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Research May 2012 | Volume 120 | Issue 5
Prenatal Exposure to Perfluorooctanoate and Risk of Overweight at 20 Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study
Thorhallur I. Halldorsson,1,2,3 Dorte Rytter,4 Line Småstuen Haug,5 Bodil Hammer Bech,4 Inge Danielsen,1 Georg Becher,5,6 Tine Brink Henriksen,7 and Sjurdur F. Olsen1,8
Background: Perfluoroalkyl acids are persistent compounds used in various industrial -applications. Of these compounds, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) is currently detected in humans worldwide. A recent study on low-dose developmental exposure to PFOA in mice reported increased weight and elevated biomarkers of adiposity in postpubertal female offspring.
Objective: We examined whether the findings of increased weight in postpubertal female mice could be replicated in humans.
Methods: A prospective cohort of 665 Danish pregnant women was recruited in 1988–1989 with offspring follow-up at 20 years. PFOA was measured in serum from gestational week 30. Offspring body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were recorded at follow-up (n = 665), and biomarkers of adiposity were quantified in a subset (n = 422) of participants.
Results: After adjusting for covariates, including maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, smoking, education, and birth weight, in utero exposure to PFOA was positively associated with anthropometry at 20 years in female but not male offspring. Adjusted relative risks comparing the highest with lowest quartile (median: 5.8 vs. 2.3 ng/mL) of maternal PFOA concentration were 3.1 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4, 6.9] for overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and 3.0 (95% CI: 1.3, 6.8) for waist circumference > 88 cm among female offspring. This corresponded to estimated increases of 1.6 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.6, 2.6) and 4.3 cm (95% CI: 1.4, 7.3) in average BMI and waist circumference, respectively. In addition, maternal PFOA concentrations were positively associated with serum insulin and leptin levels and inversely associated with adiponectin levels in female offspring. Similar associations were observed for males, although point estimates were less precise because of fewer observations. Maternal perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA), and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) concentrations were not independently associated with offspring anthropometry at 20 years.
Conclusions: Our findings on the effects of low-dose developmental exposures to PFOA are in line with experimental results suggesting obesogenic effects in female offspring at 20 years of age.
Citation: Halldorsson TI, Rytter D, Haug LS, Bech BH, Danielsen I, Becher G, Henriksen TB, Olsen SF. 2012. Prenatal Exposure to Perfluorooctanoate and Risk of Overweight at 20 Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study. Environ Health Perspect 120:668–673; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104034
Address correspondence to T.I. Halldorsson, Center for Fetal Programming, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Orestads Boulevard 5, Building 206, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark. Telephone: 4532688692. Fax: 4532683165. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Funding for this study was provided by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DSF: 09-067124, DSF: 09-063072, DFS: 2101-06-0005, FSS: 09-065631).
The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.
Received: 3 June 2011
Accepted: 3 February 2012
Advance Publication: 3 February 2012
Final Publication: 1 May 2012
Because of their repellent properties and low surface tension, fluorochemicals have been used extensively for more than half a century in various commercial applications, including carpets, textiles, personal care products, leveling and wetting agents and in food-contact materials (D'eon and Mabury 2011). Use and production of fluorochemicals has resulted in the environmental presence of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) (Giesy and Kannan 2002), which are highly persistent compounds consisting of a fully fluorinated carbon chain (C4–C14) with, for example, a terminal sulfonate or carboxylate functional group. The environmental presence of PFAAs may be a consequence of emissions during manufacturing, use, or disposal of products (direct sources) as well as transformation of other precursors to PFAAs (indirect sources) (Armitage et al. 2009; D'eon and Mabury 2011). The two PFAAs most widely detected in humans are the C8-backbone derivatives perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), with estimated elimination half-lives of around 4 and 5 years, respectively (Olsen et al. 2007).
After reports of global contamination, phaseout of C8-derivatives was initiated in the year 2000 by the major U.S. manufacturers (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2010). This has resulted in decreased human exposure compared with peak levels in Europe and the United States (Haug et al. 2009b; Olsen et al. 2011). However, recent findings from the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) indicate that PFOA levels in the United states remained relatively stable between 2003 and 2008, suggesting continued direct and indirect sources of human exposures to PFOA (Kato et al. 2011).
PFAAs accumulate primarily via binding to albumin in blood (D'eon et al. 2010; Jones et al. 2003), and they are readily transported across the placenta (Monroy et al. 2008). PFAAs are found in highest concentrations in the liver (Hundley et al. 2006; Maestri et al. 2006) and low-dose human exposures to PFOA and PFOS have been associated with modest increases in liver enzymes (Lin et al. 2010) and blood lipids (Nelson et al. 2010) in cross-sectional settings. The relevance of these findings is uncertain, however, because prospective studies have not been conducted. Findings from animal studies suggest that PFAAs may act as endocrine disruptors, affecting circulating estrogens levels through pathways such as aromatase induction in the liver (Liu et al. 1996) or through altering estrogen-expressive genes (Shi et al. 2009), although findings with respect to interactions with estrogen receptors have not been consistent (Benninghoff et al. 2011; Ishibashi et al. 2007).
Experimental studies have demonstrated that in utero exposures to certain endocrine disruptors, including xenoestrogens, may lead to permanent changes in metabolic pathways that regulate body weight (Newbold et al. 2008). A recent study using a CD-1 mouse model observed higher body weight and increased insulin and leptin levels in post-pubertal female offspring after low-dose in utero exposures to PFOA (Hines et al. 2009). The aim of this study was to explore these findings in environmentally exposed pregnant women with prospective offspring follow-up at 20 years of age.
The birth cohort. Between April 1988 and January 1989, 965 women with singleton pregnancies were recruited for a birth cohort study in Aarhus, Denmark (Olsen et al. 1995). This was 80% of a consecutive sample of 1,212 women attending a midwife center in the city, covering a well-defined geographical area. A face-to-face interview was conducted at a routine midwife visit in gestational week 30, covering medical history, anthropometry, diet, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors. A blood sample was also collected, and it was immediately separated into serum, plasma, and erythrocytes and frozen at –20°C. Further information on maternal health and birth outcomes were extracted from hospital records and the Danish Medical Birth Registry.
Offspring follow-up. In 2008–2009, study mothers and offspring were contacted, and offspring were asked to fill out a Web-based questionnaire concerning their current health, lifestyle, and dietary habits and their current height and weight. In addition, a tape measure was mailed to all potential participants with instructions on how to measure their waist circumference. Offspring were also invited to participate in a 75–100-min clinical examination, which included standardized anthropometric measures and collection of a fasting blood sample that was immediately centrifuged and frozen at –80°C. The study was approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency and the Danish Council of Ethics (reference no. 20070157), and all participants gave written consent prior to inclusion into the study.
Mother–offspring pairs available for analysis. A total of 915 offspring of the 965 women with singleton pregnancies recruited in 1988–1999 were located and contacted in 2008–2009, and 692 of the offspring agreed to participate in the follow-up study. Missing values on offspring anthropometry (n = 4) and maternal blood samples (n = 23) left 665 mother–-offspring pairs, or 69% of the original cohort, available for analyses. Of the 665 offspring included in this study, 423 (44% of the original cohort) attended the clinical examination, and 242 completed the Web-based questionnaire only.
Maternal PFAA samples. Serum samples from gestational week 30 were measured at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo. The analytical procedure and sources of chemicals used have been described in detail elsewhere (Haug et al. 2009a). Nineteen PFAAs were analyzed, and 12 were above the limit of quantification (LOQ; 0.05 ng/mL serum for all PFAAs reported in this study) in one or more samples. For quantification of PFOS, the total area of the linear and branched isomers was integrated. The quality of the analytical procedure was monitored by analyzing in-house quality control samples and human serum samples from interlaboratory comparison exercises (Institut national de santé publique Québec 2009). For the interlaboratory comparison exercises, the coefficient of variation for PFOA was between 3% and 9%, depending on the concentration of the reference sample. No traces of PFAAs above LOQ were observed in any of the procedural blanks.
Offspring biomarkers of adiposity. In short, adiponectin was quantified by a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay based on two antibodies and recombinant human adiponectin (R&D Systems, Abingdon, United Kingdom), as previously described (Frystyk et al. 2005). Leptin was determined by a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay based on commercial reagents (R&D Systems) using recombinant human leptin as the standard; otherwise, quantification was carried out essentially as for adiponectin (Frystyk et al. 2005). Plasma insulin concentrations were determined by the commercial Insulin ELISA kit (Dako, Copenhagen, Denmark).
Outcome measures. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference measures from the clinical examination were used when available (n = 423). Self-reported measures from the Web-based questionnaire were used for the remaining 242 subjects. Although subjects tend to underestimate their weight by self-report (Tokmakidis et al. 2007), relative ranks appeared to be retained, as the correlation between measured and self-reported BMI was 0.91 for both sexes (Spearman r, n = 423). Use of self-reported measures does, however, result in underestimation of cases when dichotomizing subjects as overweight and obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). In our data the sensitivity coefficient and specificity coefficients were 0.46 and 0.99, respectively, for identifying overweight and obese female offspring based on self-report. The corresponding numbers were 0.63 and 0.98 for male offspring, respectively.
