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Knee kinematics and kinetics in former soccer players with a 16-year-old ACL injury – the effects of twelve weeks of knee-specific training
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders volume 8, Article number: 35 (2007)
Training of neuromuscular control has become increasingly important and plays a major role in rehabilitation of subjects with an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Little is known, however, of the influence of this training on knee stiffness during loading. Increased knee stiffness occurs as a loading strategy of ACL-injured subjects and is associated with increased joint contact forces. Increased or altered joint loads contribute to the development of osteoarthritis.
The aim of the study was to determine if knee stiffness, defined by changes in knee kinetics and kinematics of gait, step activity and cross-over hop could be reduced through a knee-specific 12-week training programme.
A 3-dimensional motion analysis system (VICON) and a force plate (AMTI) were used to calculate knee kinetics and kinematics before and after 12 weeks of knee-specific training in 12 males recruited from a cohort with ACL injury 16 years earlier. Twelve uninjured males matched for age, sex, BMI and activity level served as a reference group. Self-reported patient-relevant data were obtained by the KOOS questionnaire.
There were no significant changes in knee stiffness during gait and step activity after training. For the cross-over hop, increased peak knee flexion during landing (from 44 to 48 degrees, p = 0.031) and increased internal knee extensor moment (1.28 to 1.55 Nm/kg, p = 0.017) were seen after training, indicating reduced knee stiffness. The KOOS sport and recreation score improved from 70 to 77 (p = 0.005) and was significantly correlated with the changes in knee flexion during landing for the cross-over hop (r = 0.6, p = 0.039).
Knee-specific training improved lower extremity kinetics and kinematics, indicating reduced knee stiffness during demanding hop activity. Self-reported sport and recreational function correlated positively with the biomechanical changes supporting a clinical importance of the findings. Further studies are needed to confirm these results in women and in other ACL injured populations.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) plays a major role in maintaining normal knee function. Injuries to the ACL are treated with training without surgery [1–3] or, more commonly, in combination with surgery [4–7]. The training usually emphasises normalisation of bilateral symmetries in joint mobility, neuromuscular control, muscle strength, and functional activity [8–12]. Neuromuscular training aims to enhance unconscious motor responses by stimulating both afferent signals and the central mechanisms responsible for dynamic joint control [13]. Neuromuscular training has become increasingly important and now plays a major role in the rehabilitation of ACL injuries. Most neuromuscular training programmes include balance exercises, dynamic joint stability exercises, plyometric exercises, and sport-specific exercises including balance and jump movements. Each component of the neuromuscular rehabilitation programme should be closely monitored by the physiotherapist, with corrections and feedback to improve dynamic control of the knee. Rehabilitation programmes including neuromuscular training are more effective in achieving good knee function and knee stability than rehabilitation programmes without neuromuscular training [3, 12, 14].
To monitor joint biomechanics during performances such as gait, step activity or hopping, the use of kinetics and kinematics has increased. The most severely affected parameters, when analysing lower extremity kinetics and kinematics in ACL-injured subjects, are knee flexion angle and internal knee extensor moment [15–19]. Decreased knee flexion angle and decreased internal knee extensor moment contribute to increased knee stiffness during loading. Increased knee stiffness shifts the load from the knee to the hip, foot and ankle [19–23]. The knee stiffening strategy seen in ACL deficient subjects may reflect the early stages of motor skill acquisition since as the skills level improves, knee stiffening decreases [24]. Increased knee stiffness, a load strategy frequently seen in ACL-injured subjects, is associated with excessive joint contact force [19]. Excessive joint contact force, which is manifested by an increased vertical ground reaction force (VGRF), may, in turn, lead to the development of knee OA [25]. This ought particularly to apply if the increased knee stiffness remains long after the injury and is present not only in the early stages of motor skill acquisition.
Dynamic stability of the knee joint depends on the ability to react quickly to sudden situation's changes. Functional joint instability may develop due to the lesion of mechanoreceptors in the joint capsule and ligaments in and surrounding the joint [26]. Maintaining dynamic stability during different skills off movements is dependent on cortically programmed muscle activations and reflex-supplied muscle contractions [27]. ACL-injured subjects have significantly slower reaction times and processing speeds than non-injured subjects [28] and thus neuromuscular training have the potential to improve muscular reaction time and joint position sense leading to improved knee kinetics and kinematics.
There is a lack of studies demonstrating the possible impact on lower extremity kinetics and kinematics due to training in subjects with an ACL injury.
We hypothesised that knee-specific training focusing on neuromuscular control would decrease the knee stiffness loading strategy commonly seen in these subjects. The aim of this study was therefore to determine if knee stiffness during loading, defined as changes in knee kinetics and kinematics of gait, step activity and cross-over hop, could be improved by a knee-specific 12-week supervised training programme.
The subjects in this study were identified in 1989 [29]. All of them were males and suffered an ACL injury in 1986 while playing soccer and have been followed up three times since identification [29, 30]. Of the 122 subjects who consented to have radiographs taken in the follow-up in 2000, those 25 living within a 2-hour drive of Lund University Hospital in the southern part of Sweden were invited to enter the present study. Of the eligible subjects, 12 accepted to participate. Nine subjects did not respond to the invitation and four declined to participate. The mean age of the participating subjects was 40 years, Table 1. The non-participating subjects were significantly younger (38 vs. 40 years, p = 0.05). No other significant differences were seen between the participants and non-participants. The current activity level ranged from Tegner level 2 to 9. Tegner activity level 2 represents recreational golf, cycling or swimming, working with small children or working as a waiter, while Tegner activity level 9 represents competitive soccer. Five of the twelve participating subjects had undergone ACL reconstruction at 0 to 4 years after the initial injury. In 2/5 cases a patella bone-tendon-bone autograft was used and in 3/5 cases an iliotibial band (ITB) autograft was used. When using the ITB autograft, a mean circular graft diameter of 8 mm was obtained using a 4- to 6-cm-wide and 18-cm-long strip of the anteroseptal part of the ITB (including part of the vastus lateralis fascia) [31]. The reasons behind the choice of graft were not recorded. One subject had undergone a suture of the ACL. Three of the participating subjects had radiographic OA in their injured knee. Radiographic OA was defined as grade 1 joint space narrowing combined with osteophytes or grade 2 joint space narrowing or more [32], corresponding to Kellgren and Lawrence knee OA grade 2 [33].
Matched reference group
A previously described uninjured reference group [34], matched for age, BMI and activity level to the current study group, was used to determine whether any changes in kinetics and kinematics due to the intervention in the study group were in the direction of the reference group values or not. The mean age in the reference group was 39 years, Table 1. All participating subjects signed an informed consent form and the Ethics committee at the Medical Faculty, Lund University, approved the study.
Design and intervention
All ACL-injured subjects were evaluated before and after 12 weeks of knee-specific training by motion analysis, using the VICON system, during gait, step activity and cross-over hop. The subjects in the reference group were evaluated at baseline only. To monitor the possible clinical changes from the training program the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire was used. Isokinetic strength was evaluated to help interpret if the possible biomechanical changes were due to improvement in strength from the neuromuscular exercise programme.
A physiotherapist (AvP) supervised one-hour knee-specific sessions once a week for twelve weeks. In addition to the group training, each individual received instructions on home exercises. The training programme was based on clinical experience and a literature search and consisted of exercises focusing on neuromuscular control including: hop, knee control, balance, and core stability exercises [35–39]. Examples of exercises are given in Figure 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Each exercise was adapted to the subject's functional capacity. The difficulty was gradually increased from double to single leg exercises and from stable to unstable surfaces when tolerated. During the supervised sessions patients were repeatedly encouraged to maintain symmetry of the double-legged exercises throughout the performance and to focus on foot and knee placement during balance and jump exercises. Furthermore, subjects were told to use more knee and hip flexion during landing and take-off when practising jumping. The knee control exercises were performed in front of a mirror to make the subjects aware of the knee position during the performance. Finally, the core stability exercises were aimed at improving postural control.
The home exercises were almost identical to the supervised programme. Instead of using a step board for knee bending or jumping exercises, the subjects were instructed to use a staircase, and instead of using a pulley machine during knee control exercises they used a rubber band. All subjects were instructed to perform the home exercises once or twice a week. After the 12-week training period, all the subjects self-reported compliance with the home exercises by a questionnaire.
