Private FLITE Charters, you'll enjoy:


text: Loading... No Records Found Sorry, no records were found. Please adjust your search criteria and try again. Maps failed to load Sorry, unable to load the Maps API. Enter your locationGet Directions Travel modeDrivingWalkingBicyclingPublic Transport Distance unitsMilesKilometers East Brother Beer Company Previous Next Suggest an Edit Business Category: Brewery MexicanBeer Outdoor Seating 1001 Canal Blvd Richmond, California 94804 Phone: (510)-230-4081 Website : 12:00 pm - 9:00 pmMonClosedTueClosedWed4:00 pm - 9:00 pmThu4:00 pm - 9:00 pmFri4:00 pm - 9:00 pmSat12:00 pm - 9:00 pmSun12:00 pm - 8:00 pm Profile The team at East Brother Beer Co. consists of passionate people focused on tradition and brewing classic styles. Richmond, CA is home and much like our neighbors, we instill Pride and Purpose in everything we do. We fill growlers from other brands. Please make sure they are washed before bringing them in. We welcome well-behaved dogs and children. Dogs must be on leashes and cleaned up after. Outside alcohol is not permitted at our taproom. Tours can be scheduled on Thursdays and Sundays at 4PM. Please call or email at least a week ahead for scheduling. The brewhouse and 1st Cellar are visible from the taproom. Food truck, La Santa Torta, will usually be on site each day we are open unless there is an emergency in which they can't. If you need to know if they are at the taproom please call ahead. Currently we do not sell kegs to the public. Certain retail accounts do have our kegs available for purchase. Cans and growlers are for to-go consumption only. Photos Reviews Leave a Review Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.Review text Select a rating Name Email Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Previous Next


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Without a collaborative document management system accompanying your project management platform your organization experiences pain that negatively affects your bottom line and overall efficiency. Friction builds between teams and among team members, as they wait on the progress of document markup and review without alerts upon completion in real time. Workflows are interrupted and project timelines slip.
Without a single source of truth, conflicting versions of documents emerge and can wreak havoc. Precious time is spent tracking down the most up-to-date version. Teams get tied up in email chains and dispersed teams are in a constant state of miscommunication. Unnecessary meetings are scheduled to sort out the confusion. Your organization is trapped in disparate markup systems and multiple file repositories. There is a more efficient way.
What is collaborative document management?
Collaborative Document Management, is the most efficient way for your organization to drive alignment and decrease turnaround times. It enables your team to view and edit the same document while keeping track of versions and changes along the way.
Access document audit history
You have access to every version of a document, giving you the ability to know which version is up to date. There is a system of accountability. You will know who made changes, what changes they made and when they made such changes.
Markup any PDF
You can collaboratively mark up any PDF document with dozens of different ways to add annotations, text, highlights, and comments. Communicate changes and feedback to documents visually with intuitive drawing and shape tools.
Comment directly on the document
Create conversations directly in the document by commenting on the file. Build threads of discussion to keep the conversations thorough, ongoing, and on topic.
Make document collaboration easier with a project management mobile app
A project management mobile app is the easiest way to enable collaboration between the office and field teams. Sometimes showing is easier than telling. Field teams can upload photos and videos right on their mobile devices, such as a smartphone or tablet, so printouts and clipboards are no longer necessary. You can interact and share information in real time. Streamline critical infrastructure management processes with a project management mobile app.
Fewer meetings, more collaboration: that is the Sitetracker vision for project management. Sitetracker is the leading project and asset management platform that empowers your dispersed teams to collaborate and drive organizational alignment. Sign up for a live demo of Sitetracker's collaborative document management and mobile app today.


text: Six More Cities Now Get EESL's Super-Efficient ACs Updated On Wed, Aug 7th, 2019 by Saurenergy These ACs will undergo no de-rating even at 43oC, which leads to continuous effective cooling even at high temperatures up to 52 oC. After introducing first-of-its-kind super-efficient Air Conditioners (ACs) for Delhi consumers, the government-backed Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has expanded this programme to six more cities i.e. Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and […] Read more


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Executive control of voluntary movements is a hallmark of the mammalian brain. In the gaze-control network, this function is thought to be mediated by a critical balance between neurons responsible for generating movements and those responsible for fixating or suppressing movements, but the nature of this balance between the relevant elements—saccade-generating and fixation-related neurons—remains unclear. Specifically, it has been debated whether the two functions are necessarily coupled (i.e., push-and-pull) or independently controlled. Here we show that behavioral perturbation of ongoing fixation with the trigeminal blink reflex in monkeys (Macaca mulatta) alters the effective balance between fixation and saccade-generating neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) and can lead to premature gaze shifts reminiscent of compromised inhibitory control. The shift in balance is primarily driven by an increase in the activity of visuomovement neurons in the caudal SC, and the extent to which fixation-related neurons in the rostral SC play a role seems to be linked to the animal's propensity to make microsaccades. The perturbation also reveals a hitherto unknown feature of sensorimotor integration: the presence of a hidden visual response in canonical movement neurons. These findings offer new insights into the latent functional interactions, or lack thereof, between components of the gaze-control network, suggesting that the perturbation technique used here may prove to be a useful tool for probing the neural mechanisms of movement generation in executive function and dysfunction.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Eye movements are an integral part of how we explore the environment. Although we know a great deal about where sensorimotor transformations leading to saccadic eye movements are implemented in the brain, less is known about the functional interactions between neurons that maintain gaze fixation and neurons that program saccades. In this study, we used a novel approach to study these interactions. By transient disruption of fixation, we found that activity of saccade-generating neurons can increase independently of modulation in fixation-related neurons, which may occasionally lead to premature movements mimicking lack of impulse control. Our findings support the notion of a common pathway for sensory and movement processing and suggest that impulsive movements arise when sensory processes become "motorized."
Active vision entails interacting with the environment through alternating patterns of fixations and redirections of gaze or saccades. The behavioral transition between fixation and saccade generation is mediated by a neuronal shift between movement-suppressing neurons and movement-generating neurons in the oculomotor neuraxis. The superior colliculus (SC), which is a major node in the gaze-control pathway (Gandhi and Katnani, 2011), is ideally situated to implement the transition. Movement suppression is controlled by so-called "fixation-related neurons" in the rostral SC (Munoz and Wurtz, 1993a). These neurons are active during fixation, which is likely maintained by preparatory activity associated with programming of microsaccades (Hafed et al., 2009). Crucially, they suppress their discharge before large saccades. Movement generation is mediated by visuomovement neurons in the caudal SC (Sparks and Mays, 1990; Dorris et al., 1997) that burst during saccades. Intriguingly, these neurons also burst in response to a visual stimulus.
One line of evidence points to a reciprocal relationship between the rostral and the caudal SC in maintaining the balance between fixation and saccade generation under normal conditions. Inactivation of the rostral SC leads to uninhibited saccade generation to peripheral visual targets (Munoz and Wurtz, 1993b) or stable offsets during fixation (Hafed et al., 2008; Goffart et al., 2012). Conversely, microstimulation in the caudal SC generates saccades (Robinson, 1972), and microstimulation of the rostral SC interrupts ongoing large movements (Munoz et al., 1996), perhaps through interference induced by stimulation-evoked small-amplitude saccades (Gandhi and Keller, 1999). However, the inability to record neural activity simultaneously during these manipulations makes it difficult to gauge the functional relationship between fixation and saccade-generating mechanisms, and whether the interactions extend beyond movement generation to other features of the sensorimotor transformation. For instance, does the state of the network during fixation influence the visual response of visuomovement neurons in caudal SC? Are activation changes in one network obligatorily linked to changes in the other, and how do these changes influence fixation, microsaccade, and saccade behavior? It is important to mention here that we use the term "network" in this paper to broadly refer to a collection of putatively interconnected neurons thought to perform a specified function.
