text:
Yesterday the European Parliament took its final vote on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU's system of agricultural programs and subsidies that has governed the way the continent has eaten for the past 50 years. The reform has been hotly debated in the months leading up to the vote, attracting wide public interest and engagement in the issues.
"We cannot say we are satisfied with the European Parliament's vote on the reform of the CAP," says Slow Food President Carlo Petrini. "Despite the fact that some proposals adopted by COMAGRI, such as the system of double payments, have been fortunately rejected, MEPs have lost a unique opportunity to mark a change in the history of Europe and have ignored the demands of civil society for a greener, sustainable and fair CAP. The greening proposals have not been adopted and in some cases the situaiton has actually worsened, for example creating less incentive to use crop rotation. Furthermore, the Parliament did not accept any of the Committee for Development's suggestions to regulate subsidies on exports or monitor the impacts of the CAP on international relations."
Below is the comment by Arc2020, a platform of over 150 civil society networks and organisations within 22 EU Member States of which Slow Food forms a part.
"This was a bad day for the diversity of species and landscapes in Europe, for climate change mitigation and for the long overdue adaptation of our farming practices to the global and local needs of environmental and social sustainability. The Parliament did not live up to the demand that public money should be spent for public goods only.
In the run-up to the first ever vote of the Parliament on the 50 year old Common Agricultural Policy, many were shocked to see a small group of agricultural specialists and lobbyists within the Parliaments Committee on Agriculture, Comagri, present a "business as usual" agenda of fiercely de-greening the EU-Commission's reform proposal. Some of Comagri's worst and most greedy proposals were rejected by the plenary, such as the idea of paying farmers twice for the same environmental measure and hiding from the public the amounts and recipients of subsidies.
Probably the most significant de-greening proposal of the Parliament is to reduce the proposed 7 percent ecological focus areas per farm to an initial 3 percent, extended to 5 percent by 2016 with only a feeble option to reach 7 percent by 2018. The Parliament also supported Comagri's proposal not to require individual farmers but only member states not plough under additional permanent grassland.
Instead of improving an already flawed Commission concept of crop "diversification" by requiring mandatory crop rotation, the plenary followed Comagri in further weakening diversification to an extent that actually invites even more monocultures in Europe.
While the plenary of the Parliament broadly rejected Comagri's attempt to erase the bigger part of all environmental and heath legislation, to which farmers must adhere in order to receive public payments (cross compliance), it did exempt important laws such as the water framework directive.
Some people were relieved that the Agro-Lobby did not get all the de-greening they demanded and important bits and pieces of the Commission proposal have survived the agro-bargaining show in Strasbourg. But the Parliament has let down virtually all expectations to improve the Commission proposal.
One notable exception was to allow national governments to voluntarily distribute direct payments slightly more equitably by topping up payments for the first hectares (maximum 50 ha) at the expense of the rest of hectares of bigger farms.
In addition to the anti-environmental aspects of the Parliament's vote today not a single suggestion by its Committee on Development was adopted. Neither a final end to export subsidies, nor a monitoring mechanism of the CAP impact on international obligations in the development context was adopted.
The Parliament did not listen to the mounting calls from a very broad range of civil society organizations, ignored their arguments and failed to bring agricultural policy where it belongs: in the center of a broad and serious political debate on all of its aspects such as health, environment, climate change and energy, rural development, global fairness and chances of the next generation.
Instead, nationalistic bargaining arguments as has been the habit of agricultural ministers over the past decades, unfortunately have survived the opening of the CAP to democratic decision-making. Agricultural policy, a vast majority of MEPs from all groups seems to have agreed, was simply too complicated and too boring to make a serious effort to understand its impact. The farm lobby had always preached that these 40 percent of the EU budget were incomprehensible and untouchable. Today the majority gave in and handed over the billions to the specialists and their vested interests.
Such ignorance of MEPs, soon to be documented in the roll call votes of today, may be remembered when it comes to their re-election in 2014. It should be a top priority within all the parties to improve the European Parliaments ability to understand all aspects of European food and farming policy and to listen to the voices of those Europeans struggling for a greener and fairer Europe and for good food and good farming – especially their young generation."


text:
What we're about
The worlds of hackers and journalists are coming together as reporting goes digital and Internet companies become media empires.
Journalists call themselves "hacks," someone who can churn out words in any situation. Hackers use the digital equivalent of duct tape to whip out code. Hacker-journalists try and bridge the two worlds.
This group is to bring all these people together -- those who are working to help people make sense of their world. It's for hackers exploring technologies to filter and visualize information, and for journalists who use technology to find and tell stories. In the age of information overload, all their work has become even more crucial.
This group aims to help members find inspiration and think in new directions, bringing together potential collaborators for projects and new ventures.
Please also check out our blog at http://hackshackers.com
And join the Hacks/Hackers Dublin Google+ Community https://plus.google.com/u/2/communities/104028832743864460574
Help us build the future of media!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
'Citizen Kane' script sold at Orson Welles auction
NEW YORK (AP) — Scripts for "Citizen Kane," Orson Welles' camera and a cigar ashtray were among the late director's belongings sold at a New York auction.
Sixty-seven lots fetched $180,000 at Heritage Auctions on Saturday.
Margaret Barrett, Heritage's director of entertainment-linked auctions, called the items "a piece of cinema royalty."
Two dozen pages of scripts for the 1941 masterpiece "Citizen Kane" went for $15,000, far surpassing the $2,000 presale estimate.
Welles' old Bell & Howell movie camera used to record a bullfight in Spain sold for $37,500, against a $2,000 estimate.
And a silver-plated cigar ashtray Ernest Hemingway gave Welles fetched $5,000. That's six times the expected price.
Also on the block were memorabilia the director's daughter, Beatrice Welles, kept for decades in Sedona, Ariz.


text:
Take Note of Water Safety for Older Adults
Whether you are swimming, doing water aerobics, or just relaxing, the hot months of summer present plenty of opportunities to cool off and have fun in the water.
But older adults should be extra careful when enjoying these activities. Being aware of the dangers of water activities and how to prevent accidents can help older adults stress less and stay safe. Read more


