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Pemetrexed (ALIMTA, LY231514, MTA) is a novel antimetabolite that inhibits at least three enzymes involved in the folate pathway. These enzymes are thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase, and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase. Pemetrexed has demonstrated clinical activity in non-small cell lung cancer as well as in a broad array of other solid tumors, including mesothelioma, breast, colorectal, bladder, cervical, gastric and pancreatic cancer. In non-small cell lung cancer, single-agent activity has been documented in the first- and second-line settings in Phase II and Phase III trials. Promising activity has also been demonstrated when pemetrexed is combined with platinum compounds (cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin), vinorelbine, and gemcitabine. Low level dietary supplement of folic acid and vitamin B12 has significantly decreased the mucosal and bone marrow toxicity of pemetrexed without compromising its antitumor effect.
Perturbation of nucleotide metabolism for cancer therapy has primarily focused on the utilization of nucleoside and nucleic acid base analogs, which compete with their physiological counterparts for incorporation into DNA and RNA (1) , as well as antifolate agents. A recent, novel approach to inhibiting purine and pyrimidine synthesis is represented by the development of pemetrexed, which inhibits tumor growth by inhibiting folate-dependent enzymes, primarily thymidylate synthase (TS; Ref. 2 ).
Mechanism of Action.
Pemetrexed enters cells via the reduced folate carrier, with transport kinetics similar to that of methotrexate, and binds to folate receptor-α with a very high affinity, similar to that of folic acid (3) . Pemetrexed also appears to be a substrate for multidrug resistance protein transporters (4) . Intracellularly, pemetrexed is polyglutamated to the active pentaglutamide by a reaction catalyzed by folylpolyglutamate synthase. Pemetrexed is one of the best substrates for folylpolyglutamate synthase, when compared to other antifolates such as methotrexate (5) .
Pemetrexed can be considered a prodrug, because its pentaglutamate form is the predominant intracellular form, and is over 60-fold more potent in its inhibition of TS than the parent compound (2) . Polyglutamation traps pemetrexed and enhances its intracellular retention. The parent drug is polyglutamated 90- to 200-fold more efficiently than methotrexate and 6- to 13-fold more efficiently than the glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase inhibitor, lometrexol (6) . The increased cellular retention of polyglutamated pemetrexed forms may explain the success of the 3-week administration schedule.
Pemetrexed inhibits multiple enzyme targets involved in both pyrimidine and purine synthesis. One of these primary enzyme targets is TS (7 , 8) . TS, a folate-dependent enzyme, catalyzes the transformation of dUMP to dTMP. Inhibition of TS results in decreased thymidine necessary for DNA synthesis (7 , 9) . In addition to TS, pemetrexed inhibits dihydrofolate reductase, aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase, as well as glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase; the latter is a folate-dependent enzyme that is involved in purine synthesis (10) . These targets are related to the cytotoxicity of pemetrexed, because both thymidine and hypoxanthine are required to circumvent cellular death caused by pemetrexed (11) . Pemetrexed is 30–200 times more potent an inhibitor of TS than of aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase or glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase, suggesting that its cytotoxicity may be mediated predominantly through TS inhibition. However, pemetrexed demonstrates activity against H630 colon cancer cell lines, which are resistant to raltitrexed and 5-fluorouracil because of TS amplification (9) . Thus, inhibition of the other folate enzymes is important for the clinical activity of pemetrexed.
Folate Deficiency and Toxicity of Pemetrexed.
The role of folate deficiency in the toxicity of pemetrexed has been comprehensively reviewed recently (12) . Severe, unpredictable, and occasionally fatal toxicities (predominantly myelosuppression and gastrointestinal) were initially seen with pemetrexed. It was hypothesized that this toxicity may be related to folate deficiency in patients. Data accumulated in the past few years suggest that plasma homocysteine is a more sensitive measure of the functional folate status of patients than RBC or serum folate (13) . With this insight into cellular folate metabolism, the role of the folate status of patients in the toxicity of pemetrexed has been delineated.
Niyikiza et al. (14) used multivariate stepwise regression methods to analyze baseline physiological and demographic data from individuals enrolled in early pemetrexed trials. The objective was to identify predictive variables for severe toxicity. Variables analyzed included serum homocysteine, cystathionine, methylmalonic acid, albumin, and other hepatic enzymes. These analyses indicated that an elevated plasma homocysteine concentration was indicative of preclinical folate deficiency and resulted in a more severe toxicity profile that typically included thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, severe diarrhea, and mucositis. The threshold baseline homocysteine value of 10 μm appeared to be the cutoff for these toxicities after cycle 1 (χ2 = 6.2, P = 0.01), with levels >10 μm predicting an increased rate of toxicity.
As a result of the above findings, all patients treated with pemetrexed over the past 3 years received concomitant oral folic acid tablets 350-1000 μg starting at least 5 continuous days before pemetrexed administration and continuing throughout the course of therapy, and vitamin B12 1000 μg administered i.m. with folic acid and repeated every 9 weeks while the patient is on therapy. Current data indicate that this supplemental use of vitamins can ameliorate some of the severe drug-induced toxic effects, resulting in an improved safety profile and efficacy for this drug (15) . There is an ongoing Phase I study evaluating a combination of pemetrexed and folic acid, with dose escalation of pemetrexed (16) .
There are no published data on the evaluation of pemetrexed in small cell lung cancer. Thus, all available clinical data for this agent are in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Single-Agent Pemetrexed in NSCLC
First-Line Therapy
Two Phase II studies with single-agent pemetrexed in previously untreated patients with advanced NSCLC have been completed. The starting pemetrexed dose of 600 mg/m2 was later reduced to 500 mg/m2 because of early toxicity. Four of 8 patients with stage IIIB disease and 3 of 25 patients with stage IV disease achieved partial responses for an overall response rate of 23% (17) . Median survival was 9.6 months with a median time to progression of 3.8 months. The second front-line study was conducted jointly in Australia and South Africa. The starting dose of pemetrexed was 600 mg/m2. Nine objective responses were achieved in 57 available patients for a response rate of 16%. Median survival was 8.4 months with a median time to progression of 5.6 months (18) . These results are comparable to those obtained for single-agent studies of agents that are active in NSCLC. There was no vitamin supplementation in these studies, and the incidence of grades 3 and 4 neutropenia was approximately 20%. Anemia, mucositis, rash, and diarrhea were also common.
Second-Line Therapy
Phase II Trial.
In the only study of pemetrexed as second-line therapy for NSCLC, all patients received a starting dose of 500 mg/m2 and were classified according to whether their prior regimen did or did not contain a platinum agent. There were 44 evaluable patients in the platinum pretreated group. Two partial responses were seen for a response rate of 5%. Median survival was 6.4 months, median time to progression was 2.3 months, and 1-year survival was 25%. In the non-platinum pretreated group, 5 objective responses (1 complete response, 4 partial responses) were seen in 35 evaluable patients for an overall response rate of 14%. The median survival time was 4 months, median time to progression was 1.6 months, and 1-year survival was 20% (19) . Thus, for this entire group, the response rate was 7 of 79 or 9%, again comparing favorably with responses seen with agents that are felt to be active in the second-line setting.
Phase III Trial.
On the basis of the activity seen in this second-line study, a randomized Phase III trial comparing single-agent pemetrexed with single-agent docetaxel as second-line therapy in patients with advanced NSCLC was undertaken. A total of 571 patients were randomized to pemetrexed (500 mg/m2 i.v. infusion) or docetaxel (75 mg/m2 i.v. infusion). The two regimens demonstrated equivalent efficacy, with a median survival of approximately 8 months. Unlike the Phase II trial, the pemetrexed arm of this study was supplemented with vitamin B12 and folic acid. In the docetaxel arm, grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was seen in 40% of patients, and 7% of patients developed neutropenic fever. In the pemetrexed arm, grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was seen in 5.3% of patients with a 2% incidence of neutropenic fever (20) .
Pemetrexed Combinations
Pemetrexed-Platinum Combinations
Pemetrexed has been combined with cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin in Phase II studies in NSCLC. Clinical activity has been seen with all three combinations, with modest toxicity.
Two Phase II trials evaluating the combination of pemetrexed (500 mg/m2) and cisplatin (75 mg/m2) in untreated NSCLC have been reported. There was no vitamin supplementation in these studies. In the first study, 36 patients (18 stage IIIB and 18 stage IV) were treated (21) . There were 14 partial responses for an overall response rate of 39%. Median survival was 10.9 months and 1-year survival was 50%. The most common toxicity was neutropenia, with a grade 3/4 incidence of 21%. Grade 3/4 anemia occurred in 5% of patients. The most common non-hematological toxicity was fatigue (grade 2/3 in 18% of patients). In the second study, 31 patients (5 stage IIIB and 26 stage IV) were treated (22) . There were 13 partial responses for a response rate of 45%. Median survival was 8.9 months, and 1-year survival was 49%. In this study, the most common toxicity was fatigue, with a grade 2/3 incidence in 21% of patients. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 11% of patients, whereasgrade 3/4 anemia occurred in 6% of patients. Thrombocytopenia was mild and infrequent in both studies.
