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© U.S. Bureau of Land Management (Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program)
The Vision of the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program is a
Colorado Plateau that supports healthy and resilient native
plant communities now and for future generations.
Welcome to the Homepage for the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program (CPNPP). The CPNPP is a partnership that includes federal, state, and local agencies; tribal nations, non-governmental conservation organizations; university researchers and curators; commercial plant materials industry (seed and seedling growers and sellers); and seed testing and certification entities.
The vision, goals, and objectives of the CPNPP were originally conceived in 2007 by a cooperative working group comprised of representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Northern Arizona University and State Wildlife Agencies from across the Colorado Plateau geographic region.
In 2009 the Utah State Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hired Wayne Padgett as Coordinator to oversee what was then known as the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Initiative.
Colorado Plateau Region
The Colorado Plateau in the American Southwest is a land of extremes. With elevations near 2,000 feet at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, to over 12,500 feet at the top of Humphries Peak near Flagstaff and Mount Peal in the LaSal Mountains, the Plateau experiences hot summers with monsoonal rains, and cold winters with significant snow depths at the higher elevations. The plant communities of the Colorado Plateau are representative of the highly variable and extreme conditions that occur here.
Program Goals
The major goals of this effort are to increase the availability of native plant materials, and to provide the knowledge and technology required for their use in restoring diverse native plant communities across the Colorado Plateau. The CPNPP's own goals support the National Native Plant Materials Development Program. On a daily basis, CPNPP staff and members work to coordinate and facilitate the collection, research and development, and market production of native plant materials; as well as the use of those materials in revegetation projects.
GOAL 1 – Native Seed Collection in Support of Evaluation and Development
GOAL 2 – Evaluation and Development
GOAL 3 – Field Establishment
GOAL 4 – Seed Production by Private Growers
GOAL 5 – Seed Storage
GOAL 6 – Restore Native Plant Communities
GOAL 7 – Monitor Restoration Activities
GOAL 8 – Communication with Partners and the Public
Ecology and Plant Communities of the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau has been defined in various ways by different agencies and organizations. The EPA defines the Colorado Plateau Level III Ecoregion as primarily the southeastern portion of Utah and southwestern portions of Colorado, with minor inclusions of northern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. The U.S. Forest Service, on the other hand, defines the Colorado Plateau Semidesert Province (3.9 mb) as primarily in northern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico with relatively minor inclusions of Utah and southwestern portions of Colorado.
For this reason, and because it has been defined in such broad terms, the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program (CPNPP) has chosen to combine these definitions for the most part, by including the Colorado Plateaus, Arizona/New Mexico Plateau, and Arizona/New Mexico Mountain EPA Level III Ecoregions (see figure "2010-12-03 EPA Level 3 square figure web"). Colorado Plateau includes the Uinta Basin in the north and runs about 550 miles south to the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. Elevations of this area range from near 2,000 feet at the surface of the Colorado River as it runs through the Grand Canyon to over 12,000 feet in the Henry and LaSal Mountains of southeastern Utah. And vegetation patterns in the Colorado Plateau are indicative of this. It includes the red rock desert ecosystems as well as high elevation plateaus with expanses of pinyon-juniper woodlands and shrublands, sagebrush shrublands, blackbrush-Mormon tea shrublands, salt desert shrublands, communities and isolated mountain peaks.


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110430 Weekly Q&A 3
110430 Weekly Q&A 3 - Q: Would you have voted in favor of down sizing the Niagara Falls Board of Education?James Neiss/staff photographerNiagara Falls, NY - No, I think we need the number we have, they seem to do a good job of push for better education. Richard Diggs of Niagara Falls.
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WASHINGTON, April 14 (AP) — Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress.
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex about the same age as other students — 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
The federal government spends about $176 million a year promoting abstinence until marriage. Critics have repeatedly said they did not believe the programs worked.
Bush administration officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the study, saying the four programs were some of the very first established after Congress overhauled the nation's welfare laws in 1996.
Officials said one lesson they learned from the study was that the abstinence message should be reinforced in subsequent years.
"This report confirms that these interventions are not like vaccines," said Harry Wilson, associate commissioner of the Family and Youth Services Bureau at the federal Administration for Children and Families. "You can't expect one dose in middle school, or a small dose, to be protective all throughout the youth's high school career."Continue reading the main story


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SOURCE: Lumenis Ltd.
February 12, 2015 07:00 ET
Revenue Growth of 8.6% in the Fourth Quarter; 9.2% Growth for the Full Year 2014
Revenue Growth of 8.6% in the Fourth Quarter; 9.2% Growth for the Full Year 2014
YOKNEAM, ISRAEL--(Marketwired - Feb 12, 2015) - Lumenis Ltd. (NASDAQ: LMNS), the world's largest energy-based medical company for surgical, ophthalmic and aesthetic applications, today announced fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014 financial results.
Fourth Quarter Summary:
Fiscal Year 2014 Summary:
"Our focus on execution and investment in innovation and new product development resulted in strong revenue growth of 9.2% this year. Notably, recently introduced products represented 18% of our product revenues in the fourth quarter," said Mrs. Tzipi Ozer-Armon, Chief Executive Officer. "We also continued to improve profitability as demonstrated by adjusted EBITDA growth of 24.7%. Our strong position in the market combined with our focus on new product innovation and execution gives me confidence that 2015 will be another growth year for Lumenis."
Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Results
Total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2014 was $77.2 million, an increase of 8.6% compared to revenue of $71.1 million last year. Product revenue was $63.6 million, an increase of 9.1% compared to product revenue of $58.3 million last year. Service revenue was $13.6 million, an increase of 6.7% compared to service revenue of $12.8 million last year. On a constant currency basis, total revenue increased 11.8% year-over-year. Total revenue was driven by growth, on a constant currency basis, in all three business segments, led by Aesthetics growth of 19.1%, Surgical growth 8.7% and Ophthalmic growth of 4.6% compared to last year. By geographic region, total revenue growth was driven by APAC growth of 21.2%, EMEA growth of 25.8%, and Americas growth of 6.6% in the period. Japan sales declined 18.7%, on a constant currency basis, year-over-year.
Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2014 was $41.5 million, an increase of $2.7 million, or 7.0%, compared to $38.8 million last year. Fourth quarter 2014 GAAP gross margin decreased 82 basis points to 53.8%, compared to 54.6% last year. The decline was driven by geographic and product mix and the impacts of changes in exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar.
On a GAAP Basis:
Fourth quarter 2014 GAAP operating expenses were $34.1 million, an increase of $1.6 million, or 5.0%, compared to operating expenses of $32.5 million last year. The increase in operating expenses year-over-year was mainly driven by higher sales and marketing expenses, offset partially by lower R&D expense compared to last year. Operating expenses represented 44.2% of sales this year, compared to 45.7% of sales last year.
Fourth quarter 2014 GAAP operating income was $7.4 million, an increase of $1.1 million, or 17.3%, compared to GAAP operating income of $6.3 million last year. Fourth quarter 2014 GAAP operating margin was 9.6%, compared to 8.9% last year.
Fourth quarter 2014 GAAP net income was $6.8 million, an increase of $2.1 million, or 45.0%, compared to $4.7 million last year. GAAP net income per diluted share was $0.19 in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to $0.15 last year, up 23.3% year-over-year, based on 36.1 million and 30.7 million diluted shares outstanding respectively.
On a Non-GAAP Basis:
Fourth quarter 2014 Non-GAAP operating income was $8.1 million, an increase of $1.6 million, or 24.7%, compared to Non-GAAP operating income of $6.5 million last year. Fourth quarter 2014 Non-GAAP operating margin was 10.4%, compared to 9.1% last year. Fourth quarter of 2014, Non-GAAP operating income excludes $0.7 million related to stock based compensation expense.
Fourth quarter 2014 Adjusted EBITDA was $9.7 million, an increase of $1.8 million, or 23.3%, compared to $7.9 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.6% of revenues compared to 11.1% last year. Fourth quarter 2014 Non-GAAP net income was $7.1 million, an increase of $1.6 million, or 29.4%, compared to $5.5 million last year. In addition to the above mentioned adjustments to operating income, fourth quarter Non-GAAP net income excludes revaluation income of embedded derivatives of approximately $0.4 million in 2014.
Non-GAAP net income per diluted share was $0.20 in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to $0.18 last year, based on 36.1 million and 30.7 million diluted shares outstanding respectively.
Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Results
Total revenue was $289.7 million, an increase of 9.2% compared to revenue of $265.4 million last year. Product revenue was $235.9 million, an increase of 10.3% compared to product revenue of $213.8 million last year. Service revenue was $53.8 million, an increase of 4.4% compared to service revenue of $51.6 million last year. On a constant currency basis, total revenue increased 10.5% year-over-year. Non-GAAP gross profit was $155.0 million, an increase of 9.1% compared to $142.1 million last year. Non-GAAP gross margin was 53.5% of sales, compared to 53.5% of sales in fiscal 2013. Non-GAAP operating income was $25.4 million, up 25.1% compared to $20.3 million last year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 8.8% of revenues, compared to 7.7% in fiscal 2013. Non-GAAP net income was $19.9 million, an increase of 33.8% compared to $14.9 million last year.
Cash and cash equivalents were $105.6 million as of December 31st, 2014 compared to $42.8 million as of December 31, 2013. The increase in cash and cash equivalents is primarily due to proceeds related to our IPO and shares options proceeds, $15.0 million cash flow generated from ongoing business activities, partially offset by cash payments to Bank Hapoalim of $15.0 million related to annual loan repayment and $6.0 million related to the completion of the IPO and achievement of a profitability milestone as well as to additional IPO-related payments of $1.2 million.
Business Highlights
Full Year 2015 Financial Guidance
For the full year ended December 31, 2015:
Conference Call
Lumenis will host a conference call on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014 financial results. The call will be concurrently webcast. To listen to the conference call on your telephone, please dial the following numbers approximately ten minutes prior to the start of the call: 888-203-7337 for callers based in the United States, 1-800-924-5905 for callers based in Israel and 719-457-2602 for callers based in all other countries. The reservation code for the call is 3878753. Please dial in approximately ten minutes prior to start time. To access the live audio webcast or subsequent archived recording, visit the Investor Relations section of Lumenis' website at http://investor.lumenis.com. A telephone replay of the call will be available for 14 days following the call. To listen to the replay, please dial 888-203-1112 for United States-based callers and 719-457-0820 for international callers. The reservation code is 3878753. A replay of the webcast will be available on the investor relations page of the company's website.
About Lumenis Lumenis is a global leader in the field of minimally-invasive clinical solutions for the Surgical, Ophthalmology and Aesthetic markets, and is a world-renowned expert in developing and commercializing innovative energy-based technologies, including Laser, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radio-Frequency (RF). For nearly 50 years, Lumenis' ground-breaking products have redefined medical treatments and have set numerous technological and clinical gold-standards. Lumenis has successfully created solutions for previously untreatable conditions, as well as designed advanced technologies that have revolutionized existing treatment methods in each and every one of the verticals we operate in. Our drive for innovation stems from an uncompromising commitment to improving the health and well-being of our patients; addressing new and growing needs of aging populations; and in offering medical professionals cutting-edge solutions that fit seamlessly into the health-economics environment of the 21st century. The world over, we bring Energy to Healthcare. For more information visit: www.lumenis.com
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company has presented the following non-GAAP financial measures in this press release: non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income per share and adjusted EBITDA margin. The Company defines non-GAAP operating income as its reported operating income (GAAP) excluding stock-compensation expense, one-time charges and other non-recurring operating costs and expenses. The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as its non-GAAP net income before financial expenses, net, taxes on income, and excluding depreciation and amortization expense. The Company defines its non-GAAP net income to exclude non-recurring or unusual expenses. To calculate revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth rates that exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, the Company converts actual reported results from local currency to U.S. dollars using constant foreign currency exchange rates in the current and comparable period.
Forward-Looking Statements
Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include but are not limited to the Company's plans, objectives and expectations for future operations, including its projected results of operations. Forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "believe," "should," "intend," "plan," "project" or other similar words, but are not the only way these statements are identified. These forward-looking statements are based upon our management's current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including those risks discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
(1) Net cash flow generated from ongoing business activities includes cash flow from operating and investing activities as well as foreign currency translation adjustments related to cash and cash equivalents in the period. For the full year that amount exclude a total of $7.2 million payments related to the IPO and other payments to Bank Hapoalim BM
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A Practical Guide to Lose Weight without Tears
LOSING WEIGHT isn't easy if you are not doing it the right way. Many spend hours in the gym and many others stay hungry or go on extreme diets so that they can lose weight, but still are not able to lose a single pound.
In this Weight Loss eBook, I have penned down the Key Strategies you can learn to lose weight STEP-by-STEP. So take your First Step towards a healthy body by Downloading this eBook TODAY! It's just for USD 3.99/-.
Why should you BUY this eBook?
Buy the eBook Today for just USD 3.99/-
Read this eBook in different formats through any device. On-the-go connected whether on your mobile, tablet, or desktop. Say Yes to the Healthy You!
What the Readers have to Say?
Excellent read – I have already lost some weight. I have been trying to do so from quite some time. After going through the book it seems to be a cakewalk. Great job Chhavi.
Mandeep Singh
AWESOME book. Completely changed the way I thought about weight loss and fitness. I never realised how important it is to focus on food even for people who do not intent to lose weight. Thank you for such a great guide Chhavi.
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About the Author
Chhavi Jain
Chhavi Jain writes about Weight Loss & Healthy Living. She is an unshakable optimist committed to help dedicated people to lose weight by leading a healthy lifestyle, and weight loss is a by-product. She loves to stay fit & lead a healthy life and offers tips & tricks that are absolutely doable for an average human being.
Having herself lost 20 kgs of body weight & 5 inches from her waist (in about 10 months), she strongly believes that there is no right time or age to start leading a healthy lifestyle One can start anytime and any day; it is just a matter of taking the first step.
Having run a successful blog for many months, she has now authored this eBook that provides step-by-step procedure to all readers desirous to lose weight, and tackle all weight issues leading to permanent results.


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SWOSU-Sayre and Great Plains Regional Medical Center Enjoy Relationship
For anyone having blood drawn or an x-ray taken lately at Great Plains Regional Medical Center in Elk City, chances are that a Southwestern Oklahoma State University-Sayre graduate did the work.
Medical laboratory technicians draw blood and help evaluate other bodily fluids, while radiologic technologists take and evaluate x-rays.
SWOSU-Sayre graduates represent 16 of GPRMC's 18 med techs, while 22 of the hospital's 24 rad techs are SWOSU-Sayre graduates.
"It is our desire to deliver care to all residents of western Oklahoma through the capable hands of those who grew up here and chose their education locally," said Great Plains Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Corey Lively.
The SWOSU-Sayre Medical Laboratory Technician and Radiological Technology Program directors say the close relationship these programs have with the hospital is an important reason GPRMC employs so many of their students. Both programs send students to GPRMC every year for clinicals, where students get real-world experience working with professionals in their field.
"We have an excellent relationship with GPRMC," said SWOSU-Sayre Medical Laboratory Technician Program Director Roxann Clifton.
Clifton said the hospital is one of the best training facilities the MLT program has and as students evaluate their clinic training experiences, GPRMC consistently receives high ratings.
Clifton works closely with GPRMC Director of Laboratory Services Linda Rule as well as Melissa Smith. Both are graduates of the SWOSU-Sayre Med Tech program.
SWOSU-Sayre Radiological Technology Program Director Jess Parker echoed Clifton's sentiments about the working relationship between the university and the hospital. Parker said one of the advantages of sending students to GPRMC for training is that the hospital has great equipment for them to learn on.
"I'm always confident that they're learning on the latest technology," Parker said.
Parker works with the hospital's Director of Imaging Services Duane Mills as well as Curtis Stout and Jennifer Thomas, all SWOSU-Sayre graduates.
"Duane, Curtis, Jennifer and the staff do a great job of making the environment very student friendly," Parker said.
It's one thing to educate students, but it's another thing to hire them. GPRMC does both.
"History has shown that Great Plains Regional Medical Center will be able to employ highly trained and skilled medical laboratory technicians from SWOSU-Sayre," Clifton said.
Parker believes seeing the radiological technology students in action are why the Elk City hospital hires so many of his program's graduates.
Lively agrees with Clifton and Parker about SWOSU-Sayre's med tech and rad tech graduates and praises the quality of those programs.
"The instructors produce some of the finest students in the nation," Lively said.


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3 Secrets to Driving Skilfully and Keeping Safe on the Road
August 25, 2016 Let's Study No Comments
Keeping safe on the road takes considerable skill, which drivers refine over a long time, but starts with attending a credible school. The article highlights some of the factors that underlie a perfect driving experience. To the seasoned driver, the process of driving a car is second nature, and they go about it with a


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Blue Wing Frog
What is a day in the country without a fabulous picnic lunch? At Blue Wing Frog, we have everything you need for just that.
What are your plans? A hike or bike ride? Canoing? Maybe visiting a winery? We have exceptional, easy, and elegant picnic lunches that feature the best and freshest ingredients we can find in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge. Lovely recyclable boxes, water-proof dry bags, easy to carry backpacks, or old fashioned picnic baskets, we pack it for wherever you are going to ensure that your food is fresh and appetizing.
Whether you're dining here or taking it to the trail, leave the usual behind and enjoy the wonderful fare from the Blue Wing Frog.
Blue Wing Frog Menu
© 2019 All Rights Reserved VIRGINIA CANOPY TOURS™
Virginia's Zip-The-Park Treetop Adventure
1371 Daughter of Stars Drive, Bentonville, VA 22610
Phone: 540-622-2000 · Email: email@example.com
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Department of Mathematics
Department Profile
The Department was established in the year 1981 in which the college was started. It has highly qualified, experienced and committed faculty who have set good academic standards.
In addition to teaching Engineering Mathematics courses, the department is providing help to other departments whenever necessary.
The department leaped one more step ahead when the Acharya Nagarjuna University recognized it in March 2004 as one of the potential departments that can offer M. Phil and Ph.D. Sri. J. Baskar Babujee (ex-staff member of the college) obtained Ph.D under the guidance of Dr. N. Prabhakara Rao from JNTU, Hyderabad. So far three students obtained Ph.D, nine students obtained M.Phil through the research center of the department.
The department is selected by the National Board of Higher Mathematics to grant advanced books of mathematics. Under this programme the department received 387 books which are very useful for higher learning/research in mathematics.


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- Research
- Open Access
Exploring soybean metabolic pathways based on probabilistic graphical model and knowledge-based methods
- Jie Hou1,
- Gary Stacey2 and
- Jianlin Cheng1Email author
© Hou et al. 2015
- Received: 16 January 2015
- Accepted: 9 June 2015
- Published: 20 June 2015
Soybean (Glycine max) is a major source of vegetable oil and protein for both animal and human consumption. The completion of soybean genome sequence led to a number of transcriptomic studies (RNA-seq), which provide a resource for gene discovery and functional analysis. Several data-driven (e.g., based on gene expression data) and knowledge-based (e.g., predictions of molecular interactions) methods have been proposed and implemented. In order to better understand gene relationships and protein interactions, we applied probabilistic graphical methods, based on Bayesian network and knowledgebase constraints using gene expression data to reconstruct soybean metabolic pathways. The results show that this method can predict new relationships between genes, improving on traditional reference pathway maps.
- Soybean
- Gene expression data
- RNA-seq
- Metabolic pathway
- Bayesian network
- KEGG database
1 Introduction
Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) is recognized as an important food source for humans and animals because of its relatively high protein and oil ingredients. As one major species of the legume family, soybean contains high-quality protein which is a fundamental requirement, providing complete protein that contains all the essential amino acids that people need. Soybean is also considered "heart healthy" since soybean protein intake can significantly decrease serum (blood) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, contributing to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease [1, 2].
A remarkable achievement in soybean research was the completion of the genome sequence (http://www.phytozome.net/soybean), which provided the basis for a variety of detailed, genome-wide studies, including completion of a transcriptome atlas based on RNA-seq analysis of different tissues [3, 4]. The availability of this transcriptome data facilitates more detailed studies of soybean gene function (e.g., [5]).
In order to visualize and analyze large-scale experimental gene expression data, especially to elucidate gene–gene and protein–protein interactions, gene and protein expression data are commonly mapped to reference metabolic pathways, which provides a context for understanding the functional response of the plant to a given treatment. Metabolic pathways are designed to represent the chemical reactions among a set of small molecules in a cell within one organism. Therefore, reconstruction of metabolic pathways from protein and gene expression data can help researchers discover new, fundamental biological functions for a particular network. Although more and more plant genome sequences are becoming available, there is still need for improved methods for metabolic pathway reconstruction to support functional studies.
In order to reconstruct a traditional metabolic pathway for a given species (e.g., those provided by the KEGG database [6, 7]), the annotated genes and their encoded protein products are integrated with the reference metabolic pathways in the KEGG database. The gene product sequences are mapped to the reference pathway using the KEGG Automatic Annotation Server (KAAS) [8] based on sequence homology to similarly mapped sequences from well-annotated reference genomes. Each gene is assigned one KEGG orthology number (KO number) with the highest ranking based on the functional annotation in KAAS and scoring orthology groups by probability and heuristics. The association between KO numbers leads to placement of the gene products into curated pathways. In order to improve on these methods, providing more potential and valuable interactions between genes and proteins, we applied the Bayesian network to construct probabilistic graphical networks. By way of example, we used knowledgebase constraints to improve the prediction efficiency and accuracy to reconstruct metabolic pathways for soybean [9].
2 Method
2.1 Pathway construction workflow
2.2 Data preprocessing
2.2.1 Removal of non-expressed genes
The published RNA-seq gene expression data, representing 14 soybean tissue-specific conditions, were normalized to counts per million reads (CPM) [3]. The CPM normalization was implemented using the Bioconductor package edgeR [10] within the R statistical programming language. The genes with a retrieved CPM value above one in at least one condition were kept for further analysis, while those genes showing no apparent expression in any of the 14 conditions were removed from the dataset.
2.2.2 Protein sequence generation
Accurate gene translation is essential for developing the initial reference pathway maps. Protein sequences available for the annotated soybean genome were extracted from the Soybean Knowledge Base (SoyKB) [11, 12]. The KEGG pathway database utilizes Entrez IDs for each soybean gene and, therefore, the SoyKB Glyma-format ID was converted to EntrezGene ID (ex., GLYMA01G00300.1 ↔ 100781438) using BioMart [13]. The metabolic pathways were built by combining all of the knowledge above (i.e., protein annotation and associated gene expression values).
2.2.3 Gene clustering
Metabolic pathways are graphical representations of cellular processes in the KEGG database. Each reference pathway is composed of a network of enzymes and a set of genes that are functionally related in terms of predicted cellular and molecular functions based on experimental knowledge [6, 7]. One assumption of our metabolic pathway reconstruction method is that genes that share similar gene expression patterns over a set of experiments are more likely to be involved in the same reference metabolic pathway. Therefore, we used the Expectation-Maximization-based clustering algorithm on the data sets [14]. This clustering algorithm is Gaussian mixture model based and the clustering number is determined by cross validation to improve the consistency and robustness for gene selection.
2.2.4 Relation knowledgebase construction
Information on all the existing relationships among KO identifiers (ortholog group) for all the mapped genes in all pathways can be collected from the KEGG database [6, 7]. Such a relational knowledgebase includes the relation and reaction among orthologous groups, such as the directional relations, the relationship type within protein–protein interactions and protein–compound interactions, as well as related chemical reactions.
In order to generate the relation knowledgebase, based on the gene-to-KO assignments and the list of pathway maps with KGML format generated by the method described above in the "Initial pathway construction" section, we extracted all the sets of relations and reactions for mapped KO numbers from the full set of KEGG reference pathways [9]. The relationship between genes can also be predicted based on the relationship between KO numbers.
In order to improve the space searching efficiency and quality for Bayesian network construction, two knowledgebase sets were generated [9]. A gene whitelist was created for Bayesian network prediction consisting of all the relationships between genes. A blacklist was also constructed consisting of all possible gene relations not supported by the knowledgebase and, therefore, excluded from the Bayesian network construction.
2.3 Initial pathway construction
The KEGG database [6, 7] provides 90 graphical diagrams for soybean reference metabolic pathways, which were computationally generated from manually curated pathways based on experimental knowledge of metabolism. Each pathway represents the network structure of chemical compounds, enzyme molecules and enzymatic reactions, where each enzyme is assigned one Enzyme Commission (EC) number to specify enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Each EC number is associated with a KEGG Orthology (KO) number in the KEGG database. The KO number is a unique identifier for matching the genomic information in the GENES database and the gene products (enzyme–enzyme interaction) information in the PATHWAY database. In each reference pathway, rectangle nodes are assigned with the KO identifiers to denote specific enzymes. Once the KO identifiers are assigned to genes in a specific genome, the related organized-specific pathways are generated automatically. A web-based server called KEGG Automatic Annotation Server (KAAS) [8] can automatically assign KO identifiers to genes based on the protein sequence similarities, which enables the reconstruction of initial organism-specific pathways and BRITE hierarchies.
However, since the complete metabolic pathway is separated into a list of subpathways in terms of different cellular, molecular functions, genes mapped to a specific pathway can only represent a small part of relationships in the whole pathway. The traditional mapping method such as KAAS can only predict a small subset of relationships that exist in each reference pathway. In order to address this weakness, we applied the Bayesian probabilistic network method [9] to expand the initially mapped pathways by adding more genes and relationships, taking into account all predicted KO relationships in KEGG. Based on the gene-to-KO assignment and pathway network structure information, the initial pathway can be constructed by matching the genes to the KO identifiers in each pathway.
2.4 Bayesian network pathway construction
After the initial pathways for soybean genes were constructed and the associated knowledgebase built, we expanded the pathways by adding more genes with similar gene expression patterns and new relationships and reactions. The new genes were derived from predicted gene clusters and metabolic pathways predicted through the Bayesian network method taking advantage of all existing relationships between KO numbers in the knowledgebase. The score-based heuristic approach was applied to learn all the possible local structures to enlarge the whole metabolic pathway step-by-step [15].
2.4.1 Gene sampling
In order to sample genes that are more likely to be involved in the same pathway, the gene cluster containing more genes than in the initial pathway was assigned the highest probability for sampling. The sampling probability for the remaining clusters was assigned automatically based on the Euclidean distance between each cluster and pivot cluster [9]. The probability assignment follows the criteria that a shorter distance has higher weight for sampling, which means the gene expression values are more similar between genes in two clusters.
2.4.2 Bayesian network construction
The Bayesian network approach can be applied to discover casual relationships from gene expression data, which proposes a probabilistic model with joint probability distribution to represent the gene expression patterns for the target genes across the different experimental conditions. Based on the predicted network structure, valuable biological information can be extracted to understand the regulation process among genes. Bayesian network is represented as a directed acyclic graph (DAG), with the gene/protein as nodes and the reactions/relation between genes as directed edges in graphical representation of metabolic pathways. The score function, which is Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) based, is used to predict networks from gene expression data [15]. The score can be evaluated by adding, removing, and reversing a single edge at each local structure updating step during the network learning process. The greedy hill-climbing algorithm can help find the optimal structure network with a local maximum. After determining the local optimal structure, the new local network is considered as a new node to be used to repeat the sampling procedure to produce a larger pathway network.
Since network learning in a large searching space is time-consuming, we used the knowledge constraints to restrict the network search, resulting in a smaller searching space instead of the overall search space. The concepts of a whitelist and blacklist in Bayesian network were applied. The edges existing in the initial pathways were always present in the graph, serving as a whitelist in the Bayesian network. Based on the sampled genes and existing relationships of orthologous groups (KO numbers) in KEGG, the gene relations that do not exist in the knowledgebase will never be present in the graph, which is served as the blacklist for the Bayesian network.
2.4.3 Parsing and editing pathway information
There are several problems that need closer attention during the pathway processing for network construction.
Cycle detection and processing in pathway
Metabolic pathway reflects a series of reactions between enzymes, which is often feed-forward reactions with one direction. However, reversible reaction will also exist in the pathway that leads to feedback loops among sets of enzymes. Before feeding the sampled genes from gene cluster combined with initial mapping pathway into Bayesian network reconstruction, the presence of cycles should be conquered in advance since Bayesian network could not handle loops or cycles in graph. During the whitelist generation step for Bayesian network, the gene–gene reactions with direction from the initial pathway that exists in the KEGG knowledgebase were added into whitelist sets iteratively with checking to see if the cycle exists in the current network at each time. If the gene pairs with directed reaction would cause a loop among the current gene network in the whitelist, the edge was not be added. This step generates the initial gene network as a whitelist with no cycles occurring for Bayesian network prediction. In order to incorporate the reaction information from all species in the KEGG database, if the reaction for a gene pair belongs only to soybean, this edge was also excluded from the whitelist set in order to make the initial mapping network more independent. This also helped to validate the performance of our network prediction. After the new network is predicted, the initial mapping network with cycles was amended to the predicted pathway to complete the existing feedback reaction activity.
Multi-molecule nodes in a pathway
In the metabolic pathway, multiple proteins may catalyze the same reactions and inhibit or activate the same substrate. Such a set of molecules was grouped together and labeled as one node in the pathway, sharing the same node identifier. In the KGML file for the KEGG pathway, each node is composed of multiple different KO numbers. During the extraction of gene relationships from the initial mapping pathways, the relationships between two nodes in the pathway were assigned to each KO number pair from two nodes to generate the gene–gene relationship. After the gene network was generated by Bayesian network construction, genes belonging to same KO number were grouped together to simplify the network representation.
2.5 Functional enrichment analysis
Protein function prediction software MULTICOM-PDCN [16, 17] was used for function prediction of gene sets from the Bayesian graphical network. A set of Gene Ontology (GO) [18] terms associated with three functional categories (i.e., biological process, molecular function, and cellular components) was predicted for each gene. A Fisher exact test was conducted on each predicted pathway to identify over-represented GO terms, which are significant GO terms associated with the group of genes in the pathway. The significant GO terms identified in each Bayesian network served as a reference to validate the predicted edges among gene sets.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Data description
Our initial input data were RNA-seq gene expression data, representing 14 soybean tissue-specific conditions, including 9 different soybean tissues (root hair cells isolated 84 and 120 h after sowing (HAS), root tip, root, mature nodules, leaves, shoot apical meristem (SAM), flower and green pods [3], as well as 5 additional tissues taken from Libault et al. [19]. This large scale of transcriptomic analysis provided a comprehensive compendium of soybean gene expression. We applied our pathway reconstruction pipeline to this full set of transcriptome data, which contains expression measurements on 69,077 putative annotated soybean genes and 7314 unannotated genes in which 53,175 putative annotated genes were expressed in at least one condition while 15,902 putative annotated genes showed no apparent expression. Genes that were not expressed at all and unannotated were removed from further analysis. Each gene identifier was labeled using the Glyma-format following the convention adopted by the Arabidopsis community [20].
Since one gene can have multiple transcripts or protein sequences due to alternative splicing, we extracted all the transcript variant IDs for the 53,175 expressed genes. For example, gene Glyma20g01000 had only one transcript variant Glyma20g01000.1, while Glyma01g00300 had two transcript variants, Glyma01g00300.1 and Glyma01g00300.2. Protein sequence data were extracted from the Soybean Knowledge Base (SoyKB) [11, 12] providing 35,505 protein sequences; from the expressed 53,175 gene transcripts, protein sequence information for the remaining 17,670 genes was not provided in SoyKB. When dealing with the gene ID conversion process through BioMart [13], BLAST [21, 22] was used to align the transcript sequence against the EntrezGene database and the EntrezGene identifier with high degree of sequence similarity was assigned to transcript ID. Because of this similarity-based mapping method, the same transcript variant might have several different EntrezGene IDs, while several transcript variants might share identical EntrezGene IDs. In such situations, we downloaded the protein sequence information for all soybean genes in the KEGG pathway database and the one-to-one mapping between Glyma-format ID, and EntrezGene ID for each transcript was chosen based on sequence identity. This step removed those transcripts from same gene that their sequences did not match the gene sequences in KEGG database. Finally, the protein sequence information and gene expression value for a total of 26,873 protein-coding genes were built and used for metabolic pathway reconstruction.
3.2 Metabolic pathway prediction
3.3 Function enrichment analysis
The top 10 enriched functions of 106 genes identified in the predicted network for the glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism pathway (KO00630)
GO term
P value
Biological process
Glyoxylate cycle
Biological process
Tricarboxylic acid cycle
Cellular component
Molecular function
l-Malate dehydrogenase activity
Biological process
Glutamine biosynthetic process
Molecular function
Glutamate-ammonia ligase activity
Biological process
Malate metabolic process
Molecular function
l-Lactate dehydrogenase (cytochrome) activity
Biological process
Lactate metabolic process
Biological process
Oxidation reduction
4 Conclusions
In this study, we applied probabilistic graphical and knowledge-based methods to reconstruct soybean metabolic pathways based on a comprehensive transcriptome database. Based on the results, the method performed better than the traditional sequence-homology mapping method by predicting more real relationships in the pathways. Functional enrichment analysis on the predicted pathways also revealed that functional related gene pairs were predicted successfully to enlarge the initial mapping network from KEGG. The good performance of the data and knowledge-based probabilistic method provided fundamental, new biological information for soybean research and demonstrates that this method can be generally applicable for other genomes where similar starting data are available.
The work was partially supported by a NSF grant (IOS1025752), a grant from the US Department of Energy (DE-SC0004898), an NSF CAREER award (DBI1149224), and an NIH grant (R01GM093123).
Authors' Affiliations
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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.


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Home › Forums › Theone WordPress Theme › Transparent header
Tagged: header, transparent
This topic contains 13 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by BWSM 4 years, 1 month ago.
November 19, 2014 at 2:58 pm #5463
I just bought your theme and was wondering if i could change the header to where it will stay transparent the whole time even when scrolling through the page?
ramb0zamb0November 20, 2014 at 2:59 am #5470
Hi, thank you for purchasing our theme
plz go to wp-admin, paste the code into Theone(theme option) / General settings / Custom Css
body.page #header.headerbg { background-color:transparent;}
Follow on @uiueux to get update news!March 6, 2015 at 9:08 pm #6545
Is it possible to have the header at 50% opacity? So you can see through it but it is not completely transparent?March 6, 2015 at 9:13 pm #6546
Okay I did this: body.page #header.headerbg {
opacity: .5;
And it worked
However, can you goto uxdash.com and see now there are two logos in the header. I had this problem before with the other type of header (square box animation) but you gave me CSS to fix it. Can you give me css to fix it for this style of header now too? I appreciate it.March 7, 2015 at 1:30 am #6547
remove the css in this topic: http://www.uiueux.com/forums/topic/how-to-have-separate-logos/March 7, 2015 at 2:46 am #6550
The css in that topic does not work for this problem.
I tried it as follows: body:not(.page) .logo-image {display: none;}
But please see uxdash.com – the problem still exists.
Thank youMarch 7, 2015 at 8:11 am #6552
– use the css to hide short logo:
.logo-image { display: none; }
– remove the background to hide long logo(the logo with text) : https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtfo2ij8xuto5m6/QQ20150307-1.jpg?dl=0March 8, 2015 at 12:24 am #6562
Sorry I think I was not clear in stating my problem.
The code you provided does work in removing the small logo from the header – but it also removes the small "uxd" logo from the loading box and square box on page load. I want to keep the "uxd" in the loading page and square box, but remove it from the header and only have "uxdash" in the header. How can I do this? Sorry for the confusion.
Also, how can I style the header to not be transparent on mouseover? I want it transparent when scrolling, but I want it solid on mouseover.
I really appreciate your help.March 8, 2015 at 1:33 am #6564
Hi dashmista
Try update to:
#header .logo-image { display: none; }
I don't understand 2nd questionMarch 8, 2015 at 3:06 am #6565
Perfect! Works! I appreciate it so much.
Sorry for the confusion. So the 2nd question is: on the current uxdash website, the header is transparent. However, if the user moves their mouse to the header (for example, to click a link), I want the header to change opacity to full (not transparent) so that they can focus on the header links better. How can I code this?March 8, 2015 at 3:14 am #6566
Whoops, I found the solution:
body.page #header.headerbg:hover {
opacity: 1;
This achieves the effect. However, how can I make the transition from opacity: 0.7 to opacity: 1 smooth? How can I make the transition smooth? I tried several codes from the internet and I am not able to figure it out. Thanks.March 9, 2015 at 2:48 am #6578
Use the css:
body.page #header.headerbg { -webkit-transition: all 0.5s; -moz-transition: all 0.5s; -o-transition: all 0.5s; -ms-transition: all 0.5s; transition: all 0.5s; }March 9, 2015 at 5:23 pm #6581
Hmmm does not work? The menu still "snaps" from 0.7 to 1.0 opacity on hover.March 10, 2015 at 2:04 am #6591
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text:
The members of the Mid-Tennessee Gem & Mineral Society participate in many activities. Besides the obvious activities such as field trips, members are very active volunteering in activities like the FiftyForward Donelson Station Citizen's Center's Lapidary Shop, Tullahoma Senior Citizen's Center, and presentations to local schools and scout groups.
As we develop this web site we continue to add more information in this section. Use the links on the left to view more information on selected activities.
© 1997-2016 Mid-Tennessee Gem & Mineral Society


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Icom IC-718
100 W HF transceiver - DISCONTINUED
Icom IC-718
This model is now discontinued - see Yaesu FT-450D or Alinco DX-SR9
One of our favourite and best selling small HF transceivers, and although aimed as an entry-level product, the IC-718 continues all the traditions of high quality engineering that you would expect from Icom.
Conveniently sized and easy to operate, the IC-718 utilises all the latest RF and digital technology and is designed to be one of the most practical rigs ever!
The IC-718 offers an excellent overall specification coupled with ease of use. The first thing that strikes you about the IC-718 is its similarity to the IC-R75 and more importantly that the speaker is mounted on the front panel of the transceiver. With the speaker facing the operator audio can now be more clearly heard during operation.
The IC-718 features a clean 100-Watts transmitter for SSB and CW and a built in electronic keyer for CW and 40 watts output on AM. As you would expect, an all mode, general coverage receiver is built in and covers 30kHz -29.999 MHz.
All popular operating modes are offered; USB, LSB, CW, RTTY (FSK) and AM, in addition there is a level adjustable noise blanker, a variety of scanning functions as well as a hand microphone and electronic keyer as standard.
The IC-718 has a total of 101 memory channels, which stores operating frequency and mode. The IC-718 has a number of options available to enhance the model including UT-106 DSP unit to further improve receiver performance, CR-338 High Stability Crystal improve the frequency stability to within . 5ppm, UT-102 voice synthesiser, which gives the IC-718 a clear electronically generated voice etc.
- Icom IC-718 2 - 100 watts HF transceiver
- Frequency coverage - 1.8 -3 0MHz (160 -10m)
- Transmit: (UK ham bands) 160 - 10m, 2-100W (SSB, CW, RTTY), 2 - 40W (AM carrier)
- Receive: USB, LSB, CW, RTTY (FSK), AM * 300kHz - 29.999MHz
- Dimensions: 240 (W) x 95 (H) x 239 (D) mm
- Weight : 3.8kg
Optional accessories
- AH-2b - Antenna element
- AH-4 HF MHz Automatic antenna tuner
- AH-710 Folded dipole antenna
- AT-180 Automatic Antenna tuner
- CT-17 CIV level converter
- HM-36 Hand Microphone
- IC-PW1 HF MHZ 1kW HF linear amplifier
- PS-85 DC power supply
- SM-20 Desktop microphone
- SP-7 External speaker
- UT-102 Voice Synthesiser
- UT-106 DSP unit
More from Icom: All Icom | All Icom Base Station Transceivers


text:
Watch your money grow.
Gail and her husband, Don, know their money is safe—and they know it's growing—because they invested in a CD with Texana Bank. They don't worry, because Texana has been a steady presence in the communities it serves for more than 100 years. It's here today, and it will be here tomorrow.
Visit one of our branches in Texarkana, Longview, or Linden before the offer expires.
Get more information.
*APY = Annual Percentage Yield. APY is for 24 months (term of the CD) and is subject to change at maturity. The minimum to open and obtain the APY is $1,000. Withdrawal of interest will reduce earnings. A penalty will be imposed for early withdrawal. Refer to Truth-in-Savings disclosure for complete details. Available for personal and business accounts. Promotion available for a limited time only. New deposits only.


text:
|guo dian tong xin zhong xin
|dian li xi tong tong xin bian ji bu
|"Electric Power System," Journal of charge by the State Power Corporation, National Power Communication Center hosted the only domestic power industry is the issue, reflecting the power of professional and technical communication journals. Founded in 1977, 1983 public offering approved by the National Science and Technology Commission, has been 20 years of history. Since it began publication, and always adhere to the publicity work of the power system communication policies: AC power communication technology applications and management experience to introduce and promote the research, design achievements and developments in telecommunications technology at home and abroad: for electricity production scheduling and modern management purpose of quality service, and strive to become the window for power communication. "Power system communication" is intended for work in the operation of power system communication, management, design, production, research and teaching of technical and management personnel, and other production enterprises engaged in the field of communications, research and teaching professionals. After 20 years of unremitting efforts, the quality of journals and has improved continuously, has become a power system has a certain influence on the technical publications by the growing number of professional technical and management personnel of the concern and love. (Translated by machine.)


text:
I wrote the first part of this last night at Dad's Townsend Military Band concert on Townsend Common–and I'm very grateful about that because last week, the concert was rained out. But picking up where I left off…
I did it again–found something that Dad had lost! And on Father's Day, no less.
I'd given Dad his gift and custom-made card after the band concert on Thursday, June 16 because I didn't expect to see Dad until my birthday on Monday. But the next day, Dad called me about a different topic, and he complained that he'd misplaced his glasses and couldn't find them anywhere. He really needs them to do any reading or close work, including work on the computer. He's been doing a lot on the computer because he's been working a lot on his genealogy database. We talked about where the glasses might be, and he said he'd dug up an old pair of Mom's reading glasses and they were better than nothing.
On Saturday we talked again, and the glasses were still missing. Dad by now was saying that he'd just put them down somewhere without thinking, couldn't reconstruct where or how, and "they'll just have to turn up sometime." But I was pretty concerned, imagining Dad trying to manage without his glasses. He'd misplaced them somewhere between checking his email and getting dressed on Friday morning.
I had this very strong feeling that they were on the floor somewhere, and I had a visual image of them caught in a tangle of extension cords or wires behind a desk or chair–where they'd be hard to feel and difficult to see. In any event, on Sunday I called Dad to wish him a happy Father's Day, and he still hadn't found the glasses. So I said, "okay, I'm coming up to see if we can find them." Dad fussed a bit that I didn't need to do that, but he fussed because he just wanted to putter away on his projects, and how could he do that without his glasses? Dad also had Office 2010 that he'd bought back in April and it still wasn't installed on his computers.
So I drove up to the lake. It was a very nice day and I was actually glad to get out of the house. Of course, you can never plan! When I got up there, Dad said that his desktop computer was being wanky, and I spent some time fussing with that. I couldn't find anything definitively wrong, but it did seem to be very sluggish, so I left it running a full system scan in Safe Mode just in case.
Finally, Dad and I started hunting around methodically for the glasses. We checked around chairs and the computer desk and whatnot, but I finally spotted them. They'd fallen down between the bed and nightstand, and were on top of a tangle of extension cord from the bedside lamp. They're brown and were camouflaged very effectively–but they were in exactly the situation I'd imagined they were. I'd thought they might be under the computer table because there are so many more cables and cords under there, but my "vision" was absolutely right.
Dad was gobsmacked, saying that he'd "felt around down there" and not felt the glasses. But that's the trouble when things are mixed up with wires–you can feel around and only feel the wires, because everything is loose and moves as you feel it. But he was very pleased, and I got some great ego-boosting from it, so we'd have to say that Dad had a pretty good Father's Day. He liked his card and gift, too. His computer finished its scan without detecting anything suspicious and it's running fine now, so maybe it was just bogged down with software updates. It's an older machine. I installed Office 2010 on Dad's new laptop.
The next day, June 20, Dad came down to my house for my birthday. We went down to the Groton Nursery where Dad bought me something I have wanted (and repeatedly asked for at birthdays and Christmas) for years and years–so many years that several of the stores where I used to pine over them have actually gone out of business. I finally have one of those big, deep-toned, and expensive tube windchimes. I love those!! I also bought a pot of peppermint (because I did the supposedly impossible and killed the peppermint I bought last year) and took a free banana pepper plant because the nursery was giving them away. I don't have the best luck with peppers, but we'll see how this one does.
After we got back from Groton Nursery, we had dinner at a restaurant that recently opened in Pepperell. Up to now, Pepperell's eateries have been confined to pizza, Chinese, ice cream stands and coffee-shop sorts of places. This place, Dolce, advertises itself as serving "Tuscan" food. The location is a remodelled former bank on Main Street, and it's small, with booths, but the food is…just amazing. Really, really good. I had spinach ravioli stuffed with ricotta, with parmesan cream sauce and wilted baby spinach. It came with a house salad that was lightyears beyond the average side salad you get in even a nice place. Dad had a sort of seafood bisque that he thought was one of the best soups he'd ever had. So we had a really super dinner.
The Solstice was Tuesday the 21st at 1:05 p.m. local time, so I did Tarot reading Monday night and then ritual on Tuesday, which concluded my formal observance. My Tarot reading was rather mixed (which is typical), but it's only for the current octave (6 weeks) so I can't put too much stress on it.
I'm glad the Solstice is past. The several weeks leading up to it, I felt more and more tense and unsettled. I couldn't sleep at all, it was like I was pumping adrenaline all the time. I couldn't focus, I couldn't get work done, I couldn't stop eating, I just felt completely out of sorts. Since the Solstice has turned, I've been feeling a lot better–energized, focused and motivated. I've just finished editing a manuscript which is about to go off to the author, a process that took me a full seven days to complete. It's weird, because I was born at the Solstice, but I don't like this time of year at all.
The weather on Tuesday the 21st was stunningly beautiful: you couldn't have asked for a more perfect, quintessentially summer day. So I was a little surprised to awaken Wednesday to dripping eaves and rain. From then on, it rained…and rained…and rained. Before it stopped, Pepperell had logged an "official" 2.6 inches of rainfall–and we got a bit more. It rained on Thursday, and the band concert was cancelled. It rained on Friday…it thought about clearing up Saturday…and finally, on Sunday, the sun came out. Well, briefly.
This was highly conducive to the editing task, but man, did I get sick of the rain. I'd been writing in my journal since my sister went home that I needed to mow the grass–and with an electric mower, it has to dry out a bit before I feel comfortable getting out there with the equipment. Some of my neighbors (or their lawn services) are out there on their rider-tractor monsters as long as it's not actually precipitating, but I don't like to run my heavy electric cords through wet grass. The big catch, of course, is that the grass has just been loving all that rain. Plus, I hate it when Dad's band concerts are cancelled, because he devotes so much work and energy to them.
It's been slowly drying out this week (we got more rain late Tuesday night), but aside from the wet, I really wanted to get that manuscript edited, so if I wasn't doing obligatory chores like workouts and animal care, I had my nose to the computer screen. Yesterday I finally got out there and mowed the grass–in the nick of time, too, for a few of the thickest spots. The grass is really lush and green. So is some, if not all, of the garden–the potatoes are about 10 inches tall already. Some things, like the tomatoes, need more sun than they've been getting, but they're growing. Weeding the garden is the next serious outdoor chore. I seem to have lost about half the row of carrots–the rain might have drowned them. The pumpkins and zucchini are doing well so far, and more of the gladiolas have appeared, to my surprise. The day lilies are just about to start blooming in back.
But one flourishing "crop" that I'm definitely unhappy about is the poison ivy, which is lush, fertile, and appearing in more and more places where I'm extremely displeased to see it. Even worse, I have some poison ivy rash again–and I don't have the foggiest clue how I got it!!! I first noticed it last week and thought it was dermatitis from my malachite necklace, which I'd worn on Solstice. Then it spread into a whole streak over one shoulder, as though it rubbed off some kind of strap, and the insides of my elbows and forearms. I hadn't done any work in my yards since June 4! I'm completely baffled as to where I contacted poison ivy in that pattern–unless it's not really poison ivy, but then, I don't know what else it could be. But gods, I'm sick of having ugly rashes and hives and feeling itchy for six months out of the year! If there was a vaccine for poison ivy allergy, I'd be first in line, even if it cost hundreds of dollars and I had to pay out of pocket. It would be worth every penny!
I'm slowly maneuvering through the process of signing up to supply ebooks directly to Kobo and, via Ingram, Apple. I hand-edited all the .epub editions of BLUM's titles to pass epubcheck ver. 1.2, only to have Ingram tell me that Apple's books must be epub ver. 1.0.5, "the very latest version of epub." Uh, no, it is not either "the very latest version!" But, grumbling, I downloaded ver. 1.0.5 of epubcheck and made sure all the files passed it, because I've heard that Apple is extremely persnickety about the .epub files meeting strict protocol (its own, that is). Barnes & Noble and Google don't seem to be nearly so fussed. But speaking of Google, I've also been running around in circles trying to get a problem resolved with Google ebooks, and I have to say, Google is nowhere near being ready for prime-time in the book world. I don't know what they think they're doing, but working with them is the most frustrating experience I've had with a vendor, and that's saying a lot. I completed the four-part webinar series on "metadata" with BISG (I paid a registration fee, it wasn't a freebie, so it had solid content) and I hope to be putting all BLUM's metadata into ONIX format for distributors soon. It seems like pretty straight-forward XML code. Twice I asked questions which the presenters said were really good ones.
I hope everyone has a pleasant holiday weekend! I have no particular plans, may walk down for the fireworks tomorrow night.


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Our Favorite Park Places To Ooh And Aah At 4th Of July Fireworks
Pittsburgh's parks are some of the best places to celebrate America's birthday. Thousands flock to pavilions for cookouts with friends, trails to walk and bike with families, and of course great lookouts to watch the annual city-shaking Fourth of July fireworks show.
Pack up a folding chair or blanket and visit our favorite park places for this once-a-year extravaganza! Fireworks begin at 9:30PM.
West End/Elliott Overlook
The West End/Elliott Overlook offers a panoramic view of the city with the Point at the very center. Here you have a clear view of the Allegheny River – and of course the fireworks!
Point State Park
Get right up in the action with this front-row seat. We'd suggest getting there early to stake out a spot since this is a very popular place to watch.
For directions and to see the other great locations, see the original post:


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Families who are looking for a safe place for their kids to go after school that also will teach them good study habits may want to consider the Laughlin Memorial Chapel after-school program. Laughlin Chapel, located on 18th Street in Wheeling, will begin its after-school program at the end of September.
The program is designed to help the children of Ohio County to maintain or develop good study habits, assisted by Laughlin staff and students from Bethany Collage, West Liberty, University and Wheeling Jesuit University. Children get accurate help with homework and skilled tutoring sessions. They also are provided with an afternoon snack and dinner. In addition, clubs are available for them to join, including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Ms. Debbie Miller's Girls Club, Grow Ohio Valley and the Young Lions Drum corps.
Call 304-232-2630.


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|June 12th, 2018, 01:26 AM
VT Lover
Join Date: April 1, 2015
Location: USA
I thought this would be therapeutic for many suffering from school parental stress.
This link is about an article about how the pressures of academic life from parents push us to hard to the point of breaking and contemplating suicide at times.
I post this article here so that people know they aren't alone, and that there are professionals out there who recognize this is a problem for parents and us teens.
There is an audio-file of the radio broadcast segment if one prefers not to read.
I hope this helps someone not feel so alone.
P.S. it doesn't matter if you don't get into Ivy League schools btw, what matters is what you learn about treating people right when your young, probably in kindergarten, and to not let your love of learning pass away....I notice jr.high and high school really beat that out of you, $ and status usurp meaningful tools we use to make sense of the world, and all authority seems hypocritical.
I get it.
But my words of comfort to you are, stay in the game. It gets better, A does not always lead to B, and then eternal failure. You won't always succeed, but calibrate your goals just enough to challenge yourself, but not so much you get swallowed up and not too little that your ego gets inflated.
Last edited by Uniquemind; June 12th, 2018 at 01:30 AM.
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Many phenomena of interest in nature and industry occur rapidly and are difficult and cost-prohibitive to visualize properly without specialized cameras. Here we describe in detail the virtual frame technique (VFT), a simple, useful, and accessible mode of imaging that increases the frame acquisition rate of any camera by several orders of magnitude by leveraging its dynamic range. The VFT is a powerful tool for capturing rapid phenomena where the dynamics facilitate a transition between two states, and are thus binary. The advantages of the VFT are demonstrated by examining such dynamics in five physical processes at unprecedented rates and spatial resolution: fracture of an elastic solid, wetting of a solid surface, rapid fingerprint reading, peeling of adhesive tape, and impact of an elastic hemisphere on a hard surface. We show that the performance of the VFT exceeds that of any commercial high-speed camera not only in rate of imaging but also in field of view, achieving a 65MHz frame rate at 4MPx resolution. Finally, we discuss the performance of the VFT with several commercially available conventional and high-speed cameras. In principle, modern cell phones can achieve imaging rates of over a million frames per second using the VFT.
© 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing AgreementFull Article | PDF Article
OSA Recommended Articles
Jen-Hao Rick Chang, B. V. K. Vijaya Kumar, and Aswin C. Sankaranarayanan
Opt. Express 24(24) 27937-27950 (2016)
Chi-Wai Chow, Chung-Yen Chen, and Shih-Hao Chen
Opt. Express 23(20) 26080-26085 (2015)
Ethan T. Zepper, Michelle L. Pantoya, Sukalyan Bhattacharya, Jeremy O. Marston, Andreas A. Neuber, and Ronald J. Heaps
Appl. Opt. 56(9) 2535-2541 (2017)


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Back in February, we were invited to a press preview of the upcoming Teva Summer collection. The Spring Break themed presentation was styled by Christina Caradona of Trop Rouge & Laura Ellner of On the Racks. We enjoyed chill island party sounds, signature Teva drinks, and were able to view all the new sandals for men and women. Our favorite part was the DIY station where we dabbled our creative fingers in studs and gems to create our own custom pair of Tevas!
Teva, as you may or may not know was created when a river guide rigged two Velcro watchbands to an old pair of flip flops and created a shoe that wouldn't float away. Add a variety of cool colors, prints and a flatform bottom and you've got the updated version! Because we're all about comfort and functionality it is a no-brainer that, Teva would be our current brand crush and go-to Summer sandal. One of our favorite styles from this collection is the Flatform Universal Mid Platform Sandal. I personally love this sandal in French Blue because that's the color I customized it at the event. I love how comfortable it is while giving me extra height. The guys at the office are digging the Men's Original Universal Urban Sandal – simple and comfortable.
Want a chance to win yourself a pair of Tevas? You're in luck because we are giving away 4 pairs on Instagram – get all the details there!


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- From the Chair
- Teacher's Corner
- WANTED: New Branch Treasurer
- RSCDS Management Board
- A Fun Weekend Going to Irene Paterson's Farewell Party
- Move to the Music
- Burns Dance, Saturday, January 17, 2015
- Maureen Sloan Requests for Photos for Photobooks
- Dancing in the Highlands
- November 8, 2014 Portland Dance Program
- December 13, 2014 Portland Dance Program
From the Chair
by Martin MacKenzie
First, I'm very thankful to the members of the board for all the research they've done to help us find venues for our monthly dances! One of the results of our latest success we will experience at our November second Saturday dance party. We'll be at a new venue this time around, The Renaissance School of Arts on Renaissance School of Arts, 0234 SW Bancroft St., Portland, Ore. Note the "0" in 0234. There is a map of this location on the party page, towards the bottom. It is a beautiful facility and will allow all of us to socialize afterwards using our own food and avoiding the less than desirable experience we had at Maher's Irish Pub.
As Sally, our Vice Chair observed, "(There's) a nice, big, open room, with a great floor, and a piano with a lovely view. They have a refrigerator, microwave, and sink which we can use, and we can use any of the tables scattered around outside of the ballroom. There seems to be plenty of parking around, both in their parking lot and on the streets next to it. They have a rule that no street shoes can come in the building, so we can just put on our dance shoes as soon as we come in the door."
As we won't be doing a Bizarre Bazaar this year as it hasn't produced much in terms of fund raising, we need to come up with more ideas for fund raisers. If you have any ideas, please contact any member of the board. As well, if someone would be interested in serving as treasurer next year, we would love to train interested parties in taking over that rôle in the future.
Finally, I would like to thank all the the folks who came to our October dance party at the Academy of Ballet & Dance Arts studio and brought their cheerful and helpful ways to make it an enjoyable event!
Teacher's Corner
by Debbie McRobert
Our group has several dancers who have danced for many years. When someone keeps coming to the same class for that long, there must to be a reason for them to return. I can think of a few reasons because they are true for myself. I come for the exercise, both of the mind as well as the body, and for the people that we keep in touch with each week.
Sometimes I need a little more to keep myself focused. I have found little opportunities to keep dancing fresh and new each class. These activities improve my own dancing and can also help other dancers improve. I thought I would share with you what I'm thinking about while I'm dancing.
- I watch the other dancers in the set, with special attention to those who may need a helpful hint.
- I look for ways to cover with my partner and with others in the set. Maybe even covering with the other sets.
- I notice how the deviser of the dance transitioned from one figure to the next.
- I listen to the music and how it fits or does not fit the dance.
- I think about the little things:
- Taking hands and releasing hands
- Phrasing, ending in my spot right at the end of bar 8
- Flowing from one figure to the next, without starting/stopping too early/late
- Eye contact
- Encouraging smiles
- There are questions I ask myself while dancing.
- How's my turn out doing?
- Am I closing in third each step?
- Are my hands at shoulder height?
- Am I bending my knee on the first strathspey step?
I listen to teachers as they instruct to see if there's something new I can learn. The steps are not new but figures and wording can be new, and that different wording can bring new life to a step or figure. When Ron Wallace taught a class on the strathspey step, he described the closing as your feet "kissing". For the next month every time I danced a strathspey my feet were kissing away, and I closed every step.
WANTED: New Branch Treasurer
by Pat Taylor
At the Annual Meeting in May, 2015, my already extended tenure as Portland Branch treasurer will end. I know May seems a long way off, but I thought it would be a good idea to give plenty of notice so that if anyone is interested, I could begin to work with him or her after the 1st of the year.
This is not a difficult nor time-consuming position - in fact, I have enjoyed it, and still am. I like working with figures because there's only one right answer, no debating!
These are the duties:
- Provide sign-up sheets and collect the fees at Monday classes and Saturday parties. (It is not necessary to always be present if arrangements are made in advance for someone else to take the money)
- Count and enter the amount collected in the appropriate fund in the ledger.
- Deposit the funds - I usually do this at the end of each month.
- Deposit checks for Demo Team performances.
- Write rent checks to Waluga Lodge, St. Barnabas and the Saturday party venue.
- Keep a record of teachers and write checks for them periodically.
- Keep receipts for miscellaneous expenses and write checks for reimbursement.
- Balance the checkbook against the bank statement monthly.
- Create a monthly report of income/expenses - I have a spreadsheet for that.
- Make various payments during the year, e.g. dues to Edinburgh, insurance, TAC memberships, publicity, Highland Games Association.
The busiest time of the year is, of course, around the Workshop & Ball when many checks have to be deposited and many expenses paid.
- Attend Board meetings 3 or 4 times a year.
These are the perks:
- You get to work with really nice people.
- You get the summers off!
Talk to me if you might be interested, or email me at patmtay at comcast dot net
RSCDS Management Board
by Tom Halpenny
The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society elects its Management Board and committees from members of its 160 branches worldwide, at the Annual General Meeting in November. Since I have an interest in dance group processes, and would like to learn more about the processes of the Society, I submitted my name in nomination for one of the seven open Management Board positions. I would like to thank many of you supporters who signed my nomination petition. I submitted a candidate profile with my SCD background and what I would like to bring to the position. I was pleased to learn on September 26 that I have automatically been "elected" for a three-year term, since only three candidates had submitted their nomination. I will be one of the trustees with the responsibility to manage the Society with its annual budget of 800K pounds.
Branches recently received the RSCDS 2013 AGM Minutes, and I enjoyed reading the informative content. Branches are enthusiastic about supporting the society activities. Committee volunteers collaborate with the paid staff in order to produce products and services that benefit Scottish country dancers worldwide. I observed a theme with a desire to establish improved communication and partnership with branches. I will be interested to learn which ideas were tried this year, and the results? Branches expressed a desire to continue to improve efficiency and manage costs. I wonder how well aligned HQ and branches' goals are?
Declining membership is a headwind and the greatest perceived risk to the Society's future. Branches are responsible for generating members, and HQ would like to be helpful to recruit members. I recently obtained the membership numbers going back to the beginning. I compared RSCDS membership data with the attendance of the USA National Square Dance Convention from 1952 to 2013.
We observe similar trends when we overlay the charts of the two data sets. The most significant thing I learned from the comparison is that the dominant trends in RSCDS membership and square dance participation are correlated and are global and are challenging to influence. We would want to focus on methods that generate a longer-term membership increase. Which methods have an international effectiveness and can be adapted for different cultures? Which methods depend on local personalities compared with publicity that has a global reach?
It is possible for a branch to locally counteract the globally declining membership trend. Successful branches can share their improvement experiences. However branches are generally isolated from each other. HQ hosted Branch Secretaries workshops in 2012 and 2013 at 12 Coates Crescent in Edinburgh. I am interested in a project to create a new internet Facebook discussion group which is effectively an ongoing Branch Secretaries workshop with worldwide participation. The aim of the group is to examine the role of Branch Secretaries and is intended for current Secretaries and those who may be interested in taking on the role. It is an opportunity for Branch Secretaries to meet each other and network to learn what is going on in the wider environment. HQ might similarly establish Facebook discussion groups for branches to network in other ways.
I am excited to meet the RSCDS Board and committees members and collaborate and learn RSCDS processes. We will hopefully have significant progress to report over the next three years.
A Fun Weekend Going to Irene Paterson's Farewell Party
by Linda Gertz
Don & I headed north on Saturday, October 18 to attend Irene's farewell dance. We decide to stop at the Falls Terrace Restaurant in Tumwater, WA for lunch. It is a special place to go, as the seating is in tiers so everyone has a view of the river & the small falls. The leaves were just starting to turn colors, which made the view even prettier. Afterwards we decide to walk up to the falls. We discovered that there is a trail that goes along the river and there are several more falls along the way. At the bottom of the falls we got to spy a really big sockeye salmon resting in a calm area before attempting the fish ladders to go up stream. According to a lady we spoke with if we had been two weeks earlier we would have seen many more fish. We also discovered the name of the river is the Deshutes! How dare Washington take the name of a river in Oregon! We then walked up to the top of the falls & found there is a fish hatchery at the top. There they let the wild fish go on through, but the hatchery fish returning are taken to create more little fish that are released in the spring.
After the refreshing walk, we continued on to our motel in Bellevue. It was my turn to drive & we discovered that Don had forgotten to bring a book with him. One of us without a book in insufferable! So I got out my I-phone & found a book store nearby called "Half-Priced Books". We went there & found new books are half price, plus they also sell used books. So Don found 3 books that were $1.00 each. It was time for dinner, so I again got out my I-phone and using the "Find Me Gluten Free" app I found a close by Indian restaurant. It was wonderful. I got to have lentil crepes & curry; a lentil savory donut and lentil soup. Yum!
Now back to change & on to the dance. The dance hall they used was very attractive with wood beams and a good giving floor. During the week, on the way up & and at dinner time we had been busy studying the dances. There were several that neither one of us had heard of. There were numerous different figures that we don't do a lot, such as: Set & Rotate, Interrupted Hello-Goodbye setting, the Birl/Bourrel, the Tourbillon. Irene's favorite figure was obviously the diamond poussette, as it was in 3 dances on the program. So it was a challenging program, but a fun one too. We managed fairly well. The other dancers were friendly and helpful. Irene hasn't moved and isn't sure when they will as their house hasn't sold yet. So who knows, there might be another party for Irene. The music was amazing with Calum Mackinnon, Lisa Scott & Marcia Thumma playing!
The next day must-do item was to have breakfast at Portage Bay Café, where their motto is "Eat like you give a dam!". They have 3 restaurants in the Seattle area. This time we went to the one on Lake Union. They are really concerned about the source of their food & making sure the food is of good quality. I had wonderful gluten free bananas foster French toast with a rum/caramel sauce. If you order pancakes or French toast you get to go to the breakfast bar where you can add berries, nuts, peaches, pears, butter, whipped cream or dried fruit to your entrée. I also loved that I could only eat half of my order, so I got leftovers for Monday's breakfast!
Next item on our agenda was the Seattle Aquarium. We had never been there. Don wanted to see how Mo (short for Molalla) the river otter was doing. He was one that was born over a year ago at the Oregon Zoo. We enjoyed the aquarium. Mo seemed to get along fine with the other otters. He and one of the other otters were busy grooming each other. They had a neat exhibit that shows all the different types of fish that live in the sound.
Now onward to home to get back for dinner together with Don's family. Being so stuffed from breakfast, we didn't need to stop for lunch. At a rest-stop for a break and change of drivers, we just walked a bit and ate the bananas I had gotten from the motel.
So as you can see we had a great weekend full of enjoyment, dancing and good food and music, plus great weather!
Move to the Music
by Tom Halpenny
Let's explore the Fun of "Friendship, Fun, and Fitness" factors that attract people to our dancing activity. I have tried several folk dance forms, and the common theme that appeals to both the thinking and feeling parts of the brain is "move to the music".
When we photograph dancing as a promotion method, a main goal is to show dancers having fun while moving to the music. Still photos are limiting because they communicate neither motion nor music. A new person might respond differently to a dance photo, compared with an experienced dancer. An experienced dancer can view the photo and imagine what the dancing motion with music is like, based on their experience, while a new person might receive a lower-impact message. A video resonates with the feeling part of the brain where the decision is made to try dancing.
For example, we can improve on this photo of the 2014 RSCDS Spring Fling event of youth Scottish country dancers, with the video that communicates the high-energy motion and music.
We can observe the room of Contra dancers moving energetically to the music. The caller reminds dancers of each figure at the beginning while the music plays a background rhythm. The calling gradually diminishes as dancers remember the pattern, and the musical melody moves to a higher level as dancers enjoy the music while dancing without the caller.
A high-energy Square dance video shows the caller singing a popular song in Germany, and the dancers are singing along. Interesting to listen how the caller mixes calls in English with song lyrics in German.
An English country dance video communicates the graceful choreography to the beautiful waltz music. While the caller teaches the figures before beginning the dance, the musicians play along with the teaching tempo, which activates the thinking and feeling parts of the brain.
The final video is a medley of Irish Ceili dances with live Irish music. The caller likes to form sets and begin the dance with little instruction. He calls the figures during the dance and relies on experienced dancers to help new dancers learn with fully activated thinking and feeling parts of the brain.
Dance groups can attract more people to the Fun of dancing if we focus on moving to the music in all our processes. Move to the music!
Burns Dance, Saturday, January 17, 2015
by Robert Burger
Our Burns dance will be Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 7 pm. It is to be held in the nice old Santa Clara Grange, 295 Azalea Drive, Eugene, OR, with its good wooden floor. Live music will be provided by our wonderful D'n'A band, Doug and Amey.
By the way, our class has moved to Wednesdays 7-9 PM at the Santa Clara Grange Hall, 295 Azalea Drive, Eugene, OR.
Robert Burger, Senior Teacher, Eugene, OR RSCDS Class
Maureen Sloan Requests for Photos for Photobooks
by The Editor
Maureen Sloan requests photos of the Portland Branch activities taken in 2013 and 2014. She would like to add them to the photobooks similar to the one she made for 2012. Photos can be emailed directly to Maureen at msloan34 at comcast dot net.
Dancing in the Highlands
by Maggie Hannahs and Darrick Wong
On the first Friday in October, Maggie and Darrick trekked over the curvy passes of the Cascade mountains to Bend to attend a Scottish Country Dance ball in the highlands of Oregon. On the way there, we stopped to admire the monkey head at Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne before stopping at the Seelyes' house to pick out amusing hats, admire the local deer, and socialize a bit. We enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with dancers from the host branch before the festivities began, and to experience a little bit of downtown Bend.
Monica Pollard, a teacher from the Boise Scottish Dance group, led our group of about twenty dancers through a number of tricky workshop dances. Some of the dances involved those lovely complex figures that show their faces only rarely, while others involved amusing variants of the more standard moves to tease everyone's brains. Those who attended the workshop, including several more dancers from the Portland and Vancouver branches, were more than up to the challenge! Between the workshop and the ball, Jennifer from Bend, Sonia from Boise, and the two of us retired to a nearby pub to chit chat and to compare notes about the upcoming ball dances.
In the evening, everyone regrouped and more dancers showed up for the ball. A fun time was had by all as we danced long into the evening to the live music of A Scottish Heart, who also provided a delightful mini-concert during a break in the dancing. The dance hall was spacious, giving the participants ample room to perform the figures with grace and style. We really enjoyed the opportunity to dance the high energy and tricky dances that were on the program.
At the afterglow, Maggie was excited to jam on her fiddle with another musician well into the night while the rest of us relaxed and assuaged our tired feet. The next morning, the two of us highballed it back to Portland, stopping in Detroit Lake to admire the exposed stumps in the reservoir. We are certainly looking forward to the next ball in the highlands!
November 8, 2014 Portland Dance Program
R. Goldring, 24 Graded and Social Dances
|8×32J, 2C (4C set)
M. Levy, RSCDS Book 36
|8×32S, 3C (4C set)
R. Arrowsmith, RSCDS Book 40
|8×32R, 3C (4C set)
J. Cosh, 22 Scottish Country Dances
|8×40J, 3C (4C set)
J. B. Dickson, Lothian Coll.
|8×32S, 3C (4C set)
Castle Menzies Mss, RSCDS Book 10
|8×32R, 3C (4C set)
I. Boyd, Happy to Meet
|8×32J, 3C (4C set)
J. Drewry, Bankhead Book 1
|3×32S, 3C set
Longman and Broderip, RSCDS Book 7
|8×32R, 3C (4C set)
B. Skelton, RSCDS Book 41
|8×32J, 3C (4C set)
D. Haynes, Carnforth Collection 4
|8×32S, 2C (4C set)
R. Goldring, RSCDS Book 33
|8×32R, 3C (4C set)
December 13, 2014 Portland Dance Program


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STILLMAN: The Weightless EPPosted: May 28th, 2005, by Tom Leins
Stillman is the one-man-band alias of Chaz Craik – ex-lead guitarist in Cab – the Britpop band that never were. However, lest i mislead anyone, Stillman has little in common with the cheeky nostalgic bounce of Britpop. After spending two years on the dole eating Readybrek and baked beans (never in the same bowl!) Chaz honed his bittersweet melodies to near-perfection and cobbled together this remarkable EP using a couple of guitars and a creaking PC. With a voice pitched somewhere between Tom McCrae and Magnet's Even Johansen and a batch of wistful vignettes that put me in mind of the cracked poetry of a post-Britpop Paul Simon, 'The Weightless EP' is a truly special record. This is music that glows with confidence; music shot-through with a brave ambitious streak – akin to a dole-queue version of Elbow. Heart-warming stuff.


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When the history of our present times is written, I believe that there's a fair chance that, not the struggle against Islamist terror, but Russia's re-emergence as a pariah state will be the central narrative. