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How to Buy Audiobooks, Movies, and Non-Music Products from iTunes
The iTunes Music Store is now just called the iTunes Store because you can purchase a lot more than just music for your iPod. Whether you're an audiobook fan or a TV buff, or a lifelong learner, you can use your Mac to find what you need on Apple iTunes.
Audiobooks: From Ernest Hemingway to James Patterson, you can find the iTunes equivalent of books on tape. You can sample 90-second previews, three times as long as music selections. Of course, audio books can go on for hours, compared to three or four minutes for your average song. Prices vary too. A 23-minute audio of Stephen Colbert's remarks at the White House Correspondents' Dinner costs $1.95; an eight-and-a-half-hour audio version of "Papa" Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms goes for $25.95.
Podcasts: Podcasts, found in the Podcasts genre inside iTunes, are another form of Internet radio; you can listen to these free, downloadable files whenever you find time. However, many podcasts go beyond radio and show video. Podcasts cover a broad range of topics (business, politics, sports, TV and film, technology, and so on) and are served up by experienced broadcasters, mainstream media outlets (National Public Broadcasting, Newsweek, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal), and ordinary people.
You can fetch individual episodes by clicking Get Episode or subscribe to podcasts that arrive on a regular basis. As with audiobooks, you can click to hear (or watch) a 90-second sample.
You can find the podcasts you've downloaded by clicking Podcasts in the Source list. You can also instruct iTunes on how often to check for new episodes (hourly, daily, weekly, manually) and how long to keep episodes you've downloaded (all unplayed, most recent, last two, last five, and more).
Video and TV shows: Lost was among the first handful of TV shows that Apple made available on iTunes. The number of programs quickly mushroomed to incorporate everything from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to The Sopranos. Music videos and short films are also available.
Videos and TV shows inside iTunes cost $1.99 to $2.99 apiece; high-definition shows fetch the higher price. As with audio tracks, you can sample 30-second previews and also subscribe to a season for a given series.
Before you can transfer some videos to an iPod, you may have to convert them to a format iPod recognizes. Select the video and choose Advanced→Convert Selection for iPod.
Movies: Apple not only sells motion pictures through iTunes but rents them, too. Newer films typically cost $14.99 to purchase or $3.99 to rent; add a buck for HD. Rented movies come with restrictions. You have 30 days to start watching, but only 24 hours to finish once you've begun playing it.
Through iTunes you can view the trailer and read plot summaries, the credits, and customer reviews. You can watch a movie on your computer. If you want to watch the widescreen TV in your home theater, you need to purchase Apple's $229 (on up) box called Apple TV that connects to a TV and wirelessly communicates with your iTunes library to show movies, pictures, and videos and play music through the television.
iPod games: Want to play Sudoku or Pac-Man on your iPod? Apple sells Sudoku, Pac-Man, and other iPod games in iTunes for $4.99 each. As of this writing, the games were compatible with third-generation iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and some other models, (but not the Touch or iPhone). And though the games are transferred to the iPod when you connect it to iTunes on your Mac, you can't actually play the games on your computer.
The App Store: If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can access nifty programs for those devices — covering games, news, productivity, social networking, and more. More than 3,000 apps were available as of this writing, with more than 90 percent priced at under $10 and more than 600 free. While you can access the App Store wirelessly on an iPhone or Touch, you can also get there directly via iTunes.
iTunes U: If you're a lifelong learner, you'll enjoy the more than 50,000 free educational audio and video files from top colleges, museums, and other global organizations.


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The Real Estate Exam High Score Kit is written material to be used during the last week or two prior to your real estate exam during the home stretch of your preparation. At this stage you want to study the most recent and accurate questions available!
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This book is prepared under the direction of Michael Lustig, former Instructor at the University of California, California State Universities and Colleges, and California Community Colleges, and licensed real estate broker.


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Jeremy Corbyn will seek the support of voters in the North of England as he helps launch a new Labour group devoted to pushing regeneration projects in the party's traditional heartlands.
The leadership frontrunner will dismiss Chancellor George Osborne's pledge to create a "Northern Powerhouse" as "little more than southern hot air".
And the Islington North MP will suggest his policies would be shaped by a Northern Futures body being formed by five MPs backing his campaign.
It comes as rival Andy Burnham prepares to spend the bank holiday weekend touring northern cities with a pledge to win back more than a million voters lost to Ukip at the general election in May.
The shadow health secretary, who has sought to exploit his northern heritage as a vote winner, will concede the party was guilty of "avoiding" difficult issues such as the impact of immigration.
Extra EU funds for areas that face most pressure from new arrivals will be among his proposed responses to a report commissioned from MP Dan Jarvis about the failure to take on Ukip.
Mr Corbyn said: "For too long talk of northern regeneration has been little more than southern hot air.
"I am delighted that our astonishing campaign this summer has given birth to Northern Futures, an organisation which will put forward policy ideas to rebalance the economy more fairly in favour of the North.
"It's a great example of the pattern of democratic process of consultation we will pursue if we win the leadership race."
The Northern Futures group is being spearheaded by Jon Trickett, the MP for Hemsworth, who said half of England had been "left out" because of years of under-investment.
Speaking about the 1,400 people who responded to the consultation, he said: "Nobody asked for a hand out, but people here want investment and they want to know that our voices will be heard.
"That's why we are launching Northern Futures and it will be the organisation that stands up for issues that matter to people in the North of England who are too often forgotten inside the Westminster bubble."
In his report, Mr Jarvis said Labour had been "in denial for too long" about the threat of Ukip and was "in danger of becoming irrelevant" after falling to third place in some constituencies.
The party was "yet to develop an effective counter attack" to the eurosceptic advance which saw it shed crucial support across a swathe of seats in its traditional northern heartlands.
On immigration, Mr Burnham said: "For too long, Labour campaigners have been avoiding people's eyes when this subject comes up on the doorstep.
"We need to respond to people's legitimate concerns about the challenges that EU migration creates in some of our poorest communities."
Other MPs supporting Northern Futures are Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford & Eccles), Richard Burgon, (Leeds East), Cat Smith (Lancaster & Fleetwood) and Grahame Morris (Easington).


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Khloe Kardashian has posted a photo of sister Kim posing next to an x-ray photo of her own butt, thus confirming what no one previously believed: It's real, and it's fabulous.
"Hey dolls. The PROOF is in the X-ray. Kim's ass is 100% real!!!" Khloé Tweeted.
The, ahem, butt of the joke retweeted the post. "The things my sisters have me do! Proof baby!" Kim Tweeted.
Yep, that's pretty much exactly like the relationship I have with my sister.
Justin Theroux was sitting in the front row during Jennifer Aniston's recent taping of Inside The Actor's Studio. It's so real now! [US]
Comedian Jerry Lewis was rushed to the hospital today in Sydney just moments before he was set to appear at a show for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of Australia. No word yet, but hopefully he's doing okay. [E!]
- Will James Spader play the new boss on The Office? [AOL]
- Jason Segel talks to David Letterman about the photo that motivated him to lose weight. [People]
- Dita Von Teese and her boyfriend are seriously classy. [JustJared]
- Sherri Shepherd is slimming down so she can have another baby. [People]
- "I'm not looking for anyone. I really want to focus on myself and get to know myself and be in Malibu with my girls and just enjoy the summer. So no, no one. I'm not looking for anyone." —Paris Hilton [E!]
- Project Runway understands that most dresses look best on models who are over seven feet tall. [CocoPerez]
- R.I.P Peter Falk. [TMZ]


