text:
The Church and Its Mission
The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven.
Ephesians 1:22,23 – And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Ephesians 2:22 – In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Hebrews 12:23 – To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Since God's purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is lost, to be worshipped by man, and to build a body of believers in the image of His Son, the priority reason for being of the Assemblies of God as part of the Church is:
1. To be an agency of God for evangelizing the world.
Acts 1:8 – But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Matthew 28:19,20 – Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16:15,16 – And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
2. To be a corporate body in which man may worship God.
1 Corinthians 12:13 – For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
3. To be a channel of God's purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.
Ephesians 4:11-16 – And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
1 Corinthians 12:28 – And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:1 – Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
The Assemblies of God exists expressly to give continuing emphasis to this reason for being in the New Testament apostolic pattern by teaching and encouraging believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This experience:
1. Enables them to evangelize in the power of the Spirit with accompanying supernatural signs.
Mark 16:15-20 – And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Acts 4:29-31 – And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Hebrews 2:3,4 – How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
2. Adds a necessary dimension to worshipful relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 – But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12 – Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
1 Corinthians 13 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 14 – Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. 2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. 4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. 5 I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. 6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. 11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. 12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. 13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? 17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. 18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: 19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. 20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. 21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. 22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. 23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? 24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: 25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. 26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. 27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. 28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. 29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. 36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? 37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
3. Enables them to respond to the full working of the Holy Spirit in expression of fruit and gifts and ministries as in New Testament times for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Galatians 5:22-26 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
1 Corinthians 14:12 – Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Ephesians 4:11,12 – And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
1 Corinthians 12:28 – And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Colossians 1:29 – Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.


text:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Celebrating Our Rich Heritage and Pressing Forward in Faith Psalm 126.3
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Watch us
Our Mission
The Amity Baptist Church exists to assist persons in experiencing the saving and redemptive power of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amity also exists to engage persons as disciples of Jesus Christ; empower persons to develop Christ like character…
Our Pastor
Rev. Jeffery S. Thompson
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events at this time.
Did you know that you can give online?
We accept online giving through the Givelify app and Zelle.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Democracy is remarkable for the western states because they have a high ratio of literacy and their people are very well aware of their vote power. That's why these states become stronger as compared to the rest of the world. The decision to impose this ideology upon the 3rd world states that socio-political structure was not capable and making them dependent on the western states.
"I hold national interest supreme. I personally, in all sincerity, in all honesty, think that I have a role to play in this nation. I sincerely think that I have a job to do here." — General Pervez Musharaf
A good politician always prefers national interest instead of its interest. Ironically, due to the illiteracy and lack of stimulating thought in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (IRP), democracy has not only failed but also its shape was changed to "hypocritic democracy" or "monarch democracy". If we take a bird view on the past years, it can be seen that during the dictatorship era, the focus of the leaders was to enhance the military capability and economic structure of IRP, and internationally they boosted her importance. On the other hand, the hypo-democratic system played a vital role to damage her socio-political and economical structure and their focus was to improve their family power rather than the state's power. It can also be seen in the history of IRP that how these political leaders are behaving with the general public, what promises they made before the election, where the funds had been utilized in the name of the public and at the end when the election again came they buy the same voters whose rights had been abolished in their last tenure. The innocent public easily caught in their sweet magic forgetting their past performance. The reason is that the hypo-democratic parties have not been focused and worked to improve the literacy ratio. They know very well that if they considered in their agenda, their hiding greediness will be shown in front of the public.
In past decades, IRP's army had played a comprehensive role in politics according to the state condition. Presently, it also cooperating with the current government to stop the monarchic democratic system. Now, the old version of politics did not have space because the time is to give awareness to the people and improve their literacy ratio to change the socio-political and economical structure of IRP. Even though the opposing countries played a vital role to send IRP into the blacklist of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) but it was the biggest achievement of the present government that IRP will remain in greylist. Hopefully, if this political structure continued the IRP will be entered into the white list soon. A strong mindset can make the best policies for the states. If we look at the present scenario of the world especially when the People Republic of China (PRC) is near to finalize the $ 400 billion deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) will change the world scenario. In this context, IRP that is an important country for the IRI, as well as PRC due to Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and both, will prefer for current IRP political structure in which the military and politicians are on the same page because weak political structure not only damages its state but also badly impact on the others.
The oppositions are still trying to detract the smoothly running current political system and making the fool to the public but will not be succeeded. It's time for the present government to take initiative for spreading awareness through different campaigns regarding good leadership and prove themselves as leaders who can take IRP above the skies in the future under their command.


text:
yeah, the were going for a grant or they won some money which would have closed down and improved pierce. It included some really nice improvements on top of the small ones they recently made with the additional shade structures.
Taken from DPP's facebook stream
I've been wondering about Thai Basil opening so close to Thai Elephant. Seems odd they would want to be that close to competition, not to mention so many people wouldn't know the difference between Thai and Vietnamese.
Still it seems the best thing for 16th would be the elimination of the turn lane and using that width (approx 12 feet) to add bike lanes and planter strips on each side of the road. There's very little shade along 16th for most stretches and currently in many spots there's just no room for street trees.
Does anyone know what is going up on the north side of McDowell at about 13th Avenue? The area is fenced off and it looks like work is being done. Those lots have been empty for years now - it's my understanding that developers bought them in the heydays of the 2000s but then the financial meltdown hit and nothing happened.
So noticed this really cool blue light strip around the 120 E van buren building (the data center place). Anyone have any idea what kind of plans they have for the building?
Stuck my nose into the space just north of the new medical clinic on Central that used to be a Quiznos. It is open and there were people inside making plans for a new restaurant. The owner said they weren't sure what kind yet, but they think probably a Thai place. I mentioned that it seemed Thai was really coming downtown with a third Thai place. Thai or whatever, looks like a new restaurant is coming.
Hmmm. You know that quiznos was on the corner right? The space north was some other restaurant.
yup. That's the place.
I don't think anything is going on at 13th and McDowell. It looked like they were just using it for staging, but I could be wrong.
Construction Pics CityScape
Moved to CS thread
Luhrs Building Upgrades
Taken with my 1.5 year old camera phone - sorry the quality is sub-par.
LOL! $900K condos on McDowell. The developers were smoking something strong back then. What a difference four years makes.
Yes, please sell me a $900k condo that is across the street from a check-cashing place and catty-corner from a Circle K frequented by crackheads.
I looked again last evening. Still looks like staging more than actual work occurring on the site. When work does happen, you will know because all the residents of Palmcroft will start squawking.
Yeah, they probably just leased out the land to someone to stage their construction equipment for some other project.
Haven't really been active on the forum for a while now, but just know I still read this on a daily with the same love as you guys.
Found this when doing my daily news runs on the net. I think the statues might be a bit wild but will still add some much needed character to our developing copper square. Hopefully they are not just in place temporarily for the game.
Coming Soon
Cactus "Art" Statues Coming to Phoenix for MLB All-Star Game
By Claire Lawton, Tue., Apr. 26 2011 @ 10:01AM
Categories: Coming Soon
In late May, you might spot a few painted, logo-plastered cactus statues in popular spots around Downtown.
Major League Baseball representatives say 10, 7-foot-tall, 700-pound statues will be placed in Phoenix as part of the celebrations for the All-Star Game at Chase Field on July 12.
Think Cow Parade (the international public art campaign with artist-painted cows in various cities) but less arty, and more corporate.
The statues, designed by licensee Forever Collectibles, will feature logos and graphics of each of the 30 MLB teams and important moments in Arizona Diamondback history. (Quick note to MLB: probably better not to use "erected across downtown Phoenix" when talking about cactus art.)
Miniatures will be on sale at the MLB All-Star FanFest, at the Phoenix Convention Center from July 8 through 12.
|All times are GMT. The time now is 1:23 AM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2023, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


text:
Within the field of human embryo research lies a controversial science that could redefine prenatal care: genetic engineering. Genetic engineering not only offers the possibility of eliminating birth defects and genetic illness, but also presents the moral ambiguity of eugenics. The acceptabilities of genetic engineering, assuming that it will be available in the foreseeable future, must be explored if society is to fully benefit from it.
The most prominent and perhaps the most acceptable reason given for genetic engineering is its potential use in preventative medicine. A few cells from an embryo could be genetically analyzed to detect harmful mutation or predisposition towards disorder, at which point action could be taken either through somatic cell or germ-line gene modification. In 1993, the gene that causes Huntington's Disease was located, and scientists are currently trying to determine its normal function (The Benefits of Genetic Engineering).
Assuming researchers succeed in this endeavor, genetic engineering could then be used to eliminate a debilitating and ultimately fatal disease that affects approximately 30000 Americans and that has the potential to affect 150000 more through genetic inheritance (Huntington's Disease). In 1997, a group of scientists successfully diagnosed familial adenomatous polyposis coli, the dominant cancer predisposition syndrome, in three preimplantation embryos.
This type of cancer predisposition affects 1 in every 10000 people America, Britain, and Japan, making it a relatively common malady (Ao, 140). Schizophrenia has been shown to run in families; even adopted children of schizophrenic parents are ten times more likely to develop schizophrenia, regardless of whether or not their adoptive parents are affected (Bernstein, 518). Lastly, birth defects such as downs syndrome could be eliminated through genetic engineering (Resta).
A more ambiguous reason for genetic engineering is the elimination of common defects that vary in seriousness, such as sensory impairment. Dozens of chromosomes linked to hearing impairment have been located (Ruben, 33). Although treatment for such conditions initially looks promising, as the elimination of complete blindness or deafness would alleviate hardships caused by these disabilities, removing serious sensory conditions and actually raising sensory ability to a level above normal are separated by a fine line.
Due to relatively recent historical events, predominantly the practices of the Nazi party before and during World War 2, eugenics is rightly seen as a major risk to developing genetic engineering technology. Eighteen percent of people interviewed in the United Kingdom said that if they could choose, they would make their child less likely to exhibit aggressive or alcoholic behavior (Henig, 58).
Technically, if the gene for this behavior were isolated, it most likely could be altered, but it should be understood that a genetic predisposition towards a certain behavior neither guarantees that the behavior will manifest nor does it guarantee that the behavior will not be apparent even if the genetic predisposition is not present. Thus, not only is genetically engineering behavior morally and ethically questionable, it is highly unfeasible. Also, whether genetic engineering is undertaken for good or bad, the quality of the outcome must be considered.
In the recent experiments in cloning Dolly, many of the mistrials were largely oversized, causing undue pain to both the lamb and the mother (Wolfson). And finally, thought must be given to the psychological trauma that may result from any genetic choice made; family members of victims of Huntington's disease sometimes display signs of guilt that they have escaped a positive diagnosis while their loved one must suffer, much like the survivor of a major natural disaster feeling guilty that they lived while many others did not (Ruben, 228).


text:
TORONTO, Aug. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Disco, the all-in-one live learning platform, launches the Disco Accelerator, an exclusive, application only program designed to fast-track the process of transforming expert IP into an exceptional cohort based course in 4 weeks.
The Accelerator offers experts step-by-step methodology, hands-on projects, feedback, community, and marketing support to develop a premium live cohort based course that goes far beyond what can be delivered in a book or lecture alone.
"We listened to what thought leaders were asking for: They want a program with the latest IP, marketing support and a community of like minded peers to support each other. This is the power of cohort based courses at work and we can't wait to offer this transformative experience to thought leaders." - Disco co-founder, Candice Faktor
Lisa Lambert, Head Coach at Seth Godin's altMBA and the Akimbo Workshops, is leading the Disco Accelerator and is joining Disco as Head of Learning responsible for leading Disco's efforts to help thought leaders and experts design transformative learning experiences.
"For years, Lisa Lambert has been on the frontier of developing and scaling transformational learning experiences with Seth Godin's altMBA, the Akimbo Workshops, and her own projects. We could not be more pleased to have her join us on our mission to help creators monetize and to reimagine the future of learning." - Disco co-founder, Chris Sukornyk
"I am so excited to join this exceptional team that cares so deeply about creators and working with them to reimagine learning. Out of all the live learning and cohort based platforms, Disco is the most advanced and capable of delivering seamless, transformative, community-centric learning experiences that align with my own experience and vision for the future of learning." - Disco's new Head of Learning, Lisa Lambert
Disco has also teamed up with an all-star selection of guest experts for their Accelerator including Kai Sotto (People & founder, acquired by Substack) on community design, Kirstine Stewart (formerly WEF, twitter and now Pex) on creator monetization, Billy Broas (expert marketer for cohort based courses including David Perell/Tiago Forte) on messaging and marketing, and Suzanne Howard (President of IDEO U) on curriculum design, among others.
"This is exactly what creators are looking for – a program to help them design high value experiences that use a revenue model that's not ad based. Creators are looking for better ways to monetize their IP and influence. Cohort based courses are an excellent monetization tool and this program is going to be exceptional." - Kirstine Stewart, CRO at Pex, Author, Our Turn
"Virtual live learning can be even more powerful than learning in person, as long as it is well-designed. Now with the rising Delta variant and more permanent shifts to remote and hybrid work, we know virtual live learning is here to stay. Thought leaders are just beginning to learn how to transform IP into high value experiences. This program promises to help experts take their experiences to the next level." - Suzanne Howard, founder of IDEO U and former Partner at IDEO.
Applications for the Disco Accelerator open today with a limited cohort of 20 spots and an application deadline of Sept 1, 2021. The Accelerator takes thought leaders through Disco's learning framework on all the essential ingredients required to build, market, operate and sell a world class cohort based course offering. The Accelerator helps with course strategy, landing page, curriculum design, community centred learning experience design, go to market strategy, launch marketing and operationalizing and scaling cohort based courses. The program also offers creators hands-on support for the Disco platform, significant marketing support for their course launches and a scientifically proven learning experience to help creators design a world class learning experience. In exchange for Disco's support, Disco receives 10% of revenue.
"I've come to see cohort based courses as the essential, killer application of the creator/passion economy. They allow for active, intimate sharing of ideas in ways that are far deeper and more powerful than the large-on-scale, thin-on-content approaches of tweets and blogs and so much else from previous generations. Disco seems, to me, to offer the platform and the program best able to help folks like me turn our ideas into amazing courses." - Adam Davidson, Author of The Passion Economy, Cohort Based Course Creator, and Disco Accelerator Applicant.
You can learn more about the Accelerator here disco.co/accelerator. Disco is also holding information sessions this month for creators who want to learn more to apply.
Disco is an all-in-one platform to help creators build, market and scale cohort based courses and live learning experiences. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Candice Faktor (ex-Wattpad) and Chris Sukornyk (ex-Chango), Disco is on a mission to reimagine the future of learning and help creators monetize. Disco raised a 3x oversubscribed $5MM seed round earlier this year with notable investors and angels from Shopify, Wattpad, Clearco, Lambda School, Indiegogo, and world class funds including Golden Ventures, GSV, Quiet Capital and inovia.
Candice Faktor - firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
As prepared
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning to you all.
I consider it a great pleasure and honor to speak to such a distinguished audience, at this national conference on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).
It has become evident that an important trend in economic and social development is taking place in countries around the world. The private sector is increasingly taking on what had previously been considered inherently governmental functions.
Recognizing this change, governments around the world have developed significant partnerships with local and global private sector organizations to address issues as varied as environmental protection, infrastructure needs, small and medium enterprise development, education, technology, and youth unemployment.
This innovative public-private partnership model combines the assets and experience of strategic partners, by leveraging their capital and investments, creativity and access to markets, to solve complex problems faced by governments, businesses, and communities around the world. This model, no doubt, is contributing to long-term, economic and social growth in developing countries.
In order for it to have a large impact in the developing world, the U.S. Government through its development arm – the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – has helped countries to adopt this model.
To meet the huge demand for public services, including infrastructure, governments across the world are emphasizing the use of PPPs to help deliver public services. These PPPs may take several forms – from simple contracts to more complex build operate-transfer agreements.
USAID is working closely with a host of government agencies in Sri Lanka to help them meet their democratic and economic reform goals. For example, we recently helped the Department of Public Finance of the Ministry of Finance to publish a report on PPPs and to develop a roadmap to assess the current legal, regulatory, and business environment around PPPs in comparison to international best practices. Taking the report and the roadmap as a base, we are helping the government to create a PPP framework. We are also helping them to implement some of the recommendations included in the report such as setting up a national PPP unit and a national PPP committee, the development of a national policy and strategy on PPPs, and assistance with revisions to the legal and regulatory framework.
According to ADB's research, the Asia and Pacific region requires infrastructure investments of at least $8 trillion from 2010 until 2020. Traditional public funding sources fall far short of this investment need. Therefore, many countries are seeking to mobilize private funds, often through the use of PPPs.
The Sri Lankan Government, I am happy to say is in the forefront of establishing PPPs. As I understand, it has been implementing these partnerships since the 1990s and has forged more than 70 such partnerships with an approximate investment value of more than USD 6 billion in the electricity, telecommunications, ICT and ports sectors. Common to developing countries, PPPs developed in these sectors were implemented under the tendering laws of the specific sectors, but outside the PPP process, and each operating under a different set of guidelines.
It has also taken a major step towards establishing more PPPs in infrastructure by recently creating the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Region Development. This Ministry uses Western European and U.S. models. Wherever government contributions are required PPPs should be considered as the first option.
A good example of this is the Phase II of the Port of Colombo's East Container Terminal. This project combines support and investments from the Government of Sri Lanka, and the Asia Development Bank with leading operations and technology from the private sector, in order to improve the port's efficiency and capacity and to increase its market share in the global trans-shipment market. This project will include operationalization of the existing 400 meters of deep water berth and the full design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of the remaining 800 meters of berth. This is a good example of how a partnership between public and private stakeholders can help strengthen the Colombo Port's strategic position as a key trans-shipment hub for global and regional trade.
In Asia, PPPs are most commonly found in the energy sector, followed by the transport, and water and sewage sectors. PPPs are increasingly used in the social sector as well. In the education sector, for example, PPPs have been used for technical and vocational education training (TVET) services. Therefore, PPPs can help contribute not only to economic development, but also to social development.
Some key markets, such as India and China, have emerged as the largest PPP markets in the region. According to the World Bank's databases, India awarded more than 600 PPP project contracts between 2000 and 2013, mostly in the transport and power sectors. In the same period, China has awarded more than 800 PPP project contracts.
However, we also have to understand that a lot of planning and preparations go into establishing PPPs. Governments with successful PPP track records can show us how projects have to be planned and prioritized, and how financing must be secure. Additional measures often have to be taken to create a better "enabling environment," which is essential to attracting private investment. This enabling environment includes a solid legal and regulatory framework, and a dedicated PPP unit, which ensures the integrity and transparency of the procurement process.
Promoting PPPs is one of U.S. Government's key agendas, and we have solid experience in helping stakeholders plan, build and support sustainable PPP programs across the world.
In Sri Lanka, the U.S. Government has supported the Government of Sri Lanka to improve the enabling environment through expert-led training programs and by introducing new technologies such as the electronic-government procurement (e-GP) which will not only be more efficient, cost-effective and convenient, but will also make government processes more transparent and accountable.
PPPs may be used to procure a national electronic-government procurement system that will make government processes more transparent and accountable, which will further strengthen governance. PPPs often require modernization and the use of new technologies which are capital intensive and expensive. Therefore having the private sector perform e-government or ICT services on behalf of the government will be a potential "win-win" solution.
Today's national conference, supported by USAID in collaboration with the Department of Public Finance of Ministry of Finance, creates a forum for government officials to discuss the best strategies and techniques for establishing PPPs according to international standards and best practices, including those related to transparency, accountability, public financial management, civic participation and access to information.
The U.S. Government is happy to assist the Government and people of Sri Lanka to adapt and institutionalize the PPP model. As we have done during the last sixty years, we will continue to provide development and humanitarian assistance to improve your lives and futures. To date, the U.S. Government has provided more than $2 billion to Sri Lanka, for projects in such diverse fields, as agriculture, environment and natural resources, health, education, business and trade, good governance, and humanitarian assistance.
By providing training and capacity building in the areas of public private partnerships and electronic government procurement we will be helping to create a stronger PPP enabling environment which will encourage future private sector involvement in PPPs.
In closing, I would like to thank the organizers for their work in arranging this conference and the participants for taking time out of their busy schedules to be a part of it. This is a wonderful opportunity to share the latest knowledge, experience and best practices.
I hope that you find this conference both enlightening and useful. I look forward to meeting many of you and engaging in further discussions that will help us all to continue to promote PPPs in Sri Lanka.
Thank you very much


text:
Need some ideas and inspiration for your next trip? You've come to the right place. Below you'll find out all about our newest trips and destinations, as well as any special offers we have available.
Here you can also find our guaranteed trips with only a handful of places left, and our last minute trips if you're looking to jet off soon.


text: CentOS is an abbreviation for Community Enterprise Operating System. This is one of the top Linux releases for servers and it is well known as one of the most stable and protected Operating Systems out there. CentOS is open-source software, which means that you're able to personalize it in any way you see fit, adding and removing packages or altering the code of any of them. It is also free to distribute and use, so you will not need to pay any kind of license fees, meaning that the overall price that you will have to pay for a server running CentOS will be more affordable as compared to the price for a server working with an alternative OS. What makes CentOS stand out among other Linux releases is its huge developer community, which will help you discover the answer to any kind of question or problem you might have. What's more, each version that's released officially is supported for 10 years, that's is a lot longer than with any other OS. This means frequent protection and stability updates that provides a reliable software setting for your web apps in the long run.


text:
Bryant Lin, MD, MEng is a primary care physician, educator and researcher. The cornerstone of Dr. Lin's work is keeping medicine focused on humans - patients, providers, families and trainees - and not lost in technology and algorithms. His research and educational interests span (1) Developing and testing novel medical technologies, (2) Improving the health of Asian populations with Precision and Population Health, and (3) Increasing expression and interconnections in the Health Community with the Humanities and Arts. After receiving his undergraduate and master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, he completed his MD and internal Medicine training at Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center. He came to Stanford to serve as a Research Fellow in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Biodesign Fellow where he learned to identify unmet human-centered needs. Since completing his post-graduate training, he stayed at Stanford as clinical faculty in Primary Care and Population Health in the Department of Medicine where he has invented and researched new medical technologies addressing unmet human-centered needs and started the Consultative Medicine Clinic evaluating patients with medical mysteries. He served as the Training Director for the Joe and Linda Chlapaty DECIDE Center which has created a novel shared decision making tool for atrial fibrillation anti-coagulation and is an investigator in several active clinical trials. Three years ago, he co-founded and currently co-directs, with Dr. Latha Palaniappan, the Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) which aims to improve the health of Asians everywhere. Most recently, he has worked closely with the Medicine and the Muse leadership to help start the Stuck@Home concert series, the Stanford SoundWalk and the COVID Remembrance project. In 2021, Dr. Lin was appointed the Director of Medical Humanities and Arts at Stanford. Dr. Lin has an active interest in storytelling and film-making. He co-directs an undergraduate seminar, MED 53Q "Storytelling in Medicine", with Dr. Lauren Edwards and is working with a group of students on a documentary on end-of-life care at a Japanese-American Senior Home in the Bay Area. Most recently, he started and co-teaches "MED 216: Generative AI and Medicine" and is working on several Generative AI related research projects..