Statistical analyses. The mean and SD were used to describe normal variables, whereas median and interquartile range (IQR) were used for skewed variables. Student t-tests or chi-square tests were used to test departures from the null hypothesis for normal outcomes, and the Kruskal–Wallis test was used for skewed outcomes. Linear regression was used for continuous outcomes. For dichotomous outcomes, relative risk (RR) was estimated using log-Poisson regression with robust variance estimation, as implemented in PROC GENMODE in SAS (version 9.2; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). All analyses were performed for males and females separately. When examining association with anthropometric outcomes, maternal PFOA concentrations were divided into quartiles and a test for linear trend was performed by using the ordinal values. For the biomarker analysis, PFOA was entered as a continuous variable.
When estimating the association between in utero PFOA concentration and offspring anthropometry at 20 years of age, we adjusted for the following potential confounders identified a priori: maternal age (continuous, no missing); maternal education (elementary schooling, high school or technical schooling, university education, higher academic education, other education, 6% missing); maternal smoking (never, < 10 and ≥ 10 cigarettes/day, 6% missing); pre-pregnancy BMI [restricted cubic spline regression (Durrleman and Simon 1989), 2% missing]; parity (0, 1, ≥ 2, no missing); infant birth weight (continuous, 0.2% missing); and offspring age at follow-up (continuous, 1% missing). A total of 67 subjects (10%) had missing values for one or more of the covariates included. Maternal age and parity were included because they are known predictors of PFAA exposure (Fei et al. 2007). Maternal education and smoking were included to account for potential social and lifestyle confounding. Pre-pregnancy BMI and birth weight were included because they are known predictors of offspring BMI (Reynolds et al. 2010). Missing covariate values were substituted using multiple imputation, as implemented in PROC MI in SAS (SAS Institute, Inc.).
Because of skewed distributions, offspring biomarkers of adiposity were log-transformed when examining their association with maternal PFOA concentrations, and estimates were adjusted for offspring age and timing of blood sample collection.
Non-significant differences in maternal PFOA concentration, prepregnancy BMI, and parity were observed between mothers whose offspring did not participate in follow-up, mothers whose offspring completed the Web-based questionnaire only, and mothers whose offspring participated in the clinical examination (Table 1). However, mothers whose offspring did not participate in follow-up were more likely to smoke during pregnancy. Females who participated in clinical examination had significantly lower BMI (≈ 0.8 kg/m2) compared with those who completed the Web-based questionnaire only, whereas non-significant differences were observed for waist circumference and current smoking. Male offspring who participated in the clinical examination were not significantly different from those who completed the Web-based questionnaire only with regard to BMI, waist circumference, and current smoking.
Table 1 – Maternal and offspring characteristics at baseline and follow-up according to level of participation.
The median maternal PFOA serum concentration was 3.7 ng/mL (range: 0.1–19.8). Maternal PFOS, perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA), and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) concentrations increased across quartiles of PFOA concentration (Table 2). Eight other PFAAs were quantified but were not included in analyses because concentrations were low (median: ≤ 0.4 ng/mL) and were within a narrow range (IQR < 0.2 ng/mL). Mothers in the highest quartile of PFOA concentration were less likely to be parous (32% vs. 58%) and were younger (28.7 vs. 29.8 years) than mothers in the lowest quartile of PFOA when enrolled into the original study.
Table 2 – Maternal characteristics during pregnancy among 665 participants from the Aarhus Birth Cohort (1988–1989).
The prevalence of overweight or obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) was similar between male and female offspring (19% and 18%, respectively), but waist circumference above action level II (Lean et al. 1995) was less common in males (3.5% > 102 cm) than in females (16.2% > 88 cm) (Table 3). All males and 70% of females with waist circumference above action level II were overweight or obese. Females were more likely than males to report that they were currently on a diet (17% vs. 6%).
Table 3 – Characteristics of male and female offspring at 20 years of age (2008–2009), Aarhus Birth Cohort (1988–1989).
Maternal PFOA concentrations were positively associated (p for trend < 0.05) with BMI and waist circumference among female offspring at 20 years of age (n = 345) in both unadjusted and covariate-adjusted analyses (Table 4). In adjusted analyses, female offspring whose mothers were in the highest quartile of PFOA concentration had 1.6 kg/m2 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.6, 2.6] higher BMI and 4.3 cm (95% CI: 1.4, 7.3) higher waist circumference compared with offspring whose mothers were in the lowest quartile. No statistically significant associations were observed for males (p for trend > 0.05, n = 320). Female offspring of mothers in the highest versus lowest PFOA quartile were also more likely to be overweight [RR = 3.1 (95% CI: 1.4, 6.9)] and to have a waist circumference above action level II at 20 years of age [3.0 (95% CI: 1.3, 6.8)] (Table 5). PFOA was not associated with overweight in male offspring, and RR estimates were consistently null. Only 11 of 320 male offspring had a waist circumference above action level II; consequently, RR estimates were unstable with wide CIs.
Table 4 – Associationsa between in utero exposure to PFOA and the offspring BMI and waist circumference at 20 years of age for females (n = 345) and males (n = 320).
Table 5 – Associationsa between in utero exposure to PFOA and risk of being overweight or having waist circumference above action level II at 20 years of age for females (n = 345) and males (n = 320).
Among female participants who provided a blood sample at clinical examination (n = 252), maternal PFOA concentration was positively associated with insulin, leptin, and the leptin-adiponectin ratio and inversely associated with adiponectin levels (Table 6). The associations corresponded to a 2–7% change in these biomarkers per 1-unit increase in PFOA. Point estimates were similar for male offspring but non-significant (n = 170). Although the precision of the estimated associations between maternal PFOA and the biomarkers was reduced because of the small sample size for this analysis (particularly in males), associations between maternal PFOA and offspring anthropometry were comparable with those for the follow-up participants as a whole, supporting the validity of these estimates. For example, estimated increases in BMI comparing highest with lowest quartile of maternal PFOA concentration were 1.8 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.6, 3.0) and 0.6 kg/m2 (95% CI: –0.7, 1.9) for female and male offspring who provided a blood sample at clinical examination, compared with 1.6 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.6, 2.6) and 0.6 kg/m2 (95% CI: –0.3, 1.5) for all female and male participants, respectively.
Table 6 – Associationa between in utero exposure to PFOA and offspring serum biomarkers of adiposity at 20 years of age.
Concerning other PFAAs, we observed that PFOS, PFNA, and PFOSA (continuous variables) were in univariate analysis either borderline (p for trend = 0.05 for PFOSA) or significantly (p for trend < 0.05 for PFNA, PFOS) positively associated with female offspring BMI at 20 years. However, after adjusting for PFOA, the regression coefficients became non-significant (p for trend ≥ 0.56 in all cases, data not shown). We also found no evidence that the association between maternal PFOA concentration and offspring anthropometry was influenced by the presence of the other PFAAs quantified. For example, the estimated increase in female offspring BMI with a 1-ng/mL increase in maternal PFOA in a univariate analysis was 0.43 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.25, 0.60) compared with 0.46 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.21, 0.71) based on a model that included maternal PFOS, PFOSA, and PFNA as continuous terms.
Associations with offspring BMI were also stable with respect to maternal parity. For female offspring of nulliparous mothers (n = 191), we estimated a 0.46-kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.66) increase in BMI per 1-ng/mL increase in PFOA, compared with 0.36 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.69) for female offspring of parous mothers (interaction p-value 0.65).
In this cohort of environmentally exposed pregnant women, we observed a positive association between in utero exposure to PFOA and the prevalence of overweight and a high waist circumference among female offspring, but not male offspring, at 20 years of age. In addition, in utero exposure to PFOA was associated with biomarkers of adiposity among male and female offspring, although estimates for males were not significant.
Animal studies have shown that early-life exposures to xenoestrogens such as diethylstilbestrol (Newbold et al. 2008) and bisphenol-A (Somm et al. 2009) can lead to permanent disruption in endocrine functions that regulate adiposity. One observation from these studies is that low-dose exposures may result in significant weight changes in the exposed animals only after adult age is reached, whereas a pattern of reduced weight in early infancy followed by rapid catch-up growth is often observed at higher doses (Newbold et al. 2008). Human studies have provided some support for these findings, including reports of rapid weight gain up to 3 years of age after in utero exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls (Verhulst et al. 2009) as well as increased overweight at 6 years of age after in utero exposure to hexachlorobenzene (Smink et al. 2008). However, metabolic pathways that might explain these findings are not well characterized, and long-term follow-up studies have not been conducted.
Indications that environmental exposures to PFAAs may affect cardiometabolic risk factors have, so far, been obtained from cross-sectional studies focusing on end points such as blood lipids (Nelson et al. 2010) and glucose homeostasis (Lin et al. 2009), but in these studies, findings with respect to anthropometry have been inconsistent. Interpretation of cross-sectional findings on anthropometry is complex, however, as absorption and distribution of PFAAs depend on related factors such as lean body mass and blood volume (Ahrens et al. 2009; Fei et al. 2007).