text:
Lidstrom:in vitro Pathway Assay: Sample Analysis via UPLC-MS/MS
Back to Lidstrom Protocols
Accela HPLC Protocol
Column & Buffer
- We use a C18 column, and 5% methanol in our buffer.
- "Separations of complex mixtures normally require the elution of analytes from a buffered aqueous to an organic mobile phase composition (e.g., 5–100% organic). Thus, analytes are eluted in the order of their increasing polarity.The separation of very polar and/or ionic compoundsgenerally requires the use of a highly aqueous eluent composition (>95%) to provide some retention. Such a hydrophilic environment on the highly hydrophobic C18 stationary phase can lead to a loss of retention, increased peak tailing, and irreproducible results. This de-wetting effect (often incorrectly referred to as phase- collapse) (49) can be significantly reduced with the application ofLC columns with specially designed stationary phases (using polar embedded groups or polar end-capping, such as Aquasil/AQ columns)" - Mass spectrometry-based microbial metabolomics 2012 (Baidoo, Benke & Keasling)
- This is a "reverse phase" (hydrophobic) method
- "Separations of complex mixtures normally require the elution of analytes from a buffered aqueous to an organic mobile phase composition (e.g., 5–100% organic). Thus, analytes are eluted in the order of their increasing polarity.The separation of very polar and/or ionic compoundsgenerally requires the use of a highly aqueous eluent composition (>95%) to provide some retention. Such a hydrophilic environment on the highly hydrophobic C18 stationary phase can lead to a loss of retention, increased peak tailing, and irreproducible results. This de-wetting effect (often incorrectly referred to as phase- collapse) (49) can be significantly reduced with the application ofLC columns with specially designed stationary phases (using polar embedded groups or polar end-capping, such as Aquasil/AQ columns)" - Mass spectrometry-based microbial metabolomics 2012 (Baidoo, Benke & Keasling)
Ion Pairing
- Our method is ion pairing. (Tributylamine in buffer C)
- "The application of ion-pairing reagents in RP LC improves the to separations of these types of compounds. However, the addition of these ion- pairing (IP) reagents is often disadvantageous for MS detection (due to ion-suppression and the possibility of contamination after prolonged used)." - Mass spectrometry-based microbial metabolomics 2012
- ion pairing: for when analytes include basic or ionic compounds that are difficult to chromatograph by reverse-phase LC. In IPC, the mobile phase contains an ion-pair reagent that attaches to the stationary phase and creates a charged surface. The sample ion exchanges with the counter ion of the ion-pair reagent thus increasing interaction with the column resulting in greater retention of the sample.
- Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for fast and robust quantification of anionic and aromatic metabolites, 2010. This is the protocol Amanda & Justin used to get ours going.
- Their LC protocol:
- "Separation of compounds was achieved by an ion pairing-reverse phase method developed for ultrahigh performance systems based on previously published high pressure methods15,17 and eventually implemented on a Waters Acquity UPLC (Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, United States) using a Waters Acquity T3 end-capped reverse phase column with dimensions 150 mm × 2.1 mm × 1.8 µm (Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, United States) temperature-controlled at 40 °C. A gradient of mobile phases A (10 mM tributylamine, 15 mM acetic acid, 5% (v/v) methanol) and B (2-propanol) was used to separate metabolites (Table 1). The injection volume was 10 µL with full loop injection. The column was equilibrated for 4 min (4.4 column volumes) before each injection. "
- Their MS protocol:
- "Selective and sensitive detection of compounds was achieved by coupling the liquid chromatograph to a Thermo TSQ Quantum Ultra triple quadrupole instrument (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, United States) using a heated electrospray ionization source (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, United States). The mass spectrometer was operated in negative mode with multiple reaction monitoring. Electrospray ionization parameters were optimized for 25% 2-pro- panol at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min and used for the entire gradient: spray voltage 2500 V, sheath gas pressure 80 arbitrary units, aux gas pressure 50 arbitrary units, ion sweep gas pressure 5 arbitrary units, capillary temperature 380 °C, spray temperature 400 °C. Tube lens voltage, collision energy, and fragment ions were optimized individually for all compounds (Table 2). Ion optics were set to 0.5 amu Q1 resolution, 0.5 amu Q3 resolution, 0.01 amu scan width, and 10 ms dwell time. SRM scans were organized in 11 time periods so that each compound could be detected for more than 1 min before and after expected retention time and a scan frequency of at least 2 Hz was maintained. Data Analysis. Both acquisition and peak integration were performed with Xcalibur software version 2.07 SP1 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, United States) and in-house integration software (Begemann and Zamboni, unpublished). The criteria for quantifiability of a standard compound were that a minimum of 4 neighboring dilution steps showed a linear cor- relation between the logarithm of the concentration and the logarithm of the peak area with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.99. Additionally, the peak area of the lower limit of the linear range had to be larger than the peak area found in water."
- Their LC protocol:
- Waters Acquity C18 Column. Bigger blue box. (Water Acquity UPLC HSS T3 1.8 um 2.1 x 150 mm column)
Part no. 186003540)
- Also tried:
- Hypersil Gold AX, 100 x 2.1 mm, Thermo-scientific
- Hypersil Gold aQ, 100 x 2.1 mm, Thermo-scientific
- PFP column: Hypersil GOLD PFP, 100 x 2.1 mm, Thermo-scientific
- Hypersil GOLD 100 x 2.1 Thermo Scientific #25002-102130
Our Buffers:
- C = 5% (vol/vol) MeOH, 15mM acetic acid, 10 mM tributylamine
- for 10L: 2.38 mg/L tributylamine, 0.857 mg/L acetic acid, 5% methanol.
- for 10L: 9.468L dH2O + 23.8 mL tributylamine + 8.57 mL acetic acid + 0.5 L methanol
- tributylamine = ion pairing reagent
- do you have enough buffer C to do your run? (calculate it)
- (7/8) = estimate of fraction that is yellow (buffer C) (this is conservative)
- max use = 400 uL/min
- run = 36 min/sample
- # of samples = n
- If volume of buffer c is greater than (7/8)*(400 uL/min)*(36 min/sample)*n, you can start. If not, make more buffer C. Amanda makes 10 L batches. Justin says it is very sensitive to variation, so he waited for Amanda to make it on 6/20/2012.
- multiply (7 / 8) * 0.400 * 36 *n to get mL needed
- you can't run an experiment using two different buffer preparations. If there is not enough for your purposes, make more before you start and discard the leftovers. Look for the bottle labeled waste, or make one. Justin might dump it down the sink.
- wash is the same composition as buffer C but in a different bottle. The composition is written in orange tape but it says both 15 and 20 mM acetic acid. (15 is correct.)
Opening a New Column: (?)
- Record on spec sheet:
- Date opened
- Pressure and associated flow rate
- Solvent used
- Rinse all parts
- Insert guard column cartridge into guard column
- Don't touch guard column cartridges while inserting it!
- Use socket wrenches to tighten screw into bottom of the guard column.
- Finger tighten guard column into the bottom of the real/separation column.
- Cap both ends with screw-in end-caps.
- Column is ready to be used.
- A: Acidified H2O (H2O with 0.1% Formic Acid)
- B: Acetonitrile 0.1% Formic Acid
- C: Rotating Tap (Has our buffer on it now)
- Buffer C is an ion pairing buffer: 10 mM tributylamine, 15 mM acetic acid, 5% methanol. Stored in a 10 L bottle on the floor, under the desk. The recipe is written on the tape.
- D: 100% Acetonitrile or Methanol or Isopropanol
- Our experiment uses isopropanol
Normal Wash:
- Has its own bottle. We aren't currently using it
- 80% Acetonitrile
- 0.1% Formic Acid
- 20 mM NH4Acetate
Our Wash:
- Same as mobile phase C
Check these before running, you may not need to change any, or may need to adjust everything.
- Open an existing file (Janet started own folder on 6/20 from an old formate run of Amanda's)
- Study name: keep this general. Workbook: get more specific (date, etc.). You can have multiple workbooks per study.
- Check the change root study folder box if you want the workbook in a
Big Picture Steps/Things to Check Before You Start the UPLC-MS
- Right column?
- Right Wash Buffer?
- Washed needle?
- Right tray setup? (wells vs vials)
- Mobile phase/buffers are full enough?
- Right MS probe installed?
- Liquid N2 full enough?
Example workflow
- Check Buffer Levels and Correctness for run
- Change Column (Want to do this before changing buffers because you want to store it in whatever the previous user left at mobile phase D.
- Flush old column (~10 min)
- While column flushing, start spinning down samples and prepping filter plate (5 min)
- Insert new column (~5 min)
- Change Buffer, if not correct for run (~22 min)
- Set oven temp (helps you stay below pressure limit)
- Equilibrate Column (~15 min)
- Continue while column changing buffers and equilibrating column
- Sample Prep
- Change wash buffer
- Change MS probe, if necessary
- Change Autosampler Tray Settings, if necessary
- Clean plate seals
- Setup sequence file in LcQuan/Xcalibur
Changing the Column
Flush previous column before removing
- flushing previous column: mobile phase D
- mobile phase D may be 100% acetonitrile, methanol or isopropanol. Use 0.5 mL/min, 10+ min
- flush the old column with its buffer in preparation for storage
- Open Xcalibur.
- Go to Instrument Setup --> Acela Pump (icon on left bar) --> Direct Control (words on top bar).
- Check the box next to "Take pump under direct control."
- Change flow rate to 500 uL/min
- If the pumping stops do to being over pressure, decrease the flow rate and run longer.
- Type 100% next to solvent D (100% Acetonitrile)
- Press Play.
- Run for at least 10 minutes (a timer counts)
Stop pump and remove previous column
- Note: All necessary wrenches are inside the bottom of the autosampler box (AS). The pumps can continue while the column is being changed or they can be paused.
- Manually unscrew the output (top) of column: the flexible red hose and one hex-shaped piece of metal should be all that remains.
- (while holding column) Using two appropriate wrenches unscrew the very bottom connector from the metal HPLC input.
- all that should remain is a metal wire with red tape, a hex-shaped piece of metal and a metal nipple.
- most columns have a short extra column on the input with a small, 1cm "guard column" which is easily replaced if damaged. It is housed in a short metal pre-column. This should be stored with each column.
- Place caps on the removed column and place back in the appropriate box, usually on top of the MS unit. (Box and end-caps for column in use should be stored on the top of the MS)
Insert your column
- Uncap the new column. (6/20/2012: acquity (blue box) pore size = 1.8 um, dimensions: 2.1x150 mm)
- Read direction of flow. Flow goes from the bottom up, so make the arrows on the column point up
- Attach bottom of new column, being careful to align threads to avoid leakage, using wrenches.
- Crank the bottom thread tight: this is ~ 400 atm of pressure.
- Manually attach top plastic connector. Push red tubing in hole first, then screw in connector
- Dry connections so any liquid will indicate a leak
Equilibrate your column
- Equilibrate column to starting conditions (& make sure column is on tight)
- In Acela Pump Direct Control, set starting conditions to run (e.g. 100% Solvent C, 0.4 mL/min).
- In Xcalibur, click instrument setup -- > "Accela pump" menu -> Direct Control. A new window opens. Check "take pump under control," change parameters, then hit "Play".)
- Can set temp = 40oC to keep pressure below limit. The method sets the oven temp later, so this is not critical.
- Pressure should equilibrate over ~1 min to ~570 bar. Check for leaks at the column and guard column, adjust as necessary.
- If pressure is only 400 bar, there is probably a leak. Recall 1 bar is about 1 atm, so this is HIGH pressure!
- Adjust as necessary = lower flow rate if pressure > 700 ish. 6/20/2012: Amanda set the oven temp to 40oC because the pressure was too high.
- If it hits the high pressure limit you set, it will stop pumping and the pressure will drop. You must lower the flow rate and turn it on again to try again.
- Run the column for 10 minutes to equilibrate and catch leaks. (10 min starts once you have 0.4 mL/min and pressure < 600 bar)
- If you are running < 400 uL/min, running more than 10 min can compensate for this lower flow rate. Amanda bumps it to 400 for a couple of minutes before calling the job done.
Changing the MS Ionization Unit
MS ionization unit: APCI (chrome)/ESI (matte brown) – (we use brown) Careful because parts may be hot!
- APCI is kept in a white box on the shelf above the computer, labeled APCI. The ESI is usually stored on top of the MS unit facing aack.
- Press button on front of MS to switch flow to waste
- Loosen the knob holding the ionizer head in the chamber and gently pull out the head, twisting to remove the alignment pin. Set aside head.
- Remove all cables from the ionization chamber, open up the two fasteners and pull directly back to remove (don't forget the waste hose!)
- Put in desired ionization unit
- To put in ESI, remove the pin inside the chamber with needle nose pliers, rinse with methanol, place pin inside Ziploc bag in apci box.
- To put in APCI, take the pin from the Ziploc bag in apci box, rinse with methanol, dry with kimwipe, and place into pin-holder in the chamber. #Touch the pin with neither bare nor gloved hands, lest you besmirch it. Pliers should be nearby.
- Clean cone that points out at you if dirty (there is some rust/crust). See cleaning notes.
- Place chamber back on MS unit, closing fasteners
- Insert new head, lower to appropriate depth (C in my protocols), tighten
- Attach all cables. Note that for APCI the high voltage connects to the chamber directly, not to the back of the ionizer. Also note that for ESI the sample input line from the valve goes first through a metal connector (to ground) and a separate input line connects that metal intermediary on the chamber to the back of the ionizer.
Change mobile phases (C & D) if necessary
- C = tributylamine + acetic acid + methanol
- D = isopropanol
- Remove filter line from old bottle
- Rinse filter line with the new mobile phase
- Put filter line in bottle of new buffer.
- Attach a syringe to the line coming out of the purge valve in the pump unit under the autosampler
- Open the purge valve
- Start purging the line
- Open Xcalibur.
- Go to Instrument Setup --> Acela Pump (icon on left bar) --> Direct Control (words on top bar).
- Check the box next to "Take pump under direct control."
- Change flow rate to 1000 uL/min
- Type 100% next to the mobile phase you're changing
- Press Play.
- Run for 20 min.
- Close purge valve.
- Remove syringe and dispose of content
Changing the Wash/Flush Buffer
- Wash buffer is the same composition as buffer C, but it has a separate bottle. If you need to change it, you need to wash the needle afterward.
- Remove filter line from old bottle
- Rinse filter line with the new flush buffer (Amanda rinsed with water that was stored up there; can also rinse with water or new flush buffer in a beaker. here "new flush" = water because our solvent is mostly water)