Clinical Focus
- Internal Medicine
- Consultative Medicine
- Preventive Health
- Chronic Care Management
- Asian Health
- Atrial Fibrillation
Academic Appointments
Clinical Professor, Medicine - Primary Care and Population Health
Member, Cardiovascular Institute
Administrative Appointments
Director of Medical Humanities and Arts, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (2021 - Present)
Founding Co-Director, Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) at Stanford (2018 - Present)
Training Director, Joe and Linda Chlapaty DECIDE Center at Stanford University (2018 - 2022)
Medical Director, Consultative Medicine Clinic (2013 - 2019)
Professional Education
Medical Education: Tufts University School of Medicine (2002) MA
Fellowship: Stanford University Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship (2008) CA
Residency: Tufts Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency (2005) MA
Fellowship, Stanford University, Biodesign (2006)
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine (2005)
MEng, MIT, EECS (1997)
Friedrich Prinz, Paul Wang, Bryant Lin, Ross Venook. "United States Patent 8,100,900 System for delivering therapy"
Baharan Kamousi, Bryant Lin, Paul Wang. "United States Patent 8,204,581 Method to discriminate arrhythmias in cardiac rhythm management devices"
Bryant Lin, Tatum Tarin, Ross Venook, Peter Hwang, Richard Goode. "United States Patent 8,290,582 Device and method to treat tissue with electric current"
Paul Zei, Bryant Lin, Robert Allison, Kenneth Carr. "United States Patent 8,303,172 Devices and methods for exercise monitoring"
Dorothea Koh, Bryant Lin, Paul Wang, Marie Guion-Johnson, Amin Al-Ahmad. "United States Patent 8,494,623 Method and apparatus for in-vivo physiological monitoring"
Additional Info
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
-Digital Health
-Medical device design, prototyping, testing and clinical trials
-Behavioral determinants of chronic disease
-Novel diagnostic processes for medical mysteries
-Asian Health
-Medical Humanities and Arts
-Medical Technology
Clinical Trials
A Study to Establish a New Onset Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Cohort
Create a large biobank of blood samples and data from subjects with new onset hyperglycemia and diabetes (NOD).
Evaluation of the Integrated Radio Frequency Denervation System to Improve Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects
The objective of this early feasibility study is to evaluate the safety and performance of intravascular hepatic denervation using the Metavention Integrated Radio Frequency Denervation System (iRF System) to improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes subjects.
Engaging Patients to Help Achieve Increased Patient Choice and Engagement for AFib Stroke Prevention
Not Recruiting
A multi-center, randomized controlled 2-arm trial comparing the effectiveness of an innovative shared decision-making pathway and usual care for Atrial Fibrillation Stroke Prevention
Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial. For more information, please contact Katie DeSutter, 650-725-4151.
2023-24 Courses
- Generative AI and Medicine
MED 216 (Spr)
- Lasting Letters and the Art of Deep Listening
MED 256, WELLNESS 256 (Win)
- Literature and Writing for Military Affiliated Students
SOMGEN 203 (Aut)
- Medical Humanities and the Arts
INDE 212 (Spr)
- Physical Listening
SOMGEN 224 (Win)
- Science and History of Traditional Chinese Medicine
ASNAMST 272, CHINA 272, MED 272 (Win)
- Storytelling in Medicine
LIFE 53Q, MED 53Q (Win)
- Tackling Asian-American Health Challenges
ASNAMST 268, MED 268 (Spr)
- The Digital Future of Health Care
MED 213 (Win)
Independent Studies (4)
- Directed Reading in Medicine
MED 299 (Win)
- Medical Scholars Research
MED 370 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Stanford Medical Student Journal
INDE 214 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Undergraduate Research
MED 199 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Directed Reading in Medicine
Prior Year Courses
2022-23 Courses
- Generative AI and Medicine
MED 216 (Spr)
- Lasting Letters and the Art of Deep Listening
MED 256 (Win)
- Literature and Writing for Military Affiliated Students
SOMGEN 203 (Aut)
- Medical Humanities and the Arts
INDE 212 (Spr)
- Science and History of Traditional Chinese Medicine
ASNAMST 272, MED 272 (Win)
- Storytelling in Medicine
LIFE 53Q, MED 53Q (Win)
- Tackling Asian-American Health Challenges
ASNAMST 268, MED 268 (Spr)
- The Digital Future of Health Care
MED 213 (Win)
2021-22 Courses
- Diagnostic Medicine on Television: Truths vs. Theatrics
MED 291 (Win)
- Literature and Writing for Military Affiliated Students
SOMGEN 203 (Aut)
- Medical Humanities and the Arts
INDE 212 (Spr)
- Storytelling in Medicine
MED 53Q (Win)
- Tackling Cross-Cultural Health Challenges: Emphasis on the Asian Community
ASNAMST 268, MED 268 (Spr)
- The Digital Future of Health Care
MED 213 (Spr)
2020-21 Courses
- Diagnostic Medicine on Television: Truths vs. Theatrics
MED 291 (Win)
- Storytelling in Medicine
MED 53Q (Win)
- Tackling Cross-Cultural Health Challenges: Emphasis on the Asian Community
MED 268 (Spr)
- Generative AI and Medicine
All Publications
View details for Web of Science ID 001008232900485
Design and development of a digital shared decision-making tool for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.
JAMIA open
2023; 6 (1): ooad003
Shared decision-making (SDM) is an approach in which patients and clinicians act as partners in making medical decisions. Patients receive the information needed to decide and are encouraged to balance risks, benefits, and preferences. Informative materials are vital to SDM. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and responsible for 10% of ischemic strokes, however 1/3 of patients are not on appropriate anticoagulation. Decision sharing may facilitate treatment acceptance, improving outcomes.To develop a framework of the components needed to create novel SDM tools and to provide practical examples through a case-study of stroke prevention in AF.We analyze the design values of a web-based SDM tool created to better inform AF patients about anticoagulation. The tool was developed in partnership with patient advocates, multi-disciplinary investigators, and private design firms. It was refined through iterative, recursive testing in patients with AF. Its effectiveness is being evaluated in a multisite clinical trial led by Stanford University and sponsored by the American Heart Association.The main components considered when creating the Stanford AFib tool included: design and software; content identification; information delivery; inclusive communication, user engagement; patient feedback; clinician experience; and anticipation of implementation and dissemination. We also highlight the ethical principles underlying SDM; matters of diversity and inclusion, linguistic variety, accessibility, and health literacy. The Stanford AFib Guide patient tool is available at: https://afibguide.com and the clinician tool at https://afibguide.com/clinician.Attention to a range of vital development and design factors can facilitate tool adoption and information acquisition by diverse cultural, educational, and socioeconomic subpopulations. With thoughtful design, digital tools may decrease decision regret and improve treatment outcomes across many decision-making situations in healthcare.
View details for DOI 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooad003
View details for PubMedID 36751465
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9893868
Clinical Trial to Evaluate an Atrial Fibrillation Stroke Prevention Shared DecisionMaking Pathway
View details for Web of Science ID 000928164500042
A Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate an Atrial Fibrillation Stroke Prevention Shared Decision-Making Pathway.
Journal of the American Heart Association
2022: e8009
Background Oral anticoagulation (OAC) reduces stroke and disability in atrial fibrillation (AF) but is underutilized. We evaluated the effects of a novel patient-clinician shared decision-making (SDM) tool in reducing OAC patient's decisional conflict as compared to usual care. Methods and Results We designed and evaluated a new digital decision aid in a multicenter, randomized, comparative effectiveness trial, ENHANCE-AF (Engaging Patients to Help Achieve Increased Patient Choice and Engagement for AF Stroke Prevention). The digital AF SDM Toolkit was developed using patient-centered design with clear health communication principles (e.g. meaningful images, limited text). Available in English and Spanish, the toolkit included the following: 1) a brief animated video; 2) interactive questions with answers; 3) a quiz to check on understanding; 4) a worksheet to be used by the patient during the encounter; and 5) an online guide for clinicians. The study population included English or Spanish speakers with non-valvular AF and a CHA2DS2-VASc stroke score ≥1 for men or ≥2 for women. Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either Usual Care (UC) or the SDM Toolkit. The primary endpoint was the validated 16-item Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) at 1 month. Secondary outcomes included DCS at 6 months and the 10-item Decision Regret Scale (DRS) at 1 and 6 months as well as a weighted average of Mann-Whitney U-statistics for both DCS and DRS. A total of 1001 participants were enrolled and followed at 5 different sites in the United States between 12/18/19 and 8/17/22. The mean patient age was 69 ±10years (40% females, 16.9% Black, 4.5% Hispanic, 3.6% Asian), and 50% of participants had CHA2DS2-VASc scores ≥3 (M) or ≥4 (F). The primary endpoint at 1 month showed a clinically meaningful reduction in decisional conflict: a 7-point difference in median scores between the two arms (16.4 v 9.4; Mann-Whitney U-statistics=0.550; p-value=0.007). For the secondary endpoint of 1-month DRS, the difference in median scores between arms was 5 points in the direction of less decisional regret (p-value of 0.078). The treatment effects lessened over time: at 6 months the difference in medians was 4.7 points for DCS (p-value=0.060) and 0 points for DRS (p-value=0.35). Conclusions Implementation of a novel, Shared Decision-Making Toolkit (afibguide.com; afibguide.com/clinician) achieved significantly lower decisional conflict compared to usual care in patients with AF.
View details for DOI 10.1161/JAHA.122.028562
View details for PubMedID 36342828
Diagnostic journeys: characterization of patients and diagnostic outcomes from an academic second opinion clinic.
Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany)
Diagnostic programs and second opinion clinics have grown and evolved in the recent years to help patients with rare, puzzling, and complex conditions who often suffer prolonged diagnostic journeys, but there is a paucity of literature on the clinical characteristics of these patients and the efficacy of these diagnostic programs. This study aims to characterize the diagnostic journey, case features, and diagnostic outcomes of patients referred to a team-based second opinion clinic at Stanford.Retrospective chart review was performed for 237 patients evaluated for diagnostic second opinion in the Stanford Consultative Medicine Clinic over a 5 year period. Descriptive case features and diagnostic outcomes were assessed, and correlation between the two was analyzed.Sixty-three percent of our patients were women. 49% of patients had a potential precipitating event within about a month prior to the start of their illness, such as medication change, infection, or medical procedure. A single clear diagnosis was determined in 33% of cases, whereas the remaining cases were assessed to have multifactorial contributors/diagnoses (20%) or remained unclear despite extensive evaluation (47%). Shorter duration of illness, fewer prior specialties seen, and single chief symptom were associated with higher likelihood of achieving a single clear diagnosis.A single-site academic consultative service can offer additional diagnostic insights for about half of all patients evaluated for puzzling conditions. Better understanding of the clinical patterns and patient experiences gained from this study helps inform strategies to shorten their diagnostic odysseys.
View details for DOI 10.1515/dx-2022-0029
View details for PubMedID 35596123
Training Internal Medicine Residents in Difficult Diagnosis: A Novel Diagnostic Second Opinion Clinic Experience.
Journal of medical education and curricular development
2022; 9: 23821205221091036
Background: In primary care clinics, time constraints and lack of exposure to highly complex cases may limit the breadth and depth of learning for internal medicine residents. To address these issues, we piloted a novel experience for residents to evaluate patients with puzzling symptoms referred by another clinician.Objective: To increase internal medicine residents' exposure to patients with perplexing presentations and foster a team-based approach to solving diagnostically challenging cases.Methods: During the academic year 2020-2021, residents participating in their 2-week primary care "block" rotation were given protected time to evaluate 1-2 patients from the Stanford Consultative Medicine clinic, an internist-led diagnostic second opinion service, and present their patients at the case conference. We assessed the educational value of the program with resident surveys including 5-point Lickert scale and open-ended questions.Results: 21 residents participated in the pilot with a survey response rate of 66.6% (14/21). Both the educational value and overall quality of the experience were rated as 4.8 out of 5 (SD 0.4, range 4-5; 1:"very poor"; 5:"excellent"). Residents learned about new diagnostic tools as well as how to approach complex presentations and diagnostic dilemmas. Residents valued the increased time devoted to patient care, the team-based approach to tackling difficult cases, and the intellectual challenge of these cases. Barriers to implementation include patient case volume, time, and faculty engagement.Conclusions: Evaluation of diagnostically challenging cases in a structured format is a highly valuable experience that offers a framework to enhance outpatient training in internal medicine.
View details for DOI 10.1177/23821205221091036
View details for PubMedID 35372696
The ENHANCE-AF Clinical Trial to Evaluate an Atrial Fibrillation Shared Decision-Making Pathway: Rationale and Study Design.
American heart journal
Shared decision making (SDM) may result in treatment plans that best reflect the goals and wishes of patients, increasing patient satisfaction with the decision-making process. There is a knowledge gap to support the use of decision aids in SDM for anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We describe the development and testing of a new decision aid, including a multicenter, randomized, controlled, 2-arm, open-label ENHANCE-AF clinical trial (Engaging Patients to Help Achieve Increased Patient Choice and Engagement for AF Stroke Prevention) to evaluate its effectiveness in 1,200 participants.Participants will be randomized to either usual care or to a shared decision-making pathway incorporating a digital tool designed to simplify the complex concepts surrounding AF in conjunction with a clinician tool and a non-clinician navigator to guide the participants through each step of the tool. The participant-determined primary outcome for this study is the Decisional Conflict Scale, measured at 1 month after the index visit during which a decision was made regarding anticoagulation use. Secondary outcomes at both 1 and 6 months will include other decision making related scales as well as participant and clinician satisfaction, oral anticoagulation adherence, and a composite rate of major bleeding, death, stroke, or transient ischemic attack. The study will be conducted at four sites selected for their ability to enroll participants of varying racial and ethnic backgrounds, health literacy, and language skills. Participants will be followed in the study for 6 months.The results of the ENHANCE-AF trial will determine whether a decision aid facilitates high quality shared decision making in anticoagulation discussions for stroke reduction in AF. An improved shared decision-making experience may allow patients to make decisions better aligned with their personal values and preferences, while improving overall AF care.
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ahj.2022.01.013
View details for PubMedID 35092723
Shifting our stance for current COVID-19 outbreaks: A global response to an international pandemic.
Journal of global health
2021; 11: 03123
View details for DOI 10.7189/jogh.11.03123
View details for PubMedID 34956633
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8684779
View details for Web of Science ID 000672599900181
Precision Public Health Matters: An International Assessment of Communication, Preparedness, and Coordination for Successful COVID-19 Responses.
American journal of public health
2021; 111 (3): 392–94
View details for DOI 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306129
View details for PubMedID 33566659
Disaggregated Mortality from Gastrointestinal Cancers in Asian Americans: Analysis of United States Death Records.