Carboplatin and Oxaliplatin.
A randomized Phase II study evaluating pemetrexed plus carboplatin and pemetrexed plus oxaliplatin has been reported. Eighty chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC were randomized to receive pemetrexed (500 mg/m2 with vitamin supplementation and dexamethasone) plus carboplatin (AUC 6) or oxaliplatin (120 mg/m2), with both drugs given once every 3 weeks. There was less grade 3 neutropenia (5%) in the oxaliplatin arm compared with the carboplatin (26%) arm, although there was less peripheral neuropathy in the oxaliplatin arm compared with the carboplatin arm. Confirmed responses and proportions of patients with stable disease were very similar: 33% and 41% in the pemetrexed/carboplatin and 27% and 44% in the pemetrexed/oxaliplatin arm. The survival data are not mature (23) .
The regimen of vinorelbine in combination with pemetrexed has been studied in Australia in the Phase II setting. Pemetrexed (500 mg/m2; day 1) and vinorelbine (30 mg/m2; days 1 and 8) were administered as 10-min infusions every 21 days, with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation. The most common hematological toxicity was neutropenia. Fifteen of 35 evaluable patients developed grade 4 neutropenia. Grades 3 and 4 non-hematological toxicities included fatigue in seven patients, dyspnea in five, and nausea in three patients. There was 1 complete response and 12 partial responses for an overall objective rate of 37%, with a median time to progression of 3.8 months (24) . Follow-up is brief; thus, survival data are not available at this time.
Adjei et al. (25) performed a Phase I study of pemetrexed in combination with gemcitabine. After two schedules were tested, the recommended doses and schedule for Phase II studies were gemcitabine administered on days 1 and 8 with pemetrexed administered on day 8, 90 min after gemcitabine, at doses of gemcitabine 1250 mg/m2 and pemetrexed 500 mg/m2. Promising clinical activity was seen in a variety of tumor types including NSCLC in 13 of 55 evaluable patients. From a sample of patients analyzed for pharmacokinetics, the disposition of pemetrexed was not altered by prior administration of gemcitabine.
On the basis of these promising results, a Phase II study has been completed. Fifty-four evaluable patients were treated with 1250 mg/m2 of gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 and 500 mg/m2 pemetrexed on day 8. Three patients received no vitamin supplementation; 8 patients started vitamin B12 and folic acid supplementation while on study; and 43 patients had vitamin supplementation throughout the study. There were nine partial responses for an overall response rate of 17% (95% confidence interval, 7.9–29.3). Median duration of response was 3.3 months. Twenty-nine patients had prolonged disease stabilization for 4 months or longer. Median survival was 11.3 months with a 44% 1-year survival (26) . Neutropenia was the most common toxicity (29% grade 3, 34% grade 4). Grade 3 thrombocytopenia occurred in 5% of patients. There was no grade 4 thrombocytopenia. The most common non-hematological toxicity was fatigue (23% grade 3).
The sequence of drug administration for the Phase I trial of pemetrexed and gemcitabine was based on preclinical studies that revealed synergistic cytotoxicity when gemcitabine exposure preceded pemetrexed exposure in HCT-8 cultured human colon cancer cell lines (27) . Another report, however, demonstrated synergistic cytotoxicity for the opposite sequence of pemetrexed exposure followed 24 h later by gemcitabine exposure in HT29 colon cancer cell lines and xenografts (28) . These data suggest that patterns of interaction with these two agents may be cell-line specific. In an attempt to identify the optimal sequence of pemetrexed and gemcitabine, a three-arm randomized Phase II study of gemcitabine and pemetrexed, testing various schedules and sequences, has been completed at Mayo Clinic and the North Central Cancer Treatment Group. Results are awaited with interest.
Radiation Therapy
Pemetrexed in combination with radiation therapy is an area of increasing research. A study evaluating this combination in lung cancer is currently ongoing.
Pemetrexed is a novel antimetabolite with inhibitory activity against a number of folate-dependent enzymes. This agent has demonstrated promising single-agent activity in both the first- and second-line treatment of NSCLC. The recently reported Phase III second-line study may lead to regulatory approval of pemetrexed in NSCLC in the next few months. Full-dose combinations with other cytotoxic agents have been feasible because of an acceptable toxicity profile. More importantly, a number of these combinations (gemcitabine, cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, and vinorelbine) have demonstrated significant activity in NSCLC. Pemetrexed should be further studied in NSCLC, especially in combination with novel agents.
Dr. Roman Perez-Soler: This seems to me as good a molecularly targeted therapy as anything I have heard. In addition, it works. So, why we don't propose doing biopsy studies, subset analysis of patients, determinants of sensitivity…
Dr. Alan Sandler: Because it works! That's why we don't have to do it!
Dr. Perez-Soler: Well, it would be nice to increase the response rate to 40%, too. This is the methotrexate of the new millennium. Nobody wants to do the studies, but we want to do studies for the drugs that have a 10% response rate.
Dr. Alex Adjei: A neoadjuvant breast cancer study has been done where biopsies were collected, and those data are being analyzed.
Dr. Thomas Lynch: But, it's not totally there. People like Dr. Rosell are spending time trying to figure out why there are responses to certain platinum agents and I think they haven't abandoned trying to enhance the response rate of traditional agents.
Dr. Adjei: In terms of what has been looked at recently, everybody was looking at thymidylate synthase, GARFT [glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase], dihydrofolate reductase, because those are the known targets of the drug, but now people are looking at MTAP [methylthioadenosine phosphorylase] also.
Dr. Geoffrey Shapiro: That's really fascinating because in many cases of mesothelioma, the p16 is deleted, so you would lose MTAP. In lung cancer p16 is usually methylated so that the adjacent MTAP may still be there, and there is a far lower rate of p16 deletion in which you might co-delete MTAP. One simple thing to do, at least among the lung cancer population, would be to see if the response rate could be associated with who deletes p16 and MTAP versus who doesn't. That would be just one simple question that could be asked. Maybe the reason why the success in mesothelioma is better is because there's a much higher rate of deletion.
Dr. Rafael Rosell: In the sequential study, you mentioned gemcitabine followed by pemetrexed. Is that the better combination? And what interval do you recommend?
Dr. Adjei: The data are conflicting, depending on the cell line used. It is like Dr. Shapiro's story with flavopiridol. In the lab the interval was actually 4 hours. But in the clinic we figured that was too long, so we picked 90 minutes as something that is reasonable.
Dr. Rosell: Do you have theories as to why gemcitabine administered before is better?
Dr. Adjei: No. Actually, I would have theorized the opposite, I would have theorized that pemetrexed first should be better, so it's difficult to understand. One last point I will make in terms of the efficacy with the added vitamins. One thing that became clear to us in our studies is that you can get late responses with this drug, and so it may be that without vitamins a number of patients have toxicity and have to go off study early. Some the effect of the vitamins on efficacy might just be because they tolerated treatment better and they get more treatment.
Dr. Roy Herbst: What struck me is how many cycles you can give and how well tolerated it is. It suggests the potential of this agent in the maintenance setting, because you could give 12 or even 15 cycles, and patients do well with a very convenient schedule. So it might be a reasonable regimen to start building on in the future. SWOG [Southwest Oncology Group] is going to be doing a study in the second line, and we have a trial of bevacizumab plus pemetrexed we are in the process of developing now.
Dr. Lynch: Dr. Scagliotti, you have studied pemetrexed with either carboplatin or oxaliplatin. Any reason to say that one combination is better than the other?
Dr. Giorgio Scagliotti: The median survival time was close to 10 months with both combinations. The most important point is not the survival but rather the lower level of hematologic and nonhematologic toxicity with these two combinations, which makes it more attractive for treatment of stage IV disease. The combination with carboplatin was slightly more toxic in terms of hematologic toxicity; the oxaliplatin combination was slightly more toxic in terms of nonhematologic toxicity, mainly grade 2 and 3 neurosensitivity. Concerning the other point about the feasibility of the combination as maintenance: two-thirds of our patients had more than 4 cycles. In the MD Anderson trial, most patients received more than 4 cycles.
Dr. Herbst: We had it written there was no limit. We had as many as 13 cycles.
Dr. Bruce Johnson: The thing that surprised me in the mesothelioma study is the impact vitamins had on platinum alone. Considering the effect of leucovorin with 5-FU [5-fluorouracil], should we reexamine the vitamin phenomenon with another combination?
Presented at the First International Conference on Novel Agents in the Treatment of Lung Cancer, October 17–18, 2003, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Requests for reprints: Alex A. Adjei, Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. Phone: (507) 538-0548; Fax: (507) 284-1803; E-mail: adjei.alex{at}mayo.edu