Motion analysis
Lightweight surface markers were attached directly to the skin of the subjects and placed on standardised anatomical landmarks according to the biomechanical model of Kadaba et al. [40] and Davis et al. [41]. Marker position data were captured by a VICON 612 (OMG, Oxford, UK) system. This is a 3-dimensional passive marker motion capture system consisting of six cameras with a sampling frequency of 50 Hz, one data station and one PC on which the information is gathered and processed. Ground reaction force data were collected from one AMTI force plate (OR6-7, Advanced Mechanical Technologies). The size of the force plate was 505 × 465 mm and the sampling frequency 200 Hz. The marker positions were used, along with estimates of the joint centre locations and data from the force plate, to calculate the subject's 3-dimensional joint kinetics and kinematics. Calculation methods and model assumptions were as described [40–42]. The reliability of the kinetics and kinematics during gait and running is good [43, 44]. The reliability of kinetics and kinematics during step and hop activity has not been assessed.
Three trials of each of the following activities for the right and left sides, respectively, were performed with a three-minute break between activities; 1) free-speed walking, 2) ascending and descending a 25-cm high step (step activity), and 3) cross-over hop test on one leg. In all tests the right leg was tested first and the order of the tests was the same for all subjects [34].
The subjects walked at a self-selected, comfortable speed on a 10 m walkway. A force plate embedded in the floor was located 3.5 metres after the start. Data from at least six dynamic trials, with three clean force plate strikes from each side, were captured.
Step activity
The front edge of the step was positioned approximately 60 cm from the force plate. The subject stood facing the step at a self-selected distance and was told to step up with one leg (referred to as the "supporting limb") and cross over the step with the opposite limb (referred to as the "step-over limb") [19]. It was the "step-over limb" that landed on the force plate.
Cross-over hop
The cross-over hop test was performed on a 6 m long course where the subject hopped from side to side across a 15 cm marking strip on the floor. The subject hopped three times in succession on the same foot, crossing the centre strip on each hop [10]. The first landing was a force plate strike.
Isokinetic strength testing
The strength of each leg was evaluated with an isokinetic dynamometer (Cybex II Dynamometer 325, Lumex Inc., Ronkonkoma, NY). The subject was secured to the apparatus with straps across the chest, pelvis, thigh and ankle, according to the Cybex manual [45]. The subject was sitting with the thigh supported, with 90° hip flexion and the arms folded. The centre of motion of the lever arm was aligned as accurately as possible to the slightly changing flexion-extension axis of the knee joint, and the resistance pad was placed approximately 3 cm above the lateral malleolus on the tibia. The range of motion of the knee joint was set at 0–100°. The test-retest reliability of isokinetic muscle strength testing is good [46, 47]. In order to familiarise the subjects with the operation of the dynamometer before formal testing began, they were allowed several sub-maximum practise efforts, after which three consecutive maximum efforts for knee extension and flexion at angle velocities of 60°/sec were recorded. A 20 sec rest was allowed between the sets. The peak torque (Nm) of the knee extension and flexion muscle strength was recorded.
Self-reported outcomes
The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was used to evaluate self-reported pain, function and quality of life [48, 49]. The KOOS consists of five subscales; Pain, Symptoms, ADL, Sport and Recreational function, and knee-related QoL, which are scored separately on a 0–100, worst-to-best, scale. The Tegner activity level scale, scored from 1–10, where 10 indicates professional soccer, was used to evaluate the current activity level [50]. Both instruments have good validity and reliability for subjects with ACL injuries [51, 52].
Data management
Knee kinetics and kinematics data were obtained from graphs. To avoid bias, the data were read in a blinded fashion. All legs were given a number from a random number list. This list was handled by the last author and was not available to the graph reader. Kinetic and kinematic data for gait were calculated across the stance phase and swing phase and normalised to 100% of the gait cycle. A gait cycle starts at heel-strike and stops at the next heel-strike by the same foot [53]. Kinetic and kinematic data for step and hop activity were calculated across the stance phase and normalised to 100% of stance. Calculated kinetic data were normalised for body mass in kilograms. The step activity data was normalised for leg length, as measured from the spina iliaca anterior superior (SIAS) to the medial malleolus. All modelling assumptions are based on the work by Ramakrishnan et al. [42]. At the time of processing, all three trials were calculated and a mean of the three trials was used for analysis.
The kinematic variable studied was peak knee flexion during loading response, and the kinetic variables were internal knee extensor moment at peak knee flexion and the peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) during the first 25% of the gait cycle.
Step activity
The kinematic variable studied was knee flexion of the supporting limb, obtained when the step-over limb landed on the force plate. The kinetic variables were internal knee extensor moment at peak knee flexion and the peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) of the step-over limb when landing on the force plate.
Cross-over hop
The kinematic variable studied was knee flexion during landing. The kinetic variables studied were internal knee extensor moment at peak knee flexion, and the peak vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) of the first jump when landing on the force plate.
Results are given as mean ± SD unless otherwise stated. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows (SPSS Version 12.0.1). The results had a normal frequency distribution, allowing the use of parametric statistics. We found no differences in interpretation when employing parametric or non-parametric statistics. The paired samples t-test was used to determine levels of significance when comparing the groups before and after training. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the correlation between knee extensor strength and knee extensor moment, and to determine the correlation between the changes in knee kinetics/kinematics and the change in self-reported Sport and Recreational function according to the KOOS questionnaire. The level of significance for statistical measures was set a priori to p ≤ 0.05 and all tests were one-tailed.
Compliance with intervention and self-reported outcomes
Ten ACL-injured subjects took part in all twelve supervised sessions while two subjects took part in only four sessions for work-related reasons. The home exercises were performed once or twice weekly by 11 of the subjects. One subject only participated in the supervised sessions. In total, the number of completed training sessions, both supervised and non-supervised home training, averaged twice a week, and ranged from 1–3 times/week.
To assess the clinical effect of the training self-reported outcomes were assessed. While no change was seen in pain or symptoms, a significant improvement was seen in the KOOS subscale Sport and Recreational function (70 to 77, p = 0.05), Figure 7.
To the question: "Would you resume the training programme if your knee got worse?", 11 subjects replied "yes" while one replied "I don't know".
ACL-injured group before and after training
The training program introduced changes in kinetics and kinematics making the ACL injured subjects more similar to the reference group (Table 2). The most indicative test situation was the cross-over hop, in which peak knee flexion during landing and internal knee extensor moment changed significantly after training, p < 0.015. Peak knee flexion during landing increased from 44 degrees before training to 48 degrees after training and approached the reference group with a mean peak knee flexion during landing of 49 degrees. The internal knee extensor moment during cross-over hop also increased after training from 1.28 to 1.55 Nm/kg, p = 0.017. The VGRF during cross-over hop did not change significantly after training. The changes in biomechanics during the cross-over hop were positively correlated (knee flexion during landing r = 0.6, p = 0.019, and knee extensor moment r = 0.3, p = 0.151) to the improvement in self-reported Sport and Recreational Function.
The aim of the training program was to improve neuromuscular control and no specific strength exercises were performed. To assure that the possible effect seen from the intervention was due to neuromuscular improvement and not strength, isokinetic strength was evaluated. There were no significant differences in any of the isokinetic strength measures when comparing controls, ACL subjects at baseline and after 12 weeks of training, Figure 8. Isokinetic quadriceps strength at 60 degrees per second showed poor correlation with the improvement in internal knee extensor moment during gait, step activity and cross-over hop; r = 0.03, 0.19 and -0.06, respectively, p > 0.3.
This study indicates that neuromuscular training may introduce changes in the loading pattern of the affected leg in ACL injured subjects that are measurable by 3-dimensional motion analysis. Our study group was very homogenous with regard to some aspects; they were all mid life males who sustained an ACL injury during soccer play 16 years ago, but heterogeneous with regard to current joint status. The study group consisted of only 12 subjects and although a similar direction of change was seen for all three evaluated functions, the changes were only statistically significant during the most demanding function, the cross-over hop, indicating that the t-test comparisons may be limited by the small number of subjects. Another limitation of the study may be that there were no significant differences between the ACL-injured subjects and the controls at baseline [34]. Thus our data should be viewed as preliminary and interpreted with caution. 3-dimensional motion analysis is a feasible method for evaluation of changes due to neuromuscular training and should be employed in future larger studies that aim to generalize these findings also to women and other ACL injured populations.