International journal of cancer
Asian Americans (AAs) are heterogeneous, and aggregation of diverse AA populations in national reporting may mask high-risk groups. Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers constitute one-third of global cancer mortality, and an improved understanding of GI cancer mortality by disaggregated AA subgroups may inform future primary and secondary prevention strategies. Using national mortality records from the United States from 2003-2017, we report age-standardized mortality rates, standardized mortality ratios, and annual percent change trends from GI cancers (esophageal, gastric, colorectal, liver, and pancreatic) for the six largest AA subgroups (Asian Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese). Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) are used as the reference population. We found that mortality from GI cancers demonstrated nearly 3-fold difference between the highest (Koreans, 61 per 100 000 person-years) and lowest (Asian Indians, 21 per 100 000 person-years) subgroups. The distribution of GI cancer mortality demonstrates high variability between subgroups, with Korean Americans demonstrating high mortality from gastric cancer (16 per 100 000), and Vietnamese Americans demonstrating high mortality from liver cancer (19 per 100 000). Divergent temporal trends emerged, such as increasing liver cancer burden in Vietnamese Americans, which exacerbated existing mortality differences. There exist striking differences in the mortality burden of GI cancers by disaggregated AA subgroups. These data highlight the need for disaggregated data reporting, and the importance of race-specific and personalized strategies of screening and prevention. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
View details for DOI 10.1002/ijc.33490
View details for PubMedID 33527405
Blood Thinners for Atrial Fibrillation Stroke Prevention.
Circulation. Arrhythmia and electrophysiology
View details for DOI 10.1161/CIRCEP.120.009389
View details for PubMedID 34111936
Shifting our stance for current COVID-19 outbreaks: A global response to an international pandemic
2021; 11
View details for DOI 10.7189/jogh.11.03123
View details for Web of Science ID 000731629200001
- A Speech Test to Assess Mask Efficacy 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) 2021
- Achieving Equity in Asian American Healthcare: Critical Issues and Solutions Journal of Asian Health 2021; 1 (1)
- Increased Self-Reported Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Concern for Physical Assault Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Filipino Americans Journal of Asian Health 2021; 1 (1)
Resonant vibration of the sinonasal cavities for the treatment of nasal congestion.
International forum of allergy & rhinology
View details for DOI 10.1002/alr.22877
View details for PubMedID 34355851
A Summary of the 2020 Gastric Cancer Summit at Stanford University.
View details for DOI 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.05.100
View details for PubMedID 32707045
Machine Learning Clustering for Blood Pressure Variability Applied to Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) and the Hong Kong Community Cohort.
Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)
Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) has been shown to be a predictor of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to classify the BPV levels using different machine learning algorithms. Visit-to-visit blood pressure readings were extracted from the SPRINT study in the United States and eHealth cohort in Hong Kong (HK cohort). Patients were clustered into low, medium, and high BPV levels with the traditional quantile clustering and 5 machine learning algorithms including K-means. Clustering methods were assessed by Stability Index. Similarities were assessed by Davies-Bouldin Index and Silhouette Index. Cox proportional hazard regression models were fitted to compare the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure. A total of 8133 participants had average blood pressure measurement 14.7 times in 3.28 years in SPRINT and 1094 participants who had average blood pressure measurement 165.4 times in 1.37 years in HK cohort. Quantile clustering assigned one-third participants as high BPV level, but machine learning methods only assigned 10% to 27%. Quantile clustering is the most stable method (stability index: 0.982 in the SPRINT and 0.948 in the HK cohort) with some levels of clustering similarities (Davies-Bouldin Index: 0.752 and 0.764, respectively). K-means clustering is the most stable across the machine learning algorithms (stability index: 0.975 and 0.911, respectively) with the lowest clustering similarities (Davies-Bouldin Index: 0.653 and 0.680, respectively). One out of 7 in the population was classified with high BPV level, who showed to have higher risk of stroke and heart failure. Machine learning methods can improve BPV classification for better prediction of cardiovascular diseases.
View details for DOI 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.119.14213
View details for PubMedID 32594794
Pharmacogenomics in Asian subpopulations and impacts on commonly prescribed medications.
Clinical and translational science
Asians as a group comprise of over 60% the world's population. There is an incredible amount of diversity in Asian and admixed populations that has not been studied in a pharmacogenetic context. The known pharmacogenetic differences in Asians subgroups generally represent previously known variants that are present at much lower or higher frequencies in Asians compared to other populations. This review aims to summarize the main drugs and known genes that appear to have differences in their pharmacogenetic properties in certain Asian populations. Evidence based guidelines and summary statistics from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) were analyzed for ethnic differences in outcomes. Implicated drugs included commonly prescribed drugs such as warfarin, clopidogrel, carbamazepine, and allopurinol. The majority of these associations are due to Asians more commonly being CYP2C19 poor metabolizers and carriers of the HLA-B*15:02 allele. The relative risk increase seen ranged between genes and drugs but could be over 100x more likely in Asians such as the 172x increase in risk of SJS and TEN with carbamazepine use amongst HLA-B*15:02 carriers. The effects ranged from relatively benign reactions such as reduced drug efficacy to severe cutaneous skin reactions. These reactions are severe and prevalent enough to warrant pharmacogenetic testing and appropriate changes in dosing and medication choice for at risk populations. Further studies should be done on Asian cohorts to more fully understand pharmacogenetic variants in these populations to understand how such differences may influence drug response.
View details for DOI 10.1111/cts.12771
View details for PubMedID 32100936
Cryosurgical posterior nasal tissue ablation for the treatment of rhinitis
Endoscopic posterior nasal nerve (PNN) resection has been described as an efficacious surgical treatment of allergic and nonallergic rhinitis, but the requirement for surgery under general anesthesia has limited its acceptance. We report the first series of patients treated for chronic rhinitis using a novel device designed for office-based cryosurgical ablation of the PNN.Twenty-seven patients with chronic rhinorrhea and/or nasal congestion for >3 months were recruited (allergic or nonallergic rhinitis), with minimum rhinorrhea and/or congestion subscores of 2 as part of the Total Nasal Symptom Score [TNSS]). Under local anesthesia, the cryotherapy device was applied endoscopically to the posterior middle meatus and was used to freeze the PNN region bilaterally. Patients were followed up after 7, 30, 90, 180, and 365 days to assess TNSS.The procedure was successfully completed in 100% of patients, with no complications; 74% reported no or mild discomfort by the first postprocedure day. TNSS was reduced significantly at 30 days (mean ± standard deviation: 6.2 ± 0.5 at baseline, 2.6 ± 0.3 at 30 days, n = 27, p < 0.001), with continued reduction at 90 (2.7 ± 0.4, n = 24, p < 0.001), 180 (2.3 ± 0.5, n = 21, p < 0.001), and 365 days (1.9 ± 0.3, n = 15, p < 0.001). Both rhinorrhea and congestion subscores decreased significantly at 30, 90, 180, and 365 days compared to baseline (p < 0.001). Allergic and nonallergic subcohorts both appeared to benefit from treatment.Office-based cryotherapy of the PNN region is safe and well tolerated. Symptom scores were significantly decreased by 7 days postprocedure and remained lower at 30, 90, 180, and 365 days.
View details for PubMedID 28799727
Visualizing ablation gaps in vitro using a deflectable fiber optic endocardial visualization catheter
2009; 25 (2): 107-110
The efficacy of pulmonary vein isolation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation may be limited by the ability to make continuous and transmural lesions utilizing an ablation catheter. Gaps often persist between ablation lesions leading to failed electrical isolation and thus failed ablation. Recently, a deflectable fiberoptic endocardial visualization catheter has been introduced for use in imaging the coronary sinus using light in the visible spectrum. We utilize this catheter to visualize the endocardial surface and examine radiofrequency ablation lesions in porcine endocardium to determine the presence of gaps between radiofrequency lesions.Videos were taken of the lesions and shown to two readers who were asked to identify the gaps ranging from less than 0.1 mm-9.8 mm.Ninety-four lesion gaps were reviewed. The readers demonstrated a combined accuracy of 98.4% at identifying gaps.Gaps between ablation lesions can be accurately identified down to less than 1 mm distances in vitro using a direct visualization catheter. Further studies are warranted to confirm these finding in vivo.