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Amid pageantry, Albany has a new bishop
'Bring the best out of me and I will bring the best out of you'
From a kid in Queens who recited the rosary almost every day to a priest and leader in New York City, the next chapter in the devout life of Edward Scharfenberger — and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany — began with pageantry Thursday as the 65-year-old was ordained as Albany's 10th bishop in a triumphant ceremony at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
It's been four decades since there was a new face of the Albany diocese, which stretches across 14 counties and represents 330,000 Catholics.
Scharfenberger was welcomed as the newest bishop under a warm spring sun, alongside 200 priests and 34 other bishops, including bishop emeritus Howard Hubbard, who had led the Albany diocese since 1977.
A choir serenaded, hymns were sung, horns trumpeted and the state's Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, led the spectacular and more than two-hour-long ordination, the likes of which the city has not seen since Hubbard was ordained 37 years ago.
Just after 3:20 p.m., Dolan covered Scharfenberger's gray hair with a white and dark-striped bishop's miter. Scharfenberger turned toward the crowd and broke into a wide smile. A lengthy standing ovation erupted.
"All I ask of you is that you bring the best out of me and I will bring the best out of you," Scharfenberger later told the roughly 1,300 attendees.
Scharfenberger's tenure as bishop will not be nearly as lengthy as Hubbard's — the church mandates that bishops resign from governing at 75. But Thursday's ceremony ushered in what is sure to be a new era for area Catholics.
The soft-spoken, Troy-born Hubbard is the only bishop many Capital Region Catholics had ever known. Scharfenberger, whose family ran a church goods store in New York City that sold miters and crosiers like the ones he donned Thursday, spent most of his life in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens and comes from an entirely urban diocese. There, Scharfenberger developed a reputation as a compassionate conversationalist and magnetic shepherd, virtues that were on display Thursday.
Speaking to the crowd after he was ordained, Scharfenberger exhibited an air of excitement, charisma and just a touch of Brooklynese as he regaled his audience with tales of how, as a child, prayer shaped his life from a young age. He gave generous praise to Dolan, Hubbard and his parents, Edward and Elaine, who sat in the front row at Thursday's ordination.
"Each and every one of us has the power to change that world just by simply being true to who we are," Scharfenberger said. He later added, "Never be afraid of God's call. Never be afraid of being holy. Jesus is the one who will lead you. Carry that message wherever you go."
Picked by Pope Francis as Hubbard's successor in February, Scharfenberger has been a lawyer for more than two decades. He played a significant role in how the Diocese of Brooklyn handled the clergy sex scandal as a member of the Diocesan Review Board for Sexual Abuse of Minors.
After training at the Vatican, Scharfenberger led St. Matthias Church in Ridgewood, a multi-ethnic congregation with a large German contingent.
Scharfenberger said he and Dolan are good friends.
Despite the spotlight cast on Scharfenberger Thursday, Dolan in his own way steered the focus of the service to the Catholic church as a whole.
"Is today about Edward Scharfenberger? No. ...Is today about his diocese in Brooklyn? Fuggedaboutit!" Dolan said. "Today is about Jesus Christ and his church."
The grand ordination included a long procession of the priests, bishops and deacons from Eagle Street and into the massive church. Clothed in white and dark robes, they snaked around the street for a couple blocks.
A representative from the Vatican read a letter on the pope's behalf. Minutes before the miter was placed on his head, Scharfenberger lay prone, on his stomach, in front of the altar as a the name of every saint was read followed by a chorus of "Pray for us."
Scharfenberger took a seat in the ornate cathedra — the bishop's chair — and held the crosier of the recently deceased Bishop Joseph Sullivan, who worked in Queens and Brooklyn and died last year from injures suffered in a car accident.
In his first communion as bishop, Scharfenberger handed out wafers and wine to hundreds, including well-known local politicians, and children.
The crowd stood as Scharfenberger gripped the crosier of his fallen friend and toured the aisles, blessing the audience.
Outside, he shook hands and quipped with everyone within earshot and camera range.
"Keep up the good work," he told a couple of city police officers on horseback.
"Great to meet you. We'll pray for each other. That's what we do," he told one woman.
He stopped for a few quick interviews with reporters and promised some firefighters he'd drop by their station soon.
"I hope you don't mind if I just show up and knock on the door," he told them.
Scharfenberger eventually made his way to the rectory across the street. Before entering he glanced back, smiled and waved to the crowd.
firstname.lastname@example.com • 454-5414 • @BFitzgeraldTU


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RYOT® Wooden Magnetic Short Taster Box in Maple
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Tip: Adjust your search filter by deleting one or more filters or extending your search, e.g. with additional positions, sectors or locations.
With our job newsletter, you will receive suitable job ads as well as interesting content matching your search profile  on a weekly basis.
The Berlin Mathematical School is a joint graduate program between the mathematics departments at three universities and a part of the Excellence Initiative