We used an alternative approach—naturalistic, noninvasive, and transient behavioral perturbation of fixation—that permitted simultaneous recording of neural activity. We reasoned that if fixation is behaviorally disrupted, it must affect activity in the fixation-related network, altering the balance between the fixation and saccade-generating networks. Hence, on some trials within a session, we presented an air puff to the subject's eye to evoke the trigeminal blink reflex (Berardelli et al., 1985) during initial fixation of a central target. Blinks disrupt fixation by transiently removing foveal visual input and producing an associated blink-related eye movement (Rottach et al., 1998; Gandhi and Bonadonna, 2005), during which activity in the pontine omnipause neurons, a low-level node in the fixation network, is suppressed (Schultz et al., 2010). We asked whether and how this perturbation affects the evolution of activity in the fixation-related and saccade-generating networks in the SC. Note that the blink was induced while the animal directed its gaze to a central target and, crucially, fixation of this target was re-established before a peripheral stimulus was illuminated. Thus, we were able to circumvent potential confounds of transient changes caused by the blink perturbation. In a small percentage of trials, blinks biased the network-level balance toward caudal SC neurons sufficiently to generate premature saccades. More importantly, we observed changes in network activity even when saccades were not triggered prematurely. The stimulus-evoked visual response of visuomovement neurons was enhanced and, surprisingly, putative movement neurons also exhibited a visual response. Blink-induced modulation of rostral SC activity, which was more closely associated with the animal's propensity to make microsaccades, did not obey the purported coupled relationship with saccade-generating neurons in caudal SC. These results have a potentially deep impact on our understanding of mechanisms mediating voluntary control of gaze and its dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Materials and Methods
General and surgical procedures.
All experimental and surgical procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Pittsburgh and were in compliance with the U.S. Public Health Service policy on the humane care and use of laboratory animals. We used three adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta; two male, ages 8 and 6 years; one female, age 10 years) for our experiments. One animal died during the course of the study, so we completed the remaining experiments with the third animal. Under isoflurane anesthesia, a craniotomy that allowed access to the SC was performed on each animal and a recording chamber was secured to the skull over the craniotomy. In addition, posts for head restraint and scleral search coils to track gaze shifts were implanted. After recovery, each animal was trained to perform standard eye-movement tasks for a liquid reward.
Visual stimuli and behavior.
Visual stimuli were displayed either by back projection onto a hemispherical dome (Monkeys BB and WM) or on a LED-backlit flat screen television (Monkeys BB and BL). Stimuli were white squares on a dark gray background, 4 × 4 pixels in size, and subtended ∼0.5° of visual angle. Eye position was recorded using the scleral search coil technique, sampled at 1 kHz. Stimulus presentation and the animal's behavior were under real-time control with a LabVIEW-based controller interface (Bryant and Gandhi, 2005). After initial training and acclimatization, the monkeys were trained to perform a delayed saccade task. Each subject was required to initiate the trial by acquiring fixation on a central fixation target. Next, a target appeared in the periphery, but the fixation point remained illuminated for a variable 500–1200 ms, and the animal was required to delay saccade onset until the fixation point was extinguished (GO cue). Trials in which fixation was broken before peripheral target onset were removed from further analyses.
On a small percentage of trials (∼15–20%), fixation was perturbed by delivering an air puff to the animal's eye to invoke the trigeminal blink reflex. Compressed air was fed through a pressure valve and air flow was monitored with a flow meter. To record blinks, we taped a small Teflon-coated stainless-steel coil (similar to the ones used for eye tracking, but smaller in coil diameter) to the top of the eyelid. The air pressure was titrated during each session to evoke a single blink (typically 15–30 psi). Trials in which the animal blinked excessively or did not blink were aborted and/or excluded from further analyses. Air-puff delivery was timed to evoke blinks 400–100 ms before target onset. Blinks typically lasted 50–100 ms, and we removed trials in which fixation of the central target was not re-established before a stimulus was illuminated in the periphery to ensure that vision of fixation spot or the incoming stimulus was not altered at the time of its onset. For two of the monkeys (BB and BL), we also used two other forms of perturbation. First, the central fixation target was transiently blanked out for 50–100 ms at approximately the same times that a blink would have occurred on blink trials (before peripheral target appearance). We refer to these as target-blank trials. In other experiments, an air puff was introduced to the animal's ear. Trials in which the animal blinked defensively in response to the ear puff were removed from further analysis. The animals typically adapted to this perturbation after a few trials.
During each recording session, a tungsten microelectrode was lowered into the SC chamber using a hydraulic microdrive. Neural activity was amplified and bandpass filtered between 200 Hz and 5 kHz and fed to a digital oscilloscope for visualization and spike discrimination. A window discriminator was used to threshold and trigger spikes on-line, and the corresponding spike times were recorded. The location of the electrode in the SC was confirmed by the presence of visual and movement-related activity as well as the ability to evoke fixed-vector saccadic eye movements at low stimulation currents (20–40 μA, 400 Hz, 100 ms). Before beginning data collection for a given neuron, its response field was estimated. During data collection, the saccade target was placed either in the neuron's response field or at the diametrically opposite location (reflected across both axes) in a randomly interleaved manner. For recordings in the rostral SC, stimuli were presented at one of two or four locations at an eccentricity sufficient to induce a reduction in activity during the large-amplitude saccade. In two of the monkeys (BB and BL), we also performed recordings with a 16-channel linear microelectrode array (Alpha Omega Engineering; 150 μm spacing between electrode contacts). Neural activity was digitized, filtered, and recorded with the Grapevine Scout system (Ripple). Since the electrode's approach was normal to the SC, neurons recorded with the array typically had comparable response fields.
Data analysis and preprocessing.
Data were analyzed using a combination of in-house software and Matlab. Eye-position signals were smoothed with a phase-neutral filter and differentiated to obtain velocity traces. Saccades were detected using standard velocity criteria. The animal was considered to be maintaining fixation if the gaze remained within a 2–3° window around the fixation target. Slow, blink-related eye movements were detected using lower-velocity criteria. We also detected microsaccades that occurred during a trial by using a velocity criterion based on the overall variability in the velocity signal for that trial. The adaptive algorithm enabled us to account for changes in fixation patterns and movements over time for each subject. We visually verified that microsaccades were being detected accurately.