View details for DOI 10.1007/s10840-008-9338-7
View details for Web of Science ID 000267683500004
View details for PubMedID 19148727
Direct Visualization of Cardiac Radiofrequency Ablation Lesions
2009; 2 (2): 198-201
Effective ablation of atrial fibrillation and other cardiac arrhythmias requires precise catheter navigation and controlled delivery of energy to cardiac tissue. In this study, we summarize our initial experience using a fiber optic direct visualization catheter to evaluate and guide placement of endocardial radiofrequency (RF) ablation lesions. RF lesions were created in cadaveric porcine hearts and examined in a blood-filled field using a direct visualization catheter. Direct visualization of RF lesions was repeated in vivo using an ovine model. Lesions and interlesion gaps were clearly identifiable using the direct visualization catheter. It was possible to place lesions in proximity to anatomical landmarks and in relation to one another. Catheter-generated images correlated well with lesion appearance on gross examination. Direct catheter-based visualization is a feasible technique for guiding RF lesion placement, estimating lesion size, and identifying interlesion gaps. Future work is needed to correlate surface appearance with transmurality and electrical isolation.
View details for DOI 10.1007/s12265-009-9094-9
View details for Web of Science ID 000284690100010
View details for PubMedID 20559988
A New Approach for ICD Rhythm Classification based on Support Vector Machines
Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society
Inappropriate shocks due to misclassification of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias remain a major problem in the care of patients with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of a new covariance-based support vector machine classifier, to distinguish ventricular tachycardia from other rhythms such as supraventricular tachycardia. The proposed algorithm is applicable on both single and dual chamber ICDs and has a low computational demand. The results demonstrate that suggested algorithm has considerable promise and merits further investigation.
View details for Web of Science ID 000280543601357
View details for PubMedID 19964965
Dynamic Time Warping: A novel algorithm for rhythm discrimination in ICDs
View details for Web of Science ID 000253997100059
Visualizing ablation gaps in vitro using a deflectable fiber optic endocardial visualization catheter
View details for Web of Science ID 000253997100035
A Covariance-Based Algorithm: A Novel Technique for Rhythm Discrimination in ICDs
30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society
Inappropriate shocks due to misclassification of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias remain a major problem in the care of patients with Implantable Cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). In this study we have investigated the ability of a new covariance-based algorithm, to distinguish Ventricular Tachycardia from other rhythms such as Supraventricular Tachycardia. The proposed algorithm has a low computational demand and with a small adjustment is applicable on both single-chamber and dual-chamber ICDs. The results are promising and suggest that the new covariance-based algorithm may be an effective method for ICD rhythm classification and may decrease inappropriate shocks.
View details for Web of Science ID 000262404503170
View details for PubMedID 19163957
- Feasibility Testing of Novel Ablation Catheter-based Temperature Measurement Device Cardiostim 2008 2008
- Novel Method to Assess Gap Distance Between Ablation Lesions Featured Poster Heart Rhythm Society 2006
Extraction of buried P waves from printed electrocardiograms
2005; 10 (2): 142-145
Morphologic identification of ectopic P-waves from surface ECGs can be challenging, particularly when the P-wave is buried in the QRST wave complex. Because ECGs are often available on paper and not digitally, we developed a method of subtracting the T-wave from the buried P-wave complex on paper ECGs.To validate our system, an atrial extrastimulus was introduced during and following the T-wave. The ECGs were scanned and then transformed from an image format to a digital format. A computer algorithm digitally subtracted a QRST with no buried P-wave from one with a buried P-wave, thus resulting in an extracted P-wave. The extracted P-waves were compared to the nonburied P-wave by determining correlation coefficients and by visual grading by two independent reviewers.Visual grading comparing the buried P-wave with the exposed paced P-wave was 94%. The median correlation coefficient was 85%.An ectopic atrial P-wave obscured by a coincident QRST wave complex can be accurately derived from printed ECG using this PC-based system. Addition of this technique to the existing methods may aid in the localization and ablation of ectopic atrial foci.
View details for Web of Science ID 000228826100004
View details for PubMedID 15842425
Contractile actin expression in torn human menisci
2002; 10 (4): 259-266
The human meniscus is subject to injury that necessitates repair or removal. Many aspects of the cellular response to injury have not been well characterized. The purpose of this study was to describe the cellular distributions within the torn human meniscus. In addition to evaluating the cell density in selected regions, we investigated the cellular expression of a contractile actin isoform that has recently been found in the intact human meniscus. Included as a contemporaneous comparative group were torn human meniscal allografts. We hypothesized that a hypercellular surface zone would be found in the torn menisci, with a higher percentage of cells in this peripheral region expressing alpha-smooth muscle actin compared with other locations in the interior of the remnant. The rationale for this hypothesis was based on prior immunohistochemical investigations of the distribution of alpha-smooth muscle actin-containing cells in the torn human anterior cruciate ligament. Eighteen torn meniscal specimens were obtained from 17 patients, 0.5 to 84 months after injury, and four torn allograft meniscal samples were retrieved from three patients, 11 to 49 months after implantation. Microtomed sections of paraffin-embedded tissue were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and a monoclonal antibody to alpha-smooth muscle actin. The cell density and percentage of cells containing alpha-smooth muscle actin were determined in the following zones: synovial, vascular, hypercellular with loose collagen, hypocellular with dense collagen, and organized collagen. A cellular layer that resembled synovium was present on the surface of all but two of the specimens. Vascular regions were often continuous with the synovium abutting the more interior loose collagen zones. The total cell density was greatest in each of the zones closest to the periphery (synovium, vascular, and loose collagen; p < 0.001), when compared to the interior of the tissue. The synovium-like layer was found to have the highest percentage of alpha-smooth muscle actin-expressing cells and the highest alpha-smooth muscle actin-containing cell density (p < 0.05). Similar results were found for the torn allograft menisci. These findings confirm the working hypothesis and suggest that the torn human meniscus is capable of mounting a reparative response, including the proliferation of cells capable of contributing to wound closure. This underscores the importance of providing a bridging scaffold into which such cells can migrate.
View details for Web of Science ID 000177543900010
View details for PubMedID 12191009
- Changes in Physical and Biochemical Properties of Cartilage in the Guinea Pig Spontaneous OA Model are Consistent with Hypertrophic Remodeling Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society 1998; 23: 130
Association Between Financial Literacy and Diabetes and Hypertension Control among US Adults
SGIM Annual
View details for DOI 10.1007/s11606-018-4413-y
- Design and Testing of a Wearable Device to Detect Leg Position in Patients with Edema IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2018


text:
Catch 22 – Dinner and a Laugh Comedy Show
- This event has passed.
Catch 22 – Dinner and a Laugh Comedy Show
March 30, 2019 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Buy your tickets HERE
The Catch 22 Comedy Crew will be partnering with Chef Tyler Scott Gordon and the Clare Golf & Country Club to bring you this special event.
This event will include a 3-course meal and an improv comedy show. Cash bar available.
What is the Catch 22 Comedy Crew? We are a local improv comedy group whose goal is to make you laugh!
Here's how the show works:
The hosts (members of the crew) choose a series of improv games (similar to Whose Line is it Anyway) that the rest of the crew will play. She or he hosts the evening, introduces the games, and picks players for each game. The host gives a scenario, assigns characters, and other features that are unknown to the players until that moment. Then they act out the scene as per the rules of each game.
We don't pick on audience members (unless you deserve it) but at times will ask for volunteers!
The show is made of 2 sets of 45 minutes. You will receive your salad course before we begin, your main course at intermission, and your dessert at the end, to make it extra sweet!
Tomato & bocconcini salad: Arugula, basil, olive oil and balsamic reduction
Rotini Pasta Bolognese, parmesan cheese, parsley
Ready to eat, drink, and laugh? Join us at the Clare Golf and Country Club March 30th, 2019!
(Tickets sold online here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/dinner-and-a-laugh-comedy-show-tickets-57532169267)


text:
Dogs, an Archaeologist's Best Friend
As improbable as it might seem, archaeologists are demonstrating dogs can detect human remains that are thousands of years old.