However, our findings are consistent with a recent experimental study on CD-1 mice that reported increased body weight in postpubertal female offspring after low-dose (0.01–0.3 mg/kg body weight) in utero exposure to PFOA (Hines et al. 2009). In that study, increases in weight were most pronounced in mid-life and were accompanied by elevated levels of leptin and insulin in the exposed animals. At higher doses (≥ 1mg/kg), weight gain was not observed. Furthermore, exposing the offspring after weaning as opposed to in utero also had no effect on weight gain. In at least two animal studies, researchers did not observe increased body weight after in utero exposure to PFOA (Butenhoff et al. 2004; Macon et al. 2011), but one study used higher doses (≥ 1mg/kg) (Butenhoff et al. 2004) and the other followed animals only until 12 weeks of age (Macon et al. 2011).
Similar to the findings of Hines et al. (2009), we observed significant associations between maternal PFOA and insulin and leptin in addition to adiponectin levels among female offspring. Changes in these biomarkers were modest, however, and corresponded to what could be expected from the observed increase in offspring BMI. The results from our biomarker analysis provide valuable insight, as elevated insulin levels predict central fat in both normal weight and overweight women (Carey et al. 1996). Therefore, these results provide added weight to our findings, as BMI and waist circumference are relatively crude measures of body composition.
The absence of an association between in utero PFOA exposure and weight gain among male offspring is noteworthy but not unexpected. Sex-specific differences with respect to weight gain have been observed for xenoestrogens, where female offspring appear to be more affected (Newbold et al. 2008; Somm et al. 2009). Results for male offspring were not reported in the CD-1 mouse study (Hines et al. 2009), and experimental studies have suggested that reproductive development, but not weight gain, may be a more sensitive end point for males with respect to developmental exposures to PFAAs (Shi et al. 2007). Despite these observations, results for male offspring in our study should be interpreted cautiously, as many study participants were still in their late adolescence, and relatively few males had high waist circumference compared with females. Because girls gain more fat mass and boys gain more fat-free mass during adolescent age (Ahmed et al. 1999), weight gain in male offspring at a later age when accumulation of fat mass increases cannot be excluded.
Concerning mechanism, there are at least three potential pathways by which in utero exposure to PFOA might affect offspring weight. First, PFOA may interfere with ovary development in utero, leading to impaired estrogen synthesis among female offspring. This mechanism is supported by the observation that in utero PFOA exposure did not affect weight gain in the previously mentioned study on CD-1 mice when ovariectomy was performed in exposed offspring after delivery (Hines et al. 2009). Second, PFAAs may interact with the peroxisome proliferator–activated receptors (PPAR) PPARα and PPARγ, which are involved in lipid metabolism in adipocytes (Hines et al. 2009). Whether such an interaction can lead to sex-specific differences in weight gain remains unclear. Third, thyroid hormones might play some role: The results of one cross-sectional study suggested that PFOA exposure may lead to an increased risk of thyroid disease (Melzer et al. 2010), which is more common in females than males. A recent study from the C8 Health project also observed a modest positive association of PFOA with serum thyroxine and an inverse association with T3 uptake (Knox et al. 2011). The overall evidence linking PFAAs to thyroid function is still weak (Steenland et al. 2010), particularly as prospective studies have not been conducted, and no clear effect on thyroid function has been observed in occupationally exposed individuals (Olsen and Zobel 2007).
A unique strength of our study is the long-term prospective follow-up with outcome assessment at an age where weight changes due to linear growth have leveled off, and it was possible to adjust for several prenatal factors including maternal BMI, smoking, and education. We were also able to support our findings on offspring anthropometry with assessment on serum biomarkers of adiposity in a subset of study participants. Furthermore, quantification of a total of 12 PFAAs made it possible to conclude that PFAAs other than PFOA were unlikely to play an important role in our study population, either because of a low concentration or a lack of association after adjusting for PFOA.
Concerning limitations, we acknowledge that uncertainties regarding routes of human exposure to PFAAs may have resulted in a failure to identify important confounders. We also acknowledge that maternal PFOA concentrations in late gestation may be influenced by factors such as blood volume expansion, decreased albumin concentration, and fetal uptake (Fei et al. 2007; Frederiksen 2001), and these factors may predict fetal outcomes such as birth weight (Savitz 2007). However, with a temporal separation of 20 years, our findings should be less prone to such influence. Furthermore, PFOA concentrations in samples collected at around gestational weeks 6–12 and 24 (Olsen et al. 2001) and in cord blood have been observed to be highly cor-related (r ≈ 0.8–0.9) (Fei et al. 2007).
Finally, as with all longitudinal studies, losses during follow-up are inevitable, and this is perhaps the main limitation of our study. Having quantified maternal PFOA concentrations in 874 (or 72%) of 1,212 women who were originally invited to participate, it is reassuring that exposure levels were nondifferential with respect to level of participation in the -follow-up study. A higher prevalence of smoking among mothers whose offspring did not participate suggests that losses due to follow-up were related to some extent to maternal lifestyle. There were relatively modest differences in anthropometry between offspring who participated in the clinical examination and those who completed the Web-based questionnaire only. Nonetheless, our secondary analyses of offspring biomarkers of adiposity may be compromised because of the low participation rate, particularly among males.
In a cohort of environmentally exposed pregnant women, a positive association between in utero exposure to PFOA and the prevalence of overweight and high waist circumference was observed in female offspring at 20 years of age. Our findings are in line with recent experimental findings (Hines et al. 2009) and provide added support for the hypothesis that early-life exposure to certain endocrine disruptors, even at low concentrations, may play a role in the current obesity epidemic. Given the widespread detection of PFOA in humans and wildlife and observed increase in related perfluorinated compounds of similar biological potential (Harada et al. 2011; Haug et al. 2009b), it is of considerable public health importance to understand and eliminate pathways of human exposures to PFAAs.
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Melzer D, Rice N, Depledge MH, Henley WE, Galloway TS. 2010. Association between serum perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and thyroid disease in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Environ Health Perspect 118:686–692.
Monroy R, Morrison K, Teo K, Atkinson S, Kubwabo C, Stewart B, et al. 2008. Serum levels of perfluoroalkyl compounds in human maternal and umbilical cord blood samples. Environ Res 108:56–62.
Nelson JW, Hatch EE, Webster TF. 2010. Exposure to polyfluoroalkyl chemicals and cholesterol, body weight, and insulin resistance in the general U.S. population. Environ Health Perspect 118:197–202.
Newbold RR, Padilla-Banks E, Jefferson WN, Heindel JJ. 2008. Effects of endocrine disruptors on obesity. Int J Androl 31:201–208.
Olsen GW, Burris JM, Ehresman DJ, Froehlich JW, Seacat AM, Butenhoff JL, et al. 2007. Half-life of serum elimination of perfluorooctanesulfonate, perfluorohexanesulfonate, and perfluorooctanoate in retired fluorochemical production workers. Environ Health Perspect 115:1298–1305.
Olsen GW, Ellefson ME, Mair DC, Church TR, Goldberg CL, Herron RM, et al. 2011. Analysis of a homologous series of perfluorocarboxylates from American Red Cross adult blood donors, 2000–2001 and 2006. Environ Sci Technol 45:8022–8029.
Olsen GW, Zobel LR. 2007. Assessment of lipid, hepatic, and thyroid parameters with serum perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) concentrations in fluorochemical production workers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 81:231–246.
Olsen J, Melbye M, Olsen SF, Sorensen TI, Aaby P, Andersen AM, et al. 2001. The Danish National Birth Cohort—its background, structure and aim. Scand J Public Health 29:300–307.
Olsen SF, Hansen HS, Sandstrom B, Jensen B. 1995. Erythrocyte levels compared with reported dietary intake of marine n-3 fatty acids in pregnant women. Br J Nutr 73:387–395.
Reynolds RM, Osmond C, Phillips DI, Godfrey KM. 2010. Maternal BMI, parity, and pregnancy weight gain: influences on offspring adiposity in young adulthood. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 95:5365–5369.
Savitz DA. 2007. Guest editorial: biomarkers of perfluorinated chemicals and birth weight. Environ Health Perspect 115:A528–A529.
Shi Z, Zhang H, Ding L, Feng Y, Xu M, Dai J. 2009. The effect of perfluorododecanonic acid on endocrine status, sex hormones and expression of steroidogenic genes in pubertal female rats. Reprod Toxicol 27:352–359.
Shi Z, Zhang H, Liu Y, Xu M, Dai J. 2007. Alterations in gene expression and testosterone synthesis in the testes of male rats exposed to perfluorododecanoic acid. Toxicol Sci 98:206–215.
Smink A, Ribas-Fito N, Garcia R, Torrent M, Mendez MA, Grimalt JO, et al. 2008. Exposure to hexachlorobenzene during pregnancy increases the risk of overweight in children aged 6 years. Acta Paediatr 97:1465–1469.
Somm E, Schwitzgebel VM, Toulotte A, Cederroth CR, Combescure C, Nef S, et al. 2009. Perinatal exposure to bisphenol a alters early adipogenesis in the rat. Environ Health Perspect 117:1549–1555.
Steenland K, Fletcher T, Savitz DA. 2010. Epidemiologic evidence on the health effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Environ Health Perspect 118:1100–1108.
Tokmakidis SP, Christodoulos AD, Mantzouranis NI. 2007. Validity of self-reported anthropometric values used to assess body mass index and estimate obesity in Greek school children. J Adolesc Health 40:305–310.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2010. 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. Available: http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/pubs/stewardship/ [accessed 23 January 2012].
Verhulst SL, Nelen V, Hond ED, Koppen G, Beunckens C, Vael C, et al. 2009. Intrauterine exposure to environmental pollutants and body mass index during the first 3 years of life. Environ Health Perspect 117:122–126.
Clarivate Analytics released the 2018 Journal Citation Reports, which tracks citations for articles published in 2015 and 2016. EHP's new Journal Impact Factor is 8.31, with a 5-Year Journal Impact Factor of 9.81. (more…)
We are pleased to present new and improved author guidelines! (more…)


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Ashton Kutcher on New 'Men' Co-Star Amber Tamblyn: 'She's Amazing!'
"Extra's" Renee Bargh caught up with Ashton Kutcher at a special L.A. screening of his new biopic "Jobs," which opens this week, and talked with the actor about working with new "Two and a Half Men" cast member Amber Tamblyn.
Ashton was also joined by his friends, "Men" executive producer Chuck Lorre and co-star Jon Cryer.
When asked if they were going to change the name of the show, Cryer quipped, "No I don't believe they are. I am the half a man, just everybody get used to that."

subset: commoncrawl


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The 22nd annual Bard Music Festival: "Sibelius and His World"
In-Depth Survey of Music by Finnish Symphonist Jean Sibelius and His Contemporaries (Aug 12–14; Aug 19–21) Is Centerpiece of Seven-Week 2011 Bard SummerScape Festival
Described by the Los Angeles Times as "uniquely stimulating," the world-renowned Bard Music Festival returns for its 22nd annual season, filling the last two weekends of Bard SummerScape 2011 with a compelling and enlightening exploration of "Sibelius and His World." Twelve concert programs over the two mid-August weekends, complemented by pre-concert lectures, panel discussions, expert commentary, a symposium, and a special film screening, make up Bard's examination of Jean Sibelius, the composer once condescendingly dismissed as "easy listening" yet now embraced by audiences and critics alike as one of Beethoven's great heirs. The twelve concerts present masterpieces from Sibelius's orchestral and choral oeuvre, as well as many of his chamber, keyboard, and vocal works, alongside a wealth of music from almost 40 of his contemporaries. Weekend One –"Imagining Finland" (August 12–14) – explores Sibelius's early years and the influence of those who sought to define Finnish and Scandinavian culture, while Weekend Two – "Sibelius: Conservative or Modernist?" (August 19–21) – confronts Sibelius's reputation, reception, and influence in Europe and America after the First World War.
The Bard Music Festival has won international acclaim for its unrivaled, in-depth exploration of the life and works of a single composer and his contemporaries, offering, in the words of the New York Times, a "rich web of context" for a full appreciation of that composer's inspirations and significance. Leon Botstein, co-artistic director of the festival and music director of the resident American Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the orchestral programs; these, like many of the other concerts and special events, will take place in the beautiful Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on Bard's glorious Hudson Valley campus. As in previous seasons, choral programs will feature the Bard Festival Chorale directed by James Bagwell, while this year's impressive roster of performers includes the Daedalus Quartet, pianists Jeremy Denk, Anna Polonsky, Gilles Vonsattel, and Orion Weiss, cellist Edward Arron, soprano Christiane Libor, and mezzo-soprano Melis Jaatinen.
Through the prism of Sibelius's life and career, the 2011 festival will explore the music of Scandinavia and examine the challenges faced by those who continued working within a tonal framework after the revolutions of musical modernism. Listeners will encounter music ranging from the Romanticism – both Austro-German and Russian – so prevalent in Sibelius's youth to masterpieces of the 1930s from both sides of the Atlantic. Usually hailed as the sole and quintessential representative of Finnish music, here Sibelius will be delineated with greater accuracy as a complex, contradictory figure, whose first language was Swedish, not Finnish; who studied in Berlin and Vienna, not just Helsinki; and who wrote some of his most characteristically Nordic music while traveling in the southern warmth of Italy. He will be contextualized among his Finnish and Scandinavian contemporaries, from such well-known figures as Edvard Grieg and Carl Nielsen to less familiar ones like Toivo Kuula and Väinö Raitio. Difficult questions – concerning Sibelius's politics, his stance toward the Nazi regime, and the mystery of why he all but gave up composing for the last three decades of his life – will be addressed.
Christopher H. Gibbs, one of the three Artistic Directors for the Bard Music Festival – along with Leon Botstein and Robert Martin – observes that "for a long time Sibelius was a victim of his own popularity. He was extraordinarily famous for a small number of overexposed, stylistically conservative compositions and popularly associated almost exclusively with Finland. The festival this summer aims to broaden our appreciation of the scope of Sibelius's accomplishments and innovations as we unravel key enigmatic and paradoxical aspects of his life, music, and influence."


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Made a small bit of progress
Turbo flange arrived
As well as a super small 100mm denso alternator
Also refitted the rear arms, along with all new brake components. The only "old" part is the back plates.
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The new Franco Shade hoods feature a sick design on top of a quality shirt. We're talking, of course, about the fresh new Franco Shade Drag Hood to add to your extensive collection of Franco Shade gear. This is definitely a clean skate hood that you can't pass up.
This new Franco Shade hood is everything that you'd want from a skate hoodie. The Franco Shade Drag Hood features a classic Franco Shade design on top of a quality shirt to give you the best of both worlds. Also, it's featured in two different colors, so you can get either of your favorite, or collect em both for different days of the week. This is, once again, another sick Franco Shade hood that you just can't turn down.
Check out the Franco Shade Drag Hood and all other Franco Shade Hoods at the skate shop with the cleanest steez, Roller Warehouse. Be sure to give us a call at 1-800-772-2502 with any aggressive skating questions.