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Now I'm sure you're saying, "But, Bonnie, why did you make maternity ware?" Ha! You're so funny. No, I'm not pregnant, I'm just a sucker for flowy blouses that hide my mother of two belly. And "Comfy" is my middle name. I would have been even happier if this pattern belled out a slight bit more... maybe if I make another version. It came out a tad boxy, but I think it looks better on, than lying flat on the table.
Sewing Notes:
Pattern: "New Look" pattern #6913 style C
Fabric: Carnaby Street by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics ( It's a super soft quilting cotton that almost feels like voile. It reminds me of a Liberty of London print or some beautiful Japanese fabric.)
Changes: I modified the back to be one piece instead of having an unnecessary seam. I also omitted the belt, which perhaps could help with the boxiness.
To see another version I made of this pattern in style D, click here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Frogger arrives on Windows Phone 7 with few changes from the celebrated arcade original, save for a visual facelift that nudges the little fella out of the 8-bit realm. It's too bad Konami didn't include the option to swap back to those original visuals, because it would have given Frogger a little goose of personality and appeal to those that dropped many a quarter into the frog's coin-op cabinet.
Yet, I'm left asking: is this it? No extra play modes, no special paint jobs, nothing but a bare bones recreation of the classic? And so, if you are hopelessly tired of Frogger, this Windows Phone 7 release isn't going to change your mind one bit. Frogger for Windows Phone 7 at least includes achievements, which is a good bonus for gamers that still obsess over these things (and there are quite a lot of them, to be sure).
The Verdict
Frogger for Windows Phone 7 is a bland but playable port of the arcade classic. The refreshed visuals are fine but lack any real personality. There are no extra game modes &#Array; just the straight arcade game, tweaked only by playing against phantom frogs. I cannot really offer a hearty recommendation for Frogger this late in the game, but fans that still want to hang with the guy can jump in and have a little fun.