Raw spike density waveforms were computed for each neuron and each trial by convolving the spike trains with a Gaussian kernel (width: 4 ms for the caudal SC, 10 ms for the rostral SC). For a given neuron and target location, spike densities were averaged across trials after event-related alignment (perturbation/target/saccade onset). Caudal SC neurons were classified as task-related (visual and/or movement) if the activity during the visual epoch (100–250 ms following target onset) and/or the premotor epoch (−100 to 50 ms around saccade onset) was significantly elevated above baseline. Rostral SC neurons were classified as fixation-related if their activity during the premotor epoch of large saccades was significantly reduced below baseline. We used a firing-rate criterion to increase confidence that we were using only meaningful neurons in our analysis. This was especially important for the multichannel recordings as almost all channels had some activity due to crossover spikes or noise. Hence, we only considered caudal SC neurons that had a maximum firing rate of ≥100 spikes/s and rostral SC neurons that had a tonic baseline firing rate of ≥20 spikes/s. Further, we only used neurons that had ≥5 trials for a given condition (e.g., early saccades following blink perturbation). Since the animals rarely made errors in the control condition, we did not have a sufficient number of neurons that met this criterion for that condition to warrant further analysis. To enable comparison of spike densities during the perturbation epoch, the perturbation-related alignment for no-perturbation trials was performed by random assignment of "perturbation" times from the distribution of times from perturbation trials for that session. We also normalized the trial-averaged spike density of each neuron to enable meaningful averaging across the population. The activity of each caudal SC neuron was normalized by its peak firing rate across conditions. The activity of each rostral SC neuron was normalized by the baseline firing rate across conditions.
Statistical comparisons of neural activity between conditions were performed using nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon rank-sum and signed-rank tests). Activity comparisons used either the average activity in a window or the instantaneous activity (sliding 1 ms bin), as appropriate. Where applicable, multiple comparisons were corrected for Bonferroni correction. A p value <0.01 was used to assess statistical significance, unless otherwise specified.
To quantify the functional properties of caudal SC neurons as visual, visuomovement, or movement-related, we computed the visuomovement index (VMI) for each neuron. VMI was calculated as VMI =
We perturbed fixation by inducing a blink and recorded neural activity from the SC in three monkeys performing a delayed-response task (Fig. 1a). During the control condition, the animals correctly initiated the eye movement after fixation point offset on 98.0% percent of the trials. The black trace (Fig. 1a, Eye) illustrates the temporal profile of a typical saccade and the black histogram (Fig. 1b) shows the distribution of reaction times (mean ± SD, 276 ± 46 ms). On perturbation trials, the blink was always induced during the initial fixation period (Fig. 1a, small bumps in the colored eye-position traces above the red arrows). We only analyzed trials in which the blink had completed and fixation re-established before a target was illuminated in the visual periphery. For the majority of trials (4372 of 5178; 84.4%), the animals produced a saccade after the saccade-initiation cue, much like the behavior seen during control trials. The red trace (Fig. 1a) represents a typical example and the same color histogram (Fig. 1b) shows the associated latency distribution (mean ± SD, 271 ± 50 ms). On a smaller subset of trials (806 of 5178; 15.6%), a saccade was produced prematurely during the delay period. The gold trace (Fig. 1a) denotes a typical example and the same color histogram (Fig. 1b) displays the latency distribution. The increase in likelihood of premature saccades was observed not just across the entire dataset but also during a majority of sessions in every animal (Fig. 1c; Wilcoxon signed-rank test, n = 89, p < 0.0001). Neural activity recorded during blink trials that did not alter behavioral performance ("red" data) provides an opportunity to assess the latent functional interactions between fixation and saccade-generating networks without introducing any confounds from activity associated with saccade execution. Analyses of these data constitute the major focus of this study. Discharge patterns associated with the smaller subset of blink data that yielded premature saccades ("gold" data) are considered briefly at the end of the Results section.
Subthreshold enhancement of stimulus-evoked activity following disruption of fixation
Figure 2a shows the population activity of 94 caudal SC neurons recorded in the intermediate layers during control (black) and perturbation (red) trials with regular latency saccades. The visual response was strongly enhanced at the population level (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.01), as indicated by the significance bands along the bottom of the figure. Note that the perturbation occurred before target onset and the eyes were stationary and refixated on the fixation point at the time of the visual burst (Fig. 2a; bottom row shows mean eye-position traces for each condition). Activity was also enhanced significantly into the delay period. Scatter plots in Figure 2b illustrate that the increase was observed regardless of the neurons' firing rate and, in several cases, the difference between conditions was of the order of ≥100 spikes/s. This suggests that the perturbation-induced changes to the saccade-generating circuitry were strong and long-lasting, persisting several hundreds of milliseconds into the trial (left and middle panels). In contrast, the activity during the motor burst was comparable between control and perturbation conditions (Fig. 2b, right).
A hidden visual response is present in putative movement neurons
Next, we studied how the disruption of fixation affected the functional properties of these neurons. The VMI (see Materials and Methods), a measure of the relative strengths of a neuron's visual and saccade-related bursts, has previously been used to sort SC and frontal eye field neurons into functional classes (Shen and Paré, 2007; Cohen et al., 2009). Negative values (closer to −1) indicate that the neuron is primarily visually driven and positive values (close to +1) indicate that the neuron is primarily movement-related, with values in between representing a combination of the two processes. We computed the VMI for each neuron based on its activity on control trials and perturbation trials separately. Figure 3a shows the two sets of VMIs plotted against each other. The individual points largely fall below the unity line (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, n = 103, p < 0.0001), indicating a shift toward a visually driven profile in the neurons' responses (see also histogram). Note that several canonical movement neurons based on VMI (right-most grid column) transform into visuomovement neurons in the perturbation condition, unmasking the presence of latent "visual" activity throughout the intermediate/deeper layers. The top and bottom panels of Figure 3b respectively show the population average of 11 movement neurons (VMI, >0.9) as well as the activity of an example movement neuron in the two conditions.
We then looked at whether a neuron's functional classification, as defined by the VMI, has an influence on its susceptibility to the perturbation. We computed a modulation index for each neuron based on the relative change in its activity during the visual epoch on perturbation trials compared with control trials (see Materials and Methods). The modulation index is plotted against the VMI for each neuron in Figure 3c. The two indices were highly correlated (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.571; p < 0.0001), indicating that neurons with a more movement-related profile (VMI closer to +1) are modulated to a greater extent by disruption of fixation. These results suggest that the contribution of individual neurons to visuomotor transformations and saccade generation is not fixed but is flexibly modulated, depending on the state of the network.
Fixation-related activity in the rostral SC is dissociated from visuomovement activity
Rostral SC neurons, which fire at a tonic rate during fixation and burst for microsaccades, are suppressed during larger saccades, and there is some evidence for reciprocal inhibitory connectivity between the rostral and caudal SC (Meredith and Ramoa, 1998; Munoz and Istvan, 1998; but see also Phongphanphanee et al., 2014). We therefore considered whether the enhancement of visuomovement activity following perturbation in the caudal SC is obligatorily linked to a suppression of activity in the fixation-related network in the rostral SC. Figure 4a shows the population activity of 44 rostral SC neurons in the control and perturbation conditions. At the population level across all three animals, there was no consistent difference between the two conditions as seen from the significance bands below the activity traces (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p > 0.05). However, the individual subjects' data presented a spectrum of effects (Fig. 4b). Monkey BB's rostral SC showed a dramatic and sustained suppression on perturbation trials, whereas Monkeys BL and WM showed a transient increase immediately after the perturbation before a return back to control levels. The heterogeneity of the effect can also be realized through the scatter plot of average firing rates during the delay period (Fig. 4c). Since the behavior and caudal SC profiles are largely consistent across subjects, while the rostral SC activity is not, it follows that the rostral SC cannot be exclusively responsible for the shift in balance from fixation to saccade generation.