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To test the hypothesis that low iron availability, measured as transferrin saturation, is associated with low nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO2) in children with homozygous sickle cell anemia (SCA; hemoglobin SS).
This was a cross-sectional study of Tanzanian children with SCA who were not receiving regular blood transfusions. Thirty-two children (16 boys) with SCA (mean age 8.0, range 3.6-15.3 years) underwent motion-resistant nocturnal oximetry (Masimo Radical) and had steady state serum transferrin saturation and hematological indices assessed.
Higher transferrin saturation, adjusted for age and α-thalassemia deletion, was associated with lower nocturnal mean SpO2 (p = 0.013, r2 = 0.41), number of SpO2 dips/h > 3% from baseline (p = 0.008, r2 = 0.19) and with min/h with SpO2 < 90% (p = 0.026 r2 = 0.16). Transferrin saturation < 16% (indicative of iron deficiency) was associated with a 2.2% higher nocturnal mean SpO2.
Contrary to our hypothesis, higher iron availability, assessed by transferrin saturation, is associated with nocturnal chronic and intermittent hemoglobin oxygen desaturation in SCA. Whether these associations are causal and are driven by hypoxia-inducible factor and hepcidin-mediated upregulation of demand for iron warrants further investigation.
Cox SE; L'Esperance V; Makani J; Soka D; Prentice AM; Hill CM; Kirkham FJ. Sickle cell anemia: iron availability and nocturnal oximetry. J Clin Sleep Med 2012;8(5):541-545.
Sickle cell anemia (SCA) remains one of the most common inherited diseases, with the major burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa, where iron deficiency is also common.1 Determinants of the wide variation in the clinical expression of SCA are being investigated; current candidates include hemolytic rate2 and hemoglobin oxygen desaturation,3 both of which may be modified by iron status through effects on red cell count and mean cell hemoglobin concentrations (MCHC), thus affecting red cell oxygen carrying capacity. Iron deficiency, if severe enough, should contribute to the level of anemia in SCA and also decrease mean cell volume and MCHC. However, there is some evidence that in SCA, higher iron status is associated with increased hemolysis, lower hemoglobin, but higher MCHC.4 Higher MCHC may cause increased sickling rates as the propensity of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) to polymerize increases with concentration of HbS. Reduced MCHC in co-inherited α-thalassemia is a proposed mechanism for some beneficial effects in SCA.5 Thus red cell indices are affected by co-inherited α-thalassemia and iron status, but overall effects on hemoglobin oxygen saturations are unknown.
The prevalence of nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen desaturation is increased in SCA6 and is associated with complications including frequent painful crisis7 and vascular dysfunction.8,9 The underlying mechanisms of hemoglobin oxygen desaturation are poorly understood but likely involve anemia and red cell physiology. Reduced lung function in children with SCA does not appear to be an important factor,10,11 but interactions with cardiac function are likely in view of the high prevalence of elevated pulmonary pressures, with the potential for right-to-left shunting, as well as diastolic dysfunction.9,12
Current Knowledge/Study Rationale: Nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen desaturation in children with sickle cell disease is associated with increased rate of complications. Determinants of nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen desaturation in children with sickle cell disease are unclear, but we hypothesised that they could include iron deficiency, potentially common in African children with poor diets.
Study Impact: This study reports for the first time an association between increased iron availability measured as transferrin saturation and nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen desaturation, both sustained and intermittent, in non-transfused children with sickle cell disease. This suggests that iron deficiency may have potentially beneficial effects in sickle cell disease. It is also possible that this association is the result of reverse causality, with increased hemoglobin oxygen desaturation driving increased iron mobilization.
Limited data on iron status in SCA populations exist, partly because determination of iron status is complex due to inflammation increasing ferritin independently of iron status. Transferrin saturation may be reduced in inflammation, but values < 16% have been reported to be sensitive to response to iron supplementation in SCA.13 Iron deficiency may be underestimated in children with SCA and may be particularly common in sub-Saharan Africa. Low or absent iron stores within the bone marrow have been reported, especially in non-transfused patients.14
In children from the general population undergoing adenotonsillectomy, anemia and markers suggestive of iron deficiency are reported to be common.15 We therefore investigated the relationship between transferrin saturation, α-thalassemia genotype, and nocturnal oximetry in pediatric SCA patients with the hypothesis that those with evidence of iron deficiency would have lower SpO2.
Ethical permission was granted by the Muhimibili University of Health – Allied Sciences ethics committee (MU/RP/AECNoI.XII/77). Written informed consent was obtained from parents or guardians in their own language and where appropriate, children's assent obtained. Data were collected between the 9 March and 19 June 2009.
Children (< 16 y) were recruited from confirmed HbSS patients enrolled in a cohort study at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar-es-Salaam1 during a routine clinic visit when clinically well. All cohort children are routinely prescribed folate supplementation (5 mg/day) and prophylactic chloroquine. None of the children were receiving hydroxyurea or routine blood transfusions.
Motion-resistant pulse oximetry was sampled in the day at rest and over a single night using a 2-sec averaging time and 1 Hz sampling rate (Masimo Radical, Artemis UK). Sleep diaries were kept by the attending parent or guardian during the night. Data analysis was performed with Download 2001 software (Stowood Scientific, Oxford UK). Poor perfusion, low signal identification and quality, movement artifact data, and periods of wakefulness as recorded in the sleep diary were excluded manually. Only studies with a minimum of 4 h of artifact-free data were included. Analysis software yielded standard measures including mean and minimum SpO2 and desaturation index ≥ 3% from baseline.
Averaged steady-state values for hemoglobin and other red cell indices from full blood pictures (Pentra 60, Horiba ABX, Kyoto, Japan) conducted at routine clinic visits in the previous year were calculated. Blood samples were collected between 08:00 and 10:00. Serum iron and total iron binding capacity were measured in stored samples (Architect C8000, Abbott, New York, USA) meeting steady-state criteria: temperature ≤ 37.4°C, negative malaria rapid test, and absence of pain or hospital admission within 90 days. Transferrin saturation was calculated from serum iron and total iron binding capacity.
Variables were inspected for normality and multivariable linear regression was used (STATA 11-IC; StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). No differences were observed with log-transformed or non-transformed variables with mild positive skew, thus results of non-transformed data are presented. P values < 0.05 were considered significant.
Out of 50 children with SCA in whom nocturnal oximetry was conducted, 32 (mean age 8.0 [SD 3.3; range 3.6-15.3] years, 16 boys (50%) also had transferrin saturation assessed. Descriptive statistics for transferrin saturation, averaged steady-state hematology, and pulse oximetry data are given in Table 1. There were no significant differences in age, sex, hematology, or pulse oximetry data between those who had transferrin saturation data available and those who did not (data not shown). Data from 3 (1 boy, 1 with α-thalassemia; mean age 7.0 [SD 1.4; range 5.7-8.3] years) were excluded because there were < 4 h of artifact-free data. There were no differences between transferrin saturation in those who were included (mean 22.2%, SD 10.9) and excluded (mean 17.3%, SD 3.8). Twenty-eight percent (9/32) had low transferrin saturation (< 16%) indicating probable iron deficiency (Table 1), a similar proportion to all SCA patients with data available (25%, N = 212/836, unpublished data, Cox et al.) but lower than in non-SCA Tanzanian control children (32/66, 48%). No SCA patients had high transferrin saturation (> 55%) which might indicate iron overload. Twenty-five patients (78%) had never received a blood transfusion. The remaining patients had received one (5 patients) or two (2 patients) blood transfusions in their lifetime. There was no association between transferrin saturation and age, sex, nutritional status (body mass index z-score), or blood transfusion history. Thirty of the 32 children with transferrin saturation data available had genotypes for the 3.7 α-thalassemia deletion: 11 (37%) were heterozygous and 1 was homozygous (3.3%). There were no statistically significant associations between transferrin saturation and steady-state averaged hemoglobin, red cell count, or mean cell volume in these children (data not shown). Presence of the 3.7 α-thalassemia deletion was associated with a 56% increase in transferrin saturation (p = 0.034), but was not significantly associated with any of the hematology variables in this study population (data not shown).
Iron status, steady-state hematology, and daytime and nocturnal pulse oximetry data in 32 Tanzanian children with sickle cell anemia
(more ...)
Differences in nocturnal SpO2 and in the number of dips per hour in SpO2 > 3% from baseline levels according to transferrin saturation status (' or < 16%) and α thalassemia 3.7 deletion genotype, unadjusted for age are shown in Table 2. The results of multivariable linear regression analyses of the associations between nocturnal oximetry data and transferrin saturation, averaged steady-state hematology variables and α-thalassemia deletion, adjusted for age, are shown in Table 3. There was an inverse association between the number of dips per hour in SpO2 > 3% and mean nocturnal SpO2 (p < 0.001, adjusted r2 = 0.36). An increase in the number of dips per hour in SpO2 > 3% from baseline levels was associated with higher transferrin saturation (Figure 1, Table 3). However, minimum nocturnal SpO2 was not associated with transferrin saturation but was positively associated with increased red cell count and hemoglobin concentration (Table 3). Decreased mean nocturnal SpO2 was significantly associated with higher transferrin saturation, independent of age. Presence of the 3.7 α-thalassemia deletion was also significantly associated with higher transferrin saturation. However, when these variables were included in a single model, only age and transferrin saturation remained significantly associated with mean nocturnal SpO2 (Table 3).
Nocturnal mean SpO2 (%) and number of SpO2 dips > 3%/h according to iron status and α-thalassemia genotype.
Relationships between nocturnal oximetry data and transferrin saturation, averaged steady-state hematology measures and α-thalassemia 3.7 deletion using linear regression, adjusted for age as indicated (N = 32, unless otherwise stated)
Association between transferrin saturation and mean nocturnal SpO2 showing the regression line and the 95% confidence interval
In this study we report that nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen desaturation is associated with higher levels of transferrin saturation independently of the presence of the 3.7 α-thalassemia deletion in SCA, although levels were not suggestive of iron overload (unlikely in our non-transfused population). Although this relationship was unexpected and is counter to our prior hypothesis, it is in line with data from adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) from the general population, in whom higher ferritin levels were associated with lower minimum overnight SpO2.16 Although this prior observation could have resulted from OSA associated inflammation as a confounding factor, in our study chronic inflammation would be expected to decrease transferrin saturation and is therefore unlikely to be a confounder.
We can think of theoretical mechanisms by which higher iron availability could result in lower nocturnal SpO2 (Figure 2), but the most parsimonious explanation is that of reverse causality involving an effect of desaturation on iron metabolism through the hypoxic-inducible factors (HIF-1 and HIF-2).17 Hemoglobin oxygen desaturation causes upregulation of HIF-1 and HIF-2 levels, the downstream effects of which include increased erythropoietin, decreased hepcidin (a negative regulator of iron absorption and release from the reticuloendothelial system), and increased transferrin, increasing iron absorption and mobilization for erythropoiesis and thus higher transferrin saturation.17 The levels and exposure to chronic intermittent and sustained desaturation required to induce HIF in humans and in SCA remain to be determined. However, existing evidence from cell cultures and mouse models suggest chronic intermittent hypoxemia is a stronger and more long lasting stimulus than chronic hypoxemia.18
Potential mechanisms underlying the negative association between transferrin saturation and mean nocturnal SpO2
In patients with SCA, whose hemoglobin polymerizes on deoxygenation, any decrease in mean nocturnal SpO2 or presence of significant dips in SpO2 is likely to have clinical relevance. In London children with sickle cell disease, an increase of one unit in mean nocturnal SpO2 was associated with an average fall of 0.83 in the number of days of pain per year requiring hospital treatment (p < 0.001), and the presence of any dips in SpO2 was independently associated with nearly 4 times the annual number of days admitted to hospital for pain.7
In conclusion, we have demonstrated in SCA that sustained nocturnal hemoglobin oxygen desaturation and the number of dips per hour > 3% from baseline in SpO2 were associated with higher transferrin saturation. The primary driver is probably hemoglobin oxygen desaturation, which upregulates iron absorption and erythropoiesis, with the paradoxical consequence that iron deficiency appears associated with higher SpO2. The longer-term effects of hemoglobin oxygen desaturation on iron status in children with SCA warrant further investigation in view of the clinical evidence of a link with unfavorable clinical course.
This was not an industry supported study. The authors have indicated no financial conflicts of interest.
sickle cell anemia
hemoglobin oxygen saturation
obstructive sleep apnea
hypoxic-inducible factor
The authors warmly thank the patients and staff of MNH and MUHAS, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania who made this work possible. We also thank David Roberts and Charles Newton for reading the draft manuscript, the staff in the clinical chemistry unit at MNH central pathology laboratory for clinical chemistry and transferrin saturation analyses and Josephine Mgaya and Harvest Mariki for the hematology analyses and sample archiving. This research was supported by Wellcome Trust, UK: project grant 080025 to Dr. Cox, personal fellowship 072064; 084538 to Dr. Makani and a WT Student Elective Fellowship to Dr. L'Esperance 503831115.
Authorship contributions: Drs. Kirkham, Cox, and Hill conceived and designed the study; Dr. L'Esperance conducted the sleep studies, including manual processing of sleep data and contributed to data analysis; and Drs. Makani, Soka, and Cox collected the remaining data. Dr. Cox conducted the statistical analyses and wrote the paper. All authors contributed to critical evaluation and final drafting of the manuscript.
Ethics approval: Ethical permission was granted by the Muhimibili University of Health – Allied Sciences ethics committee (Ref: MU/RP/ AECNoI.XII/77).
Makani J, Cox SE, Soka D, et al., authors. Mortality in sickle cell anemia in Africa: a prospective cohort study in Tanzania. PLoS ONE. 2011;6:e14699[PubMed Central][PubMed]
Kato GJ, Gladwin MT, Steinberg MH, authors. Deconstructing sickle cell disease: reappraisal of the role of hemolysis in the development of clinical subphenotypes. Blood Rev. 2007;21:37–47. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Kirkham FJ, Datta AK, authors. Hypoxic adaptation during development: relation to pattern of neurological presentation and cognitive disability. Dev Sci. 2006;9:411–27. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Castro O, Poillon WN, Finke H, Massac E, authors. Improvement of sickle cell anemia by iron-limited erythropoiesis. Am J Hematol. 1994;47:74–81. [PubMed]
Ballas SK, author. Effect of alpha-globin genotype on the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease. Pediatr Pathol Mol Med. 2001;20:107–21. [PubMed]
Quinn CT, Sargent JW, authors. Daytime steady-state haemoglobin desaturation is a risk factor for overt stroke in children with sickle cell anaemia. Br J Haematol. 2008;140:336–9. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Hargrave D, Wade A, Evans J, Hewes D, Kirkham F, authors. Nocturnal hypoxemia and painful sickle cell crises in children. Blood. 2003;101:846–8. [PubMed]
Setty BN, Stuart MJ, Dampier C, Brodecki D, Allen JL, authors. Hypoxaemia in sickle cell disease: biomarker modulation and relevance to pathophysiology. Lancet. 2003;362:1450–5. [PubMed]
Johnson MC, Kirkham FJ, Redline S, et al., authors. Left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction in children with sickle cell disease are related to asleep and waking oxygen desaturation. Blood. 2010;116:16–21. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Needleman JP, Franco ME, Varlotta L, et al., authors. Mechanisms of nocturnal oxyhemoglobin desaturation in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease. Pediatr Pulmonol. 1999;28:418–22. [PubMed]
Campbell A, Minniti CP, Nouraie M, et al., authors. Prospective evaluation of haemoglobin oxygen saturation at rest and after exercise in paediatric sickle cell disease patients. Br J Haematol. 2009;147:352–9. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Minniti CP, Sable C, Campbell A, et al., authors. Elevated tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease: association with hemolysis and hemoglobin oxygen desaturation. Haematologica. 2009;94:340–7. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Lulla RR, Thompson AA, Liem RI, authors. Elevated soluble transferrin receptor levels reflect increased erythropoietic drive rather than iron deficiency in pediatric sickle cell disease. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2010;55:141–4. [PubMed]
Koduri PR, author. Iron in sickle cell disease: a review why less is better. Am J Hematol. 2003;73:59–63. [PubMed]
Kerstein R, Stimpson P, Caulfield H, Ellis G, authors. Iron deficiency and sleep disordered breathing in children--cause or effect? Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2009;73:275–80. [PubMed]
O'Brien LM, Koo J, Fan L, et al., authors. Iron stores, periodic leg movements, and sleepiness in obstructive sleep apnea. J Clin Sleep Med. 2009;5:525–31. [PubMed Central][PubMed]
Semenza GL, author. Involvement of oxygen-sensing pathways in physiologic and pathologic erythropoiesis. Blood. 2009;114:2015–9. [PubMed]
Nanduri J, Yuan G, Kumar GK, Semenza GL, Prabhakar NR, authors. Transcriptional responses to intermittent hypoxia. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2008;164:277–81. [PubMed Central][PubMed]


text:
The Aldrich Alert
A Publication of the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty
by Gary Aldrich - Volume 1 Issue 5
Last weeks revelations about Al Gores abuse of drugs fall well short of the vice presidents 1987 claims. The allegations of regular, even chronic use, by the vice president, as described by a credible journalist and long-time friend of Gore, has brought the issue of the war on drugs back into the spotlight.
An evaluation of the current battles in the war on drugs reveals some disturbing trends. Thanks in large part to Nancy Reagans much maligned but successful Just Say No campaign, America was winning the war on drugs. Usage across the board was in steady decline. What changed? America got a new commander in chief for its wars, Bill Clinton. The facts dont lie. Since 1993, drug use, especially among our nations teens, has sky rocketed. Drugs are back. Young people are using them once again, and theyre happily inhaling.
Last week, Representative John Mica accused the Clinton administration of gutting the war on drugs by cutting Pentagon assets needed to interdict U.S.-bound shipments. Mica based his allegation on a report by congressional investigators that said the number of flight hours devoted to counter-drug missions declined 68 percent from 1992 though 1999. This report confirms that the war on drugs did not fail, but rather was dismantled by the Clinton administration, Mica told a hearing of his House Government Reform Committee's panel on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources.
Former U.S. Customs agent John Carman can confirm that assessment. These days, they're inspecting fewer than two percent of the planes and ships that come into this country from certain commercial carriers, Carman said. Even if it was less than 15 percent, that's still not enough. The result? Heroin seizures, for instance, fell 35 percent from 1998 to 1999. That decline was a drop of 42 percent in Miami, 45 percent in Chicago and an alarming 75 percent in Houston.
So where is all the money in the war on drugs going? One source may be Hollywood. There has been a hue and a cry about the Drug Czar taking an active role in reviewing network scripts. That resulted in the White House announcing it will stop scrutinizing scripts of television shows in advance, but will continue to pay off networks after the fact. Recently I was shocked while watching prime TV to see two teens smoking pot. I know that is a real problem. The surprising thing is that our government feels it needs to bribe networks to do what decency should already demand.
The hard truth is that the Clinton Administration has neither the willingness nor the moral authority needed to lead the war on drugs. Clinton and Gore continue to propagate one of the lefts favorite myths: Everyone did it. Yet, even the Clinton Administrations own Drug Czar presented statistics showing that nearly 70% of baby boomers never experimented with drugs. If America ever hopes to win the war on drugs, it will need leaders with the know-how, willingness, seriousness, and moral authority needed for victory.


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Has the time come for you to get out of the dorm and move into an off campus MC apartment? Perhaps the options available from the Midland College housing office no longer meet your needs and you would like to find a cheap apartment close to the MC campus. If so, you can search for off campus Midland College apartments with MyNewPlace's college housing search.
Although Midland College student housing may be very conveniently close to campus, moving to an off campus apartment can be a great way to save money, put some distance in between yourself and an RA, get accustomed to living in your own apartment and building up rental history.
MC apartments for rent are available close to campus and in other neighborhoods around Midland, Texas. Using our map based university apartment finder, you can find off campus housing near campus to ensure you can still get to all the MC Chaparral games and make it to class on time.
We can help you find off campus MC apartments that will best suit your collegiate lifestyle; search Midland College apartments by the number of bedrooms, price, neighborhood or a range of other amenities.
Have more questions? Check out our articles with renter tips in our apartment guide and search through www.midland.edu.


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The jQuery community has a vast array of plug-ins freely available for use you can see them at the jQuery plug-ins site. There are also existing UI widgets available from the jQuery-UI project.
In this tutorial, we're going to take a jQuery-UI widget and show you how to implement it the autocomplete widget.
What's an Autocomplete?
The autocomplete is a widget which attaches to and adds functionality for a standard HTML text field; it provides suggestions while you type into the field.
The autocomplete gets its list of suggestions from a javascript array, and you can provide that javascript array from one of three locations:
- Embedded in the HTML page
- A URL which returns data in JSON format
- A callback function
01: Setting up your HTML page
In order to make use of this widget, you're going to need three library files included in your page. Luckily you can use the free Google CDN for all three files.
- The jQuery-UI CSS file
- The jQuery Library
- The jQuery-UI Library
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8/themes/black-tie/jquery-ui.css" type="text/css" /> <script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js'></script> <script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.2/jquery-ui.min.js'></script>
<form> <input id="AC" type="text" /> </form>
02: The Most Basic Autocomplete
Back up in the head of the document, we're going to put script tags after all the included files, and then wrap the call to the plug-in in a document.ready block. After the ready block, we'll include the array 'programmingLang'.
<script> /* Example #1 - Programming Languages */ $(document).ready(function() { $( "#AC" ).autocomplete({ source: programmingLang }); }); var programmingLang = ["ActionScript","AppleScript","Asp","BASIC","C","C++", "Clojure","COBOL","ColdFusion","Erlang","Fortran","Groovy","Haskell", "Java","JavaScript","Lisp","Perl","PHP","Python","Ruby","Scala","Scheme"]; </script>
03: JSON from the Server Autocomplete
This option is more powerful, but you have to write the matching code yourself. Everything the server returns in JSON format is shown as an option, so if you return "Illinois" when someone types in "ZZ" that's what the widget thinks will match. Here's the set-up for using a remote data source:
$(document).ready(function() { $( "#STATES" ).autocomplete({ source: "states.php", }); });
$STATES = array('AL'=>"Alabama",
# etc for all 50 states
$term = $_GET['term'];
if(strlen($term) == 2) {
$UC = strtoupper($term);
if(isset($STATES[$UC])) { $return[] = $STATES[$UC]; }
foreach($STATES as $k=>$v) {
if(preg_match("/^$term/i", $v)) { $return[] = $v; }
foreach($STATES as $k => $v) {
if(preg_match("/$term/i", $v)) { $return[] = $v; }
echo json_encode(array_values(array_unique($return)));
If you use this method, the data source must be on the same domain as the requesting page.
04: Function as Autocomplete
The third option to supply your autocomplete with data is a function. Using a function is more powerful then the other two options; you can use it to return custom sorted data from an in page array, or to fetch and aggregate data from multiple scripts. You can even use it to fetch data from a URL not on the same server (JSONP).
In order to get data from a server other then the one the page is hosted on, you must use JSON-P (which stands for JSON-Padded). Basically the server must know to return the data wrapped in a function call which is then executed by the browser. jQuery has JSON-P handling built right in.
$( "#REMOTE" ).autocomplete({ source: function( request, response ) { url = "http://www.medetis.com/give-up-already/autocomplete/remote.php?term=" + request.term; $.getJSON(url + '&callback=?', function(data) { response(data); }); } });
- request: Has the string from the text box stored in request.term
- response: Is a function reference which expects to have the data to show passed to it
In the callback of $.getJSON, we then pass the received data to the 'response' function reference. You can do any other processing of the variable data that you want to previous to this point.
This example will work even if you run the example.html file from your desktop. The second example won't because it can't request data from a source not on the same domain.
The server side code for JSON-P also changes a little bit -- only one line. When returning data to the browser, it's going to be formatted as a function wrapping a JSON string. The value of 'callback' has been provided by jQuery. So the last line of the server side script would be:
echo $_GET['callback'] . '(' . json_encode(array_values(array_unique($return))) . ');';
Source code: auto-complete.zip
jQuery has many great prebuilt plug-ins you can use in your applications and websites today. Both the jQuery-UI project, and the main jQuery plug-ins site are great resources you should take advantage of in your jQuery development.