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How Rudy's Bet Went Wrong
Whither Rudy?
Rudy Giuliani took a big bet with his campaign strategy, opting to skip the early primary states in order to invest heavily in large, delegate-rich states like Florida, New Jersey and California.
For those who bought into Mr. Giuliani's alternative investment strategy, the returns have been disappointing. Indeed, futures contracts...


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Arms aren't actually too hard to use, especially when compared to the
spine you learned a few weeks ago, though they do come with their own set
of problems. Do you use FK or IK arms? What does arm align do? And how do
knee and elbow PVs help?
I've organized these tips into smaller sections, each focusing on a
particular controller or topic. And remember, all of these are up to your
own personal choice on whether or not to use them, so feel free to
experiment and find what works best for you!
FK vs IK arms
Choosing between using FK and IK arms can be
a tough decision, and should be something you
plan out before doing any kind of blocking for
your shot. You can find the IK/FK switch in
Stewie's finger controllers, under the attribute
"IK Enable".
Using FK arms is good for when you want to animate
loose or free arms. Having the shoulder, elbow,
and wrist controllers are great for getting a
nice overlapping action going. However, it can
be a bit of a pain to use since you need to do
most of the rotation from the shoulder to position
the hand, and the elbow only rotates on the Rx axis.
IK arms on the other hand are great for when you
want Stewie to be pushing or leaning against
something and using IK arms does make positioning
hands much easier that FK, since the controller is right there on the wrist.
However, the problem with IK is that since they don't follow the body, you
constantly have to position them through a walk. You also run the risk of
having an "IK hands feeling", which is basically a character who's arms
look like a puppet's because you're moving the hands from the wrist
instead of the shoulder.
The best solution in my opinion is to use IK/FK switching to get the most
of your scene. Use FK for any time the hands are free, or need to do some
gesturing, and switch to IK whenever you need Stewie to hold onto
something solid, or plant his hands. This will give you the most variety
and control over your shot. Just remember that when you key your IK
Enable to switch from 1-0 or vice versa, have it happen in a span of 1
frame. If you have the switch happen slowly with a splined curve, you'll
run into problems where the IK enable is set to a decimal value, which is
neither FK or IK, and messes up your ability to control the arms properly.
Arm Align Follow
Align Follow is a handy attribute for FK arms which
you can find in the shoulder controller. Just like
the head align attribute I mentioned a couple of
weeks ago, arm align follow "locks" the arm's
shoulder rotation so that if you were to, for
example, put Stewie's arms up in front of him
parallel to the ground then bend him over, his arms
would keep their parallel angle instead of bending down with the body. What
this means for you is that if you have a movement in Stewie's arms that you
really like, and you have to reposition his body slightly, you won't have to
counter animate his arms back to the way they were.
The downside to this is that if you rotate Stewie's body on the Ry axis,
his arms will continue to face the same direction and could end up
cutting into his body. However this is a minor issue since all you have
to do is rotate the shoulders a bit in the Ry axis as well.
This tip applies to both the arms and legs. The
stretch attribute is a handy one to use in your
scenes, but can also be a very bad one if used
improperly. You can find the stretch attributes
for the arm in the finger controls, and for the
legs in the square foot controller, along with the
Stretch Bias, which determines the position of the knees or elbows, and
the Stretch Sensitivity, which controls how much the stretch attribute
affects the arms and legs.
Using the stretch attribute is handy for adding squash and stretch to
your character's limbs, using just a bit on the
knees to fix pops, or to give your character more
disproportionate limbs. The problem however is
that when you stretch or squash Stewie's limbs,
they stay the same width around, which means that
they don't gain or lose mass when they're played
with. It's also very easy to get "noodle" limbs
feeling if you play around with the stretch too
much in your scene.
The best way to use the stretch attribute is
minimally, or only on extreme stretches or
squashes. Apart from that you should be able to
pull off your shot without ever having to touch
this attribute.
This is a very subtle, but very important tip to remember. When animating
the arms, either in IK or FK, always remember to animate the shoulder
controls. Since a person's entire arm movement is driven by the
shoulders, it's important not to have them simply sitting there, static,
while the arms move around. If you try to put your arm out in front of
you, or raise your hand in the air above your head, you'll notice that
your shoulder is doing a lot of movement to drive that arm.
So from all small arm gestures, to wild flailing, always keep the
shoulder controls in mind, and it will help make your animation look that
much better.
Knee & Elbow PVs
The knee and elbow PVs are for IK arms and legs,
which you can find in diamond controllers for the
feet and wrists. They are used to control
the knees and elbows instead of the arm twist
and leg twist attributes. By using the PVs instead
of the twist attributes, it gives you much better
control over where your knees and elbows are
pointed during your shot. Whereas the twist
attributes need to be counter-animated throughout
your shot, using the PVs gives you a new controller
that floats in the direction that the knees and elbows are pointed, and you
can move and key them around to where you want. This way you can set it far
ahead of your character as he runs, and the knees will always stay pointed
forward instead of bending out awkwardly.
And that's about all I have for this week. Thank you
for taking the time to read my post. I hope it's been
helpful, and as always, if you have any comments,
questions or suggestions, you're more than welcome
to send either Beau or me a message on AM.