I was having some coffee on campus when a colleague from the Anthropology Department sat down beside me. "I think I have something here that may amuse you," she said as she rummaged through her oversized handbag, pulled out an iPad, and a moment later showed me the image on its screen.
I found myself looking at a cartoon showing a stereotyped paleontologist standing near a dig site and talking to someone who looked like a reporter. The caption read "We have been so successful at discovering dinosaur remains because we recently added a bone specialist to our team." Behind him you could see a dog standing and holding a huge dinosaur leg bone in its mouth.
I chuckled while she added, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if dogs could actually do that?"
I replied, "Well, finding dinosaur remains may be a bit far-fetched, but we are actually beginning to see the use of what may be called 'archaeology dogs,' which are being used to find human remains that may be many centuries old."
This all came about as an extension of the work done by cadaver dogs. These are dogs that are typically used in criminal cases to help find human bodies that may have been buried or otherwise hidden. These dogs are really good at finding human remains that are hours or weeks old, but they also do well at detecting bodies which may have died years or even several decades ago. Biochemists have shown that the "scent of death" is complex and seems to contain more than 400 different components which are slowly released after an individual has died. These human-remains detection dogs can be trained to use their remarkably sensitive noses to detect these trace elements associated with decomposition of a human body despite a significant passage of time. However, the leap from a cadaver detection dog to one which can detect historical remains of sufficient age as to be of interest to archaeologists seems to be a stretch. Is it asking too much, even of dogs with their remarkable olfactory abilities?
In 2012, Gary Jackson, an Australian dog trainer, set out to answer this question, investigating if a dog could be trained to find older examples of human remains. His research was prompted by the Australian government's efforts to curb developments that might disturb aboriginal gravesites. Adding to the challenge is the fact that many of these burial grounds are hundreds of years old, and the location of individual graves has been long forgotten.
Gary set about training a black Labrador Retriever mix named Migaloo υ to detect human bones and to ignore other odours associated with decomposition. First he got permission from the Aboriginal tribal elders to use some ancestral bones from the South Australian Museum's collection. Then he re-created an Aboriginal graveyard and also scattered some animal bones there as distractors. What he saw was that the dog was able to find a buried bone from about ten feet (three meters) away, even if it was as small as a fingernail. Ultimately, he could even just take a cotton ball, touch the bone, and touch that to a rock—and Migaloo could still detect the smell on the rock.
As a sort of "proof of concept," Migaloo was then taken to an aboriginal burial ground in South Australia, where a 600-year-old grave had been found a few years ago. Gary and Migaloo were given about an acre (0.4 hectare) to search. The museum officials and tribal elders were there, and while they knew where the graves were, Gary did not. It took Migaloo less than five minutes to detect the remains that had been buried some six centuries ago.
A dog named Fable was able to find even older remains. In Sweden in 2015, archaeologist Sophie Vallulv tested a two-year-old black German Shepherd, who had been purposefully trained to find human skeletons. Sophie was studying the ruins of a silver mining community built during the sixteen hundreds, located where the mountain stream of Silbojokk flows into the Lake Sädvajaure. This is a particularly difficult set of ruins to study since investigations can only be carried out during a few weeks in early summer, before the water rises up over the area. Therefore, quickly locating probable burial sites is vital if the archaeological research is to be done. In the case of Fable, laboratory and field testing showed that he could distinguish between human and animal bones with remarkable accuracy (a detection rate of 94.2 percent). During actual field searches, Fable has found bones that were later dated to be 1,600 years old. He has detected remains buried up to a depth of 5 feet (1.5 meters). He may be capable of detecting deeper remains, but Sophie's husband refuses to dig test pits that are deeper than a meter and a half.
Perhaps the most impressive performances by a team of archaeological dogs come from the recent collaboration of Vedrana Glavaš, an archaeologist at the University of Zadar in Croatia, and Andrea Pintar, a cadaver-dog handler. Vedrana was working at a hilltop fort called Drvišica along Croatia's Adriatic coast. Her team had identified tombs in what appeared to be a cemetery near the fort and they wanted to find more. Unfortunately, the irregular, rocky terrain made it difficult to just randomly excavate suspected burial sites.
Although the dogs (a German Shepherd and a Belgian Malinois named Sattve and Mali respectively) were well trained cadaver dogs, Vedrana needed to be sure that they could detect remains which might have been in the ground for several thousand years. To test the dogs, Vedrana let them sniff around an area where she had excavated three gravesites the year before. It is important to note that the human remains had already been removed, and due to a year's worth of weathering one could no longer find any visible evidence of where the excavations had taken place. The two dogs, working independently, easily located all three gravesites, confirming their ability to do the work.
The dogs were then brought to another site in the region where it was suspected that there were more graves. These particular graves are somewhat unique in that they each contain a small stone burial chest which usually holds small finger and toe bones and a few artefacts. When allowed to sniff around this new site, the dogs were able to locate six graves. Some of these graves date back to the eighth century BC, which is close to 3000 years ago.
Because of the expense and difficulty in excavating a grave, Vedrana always uses at least two dogs to confirm the position, making sure that the second trainer and dog are not told where the first team had indicated a grave.
Although the bone fragments in these graves are very old, the guess is that the age of the bone doesn't matter as much as the environment in which it rests. Factors such as sunlight, moisture, and temperature will all impact how much scent the remains will give off. In this particular case, the bones were laid on slabs of limestone and it may well be that as they decomposed the compounds leached into the rock which then trapped the scent for centuries waiting for an inquisitive canine nose to rediscover them.
"I don't think that we will actually be able to extend this kind of searching to include dinosaur bones, however," I explained to my colleague, "since most of dinosaur remains are petrified, which means that the organic material that makes up the bone has been replaced with minerals. This means that the resulting fossils don't really smell like organic remains anymore. Of course, if we could find a place where dinosaurs recently died and have not been completely fossilized we might be more successful…"


text:
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: • Rule No. 1 of Canadian baseball blogging is don't criticize Jose Bautista unless you're prepared for an onslaught of vitriol from his online supporters. I've learned this the hard way over the years. So on Thursday, when Goose Gossage called Bautista "a disgrace to... Continue Reading →
Five things you might not know about John Farrell
It was hard not to be impressed by John Farrell in yesterday's news conference that introduced him as the Blue Jays new manager. The Jays new field boss came across as ambitious, articulate, intelligent and confident, and the former Red Sox pitching coach appears to be universally respected in baseball circles. The New Jersey native... Continue Reading →


text:
TOKYO, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Japanese shares closed lower on Tuesday as a stronger yen pressured exporters and investors booked profits after a three-day rally in the run up to the ruling party election, where Abe ally Yoshihide Suga was picked as the new leader.
The benchmark Nikkei share average ended down 0.44% at 23,454.89, having hit a fresh seven-month high in the previous session. There were 45 advancers on the index against 175 decliners.
The profit-taking came after Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, a long-time loyal aide of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was elected head of Japan's ruling party on Monday, all but confirming he would replace Abe as prime minister on Wednesday.
The broader Topix lost 0.62% to 1,640.84, with highly cyclical iron and steel, airlines and mining being the three worst-performing sectors on the main bourse.
Export-oriented firms slipped as the yen remained strong against the dollar, last traded at 105.66 per dollar, staying close to a two-week high of 105.55 yen scaled the previous day.
Canon Inc slipped 2.73%, while Panasonic Corp fell 1.15%.
Investors await the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting for clues on its monetary policy outlook, while the focus for Japan's upcoming central bank meeting would be on how it intends to coordinate policy with a new administration.
Oriental Land edged down 0.71% after local media reports said the Japanese operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort would slash winter bonuses by 70%.
Sony Corp skidded 2.41% after media reported the company would reduce its PS5 production due to chip procurement problems for the financial year.
SoftBank Group ended 0.34% higher, erasing losses from early in the session. (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Devika Syamnath)