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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
Applying Connections
|Introduction | Decorative Boxes | Classroom Practice | Connections in Action | Classroom Checklist | Your Journal
As you work on this activity, notice the connections to prior learning, to other mathematical topics, and to areas outside both mathematics and school. Think about how you would help your students recognize these connections, and jot down phrases that will help you remember your ideas.
In a classroom, a number of gift boxes will be constructed out of cardboard or thick paper and their outsides covered with decorative paper. The group leader needs a careful estimate of the number of square inches of decorative paper needed for one box so that paper can be purchased for all the boxes.
After you've finished working on this problem, reflect on the following questions:
|Teaching Math Home | Grades 3-5 | Connections | Site Map | © |
© Annenberg Foundation 2017. All rights reserved. Legal Policy


text:
Hey all, long time no tut! lol Been off trying to improve, and I think I've finally got something worth sharring. In this tutorial, I'll be showing you how to draw Neo from the awesome movie series, The Matrix. My lines in this tutorial won't be as clean as in most tutorials you see, because I actually am showing the actual process I used to draw this. I saved my lines now and then, and just overlaid them on the final image. So...things look a little rough, but it's the best I can do, and it should still help.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


text: Wendy is a native New Englander, born in Lynn, Massachusetts, before her family moved to Canterbury, New Hampshire (waaaayyyy out in the woods!) which is probably why she loves the country lifestyle and music so much!She fell in love with the radio business in high school, and had a summer job at a small town station in Franklin, NH. At college in Boston is where she got her start on the air, but she finally found her niche over 20 years ago here at Country 92-5.When Wendy isnt on-air or doing some of the many behind the scenes stuff at the radio station, shes usually at the barn with her rescue Mustang Suzy Q, walking at one of Connecticuts state parks with her husband Terry and their adopted Shiba Inus, or sharing pics and videos on facebook, twitter & Instagram!


text:
Follow Us
In this section you can find our interviews such as our interview with Andy Heighway which focuses on the release of the brand new Alien Pinball Machine!
Posted by HLD
26 April 2016
Heighway's Alien Pinball Machine will be released this year! Check out our blog for the latest news, including an exclusive interview with the main man himself, Andy Heighway!
Top 5 Must Reads
American and English Pool Tables - what's the difference?
27 April 2018
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11 May 2016
Office Games & Hacks: 25 Point Guide To Employee Health & Productivity
15 March 2016
The Greatest Arcade Machines, Video Games & Consoles of All Time
03 December 2015
The Incredible Benefits of Owning A Family Pool Table
12 November 2015
Top 3 Ultimate Guides
Ultimate Guide on How To Play Pool With Karl Boyes
18 May 2016
Arcade Games: The Ultimate Guide
06 April 2016
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text:
Every fall, the Astronomy, Chemistry, and Physics departments hold an annual Open House event. This is when a department opens its doors to the general public and showcases the field. This includes child-friendly activity rooms, shows, and lectures for the older audience. For the past few years, the departments held their respective open house's at the same time and this year, the Math department joined with its own activity room.
On the last Saturday of October, about 900 visitors arrived on campus from the very young to ageing (high school students get extra credit for showing up). I took the morning shift in the Light and Color room to tell visitors about light diffraction with various elements. The kids love wearing the diffraction glasses since the glasses let the kids see rainbows everywhere, particularly near lights, which was the point.
After the morning shift, I took a one hour shift at the Women in Physics/Astronomy table. Several new features were added this year, including a pumpkin drop and new lectures. The WIP table had been dropped over the past couple years, but was resurrected this year. The table was manned partially by students from the new women's STM Living Learning Center.
There are several shows put on by the departments. The most popular of these are the two themed shows put on by the undergraduate students in physics and chemistry, respectively. The shows always involve liquid nitrogen(physics), blowing something up(chemistry), and leaving a bizarre mess(both).
I could go on, but that would make this post impossibly long. Let me just finish by saying that I had a great time at the open house and that the open house is one of those things best seen in person. I'll leave you with a video from the open house done two years ago.


text:
Pink Ladies of the Briar
1 in 8 Canadian women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Let's promise to change that.
We're participating in this year's Canadian Cancer Society CIBC Run for the Cure to benefit the breast cancer cause. We're running in honour of all of the incredible women in our lives, and we need your help!
Please contribute what you can to our fundraising. Every dollar makes a difference and gets us one step closer to making breast cancer beatable. Your donation will fund innovative research to help save the lives of more women, and provide support programs to those affected by this disease.
Did you know that just $100 could fund 2 hours of lifesaving research in a world class laboratory? Your contribution lead to the next breakthrough!
Together, we can change the future of breast cancer.
Thanks in advance for your support!


text:
Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that dog-loving New York Post columnist Cindy Adams has been absent from the paper for months. She was sick! Now she's back! With a deeply disturbing column of hospital erotica.
Cindy says that starting last February, she "didn't eat for two months," and ended up being rushed to the hospital. There, her tale takes a turn for the sexxxy:
I became feverish. Nurses and my housekeeper, Nazalene, washed and changed me each minute. Three pints of blood were administered. I was wheeled through tests and machines. A team was summoned. Barring the token gentile Dr. Turner, I doubt there exists a non-Jewish M.D. I remember Feingold, Moskowitz . . . anyhow, more guys than at Johns Hopkins had their hands in me, up me. The hospital's excellent. The team kept me alive. But they fingered areas I never knew I had. My private parts hadn't had this much attention since my wedding night.
Also, Cindy Adams' legal guardian is Judge Judy. Only in New York, kids.


text:
My dogs are the anti-stereotype... the pit bull is totally lazy, can't get her off the couch. The dachshunds are crazy, can't get 'em to settle down on the couch or off without a good couple hours exercise All of these are from labor day weekend last year, they don't really care for the cold, and more and more I agree with them!
Annie @ 12 yrs old (13 as of 1/10/11)
Buster at 4 yrs old (5 as of 9/27/10)


text:
Re: Pre-CCWC
So, the CCWC team , i.e. the best 4 players per country get to play both,the pre CCWC and the CCWC. The other high-rated players would get a chance to play in the Pre-CCWC, and, the lower-rated players wouldn't get to play in either.
So I feel that the CCWC players should make way for others in the pre-CCWC and not play in the CCWC.
BUT, but, if it is possible for EVERYBODY(everybody who applies) to play the pre-CCWC, so be it.


text:
THURSDAY, Jan. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The paths that dogs take during group walks help reveal their personality traits and identify the leaders of the pack, according to a new study.
Researchers used GPS-equipped harnesses to track the movements of six dogs on 14 group walks with their owner. Each walk lasted 30 to 40 minutes. The results showed that the dogs' movements were influenced by personality differences and the group's social structure, the study authors said.
"We showed that it is possible to determine the social ranking and personality traits of each dog from their GPS movement data," said study author Dr. Mate Nagy, of the department of zoology at Oxford University in England.
"On individual walks it is hard to identify one permanent leader, but over longer timescales it soon becomes clear that some dogs are followed by peers more often than others," Nagy said in a university news release. "Overall, the collective motion of the pack is strongly influenced by an underlying social network."
The researchers said their study -- which was published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology -- shows that path tracking can measure dogs' social behavior. One possible use of this approach would be to assess search-and-rescue dogs to identify which ones work best together.
A dog's behavior on walks reveals characteristics such as trainability, controllability, aggression, age and dominance, the researchers said. Those that repeatedly took the lead were more responsive to training, more controllable, older and more aggressive than the dogs that followed.
The researchers also said dogs are ideal models of human behavior, so this method could be used to analyze certain types of social interactions among people, such as parents walking with their children.
More information
The ASPCA has more about dog behavior.


text:
Arguably, they have not fallen by much, and there are many geo-political variables that affect wind's competitive position against other forms of energy generation, but the trend is clear. Wind's costs are still heading in the right direction and, in many situations, onshore wind is on a par with other forms of generation.
Offshore wind ran into more murky waters in 2013, with installation costs rising sharply. As our annual analysis of global wind energy costs points out, there are relatively few offshore projects in development, nearly all of which are confined to a small area in northern Europe. It only takes a couple of big projects to hit problems to skew the figures, as happened in 2013. Distance from shore also adds to the cost. While undeniably more expensive than onshore wind, the trajectory of offshore costs is not yet clear.
Our analysis is supported by the findings of a number of international organisations with no particular wind axe to grind. The World Energy Council acknowledged last year that "the most mature and widely deployed clean-energy technologies, such as hydro and onshore wind, are today close to reaching parity with traditional solutions". The International Energy Association also reported last year that "wind power is now being deployed in countries with good resources without any dedicated financial incentives".
These acknowledgements are coming just in the nick of time. It is important for politicians, voters and energy providers to know that wind can survive without incentives, as the whole issue of financial incentives for energy generation, by no means exclusive to wind, will be a hot topic over coming months.
The European Commission has disappointed the industry by failing to propose country-specific binding renewable energy targets to 2030, something many see as the backbone of renewable-energy development. France and Germany are among the countries that believed that such a firm commitment was needed to provide the certainty required for cost effective investment in clean energy. The EC does propose a 40% reduction of 1990 greenhouse gas levels by 2030, which other countries, such as the UK, believe is enough for the renewables industry to be able to flourish.
And with so much offshore potential in European waters, a flourishing sector is required. Europe's experiences will help other regions too. Japan's nascent offshore wind industry faces new challenges from deeper water and typhoons (page 39), but there are still many areas where it can learn from Europe's work. The US wind industry, too, will be looking more closely at European offshore activity, as its 12-year running Cape Wind project moves one step closer to reality with a turbine deal announced.
New age finance
New investors are essential to wind's progress. Last year saw significant investment from internet giants such as Facebook and Google. It would be foolish to suggest these are completely altruistic companies, but they are run by a generation that grew up in an environmentally aware age. We may be seeing a new generation of investors, drawn to green technology, who can readily make a connection between profit and renewable energy. And they clearly believe that wind power makes financial sense.
Jacki Buist is editor of Windpower Monthly


text:
Chur Burger
Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
If you're unfamiliar with native New-Zealand-ish then "Chur" is just another made up word that you and your friends will argue about, end up on Google, then call your favourite NZ buddy to confirm. You see, Warren Turnbull, former fine dining chef, is a NZer and the only way he wanted to describe the mouth-watering burgers he was creating was "Chur!". What us Aussie'smight call "Ripper". After a fire in the original hole in the wall burger joint that was Chur Burger, he set up shop in Surry Hills in a larger space offering a larger selection of burgers, chips and "drank". He has seen so much success for his burgers that there are now four Sydney locations and another opening up pretty soon in Brisbane. Collaborating with fellow countryman and designer, Scrap Wall, their Surry Hills location seats plenty, has a bit of a found/industrial art vibe to and is the kind of place you can spill a drink and noone will bat an eye. They do milkshakes, fries and a bunch of different burgers that cater for all walks of life. Cooked medium-rare, I went for the classic Beef Burger that came on a brioche bun with a beef patty, cheese, tomato jam, mustard mayo, pickle – simple.