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Connor Nowalk Makes Directorial Debut
Observer Scene | Friday, February 8, 2008
A job description for the position of director of "Kiss Me Kate" might read something like this: Must have an eye for talent, flexible creativity and the vision to put it all together.
As the man running the show behind the scenes, Connor Nowalk has all that and more.
"Casting is an interesting thing, because for any given role there are several people who could play it well," Nowalk said. Given the sheer amount of talent on display during the auditions, he said that the casting process amounted to matching various talents to roles.
"Joe [Jurasko] excelled in all three areas of performance: singing, dancing and acting," he said. "We knew we wanted to utilize his talents, but we weren't quite sure how."
Nowalk also found himself playing matchmaker in order to pair off actors to ensure that they had onscreen chemistry. Carolyn Sullivan's smooth jazz voice and commanding stage presence made her a perfect fit for the part of Lois.
"When we put the two of them together in a scene during callbacks, the chemistry was there, and we knew we had our pair," he said.
Nowalk also paired Kyle Carter and Kelly Rice as the characters Fred and Lilli. "Kelly showed us power, control and sweetness in her voice, which works perfectly for the incredible vocal demands of the role," he said. "Kyle showed us the charisma and magnetism required of Fred, with the voice to match. As if those qualities weren't enough, the two looked great and acted well together."
For the uninitiated, "Kiss Me, Kate" features a play within a play, as the characters within the show put on a show of their own, a Broadway musical version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."
"A really interesting aspect of 'Kiss Me, Kate' is the way the two plays are intertwined," he said. "The characters offstage are all very similar to the characters they portray in "the Shrew." Add to that a couple of mistaken identities, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings, and characters start jumping in and out of character, blurring the line between what is 'supposed to be happening' and what is just happening and encouraging the audience to get lost in the mayhem. We made some decisions, both in terms of set and otherwise, to develop that ambiguity."
As such, the action moves around quite a bit. Keeping everything in perspective required some innovation and creativity from the crew.
"What is neat about the set for this show is that it all occurs in one building," Nowalk said. "During the scenes from 'The Taming of the Shrew,' the action takes place on the stage itself. All the other action occurs behind the scenes in the backstage corridor or dressing rooms. At least conceptually speaking, instead of moving the set, we wanted to 'move the audience.'"
To accomplish this, the production has a mobile set which takes the audience backstage with the rest of the characters within the show. As such, set pieces are "set" in name only – the production has a lot of moving parts to create the backstage corridors and dressing rooms of the mock production of "The Taming of the Shrew," Nowalk said.
"By taking the audience on this trip to see exactly where they are going, we hope that people will know exactly where they are in the theater."
After holding auditions in mid-October, Nowalk and co. got into the swing of things with rehearsals starting after Fall Break. Excluding breaks and finals, the production has had about 10 weeks of rehearsals.
In a production featuring so many parts, Nowalk said he hasn't further muddled things up by trying to put his own take on the material in the show.
"Kiss Me, Kate is not really the kind of show that lends itself to 'directorial interpretation,'" he said. "Sure, you can taste a little bit of 'Connor Nowalk' in it, especially in the humor, but for the most part, I wanted to let the show speak for itself."
Nowalk, who did his first musical in fifth grade, has been unable to keep himself out of theater ever since.
"Singing was what got me interested in the first place, but the more shows I was in, the more I started to love all aspects of theater," he said.
Starting primarily as a performer, Nowalk made his directorial debut as a freshman at the Cleveland Institute of Music. After transferring here to Notre Dame, Nowalk knew that he wanted to direct a show here before graduating.
"I am glad that my first opportunity was with a group I love," he said. "Though I will never direct a PEMCo show again, I am sure that this will not be the last show I direct."
Contact Tae Andrews at [email protected]


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Elks, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, Benevolent and Protective Order of, fraternal and charitable society founded (1868) in New York City. Through the Elks National Foundation, located in Chicago, the group carries on a broad-ranging program of charity and welfare, giving to such organizations as the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and the Boy and Girl Scouts. The Elks also sponsors health, veterans, and college scholarship programs, as well as various local community service activities. The organization has about 1.3 million members in more than 2,200 local lodges. Its official Elks Magazine, is published monthly. Membership in the society, originally limited to white males, was opened to all male U.S. citizens in 1973 and to women, who had previously belonged only to lodge auxiliaries, in 1995.
See M. Carnes, Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America (1989).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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Todd Winer alerts us to a terrific review by Jeffrey Goldberg of Jimmy Carter's unterrific new book in today's Washington Post Book World: "What would Jimmy do?" Goldberg writes:
Carter, not unlike God, has long been disproportionately interested in the sins of the Chosen People. He is famously a partisan of the Palestinians, and in recent months he has offered a notably benign view of Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization that took power in the Palestinian territories after winning a January round of parliamentary elections.
There are differences, however, between Carter's understanding of Jewish sin and God's. God, according to the Jewish Bible, tends to forgive the Jews their sins. And God, unlike Carter, does not manufacture sins to hang around the necks of Jews when no sins have actually been committed.
This is a cynical book…
Goldberg deduces the aim of Carter's book:
Carter seems to mean for this book to convince American evangelicals to reconsider their support for Israel. Evangelical Christians have become bedrock supporters of Israel lately, and Carter marshals many arguments, most of them specious, to scare them out of their position.
From an attentive reading of the text Goldberg seems plausibly to have discovered the special purpose that the book serves in what otherwise appears simply to be a reiteration of Carter's animus against Israel and the Jews. Thus the importance of Goldberg's review.
JOHN adds: If that's the case, Carter greatly overestimates his own influence among evangelicals, which at present, I would say, is close to zero.