- Put filter line in bottle of new buffer
- Put paper towel in Autosampler where wrenches live to catch extra fluid.
- Use "Wash Needle" command to flush lines
- Open Xcalibur or LCquan.
- Go to Instrument Setup --> Acela AS (icon on left bar) --> Direct Control (words on top bar).
- Choose "Wash Needle" from the drop down box.
- Change volume to 6000 uL (6 mL)
- Make sure the source (reservoir) is set to "Flush Bottle"
- Press apply. (Autosampler door must be closed)
- Repeat 2 more times. (it is fast(1-2 minutes); you can hear a hum pulsing when it is going.)
Choose tray type
- Quit Xcalibur/LCQuan and open the Instrument Configuration program on the desktop
- Choose Acela Autosamper (AS) under Configured devices
- Choose the and the correct type (e.g. for plates, use 96 well microwell plate + carrier + riser and for vials, use 1.8 mL vials)
- Quit configuration program
- In Xcalibur under sequence setup (lower image) choose "Change tray names" and choose new tray type.
- for 96-well plate: scroll down to "96 Well Microwell + Short Microwell Carrier + Riser Plate"
- It looks like the direction of sampling is wrong (bottom one selected) but Amanda says it is fine.
- Put/remove in riser and carrier as needed.
- pop out vial tray, put in riser (heavy metal block), then carrier tray (holds 3 plates)
- For plates positions are enumerated A:A1, etc. (first A indicates first of three plates), while for tubes numbering begins A1, etc.
- The plate positions are from the front, closest to the door, in the order, A,B,C.
Preparing & Loading Samples
- centrifuge 1.5 mL tubes (you quenched rxn in) for 10 min at 14,000 rpm & 4°C
- Move supernatant to 96 well plate (type = MSRLNO4: don't use another type! others are for different hydrophillic/hydrophobic)
- get a plate from cold centrifuge room: above plate reader that they are also used for
- MARK THE WELLS you use. Otherwise someone may try to use them again
- Tape the filter to the collection plate (don't tape the lid on)
- put on plate shaker for 5 min at 1,000 RPM without a lid (noisy)
- NOTE: load carefully to avoid splashing! Keep cover on for loading, then remove.
- centrifuge in plate centrifuge in cold room for 5 min at 1,500xg (not 5,000 RPM or 1500 RPM)
- after centrifugation, remove filter & lid (put in used pile if unused wells exist)
- Load a few wells with 75:25 acetonitrile:water
- Set up 3 or 4. We only inject 5 μL each time, but the extra wells are to make sure that nothing building up in the blank by rotating between a few.
- Amanda makes it fresh each time. Reagents are in ~ 2 inch tall bottles in cabinets by the liquid N2 tanks.
- use 150 uL/well: this is the max you can have in a well with a plate lid. This volume is large such that if there is needle contamination, it is diluted
- Note: yes, you started with 200 uL sample but you lose some to the filter, so the volume ends up being around 150 uL/sample.
- Add standard(s)
- Amanda has standard(s) in little vials in the -20°C freezer in the hallway. They are set up to be diluted in 3 volumes of acetonitrile (4x stock). This time, she had me add 15 uL to 45 uL of acetonitrile.
- Put a clean rubbery cover/plate seal on top.
Preparing & Loading Samples
Cleaning plate seals (easier to do a bunch at a time)
- Rinse with Methanol
- Rinse with Mass spec water
- Rinse with Methanol
- Set out to dry on paper towels or blow dry with air hose if you need it immediately
Load Plate into machine
- See if correct tray is in, then load into machine
- which of the 3 spots do you put the tray in?
- orientation matters: if handle is toward you, put 1A in the top left.
- The closest tray to the handle is A and the farthest is C.
Changing the Liquid Nitrogen Tank
- 1/4 tank might last a whole day, but it is good to check on it. Make sure you have much more if you are going to leave it over the weekend.
- close the use valve on the empty tank
- get wrenches from the drawer under the MiSeq. They are big & adjustable.
- take off the regulator - can be physically difficult. Counter clockwise, as you'd expect.
- put regulator on the use valve of the new tank
- Open use valve on new tank & set pressure to 100 PSI by using big blue turn valve.
- Note: a problem with full tanks: since it is mostly liquid, there isn't a lot of pressure. There is an orange doughnut-shaped tag that shows what the pressure should be. Open the pressure building valve until the pressure reaches the stated pressure.
- Note: on 8/31/2012 we had a tough time getting it open and only got a little bit of flow.
Enter sample names in LCquan
- enter samples into setup page of interface. This order indicates the order of sampling.
- enter wells as you entered them on the plate up high, then paste below the rows as you plan to use them. Put some sort of obvious spacer row inbetween
- sample blanks for the 1st 2 injections. The first one or two are always junk.
- then do a standard, and a blank.
- do some blanks (75:25 acetonitrile:water) every 7-10 samples at natural brake points
- do blank, standard, blank at end.
- you can select a subset of these to run (don't worry if you aren't planning to use every well)
- Tell it "yes" when it asks you if you want to wait for the instruments to be ready
Running with pre-setup software
- check that N2 is on (100 PSI) & the tank is full enough (look at bobs on top)
- if the pressure drops too low, the run stops with a generic mass spec error.
- set oven temp to 40°C, can do this under the Acela AS -> Direct Control -> Set oven temp
- check that ____
- _____
Obtaining Data
- the program forces you to save before exiting
- to download data, click on quantitate screen, then File - Export -
- settings: one file for all components. arrangement = Quan Results Grid. You can change it to comma separation.
Finishing with Equipment
- flush column? Leave it on?
- next person should flush it and remove it. If it is going to be a while before anyone uses it again, you can flush your column and store it. ?? Can you leave it without a column?? better ask first.
- Leave liquid N2 on
- Do we need to order more liquid N2 tanks or does someone take care of it?
- Tell Adam
- Set up a method for a new run (usually already completed previously)
- Open Xcalibur and choose instrument setup
- Choose "Acela pump" to setup gradient, e.g. starting at 95% A to 5% A. Click in the last row and start typing to add a new section. After changing the gradient program, note how long it is and update the run length for the TSQ Quantum and Acela PDA.
- Choose TSQ Quantum to setup MS. Click the "…" button to select your tune (tsq) file and be sure to update the parameters from the relevant tune, e.g. switch to SIM if necessary, etc.
- Can add masses to be detected for each scan event by adding the parameters to the table at the bottom of the window.
- If you didn't do so under Column directions, equilibrate column to starting conditions, ~10 minutes.
- Manually run at x% A. E.g. if the run starts at 40% A, run at 40% A, following instructions above under "(1) Column"
- Set up sequence.
- In windows, create a new folder for your run, usually in C:\Xcalibur\Data
- click "sequence setup"
- If you're using a version of an old sequence, simply open, save as, and edit.
- Adjust "File Name" (e.g. compound1), Path (click to select), injection volume. Position goes A:A1… for plates, A1… for tubes. Click to browse for the desire method, already created previously.
- Use the "fill down" button (two downward pointing arrows) to copy values down or automatically increment plate values (A1, A2…) after selecting desired column.
- Usually a sequence should start and end with a blank, e.g. PBS
- Run stds at the beginning, beginning with lower concentrations first.
- Run the sequence by pressing the run sequence button (right pointing arrow with a sheet on top).
- To start just one or a set of the sequences select the relevant row and click run sample (right pointing arrow with a test tube)
- Before starting, make sure that all instruments needed are "on" in the Status tab. E.g. if mass spec is used in the method the machine should be "ready to download"
- In the window that opens, check/uncheck post-processing as needed, make sure that the Acella AS is the starting instrument, and make sure box is checked such that pumps turn off after runs.
- Click the "acquisition queue" tab to see the loaded set of sequences. If you need to stop any sequence, check the box and press the "delete" key.
- If not using the divert valve, make sure that the MS is set to load/detect.
Observing Results on Baker Computer
- Internal standard contains:
- 12C: 3PG, PEP, pyruvate,
- doesn't contain: formate,
PROTEIN SETUP (EXAMPLE) – I don't use this {From the Baker Lab's protocol, we don't use this}
Overall guidelines: - Generally use 1mg/ml protein, absolute max is 2 mg/ml; at higher concentrations precipitation will clog the switches - 10-15 ul sample per vial, with insert - 50 ul sample per well in plates
Column: BioBasic-4, labeled "Current" Ionization: ESI head Buffers: Water/Acetonitrile each with 0.1% formic, equilibrate to 95% water/5% AceN Flow Rate: 500 uL/min (in rare circumstances use slower flow for higher sensitivity)
Setup template (open in xcalibur; saved in read-only format on Desktop): Protein_Analysis_Sequence_Template.sld Save the template under a different name/directory Adjust sample names; include a blank (e.g. PBS) in first and last run At run time, be sure that Processing boxes are checked for Qual and Programs.
ProMass will run automatically Mass error is +- 0.02% To view results: Promass results folder, index.html See data sheet on top of computer for common protein modification masses
To reprocess data, if anything goes wrong, hit the "summation" icon in xcalibur.
MS Tuning notes for Accela HPLC/MS:
Note: When not running, inject/waste mode, otherwise load/detect mode.
- Sample injection:
- Use direct injection of salt and buffer free sample solution. For example using 1mM of the molecule of interest in 50% AceN/50% 0.1% formic acid water. Do not use any buffer, e.g. HEPES, or include any salts, as they may build up in the MS.
- Start with direct injection (we didn't do this):
- To directly inject use a single tube with the needle adapter (on top of the MS; usually the needle adapter would be attached to the T-junction).
- Rinse the syringe (250 uL or 500 uL as needed) with solvent (5-6 times)
- Load sample as prepped above. Syringe should be placed into the syringe injector after it is attached to the input tube. Follow instructions in step (2) to turn on syringe pump.
- After you see compound in direct injection, go to inline injection (we started with inline injection):
- Use the T-junction. Attach the input line from the switch to one leg of T, attach input from syringe to other leg, and attach third leg to input of ionizer. Using direct control of the pump (icon in Quantum tune with a syringe flowing in to three collector flasks) run the normal HPLC buffers – note that if the syringe is not loaded in the injector the pressure will push the syringe plunger out!
- Vanilla Tuning
- Open Quantum Tune and run the MS (click on "pause" button in upper-left corner so it becomes a green triangle)
- Before changing anything chose "save as…" to select a new name for your tune, so as not to save over someone else's hard-won tune file!
- Choose MS only optimization
- Choose – or + at the big blue "-" button, here the example shows negative optimization – thus the ions will be negative, with -1 mass. Here the molecule has a mass of 144.2 , so the optimization mass will then be 143.2.
Set the optimization mass based on the -/+ setting
- Start the pump – Go to Setup menu and choose "syringe pump settings". In the window that opens turn pump to "on" and set a flow rate, e.g. 5 or 10 uL/min. In that window also set the syringe volume, e.g. 500 uL, as appropriate.
- Set up MS device parameters -- Press the "tuning fork/green flask" icon towards the middle (Optimize compound dependent devices) to adjust scan parameters and pick which ones will be optimized. The define scan section will open in the upper right corner (as shown in the figure). Click in the check boxes to the left of each parameter to allow the automatic optimization to adjust that value – e.g. above the tube lens offset will be optimized.
- Define the scan – press the "multicolored bubbles" (Define Scan) button. For the simplest case choose Full Scan in centroid mode (the vertical bars button), and do a scan from 50 to 500 Daltons.
- Start the optimization – Press start in the upper left section. The program takes over, automatically optimizing the given parameters to maximize signal – this is shown in the lower-right hand corner. When it is done it will offer to save optimization-scanning info as a pdf (save it or cancel). If all has gone well, the spectrum in the lower-left corner now shows a big peak for your compound. Save the tune file (*.tsq) and you're done!
- After doing some tuning with direct injection be sure to switch to inline injection and optimize parameters there – take special note of the gas flow rates, which need to be higher for the inline injection (because the liquid flow rate is higher).
- Stop the MS running by clicking the green triangle in upper left hand corner. Quit the Quantum Tune Program.
- Non-Vanilla Tuning
- Hand optimization – if the tuning is done and is showing you a peak, but you want it to be stronger, turn on the optimize compound dependent devices window. Start the trajectory view (icon with a watch band and a big green peak) to show total current (TIC) as a function of time to allow you to keep track of whether signal is improving. Now adjust each parameter, e.g. capillary temperature by clicking on it and editing in the space below; some parameters may adjust slowly, such as temperature, so keep track of the "Readback" value. The photocopies over the monitor give guidelines for these parameters – e.g. 400 to 600 for Vaporizer temperature in APCI, etc.
- Change the scan type – press the Define Scan (bubbles) button. Choose SIM to focus on one region of mass rather than recording a full spectrum. Set the center and the width of that mass region, e.g. 142.9 and 0.01 to define a very narrow band around a mass. This will increase sensitivity by integrating for a much longer time at each mass.
- Change the MS mode – choose MS/MS in the Optimization Mode region. Check "adjust parent mass" and "step collision energy" boxes. Then click start to start optimization. First a normal ms optimization will be done (and the parent mass adjusted to the best peak). Then the collision energy will be adjusted until a maximum is found – the data are shown in the lower right hand corner. Expect a gradual peak as a function of collision energy with a well-defined maximum. If the optimization fails, however, there is no peak as a function of collision energy and the program reports a failure to find fragments. The compound is rock-solid and won't be amenable to MS/MS.
- Hand optimization – if the tuning is done and is showing you a peak, but you want it to be stronger, turn on the optimize compound dependent devices window. Start the trajectory view (icon with a watch band and a big green peak) to show total current (TIC) as a function of time to allow you to keep track of whether signal is improving. Now adjust each parameter, e.g. capillary temperature by clicking on it and editing in the space below; some parameters may adjust slowly, such as temperature, so keep track of the "Readback" value. The photocopies over the monitor give guidelines for these parameters – e.g. 400 to 600 for Vaporizer temperature in APCI, etc.


text:
Skyscrapers define the skyline of North Carolina city Charlote, the "Wall Street of the South", an urban center home also to an assortment of museums, a NASCAR speedway and an artificial whitewater river.
Use our easy Lodging Search to find exactly the type of accommodation you are looking for at the right price.
Switch to Mobile Browser Mode
We offer a compact version of Go-North-Carolina for mobile users, allowing you to access just the information you need on the road. Of course, you can still use the full version of Go-North-Carolina on your mobile device just as you can on your desktop.
Continue to Mobile Site Return to Main Site


text:
House Republicans, who defended in court the Defense of Marriage Act only to see it struck down by the Supreme Court last month, have now decided not to try to defend a similar law that denies veterans' benefits to married, same-sex couples.
BuzzFeed, which broke the news Thursday of the GOP's decision, reports that:
" '[T]he House has determined, in light of the Supreme Court's opinion in Windsor, that it no longer will defend that statute,' lawyers for the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), controlled by House Republicans, wrote. ...
" 'The document from the legal team speaks for itself,' House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel, told BuzzFeed, when asked for comment on the move."
"Judge Richard Stearns had asked the parties in a lawsuit addressing the rights of service members and veterans and their same-sex spouses to give 'any reasons why judgment should not enter for plaintiffs in this case,' following the Supreme Court's June 26 decision striking down section 3 of DOMA. The deadline for responding to Stearns' question is Thursday."
There's a copy here of the GOP court filing.
The section of the U.S. Code in question includes this definition of "spouse":
"The term 'surviving spouse' means (except for purposes of chapter 19 of this title) a person of the opposite sex who was the spouse of a veteran at the time of the veteran's death, and who lived with the veteran continuously from the date of marriage to the date of the veteran's death (except where there was a separation which was due to the misconduct of, or procured by, the veteran without the fault of the spouse) and who has not remarried or (in cases not involving remarriage) has not since the death of the veteran, and after September 19, 1962, lived with another person and held himself or herself out openly to the public to be the spouse of such other person."
Those who have pushed for DOMA and similar laws to be struck down aren't giving the GOP much credit.
"After millions of taxpayer dollars wasted defending discrimination, it's a historic sign of the times that the House leadership is dropping its pointless quest to maintain second-class status for lesbian and gay couples," says Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, "the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans."
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Bumble Bee Off White - Limited Edition
Bumble Bee Off White - Limited Edition
Minimum order for most custom ordered fabric is 1 yard. Waffle knit, poplin, cotton satin, 2-layer muslin, linen, pointelle, and double velvet fleece custom ordered fabric have a 3 yard minimum. Our minimum order requirement for in-stock fabric is 1/2 yard.
For a full listing of the fabric bases available, and their descriptions, click here.
Coordinating Euro Knit Solids Available Here
Custom printed fabric is sold by the full yard. In-stock by the 1/2 yard. Multiples are cut in one continuous piece whenever possible.
Bumble Bee Off White by Family Fabrics - Only available for a limited time.
Designed and manufactured by Family Fabrics in the Netherlands. Family Fabrics are OEKO-TEX certified and are printed using sustainable printing techniques. This fabric is very soft and is an excellent choice for baby and children's clothing.
Jersey Knit
Uses: tops, leggings, dresses, pajamas, baby clothes, swaddle blankets, and more.
- 95% cotton 5% lycra
- 220 gsm
- 4 way stretch
- 58 inches wide
- Oeko Tex certified
- Digitally Printed
All width measurements are approximate.
To keep prints bright, wash inside out in warm water and use a low dryer setting.
95% Cotton 5% Lycra unless otherwise noted in the product listing.
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Orders will ship within 1 business day unless otherwise noted. For more information on shipping and returns please see our Shipping and Returns page.
Please see product listing for exact size dimensions.
Care Instructions
Care Instructions
Wash inside out with like colors and fabric. Dry on medium and remove from dryer promptly to avoid wrinkles.
Coordinating Solids
Shop our coordinating solid rib, jersey, french terry, and waffle to help bring your sewn creations to life. Click to shop coordinating solids now.
Free Shipping
We offer fast 1-3 business day turnaround on all orders and flat rate shipping is only $8.
Hassle-Free Returns
We want you to be 100% satisfied with your purchase. Fabric cut in 1 yard pieces or larger may be returned within 2 days of purchase as long as it is uncut and unwashed. Please see our Shipping and Returns page for further information on returns and exchanges.


text:
Some of you might remember an old television show by Bill Cosby called "Kids Say the Darndest Things." Cosby interviewed kids and they described things in very lively and many times funny ways.
It wasn't so much to have fun at the child's expense, but really a celebration of the innocence and beauty of a little child. So, I'm curious about some of the funny things that your children have written to you.
I'll start off with something my little 6-year-old Sheyla from Peru wrote me:
"I didn't know you taught math; I have a question: 'Do you like ice cream?'"
Now it's your turn.


text:
Bomb Wreaks Death, Destruction In Damascus
There's been an explosion in central Damascus today and there are reports of multiple deaths and dozens of injuries.
As always in Syria, where the regime of President Bashar Assad tries to control the news, it's difficult to get an accurate sense of just what is going on. The regime is blaming its opponents, who have been protesting against Assad since last spring. Activists are questioning whether the attack was staged by supporters of the regime to make the opposition look bad.
Here's some of what's being reported:
-- "An explosion ripped through a police bus in the center of Syria's capital Friday, killing at least 10 people and possibly 25 in an attack authorities blamed on a suicide bomber, a Syrian official and state-run TV said." (The Associated Press)
-- "A suicide attacker has detonated a bomb in Damascus, Syrian state TV says. It said dozens of people were killed or wounded in the blast in Midan district. It comes two weeks after 44 people died in blasts the authorities blamed on terrorists. Opposition activists accused the government of staging them." (BBC News)
-- "Footage broadcast by Syria Television showed the shattered, blood splattered windows of what appeared to be a police bus. The official SANA news agency spoke of casualties among both civilians and security force personnel. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the Turkish town of Antakya, near Syria's northern border, said it is unclear who was behind the attack." (Al-Jazeera)
-- "Syrian blogger Maysaloon writes that when examining culpability for today's reported suicide attack in Damascus, 'we cannot rule out rogue elements in the opposition' but adds that there are several questions that need answering: The fact that only hours beforehand, Colonel Riad al Asaad had warned of further attacks against the regime, has only stoked the fires of propaganda against the Free Syrian Army. Yet the fact remains, why would a suicide bomber carry out such attacks with such timing and limited success, when there are enormous pro-regime demonstrations that are held in the Ummayad square or in Aleppo?" (The Guardian)
As the AP also notes:
"Although the nearly 10-month-old uprising in Syria has convulsed many parts of the country, Damascus has been relatively quiet under the tight control of ruthless security agencies loyal to President Bashar Assad.
"But violence in the capital has been on the rise. On Dec. 23, according to the Syrian authorities, two car bombers blew themselves up outside the heavily guarded compounds of the country's intelligence agencies, killing at least 44 people and wounding 166."