The few available studies using biomechanical outcomes to evaluate the impact of neuromuscular training have used interventions similar to those used in the present study, and similarly show improvement in joint flexion angles during gait and hop activities. Myer and co-workers studied "Drop Vertical Jump" and "Medial Drop Landing" tests to analyse the abduction angles and moment in the hip, knee and ankle. Both aspects were improved by neuromuscular training [36]. Chmielewski et al. showed that perturbation training of ACL-deficient potential copers improved knee stiffness during gait, defined as knee flexion and co-contraction index. This change was in the direction of uninjured control subjects [23].
Most studies using neuromuscular training have evaluated the effect on injury prevention [35, 54–60]. Studies of neuromuscular training, in comparison to traditional strength training, in ACL injured subjects have shown better result in sensory outcomes such as proprioception, motor outcomes such as strength and functional tests, and self-reported outcomes [12, 14]. A prospective, double-blind, randomised, clinical trial in subjects with an on average one year old ACL injury compared a programme for muscle strength with a neuromuscular programme. The investigators found a significantly greater improvement in both proprioception and functional score in the neuromuscular group after 12 weeks' training [14]. Significantly better results, evaluated by one leg hop test, strength test and self-reported questionnaires, were found after supervised neuromuscular training compared with self-monitored training in non-reconstructed ACL subjects with acute injuries [12]. In the present study, the movement pattern was still amenable to knee-specific training, indicating that knee-specific training is feasible also for individuals 16 years past the injury. The poor correlation between quadriceps strength and knee extensor moment seen in the present study supports the theory that lower extremity kinetics and kinematics could be influenced by training focusing on neuromuscular control only without special emphasis on improving lower extremity muscle strength [12, 14].
The optimum training period or number of training sessions to improve the lower extremity loading pattern is difficult to define, largely due to differences in the subjects' body awareness and ability to respond to feedback given to improve neuromuscular control. This study showed that duration of 12 weeks and a frequency of twice a week were sufficient to decrease knee stiffness.
Despite subjects being 16 years post-injury, knee-specific training improved lower extremity kinetics and kinematics, indicating reduced knee stiffness and significantly so during the more demanding hop activity. Moreover, self-reported sport and recreational function correlated positively with the biomechanical changes indicating a clinical importance of the findings. Further studies are needed to confirm these results in women and in other ACL injured populations.
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Johnson DS, Smith RB: Outcome measurement in the ACL deficient knee – what's the score?. Knee. 2001, 8 (1): 51-57. 10.1016/S0968-0160(01)00068-0.
Perry J: Gait analysis, normal and pathological function. 1992, Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Incorporated
Caraffa A, Cerulli G, Projetti M, Aisa G, Rizzo A: Prevention of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in soccer. A prospective controlled study of proprioceptive training. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 1996, 4 (1): 19-21. 10.1007/BF01565992.
Myklebust G, Engebretsen L, Braekken IH, Skjolberg A, Olsen OE, Bahr R: Prevention of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female team handball players: a prospective intervention study over three seasons. Clin J Sport Med. 2003, 13 (2): 71-78. 10.1097/00042752-200303000-00002.
Wedderkopp N, Kaltoft M, Holm R, Froberg K: Comparison of two intervention programmes in young female players in European handball – with and without ankle disc. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2003, 13 (6): 371-375. 10.1046/j.1600-0838.2003.00336.x.
Wedderkopp N, Kaltoft M, Lundgaard B, Rosendahl M, Froberg K: Prevention of injuries in young female players in European team handball. A prospective intervention study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1999, 9 (1): 41-47.
Holm I, Fosdahl MA, Friis A, Risberg MA, Myklebust G, Steen H: Effect of neuromuscular training on proprioception, balance, muscle strength, and lower limb function in female team handball players. Clin J Sport Med. 2004, 14 (2): 88-94. 10.1097/00042752-200403000-00006.
Hewett TE, Ford KR, Myer GD: Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female athletes: Part 2, a meta-analysis of neuromuscular interventions aimed at injury prevention. Am J Sports Med. 2006, 34 (3): 490-498. 10.1177/0363546505282619.
Hewett TE, Myer GD, Ford KR: Reducing knee and anterior cruciate ligament injuries among female athletes: a systematic review of neuromuscular training interventions. J Knee Surg. 2005, 18 (1): 82-88.
Pre-publication history
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/8/35/prepub
This study was supported by the Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports, the Thelma Zoéga Foundation, the Gorton Foundation, the Greta and Johan Kock Foundation, the Swedish Rheumatism Association and the Swedish Research Council.
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AvP conceived and designed the study, acquired the data, conducted data analysis and drafted the manuscript. EMR contributed to the conception and the design of the study and reviewed the manuscript critically. MH contributed to the design of the study and reviewed the manuscript critically. EH reviewed the manuscript critically. All authers read and approved the final manuscript.
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von Porat, A., Henriksson, M., Holmström, E. et al. Knee kinematics and kinetics in former soccer players with a 16-year-old ACL injury – the effects of twelve weeks of knee-specific training. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 8, 35 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-8-35
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-8-35


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I wanted to get an accurate idea of the mean wind speeds at my home. I have noticed that the land features around my house seem to have made the site noticeably windier than the other areas that I have lived. As alternative energy projects have always interested me, I decided I would like to experiment with building a homemade wind turbine.
I did a lot of online research of the available wireless weather stations before picking up the Davis Instruments 6250 Vantage Vue Wireless Weather Station.
I was originally planning to spend a little less, but after reading a lot of product reviews, I found that most the low-priced residential units were either unreliable (would quit working or leave lots of gaps in the data logging) or were found to be completely inaccurate. Many of the reviewers mentioned that they later ended up buying this model after trying several of the lower priced options out there.
The setup was extremely easy. The setup mainly consists of attaching the wind vane and speed anemometer to their shafts which secure with a set screw. Then the rain collection spoon sensor is inserted into the bottom, held in place with a thumbscrew. Install the battery and the sensor (ISS) unit is ready to mount.
The sensor unit is solar powered with a battery backup and has a range of 1000'. I found the reception to be great. I can carry the control unit anywhere in the house and have never lost reception.
The sensor unit comes with the hardware to attach it to a pole. The pole itself is not included, so I just used a galvanized fence post. The top of the sensor unit also has a convenient bubble level built in to ensure the unit is installed plum.
The solar cell should be pointed due South, so that the wind direction reading will be accurate. If necessary, you can point the solar cell a different direction and then re-calibrate the directional sensor. After setup the unit control unit started receiving data in a couple of minutes. The wind speed is updated about every two seconds and the control panel gives a great set of historical data, from graphing the last 25 hours 25 days, 25 weeks, 25 months, as well as high and lows for all of the same time frames.
So far I am very happy with the purchase. I look forward to getting started on my homemade wind turbine, and then using the wind data to see how a commercial turbine would have performed.
Update: After about 1 year of use, the weather stations rain gauge quit working on my unit. I double checked that the mechanical dumper was flipping / dumping as water entered the funnel and it was. I also removed the rain sensor unit from the bottom and it was clean and there were no obstructions to explain why it quit working. It appears it uses a small magnet on the dumper, and apparently a magnetic field detector / switch inside the main sensor array to measure / count the spoon dumps. Even passing a small rare earth magnet near the sensor area would not trigger any rain readings.
This was as far as I am willing to invest time wise in troubleshooting the unit. I will be looking for a replacement weather station as I want to have accurate rain readings. I have been fighting water ingress in the basement, and being able to track rainfall will help me to measure my progress on that front.

subset: commoncrawl


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Peter Casini
The Endangered, Can Art Save Them?
An International Art Exhibition
(November 7 through January 8, 2021)
Retired architect/artist located in Westchester, NY. Over the years I have received over 21 design and construction awards. I am a graduate of Pratt Institute recognized in the top 10 schools for architecture and design.
Climate change, animal and plant extinction are a major concern for me. I spend many hours a day outdoors to enjoy the natural beauty all around me. My only tools to fight the consequences of man's impact and destructive force are my ideas expressed in my art.
Peter Casini
United States
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A LISNASKEA woman lashed out, clenching her fist and kicking at police who tried to arrest her for common assault.
Helen McCahery (37) of Trasna Way in the town appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to assault on police and common assault.
At approximately 3.30am on Saturday, July 29, police were called to "an ongoing incident" at a house in Trasna Way. When they arrived they heard raised voices from within so went on into the home, where they found a distressed nine-year-old child in the sitting room.