Rostral SC activity is better correlated with microsaccade occurrence
We asked whether another aspect of the animals' gaze-related behavior may help explain the heterogeneity in rostral SC and the apparent disconnect between the caudal and rostral SC populations. Since rostral SC neurons are known to play a role in the generation of tiny fixational eye movements known as microsaccades (Hafed et al., 2009), we looked at the microsaccade rate for the individual subjects as a function of time on control and perturbation trials (Fig. 5a). Monkeys BL and WM (middle and right columns) exhibited a characteristic microsaccade signature on control trials, including target-related suppression of microsaccades followed by a rebound (Winterson and Collewijn, 1976; Engbert and Kliegl, 2003). On perturbation trials, there was a pre-target reduction in microsaccade rate for these two subjects, which we attribute to the inability to detect microsaccades during the blink-related eye movement. On the contrary, we propose that the actual microsaccade rate during this period increases, a claim consistent with the increase in rostral SC activity, particularly for Monkey WM (Fig. 5b). We suggest that a blink-related reduction in brainstem omnipause neuron activity removes inhibition on the burst generators (Gandhi and Bonadonna, 2005; Schultz et al., 2010) and allows activity in upstream premotor networks (in this case, fixation activity in the rostral SC) to generate the associated movement (microsaccades) in these two subjects. On the other hand, Monkey BB, who showed a strong and sustained suppression in rostral SC activity in the perturbation condition, rarely ever made microsaccades in either condition. Thus, microsaccades explain some of the discrepancies observed in rostral SC activity.
Alternate perturbations reveal mechanism mediating fixation-saccade network balance
We investigated whether the network-level effects observed above were specific to the perturbation method or extended to other ways of disrupting fixation. Specifically, we wanted to know whether the perturbation acts by disrupting the flow of visual information and/or the motor act of fixating, both of which are affected when the animal blinks. It is also possible that the perturbation acts as a higher-order cognitive cue informing the animal of impending target onset, thereby switching the network to a different state of preparation. To delineate these potential mechanisms, we also employed other forms of perturbations. First, we blanked out the central target during fixation at approximately the same times the blink would have occurred. This manipulation disrupts visual input to the fixation network while preserving fixation itself. Next, as a control perturbation to test the hypothesis that the cue may act in a top-down fashion, we presented a puff of air to the animal's ear during fixation. Figure 6a,b shows the histogram of saccade latencies across trials and proportion of premature saccades across sessions for the target-blank and ear-puff perturbations, respectively. The target blank was similar to the blink perturbation in terms of the distribution of premature saccades—there were significantly more delay-period errors compared with the control condition (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, n = 13 sessions, p < 0.0001). In contrast, however, the animals were not more likely to make errors following the ear puff compared with the control condition (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, n = 11 sessions, p > 0.5). Thus, it is unlikely the blink and target-blank perturbations acted exclusively as a cognitive cue to the animal.
Figure 6c shows the population activity of caudal (top) and rostral SC (bottom) neurons from two animals, for these conditions, compared with the control and blink conditions for the same subset of neurons. Activity in the caudal SC was enhanced and activity in the rostral SC suppressed following the target-blank perturbation (compare blue and black traces; Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.01). The suppression in the rostral SC seemed to be linked to a reduction in microsaccade rate in the one animal that made microsaccades in this condition (Monkey BL; Fig. 7a, middle row). There was minimal change to the network following the ear-puff perturbation (green traces), although there was a slight increase in caudal SC activity during the late component of the visual response (Fig. 6c, significance bars on bottom of each panel). Note that the red traces in Figure 6c are from blink perturbation trials recorded for the same subset of neurons. The effects were similar to those described above for the larger population of neurons. Together, these results suggest that the perturbation must necessarily disrupt the visual and/or motor aspects of fixation to produce the network-level effects observed in this study.
Activity during premature saccades is reflective of a caudal SC-driven shift in balance
Thus far, we have focused on the subset of perturbation trials that produced regular latency saccades in the delayed saccade task. Finally, we turn to the small proportion of blink perturbation trials that resulted in saccades erroneously triggered before the GO cue (Fig. 1, gold trials). Figure 8 shows the population activity of caudal SC (top row) neurons for blink perturbation trials in which a premature saccade was produced (gold traces), compared with trials with regular latency saccades in the perturbed (red) and control (black) conditions for the same subset of neurons. Note that the difference between regular latency saccades in control and blink-perturbed trials for this subset of caudal SC neurons is similar to the effect described earlier in Figure 2—an enhancement of visuomovement activity following target onset in the perturbed condition, starting 94 ms after target onset (Fig. 8, top row, middle column, red vs black traces; also see red significance bar below activity traces). Caudal SC activity was even higher on premature saccade trials, and separated earlier (54 ms after target onset; see gold significance bar below activity traces) from activity in the control condition (gold vs black traces). Importantly, perturbation trials with premature saccades differentiated from trials with regular latency saccades (gold vs red traces) during the early part of the visual epoch (shaded window), with the respective activity profiles separating 92 ms after target onset (see arrow in significance band above activity traces).
Rostral SC activity aligned on target onset was expectedly lower during premature saccades compared with when there was no early saccade following target onset in the control or blink-perturbed conditions (Fig. 8, middle row, middle column, gold vs black and red traces). Intriguingly, compared with caudal SC activity, rostral SC activity for perturbation trials with premature saccades separated from trials with regular latency saccades much later, ∼200 ms after target onset (see arrow in middle row). This observation is consistent with the interpretation that premature movements are primarily driven by an increase in visuomovement activity in the caudal SC. It is important to highlight that visuomovement activity profiles during the visual epoch in the caudal SC (Fig. 8, top row, middle column, black, red, and gold trials) seem to fall on a continuum, suggesting that the stimulus-evoked response following the perturbation is graded and may sometimes be strong enough to trigger a movement. Drawing from this observation, we wish to re-emphasize the idea that subthreshold (below the phenomenological threshold to evoke movements) neural changes can reveal the evolution of mechanisms leading to premature movements.
We probed the functional interactions between movement-generating neurons and movement-suppressing neurons involved in the control of gaze by perturbing fixation behaviorally, with reflex blinks, while recording neural activity in the caudal and rostral portions of the SC. We found that the perturbation produced profound changes in the neural activity even when the animal's reaction time was not compromised. The perturbation increased the intensity of the visual burst in visuomovement neurons in the caudal SC and revealed novel sensorimotor properties of these saccade-generating neurons. Neurons that were more movement-like along the visuomovement continuum were more likely to be affected by the perturbation and tended to exhibit more visual-like properties. We also found that disruption of fixation had a complex effect on the rostral SC. The tonic activity of rostral SC neurons exhibited minimal changes at the population level across subjects but showed dramatic differences between them. We attributed some of these differences to the occurrence of microsaccades. We considered alternative explanations for these observations and showed that other methods of perturbing fixation also had similar effects on the rostral–caudal SC network; however, it was important that the perturbation disrupted fixation either visually or by inducing an eye movement. A control perturbation with the potential to serve as a cognitive cue in advance of target onset, but that did not disrupt fixation, produced minimal effect on the network. Finally, we showed that perturbation-induced shifts are primarily driven by an increase in visuomovement activity in the caudal SC, which may sometimes trigger erroneous or premature saccades.