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How do cells process signals from nutrients, hormones, stress and other environmental stimuli?
Our laboratory aims to understand the signal transduction mechanisms that control cellular responses including growth, proliferation, survival or differentiation.
Research in my lab currently focuses on how the mTOR signaling pathway couples cellular metabolism with growth via regulation of protein production and quality control. A central signaling pathway that controls protein synthesis involves the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein kinase.
mTOR responds to the presence of nutrients and growth factors such as insulin to control metabolic pathways and cellular process such as transcription and translation. Our lab employs biochemical and cell biological techniques using mammalian cell lines and yeast to address the cellular functions of mTOR. To understand how cellular signals affect organismal growth and metabolism, we are also using mouse knockout models to study the role of the mTOR pathway in growth, development, and metabolism of the immune system. Our research aims to exploit novel mTOR targets in protein synthesis and maturation for therapeutic development and translational application against cancer and other metabolic disorders.
What is mTOR?
mTOR stands for mammalian or mechanistic target of rapamycin. Rapamycin is a naturally occuring compound (drug) that was originally isolated from soil samples in the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). It was found to have immunosuppressive activity and is being developed as an anti-cancer drug. Furthermore, this drug has been shown to prolong lifespan in lower organisms and mice. Could it be the elixir of life?
In the lab, rapamycin has been instrumental in understanding the functions of mTOR. TOR in yeast was the first to be identified using this drug. In this organism, TOR controls the growth machinery in response to the presence of nutrients. This function of yeast TOR has been conserved through evolution and mTOR is now known as a central controller of growth. Since multicellular organisms rely on other environmental or extracellular inputs for growth, such as growth factors, cytokines, and hormones, mTOR can process these different inputs to control cell and organismal growth.
How does mTOR control cell growth?
mTOR is a protein kinase (enzyme) that is regulated by signals coming from nutrients (such as amino acids) and growth factors/hormones (such as insulin). It forms protein complexes by associating with other proteins. So far, there are two mTOR protein complexes (mTORC1 and mTORC2). Association with distinct partners can regulate its activity and function. mTOR, along with its partners, can also undergo modifications (eg phosphorylation) that can alter its activity. We (and other labs as well) are trying to understand how the mTOR protein complexes are regulated by nutrients and insulin. When there are sufficient growth signals, the mTOR pathway is activated; anabolic processes are augmented along with increased gene transcription, protein production to promote cell growth and proliferation. One of the main interests in our lab is to understand how mTOR couples protein production with quality control (processing or maturation) of the newly synthesized proteins.
Why is mTOR relevant for cancer and other metabolic disorders?
Cancer cells have aberrant growth and metabolism. Most of the genes that encode proteins that are part of the mTOR pathway, including mTOR itself, have been found to be mutated in a number of cancers. Mutation of these genes lead to deregulated activity of the protein product and the mTOR pathway. Increased activity of the mTOR pathway is like an "engine gone out of control". The cellular engine cranks up the fuel supply to support uncontrolled growth and proiferation. How can we stop the fuel supply? Since all living cells in our body require fuel, how can we specifically stop the fuel supply of cancer cells? These are some of the questions we address in our lab.


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I was ecstatic to see the character of one of my favorite, but little known movies featured in the Google Trends list today. Pope Joan was recently featured on the Reelz Channel and is based on the book by Donna Woolfolk Cross. I do not want to spoil the book (or movie) for those yet to experience the story, but I highly recommend both.
This a is a very compelling account of a woman who disguised as a man, rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church to become Pope. It also highlights the place of women in society during that time frame and the hold of religion on mostly uneducated people. Joan is born to a father who is a religious leader in a village of uneducated citizens and a mother who still clings to her pagan roots. Both of these religions along with knowledge, help Joan become an understanding teacher and physician.Her father believes that Joan's intellect is against God's wishes. A misfortune befalls the family and her father tells her that God caused the incident as a punishment because she had sinned. The characters are superbly written and immediately capture the reader' s emotions.
The central theme of this book revolves around how the education of women begins to empower them, which of course is not what most men desired. During this era it seems, that anything men did not deem appropriate, neither did God. Her perseverance, courage and devotion is not just to God but to the betterment of mankind. This sweeping drama also tells a romantic tale of the love Joan must fully deny herself. Click here to visit the website of this wonderful novel.


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In this blog I will write about all my favorite projects, doing things I love to do; knitting, quilting, crocheting and sewing.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Indigo in green
I love Jason Mraz, and one of my favourite songs of his is "I never knew you". I always envisioned that it was about a man who loves his girlfriend to the moon and back. He wakes up one morning not remembering anything. When he meets her, he knows that he knows her, and that he loves her, but he can't seem to remember any their special moments together. He asks her all kind of questions trying to get back to where they once were.
When I was looking for some lace weight yarns for another shawl, my eyes fell on this lovely thick yarn from Rowan, called "Thick'n' Thin". There was this incredibly beautiful combination of indigo in green, called Basalt, that reminded me of this song. And of course; I had to buy it to make something.
When I sit in my living room during winter time, I always wear a thick jacket to keep warm. I could not help wanting to make such a jacket from this yarn. This winter, when knitting my shawls and scarfs, I'll be embracing myself in this thick warm jacket that reminds me of the magic of true and eternal love.
Published by Bente Halvorsen kl. 19:01
Labels: Knitting
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I hope they have dictionaries too XD
Very very special deal, I won't be surprised if they have already closed down
I really don't think I'll be buying this...
This is new, this wasn't what our science teacher taught us... XD
There's only one thing to do after all the strenuous exercise.. go next door
The supermarket's meet and greet corner,
"Hi chicken, hi mutton, how's it going?"
Fantastic signs that makes absolute sense
Every information of little hobbits can be found here, I'm guessing
In a gist, remember to clean up after dying and die neatly please
So.. we gotta pay for it huh?
The name says it all...
I'm going to have this sign in my restaurant next time :D
Say it, go on, M.T brain, M.T brain!


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Academy Awards 2014...wow. The Academy Awards show was hosted last evening by Ellen Degeneres. The Academy Awards were highly anticipated this year because there were some great movies that hit the big screen in 2013. One of which was 12 Years a Slave. The Academy Awards has been known to snub the great works by African Americans in the film industry both in front of and behind the camera. This year Steve McQueen (Director), John Ridley (Screenwriter), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Actor-Lead Character) and Lupita Nyong'o (Actress-Supporting Role) were all nominated for their contribution to the film. Also, 12 Years also received a Best Picture nomination.
This is the first time in many years I have watched the entire Academy Awards telecast. I must say that Ellen kept me entertained and was a great host but I was hoping that blacks were not left walking away without an Oscar. However, this would not be the first time that great works by blacks were inexplicably looked over by the members of the Academy. I had become completed jaded when it came to the recognition process as well as the receipt of the award. However, the black human spirit is amazing. Regardless of how many times we have been let down and in some cases beaten down we still have a sense of hope that this one time things are going to be different (fair). Therefore, we sit in front of our televisions waiting for that moment when the envelope is cracked open and the presenter reads….And the Oscar goes to….gasp!!!!
Last night was filled with much anticipation and hope. As I sat at my computer on Facebook conversing with other friends commenting about the overall awards it became a very fun evening. Then the presenter for Best Supporting Actress read off all the nominees and then Lupita Nyong'o's name was called. I was overjoyed for her performance as Patsy in 12 Years was riveting. I shouted with joy. However, as the night went on Chiwetel did not win for Best Actor but I knew it was a very close race. Matthew Mcconaughey deserved to win for his performance in Dallas Buyer's Club for it was one to beat. Later that evening John Ridley won an Oscar which was great he is only the second black person to win for Best Adapted Screenplay. Then at long last at the end of the awards the nominations for Best Film were being read by Will Smith. I just knew it would be Gravity, however, to my wonderful surprise it was 12 Years a Slave. That was icing on the cake.
This film told the true story of a free black man that was captured in the north and sold into slavery in the south where he spent 12 years of his life. The scenes were riveting, well-acted and well directed by all involved. It is amazing to me that so many blacks have not taken the time to see the film. Most people will tell you that they do not want to see the cruelty that leaps off the screen. However, in not supporting this film it does a disservice to our ancestors and ourselves. This is our history and yes it is painful but if you do not watch it and learn from it you will remain lost and misunderstood. Our ancestors endured some horrific things as they struggled to live daily under the tyranny of slavery. However, many made it and that is why we are here today and we MUST celebrate that. But we can't brush aside those difficult parts of our heritage and expect to be rewarded moving forward. We get upset when the "white man" tells our story but yet we don't want to embrace it, learn it and tell it to our children. If we let someone else tell our story they have the ability to give it whatever ending or slant they desire. Choosing to opt out and not learn, we walk away believing that those false stories are in fact true.
It is my hope that with all the coveted recognition this movie has garnered that we as a race will embrace it fully and teach each other as well as our children, nephews and nieces that they have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to their slave ancestors. We are from some amazing and strong group of people for not everyone could have survived all that was endured.


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Who doesn't love ribbon, and this month YOU can get a free spool of the fantastic 1cm STITCHED SATIN RIBBON with every $60.00 order you place.
Here are the details:
So check out your catalogues or view online.
Make your selections, remembering that for every $60 of Stampin' Up! product you order you can choose 1 free spool of ribbon valued at $15.95 in the fabulous new IN COLORS.
This offer is only available through a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, so contact me via my Demonstrator Business Website to place your order.
Only 26 days left!