The defendant was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, and there was an ongoing argument between her and a male, who had sustained an injury to his eye which was bleeding. He also had scratch marks on his hands and arm. McCahery had a cut to her wrist, which she said was self-inflicted.
McCahery's daughter told the police her mother, who had gone upstairs, had been the sole aggressor in the incident.
When police went to arrest the defendant upstairs she clenched her fist and refused to open it.
She threw herself backwards onto a bed and kicked a police officer, who was wearing body armour and was not injured.
When interviewed the next day McCahery said had lashed out during an argument. The man, the injured party, refused to make a statement regarding the incident.
District Judge Nigel Broderick ordered a pre-sentence report, and adjourned the case until December 4.
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Look what we have under our tree!!!!!
Our beautiful Goldendoodle Eloise delivered 8 new babies
on Christmas Eve
Not a creature was stirring
Visions of Sugar Plums danced in their heads
...in the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be here
HEY! What about us? We are SOOOO cute too!!!!
And Santa LOVED visiting with us!
Our sweet McGyver Goldendoodle Puppies
Last but definitely not least.....Our Double Doodle Babies
They are all plump little butterballs
Happy Day After Christmas!


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The first brush of fame came as an Amitabh Bachchan lookalike, but Raju Srivastav soon grew out of that shadow to carve an identity all his own as a stand-up comic and sometime actor who kept the laughs rolling in.
Srivastav, who died on Wednesday after more than 40 days in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, was only 58.
It was a life well lived, his career in comedy segueing into politics over the last eight years with him joining the Samajwadi Party and then the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The boy from Kanpur kept his audiences in theatres, on television and lately on social media platforms engaged with vivid societal sketches, be it about travelling in Mumbai's famous locals or lampooning queues at wedding buffets.
Srivastava whose career predated the current comedy club culture, was first noticed for his resemblance to Bachchan and then gradually attained popularity as a mimicry artiste impersonating the superstar as well as politicians such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Different from the stand-up artistes of today who are more satirical in their approach, Srivastav's humour — always in Hindi — made him hugely popular across the spectrum.
He played nameless bit parts in films such as Tezaab (1988), Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989), and Baazigar (1993).
He launched a series of audio cassettes and video CDs and had a role in the popular 1990s Doordarshan superhero show Shaktimaan.
And then in 2005, it all changed.
That's when Srivastava was catapulted to fame with his set-pieces in the first season of the stand-up comedy show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.
The kind of familiar face in the comedy and cinema circuit suddenly became a household name.
His sharp humour played out through his alter ego Gajodhar bhaiya, the lazy common man who had his finger on the pulse of the people.
As Srivastav climbed the ladder of fame, he was rarely political, restricting his stand-up pieces to daily observations, parodies and impersonation of public figures.
Ironically, though, Srivastav was clearly politically inclined.
In 2014, he got a Samajwadi Party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election from Kanpur. He returned it, however, to board the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated him to be part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and he was also chairperson of the Film Development Council of Uttar Pradesh when he died.
His last Twitter post on August 9, just a day before he had a heart attack while working out in a Delhi hotel, is a video of himself endorsing Modi's call to hoist the Tricolour in every household between August 13-15.
Off the comedy stage, Srivastav's posts were commentative and critical.
He slammed Amazon Prime Video's show Mirzapur for its graphic sexual and violent content.
'Certain guidelines should be issued, the government should intervene and people should also boycott such things,' he said.
And in 2021, he targeted Tandav, also on Amazon, for allegedly hurting the sentiments of Hindus.
While several BJP leaders raised concerns, FIRs were lodged in Mumbai and Lucknow against the producers of the show, starring Saif Ali Khan and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, as well as officials of the OTT platform.
'I have been saying this for a long time that our feelings are being toyed with. A conspiracy to defame Hinduism is afoot. You should be ashamed of yourselves for mocking our Hindu gods and goddesses,' Srivastav said in his strongly worded video.
Several eagle-eyed social media users called out the comic for his hypocrisy.
Film-maker Vinod Kapri, for instance, posted an old video where Srivastav can be seen in a spoof talking to Lord Brahma, promising him to arrange a meeting with Madhuri Dixit.
More recently, Srivastav spoke out on the controversy over Ranveer Singh's 'nude' photoshoot.
Srivastav also wrote columns for Hindi dailies, including Dainik Bhaskar.
While he walked the political track, Srivastav continued his comedy.
It was in his genes, said his brother Dipoo Srivastava.
"The comedy streak has subconsciously come into us too. He struggled before he attained huge popularity and became everyone's favourite," younger brother Dipoo told PTI.
It was a family of six brothers and one sister.
Their father Ramesh Srivastav, a retired government employee, was a hasya kavi (humour poet).
The comedy was perhaps foretold, but the young Raju may not have known it when he boarded a train from Kanpur to Mumbai.
Bachchan had sustained a near-fatal injury while shooting for the 1982 film Coolie and Srivastav just had to get there — to be part of the crowds standing in vigil outside the hospital.
"Rajubhai would eat vada pav every day and stand outside the hospital and pray for Bachchanji's life," Dipoo recalled.
Bachchan recovered, but Srivastav, then just a teen, stayed on in Mumbai, determined to make a career in showbiz.
Like many others before Srivastav, this story of fame also started on the grimy streets of Mumbai.
According to his brother, Srivastav slept on pavements and parks, staying in slums and making do somehow.
He made it a point, however, to track newspaper ads about comedy shows being performed in the city.
The turning point came when T-Series' Gulshan Kumar saw him performing at an event and offered to do an audio cassette show named Hasna Mana Hai.
"He did about 25 to 30 such shows for T-Series and Venus," Dipoo shared.
Srivastav leaves behind his wife and two children.
When he died on Wednesday after 41 days on the ventilator, thousands mourned the man who made them laugh through the years.
Among those were the prime minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a host of other politicos.
Srivastav's showbiz colleagues, including Ajay Devgn, Hrithik Roshan and Anil Kapoor, also remembered the man who 'gifted them laughs'.
And somewhere up there, Srivastav may be smiling.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
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The emWave2 is a $199 handheld device sold by HeartMath, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quantum Intech, Inc., which owns the patents on the emWave inventions from the research and development done at their non-profit Institute of HeartMath (IHM).
On the surface, the emWave2 seems to do nothing more than simply measure your pulse then blink a light and beep. That seems like a high price for something so small and simple.
And yet, it changed my life like no other device ever has. It gets my enthusiastic recommendation. Read the rest of my emWave2 review to learn why.
PS. Are you interested in a video review of the EmWave2? Check the video below:
What's going on behind the scenes is a precise calculation the emWave2 performs by measuring the time between heartbeats and calculating the variations in those interval lengths. This important biological marker of health is your heart rate variability (HRV).
There's an excellent paper titled A Healthy Heart is Not a Metronome if you want to read a review of current science on this topic. Here's the condensed version: if your heart is beating "on the beat" like a metronome, that's a bad sign. The tempo of the beat of a healthy heart varies—sometimes a lot. We want to have a high HRV.
The research keeps growing every year. HRV correlates with almost every health outcome worth studying. It is lower in depressed patients and higher in those who thrive best after a heart attack. Low HRV in people with diabetes predicts a higher likelihood of dying from any cause five whole years later. Extensive essays could be written just listing correlations like these.
Trends in HRV also correlate with successful athletic training. As a rule, reduced HRV implies overtraining, and higher HRV is evidence of a better training response (1).
The correlation with heart disease alone is enough to show we should all care about HRV. Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide.
In college, I experienced my first panic attack. Nothing stressful was happening when it hit. A sense of dread washed over me out of nowhere. It was obvious that something was wrong. I had no idea what it was or how to fix it. I felt out of control of my own body, which made it worse.
I ended up rushing to the medical center on campus. They referred me to a campus psychologist. They said I should try some breathing exercises whenever I felt a panic attack coming on.
However, no amount of closing my eyes and counting my breaths ever lessened the attacks. I actually felt a little insulted. I may get a lot of things wrong. But surely, I do a good enough job breathing, right?
I imagine this is what people who are told to try an emWave2 for their anxiety might feel at first.
Ten years later, I understand now that we are breathing wrong, which is the root cause of most, if not all, anxiety and panic attacks. But it doesn't work quite the way my psychiatrist thought.
A panic attack is one of the most extreme side-effects of poor breathing habits. By way of analogy, obesity is one of the most extreme side-effects of eating excessive junk food.
Well, they only ever gave me breathing exercises to try during a panic attack. That's like telling someone to jog around for a few minutes when they notice they're obese.
It's too little too late. The damage has already been done by then.
The real cause of most anxiety is poor breathing habits from the time you wake up to the time you fall asleep. It doesn't even stop there. How you breathe while you're sleeping matters, too.
When I discovered the emWave2, I wasn't trying to cure my panic attacks. I didn't realize that breathing was so important either. The HeartMath Institute itself doesn't emphasize this. The technique they promote for raising HRV involves focusing on positive feelings.
It took a month of experimenting with the emWave2 before I saw real results. Initially, I believed the emotional tone of my thoughts was the catalyst for improvement as the instructions had conveyed. Soon, I discovered that wasn't the answer. There was no correlation at all between what I thought about and my results.
When I finally noticed that my breathing had an impact, I started paying closer attention. Then I narrowed it down to a small window of breathing paces that did the job: five to six breaths per minute.
In the beginning, the device stayed silent and red 90% of the time. By the end of the month, I was able to make the light turn green and give me the satisfying ding of success almost by command.
I could also feel a difference when it turned green even though I didn't fully understand why it worked. In those moments, I noticed that I was breathing much slower than usual.
It was only later that I would realize how important this discovery was that I had made. An immense body of research shows countless benefits for everyone from breathing within this window.
It's been a few years since I took that month out to practice breathing with the emWave2 every day. I haven't experienced a single panic attack since then, even though I've been through plenty of stress.
For example, I'm prone to claustrophobia. A subway in New York malfunctioned and stranded me in a tight underwater tunnel for hours. People started panicking. A few even talked about throwing the driver out and trying to fix it themselves. Instead of feeling wracked with anxiety, I was the one using the device to help a few other people stay relaxed.
It felt incredible to not only stay calm under pressure but to be the one helping others remain calm as well. I owe my transformation entirely to using the emWave2 because the device helped me improve my HRV.
What exactly is anxiety? Almost everyone knows how it feels. But what is it? What system in the human body is malfunctioning when it happens?
Most people have heard the term "fight or flight." If you start walking across the street and see a bus speeding towards you, your body will freeze for a second, and then you will run for your life! So far, so good. It is a life-saving reaction in those moments.
But the fight or flight response isn't always all-or-nothing. We don't enter it only in special extreme conditions. We're commonly using our fight or flight response to various degrees throughout the day.
The fight or flight response comes from one of the two sides of our nervous system. That's the sympathetic nervous system, which I'll refer to as the SNS from here on.
The SNS is involved in both the "flight" state of high anxiety and also the "fight" state, that urgent need to react immediately! Road rage, for instance, is an indication of the SNS being overactive.
The other side of the nervous system produces what's called the "rest and digest" response. That's the parasympathetic nervous system, which I'll refer to as the PNS.
The balance between the SNS and PNS is like a see-saw.
Every SNS increase reduces the PNS, and vice versa. So in a panic attack, one might be all the way over in full-blown activation of the SNS.
Alternatively, someone could also spend most of their day shifted three-quarters of the way towards max SNS activation. They would probably experience more anger in traffic and also have greater difficulty trying to fall asleep at night.
So, what determines how your body balances the SNS and PNS? Your breathing rate is the key.
The key to wellness is how you habitually breathe all day every day. This eye-opening study found that it can take three full months of better breathing habits before the SNS finally calms down.
Not only that, but there's also another way poor breathing habits increase anxiety and other health problems.
Did you know that people who have anxiety are more likely to develop heart disease and have heart attacks? There's a reason panic attacks and heart attacks feel so similar. It's because poor breathing habits mean your brain and your heart both get less oxygen.
Ask yourself, how would you change your breathing, right at this moment, if you wanted to get more oxygen to your brain?
Think about it and then start breathing that way for a minute. Go ahead and try it out right now to see if it works.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Did you breathe faster than before? Will breathing quickly help you take in more oxygen for your brain?
Since oxygen is in the air, it would seem intuitive that taking in more air would get more oxygen into your brain. But in practice, that's the exact opposite of what works.
Surprisingly, the correct strategy is actually: breathe slower.
Here's why. Unless you're exercising, your bloodstream already has more oxygen than your body can use. Not all that oxygen can make it into your organs and tissues. Believe it or not, the amount of oxygen in your blood is usually irrelevant (if you're healthy). (1)
The Bohr effect explains how oxygen makes its way from your bloodstream into your brain, heart, and all the other places it needs to go.
Bohr's brilliant discovery was that carbon dioxide is what delivers the oxygen where it needs to go.
So think of oxygen as the food that lines your grocery store shelf.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is like the workers unloading the farm-to-market delivery trucks. If they stop working, it doesn't matter how many farms and factories are producing food. People are going to go hungry.
Breathing faster won't increase your blood oxygen under normal circumstances. But it will cause you to breathe out more CO2, thereby reducing the levels in your body needed for oxygen delivery. You can see how breathing faster hinders CO2 from helping deliver oxygen to the tissues and organs that need it.
Rapid breathing doesn't increase the oxygen going to your brain, heart or other organs. Bound oxygen is like food in the back of a delivery truck instead of available at the grocery store. More food produced by the farms doesn't help address the empty shelves at the grocery store if no one is available to unload the trucks.
So when you breathe faster and reduce CO2, your brain and heart are deprived of oxygen.
That's why anxiety correlates with heart disease. Rapid breathing results in insufficient CO2. Low levels of CO2 will constrict blood vessels and keep the oxygen bound, making it less available to your brain and heart. The oxygen deprivation triggers worsening anxiety.
A common folk remedy for panic attacks is to breathe into a paper bag. It helps because if you hyperventilate that way, at least you'll breathe back in some of the CO2 you're blowing out.
If your heart and brain run low on oxygen during over-breathing, other organs do too. So chronic over-breathing may contribute to a wide range of poor health outcomes.
Let's take a random condition that you wouldn't expect to have any correlation: diabetes. If either the pancreas or adipose tissue (i.e. fat) are deprived of oxygen, that deprivation may contribute to the development of diabetes. Studies have proven that HIF-1 (which is a marker of low oxygen) creates dysfunctional insulin resistance.
Other studies have looked at the breathing rate of diabetic patients. Those with diabetes average 13-17 liters per minute. What's the average for healthy subjects? Their rate is only 5-8 liters per minute. Surprisingly, even though those with diabetes breathe two to four times as much air, they often have markers of low oxygen levels in their tissues and organs.
We find similar results in nearly every category of health problems. With hardly any exceptions, unhealthy people over-breathe considerably more than healthy subjects.
Of course, this isn't conclusive evidence of cause and effect. We can't be 100% sure that over-breathing isn't somehow an adaptive response to illness. But we do know that over-breathing reduces oxygen delivery to vital organs and tissues. So this makes a case that deserves taking a good look at our breathing habits.
After I discovered five to six breaths per minute kept me in the green on the emWave2, I made my way through lots of scientific research.
Surprise! Studies confirmed I had stumbled upon the exact ideal breathing rate to boost HRV.
The easy way to remember this pace is to know that 5.5 breaths per minute will be a 5.5 second inhale with a 5.5 second exhale. If you breathe at this pace, you don't necessarily need the emWave to get the health benefits.
Higher HRV plays a significant role in reducing all-cause mortality. It may improve health because slower breathing increases oxygen delivery throughout the whole body. Additionally, increasing HRV enhances the "rest and digest" state of PNS activation to aid in the absorption of nutrition from our food and promote deep, restorative, healing sleep.
As a side note, there is a device called the RESPeRATE. It costs more than the emWave2. Unlike the emWave2, it doesn't measure HRV. It just beeps to let the user know the pace to breathe while gradually slowing down the breathing rate. The FDA approved the RESPeRate device as a treatment for hypertension. It's proven to be as effective as blood pressure medication!
Surprisingly, it can take months of breathing better for the benefits to show up in your nervous system. It has to be more of a daily habit than an occasional exercise, which corresponds to my experience.
It took weeks before I could control my HRV to turn the emWave2 light green. After using it daily for a month or more, I learned to recognize the sensations regardless of if I was using the device or not. I eventually learned to intentionally slow down my typical breathing rate to optimize my HRV. The balance of my SNS and PNS nervous systems improved which eliminated my anxiety attacks.
Note that the rate found in healthy modern subjects is between 10-20 breaths per minute. So the 5.5-breaths-per-minute pace is surprisingly half the lowest rate documented in healthy people nowadays. Studies from before the 1950s found Americans breathing much closer to this slower pace.
The breathing ratio of liters of air per minute at rest is called the tidal volume (VT). Studies in 1929 and 1939 found subjects breathing around 5 liters per minute at rest. A study in 2005 found men breathing around 8.5L per minute.
As you may recall, the VT for diabetics 13-17L/min. Similarly, it is 12-16L/min for those with heart disease. Both are way too high, compared to the about 5-8L/min for people in good health.
Studies have also addressed HRV biofeedback directly. Improvements to subjects' parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems happen in addition to changes in breathing habits. So there's still more going on here that we don't yet fully understand.
Technically, no. The emWave2 isn't necessary to get these benefits if you understand why they happen. The health improvements mostly come from changing your breathing habits. You can do that without the device. But I think this invention is still worth the investment to help develop optimal breathing habits.
I couldn't have made these changes to my breathing habits without my emWave2. Even having something to beep and blink helped make it more like a game, and that motivated me to use it.
I learned to sense the feeling of my SNS being too active. I wouldn't have understood what that meant before. I would have thought it was nonsense. Who knew the balance of my nervous system could be objectively measured?
Since I have learned to recognize the different states that correspond to the data tracking of my high or low HRV, I can now easily predict whether the emWave2 will show my current state with a red or green light. So when I feel like I'm in the red, I notice it right away which allows me to begin resetting my breathing naturally.
I learned how those feelings differ from merely having a fast or slow heart rate. My mind can feel stressed and anxious even with a slow heart rate. Or it can feel calm and in control with a fast heart rate.
I can adjust my breathing to change that feeling depending on my heart rate at that moment. I can fine-tune my breathing thanks to the second-by-second feedback of the emWave2. I couldn't have done this otherwise.
If I have recently been moving around then a rate closer to six breaths per minute works best. If I have been sitting or standing still awhile then five breaths a minute works better.
I also realized how crucial posture is. If I was slouching, nothing could bring me out of the red for more than a few moments at a time.
But if I stood up straight enough that my diaphragm was activating my breath, I'd see benefits right away.
Rolling my shoulders or craning my neck forward does not affect my HRV. Straightening my core so that the movement of my breath starts below my ribs makes an immediate difference.
I even learned to identify the feeling which indicates I'm about to go into the red. Pausing my breathing prevents this from happening. I can readily detect this feeling now, even without the device. But I wouldn't have learned that skill if not for the useful feedback from the emWave2.
To this day, I still benefit from using this device to check back in, allowing me to see the effects of my current habits.
The emWave2 packs a lot of functions into a small space. The efficient design is convenient once you get the hang of it. But most of the hardware does more than one thing. So it can be a little confusing to figure it out at first.
Notice the two bumps at the top and bottom ends of the pulse sensor. To turn it on, you press the bottom one for two seconds.
Once the lights come on, you have to stop pressing. Otherwise, it will turn back off.
Then you need to rest your finger over the sensor—the same button you just pressed.
If you tap the bottom bump at this point, it will increase the volume (or reset it to silent if it's already at its maximum). But holding it in for one second will turn the device back off.
Tapping the top bump will cycle through the brightness settings, but holding it in does nothing.
There's also an infrared sensor you will clip to your ear lobe.
The light at the bottom of the device blinks each time your heart beats. That blinking light indicates the device is working. As long as it's not blank or skipping heartbeats, you can ignore it.
The panel of lights in the middle performs two different functions. First, it guides you when to breathe in and out with a "wave" of lights flowing up and down.
Nothing in the manual explains how this works. It's supposed to be guiding you on when to breathe. But it also creates its instructions by measuring your current breathing pace. This feature seems similar to the RESPeRATE device approved by the FDA to treat high blood pressure.
As I'll explain in a moment, I got consistently good results from just listening to the guidance sounds the device makes. I highly recommend you do the same. So I never really needed to pay attention to the wave of lights.
Second, that same panel racks up "reward points" that you can keep track of throughout your session. Every ten seconds you spend with medium HRV or every five seconds you spend with high HRV earns dim bars of light that will stack up as they are received.
If you fall to a low HRV, your progress resets. When the dim lights stack up and reach the top, you get a distinctive reward sound and you earn a bright bar of light that stacks up at the bottom. So you can try to fill the whole row up with brightly lit bars.
The light at the top is the most important part once you're using the device. But you don't even need to pay attention to this either. It makes different sounds to communicate the same information that the light does.
When your HRV is low, the light stays red and the emWave2 makes no sound. When your HRV is medium, the light turns blue and the emWave2 makes a high-pitched sound. If your HRV is high, the light turns green and the emWave2 makes a relaxing, low-pitched sound.
Connect the infrared sensor to your earlobe. Power the device on by holding in the bottom bump. Rest your thumb on the sensor. Then try to make the top light change from red to blue to green as the cue sound changes from silent to a high tone and then the relaxed, low note. The goal is to try to keep it there.
If your light is either blue (improved HRV) or green (optimal HRV), then every five seconds it will beep either the high or low tone to let you know your HRV level.
I found the best results, by far, from breathing along with the sound the device makes. What I discovered works best is to breathe in, then pause until I hear a sound. Then I breathe out and pause until I hear a sound from the device again.
Interestingly enough, the HeartMath Institute thinks you should raise your HRV by thinking happy thoughts. Therefore, it would seem to be a sheer coincidence that the device registers a sound every five seconds because they don't tell users to breathe along with the tone as I have learned to do.
Yet research proves tremendous benefits to breathing between five to six breaths per minute. It just so happens that this pace equals five or six seconds for each inhale and exhale. This rate is the key to reducing anxiety and anger as well as reaping all the health benefits of optimal oxygenation of one's organs.
The emWave2 also comes with a program that lets you play a few different games, as well as track your progress over time. These are interesting, and mixing it up is an effective way to keep motivated to use the device.
One game has you raising your HRV by lifting a hot air balloon into the sky.
You can also watch your raw data unfold in real-time.
You can track the changes in your scores over time.
There's also a manual and video tutorials.
I find that concentrating too much on anything external, like raising a hot-air balloon, makes it harder to improve my score. The non-intrusive sound the handheld device makes is sufficient for me to be guided by it with my eyes closed. It's easier for me to make rapid progress that way because I can pay closer attention to my inner sensations as I'm using it.
Don't get me wrong. The games and stats are all novel features. I'm glad that they're there, and I'm sure some people will enjoy them. But the most important thing is the real-time feedback on HRV. In my eyes, everything else pales in comparison to the value of that feature.
The health problems that result from exposure to stress are more within our control than we think. The external event that triggered our stress response might not even cause most of the resulting health problems. We might be doing most of it to ourselves by adopting bad breathing habits in response to stress.
Everyone experiences periods of anxiety or outbursts of anger. Both result from an overactive sympathetic nervous system. Practicing with the emWave2 can help retrain this SNS overactivation, which is the root cause problem. It can especially help those whose symptoms are frequent and severe.
Everyone experiences stress. In my opinion, the emWave2 can help manage it more than any other single tool.
Heart disease is the number one leading cause of death around the world. Training yourself to breathe better with the emWave2 can reduce your risk. It can do this by expanding blood vessels, boosting heart rate variability, and increasing oxygen delivery throughout the body. Those benefits likely decrease your risk of many other illnesses as well.
Some may not want to spend $199 on something so small with such a minimalist design. Those people should know that making a habit of taking only five to six breaths per minute would bring them most of the benefits. They can do this part for free and even use a free app to pace their breathing and build good habits.
Yet the ability to feel that and see it with the emWave2 helps you prove to yourself that you're doing something productive that results in quantifiable improvement. That makes the habit-building much easier. Also, the instant feedback helps you fine-tune your breathing to your unique physiology over time.
The emWave2 gets the highest recommendation I can give any product. Use it to design better breathing habits for yourself to reduce anxiety, anger, and the risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes. I believe everyone would benefit from spending at least a month using the emWave2 daily.
You can learn more about the emWave at HeartMath.com
This blog post was written by Aedhán Castiel. Aedhán is a contributing writer for Alexfergus.com and is passionate about researching and testing innovative resources and sharing what he discovers to give you an edge in your pursuit of optimal functioning.