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BioMed Research International
Volume 2013, Article ID 363742, 7 pages
Individual IOL Surface Topography Analysis by the WaveMaster Reflex UV
Department of Experimental Ophthalmology, Saarland University, Kirrberger Straße 100, 66424 Homburg, Germany
Received 6 March 2013; Revised 30 April 2013; Accepted 8 May 2013
Academic Editor: Ronald L. Klein
Copyright © 2013 Marc Kannengießer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Purpose. In order to establish inspection routines for individual intraocular lenses (IOLs), their surfaces have to be measured separately. Currently available measurement devices lack this functionality. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a new topography measurement device based on wavefront analysis for measuring individual regular and freeform IOL surfaces, the "WaveMaster Reflex UV" (Trioptics, Wedel, Germany). Methods. Measurements were performed on IOLs with increasingly complex surface geometries: spherical surfaces, surfaces modelled by higher-order Zernike terms, and freeform surfaces from biometrical patient data. Two independent parameters were measured: the sample's radius of curvature (ROC) and its residual (difference of sample topography and its best-fit sphere). We used a quantitative analysis method by calculating the residuals' root-mean-square (RMS) and peak-to-Valley (P2V) values. Results. The sample's best-fit ROC differences increased with the sample's complexity. The sample's differences of RMS values were 80 nm for spherical surfaces, 97 nm for higher-order samples, and 21 nm for freeform surfaces. Graphical representations of both measurement and design topographies were recorded and compared. Conclusion. The measurements of spherical surfaces expectedly resulted in better values than those of freeform surfaces. Overall, the wavefront analysing method proves to be an effective method for evaluating individual IOL surfaces.
1. Introduction
Cataract surgery has been the most frequent surgical procedure for the last decades. Its primary goal was to restore the patient's vision. Currently, the patient's satisfaction and the restoration of the target refraction are of heightened interest. This leads to extensive research on more sophisticated lens surfaces which can eliminate even higher-order aberrations of the patient's optical system. With the aim of maximal improvement of the patient's visual performance, the latest developments focus on IOLs with customized freeform surface geometries which compensate corneal aberrations [1–3]. They are produced by a nonpolishing lathing process which offers new challenges for postprocessing lens quality inspection.
To our knowledge, there is no system available for scanning individual IOL surfaces. Currently, the quality inspection of conventional IOLs is done directly in the production chain by interferometry, deflectometry, or wavefront sensors. Interferometry devices compare signals from the sample's surface and focus mainly on spherical surfaces. They are considered the golden standard for optical lens surface inspection. Their limited dynamic range, however, limits their application to basic lens geometries, such as rotationally symmetric or aspheric IOL surfaces. More complex surfaces require sophisticated measures to stay within their limited dynamic range [4, 5]. Deflectometric devices evaluate an IOL surface by projecting a pattern (e.g., lines, chessboard patterns) and analyse its deformation in a camera image [5, 6]. Most setups work in reflection mode with wavelengths in the visible range. Therefore, light is partly reflected off the front surface, while a major part of light is transmitted and reflected off the back side. Both signals are simultaneously received at the detector and interfere with each other. This leads to artefacts and disturbs the measurement. As the IOL is supposed to be implanted after having passed inspection, exposing it to fluids or wax to suppress the back surface reflections is unacceptable. Topography measurements by wavefront sensors are affected by the same issues because current wavefront sensors operate in the visible spectrum.
In order to measure individual surfaces under sterile conditions, we introduce a new device for measuring individual IOL surface topographies: The WaveMaster Reflex UV (Trioptics, Wedel, Germany). Like its predecessors, the WaveMaster IOL and the WaveMaster Pro Reflex, it operates by a Shack-Hartmann sensor (SHS) setup [7]. Both predecessors are, however, not designed for measuring the IOL topography but rather its visual performance. They operate with radiation in the visible range. Therefore, signals from the IOL back side are always overlapped with front surface signals. One can, though, suppress those signals by blackening the back side of the IOL, but this would desterilize the IOL. The novelty of the WaveMaster Reflex UV is its operation in th e near-UV range of 365 nm. The radiation in this wavelength is greatly absorbed inside the IOL material, so that undesired back reflexes are suppressed. The novel achievement of using near-UV radiation in an SHS-based IOL topography scanner enables the sterile measurement of individual IOL surface topographies.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of the new WaveMaster Reflex UV in the field of measuring individual IOL surface topographies.
2. Materials and Methods
The measurements were performed in a lab environment at a temperature of 22°C.
All measured IOLs are made from Contamac blanks [8]. We perform measurements on three kinds of surface topographies The first group contains spherical surface geometries with radii of curvature (ROCs) between 6 mm and 20 mm.
The second group consists of six samples with surface geometries representing a superposition of higher-order aberrations: Zernike coefficients of coma, astigmatism, trefoil, and tetrafoil are added to a spherical surface with a base ROC of 11,5 mm to model higher-order aberrations [15]: The six surfaces are calculated according to the following set of parameters: Sample 1: °; ; Sample 2: °; ; Sample 3: °; ; Sample 4: °; ; Sample 5: °; ; Sample 6: °; .
They are referred to as "higher-order samples."
The third group holds two customized lenses derived from biometric patient data [1–3]. A general quadric surface is described by the following equation:
Alternatively, the surface can be described in matrix nomenclature by
The coefficients of the two surfaces under investigation are
Sample 1
Sample 2
This group is labelled "freeform samples."
The WaveMaster Reflex UV is an SHS-based IOL topography scanner in reflection mode and measures the wavefront aberrations caused by the IOL front surface (Figure 1). The fibre-coupled UV-radiation (365 nm) is directed to the sample by a beam-splitter. The main part of the incoming beam is reflected by the first surface, while the rest is absorbed in the lens because of its high absorption in the near-UV range. The reflected part passes through the beam splitter and is imaged by a microlens array to the SHS. The components are optimized for UV radiation and measure the deviation from a spherical wavefront. This deviation is labelled "residual" in this work.
Figure 2 shows a standard measurement procedure: every sample is measured along the optical axis in two critical positions: the cat's eye position (CE) and measurement position (MP). They are similar to interferometric measurements. In the cat's eye position, the surface's apex is imaged; each ray is reflected in its opposite direction towards the sensor. The measurement position is distinguished by the fact that each ray is reflected back to its original position (see arrows in Figure 2(b)); the entire area is imaged. In this position, the device measures the residual (Difference of sample topography and its best-fit sphere for the measured area) and displays it in a colour-coded map (Figure 3). The user moves the sensor setup by a motorized stage along the optical axis to find the CE and MP positions. Their axial difference is the sample's best-fit ROC. This is the common measurement procedure known from interferometric setups.
The device features the fitting of the measured residual to a Zernike composition, displaying the values of the respective Zernike coefficients [9, 10].
The defocus term is used by the device as the criterion for acquiring the CE and MP positions along the optical axis. In those positions, it is required to be below lambda/10, that is, 37 nm.
The coefficients for tilt in the and direction are labelled with arrows in Figure 4. They guide the user in the sample centration process. The sample is fixed and aligned to its holder during the production process. The holders themselves are inserted to the mount of the device's moving table. A tilt of the lens itself is unexpected. Therefore, any measured tilt is associated with a lateral misalignment of the sample with respect to the device's optical axis. A laterally centered stage results in minimal tilt coefficients.
The measured residual can be compared against a set of surface geometries such as spherical and aspherical, toric and user-defined freeform surfaces. The design topography is limited to the measured part of the surface to ensure comparability. The analysis screen consists of four panels (Figure 5): The first three (upper left, upper right, and lower left, titled "Wavefront," "Reference," and "Residual", resp.) hold colour-coded plots. The "Wavefront" and "Reference" panels show the measured residual and the design residual with a best-fit sphere subtracted from its topography. The corresponding ROC is shown to the right, next to the label "Reference." The "Residual" panel shows the difference between the measured residual in "Wavefront" and the design residual in "Reference." The RMS and P2V values are calculated for all three panels and listed to the right of the labels.
In the evaluation process, we record the following parameters: the sample's best-fit ROC and its residual. The ROC serves as representation of its lower-order aberrations [11]. It has a major effect on the IOL refractive power and is therefore primarily associated with its basic visual performance. The theoretical value for the ROC is either given by the manufacturer in case of spherical surfaces or derived from the design data by the analysis software of the WaveMaster Reflex UV.
The residual evaluation consists of two parameters: the RMS and P2V values [12–14]:
Let be the height value for the th pixel from the total of pixels; then
The RMS and P2V values of spherical lenses are supposed to be zero. In case of nonspherical lenses, the measurement values have to match the corresponding values of the design data. As the RMS and P2V values represent averaged values of a measured residual, they serve to discern any major deviations between design and actual measurements. They do not reveal any information about the location of defects. This point is addressed by comparing the measured residual map against the design residual (see Figure 5).
3. Results
3.1. ROC Measurements
Table 1 contains the ROC measurements of spherical surfaces. The ROC ranges from 6 mm to 20 mm with a step size of 2 mm. Between 12 mm and 16 mm, a smaller step size of 0.5 mm was chosen. The measured and the design ROCs are listed in the second column. The fourth column holds the difference between measurement and design in μm. The average value for the ROC differences between design and measurement was calculated to 18 μm with a standard deviation (SDV) of 12 μm.
The ROC measurements for the higher-order surface geometries are listed in Table 2. The average ROC difference between measurement and design was calculated to be 36 μm with a standard deviation of 5 μm.
Table 3 holds ROC measurements for two IOLs with freeform geometries. As only two surfaces are measured here, the data is provided for descriptive purposes only.
The values for the measured residual of the spherical surfaces are listed in Table 4. Their average values are calculated to be 79 nm/422 nm with a standard deviation of 49 nm/149 nm.
Table 5 shows the results for the residual analysis of the higher-order samples. The last two columns hold the differences between measurement and design for the respective values of RMS and P2V. The average values for the differences are found in the last two lines and are calculated to be 97 nm/415 nm with corresponding values for their standard deviations of 99 nm/439 nm.
The results for the residual analysis are found in Table 6. The resulting differences between measurement and the design data are in the range previously measured: Several 10 nm for RMS values and several 100 nm for the P2V values. Although the two surface geometries are quite different from each other, the numbers are in the same order of magnitude.
3.2. Residual Maps of Patient Data
The results for freeform surface 1 are shown in Figure 5(a). The surface shows a saddle-shaped pattern, typical for toric surfaces. A direct comparison of "Wavefront" with "Reference" may lead to the conclusion that the measured residual matches the design residual. However, looking at the "Residual" panel reveals the major differences in the peripheral areas to the left and to the bottom of the display.
The graphical residual analysis for the second freeform surface is listed in Figure 5(b). The major differences between measurement and design data are located in the centre and calculated to be about 1 μm. The cross-section panel reveals a slight dip in the centre with a depth of about 0.2 μm.
4. Discussion
The measurement of individual IOL surfaces by the wavefront analyser in the near-UV range is straightforward and accurate. Measurements on clinically available topographers revealed that there can be only a limited range of ROCs measureable by the device [15]. In contrast, the device is able to measure all ROCs between 6 mm and 20 mm. The average deviations are less than 20 μm for spherical samples. This might be due to the -stage's moving precision or manufactoring precision of the sample. The small standard deviation in the ROC acquisition demonstrates the minor amount of statistical errors in the acquisition of the CE and MP positions. The measurements on higher-order samples result in larger ROC differences between measurement and design data. The average value is with 36 μm higher than in case of spherical surfaces. As individual freeform components of varying magnitudes are introduced, the concept of a definitive ROC is ambiguous. The sample's design ROC is calculated according to the least-mean-squares method while the measured ROC is acquired as the axial difference between CE and MP positions. The standard deviation of 5 μm indicates that the ROCs of higher-order surface geometries are accurately measured. In case of the freeform IOL surfaces, the deviations are much higher compared to the previous ones. They consist of values around 340 μm. This increase is caused by the increasingly complex surfaces. Calculating a ROC is an approximation to the measured area, which explains the larger deviations.
Measuring the RMS and P2V values of spherical surfaces shows the precision of the device. The values are well below 1 μm, with the RMS values being one order of magnitude less than their corresponding P2V values. Since the design data consist of spherical surface geometries, those numbers directly reflect the manufacturing and measurement precision. The measurements on the higher-order samples match their respective design data. From Ho 1 to Ho 3 there is an increase of values, as is the case with Ho 4 through Ho 6. Ho 3 has the highest amount of values for both RMS and P2V values, which is in accordance with it having the highest amplitudes of Zernike coefficients. Ho 2 and Ho 6 share the same amplitude in their Zernike terms (0.003), with different angle values (0° and 180°). Hence, it was expected that the measurements of those samples should give equal values. This is experimentally confirmed. The surface geomtries are more complex; therefore, the standard deviation is higher than in the case of measuring spherical samples. The measurements of the freeform samples lead to similar results.
The measurements of individual freeform surfaces result in smaller values for the RMS and P2V differences than in the case for higher-order sample geometries.
Looking at the graphical analysis of the first freeform surface, the patterns for measurement and its design data closely match. The most critical deviations are located in the lower left part of the measurement area. We conclude that there is a slight decentration of the sample which results in the pattern seen in Figure 5. This issue can be solved by an individual postprocessed centration of the IOL. The patterns of the second freeform surface differ more. Particularly the blue ridge in the lower left part of the "Reference" panel is not seen in the wavefront graph. We attribute the reason for this disaccordance to a decentration of the sample. The measurements on the residual maps lead to the conclusion that the graphical evaluation is an accurate method to describe differences in topography.
Although convex and concave lens surfaces can be measured by the WaveMaster Reflex UV, we limit this study to the measurement of biconvex IOL designs.
5. Conclusion
The WaveMaster Reflex UV represents a major advancement in the application of measuring individual IOL surfaces, which was impossible if the inspected IOL was required sterile for implantation. The operation in the near-UV range ensures the suppression of reflexes from the IOL back side without desterilizing the IOL. The device operates on a wide range of ROCs with smooth and nonpolished surfaces. The software's capability of measuring and analysing in real time makes it applicable for quality testing in the field of freeform IOL production and manufacturing. Future measurements will show the limits of the device's range in applicability.
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Collagen Rich Foods
Collagen is a naturally occurring fibrous protein that is important in maintaining the health and vitality of connective tissue. Collagen is found in virtually all body organs, including the bones, skin, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. Collagen works with elastin, another structural protein, to maintain connective tissue elasticity. It is destroyed by inflammatory processes, and its synthesis in the body is dependent on the abundance of amino acids. Collagen fibers may benefit from the two amino acids lysine and proline, and the presence of collagen promoting nutrients such as vitamin C.
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Amino Acids
According to Dr. Howard Murad, a board certified dermatologist and clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California at Los Angeles, collagen production within the body's connective tissue depends on adequate levels of amino acids. There are nine essential amino acids, which can't be manufactured by the body itself and must be obtained through diet. Generally, animal sources such as poultry, fish, cheese, milk, and eggs provide all nine essential amino acids.
Lysine and Proline
According to "The World's Healthiest Foods," collagen fibers are comprised largely of hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline. Although there is insufficient evidence to draw a clear connection between foods rich in lysine or proline and collagen synthesis, foods high in these amino acids may support collagen formation. Lysine is an essential amino acid and must be obtained through foods; proline, on the other hand, is a non-essential amino acid that can be manufactured in the body. Good sources of lysine include lean meats and legumes. For optimal collagen synthesis, however, add dietary sources of proline such as egg whites and wheat germ.
Fruits rich in the bioflavonoid anthocyandins, according to WHFoods, have been shown to link collagen fibers and support the connective tissue matrix. Anthocyanidins are present in deep red and purple food sources such as cherries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. According to Michael T. Murray in his book, "Healing Foods," anthocyanidins increase vitamin C levels in cells, protect against free-radical damage and help prevent the destruction of collagen in skin and connective tissue.
Supporting Nutrients
According to "Healing Foods," the nutrients vitamin C and copper are of particular importance in collagen production and tissue repair. Eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as kiwi, broccoli, watercress, oranges, peppers, cantaloupe and dandelion greens. Regarding copper, according to Patrick Holford, author of the book "The New Optimum Nutrition Bible," daily copper requirements are met simply by drinking water that has passed through copper pipelines.