text:
Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - In the five years since "The Sopranos" ended, James Gandolfini has eschewed the spotlight, instead disappearing into a heap of character actor performances that, while they may lack the heft of Tony Soprano, have only further proved the actor's wide-ranging talent.
This season offers a gluttony of Gandolfini, albeit in bite-sized parts. In Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden hunt docudrama "Zero Dark Thirty," he plays Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. In David Chase's `60s period drama "Not Fade Away," he plays the old-school father of a wannabe rocker. And in Andrew Dominick's crime flick "Killing Them Softly," he plays an aged, washed-up hit man.
None of the roles are showy lead men, and that's just fine with Gandolfini.
"I'm much more comfortable doing smaller things," Gandolfini said in a recent interview. "I like them. I like the way they're shot; they're shot quickly. It's all about the scripts _ that's what it is _ and I'm getting some interesting little scripts."
The 51-year-old actor takes scant pleasure in interviews and rarely does them. This is partly because Gandolfini _ sitting attentively with his hands on his knees, his head back and his let's-hear-what-you-have-to-say eyes tilted downward _ distrusts the ego-inflating effect of attention. Explaining his interest in a character, he breaks off: "I always wonder how interesting any of this is to people. It's just my own (stuff)."
Though Gandolfini's achievement playing Tony Soprano for eight years is unquestioned (he won three Emmy awards), the sensation of the show _ and the long time spent playing a violent, sometimes loathsome gangster _ grated on Gandolfini. He says that after "The Sopranos," he didn't quite regain himself as an actor until he starred in the Tony-winning play "God of Carnage" on Broadway in 2009. He played half of a Brooklyn couple trying to resolve a squabble with another couple over a fight between their children _ a part also revealing of our underlying animalism.
"It really grounded me more as an actor again," says Gandolfini. "Then I could go off and try different things."
Gandolfini's recent work has vacillated from comedy, his genre of choice (as a Washington general in the political satire "In the Loop") to heartwarming drama (as a businessman moved to rehabilitate an abandoned teenage girl, Kristen Stewart, in "Welcome to the Rileys"). He voiced the Wild Thing Carol in "Where the Wild Things Are," a performance that, by stripping him of his sizable frame, highlighted his tenderness.
One of his favorite films, he says, was John Turturro's long-delayed "Romance & Cigarettes," a funny, anti-extravagant musical about a working class family. He's produced several HBO documentaries about veterans: "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq" and "Wartorn: 1861-2010," which chronicled posttraumatic stress.
"He took up a lot of his time with `God of Carnage,' and I was sort of missing him from the screen," says Chase, the "Sopranos" creator. "He's doing a lot of work now but I think he was taking a cooling off period."
For Gandolfini, reuniting with Chase on "Not Fade Away" was like "getting back to work" on a simple, small movie set after the "big huge thing" of the "The Sopranos." Chase calls the actor his "first responder" to his scripts.
"The main thing we have is a small sharing of a certain amount of self-loathing and a sense of humor," says Gandolfini, laughing. "I get David's sense of humor immediately."
In "Not Fade Away," Gandolfini reprises certain characteristics of Tony Soprano _ an Italian patriarch displeased with his son _ but the film also turns on a tender moment that bridges the generational divide. "Every guy who was in a band, that was the father," says Steven Van Zandt, Gandolfini's "Sopranos" co-star and a producer on "Not Fade Away."
"It's the time when you find out, all of a sudden you realize as you get older, that maybe your father wasn't just there to raise you, that he actually had dreams of his own and things that he wanted to do and things that he's sacrificed," says Gandolfini, a father of a 13-year-old son and, with his second wife Deborah Lin, a 2-month-old girl.
Gandolfini grew up in New Jersey the son of a bricklayer and a high school lunch lady. His blue collar roots clearly inform his attitude about acting; he sometimes seems almost embarrassed by his profession.
"People don't know and they shouldn't know that you work incredibly hard as an actor," he says. "So in terms of a blue collar background, that matches up. But it is an odd way to make a living. Putting somebody else's pants on and pretending to be somebody else is occasionally, as you grow older, horrifying."
But Gandolfini gravitated to acting as a release, a way to get rid of anger. "I don't know what exactly I was angry about," he says.
That inner rage helped Gandolfini land his breakthrough role as a brutal mob enforcer in Tony Scott's "True Romance," a part that led to Tony Soprano. His distaste for that character and some of Tony's uglier nature is still present for Gandolfini.
"I try to avoid certain things and certain kinds of violence at this point," he says. "I'm getting older, too. I don't want to be beating people up as much. I don't want to be beating women up and those kinds of things that much anymore."
In "Zero Dark Thirty" violence is meted out by others, while Gandolfini's foul-mouthed Panetta is an intimidating boardroom presence.
"He brings to the set so much authority and gravitas just naturally in who he is," says Bigelow. "It felt like a perfect symmetry."
"Killing Them Softy," though, is a rare return to the territory Gandolfini has avoided. This older, end-of-the-line gangster, Gandolfini says, completes an arc for him of mafia men, a kind of epilogue of the "last, most pathetic one in the end."
"I was hesitant to play another quote-unquote mob guy," he says. "You know, I've played a lot of these guys and so I'm getting to a place where I want to play different people. This is kind of a guy who's a culmination of everybody I've played at the end. This is like the last nail in the coffin."
Follow Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
Log in via below to reserve your dining, shore excursions, and more.
Don't have a My NCL account yet?
Please provide the information below and we'll send you an email containing your Username and a link to reset your Password.
Still having issues signing in?
Mon - Fri 9:00am - 8:00pm ET Sat, Sun 9:00am - 5:30pm ET


text:
John Ely (0-1, 4.26) vs. Dan Haren (4-1, 4.04).
COMMENTS: He looks like Matthew McConaughey and his pitching style has been compared to that of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. He is John Ely, and in his last start, he held the hot-hitting Brewers to one earned run over 6 2/3 innings. He won't break 90 mph on the speed gun; instead, he's a location pitcher. Remember, Ned Colletti turned Juan Pierre (2010: .230/.292/.230) into Ely and Jon Link, so credit where credit is due.
Unfortunately, in the red trunks is Dan Haren, the Diamondbacks' great uninjured hope. But as Sax put it in last night's Post-Game Thread, "If we can beat Ubaldo, we can beat Haren." And it turns out Haren has a curiously plump 1.261 career WHIP against the Dodgers. But he also has notched 50 K's and is 10-for-22 at the plate this season, so let's not lose our heads, okay?
Fidrych: John Iacono/Sports Illustrated


text:
Fruit! It's been a lot on my mind lately. I love everything about juicy fruit. Sweet, succulent, colorful and so healthy. Besides indulging into the tempting fruit basket, I find they make perfect motives for the camera.
I was really glad to see the return of Click - a great photography workshop brought to life by the brilliant Jugalbandi pair. This session's challenge was RED in the culinary context.
I knew straight away what I wanted to submit - a picture I had taken a few months back and also features the month of December 2009 in my RAW Calendar 2009. The calendar is still available to buy at my Zazzle gallery. It's been doing really well and thanks to all those who contacted me telling me how much they are enjoying the calendar. It honors me!
This picture "Juicy Red" was inspired by a shot I saw on Flickr a little over a year ago. It has always been on my mind since then. It had that instant WOW! effect on me. So, last year when I decided to take a few shots for the calendar, I decided to include watermelon. Instantly I was reminded of the shot. Unfortunately I could not find it anywhere again - but I decided to create my own version.
So, what do you think? Does it have a WOW! effect on you?
- Camera: Nikon D70s
- Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm
- Tripod: Bilora 1211
- Focal Length: 44 mm
- Exposure Time: 1/125s
- Aperture: f/4.5
- Lighting: Natural light from right and one Lowel Ego light from the left back corner. A bounce was used directly in front to light up any dark patches.
WOW! or not - I had a great time shooting with the juicy fruit. I enjoyed learning a bit about lighting mix - natural and lights. There's still so much to learn and so much to improve on. CLICK will be one of the events that challenges me to do just that.
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First


text:
Returns & Exchanges
Returns & Exchanges
We strive to make the shopping experience the safest and smoothest for all of our customers. If for any reason you are not happy with your items, you can send them back, as long as you follow our Return and Exchange Policy.
Return and Exchange Policy
Hats, tube tops, cosmetics, accessories, jewelry, swimwear, intimates and items marked as "Final Sale" or "Sale Items" are FINAL SALE and therefore cannot be returned for exchange or refunds.
All returns are accepted within 30 days from the shipped date. Merchandise must be unworn, in original condition, with price tags intact. Make sure the return form is included in your package and it is correctly filled out.
Shoe boxes must be returned undamaged and unworn for returns or exchanges.
All returns past 30 days will not be accepted and will become a FINAL SALE.
For exchanges, please send by mail to the address provided. You will be responsible for the postage of returning the merchandise to us and your original shipping charges are not refundable. Please allow 7-10 days for your credit card to be credited.
Details and Limitations
Your refund will be provided in the form of the tender in which your purchase was originally made.
Please mail in your return to:
Pink Ice Online Returns
1458 S. San Pedro St.
Suite #305
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Damaged or Merchandise Inaccuracy
Any items that were defective or the merchandise you received was incorrect from your original invoice may be exchanged or refunded. Make sure you correctly fill out your return form and explain briefly why you are returning the merchandise. Your shipping cost will be reimbursed to your credit card and we will gladly replace your merchandise or give you a refund. Of course, the shipping costs to send back your correct order will be on us!
We recommend using USPS Priority when returning your items and make sure to retain a tracking confirmation number.
Return & Exchange
We will only exchange different sizes for the same item and color. Please indicate on the return form by writing, which items are to be exchanged. Once Pink Ice receives your return back for an exchange we will check our inventory to fulfill the exchange request. If your item is sold out, your exchange will become a return and we will provide a refund in the form of the tender in which your purchase was originally made.
Undeliverable Orders / Corrections to Shipping
Pink Ice will impose a $10 fee for any undeliverable order and corrections to shipping addresses caused by customer error. Undeliverable orders include not being able to sign for an order that comes by our shipper, misspelled shipping addresses, or any fault of the customer causing Pink Ice shipper not being able to complete the delivery of the order.
If you have any questions or comments please contact us at


text:
This week's Sunday Six Pack considers six more developing dynasty storylines.
Gain Instant Access to this article and so much more.
A full year of access is only $49.99.
Try DLF Premium for only $7.99 with a Monthly Subscription.
Premium membership provides access to all of our awesome dynasty content for an entire year. You also gain access to the best dynasty fantasy football resources in the industry. Including…
• The best dynasty rankings in the industry
• Dynasty, Rookie & Superflex ADP
• Dynasty Trade Analyzer and other tools
• Our annual Dynasty & Rookie Draft Guides
• 365 days of content, tools, advice and support
• And so much more!
Join DLF Today!
Want more info about DLF Premium?
Find out more
Have questions or need some help?
Contact Us
Already a DLF Premium Member?
Log in now!