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Science is based on the methods that scientists use to arrive at new discovery. Similarly, political and economic thinkers have followed certain methodologies to arrive at their findings.
Explains how the scientific method works and relate this to the approaches followed by our philosophers.
Aristotle, Adam Smith, J. S Mill and Mailthus.
use only references of Tannenbaum 2nd edition (2012 and Skousen 2nd edition (2009)
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As the local heatwave keeps melting popsicles and our will to live, today's countdown soldiers on. Although he's been featured in the countdown multiple times, he has yet to land on the day of his jersey number. Welcome to Day #61 - WLB Brandon Hawkins (jersey #3)
#57, Brandon Hawkins, RS sophomore, WLB
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 215 (-4)
High School: Georgetown HS, Georgetown, TX
How'd he get to The Blue™?
He was the second Boise State commit (after Phillip Mills) for the class of 2018. Coming out of TX the linebacker had himself quite the productive career and offers.
Mr. Hawkins was a consensus three-star recruit among the three services, 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN. Hawkins was a two-time team captain at Georgetown. He also was a human wrecking ball his senior year amassing 125 tackles, four sacks, two safeties, and a unanimous selection to the Texas All-District 19-5A First Team. So, he's kind of good.
As for offers: Air Force, Army, Colorado State, Houston, Indiana, Navy, and Washington State. Those were just the notable ones.
Much like his GI Joe counterpart, Brandon runs this thing.
Our look-a-like machine spit out Channing Tatum as a top match, and honestly that feels better than constantly comparing him to Jared Goff.
Career highlights
Appeared in all 14 games for the Broncos in 2019. Registered a sack against Portland State. Two-time team captain. Academic All-Mountain West 2019, Mountain West Scholar Athlete 19-20, Boise State graduate with an Accounting degree and three years left to play. Appeared in 5 games during the 2020 season.
So proud of @brandon0hawkins for graduating with a BBA in Accounting in 3 1/2 years while playing football and three years to play. We love you and can't wait to see what your future holds. pic.twitter.com/ZrPLlyU0sr
— Brian Hawkins (@Brian_T_Hawkins) May 9, 2021
Unanimous selection to the Texas All-District 19-5A First team as a senior. Blocked two FGs and a punt, and forced two fumbles as a senior. Named First-Team Texas All-District 19-5A as a junior. Honorable Mention Academic All-State as a senior, and three-time academic all-district selection.
2021 Prospectus
It seems like things could be lining up for a Brandon Hawkins year. There's still depth at the linebacker positions, what with Riley Whimpey, Zeke Noa, Brock Miller, DJ Schramm, and Tyler Visser filling out the rotation, but it's not insurmountable. A new coaching staff could mix up expectations, but without the insight of fall camp and a healthy roster, it's speculation at this point.
That said, Mr. Hawkins has been an exemplary leader on the team, and that kind of service does not go unrecognized. A multi-year veteran with great academics and three years of eligibility left sounds like every coach's dream. OBNUG's unqualified prediction is that Brandon becomes a solid contributor on rotation, and is seen in almost every game this season.
Oh, and two sacks. Just because.
Is he on Twitter?
Most definitely. He also recently retweeted a Fiesta Bowl highlight reel, so you know he bleeds blue.
Completely made up fact
While not related to former Boise State HC Dan Hawkins, Brandon has leaned into the name comparison by adopting Hawk's mannerisms and catchphrases to help lead the team.


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If you're looking for the ultimate horsey partner in crime, perhaps a riding club all-rounder is what you're after. If so, take a look at just a few of these riding club horses for sale on the Horse & Hound website this week.
1. 'Super grassroots'
Height: 16hh
Age: six
Gender: gelding
Selling points: "This smart, compact gelding is like a big pony. He has three correct paces with a lovely balanced canter. He has hunted and drag hunted and has competed successfully at BE90, unaffiliated dressage and showjumping. He has proved to be genuine and easy and is good with ditches and water. He hacks alone or in company and is regularly ridden by a 15-year-old girl at home. He has been carefully produced and is easy to do in all ways."
2. 'The ultimate all-rounder'
Height: 16.3hh
Age: eight
Gender: gelding
Selling points: "This horse successfully competed in four-year-old event horse classes in Ireland and has been professionally schooled in the UK. He has been placed in unaffiliated dressage and has showjumped double clear in British Showjumping competitions. He has lovely paces and is a bold and brave jumper. He has the skills and attitude to go on in any sphere. He would also excel in the show ring. He is good to box, shoe, clip and hack."
3. 'A super horse'
Height: 15.2hh
Age: seven
Gender: gelding
Selling points: "'Marcus' is a small hunter type show horse with straight and extravagant paces and a nice jump. He has competed at local indoor unaffiliated showjumping and dressage competitions, fun rides and cross-country. He hacks out alone and in company and is vice and blemish free."
4. 'This horse has it all'
Height: 16.2hh
Age: six
Gender: mare
Selling points: "'Brenda' is stunning to look at, has lots of talent and ability and best of all an absolutely fantastic temperament. She has a fantastic, forgiving, honest nature and a willing genuine attitude. She has three lovely paces and a big, bold careful jump. She is happily jumping 90cm-1m at shows and is jumping around 1.10-1.15m at home. She absolutely loved cross-country schooling around BE90/100 fences. With continued outings and experience this season she is sure to be one to watch on the eventing scene especially for an amateur rider to excel at grassroots level. She is extremely easy to do with brilliant stable manners, has no vices, never stresses and doesn't need daily riding to keep her sane. She is an absolute superstar to hack and has absolutely no issues. "
5. 'Ideal riding club dressage horse'
Height: 15.2hh
Age: seven
Gender: mare
Selling points: "'Lady' is a forward going, responsive ride with big, expressive paces. She would suit a small adult looking to focus on dressage. She is working at novice level and has competed at unaffiliated prelim level. Lady has been owned for 18 months by an elderly lady and used for a small amount of flatwork and plenty of hacking. As her current owner doesn't jump she is green in this regard but has been tried cross-country and is bold and straight to a fence. Lady is a straightforward and safe hack alone or in company, is snaffle mouthed, excellent to box/shoe/clip and lives in or out."
Continued below…
Like this? You might also enjoy reading these:
6 stunning ponies for sale that are ready for the show ring
6. 'Absolute gentleman'
Height: 16.2hh
Age: 13
Gender: gelding
Selling points: "This horse has been in the same home for eight years and has competed in all riding club activities. He is loving to handle with no vices. He has been regularly placed in unaffiliated novice dressage and riding club area dressage. He has also competed in the riding club showjumping championships at Hartpury in 2013 and attended summer camp in 2014. New baby means he is being wasted at his current home. Five-star home a must for this lovely boy who deserves a forever home."
NB: Horse & Hound has not checked the accuracy of the claims made in these adverts and cannot be held liable if the information included above is inaccurate in any way


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Amazon has acquired podcast production company Wondery. In a blog post, Amazon states that the acquisition deal is yet to be finalized.
The deal is part of Amazon's efforts to offer more products to users under the Amazon music platform. The company launched the podcast segment in September 2020.
The online retail giant bets on Wondery's top-rated podcasts catalog that includes shows like 'Dirty John,' 'Dr. Death,' 'Business Wars,' and 'The Shrink Next Door.' With the acquisition, the shows will now be part of the Amazon Music library.
Picked for you
Existing Wondery users will not change their means of accessing the company's podcasts. The podcast producer will, however, offer content through Amazon Music.
Amazon Music expansion plan
The acquisition comes as the online retailer innovates new means to expand the Amazon Music platform beyond music. To improve music offering, Amazon has reached other deals with companies like Twitch. Amazon states that:
"Our commitment to podcasts, our focus on high-quality audio with the Amazon Music HD tier, and our recent partnership with Twitch to bring live streaming into the app makes Amazon Music a premiere destination for creators."
Wondery joined the podcast industry in 2016 by former Fox executive Hernan Lopez. The startup has since raised a total of $15 million in funding from Advancit Capital, BDMI, Greycroft, Lerer Hippeau, and others, as per Crunchbase data.
Amazon is now part of big companies betting on podcasts to expand revenue streams and reach more customers.


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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson concluded his visit to China earlier this month, pledging that relations between the two countries would be based on "non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson concluded his visit to China earlier this month, pledging that relations between the two countries would be based on "non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation."
The new pick for U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, recently signaled the new administration's get-tough approach to China over trade issues.