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Monday, 20 June 2011
Getting rusty
You'd be forgiven for thinking that I've not done any crafting since Christmas. Because that's not too far from the truth. If you're a visitor to our Craft Stamping Quartet blog then you will see I haven't been totally idle. But I have made little other than the projects you see there. So I was a bit rusty when I needed to make a card for my dear friend Lesley's birthday. This card took a long time to hatch but in the end I was reasonably happy with it. The poppy pods, flourish and sentiment are all from Elusive Images (sadly no more but reborn as Chocolate Baroque). The printed paper is from the Motifica collection by Basic Grey. The filigree piece is by MIC. More on the way. Stay tuned.
4 comments:
- craftimamma said...
Well you might have been 'reasonably happy' with it my lovely friend but I was 'totally delighted' with it. Your attention to detail is second to none and in my opinion the card is absolutely perfect.
Thank you so much Jo. I love my card and it is now safely kept in my box of special artwork from people who mean a lot to me.
Big, big hugs
Lesley Xx
- 21 June 2011 at 00:05
- judith@poppy cottage said...
What a beautiful card Jo. I love the colours, and the poppies, of course! The filigree elements are lovely. The corrugated card is very clever, and torn perfectly to look noncholant, but to achieve the desired effect. Fabulous, Judith xx
- 21 June 2011 at 08:17
- Jill said...
Welcome back Jo!!!!
Love the card. I've got loads of corrugated cardboard just waiting for.....I'm not sure what but I can't throw it out lol!!!
Hope you're OK.
- 21 June 2011 at 11:16
- Elaine said...
Hooray, welcome back to blogland! Love the corrugated card and what you have done - excellent recycling!! The filigree detail is great and the colours and elements all work really perfectly.
- 21 June 2011 at 22:22


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I find I have no leaf stamps by MFT Stamps?
But I NEED a solid image to do the last challenge...oh no!
But I do have some craft foam...
and my "Fall Leaves" Die-namic die set from MFT Stamps with my Cuttlebug.
It cut perfectly, though I was scared it would be too thick!
Now I needed something to use for back ground dots.
This is a small block that I put double stick tape on to adhere the punched out dots!
Once I had everything put together I began create!
I used my Adirondack snow white pad to stamp underneath and my Adirondack rust pad for the rest.
The verse is from a MFT Stamps set called "Clearly Sentimental About Pets".
Now I'm packing up as I need to get back to my craft room and sew my surprises for a quilt show and class in September!
Enjoy the rest of summer...I might be back again for a challenge or two!


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Asia is a popular and colourful destination for Australians looking for an affordable cultural holiday experience. Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and China all have their own unique cultures and culinary flavours to enjoy. Whether you love the bustling big cities like Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo or Hanoi, or the seclusion and beauty of some of the most exotic beaches in the world - Boracay, Baucau or Da Nang - a holiday in Asia can be the experience of a lifetime.
However, as enchanting as these destinations may be, it's also important for Aussies visiting Asia to be aware of some common travel complaints or problems that we see resulting in claims. For example, illnesses requiring an early return home are the cause of the most expensive claims for travel to Asia, and perhaps not surprisingly, the number of claims resulting from food poisoning are high. This is where a few tips and of course some great travel insurance can help.
Tips for travelling in Asia
There are some simple precautions you can take. The most common problem we see is food poisoning. Though not necessarily life threatening, food poisoning can be debilitating and can have the potential to not only ruin the enjoyment of your holiday, but can also cut it short – which can be expensive. If you and your family have to cancel pre-paid activities or return home early, the personal costs to you can be high. So be careful what food you eat, watch how it is prepared, drink only bottled water and avoid ice in your drinks.
For more tips and on how to avoid some other common travel diseases, read 6 nasty travel diseases and how to avoid them featuring typhoid, dengue fever and zika virus. Of course it's not always possible to prevent illness, so we also have some great advice on what you should do if you find yourself getting sick overseas.
What we cover
Of course there are unexpected things that may play havoc with your holiday plans – but you can protect yourself from much of it by organising travel insurance as soon as you purchase your flights.
Our travel insurance policies include cover for:
- Cancellation fees and lost deposits
- Damaged or lost baggage
- Personal items if they are stolen or damaged
- Unlimited medical and evacuation expenses, with no excess for medical claims
- Rental car excess should you have an accident
Wherever you travel with SCTI, you can relax knowing you have comprehensive coverage, which means you don't have to sacrifice quality for price.
Great value and family-friendly prices
SCTI offers great value travel insurance for all countries in Asia by providing the insurance direct to you. There is no middle man, no commissions and no unnecessary overheads, so you can just relax and enjoy your Asian adventure with more money in your pocket - and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you are properly protected.
Plus, if you're planning a family trip, travel insurance to cover everyone may not be as expensive as you first think. With SCTI, kids and dependents 17 years and under are all covered for free if they travel with an adult covered under the same policy.
Get an instant quote now.


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This ingrained alienisation -- borne of divergent social, educational and linguistic paradigms -- is the true target for reform, not the incoherent demands by Bersih.
take your time and read yet another brilliant piece by KijangMas of DEMI NEGARA
Only in Najib's 1Malaysia
Where else could a menoupausal meenachi from a tiny 7% minority cripple the capital of a World Top-20 trading nation with a demonstration over NOTHING spiced with riots and mayhem perpetrated by tens of thousands of clueless PAS and PKR Melayus -- the Malai Lembus -- whose very actions will only hasten the political erosion of their race in their own homeland.
The Lingering Curse on Malaysia
As long as this raving megalomaniac remain in the political scene,
Malaysia's social and political climate will continue to be
precariously volatile and combustible.
Malaysia's social and political climate will continue to be
precariously volatile and combustible.
... and, as expected, the Botak turns up!
Haiyaaa .... so typical of these DAP Agent Provocateurs.
First they provoke the Malays, they cause trouble ....
then when the Melayus react, they will cry racism in a
then when the Melayus react, they will cry racism in a
slick press conference ching chong, ching chong, ching chong-ing away in Communist China's national language geared for the subversive gallery and rollout the whole
We-Are-The-Innocent-Defenseless-Victims charade for global consumption.
We-Are-The-Innocent-Defenseless-Victims charade for global consumption.
The reigning poster boy of the crybaby species minted
by the SJKC alien-producing factory.
Note the resemblance to the KFC crybaby. The Dong Zong Donkey Kong weirdos have been very effective in forging these lost alien look-alikes in our midst. Seriously people, are these lost souls our future Anak Bangsa Malaysia who will fight for our Tanah Tumpah Darah alongside the Melayus and other Bumiputras? Heck, can these self-alienising beings even communicate meaningfully with the majority in a common language?
So people, this is the gritty outcome of PM Najib's 1Malaysia appeasement policy where racial, cultural and linguistic distinctions among our citizens are inexplicably unearthed, revived, propagated and embellished.
Sadly to say, more racist-tinged fracas will appear online as the Malaysian nation morphed from a relatively stable land based on a strong Malay historical, socio-cultural and linguistic essence into a sad, incoherent jumbled collection of angry kaums, bangsas and tribes bent on projecting exaggerated renditions of their ethno-cultural and linguistic specificities.


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|If you trace the outlines of the crust with your eyes enough times it becomes meditative at some point
Anyway, the pizza was so universally accepted by my family that I don't even have any funny pictures of concerned expressions or dinner-avoiding hijinks. They just sat at the table. And ate it. Like civilized humans. Even Dan!
Is my moderate-to-severe half-assing of this post due to the fact that Maximum Fun is set to double its original pledge goal today and I have so many rocket candles to make I cannot focus for very long on other tasks and also I see rocket candles when I close my eyes? Maybe, okay? Maybe! Get off my back!
Sorry, sorry, I know you weren't judging my time-management skills. The cats, though. They see right through me.