What do these results reveal about sensorimotor processing in the gaze-control network? In the delayed-saccade task, the monkeys were trained to suppress a saccade immediately following the onset of a target and hold their fixation until the GO cue. Under these conditions, visuomovement neurons in the SC produce an initial burst of activity locked to target onset but is typically insufficient to trigger a saccade. Visuomovement neurons in the SC project directly to the saccade burst generators in the brainstem (Rodgers et al., 2006), and an increase in their activity increases the drive to generate a saccade. Thus, the "visual response" is thought to be an embodied signature of the sensorimotor system registering the presence of the saccade target. In other words, it represents the latent intention to generate a saccade to the corresponding target. When fixation is disrupted, the target's representation is enhanced, indicating that the drive to look at the target increases. This interpretation is supported by the observation that, on occasion, the enhancement is sufficiently large to trigger a premature saccade (Fig. 8). It is important to note that the perturbation occurred tens to hundreds of milliseconds before target onset, and hence, these effects reflect persistent, long-lasting changes to the balance between the fixation and saccade-generating networks—changes that do not necessarily have a behavioral signature. However, the enhancement of the visual response may reflect internal changes, e.g., greater visual attention and/or increased target salience. Although the interpretation of a flexible visual–movement continuum is based on a wealth of studies that have found little differences between visual and saccade-related responses of visuomovement neurons, it is important to mention recent studies that have shown that a systematic transformation occurs between the visual and motor responses, from representing target location in space to representing actual movement metrics (Sadeh et al., 2015; Sajad et al., 2015). Our results suggest a lack of strong functional distinction between the visual and movement bursts, but specifically with respect to initiating the movement. It is still possible that variation in the amplitude of the motor burst is correlated with variation in the executed saccade across trials. If so, the observed enhancement of the visual burst is consistent with the notion that the sensory response is not correlated with the actual movement.
Enhanced excitability of the saccade-generating network seems to occur through facilitation of the columnar dorsoventral pathways within the SC or through its extracollicular inputs. It does not seem to be directly related to the inability to maintain fixation as judged from the heterogeneous response of rostral SC fixation neurons. In one subject, the increased visuomovement activation was accompanied by a concomitant reduction in fixation-related activity, whereas in the others, it was associated with an increase in the firing of rostral SC neurons. Previous studies have linked such intersubject differences in the state of SC activation to idiosyncrasies in microsaccade behavior (Hafed et al., 2013). It is possible that subjects that for some reason generate few or no microsaccades have a strong functional link (or one that is apparent) between the fixation and saccade-generating networks. Other subjects that may have developed a microsaccade-based strategy for maintaining fixation may have a weaker reciprocal relationship between the two systems. In these subjects, behavioral disruption of fixation may increase activity across the SC map, and the resulting impulsive behavior may manifest as microsaccades or saccades alike. This latter interpretation is consistent with the hypothesis that microsaccades and saccades (and their associated neural substrates) form a functional continuum (Zuber et al., 1965).
It has been proposed that the rostral SC, in addition to its role in enabling fixation and fixational eye movements, is involved in maintaining gaze-related goals of the animal (Krauzlis et al., 2004). In a multistep gaze-shift task, fixation neurons in the rostral SC were shown to suppress their activity for the first step, and remained so until the end of the trial, turning on only when the complete sequence of movements was completed (Bergeron and Guitton, 2000). In at least one subject in our study, it is possible that the disruption of fixation marked the initial step, causing a sustained suppression of rostral SC activity.
We considered several alternative mechanisms leading to the results in this study. The enhancement of the visual response is similar to that observed during PFC cooling (Koval et al., 2011). The PFC has been implicated extensively in the executive control of movements (Funahashi, 2001), including saccades, and PFC deactivation or damage results in an inability to inhibit premature responses driven by the stimulus (Pierrot-Deseilligny et al., 1991). These observations together suggest that the effect reported in this study may be due to an altered balance in the PFC–SC network. Could the perturbation have served as a cognitive cue to the animal about impending target onset, allowing top-down biasing of the SC network balance? We have seen that a couple of different perturbations produced the observed effects in this study. However, the control perturbation of a puff of air to the ear had a weak, if discernible, effect. We suggest that the best possible interpretation given these observations is that even if the perturbation is a top-down cue, it must act through the visual-oculomotor pathway to effectively disrupt fixation and create a deficit that resembles executive-control disorders. Another possibility is that the perturbation acted as a "startle cue," and produced a startle response. Unexpected startle cues have been shown to excite the sensorimotor pathway (Kumru and Valls-Solé, 2006) and accelerate the execution of planned movements (Castellote et al., 2007). Since the perturbation was only applied on a small percentage of trials, it may have produced a startle response, resulting in the disinhibition of visuomovement neurons. However, the fact that the puff of air to the ear only had a weak effect suggests that any startle-related changes must act through the visuomotor pathway. Regardless of which of the above mechanisms was at play, the effective result of the perturbations was an altered balance between movement generation and inhibition in the gaze-control network.
Note that disruption of fixation occasionally resulted in premature eye movements (Figs. 1, 8, gold data). We propose that this mimics impulse-control disorders in which the ability to appropriately transition from fixation to saccade generation is compromised. Such deficits have been observed in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (Munoz et al., 2003) and schizophrenia (Braff and Geyer, 1990; Crawford et al., 2002), and in movement-control disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (Terao et al., 2011). Indeed, impulsivity and pathological gaze control is used as a common behavioral assay for executive dysfunction (Reuter and Kathmann, 2004). We propose that to gain a deeper understanding into the neural mechanisms causing impulsive movements, it is important to have access to internal changes that do not always manifest in overt behavior. Previous studies have attempted to study functional interactions in the gaze-control network by using causal manipulations, such as microstimulation or pharmacological inactivation. However, our understanding of what can be gained with those manipulations is limited considering the fact that it is difficult to record activity in the affected neuronal populations. Moreover, the invasive nature of those manipulations makes it difficult to apply them in human experiments. The simple, noninvasive, behavioral perturbations we used here are readily accessible for both animal and human studies. Importantly, they allow us to examine latent network processes. Such perturbation approaches may prove to be an essential supplement to standard neurophysiological experiments enabling a complete understanding of neural mechanisms underlying various behaviors.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant EY022854 to N.J.G. We thank Ivan Smalianchuk for useful discussions during preparation of the manuscript.
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
- Correspondence should be addressed to Uday K. Jagadisan, 153 Eye and Ear Institute, 203 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. kj.udayakiran{at}gmail.com


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The piano works by one of the greatest Polish composers Karol Szymanowski (1882 - 1937) presents the exclusive phenomenon in the piano music of the XXth century. The specific features of Szymanowski's music are "synthetic" manner to combine different styles, the interaction of the Polish piano school traditions and foreign influences. This position has formed thanks to impressions of composer's youth that was spent in Russia in family estate Timoshovka near Kiev. During winter time, Karol studied at the college and also at the music school organized by Gustav Neugaus with his cousin Henry Neugaus in Elizavetgrad (Kirovograd in Soviet years). Szymanowski family was related with famous piano dynasties such as Blumenfelds, Taubes and Neugauses, so intensive interest of the young composer to piano music was understandable. In 1901 - 1905, Szymanowski took private lessons with professors Zawirski and Noskowski in Warsaw; after successful premiere of his Second symphony and Second piano sonata in Vienna composer signed the contract with Universal Edition which helped him to get international promotion.
The main influences on composer's works of 1913 - 1919 were the aesthetics of Secession and Symbolism and also impressions from many travels to Italy and the Near East. After his return to Timoshovka from the North Africa, Szymanowski was forced to stay in Russia; in winter time, the family rented a house in the centre of Kiev. In spite of the war, composer's work was very successful; his compositions were performed first in Russia and were recognized by famous Russian musicians Asafiev, Mjaskovsky, Prokofiev, Ziloti, Koussevitzky, Rachmaninov, Gliere. All Szymanowski's projects came to a stop after the revolution, nevertheless after the Soviets were established in Elizavetgrad, Szymanowski together with Henry Neugaus took part in several concert events. In June 1918, Szymanowski received the proposal from Universal Edition to move to Vienna; however, he refused as in this case his family would have to stay in Russia. In Autumn 1919, thanks to new political situation Szymanowski returned to Poland, he visited Russia with recitals only in 1933 - 1934.
The piano compositions of these Russian years are presented on this CD; all of them were composed in Timoszovka and first performed in Russia. The idea of the cycle of poems Metopes (1915) appeared under composer's impression from ancient bas-relief - metopes in Sicily. The program of the work is connected with the heroines of Odyssey by Homer - fantastic sirens, nymph Calipso, and a daughter of King of the Phaeacians Nausicaa. The poems were dedicated to girls - friends and sisters of Karol Szymanowski Lola Rostiszewska, Anna Szymanowska, Marianna Davydova.
The cycle Masks (1916) occupies significant place in Szymanowski's works. Pieces were dedicated to performers of composer's works - to young pianist Alexander Dubjanski, who introduced Masks in Petrograd (Petesburg) on the 12th of October, 1916; Harry (as Szymanowski called his cousin) Neugaus and Arthur Rubinstein. In Masks, Szymanowski turned to the music of the Near East and to the heroes of the Chivalry, such as Tristan (Tantris) and Don Juan who became symbols in Romantic art. Extreme emotions and bright sound contrasts allow to classify this cycle as an expressionistic work.
Twelve Etudies (1916) were dedicated to a French pianist Alfred Cortot and have original composition of contrasting miniatures, which follow attacca. In Polish piano music this composition is the first experience on the field of contemporary pianism.
The Third Sonata (1917) was dedicated to a Russian pianist and conductor Alexander Ziloti, who worked for the premieres of Szymanowski's compositions. In summer of 1918, Henry Neugaus introduced the sonata in Kiev. Thanks to Henry the copy of manuscript was saved and transmitted to Universal Edition.
Olga Sobakina
Olga Sobakina graduated from the Gnesins Institute in Moscow as a pupil of Lina Bulatova; in 1995, she followed the post-graduate course at the Moscow Conservatory as a pupil of Victor Merzhanov. Olga Sobakina takes part in many musical events. She has performed with orchestras since 1980, gave solo recitals in Moscow and many other Russian cities as well as for Russian Radio, and appeared in Poland in many International Festivals and on other occasions at which her programs were recorded by the Polish Radio and TV. She received awards at the Claude Kahn European Piano Competition and at the Festival "France Piano International" (Paris, 1995-1996), performed in France, USA and Finland. In 2004, she received the degree Doctor of Fine Arts for research "Stylistics of Szymanowski's piano works". Olga Sobakina published many articles on Szymanowski's piano works, and her extensive repertory (about 30 concertos and 20 recital programs) includes two recital programs and the 4th Symphony Concertante by this composer. In Olga Sobakina' performances, Polish critics marked "exclusive skill, great musical talent, sophisticated interpretation and also boldness to perform music by Szymanowski, which is either unknown for Polish or incomprehensible for them".
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Russian Spanish. Revisions: 38099. Mar 25, 2013 Pokrytiya zdaniy v vide obolochek iz stal'nykh anizotropnykh nastilov: Issledovanie i opyt vnedreniya dlya ob'ektov massovogo primeneniya (Russian Edition) (Russian) Paperback – March 25, 2013. Sochleneniya paneley-obolochek, kotorye osushchestvlyayutsya na montazhnoy ploshchadke, obrazuyut pokrytiya zdaniy v vide sostavnykh obolochek.
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The measurement area is indicated by a circular laser pattern which asssures accurate targeting measurement. Key Features: • Measures non-contact temperature • Optic target ratio (10:1) • Measurement area indicated by circular laser pattern assures accurate assessments • Photograph objects with smart device, capturing measurement marker and temperature values for reference and reporting 9,300 din. The testo 605i Smart Probe thermo-hygrometer is a humidity and temperature measuring instrument that quickly and accurately measures relative humidity, dew point, and temperature in rooms, ducts, registers, and environmental boxes/chambers. Key Features: • Quickly and accurately measures relative humidity and temperature in rooms, ducts, and chambers • Automatically calculates dew point & wet bulb temperature • Small diameter probe is ideal for in-duct measurements • For all HVAC/R technicians and contractors 9,300 din. The testo 549i Smart Probe is a hose-less, wire-less, pressure probe for measuring refrigerant charge in AC/Refrigeration systems. It is used for servicing, troubleshooting, and documenting the operation of residential or commercial AC/refrigeration systems.


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Reclaiming Sabbath Keeping: Shedding the Guilt
Blog / Produced by The High Calling"When we drove into our driveway after church, our neighbor stood from her crouched position pulling weeds in her flower garden, walked over to us and apologized for working on the Sabbath. Though Sabbath is a big deal in our community—big chain gas stations and even the local Walmart were closed on Sunday until recently—I was flabbergasted that anyone would feel the need to apologize for such a thing ... "
Natalie was responding to my weekly email letter to the Sabbath Society, an online community of more than 200 people who long to make rest a routine instead of an elective. She confirmed my suspicions as I speak and engage with many around the world about Sabbath.
Guilt rooted in three common myths keeps people from believing the fourth commandment is still relevant.
Rest Is an Ideal Not Achievable in Contemporary Culture
Have you ever apologized for engaging in an activity that brings you pleasure? Something not associated with calculable productivity like taking a nap? Guilt about pleasure reveals an unrealistic ideal we've bought into regarding value. Ideals about rest often keep Sabbath elusive for many.
An apology about gardening on the Sabbath in this example isn't conviction of sin but the sly tug toward legalism. God created the Sabbath for man because he longs for our undivided attention not because he wants to create more hoops to jump through. The evolution of culture and society doesn't change that.
If digging in the soil on a warm spring day makes your heart beat wildly with abandon then the activity is restorative, not an idol of identity. Some people experience the nearness of God's presence more acutely through play, creating art, and activity, while others experience it in napping or quiet reflection. There are no ideals for rest in God's economy, that's why Sabbath is still as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
If I Can't Do It Perfectly, then What's the Point
Observing Sabbath doesn't come with a rule book for sainthood. Perhaps God said, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," because he understands our proclivities toward forgetfulness.
When the majority of our days occupy work, we can mistakenly equate what we do with our identity and worth. Sabbath is a day of perspective; taking our hands off work to remember why we are doing it in the first place. God is the Creator and we are His created. When rest becomes a way to control time, we lose the power of His presence in it.
He isn't as interested in how perfectly we Sabbath as he is about cultivating relationship with the One who is Perfect.
I Am Lazy and Irresponsible if I Take a Whole Day to Rest
This lie is possibly the most popular thread in our thinking that keeps Sabbath an elective and not a mainstay of living. When we leave the sink full of dirty dishes, the laundry baskets overflowing and toys strewn like fall leaves covering the carpet, God doesn't shake his finger and call those decisions a shortcoming. He smiles about our willingness to trust him with 24 hours.