text:
|Version 18 (modified by benl, 9 years ago) (diff)
Effect System
Effect typing vs State monads
Instead of state monads (like IO), Disciple uses default strict evaluation and effect typing to deal with computational effects. Effect typing helps us write less code than in Haskell because the types of effectful functions have the same shape as their pure counterparts.
For example, in Haskell the pure map function has type:
map :: (a -> b) -> [a] -> [b]
but if we need to pass an effectful function defined in terms of a state monad, we must use the monadic version, mapM instead.
mapM :: Monad m => (a -> m b) -> [a] -> m [b]
This puts us in a situation where we really need two copies of every higher-order function, one pure and one monadic. This is even more of a problem when a library (like Data.Map) exports pure versions of some functions but not monadic ones. In this case we either have to refactor our code to be less monadic, or spend time writing a function that should really be in the library.
In Haskell, because putStr prints to the screen it has the IO constructor in its return type:
putStr :: String -> IO ()
In Disciple, this fact is encoded as an effect on the function arrow instead:
putStr :: String -(!Console)> ()
Which we can also write as:
putStr :: String -(!e1)> () :- !e1 = !Console
In this type, !e1 is an effect variable, much like a is a type variable. !Console is an effect constructor that tells us what else happens when putStr is called, besides returning a unit value.
Because this second version of putStr doesn't have the monad in its type, in most cases we can just use the plain version of map and not have to worry about mapM.
main () = do map putStr ["one", "two", "three"] -- print 'onetwothree' ...
We still think the Monad type class is useful, and we support it as well. However, when writing Haskell programs we've found that most uses of Monad are for IO, and to manage the internal state of the program. In Disciple, we use effects for state-based functions because it's more convenient, and reserve Monad for things that definitely want a non-standard notion of sequence, like parser combinators.
Extended type information
From the previous example, it might look as though we've lost the information that putStr has an effect and descended into the quagmire of untracked side effects and imperative programming. This would be true if map only had the simple type that it does in Haskell (or ML), because there'd be no way to track the fact that the application of map also causes a !Console effect like its argument does. However, during type inference DDC performs an effect analysis on the program and can determine that this code also writes to the screen. As this information is inferred you don't need to write it yourself, but you can add it to signatures if you want to be precise about how a function is supposed to behave. When the extra information is included, the "extended" type of map becomes:
map :: forall a b %r0 %r1 !e0 . (a -(!e0)> b) -> List %r0 a -(!e1)> List %r1 b :- !e1 = !Read %r0 + !e0
The variables starting with % are region variables, and the type (List %r0 a) represents a list in a region of memory called %r0 which has elements of type a. The effect sum !{!Read %r0; !e0} records the fact that the map function, when applied to both its arguments, has the effect of reading the input list as well as doing whatever the argument function does.
The Disciplined Disciple Compiler (DDC) uses this effect discipline to track which parts of the program cause computational effects and which are pure. This allows it to check the type safety of programs that use these effects, and to perform the same sort of code transformation style optimizations as done by other Haskell compilers such as GHC.
However, none of this would be useful if you actually had to write these extended types in regular programs. It's a good thing then that, for the most part, you can ignore the extended information when writing programs. Because all the extra information is orthogonal to the main shape of the type, ie its argument and return data types, the compiler can fill this in for you behind the scenes. This is called type elaboration. The extra information is present in the interface files and core language, but you'll only have to worry about it if you import foreign functions from C land or start to mix laziness with destructive update in the same program.
The definition of map that you would write in a real Disciple program is just the same as in Haskell, including the type signature:
map :: (a -> b) -> [a] -> [b] map f [] = [] map f (x : xs) = f x : map f xs


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January was a busy month for drugs in sport. First, cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted on national television to running what one antidoping agency called "the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."
Two weeks later, news reports claimed that documents from a Florida clinic connected New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez to the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Meanwhile, in New Orleans, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was besieged by questions before the Super Bowl about "deer-antler spray" and whether he used illegal substances during his remarkable recovery from a serious arm injury.
Such allegations are common in the world of sports, and Rodriguez and Lewis have denied the reports. But recent weeks have pointed to how the fight against doping is evolving. Though science has made significant leaps forward in its ability to catch drug cheats, antidoping efforts are only as successful as the programs that enforce them. And if there is a lesson from the past decade, it is that from cycling to baseball, it takes a serious scandal and a threat to the very integrity of a sport to get officials to crack down.
Marion Jones and the BALCO scandal threatened the fair play that undergirds the Olympic movement, leading the International Olympic Committee to adopt an antidoping regime that remains the world's standard. Baseball's "juiced-ball" era made a sham of the record books and led baseball writers in January to elect no players to the Hall of Fame; in the wake of such embarrassments, baseball is taking halting steps toward expanding its antidoping regime.
"In sports where comprehensive, unannounced testing is done year round, the sport is pretty clean and much, much better than, say, in the 1990s," says Jim Stray-Gundersen, an anti-doping expert who served as a physician for the 1988 and 1992 Olympic teams, in an e-mail. "In sports where there is not a comprehensive program, doping is likely as common as ever."
That leaves the National Football League (NFL) as the leading pariah of the antidoping world, with many experts saying that its first big PED scandal is more a matter of when, not if.
For much of the past three decades, Don Catlin has been on the front lines of the campaign against PEDs. The lab where he used to work, the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, was the first of its kind when it was founded in 1982. In it, he and his team developed a wide range of tests for PEDs including anabolic steroids, EPO (erythropoietin), and tetrahydrogestrinone (known as THG or "the clear" – the drug at the center of the BALCO scandal).
"Things are moving forward. But they're also stepping back," he says.
In particular, Armstrong's doping program, revealed in an October report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), gives Mr. Catlin pause. While scientists are better than ever at identifying banned substances, athletes still can game the system.
"We thought we had this whole problem nailed," he says. "We spent a lot of time trying to find the drugs and get them in pure form. But that doesn't deal with how you get the drug into the athlete, or the athlete sending in someone else's urine."
Others agree that the cat-and-mouse game of doping has changed from decades ago, when athletes were using cutting-edge PEDs that scientists couldn't detect. "I think the doping athlete today is looking to use tried-and-true doping agents in a manner to avoid detection, rather than find something currently undetectable," Dr. Stray-Gundersen says.
The financial advantage is clearly with the athletes.
"The annual budget for WADA [the World Anti-Doping Agency] is $28 million, which is the price of one good baseball player," Catlin says. "How do you expect to really catch guys with that kind of money?"
In the wake of numerous doping scandals in track and field and cross-country skiing, among other sports, the Olympics adopted WADA's World Anti-Doping Code in 2003. Its recommendations include having an independent third party (not the league itself) conduct the drug tests, a routine of rigorous and random in-season testing, and harsh punishments for athletes who are caught.
Under the code, athletes can be banned for two years for the first infraction and banned for life for the second. They also have to pick one hour a day, seven days a week, to be available for unannounced testing.
Scientists say frequency and timing are key to effective testing, and testing at the 2012 summer Olympics was more aggressive than ever. Half of all competitors were tested, as well as every medal winner.
During the Games, Olympians could be tested anytime, without any advance notice. The antidoping lab used during the London 2012 Olympics was the first ever underwritten by a major pharmaceutical company, Glaxo-SmithKline; it tested 400 samples per day.
WADA also advocates the use of a "biological passport" – a compilation of data that shows each athlete's natural level for certain biological markers and hormones. That way, scientists can monitor those levels for unusual activity. Biological passports played a key role in cycling's doping crackdown.
Other professional sports leagues that follow WADA guidelines include the International Tennis Federation, all arms of the Professional Golfers' Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, and the English Premier League. The National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the NFL don't follow the WADA code: They conduct their drug testing in-house and hand out much lighter penalties. That opens them up to criticism.
For now, the NFL's drug scandal is limited to whispered conjecture and incidents bordering on farce. Most recently, a report surfaced linking Lewis to deer-antler spray, which contains a growth hormone called IGF-1. The substance is banned by the NFL.
The league has plenty on its plate already as it faces growing questions about the game's long-term effects on player health. (Recently, President Obama told The New Republic that, if he had a son, he would have to think long and hard about letting him play football.)
The question of PEDs is a comparative blip, but it threatens to grow. Currently, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) is in charge of the antidoping program. But in-season testing is virtually nonexistent.
That was set to change with the 2011 collective-bargaining agreement, which stipulated that the players union would institute an in-season drug testing regimen that included regular blood testing for human growth hormone (HGH). But that was two seasons ago, and some, including members of Congress, are growing impatient.
The House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the NFLPA Jan. 28 warning that NFL players and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith may soon be called to testify about why an in-season testing program has yet to be implemented.
The NFLPA has cited concern about the lack of a suitable appeals process. It won't agree to a third-party arbitration system – as MLB has – and it is wary of commissioner Roger Goodell's authority to discipline players. The NFLPA also worries about the potential for false positives.
HGH is one of the trickier drugs to catch, particularly with a urine test alone, because it has a very small window of detection. Used to build muscle and reduce fat, the drug can be taken in very small doses during competition and is hard to accurately spot because it exists in the body already (especially in young males, who have a lot of it).
USADA Chief Science Officer Larry Bowers testified before Congress in December that "no test is perfect, but there hasn't been a single false positive."
The House Oversight Committee's top Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, says PED use could be exacerbating other health concerns facing the league. If players are artificially stronger and faster, that makes the hits harder and more damaging, he said.
"I know Roger Goodell, and he's trying to improve not just the health and safety of the players, but the image of the league. The NFL would get a black eye," he says.
"Football is certainly as good a candidate as any for some embarrassing revelations," says Tom Murray, president emeritus of The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute based in Garrison, N.Y.
"The HGH test resistance by the NFLPA [is] unfathomable. If you make it easier to cheat, you're making it harder for the players that aren't cheating.... I worry about the NFLPA's leadership there, what they think they are accomplishing."
If the NFL players need an incentive to tighten the league's doping regime, they need look no further than Major League Baseball.
MLB has been at the center of the steroid question in US professional sports for more than a decade. It started as whispers during the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race in 1998 and exploded with the BALCO scandal of 2003, which ensnared Barry Bonds. During the "steroid era" of the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball had a ban on illegal or controlled substances, but there was no testing program until 2002.
Since then, MLB has taken steps to address doping – albeit slowly. Last month, it announced that it would begin in-season blood testing for HGH.
"This is a strong statement by the players and the league not only confirming the scientific validity of the HGH blood test and the benefit of longitudinal testing, but also the importance of clean athletes' rights and the integrity of the game," the USADA said in a press release.
But last month's Miami New Times report shed a harsh light on the regulatory holes that still exist in the doping world. It linked several high-profile players, including Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera, to Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic in Miami with sales records for PEDs including HGH, testosterone, and anabolic steroids.
Antiaging clinics prescribe testosterone and other drugs for older people, but they've so far mostly escaped heavy scrutiny from antidoping agencies.
In the end, some observers say players receive too much of the blame for simply trying to compete in sports in which doping has spiraled out of control.
"It's not fair that only the athletes suffer when their behavior is the consequence of many different forces," Dr. Murray says.