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Friday, January 29, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
"short" Board Sale Yo!
Matt G has a new shaping bay and is frothing to get it stocked with fresh foam dust. Check him out and pick yourself something fresh from his short board garden. 6'6" and under...
Sadly a 6'6" for me would have to be 6" thick.
Go Get Em! :)
Sadly a 6'6" for me would have to be 6" thick.
Go Get Em! :)
Posted by knots at 5:17 PM No comments:
Sunday, January 24, 2016
A few snaps from the sand
Posted by knots at 9:00 PM No comments:
We made it...
A pretty Sunday sunrise after 36 hours of ugliness. Near hurricane force wind yesterday morning. The early AM gusts felt as strong, if not stronger than those we had during Hurricane Sandy a few years ago. We count ourselves very fortunate, no heavy snow and no real damage to the homestead. Sadly, many shore towns in the area were hit very hard and several were completely under water yesterday. Roughest Nor'Easter in many years...
Took advantage of a mid day lull to shovel sidewalks and clean off the cars. LB decided it was also a good time to build a snowman. ; )
Stay Warm! ; )
Posted by knots at 8:59 AM No comments:
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Some guys have all the luck...
Posted by knots at 10:26 PM No comments:
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Hellman - Take II
Posted by knots at 11:53 AM No comments:
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Solo Saturday Morning
Clean with a stiff offshore breeze at sunrise. Not too cold and some nice head high sets rolling in. Best surf to date on my new Garbutt glider.
Posted by knots at 4:32 PM No comments:
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Friday, January 1, 2016
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Hello, I'm searching for friends that can develop games. Just to talk, and have fun!
on Sat Feb 27, 2016 1:56 am
Hello, i'll be really happy if you want to be my friend. I'm just trying to find someone to talk with, about game developing, the age doesn't matter. Add me in skype if you wanna be friends, thank you! Skype: joro.jur
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Monday, August 29, 2016
Three more in my garage. Note to self - Find that daggone "Cat Maternity Ward" sign and take it down. Realized they were in there with their trap-wary mother and real quick put the garage door down. And feral momma then abandoned kittens and refused to have anything to do with them. So 4 week old kittens are in spare bedroom, pooping and peeing everywhere, walking through their food, and desperately needing cuddled. Their mother is still trapped in the garage. This week's project is to try to get her into a cage and into a cleaner environment until her spay appointment in Sept. Seven of the original kittens are still awaiting homes. They get their last distemper booster and chipped on Thursday.
Did I mention the infestation of chemical resistant fleas?
Did I mention Reunion time and my chief cook and bottle washer duties? Did I mention that I'm having a steady stream of company? Did I mention that even though I should know better after 35 years in the government that I touched some major things at church and now they're mine?
Did I mention that I'm contemplating a nice, quiet little breakdown...?
7 comments:
Once when I missed a dose of flea medicine on Barkley and had a bunch of fleas at the crash pad, putting him outside, then dusting everyone in the house with baking soda and vacuuming got rid of most of them.ReplyDelete
My dad had a saying for when he was getting worn down and I still use it: "No rest for the wicked and the righteous don't need it!"ReplyDelete
...Or the old saying; How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Hang in there, my friend!
I like both cats and dogs, but prefer cats because they are of their own mind (and less high maintenance).ReplyDelete
Had a run in with fleas years ago.
I don't envy you your task!
(spray, baths, collars, cutting foam collars into pieces to secrete in furniture. Horrible!)
Good Luck!
Thoughts and prayers... sigh... Sounds like you are going to need them to get through this!ReplyDelete
Thoughts and prayers... sigh... Sounds like you are going to need them to get through this!ReplyDelete
If nothing else, you're fun to watch. But it WILL get better. Hang in there.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 31, 2016 at 8:01 PM
I am praying for you.ReplyDelete
Hang in there. :-)


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Youth unemployment around the world is dreadfully high and rising. An entire generation is now coming of age without being able to leave the nest or have any prospect of earning a decent wage in their home country.
Young people in particular get the sharp end of the stick – they're the last to be hired, the first to be fired,
The first to be sent off to fight and die in foreign lands, and the first to have their benefits cut; and if they're ever lucky enough to find meaningful employment, they can count on working their entire lives to pay down the debts of previous generations through higher and higher taxes. But when it comes time to collect… finally… those benefits won't be there for them. Case in point: the British government has just announced a new push to eliminate benefits for young people.


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School has started. Three weeks into our first term, all is going well. My hare and tortoise are unequally yoked, perhaps to the benefit of both. We're reading good books, have played happily with subtending arcs and circles, and are beginning to plumb the shallows of set theory. Parsing verbs is becoming par for the course.
Our new pastor is here, and is settling in. The Monday night discussion of the Inferno has begun. My summer Bible Study has finished. And yarn and directions for knitting projects seems to be falling into my lap all at once.
First, the Lithuanian Sweater. It's done now, except for a few ends to weave in, but here's the beginnings of it. Lovely Shibui Knits Worsted Yarn. I'm not sure who it's for, but Filia is angling to have her name put into consideration.
Today I cast on for two projects. One is The Project Which Must Not Be Named, but needs to be done in 3 weeks and may well take me at least two solid weeks of knitting. The other project is a cardigan, which will serve as a nice traveling project while TPWMNBN is under way.
Lurking under my knitting chair are two bags of yarn for the Sandwater Jumper.
Lurking in my knitting box is yarn for Rebecca's Mittens, to match Rebecca's Hat.
And lurking next to the corn stove is a boy hoping for a long cold snap. Except today, he's not lurking. He's installing a fence around the grain bin with Vir, in order to fulfill his pledge to aforementioned Vir, who drove Filius to grandma's to pick up a package which arrived there today. Lego Star Wars II. For Computer.
We normally have stuff sent to us, but Amazon said this item couldn't ship to a PO Box. So we deleted the PO Box. And Amazon said our address didn't check out in their postal records. Which is true, since the postal service doesn't deliver to our house. Enter Grandma's address! And some willing free help for Vir.
I wonder if anyone will want to use my computer this afternoon?


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Taylor Swift takes the August 2011 cover of Teen Vogue magazine.
On which character she'd choose to have dinner with: "Detective Olivia Benson from Law & Order S.V.U. I sit in my apartment and watch hours of that show. So I sort of feel like me and Olivia are BFFs."
On the top three songs inspiring her now: "'She's So High' by Tal Bachman (the sweetest song !!), 'You Learn' by Alanis Morissette, 'Shot in the Dark' by Augustana."
On getting nervous prior to performing: "I do [get nervous]. But only if I'm not sure what the audience thinks of me, like at award shows. I never look down at the front row! My heroes watching = nerves!"
On the one frock which she fancies the most: "I get to wear it every night on tour at the end of the show when I'm singing 'Love Story.' It's long and sparkly (big surprise, right?) and a total princess dress."


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Addiction has a stigma attached to it, causing many to blame the struggling individual for their problems. However, research has shown that addiction is a progressive disease. Psychoactive drugs change brain function and alter emotions, consciousness, and other processes. Because of the way drugs work in the brain, addiction can form, causing compulsive behavior and a lack of control over seeking and taking the drug. An understanding of this process and what it means for those struggling with substance use disorder can help a clinician better understand treatment of addictions and how to manage triggers.
What You Will Learn:
Click here to download this presentation in PDF format.*
A'nna Jurich, MS, LCPCProgram Director Gateway Carbondale
A'nna has worked with Gateway Foundation since 1994, and has worked as a clinician in addictions and mental health for the past 24 years. She is trained in Motivational Interviewing and EMDR.
A'nna graduated with a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Southern Illinois University and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. She currently serves as the Program Director of clinical programs at Gateway's Carbondale site.
*If you do not have the free Adobe Reader click here to download it
We will help evaluate your loved one's drug or alcohol use.
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after yesterday fast and long run, I was expecting to feel tired today. I WAS tired..
15km easy @4'25" average pace.
Note: friday I did the silly mistake to run faster because I felt good even if it was supposed to be a easy run. That is rule #1, #2 and #3 of training... when it is your easy run to recover before/after hard workouts, do it easy, regardless on how you feel !!


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Starting from June 20, will be Arun Jaitley's second visit to Russia, as he made his last visit in April. During his visit, Jaitley will hold Indo-Russian military technical cooperation meeting and multiple issues of defence will be discussed his meeting with Russian counterpart General Sergey Shoygu.
According to defence ministry, Jaitley will be received by the Russian deputy prime minister and will hold discussion in the high level committee on cooperation in field of high technologies of military, dual and civil purpose.
Besides, Jaitley will have a close door meeting with his counterpart to work out pending issues including sale of S400 air defence systems. It is also believed that during the meeting, future course of action on the jinxed Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) will also be held.
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had given the go ahead for setting up an Indo-Russian joint venture for production of 200 Kamov military helicopters for India under a $1-billion deal. Both Jaitley and Shoygu is expected to further expedite the process of setting up manufacturing unit for the much needed light utility helicopters for the armed forces.


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Monday, March 5, 2012
The Dirty Word
5 comments:
- madhusmita said...
touchy one....i too wait for da day when dis dirty word will vanish.
i feel"why do i hav to feel guilty dat i m a girl. i dnt invite people to come after me. den why do i hav to be on guard on wat i wear, whr i go nd wat time of da day/night it is while going out..??
- 10:59 AM, March 06, 2012
- madhusmita said...
BTW i wud like to know wat othr books u bought 4m ur book haul....:)
- 11:01 AM, March 06, 2012
- Hrish said...
>>I pray for a world when this dirty word vanishes from the surface of the earth. Someday.
Amen to that.
Until then, acquiring self-defence oriented martial arts skills might be a good idea from a practical point of view. I've heard good things about Krav Maga.
- 1:46 PM, March 06, 2012
- Dr.Mayurakshi said...
@madhusmita Hope the day will come someday. It's a touchy topic, mainly because everyone gets uncomfortable discussing it...but it's high time we open up and speak against it, na?
On a happier note, I raided the daryaganj book market and the delhi book fair too. Got the following books:
1.We are the Mulvaneys
2.The Memorykeeper's daughter
3.Life isn't all ha ha hee hee
4.snow falling on cedars
5.the happiness project
6.complete jane austen
7.a book on persian poets
8.Basho's complete haiku
10.Remembrance of Things Past (the one I'm most excited to read)
11.The Good Soldier
12.Woody Allen Complete Prose
13.The Turn of the screw
14.Girl with a pearl earring
15.Grace Notes
16.The divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood
17.One Morning Like a Bird
18. Tender is the night
19. The No.1 ladies detective agency
20.Start from here
Phew...There I've listed it all :)
- 12:09 AM, March 07, 2012
- Dr.Mayurakshi said...
@Hrish The knowledge of a martial art for self-Defence is highly essential. I second that.
- 12:11 AM, March 07, 2012