text:
In this section
Pulmonary atresia
What is PA? | Causes | Symptoms | Diagnosis | Treatment | Postoperative care | Home care | Long-term outlook
Pulmonary atresia (PA) is a complicated congenital (present at birth) defect that occurs due to abnormal development of the fetal heart during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy. PA is called a "single ventricle defect," one in which only one of the heart's two ventricles can pump efficiently. Babies born with single ventricle diseases cannot pump oxygen-rich blood to the body, so immediate treatment will be needed as soon as they are born.
What is pulmonary atresia (PA)?
The pulmonary valve is found between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. It has three leaflets that function like a one-way door, allowing blood to flow forward into the pulmonary artery, but not backward into the right ventricle.
With pulmonary atresia, problems with valve development prevent the leaflets from opening, therefore, blood cannot flow forward from the right ventricle to the lungs. Before birth, while the fetus is developing, this actually is not a threat to life, because the placenta provides oxygen for the baby and the lungs are not functional. Blood entering the right side of the fetal heart passes through an opening called the foramen ovale that allows oxygen-rich (red) blood to pass through to the left side of the heart and proceed to the body.
In some cases, there may be a second opening, this time in the ventricular wall, that allows blood in the right ventricle a way out. This opening is called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). If there is no VSD, the right ventricle receives little blood flow before birth and does not develop fully.
After birth, the placenta no longer provides oxygen for the newborn - the lungs must provide it. However, with no pulmonary valve opening present, blood must find another route to reach the lungs and receive oxygen.
The foramen ovale normally shuts at birth, but may stay open in this situation, allowing oxygen-poor (blue) blood to pass from the right atrium to the left atrium. From there, it goes to the left ventricle, out the aorta, to the body. This situation cannot support life, since oxygen-poor (blue) blood cannot meet the body's demands. Newborns also have a connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, called the ductus arteriosus, that allows some of the oxygen-poor (blue) blood to pass into the lungs. Unfortunately, this ductus arteriosus normally closes within a few hours or days after birth.
Because of the low amount of oxygen provided to the body, pulmonary atresia is a heart problem that is labeled "blue-baby syndrome."
Pulmonary atresia occurs in about one out of every 10,000 live births.
What causes pulmonary atresia?
The problem occurs as the heart is forming during the first 8 weeks of fetal development.
Some congenital heart defects may have a genetic link, either occurring due to a defect in a gene, a chromosome abnormality, or environmental exposure, causing heart problems to occur more often in certain families. Most of the time, this heart defect occurs sporadically (by chance), with no clear reason for its development.
What are the symptoms of pulmonary atresia?
Symptoms will be noted shortly after birth. The obvious indication of PA is a newborn who becomes cyanotic (blue) in the transitional first day of life when the maternal source of oxygen (from the placenta) is removed. The degree of cyanosis is related to the presence of other defects that allow blood to mix, including a patent (open) ductus arteriosus.
The following are the most common symptoms of pulmonary atresia. However, each child may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
- Rapid breathing
- Difficulty breathing
- Irritability
- Lethargy
- Pale, cool, or clammy skin
The symptoms of pulmonary atresia may resemble other medical conditions or heart problems. Always consult your child's physician for a diagnosis.
How is pulmonary atresia diagnosed?
A pediatric cardiologist and/or a neonatologist may be involved in your child's care. A pediatric cardiologist specializes in the diagnosis and medical management of congenital heart defects, as well as heart problems that may develop later in childhood. A neonatologist specializes in illnesses affecting newborns, both premature and full-term.
Cyanosis is a major indication that there is a problem with your newborn. Your child's physician may have also heard a heart murmur during a physical examination. A heart murmur is simply a noise caused by the turbulence of blood flowing through the openings that allow the blood to mix.
Other diagnostic tests are needed to help with the diagnosis, and may include the following:
- Chest x-ray - a diagnostic test which uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) - a test that records the electrical activity of the heart, shows abnormal rhythms (arrhythmias or dysrhythmias), and detects heart muscle stress.
- Echocardiogram (echo) - a procedure that evaluates the structure and function of the heart by using sound waves recorded on an electronic sensor that produce a moving picture of the heart and heart valves.
- Cardiac catheterization - a cardiac catheterization is an invasive procedure that gives very detailed information about the structures inside the heart. Under sedation, a small, thin, flexible tube (catheter) is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin, and guided to the inside of the heart. Blood pressure and oxygen measurements are taken in the four chambers of the heart, as well as the pulmonary artery and aorta. Contrast dye is also injected to more clearly visualize the structures inside the heart.
Treatment for pulmonary atresia
Specific treatment for pulmonary atresia will be determined by your child's physician based on:\
- Your child's age, overall health, and medical history
- Extent of the disease
- Your child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies
- Expectations for the course of the disease
- Your opinion or preference
Your child will most likely be admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) or special care nursery once symptoms are noted. Initially, your child may be placed on oxygen, and possibly even on a ventilator, to assist his/her breathing. Intravenous (IV) medications may be given to help the heart and lungs function more efficiently.
Other important aspects of initial treatment include the following:
- A cardiac catheterization procedure can be used as a diagnostic procedure, as well as initial treatment procedure for some heart defects. A cardiac catheterization procedure will usually be performed to evaluate the defect(s), whether the foramen ovale or ductus arteriosus are still open, and the amount of blood that is mixing.
- As part of the cardiac catheterization, a procedure called balloon atrial septostomy may be performed to improve mixing of oxygen-rich (red) blood and oxygen-poor (blue) blood between the right and left atria.
- A special catheter with a balloon in the tip is used to create an opening in the atrial septum (wall between the left and right atria).
- The catheter is guided through the foramen ovale (a small opening present in the atrial septum that closes shortly after birth) and into the left atrium.
- The balloon is inflated.
- The catheter is quickly pulled back through the hole, into the right atrium, and a hole is created, allowing blood to mix between the atria.
- An intravenous medication called prostaglandin E1 is given to keep the ductus arteriosus from closing.
Interventions such as these will allow time for your baby to stabilize.
Ultimately, surgery is necessary to improve blood flow to the lungs on a permanent basis. A series of operations are usually recommended and are performed in stages, usually starting shortly after birth. In this series of operations, including Glenn and Fontan procedures, blood flow is redirected to the lungs and the body with various surgical connections.
Postoperative care for your child
After surgery, infants will return to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) to be closely monitored during recovery.
While your child is in the ICU, special equipment will be used to help him/her recover, and may include the following:
- Ventilator - a machine that helps your child breathe while he/she is under anesthesia during the operation. A small, plastic tube is guided into the windpipe and attached to the ventilator, which breathes for your child while he/she is too sleepy to breathe effectively on his/her own. After a pulmonary atresia, children will benefit from remaining on the ventilator overnight or even longer so they can rest.
- Intravenous (IV) catheters - small, plastic tubes inserted through the skin into blood vessels to provide IV fluids and important medicines that help your child recover from the operation.
- Arterial line - a specialized IV placed in the wrist or other area of the body where a pulse can be felt, that measures blood pressure continuously during surgery and while your child is in the ICU.
- Nasogastric (NG) tube - a small, flexible tube that keeps the stomach drained of acid and gas bubbles that may build up during surgery.
- Urinary catheter - a small, flexible tube that allows urine to drain out of the bladder and accurately measures how much urine the body makes, which helps determine how well the heart is functioning. After surgery, the heart will be a little weaker than it was before, and, therefore, the body may start to hold onto fluid, causing swelling and puffiness. Diuretics may be given to help the kidneys to remove excess fluid from the body.
- Chest tube - a drainage tube may be inserted to keep the chest free of blood that would otherwise accumulate after the incision is closed. Bleeding may occur for several hours, or even a few days after surgery.
- Heart monitor - a machine that constantly displays a picture of your child's heart rhythm, and monitors heart rate, arterial blood pressure, and other values.
Your child may need other equipment not mentioned here to provide support while in the ICU, or afterwards. The hospital staff will explain all of the necessary equipment to you.
Your child will be kept as comfortable as possible with several different medications; some which relieve pain, and some which relieve anxiety. The staff will also be asking for your input as to how best to soothe and comfort your child.
After being discharged from the ICU, your child will recuperate on another hospital unit before going home. You will learn how to care for your child at home before your child is discharged. Your child may need to take medications for a while, and these will be explained to you. The staff will give you written instructions regarding medications, activity limitations, and follow-up appointments before your child is discharged.
Infants who spent a lot of time on a ventilator, or who were fairly ill while in the ICU, may have trouble feeding initially. These babies may have an oral aversion; they might equate something placed in the mouth, such as a pacifier or bottle, with a less pleasant sensation such as being on the ventilator. Some infants are just tired, and need to build their strength up before they will be able to learn to bottle-feed. Strategies used to help infants with nutrition include the following:
- High-calorie formula or breast milk - Special nutritional supplements may be added to formula or pumped breast milk that increase the number of calories in each ounce, thereby allowing your baby to drink less and still consume enough calories to grow properly.
- Supplemental tube feedings - Feedings given through a small, flexible tube that passes through the nose, down the esophagus, and into the stomach, that can either supplement or take the place of bottle feedings. Infants who can drink part of their bottle, but not all, may be fed the remainder through the feeding tube. Infants who are too tired to bottle feed at all may receive their formula or breast milk through the feeding tube alone.
Caring for your child at home following PA surgical repair
Pain medications, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, may be recommended to keep your child comfortable. Your child's physician will discuss pain control before your child is discharged from the hospital.
If any special treatments are to be given at home, the nursing staff will ensure that you are able to provide them, or a home health agency may assist you.
You may receive additional instructions from your child's physicians and the hospital staff.
Long-term outlook after pulmonary atresia surgical repair
The outlook varies from child to child. Consult your child's physician regarding the specific outlook for your child. For outcomes relating to particular surgeries that may be used to correct PA, see our information about VSD treatment, and the Glenn and Fontan procedures.
Choosing a heart hospital?
Find tips for deciding whom to trust with your child's heart surgery in a blog written by Peter Frommelt, MD, pediatric cardiologist and professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Let us help you
Coming from out of town?
Traveling with a sick child to a new city can be stressful. We can make your visit to our hospital as easy as possible.
Traveling here locally?
Contact us for more information about the Herma Heart Institute. Request an appointment online or call (414) 607-5280 or toll-free (877) 607-5280.


text:
The Big Challenge is Big Data in 2013
Eric Stettler, A.T. Kearney
Like customers across all industries, the banking consumer interfaces with the institution across multiple devices and channels, yet demands an integrated experience and becomes frustrated when encountering inconsistencies. Creating an integrated customer experience requires an integrated, holistic purview of multichannel data.
Resolving channel conflicts is no easy task, especially for the oldest and largest institutions, as work groups and channel data are often 'siloed' in old line, traditional structures. Yet, if a competitor is mining the data that flows in with great velocity across channels and, as a result, has identified high leverage points for serving needs more efficiently and effectively, customers will find out about it and give their business to them. It is a tightly connected, internet-driven, social economy out there.
A few institutions have, indeed, made great strides in extracting data from widely dispersed channels and employing it to innovate in areas of product and service development, and to integrate the customer experience—while addressing privacy concerns and meeting regulatory needs. We urge all banking leaders to step up to the Big Data challenge that is testing all industries today and will profoundly impact the banking industry, as those who don't will find that their business models are out of alignment with customer requirements when it's too late to catch up. Big Data is both a Big Challenge and a Big Opportunity that holds keys to unprecedented success, and the rewards will go to those who address it proactively.
Eric Stettler is a partner at A.T. Kearney where he leads the IT Operations and Cost Reduction tower within A.T. Kearney's strategic information technology practice.


text:
Are you searching for great promotional items at discount pricing? Look no further than our large selection of custom closeout promotional items. These closeout promotional products are priced extremely low so that we can move discontinued promotional merchandise to make room for new and exciting promotional items. We still have plenty of stock on these promotional closeouts, but deals like these won't last long. Be sure to browse our entire selection of closeout promotional items to ensure that you get the items you want at an even better price than before!
Here you will find unmatched deep discounts and special offers on closeout and discontinued promotional items. The catch is, they are gone very fast and will not be coming back! Please make sure to call us to check the latest inventory since these promotional items are often out of stock as quickly as they appear here!


text:
Infineon XMC1302-T038x0064
ARM Cortex-M0, 32 MHz, 64 kB ROM, 16 kB RAM
The XMC1000 series is designed for low cost 8/16-bit microcontroller applications, offering performance, low power, simple instruction set and memory addressing together with reduced code size compared to existing 8/16-bit architectures. - Ultra low power consumption - Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC) - Event Request Unit (ERU) for programmable processing of ext./int. service requests - MATH Co-processor (MATH), consists of a CORDIC unit and a division unit - CAN communication - LED and Touch Sense Control Unit
- NVIC:NVIC with 32 interrupt sources
- Processor:Cortex-M0, 32 MHz
- ROM:64 kB
- RAM:16 kB
- Supply Voltage:1.8 V .. 5.5 V Operating Voltage
- Maximum Clock Frequency:32 MHz,
- RTC:32 kHz
- Other:2 x Universal Serial Interface channels (configurable as SPI, UART, IIC, IIS)
- Watchdog:1 x Watchdog Timer
- ADC:16-channel x 12 bit ADC
- Operating Temperature Range:-40 °C .. 85 °C Devices with order code F
- I/Os:26 Inputs/Outputs
- Package, SOP:38-lead SOP
Development Tools | |
CMSIS Drivers |
Examples |


text: Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. The Belgian post office released chocolate-flavored stamps just in time for Easter. The glue in the stamps is infused with cacao oil. A celebratory touch that makes sense, given Belgium is famous for its chocolate. One stamp collector sniffed the chocolate flavor was disappointing, but come on, wouldn't anything taste better than regular stamps? We on this morning show are now hoping for Belgian waffle-flavored envelopes. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Add To Favorites
Ver en español
Top of the page
This tool will not diagnose a back problem, but it will tell you whether surgery might help reduce or get rid of symptoms related to your low back problem. Although research shows that surgery is very likely to be effective for some problems, it rarely helps with others.
This tool is not meant for people in emergency situations. Talk to your doctor right away if you have numbness, weakness, or other symptoms that are very bad or getting worse.
Carragee EJ, Hannibal M (2004). "Diagnostic evaluation of low back pain." Orthopedic Clinics of North America, 35(2004): 7–16.
Tay BKB, et al. (2014). "Disorders, diseases, and injuries of the spine." In HB Skinner, PJ McMahon, eds., Current Diagnosis and Treatment in Orthopedics, 5th ed., pp. 156–229. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Symptoms of low back problems, such as back pain and pain down the back of the leg, usually go away by themselves within several weeks. Most people with back pain don't need to see the doctor unless they have severe pain or their symptoms aren't getting better after about 4 weeks. And they don't start having any tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), unless they have had symptoms for at least 6 weeks or they've had other "red flags" such as signs of nerve damage. Surgery is not considered until after that.
As you work through this tool, you will get an idea of whether surgery might help you.
If you are concerned about back pain or other related symptoms such as leg pain, numbness, or weakness, talk to your doctor about what steps you can take. If surgery is unlikely to help, you can still take action to reduce and control your symptoms.
Current as of: July 17, 2023
Author: Healthwise StaffClinical Review BoardAll Healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.
Author: Healthwise Staff
Clinical Review BoardAll Healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org.
© 1995-2024 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
To improve your search results use quotation marks when searching for a specific phrase.
For example, if you search for substance use, a search WITHOUT quotation marks would find listings that include the words "substance" OR "use." A search WITH quotation marks ("substance use") would find listings only with the whole phrase "substance use."
Spanish: Para traducir este sitio web, debe actualizar su navegador a la última versión de Microsoft Edge.
Vietnamese: Để dịch trang web này, bạn phải nâng cấp trình duyệt của mình lên phiên bản Microsoft Edge mới nhất.
Mandarin: 要翻译该网站,您必须将浏览器升级到最新版本的 Microsoft Edge.
Are you sure you want to delete this item?


text:
It's time for "Outdoor Wednesday". Learn more about "Outdoor Wednesday" HERE
1. POST your outdoor photos and the Outdoor Wednesday logo/button on your blog and link back to http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ so that others will be able to find all the links to other Outdoor Wednesday posts.
Reminder: Do NOT link in until after your post is up.
2. Add your Name and the Permalink to your post (NOT your general blog address) in "Mr. Linky". For help with permalink see HERE.
I hope everyone is having a great summer. I was out driving and stopped to take a couple pictures of a lake and the geese stopped by to see if I had anything to eat. Next time I will have to take some bread with me!
Don't forget to visit other Outdoor Wednesday participants by clicking on their links. Check back later to make certain you visit all the Outdoor Wednesday participants.