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Monday, March 29, 2010
Congratulations, Grandma Chicken!
I am happy to report that a winner has been chosen by random number generator. Without further ado, the winner is entry number 9, imagrandma2five, a.k.a., Grandma Chicken of Grandma Chicken's House. Don't you just love her name?
Have a wonderful day!
11 comments:
- CC said...
Many happy congratulations to the winner.It was a wonderful giveaway..
- Mon Mar 29, 10:31:00 AM 2010
- Annette said...
Congratz Grandma Chicken....
- Mon Mar 29, 11:48:00 AM 2010
- Cath Ü said...
Congrats to the winner...
Cath's Blog
Cath Ü
- Mon Mar 29, 02:34:00 PM 2010
- Cyndi said...
Congratulations to "Grandma Chicken". Hope you enjoy all those lovely prizes! And thank you Arlette for the chance to enter such a generous give away!
Happy Easter!!
- Mon Mar 29, 02:35:00 PM 2010
- sweetiepie said...
Congrats, Grandma Chicken. I am sure you will enjoy your prizes.
Lettie, you have such great giveaways!!!
Take care.
- Mon Mar 29, 03:15:00 PM 2010
- Sherry said...
Congrats to "Grandma"!
- Mon Mar 29, 07:56:00 PM 2010
- Kim D. said...
Congrats to Grandma Chicken!!
- Wed Mar 31, 01:01:00 AM 2010
- FairyFiligree said...
Hi- just started following your blog - really interesting. check me out on www.fairyfiligree.blogspot.com if you like. Prosit!
- Wed Mar 31, 06:42:00 AM 2010
- AMBAR said...
Very interesting blog, here is a lot to learn, i like your blog.
- Wed Mar 31, 08:31:00 AM 2010
- Thearica said...
Congratulations Grandma!! Enjoy!!
Happy Easter!!
- Wed Mar 31, 05:52:00 PM 2010
- imagrandma2five said...
Wanted to say a BIG thank you to Lettie for the wonderful giveaway. I'm still in shock over being picked the winner. And thanks to everyone for the warm wishes. I am sorry I haven't gotten out here sooner to say my thank you's but spring has sprung here in NE Indiana and I just can't sem to stay inside!
To those of you celebrating this Sunday, have a Blessed Easter.
Karen in NE Indiana
aka grandma chicken
- Fri Apr 02, 04:29:00 AM 2010


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text:
A Building's Name and a Family's Legacy
The newly opened Cassell Hall is an impressive building. With eight floors, 346 beds for residents, and a spacious fitness center, it's a welcome addition to American University's campus. But there's also a story behind the development of the new residence hall. It's the story of a family.
The naming of the building recognizes $3 million in gifts from AU alumnus Jack Cassell, his wife Denise, and the Cassell family. The newly named Stafford H. Cassell Jr. Fitness Center honors Jack Cassell's twin brother, Stafford, who is also an AU alum.
The AU Cassell tradition stems from their father, Stafford H. "Pop" Cassell. At the Cassell Hall and Stafford H. Cassell Jr. Fitness Center dedication ceremony on September 27, AU President Neil Kerwin extolled the senior Cassell's legacy: "Pop Cassell is known correctly for the contributions that he made to the athletic program at this institution. But, in fact, Pop Cassell was a vice president at this institution, a true leader of this institution, at one of the most crucial periods in its history."
"I've grown to love American. And it's been easy to see a path to donate my time and resources to AU," Jack said in an interview. He wanted to give back to the university that had such a profound impact on him.
The dedication ceremony was well attended, with university leadership, staff, students, and friends of the Cassell family on hand. In special recognition of the Cassell family's support of AU Athletics, the men's basketball team came out to show their appreciation.
Growing Up at AU
Jack and Stafford grew up around AU's campus. Their father was a coach, athletic director, and vice president at the university. "We loved the fact that we'd get the keys to the gym. We could go down to the baseball field and run around there, clean out the candy and soda machines," Jack recalls. "We just loved being around the campus, and also being around the athletes." They were even bat boys for the university baseball team. Stafford Cassell Jr. adds, "We did everything on the weekends with my dad. And he lived and breathed American University."
When Stafford H. "Pop" Cassell passed away, Jack and Stafford Jr. were just 10 years of age. And the AU community took care of both sons in the aftermath. "We had so many friends on campus. And all those people just embraced us and watched out for us," Stafford Cassell Jr. says.
Naturally, they both attended AU. Jack, who played goalie for the university soccer team, graduated with a degree in communication in 1977. Stafford Cassell Jr. graduated with a business degree that same year. Jack Cassell is currently president and CEO of Visual Aids Electronics, an audiovisual services company. He started out delivering equipment there, worked his way up through the ranks, and bought the company in 1988. Stafford Cassell Jr. is a manufacturing sales representative and runs his own company in the Richmond, Va. area. He has two grown children, Bretton, and Stafford H. Cassell III.
Now a third generation is represented at American. Jack's daughter, Jacqueline, and his stepson, Devon, a member of the AU wrestling team, are both set to graduate in the spring. In fact, Jacqueline now works in the new fitness center named for her uncle. She's a public communication major, and she also plays the drums. Though she's keeping her options open, Jacqueline is considering merging these two skill sets and pursuing a public relations career in the music business.
A Stronger Connection to Campus
Construction of Cassell Hall is part of the university's Campus Plan to expand academic and residential facilities in support of the university's Strategic Plan. Cassell Hall, with its breathtaking eighth floor views of the Washington skyline; the newly expanded Nebraska Hall; and the yet-to-be constructed East Campus complex (which will include three additional new residence halls) directly support point number 2 of the Strategic Plan: Provide an unsurpassed undergraduate education and experience.
"Where and how students live during their college years can make substantial contributions to their learning and sense of connection with the university," says Gail Short Hanson, vice president of Campus Life.
Cassell Hall is comprised of sophomores, juniors, and seniors, a group AU purposefully sought to please. "Everything we're doing is suite or apartment-style living to attract juniors and seniors," explains Chris Moody, assistant vice president of Housing and Dining Programs.
"I moved into Cassell and was so happy I stayed [on campus], just because everything is already provided for. You don't have to account for utilities or furniture," says Brooke Loving-Bagwell, a sophomore who lives in a suite with three roommates.
In the suites, the bathrooms are devised so that multiple people can utilize the area at the same time. Each floor has its own lounge and kitchen. In accordance with AU's commitment to being carbon neutral by 2020, solar panels are being installed on the roof to provide heat and hot water.
Maeghan Crociata, a junior, worked on campus over the summer and moved into Cassell early. "In Cassell, it's your own little house, almost. So you get basically everything that you need," she says.
"I was really pleasantly surprised with the layout. I was not expecting nearly as much space," says Loving-Bagwell.
More Room to Run
University officials also wanted to expand their fitness facilities, and the new Stafford H. Cassell Jr. Fitness Center doubles the amount of exercise space on the main campus. It's housed in the Cassell Hall building, but it's open to all students and features cardio equipment, weight rooms, and two dance studios. "It's providing our student body with another great facility," says Billy Walker, the school's athletic director. "[AU's Jacobs Fitness Center] is certainly crowded, especially in the afternoons. So I think it was critical to get something like this for the campus."
"You walk past it at night, and you see all the treadmills full. So from my view, it's been very successful," says Katie Fults, the Cassell Hall resident director.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of this facility," says Stafford Cassell Jr. "And what it means to our family."