God says to test him regarding the tithe because he knows we'll find him trustworthy. Perhaps he's saying the same thing about Sabbath. Test Him with a day to rest, abide in his presence and watch the way he multiplies the hours during the other six days of the week.
You'll soon find guilt elusive and Sabbath a weekly freedom like seeing weeds as God's artistry instead of a nuisance.
Reclaiming Sabbath Keeping
Sabbath is more than a day off. It is a turning of the entire being toward God—a time set apart to contemplate life and work and praise the Creator for it all. The Christian observance of Sabbath is set apart by its lack of rules—there is no strict way to keep Sabbath in Christianity. It's not a "must" of our faith. And yet, to ignore this fourth commandment is to miss some of God's richest blessings for his people. In this series on Reclaiming Sabbath Keeping we explore what the Christian Sabbath might look like and glimpse some benefits and challenges of Sabbath-keeping in today's productivity-driven culture. Join us in the conversation and invite others along by sharing these stories through email or your social media networks.
Image by Cindee Snider Re. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.


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It's official ! Jose Mourinho and Chelsea have re-signed the Serbian international Nemanja Matic who once again would have an opportunity to play for the London Blues.
Nemanja Matic has signed a five-and-a-half year contract with Chelsea, only three years after he left Stamford Bridge for €5m . Chelsea payed much more, and landed the €25m offer which was enough to re-sign Benfica midfielder.
The 26-year-old Nemanja Matic joined Chelsea for just €1.8m in 2009 but two years later he left as part of David Luiz's deal to west London in January 2011.
"I am very happy for this opportunity to be back at this club," Matic told the club's official website. "I feel very good because of that and just want to say I will give my best to help the team and make the Chelsea fans happy."
Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho added: "I am very pleased that Nemanja is returning to Chelsea. He has grown as a player in Portugal and has become a fantastic all-round midfielder.
"I am sure he will become a very important member of the squad and help us to achieve our ambitions."


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Kid House Escape is a fun games for kids which played on Abcya.live.
Imagine that you had been to a House; there you got trapped inside the House. Here are the interesting puzzles and hidden objects to find and get escape from the House. Good luck... Have fun!
Do you want to find something as cool as this game? Visit our site and find what you like here or simply click on Arithmetic Line and Casino Cards Memory to enjoy the great gaming experience.
Instructions: Mouse Interact


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Dean Morris
Just to be safe
Funny birthday card by Dean Morris
Wishing you Happy Birthday like this, just to be safe
Greeting card with a funny caption showing how someone might wish their friend a 'happy birthday' in these strange lockdown times. A face mask might be more practical? Good humour from Dean Morris.This card measures approximately 7 x 5 inches and is blank inside for your own message.
View our range of Dean Morris Cards


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Large Au-Cu Resource Base
- 7.19 MM oz Au & 1.42 Billion lbs Cu in the Measured + Indicated Categories
- 0.33 MM oz Au & 97.0 MM lbs Cu in the Inferred Category
Attractive project economics from 2010 PEA that is being updated with pre-feasibility study
- ~200,000 oz Au & ~50 MM lb Cu average annual production over 19 yr mine life (avg. 343,500 Au Eq ounces/year)
- Standard flotation process producing a saleable Cu concentrate
- NPV10% of US $1.1 Billion; 37.1% IRR (pre-tax) at US $1,450/oz Au & US $3.00/lb Cu (Based on 2010 PEA study economics
Good location in a mining jurisdiction
- Golden Quadrilateral (>55 MM oz of historic gold production) re-emerging as a new modern mining district
- Substantial infrastructure (roads, water and power)
- Government needs investment and sustainable growth
- 16% corporate tax rate
Excellent Value Proposition
- Region attracting foreign mining companies for gold and base metals (i.e., Barrick, Newmont, and Eldorado)
- Eldorado proceeding with development of the Certej gold deposit
The Rovina License lies within the Metalliferi Mountains, in the southern part of the Apuseni Mountains, in the area known as the Golden Quadrilateral. The License is strategically located approximately 20 km outhwest of Rosia Montana and adjacent to the western border of the Apuseni 1 license. This license hosts porphyry copper-gold targets and Rosia Montana deposit style (+15,000,000 million ounces).
Initial reconnaissance mapping and sampling was completed in late 2005. This license includes 5 known mineralized prospects. Mapping and sampling by Carpathian identified copper-gold mineralized potassic-porphyry style alteration outcropping at two of these prospects, Rovina and Colnic, which lie 2.5 km apart.
The copper-gold mineralization at the Rovina and Colnic prospects is hosted in altered porphyritic microdiorite containing magnetite in thin veinlets and as disseminated granular agglomerates and secondary biotite consistent with potassic alteration at the core of gold-rich porphyry hydrothermal systems. This alteration is cut by quartz-chalcopyrite-pyrite stock work veinlets. Geologic mapping has identified large halos of pyrite-sericite alteration (phyllic alteration) typically associated with porphyry systems.
In 2006, a total of 66 drill holes were completed for 24,140 metres between the Colnic and Rovina Porphyry systems, along with metallurgical testwork, and a detailed QA/QC program. In addition, in 2006 a generative exploration program was completed, comprised 24 square km of ground magnetic survey in the northern part of the Rovina License including the Rovina and Colnic Porphyry systems, 15 line kilometres of Induced Polarization Surveys, 12.7 line km of soil geochemistry surveys, and reconnaissance mapping and outcrop sampling covering an area of 5 square kilometers. This program identified a minimum of three new porphyry targets (coincidental geophysical, geological, porphyry style alteration and stock work systems with Au & Cu mineralization), within a prospective 6.5 km long volcanic belt inclusive of the Colnic and Rovina porphyry systems. These are the Galaxy target (2.2 km west of the Rovina porphyry); the Ciresata target (4.5 km south-southwest of the Colnic porphyry); and the Baroc target (200 m to the west of the Rovina porphyry).
From the 2006 drilling program an initial National Instrument 43-101 compliant Resource Estimate, has been provided to Carpathian by independent consultants AMEC Americas Limited's ("AMEC") for both the Colnic and Rovina porphyries. For both porphyries the Mineral Resources reported are confined to a Whittle 4x-generated conceptual pit shell to determine the amount of potentially mineable open pit mineralization using various economic assumptions. The Colnic resource estimate is divided into gold-copper ("Au-Cu") mineralization (with block model of Cu grades greater than 500 ppm) and gold ("Au") only mineralization (with block model Cu grades less than 500 ppm). The Rovina resource estimate is entirely comprised of Au-Cu mineralization.
During 2007, 86 diamond drill holes were completed for a total of 32,500 metres on the Rovina Exploration License. This drilling program included definition drilling on both the Rovina and Colnic porphyries, as well as drilling on the Galaxy and Ciresata porphyry targets that were discovered during the previous generative exploration program and generative exploration drilling on additional targets.
During Q3 2008, field work on the Rovina Exploration License was comprised predominantly of diamond drilling. This drilling program consisted of 4 diamond drill holes (2,511 m) on the Ciresata Porphyry and 3 diamond drill holes (1,114 m: one drill hole on each porphyry) for the collection of core samples to be submitted at a later date for further metallurgical test work studies. During the quarter, approximately 4,111 core samples were collected and submitted for assay analysis, QA/QC analysis, check sample analysis, metallurgical test work and rock density analysis. Additionally geological modelling and preparation work for the updated Mineral Resource Estimate was completed.