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A 10-year-old legal battle that some hoped had ended in January when a jury awarded $15.9 million to West Palm Beach Lawyer Joseph Farish, could be before jurors again because of a judge`s decision to cut the award by $10 million.
A Palm Beach County Circuit jury had determined that Bankers Multiple Line Insurance Co., a firm that had been owned by billionaire John D. MacArthur, should pay Farish the $15.9 million because MacArthur had coaxed a young widow into firing Farish as her attorney.
Retired Broward County Circuit Judge Lamar Warren, who was assigned to preside over the case, lowered the award last week claiming that the record- setting sum is ``grossly excessive and without sufficient foundation in the evidence to justify such an award.``
``The court finds that the verdict is so manifestly excessive and against the weight of evidence as to shock the judicial conscience,`` Warren said in his order.
The judge said the judgment amounted to about 60 percent of the insurance company`s net worth and ``results in economic castigation.``
As part of his order, Warren said that if Farish does not accept the reduced judgment, a new trial would be granted.
Farish would not comment on the case, but his attorney, Robert Montgomery, said it is likely that Farish will not accept the reduced award.
``I think we`ll appeal it,`` Montgomery said, adding that the final decision would be made by Farish. ``We think the court was in error. My advice is to take her up.``


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GDA nod for changes in building regulations
To accommodate more vertical expansion in the future, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) on Saturday cleared several proposals, including an amendment in the existing 2008 building by-laws. Peeyush Khandelwal reports.india Updated: May 19, 2013 01:25 IST
To accommodate more vertical expansion in the future, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) on Saturday cleared several proposals, including an amendment in the existing 2008 building by-laws.
The proposals are intended to upgrade the housing infrastructure as per the requirements of the NCR Regional Plan-2021.
The GDA cleared nearly 60 proposed amendments in the existing by-laws and has sent the proposal to the state town planning department for its approval. In June 2012, the authority had sent a similar amendment proposal, which is yet to be cleared.
"Several changes were sought from the state administration and we have incorporated the changes in the by-laws. If cleared, the proposals will also help in accommodating more population and ever-increasing number of vehicles in the city," said Santosh Kumar Yadav, vice-chairman, GDA.
Officials said the new amendments will be for the new housing projects and sought over the existing 2008 by-laws.
One of the major amendments is increase in the number of storeys and height of the plotted development buildings.
As per the existing 2008 by-laws, three storeys were allowed for buildings up to 12 meters. The authority has now proposed that the height of a building be increased up to 15 meters with a provision of four storeys and stilt-parking. Parking space for each flat will also be included in the proposal.
It has also proposed to have a basement parking, below the 15% green areas. Previously, basement parking was not allowed below the green-areas in 2008 by-laws.
It is also proposed that there would be no conditional restriction over the setback area. In the existing by-laws, a setback area of 6 meters is a mandatory requirement. The setback area is a space used for free movement of fire tenders around the buildings in case of emergency situations.
One of the other major proposal, aimed at accommodating more parking spaces, is to allow a basement area with a conditional 2 meter setback area on three sides, with the front-side extendable to the property-line (up to plot boundary on the road side) area.
Previously, there was a restriction of only 20% basement area to be constructed for plotted development, ranging from 101 square meters to 2000 square meters.
"The design of a building should be such that there is ample space for fire-tender movement," a senior GDA official said.
The new proposals have also highlighted the need for construction of more garages for parking of vehicles as in majority of cases it is seen that vehicles are parked over the roads.
In proposed amendments, the garages are left out of the floor area ratio (FAR). This would encourage development of garages and allowing more space for housing construction.
First Published: May 19, 2013 00:26 IST


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Upsides of best PSD to XHTML conversion servicesQuality PSD to XHTML conversion services is imperative to assure perfect website design. Flawless conversion results in a website with perfect design and clean codes. The very first step to build a website is designing and it is usually crafted as a PSD file which follows its conversion to mark-up. The perfection achieved relies hugely


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Spring is here and so are the Home & Garden shows! Our friends at Green Streets Environmental Services were excited to be involved in this year's Cincinnati Home & Garden Show. As a founding partner in The Sustainability Partnership of Cincinnati (TSPC), they are a leader in green build and construction – from LEED and Passive Architecture through finished construction.
For his year's conference, Green Streets and TSPC worked up a full sustainably-minded garden and eco house. The "Milky Way Garden and Star Powered Home" name given by partner Lohre & Associates of Cincinnati, was designed with input from all of the partners. "This has really helped spark imagination" said Tre Sheldon, one of the principles at Green Streets.
Filled with sustainable materials, and unique idea's, the visitors could see solar panels, raised planters, green roofs, and living walls. The living wall used our VGM modular wall unit, and was designed and installed by Green Streets Environmental Services with special help from the West Hills Green Houses also of Cincinnati. "The versatility, durability, and design of Tournsol's products are truly the very best on the market today" said Benjamin Haggerty of Green Streets. He went on to say "be it an interior or exterior application, we won't work with any other supplier then Tournsol for Living Walls, there just isn't anything better". Thanks, Benjamin, we couldn't have said it better ourselves!
Since 1969, Cincinnati has welcomed Hart Productions Home & Garden show as a right of spring and a unique oasis that help's shake off those winter blues. Tens of thousands come through annually to tour unique gardens and see the latest offerings and most innovative products from all over the world. Thanks to Green Streets for including Tournesol Siteworks this year!


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Kesha Heads to the Bahamas with Boyfriend Brad Ashenfelter
Kesha looks gorgeous while making her way into LAX Airport for a flight out of town on Friday night (February 26) in Los Angeles.
The 28-year-old singer was joined by her boyfriend Brad Ashenfelter for a trip to the Bahamas.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Kesha
Kesha was asked by photographers to comment on her current legal battle with Dr. Luke and she brought up that her fans are her "everything." She was also asked if she loves Taylor Swift and she responded by saying "of course," according to video on TMZ.


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This is relevant for Google AdWords only. Bing Ads kindly sets the appropriate match type for each search term you want to add. This guide assumes that you are familiar with the basics of using Microsoft Excel.
You're a PPC Specialist and you've just taken over a neglected PPC account and the first thing you do is go to the account level, choose the last 60 days and run an AdWords search term report. Only to find out that there are hundreds of terms that have converted but have not been added to the account!
If you're in AdWords, when you select a keyword to be added (as a positive kw), it automatically selects the match type as broad, which of course you do not want.
Depending on the account structure, you would probably want to add the terms in either exact or phrase match (or possibly in modified broad match). Doing this manually via the interface would be a very tedious task. So we've come up with quick solution with the help of our friend Microsoft Excel:
- Select the relevant keywords and run the AdWords search term report for your desired date range
- Click on the download button and choose '.csv' format.
- Open the sheet then filter based on your chosen criteria (conversions, clicks, CTR, etc).
- Copy and paste all the keywords that you wish to add to the account into a new sheet (preserving the column titles).
- Do a find and replace to change 'phrase (close variant)' and 'exact (close variant)' to 'phrase' and 'exact' respectively.
- Change the column titled 'search term' to 'keyword'. Save the file in the csv format.
- Open AdWords Editor and click on Account>Import>From File and select the chosen csv file.
- Review imports before confirming acceptance, then upload the changes via AdWords Editor and you're done!
This simple 8-stage process can save you hours of fiddling around in the interface when it comes to adding new keywords to your account via an AdWords search term report.


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We believe art makes life better. It can brighten our days, bring us together and change our lives. If you believe this too, please…
The Culture Club perks
Join us from just $5 per month and we'll say a big thank you very much for your kind donation with these great supporter perks. Want to know more? Check out our FAQs
Get the best seats at the best price
You'll get access to tickets ahead of the crowd for any Festival-run events like these:
Interesting events for interested people
Want to star in a work of video art? Fancy a midnight tour of City Gallery Wellington? If you like to do stuff that's arty and unique, you'll love our new year-round Club events – including talks, debates, performances and parties – focusing on all areas of culture. Come Festival-time there will be behind-the-scenes happenings and tours too.
Check out our latest events.
Know your arts from your elbow
Perfect for the arts addicts or Festival fans, our incredible Content Editor (ex-NZ Listener Books & Culture Editor Guy Somerset) will bring you the juiciest international culture news – as well as specially commissioned art from top New Zealand talent.
The Culture Club FAQs
I'm a Friend of the Festival, what's happening with that?
We've put together this information especially for you on our Friends of the Festival page.
Can only one person join The Culture Club at a time?
No, you can join for two people at the same time. The minimum donation amount is $5 per person (monthly) or $60 per person (yearly). All you need to do is add the second person as an 'Additional Culture Club Supporter' when you join.
When will my payment be taken?
For monthly payments, your first payment will occur on the first 20th of the month after you have successfully joined The Culture Club. For example if you join on 31 August, your first payment will be taken on 20 September and the 20th of each month going forward.
For yearly payments, your first payment will occur on the first 20th of the month after you have successfully joined The Culture Club. For example, if you join on 31 August, your first payment will be taken on 20 September. You will be billed again on the same day the following year.
How do I update my account details?
If your payment, address or contact details have changed please contact the New Zealand Festival with your new details and we will update these for you. You can do this by either calling us on (04) 912 0420 or emailing firstname.lastname@example.com.
How do I stop supporting The Culture Club?
To stop your supporter payment to the New Zealand Festival, please either call us on (04) 912 0420 or email email@example.com with your request.
Can I pay a one-off donation?
If you wish to make a one-off donation, you can do so by contacting the Festival directly on (04) 473 0149 and we would be happy to assist.
How do I claim tax back on my donation?
We will email you a tax donation receipt at the end of each tax year, after 31 March. This will be all you need to send the IRD along with your tax credit claim form to claim your refund.
What happens if I book tickets for one of the early announcements, but then another great Festival event is announced on the same date – can I go to both?
As a supporter of The Culture Club you can exchange tickets between different dates for the same show. For example, if you book For the Birds on 8 March, but there is a show you would like to go to announced on that date, you can exchange your tickets for one of the other performances of For the Birds at no cost.
Have we missed something?
If you have any other questions which have not been answered here, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either by phone on (04) 912 0420 or by emailing email@example.com and we will be more than happy to help.
Ready to become a supporter of The Culture Club?Join us!


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Reward offered in armed robbery of EZ Money store
Fort Bend County Crimes Stoppers, Inc. will pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the subjects involved in the aggravated robbery of an EZ Money Store.
At about 9:55 a.m. Friday, March 2, 2012, deputies were called to the store, located in the 8700 block of Highway 6 South in the Houston area of the county.
The first suspect, described as a black male wearing a black wig and a bright, multi-colored t-shirt and pink pajama pants, walked up to the counter as if to pay something , but instead, jumped the counter and brandished a gun.
At that point, a second suspect entered the store. He is described as a thin black male who was wearing a black ski mask, blue jeans and a black hooded sweat shirt.
A customer then entered the store only to be accosted by the second suspect, who demanded money from him.
The suspects fled the store with cash in hand. No one was injured.
One of the suspects is believed to be connected with two similar cases in the Houston area. Witnesses from the Fort Bend case positively identified a still photo from one of those robberies as one of the same suspects that robbed the Fort Bend location. In the Houston case, the suspect is dressed as a woman.
Information which leads to the apprehension and filing of charges on the suspects involved could earn a reward of up to $5,000.
Call Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office at 281-341-4665, Fort Bend Crime Stoppers, Inc. at 281-342-TIPS (8477) or text plus the tip to CRIMES (274637). Tips also can be submitted online at www.fortbend-tx-crimestoppers.org.
All calls to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.


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Nothing More Practical
A homily preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, March 1, 2017, Ash Wednesday.
Texts: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
We need more love in the world. I imagine we might all agree with that. But what kind of love do we need more of? Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, suggests we need more eros. Not the over-sexualized kind of love that is often associated with this Greek word for love, but rather the profound attraction and desire that draws us "towards something beyond [ourselves] which gives meaning—the other person that I love, the God I seek to love." Williams connects this desire to our yearning for meaning and acceptance.[i] What if our eros was understood not as lust, but as desire for the one who will love us, hold us, be patient with us as we learn to trust, as we learn to let go of control, as we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to [...]


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A nation watched in horror as lawmakers uprooted mikes, threw chairs, stormed the speaker's podium and tore his shirt in the Tamil Nadu assembly during the new chief minister's trust vote last weekend.
Similar ugly scenes engulfed the Andhra Pradesh assembly in September 2016, as opposition legislators jostled with marshals near the speaker's podium and ripped up the mike. For the record, pandemonium has become part and parcel of state assemblies and even Parliament.
The cue wasn't lost on the architects and interior designers of the new Andhra Pradesh assembly at Velagapudi in Amaravati, the bifurcated state's modern capital.
The august House is bedlam-proof — to a large extent.
Built by construction major Shapoorji and Pallonji, the assembly hall is kitted out with an ultramodern audio system from Germany. Unlike conventional microphones with a handle and a speaker, the rectangular mikes are fitted firmly on the members' benches.
That makes these devices sound; impossible to uproot or even break.
"The microphones can catch the voice of a member even when he is standing. He does not need the hold the mike near his mouth," an engineer told Hindustan Times last week.
Another feature to ride out a political storm is the height of the speaker's podium — placed at least seven feet from the well of the House.
"It prevent the members from storming the podium, throw papers on the speaker and ransack the place, leave alone assaulting him. Even if the members climb the desks of the assembly secretary and staff below the podium, they cannot reach the speaker's chair," the engineer said.
Stairs leading to the chair are barricaded to prevent members from reaching the speaker.
All hell breaks loose in the well of the House during an opposition protest. The architects of the new assembly have taken care of that, making the well smaller. Not many members can fit in when they dash to the coveted area in front of the speaker's podium to shout slogans.
These highlights might get tested when the assembly sits for the for the budget session from March 3 — the first in Amaravati.
"We have held six assembly sessions in Hyderabad and we are now moving to Amaravati. We have built the new assembly in a record time of one year," speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao said.
The assembly complex, that cost more than Rs 1,000 crore after price escalation, has the lawmakers' hall on the ground floor with 225 seats. A futuristic thought as an anticipated delimitation of constituencies by 2019 would take the strength of the House to that many members from the current 175.
The Opposition described the building a waste of taxpayer's money. A group of YSR Congress lawmakers complained that there was no "peshi" for the leader of Opposition, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, and that the chamber allotted to him was too small. A peshi comprises a chamber as well as anterooms for staff.


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Maricopa Manor is everything that a bed and breakfast inn should be! The room (apartment, really), the grounds, the host, and the breakfast were all magnificent. I could have have moved in and stayed for good! If I am ever back in Phoenix, I will go out of my way to stay here again! Thanks Joan!
- Free Wifi
- Free Parking