text:
Bryant FG lifts Falcons to NFC title game
ATLANTA -- Matt Bryant pumped his fist and celebrated atop the Falcons logo in the middle of the field. Tony Gonzalez broke down in tears. Matt Ryan relished the thought of not having to answer a familiar question.
The Atlanta Falcons finally showed they could win a playoff game.
And, wow, what a game it was!
After a meltdown in the fourth quarter, the Falcons pulled off a comeback that will long be remembered in championship-starved Atlanta. Ryan completed two long passes and Bryant kicked a 49-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining, lifting the NFC's top seed to a stunning 30-28 victory over Russell Wilson and the gutty Seattle Seahawks in a divisional game Sunday.
"Wow!" said Falcons coach Mike Smith, summing up this classic as well as anyone could.
Atlanta (14-3) squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, falling behind for the first time all day when Marshawn Lynch scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left and Ryan Longwell knocked through the extra point for a 28-27 lead.
No team has ever won a playoff game when facing such a daunting deficit in the final period.
The Falcons, thanks to a pair of Matty Ices -- Ryan and Bryant -- didn't become the first.
Ryan, shaking off his struggles in three previous playoff losses and two interceptions against the Seahawks, hooked up with Harry Douglas on a 29-yard pass in front of the Falcons bench, and Smith quickly signaled a timeout. Then, Ryan went down the middle to his favorite target Gonzalez, a Hall of Famer-to-be playing what could've been his final game.
Gonzalez hauled in the 19-yard throw, and Smith called his final timeout with 13 seconds remaining. Instead of risking another play and having the clock run out, he sent Bryant in for the field goal try.
The Seahawks called time just before the ball was snapped, and Bryant's kick sailed right of the upright. That turned out to be nothing more than practice. The next one was right down the middle as Bryant took off in the other direction, pumping his fist before he was mobbed by his teammates.
"Our quarterback is a special player," Smith said. "They call him Matty Ice, but I feel like we've got two Matty Ices. There's Matty Ice Ryan and Matty Ice Bryant."
The Falcons overcame their reputation for choking in the playoffs, winning their first postseason game since the 2004 season. They'll host San Francisco in the NFC championship game next Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
"Nobody flinched," Ryan said. "We just kept battling, kept doing what we do. That's been the makeup of our team all season."
Bryant knocked through his third game-winning kick of the season. But he'd never made one like this, with so much on the line.
"When they scored their touchdown, I walked down (the sideline)," he said. "I told the offensive line, I told Matt (Ryan), I told all the receivers, `We've done this before.'"
Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, doing all he could to pull off the most improbable of comebacks for the Seahawks (12-6). But the Seattle defense, which is one of the NFL's best and had totally stymied the Falcons in the fourth quarter, went to a softer coverage and got burned.
Atlanta had just enough time to pull off a comeback of its own.
"We had high, high hopes for the rest of the season," Wilson said. "When the game was over, I was very disappointed. But walking back into the tunnel, I got so excited about next year. The resilience we showed was unbelievable."
Wilson finished with 385 yards passing as the Seahawks wiped out a 27-7 deficit entering the final quarter. When Lynch powered over, the ball breaking the goal line just before it squirted from his arms, Seattle celebrated like it had won its second straight playoff game on the road, having already taken care of Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins.
According to STATS, it would've been the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NFL playoff history.
Not so fast.
Ryan led the Falcons back, wiping out his 0-3 mark in the playoffs, including a crushing loss to Green Bay two years ago when the Falcons were in the same position, the NFC's top-seeded team with home-field advantage in the playoffs.
"The one thing I've learned during my five years in the league, and specifically in the postseason, is that it's hard," Ryan said.
Now, he'll no longer be asked why he can't win in the playoffs.
"That's going to be nice," Ryan conceded. "But our goal is not to win one playoff game. Our goals are still in front of us. We still have two more games to go. That's the mind-set I have. That's the mind-set this team has."
Wilson's last throw, a desperation heave into the end zone, was intercepted by Falcons receiver Julio Jones.
Gonzalez, who had never won a playoff game in his 16-year career, broke down in tears after Bryant's kick went through the uprights.
"I've never cried after a win," said Gonzalez, who has stated repeatedly that he's "95 percent" sure this is his final year. "I was thinking, `Here we go again. I guess it wasn't meant to be.'"
It was.
The Falcons finally lived up to their excellence during the regular season since Smith, Ryan and general manager Thomas Dimitroff took over in 2008, instantly reviving a franchise that seemed down and out after Michael Vick's dogfighting case. Atlanta has won 56 regular-season games over the last five years, more than any team except New England, but had a reputation for choking in the postseason.
Check that off the list. Atlanta is one win away from the second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
Ryan threw three touchdown passes, tying a Falcons playoff record, and finished 24 of 35 for 250 yards -- the first time he's eclipsed 200 yards in the postseason. He threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez, a 47-yarder to Roddy White and a 5-yarder to Jason Snelling, the latter with 2:11 left in the third quarter to give the Falcons a seemingly commanding lead.
Wilson took over from there, running 1 yard for a touchdown to make it 27-14, then going to Zach Miller on a 3-yard touchdown pass that closed the gap to 27-21.
Finally, taking over at his own 39 after an Atlanta punt, Wilson completed three passes for 50 yards, the last of them a short throw to Lynch that the bruising runner took all the way to the Falcons 3. The rookie quarterback made it all possible, spinning away from blitzing Atlanta linebacker Sean Weatherspoon to keep the play alive.
The Seahawks, though, will spend the offseason kicking themselves for that last Falcons' drive, and for squandering two scoring chances in the first half.
On fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 11, Seattle passed on a field goal and a chance to give the ball to Lynch, their beast of a back. Fullback Michael Robinson took the handoff and was stuffed for a 1-yard loss by safety William Moore.
Then, with the clock winding down before halftime, Seattle used up all its timeouts and wound up regretting it when Wilson was sacked by Jonathan Babineaux at the Atlanta 20. Time ran out before the Seahawks could get off another play, sending Atlanta to the locker room with a 20-0 lead.
Bryant also connected on field goals of 37 and 39 yards in the first half.
"At halftime, we talked about how we can't get ahead right away. It's going to take a while," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "It was an exquisite job of refocusing to a football game after being down like that."
NOTES: The Falcons played the second half without defensive end John Abraham, who re-injured his ailing right ankle. No word whether he'll be able to play next week. ... The Falcons did a good job on Lynch, who was held to 46 yards on 16 carries. ... Atlanta got surprising production out of its maligned running game. Michael Turner rushed for 98 yards, Jacquizz Rodgers added 64 and the Falcons finished with a season-high 167 yards overall.


text:
Who Is Kim Jong Un? Who Really Knows?
It's been two years since Kim Jong Un effectively became North Korea's "Great Successor" and heir to the seat of power in the communist nation run by a family dynasty — a dynasty that began with his grandfather, Kim Il Sung (the "Great Leader") and continued with his father, Kim Jong Il (the "Dear Leader").
But in that time about the only new thing we know is that he's two years older and now thought to be in his late 20s. And, that he appears about to become at least the titular head of an impoverished nation that threatens its richer neighbor to the south with nuclear weapons
Other than that, you could pretty much reread this 2009 report from NPR's Anthony Kuhn, this 2010 story from NPR's Corey Flintoff and any number of other such stories from those years and be up to speed about Kim Jong Un. Still, with Saturday's death of his father, the world is watching anxiously to see what happens in North Korea and hoping to learn more about this Great Successor.
So, here is some biographical material about North Korea's latest mystery man. Note: Because so much of what we've heard from North Korea about its leaders in the past has obviously been fantastical (such as Kim Jong Il's ability to control the weather), everything that's been reported about Kim Jong Un has to be viewed skeptically:
-- "Jong Un is believed to have been educated in Switzerland, where he learned to ski, and to speak English, French and German." (From Anthony's 2009 report.)
-- "Analysts believe he is Kim Jong Il's son by his third wife (or consort — their marital status is unclear), a dancer named Ko Hyong Hui. ... He reportedly was disguised as the son of a North Korean embassy employee while in Berne, attending the school under a fake name. Former classmates have said he liked skiing and basketball, and idolized hoops star Michael Jordan." (From Corey's 2010 report.)
-- He is "said to have a fondness for James Bond and Hollywood tough guy Jean-Claude Van Damme. He is rumored to be married but there has never been any official word. ... [North Korean officials say] he graduated from Kim Il Sung Military University and in the fall of 2010, he was made a four-star general. ... He also received two key political posts — membership on the Central Committee of the party, and a vice chairmanship of the party's Central Military Committee, which had been overseen by his father. The anointed heir was given the titles of 'Young General' and 'Great Comrade.' " (Canada's CTV News.)
-- "He was always said to be his father's favorite, particularly after his older half brother, Kim Jong Nam, became something of an embarrassment by famously turning up in Japan in 2001 on a phony passport and asking to visit Tokyo Disneyland." (Time magazine.)
-- Last year's two attacks from the North on targets in South Korea, "sinking a warship and shelling an island," have been "widely regarded as linked to Kim Jong Un's rise: the 'young general' showing his mettle." (BBC News)
-- Kim Jong Un was quickly named "first in the membership list of the ... 232-member funeral commission" that will oversee his father's burial later this month. "That could also be seen as a possible sign that the communist nation is under control." (South Korea's Yonhap News.)
We'll keep our eye out for more about him.
Update at 4:11 p.m. ET. The View From A Former Intelligence Officer:
NPR's Robert Siegel spoke to the author of the Inspector O detective series, a former Western intelligence officer who goes by the pen name James Church. His series of books are based in North Korea.
Church told Robert that we "know very little about Jong Un. "We only began to know of his existence a few years ago," after his brother was push aside 10 years ago.
Church says one detail he thinks holds promise is Jong Un's studies in Switzerland.
"I think it's a clue to something and I don't think people focused on it enough," he said.
But Church said it may not be what kind of impact the studies had Jong Un's worldview that interest him, but why his father wanted to send him to a Western school. It might imply something about where Kim Jong Il saw the country going in his absence, said Church.
Much more of Robert's talk with Church is on tonight's All Things Considered. Tune into your local NPR member station to listen.


text:
U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has acknowledged that the first day of face-to-face talks between representatives of Syria's government and the opposition coalition failed to yield anything in the way of results.
"We haven't achieved much," Brahimi said following the day's discussions. "But, we are continuing."
"The situation is very difficult and very, very complicated, and we are moving not in steps, but half-steps," he said.
The Associated Press described the talks, which are set to resume on Sunday, as "painstakingly choreographed."
"The opposing teams sat across from each other at a U-shaped table and made eye contact but did not speak, listening as [Brahimi], the international mediator for Syria, spoke about the agenda for the talks, said Obeida Nahas, a member of the opposition delegation."
"The session lasted about 30 minutes, and the delegations left through separate doors to avoid contact, planning to resume in the afternoon to discuss the first order of business: a potential cease-fire in the central Syrian city of Homs to allow aid deliveries to reach areas long blockaded by the government."
"One is on the left and one on right and they face one another and they talk to each other — through me, to one another," he said. "This is what happens in civilized discussions."
The AP says:
"The [opposition National Coalition] agreed to the Geneva talks only if the focus was on an end to the Assad dynasty, while the Damascus contingent zeroed in on fighting terrorism — disputing any claims that it had agreed to the talks' stated goal of a transitional government."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Image 1/1 |
Copyright © Gunter Marx Stock Photos. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by the Copyright Holder. 5936x3963 / 8.8MB
Image is copyrighted. No image reproduction and rights are granted to Client, until Gunter Marx Stock Photos has received full payment of invoice, outlining copyright license and usage fee.
Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, Salmon, Provincial Parks, BC, Thompson Okanagan Region, BC, Adams River Salmon Run, Marine Life - Animals, Fish, & Plants
action, activity, Adams River, adult, alive, annual, attraction, autumn season, BC, behavior, behaviour, British Columbia, Canada, canadian, Chase, color, colour, day, dead, death, decay, decaying, decompose, decomposing, depth, environment, events, fall season, female, few, fish, fishes, fresh water, freshwater, freshwater fish, going up, gravel bed, green, group, Haig Brown, Haig-Brown, image, instinct, life cycle, lifecycle, living, male, mature, migrating, migration, migratory, motion, movement, moving, natural, nature, nobody, North America, Oncorhynchus nerka, outdoor, outside, Pacific Northwest, photo, picture, Provincial Park, red, returning, rivers, Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, rot, rotten, rotting, salmon, Salmon Arm, salmon run, several, shallow, Shuswap, sockeye salmon, small group, spawn, spawning, splash, splashes, splashing, streams, struggle, struggles, struggling, swim, swimming, Thompson Okanagan, Thompson Region, tourist attraction, tradition, traditional, upriver, upstream, water, Western Canada, wild, horizontal


text:
This broke yesterday and I smutty tingled to it but now there are proper pap photos taken the night before the Emmys of the two of them together after dinner and, well, I've never been more interested in Seth MacFarlane than I am now, I guess, but...
Seth MacFarlane and the Khaleesi?
Did you know that Seth MacFarlane used to deal with Amanda Bynes? And Audrina Patridge? And maybe Ashley Greene? That's a lot of moons of his life.
So how long has this been happening? Well, my producer Caleigh found this photo today of Emilia and Seth (with Theon Greyjoy and Ygritte) at a Comic-Con party in July so... has it been that long? PEOPLE reports that they hit up all the Emmys parties together and when he put his arm around her (frequently), she did not pull away in disgust.