"We're going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed."
Vietnam and China pledged to settle disputes and to work toward a code of conduct for maritime operations after Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to Beijing.
Comments from White House spokesman Sean Spicer on the South China Sea seem to have riled the Chinese and confused others who follow developments in the region.
What makes Tillerson's bellicosity even more absurd is that the U.S. position in the South China Sea has never been weaker.
Pyongyang could decide to conduct a new ballistic test in the early weeks of the new administration to gauge President Trump's response.
Despite U.S. objections and concerns, China's $100 billion initiative seems determined in its quest for respectability and prominence.
Hanoi has been actively fortifying its key holdings in the Spratlys, including the construction of a runway, tunnels and bunkers to defend its territory against China.
Analysts are alarmed over the potential for a U.S-China trade war after the selection of Peter Navarro as the head of the White House National Trade Council.
Many are wondering how the nomination of General James "Mad Dog" Mattis as the new Secretary of Defense will influence future U.S.-China relations.
China's leadership is surely fretting over the long-term consequences of a Trump presidency on Sino-U.S. ties and cross-Strait relations.
In downstream Vietnam, experts claim as much as 50% of the 2.2 million hectares of arable land in the delta had been hit by salinization due to the drought.
While many Chinese distrust Hillary as an aggressive hawk, others are rethinking their support for a Donald Trump presidency as fears over a trade war grow.
The pivot is part business, foreign policy and philanthropy. One of the best tools the to advance the pivot is the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.


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The Tails project announced today the release and general availability of Tails 4.14, a new monthly update to their Debian-based live GNU/Linux distribution for keeping your online presence anonymous.
Tails 4.14 appears to be a great release compared with the last couple of releases, and that's because it finally switches to the Linux 5.9 kernel series. This, of course, means that you'll get better hardware support for various graphics, Wi-Fi, and other components.
In addition to bumping the kernel to Linux 5.9, this release is based on the Debian GNU/Linux 10.7 "Buster" operating system, which means that Tails now inherits all of the security patches and miscellaneous bug fixes from the upstream software repositories to offer users better stability and reliability.
And now for the new features, as Tails 4.14 adds support for Ledger hardware wallets in the Electrum Bitcoin wallet app, ports the Tails Installer to Python 3, updates the Tor Browser anonymous web browser to version 10.0.7, updates Tor to version 0.4.4.6, and updates the Mozilla Thunderbird email client to version 78.5.1.
On top of that, this release fixes a few bugs around Persistent Storage, such as the opening of the Persistent Storage of another Tails USB stick in GNOME's Files (Nautilus) file manager, as well as the ability to change the administration password stored in the Persistent Storage.
It also updates the APT key for deb.torproject.org to improve the Additional Software utility, adds support for automatically detecting corrupt GnuPG public keyring and restore them from a backup, and removes the Unifont font.
If you want to keep your anonymity while surfing the Internet, it is highly recommended to use Tails, which is also known as the amnesic incognito live system or the "Anonymous OS." For that, you can download Tails 4.14 right now from the official website or using the direct download link below.
If you're already using Tails, you'll be able to upgrade your installations from version 4.2 or later to 4.14 using the automatic upgrades or by doing a manual upgrade.
That's it for Tails in 2020. The next version, Tails 4.15, is scheduled for release next year on January 26th.
Last updated 3 years ago


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Florence Hudson, most recently IBM's director of Internet of Things Business, has been named Senior VP and Chief Innovation Officer for computer network consortium Internet2.
Internet2 had been on the hunt for a CNO since October.
Hudson has more than 33 years in leadership positions at IBM, including as vice president in the Systems and Technology Group, and vice president and acting chief technology officer of the IBM Global Industrial Sector. "She brings a unique integration of business and technical experience," according to the non-profit Internet2 organization.
MORE:IBM CEO Rometty tapped as Northwestern commencement speaker
Hudson's new responsibilities include stimulating tech initiatives among the research and educational institutions that make up Internet2. Areas of focus include advanced networking, federal identity management and cloud services.
You can see and hear Hudson speak about sustainability in the video below.


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New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner, who earned a national reputation as gatekeeper of the state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary, announced Monday that he will retire in the coming days.
Gardner has held the office since December 1976, when he was elected at the age of 28. He's the longest-serving secretary of state in the nation.
"I just think that it's time," told reporters at a press conference in his cramped State House office Monday.
As the state's chief election official, Gardner is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations around voting in New Hampshire. But it's as chief defender of the state's presidential primary that Gardner has earned his loudest praise — and criticism.
Gardner waved away a suggestion that he was stepping down for health reasons. He said Dave Scanlan, his current deputy, will serve as the interim Secretary of State.
"I know the office which I leave will be in good hands," Gardner said.
A primary legacy
Gardner's departure from office comes as the nominating calendar for the 2024 presidential election remains unsettled, with some states looking to knock New Hampshire and Iowa from their traditional spots at the front of the process.
His retirement also bookends one of the longest and most influential careers in New Hampshire politics.
Gardner, who grew up and lived most of his life in Manchester, got his political start as a class president at the University of New Hampshire. In his early twenties, he was elected to the New Hampshire House as part of a wave that ushered in a crew of young, idealistic lawmakers looking to make a mark in state politics.
From early on, Gardner focused on election reform, rallying behind proposals to make it easier to vote and easier for young people to serve in the state Senate. When the secretary of state's job opened up in his third term, Gardner saw an opportunity to have an even bigger impact.
The New Hampshire Secretary of State isn't elected by the voting public. Instead, members of the Legislature choose a new secretary at the start of each two-year legislative term.
During his 45 years in office, Gardner has cultivated close relationships with individual lawmakers, often welcoming them for long, informal chats in his office — conveniently located just around the corner from the House chamber. That open-door policy helped guarantee his re-election, usually without opposition, for decades.
Though Gardner remained a Democrat throughout his career, in recent years his loudest critics have come from his own party. That criticism culminated in a fierce 2018 re-election challenge from fellow Democrat and former gubernatorial candidate Colin Van Ostern.
At the time, Van Ostern sought to tap into growing criticism from Democrats over Gardner's opposition to electoral reforms meant to widen access to the ballot and his support for stricter Republican-backed voting requirements.
Van Ostern also said Gardner's focus on protecting New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary distracted him from other key aspects of the secretary of state role, including campaign finance reform.
That battle over the future of the New Hampshire Secretary of State office also came as Gardner faced sharp criticism over his participation in President Trump's "Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity." Local Democrats, including the state's Congressional delegation, said Gardner was legitimizing Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud and urged him to step down.
Gardner defended his role on the commission by saying it was better to be part of the process than stand on the sidelines.
Gardner ultimately prevailed against Van Ostern by just a few votes, thanks to near unanimous support from House and Senate Republicans. He told lawmakers he wanted to oversee one final presidential primary in 2020.
Guardian of political history
Though Gardner professed to serve a purely administrative role, he also made sure to take a front seat in the presidential nominating process.
When candidates filed their paperwork to get on the New Hampshire ballot every four years, Gardner would be there to greet them. He often offered an improvised — and lengthy — lecture on the primary's history and urged would-be presidents to see themselves as part of a long history.
Over the decades, Gardner defended the first-in-the-nation primary from many criticisms: that it was unfair to other states; that New Hampshire's relative lack of racial and ethnic diversity skewed the process. But Gardner often downplayed the significance of the state's racial and ethnic makeup as a consideration of its fitness for picking presidents.
When asked ahead of the 2020 primary to respond to concerns that New Hampshire wasn't diverse enough to have such a prominent role vetting presidential candidates, Gardner turned to anecdotes, such as New Hampshire's claim as the home of what is considered the country's first racially integrated baseball team.
"In a state where certain things are not expected, when they happen they have a huge impact, and we have had some huge impact over the years — because human beings are human beings," Gardner told reporters in 2019.
But while calls for reform continued, Gardner managed - without fail - to ensure New Hampshire's presidential primary was in the lead spot when election season rolled around.
Scanlan, the deputy stepping in to fill Gardner's role, has acted as the public face of the office in recent years: leading training sessions with local election officials and testifying on the Secretary of State's behalf at legislative committee hearings on proposed voting reforms, among other responsibilities.
In his retirement, Gardner said that he'd likely spend time talking more about the electoral process.
"I love telling the New Hampshire story," he said. "I love talking about our history."