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Drabek felt a "popping sensation" in his elbow last week during an outing against the Washington Nationals. Preliminary tests showed Drabek suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews confirmed the diagnosis.
The 24-year-old underwent the same procedure four years ago while a member of the Phillies' farm system and required 13 months recovery and rehab before returning to the major leagues.
In 13 starts this season, Drabek was 4-7 with a 4.67 ERA. He's one of three Toronto starters dealing with injuries this season.
"Based on the multiple evaluations, I think this was the only option," Jays manager John Farrell said prior to Monday's game against the Brewers in Milwaukee. "In some ways, because of the extent of the injury, it was pretty much taken out of his hands and the proper road and the best course of action is to have the surgery done."
Drabek is only one of Toronto's three ailing starters.
Right-hander Drew Hutchinson will get a second opinion on his ailing elbow this week by Dr. Tim Kremcheck in Cincinnati. A third starter, right-hander Brandon Morrow, is on the disabled list with a strained rib cage muscle.


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I've had to adjust the width at the tips and grip to centralise the string line.That shows the wisdom of leaving wide tips and grip in the early stages.
Here's a composite pic of the unbraced and draw shot from the video. It's pulling 50# at 23"
The repeated flexing helps me to see what's actually moving dynamically. With the static pictures it's easy to mistake bends in the stave for flexing. The classic case in point is the knotty area half way along the left limb, is it stiff or is it flexing? You can decide for yourself...
The sapwood has been reduced on this bow, and it's at this stage I'm going over it meticulously trying to make sure it's smooth and to follow a ring where possible, or to make any exposed rings blend gracefully in, ideally at an angle rather than straight across the back of the bow. There is some adjusting of the tiller by removing sapwood but not much.
Say there is a raised bulge on the back, that will make the limb stiffer there. Do you remove wood from the belly if there isn't much heart wood, or do you reduce the sapwood on the back? Well it's a little of each, trying to get the right compromise without weakening the back.
The things you don't do are as important as the things you do!
The string line still looked off. Peering down the bow whilst doing some armchair bowyering I thought, this limb is off by a good half inch, it's twisted too... If I heat it and twist it I can bring it in line.
I started to jig it up and the more I looked at it the more I thought, no, it's fine! A little off one side of the grip and the edge of the limbs and it will be good. Taking some off the width will also help get the limbs bending more. I slackened my temporary string so it was just taut and looked at the centreline. An 1/8" off here and there and it's looking better, it's coming an inch further back on the tiller too.
Another thing I've decided not to do is to leave a hole through the limb as "character". It wasn't a big hole and to be honest looked a bit of a pathetic attempt at character. It also meant I was leaving extra wood round the hole for security and worrying about the strength of the limb.
I've fitted a Yew peg, it will make the final tillering less nervy.


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Carl Sagan is extremely famous in the world of science-communication, mostly for his show Cosmos -- that's why, when I made the goal last August to read 15 pop science books in a year, his Cosmos was one of the first to come to mind.
I bought Cosmos and tried reading it a few weeks ago but didn't get far in (mostly because of the very annoying font), but Leon bought me The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark for my upcoming birthday so I read it.
Unfortunately, this reads more like the rantings of a fourteen-year-old militant atheist than the writing of a widely-respected scientist. He spent several long chapters describing and debunking alien abduction myths which (a) don't interest me at all (b) I didn't need debunked. I also don't think they're really much to do with science. In general, the book was mostly about hoaxes and then some ranting about how science isn't prioritised.
It was weird because a lot of his points seemed to line up exactly with my views, the central points about how scientific thinking is important for democracy and we should share it with everyone, but he does it a lot less positively? He just seems to focus on the negative impacts of scientific illiteracy and is angry about a lack of progress, which I suppose is fair if he'd spent his life working on it and not gotten very far, and I definitely acknowledge the risks of scientific illiteracy, but I also believe in sharing science because it's something positive people deserve access to, and I didn't get that vibe off him. He goes on a diatribe about how shows like the Flintstones are not scientifically accurate (in fairness, they're billed as educational) and it's just kind of like...come on, man.
Yet again, I don't think I was the target audience for this book even though a lot of it should've lined up with my beliefs, because I already study science. He put down Maxwell's equations (which I don't know) and said they were very difficult to understand and involved vectors, then "explained" vectors in an unbelievably vague way that did not at all line up with their definitions as I know them from college, and it sucked because people who haven't studied it wouldn't know that it wasn't actually telling them anything, they'd probably just take him at his word that it's really hard. I'm not denying that the equations are hard or that they're a great achievement, but I feel like he didn't make much of an effort to explain it, content to say "it's hard" and move on. Again, I'm not saying he could explain Maxwell's equations in a perfectly accessible way, but vectors themselves are not that difficult a concept and it's weird that he gave up just because he couldn't explain the full equations accessibly.
He talked about the witch trials a fair bit and damn, they sound awful, and the book certainly didn't endear me to religion. But yeah, just a very angry atheist vibe all over. It's fine to be angry about the abuses of the Catholic Church, but I much prefer a more constructive approach.
I think the main issue with the book was it didn't really have any central narrative thread -- it was much more like a series of blog or forum posts than a book. Two chapters, for example, contained just reprintings of letters he'd received, presented without comment. Sure, they were interesting, but added to the blog impression. I think if Sagan had lived later it's quite likely each chapter could've been written as a blog post. Not what I expected.
Tuesday, 8 August 2017
Review: The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
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"We live in an unheroic age..." Write a speech against or in favour of this quote. - My English homework. Compared to the ancient societ...
This summer, I did an online pre-MBA with Harvard Business School called HBX CORe, mostly sponsored by the Naughton Foundation, who continue...
This post is inspired by a cool Twitter thread I saw about how our eyes trick us during the saccades that occur when we move our eyes from p...


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I also love to read. I've traditionally read 90+% non-fiction books, from theology to leadership to biographies and more. And now I follow 50-60 blogs across a variety of categories. I don't read every post from every blog; using Google Reader, I skim the headlines and see what might be interesting for me, or for any of my friends and followers.
I have learned so much from reading from a variety of blogs (besides have a streak of winning some give-aways). Because the truth is, if you are a parent you are a leader. And leaders are readers. You have to continually grow and learn, so that you can better disciple your children.
Here are some blogs that I've started following over the past few months; maybe you'll enjoy one of them as well:
- Kickin' it in Buddenville. This is by our friend Susan Rice. Any blog that comes out of Allendale County is worth following.
- Julian Freeman. I don't always get theology stuff, and I don't always get Canadians (sorry Nicky & Des). But this guy is good.
- JBM Thinks. For any parent who has a child that plays organized sports, this is a must-follow.
- Enough of the Cat Talk. In the past 15 months, I've become suddenly passionate about education. Darlena brings up some great talking points.
Now, let me know in the comments: What's your favorite blog? If you have a few, you can name your favorite "famous" blog (100's of readers) and your favorite "obscure" blog.


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Megadeth's forthcoming record, 'TH1RT3EN,' is scheduled for release on November 1 via Roadrunner Records. The album, which marks the recorded return of bassist David Ellefson, will be the follow-up to 2009's 'Endgame.'
Frontman Dave Mustaine stated, "This record is the culmination of my work over the 13 records I recorded. There are moments on 'TH1RT3EN' that capture my every emotion, and other moments where I am releasing feelings I never knew existed! My proudest moments of my musical career are captured on 'TH1RT3EN.'"
As for the album title, Mustaine told Rolling Stone, "I was born on September 13th; this is my thirteenth record. It just seemed like it was the right thing to do to call it 'TH1RT3EN.'"
On September 14, Megadeth will be joining Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY. Head here for more information regarding the Big 4 event.


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i met thomas on the beach in mexico the year i started making surfboards. after a few days, he invited me over to the shack on the beach that he was using as his studio, preparing for a big art show. while we talked he drew me an awesome logo, i was stoked! a few days later i offered to make him a board. he declined, saying he'd wait til i got a few more under my belt. "like maybe 100" he said. good decision, thomas! and thanks again.
of course, he chose andy's logo(gracias andy).
5'11 bellyfish w/ modified nose. 16 1/2 x 21 1/2 x 17 x 2 1/2