On a year to date basis in 2008, drilling has been primarily concentrated on the Rovina Porphyry and the newly discovered Ciresata Porphyry located approximately 4 km south of the Colnic Porphyry. To date in 2008, the Corporation has completed 31 diamond drill holes on the Rovina License for a total of approximately 14,720 metres of which 16 diamond drill holes (7,625 m) were completed on the Rovina Porphyry and 14 drill holes (6,830 m) on the Ciresata Porphyry and 1 hole (270 m) on the Colnic Porphyry. All three deposits are in close proximity to one another and could be processed from one central facility. PEG has estimated the Mineral Resource for each of the Colnic, Rovina and Ciresata porphyry deposits, utilizing approximately 62,700 m of diamond drill hole data from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 drilling campaigns. The resource estimate takes into account all drilling information for the Rovina and Colnic deposits up to the end of April 2008 and on the Ciresata deposit up to the middle of September 2008.
The following table summarizes the weighted average result of the resource estimates for all three porphyry deposits reported at a base case cut-off grade of 0.30% copper equivalent ("Cu eq") for the Rovina deposit, 0.45 g/t gold equivalent ("Au eq") for the Colnic deposit and 0.70 g/t Au eq for the Ciresata deposit, as of September 30, 2008. The base case cut-off grades chosen for each respective deposit were determined by giving consideration to the characteristics of each deposit, envisioned mining methods, approximate mining and milling costs derived from internal studies as well as comparable porphyry-type deposits, results from early metallurgical test work and the reasonable potential for them to be economic.
Rovina Valley Project 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate at base case cut-off grades
(as of July 15, 2012)
- *Au eq. determined by using a gold price of US$1,370 per ounce and a copper price of US3.52/lb. These prices are the 3-year trailing average as of July 10th, 2012. Metallurgical recoveries are not taken into account for Au eq.
- Base case cut-off used in the table are 0.35 g/t Au eq. for the Colnic deposit and 0.25% Cu eq for the Rovina deposit, both of which are amenable to open-pit mining and 0.65 g/t Au eq. for the Ciresata deposit which is amenable to underground bulk mining.
- For the Rovina and Colnic porphyries, the resource is an in-pit resource derived from a Whittle shell model using gross metal values of $1,350/oz Au price and $3.00/lb Cu price, net of payable amounts after smelter charges and royalty for net values of US$1,313/oz Au and US$2.57/lb Cu for Rovina and US$2.27/Ib Cu for Colnic).
- A grade-tonnage vs cut-off grades table for each of the deposits is shown at the end of this news release.
- Rounding of tonnes as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.
For the 2012 Resource Estimate consideration as to the reasonable potential for the RVP to be economic was taken into account and was derived from the following parameters. For the Rovina and Colnic porphyry deposits, which are planned to be mined with open-pit mining methods, the resource estimates were constrained within a pit shell using the Lerch-Grossman pit optimizer algorithm in Minesight software using net metal values of $1,313/oz for gold and US$2.27 to US$2.57/lb for copper (copper values varies by deposit and the metal values used are less than the three year trailing average). Mining costs, pit-slope angles, metallurgical recoveries with payable gold and copper were taken into account as well as royalties based on the PEA Study (details shown below under Resource Estimate Input parameters and Assumptions). Base case cut-off grades considered results from the PEA Study and the on-going pre-feasibility study and are expressed in gold-equivalent ("Au eq") grade for the Colnic and Ciresata deposits and copper-equivalent ("Cu eq") grade for the Rovina deposit. A 0.25% copper equivalent ("Cu eq") was used for the Rovina deposit and 0.35 g/t gold equivalent ("Au eq") for the Colnic deposit. The Ciresata deposit which is planned to be mined with bulk tonnage underground mining methods, utilized a base cut-off grade of 0.65 g/t Au eq to calculate the resource estimate for this deposit. Design information derived from the on-going pre-feasibility study was also applied.
At both the Rovina and Colnic deposits, there are higher-grade portions of each deposit that outcrop at surface. These areas represent potential "starter pits" that will be developed to maximize the early extraction of higher-grade gold and copper mineralization (see grade cut-off vs tonnes and grade tables at the end of the news release). As an example, the higher-grade mineralization at Colnic contains measured plus indicated resources at >0.70 g/t Au eq of 51.5 million tonnes at 0.73 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu. At the Rovina deposit, the higher-grade mineralization contains measured plus indicated resource at >0.50% Cu eq of 25.3 million tonnes at 0.51 g/t Au and 0.35% Cu. Ciresata has continuous zone of high-grade gold and copper mineralization in the core of the deposit that persists at depth that is suitable for extraction with an underground bulk-mining method. At Ciresata, the measured plus indicated resource of this core at >1.0 g/t Au eq contains 65.4 million tonnes at 1.01 g/t Au and 0.18% Cu. It is these higher-grade areas that are the focus for the early stages of mining for the on-going pre-feasibility study.
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Mukesh Ambani has been making headlines after his firm, Reliance Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), established ties with giant companies like Facebook, Qualcomm, Google and many others. The recent investment contributed to his net worth and made him the fifth richest person in the world.
Mukesh Ambani surpassed Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and currently sits in the fifth position with a net worth of $80.5 billion. Ambani is just $4.5 billion behind Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, who occupies the fourth spot. Despite the pandemic striking the globe, Mukesh Ambani has enjoyed the riches, with his net worth increasing with the recent investments.
The eminent businessman of the country, Mukesh Ambani, broke into the top 10 list in June. Within a few weeks of July, Ambani surpassed Warren Buffet, Steve Ballmer and Elon Musk to gain the current position. RIL share hit the new record when it reached Rs 2010 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange on July 22. The surge alone helped Ambani to raise his net worth by $1.2 billion.
On the other hand, Tesla's founder, Elon Musk, borrowed the fifth place from Mukesh Ambani for a while when Tesla's hit new heights. However, the subsequent losses on the same day resulted in him falling to the 10th position in the top 10 billionaires list.
When asked about his success, Mukesh Ambani said:
"I have fulfilled my promise to the shareholders by making Reliance net debt-free much before our original schedule of March 31 2021"
He also said that the Reliance Group of Industries is in its "golden decade" with more ambitious goals to success. He also attributed his success to his team, which is in the very DNA of Reliance.
During Reliance Industries' annual general meeting earlier this month, Ambani said
The company will "induct global partners and investors in Reliance Retail in the next few quarters."
Soon after, the news of Amazon reportedly in talks with Reliance Retail came to the forefront. Both the parties refused to comment at the moment.
The news is a breakthrough from a different standpoint as the top ten list usually consisted of Americans or Britishers. He broke the norm and became the only Asian in the top 10 billionaires of the world. The second richest Asian, Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, stands 18th in the list of billionaires.
As of date, Jeff Bezos bags the top position with a net worth of $178.6 B. He is followed by Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, with a net worth of $112.7 B. The third place is occupied by luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton's chief Bernard with a net worth of $112.1 B.
Despite many businesses facing a setback due to the pandemic and are unable to bear the brunt, Mukesh Ambani's decision making has been top-notch for Reliance Industries Ltd. His appropriate investments have lifted his stature and made him the fifth richest man across the globe.