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Can a Tablet Teach Kids Better?
Amplify Education has developed a tablet-based learning platform for the K-12 set. Amplify CEO and News Corp. executive vice president Joel Klein joins digits. Photo: Amplify Education.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... the ... new school ... education division amplify coming out with an education and talk of the tablet I'm holding it in my hands ... welcome to Digits I'm Simon Digits I'm Simon Constable and here we are Joel Klein his executive VP of ... New scope of parent company and also ... president Paul amplify thanks adjoining us a decent grade to the annual this ... tablet which is a hefty thing aam tells about that and when you roll the town ... well because we think you so much promise in education ... for the digital revolution ... kids to be of Liu's is working with teachers ... in awaited really enhances ... the mornings usually don't even do ... is just take a tablet from the consumer market ... and just put in the classroom for too long we've tried that ... you know we gave people laptops and desktop that are really affected ... outcomes schools ... Susan was designed by and for kids and teachers ... working with them ... to do something this summer is over what so what's different Ottawa says I'm going to go through as well write is there a from there ... it's organized by a textbook ... by subject matter and so you have ... textbooks you of learning experiences ... second of all it's designed the teacher has complete control ... so she doesn't want you want a tablet one click and it says Izod teacher ... then she has materials ... that if she wants to make sure you're working on volcanoes are working on fractions ... those materials he can send to you ... to want to see other class is doing for example take a quick poll ... are you kidding me ... give them a quick weighs just a sea of people following all of that is easily done ... then she's guide access to literally millions and millions ... of ... objects in line with the common core learning objects ... to the kids ... can keep clean each ... in the materials so what this is is not a time to learning platform ... that teachers use to enhance the question now is the message going out to ... the schools and out of the people who buy buy the equipment for schools because I mean that that that's the right exceptionally T and I hope they're all watching right now with the auto show every state in the towel oh what can right now ... and isn't part of all we can do is get the message of who died down to one p we now piloting this ... in various schools throughout the country ... I can tell from the excitement like teaches them by students ... that is going to have ... real attraction the more people learn about and see and understand ... it's not just a piece of hardware ... or a consumer base happen ... it's truly a learning platform ... that optimizes what goes on and what to say which age group it is this is this passed or ... is it doesn't but ... beyond sixteen also fight over one of a ... sense of right now we're focusing mostly on kids thirteen fourteen fifteen year old at that age and ... but over time this to go to to order entry on I mean ... he is seeking to a five six years old now ... using tablets ... in a way that some was amazing to watch is so native to them so instinctive ... started are a lot of things ... it's what's on the tablet that would change pigeon forge greater RBC do dip and learning lessons into two and high school so this this two things that we the criticisms of him in the euro in the ... general U S education system and have to pay for through a team ... is that a litre since I you know reading and write sing ... and new mercy ... how does this help with that old with those things because that that actually might leak on going up but ... you're you're absolutely right and if you can crack the coconut then you have to have these two fifty eight cases ... to install illiteracy what this does is get the kids to which indeed he spends ... all of which they can store ... so you see here ... this is ... English appear ... and so that you know ... can you teach you can connect up and if she wants you to be reading at your own home ... she can be say new content deal in the reading in ground pool with a deeper level and I am ... so she can customize and tailor it ... to your ... particular level versus my ... life I'm reading it slowly up and she can she's lovely slide show some companies this and and for example if you're eating slowly and somebody else real quickly ... you can accelerate the NDP you can then give them a separate a drum Oh what some into a kind of person she can walk over to the kid is working on the first ... and see where he's having challenges ... she wanted to I'm just a little assessment ... to say he didn't understand ... the task of Moscow ... she can do that now I'm at for example ... simply too good to fractions of the key to the work and thus most seem basic principles ... you want to store some material for the kid to take all the nights was a kid is having trouble ... with fractions ... you wanna have a material if you want to call nine nine work on ... you can do it all and even ... if she wants to go online ... and connect up to the kitchen Kostunica work on fractions together we've seen it happen well let's let's hope it works thank you Brian much Joel Klein I get in on getting this may be KP me that ... Joe Klein executive VP of upend Company New scope and also present off the education unit Some ... amplifier I'm Simon Constable and this is the will Street gentle


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text:
Story highlights
- Suspect's tattoos helped identify her, authorities say
- She was identified only after ICE put out a public call for help
- "John Doe" remains unidentified
- The victim "is safe and is cooperating"
A 52-year-old California woman identified last month as one of two suspects sought in connection with a child pornography case linked to the San Fernando Valley was indicted Tuesday on federal charges.
Letha Montemayor Tucker, also known as "Butterfly," was named in the four-count indictment returned by a grand jury. It accuses her of conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, conspiracy to engage in child sex trafficking, and sex trafficking of children.
If convicted on all counts, Tucker would face from 10 years to life in prison.
The woman's tattoos helped identify her. They include a sleeping, curled up cat on her right shoulder blade, a butterfly on her right-upper thigh and the word "butterfly" across her left outer wrist.
Tucker's public defender, Myra Sun, said she had not seen the indictment and had no comment.
The indictment comes a month after tips from the public led to Tucker's identification and arrest as one of two individuals allegedly involved in the production of child pornography images that were shot about 11 years ago. The pictures show an unidentified man and a woman, believed to be Tucker, sexually molesting a girl who was then 11 to 13 years of age, according to the indictment.
The time estimate is based on a 2001 calendar visible in some some pictures.
According to the seven-page indictment, Tucker and the girl -- identified in the indictment only as JMM -- lived together at about that time in a residential hotel in the Los Angeles area.
Tucker worked as a prostitute, gave JMM -- who was born in 1988 -- crack cocaine and directed her to engage in sexual acts with Tucker's male clients, it says.
In or about May 2001, Tucker contacted "John Doe" and asked if he would be interested in having sex with the girl in exchange for money, it says. Tucker then took the girl to his residence, where the girl and "John Doe" engaged in sex acts, which were photographed, it adds.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children concluded that the images were likely produced in the San Fernando Valley, a center for the production of pornography.
Homeland Security agents discovered the images in 2007, but did not locate the victim or determine the identity of the woman until January, when they appealed to the public for help.
Tucker is being held without bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in United States District Court on February 13.
The victim, now an adult, "is safe and is cooperating with the ongoing investigation," it said.
"The victim in this case was devastated when she learned from investigators that these sexually explicit images had been distributed over the Internet," said ICE Director John Morton. "The reality is, every time such images are viewed, the children shown are exploited yet again. That is why we owe it to these young victims to vigorously pursue these cases and hold the perpetrators accountable for their reprehensible crimes."
The images of the victim remain on the Internet. "They've been found in more than 300 separate locations," said Joey Blanch, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case and the deputy chief of the violent and organized crime section. "They're just out there, and there's almost nothing we can do to get them back."
The name and whereabouts of "John Doe" -- who appears to be 40 to 50 years of age in the images -- have not been determined. His face is obscured in the images, Blanch said. "If somebody knew him well, they might be able to recognize him from his hairline, and might recognize the apartment," she said.


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A farm employing people with special needs set up a process line and an experimental kitchen, where non-commercial agricultural produce can be turned into new products.
Projects & Practice
A cheese-producing farm used RDP support to set up a new plant for producing speciality cheeses and ensure its long-term financial sustainability.
A modern hen farm producing eggs for human consumption, set up a new unit to process non commercial eggs and therefore increase its competitiveness.
Set up an operational group to improve the efficiency of the fruit production sector in Spain by developing new approaches for joint management of farms.
A small potato-growing farm used RDP support to purchase a new processing line to enhance its economic performance.
A marketing project to promote the high-quality Finnish oats to the international market and increase the income of small farms.
The challenge of increasing food production without harming the environment might be solved through innovative production techniques, such as aquaponics.
Previously uncultivated and overgrown agricultural land was restored and was used to set up a new competitive and sustainable business.
"My Farm, My Way" is a web platform that allows farmers to exchange ideas and innovative practices and get to learn from each other.
Expanding the production capacity of a company producing pumpkin seeds and potatoes, by investing in new machinery.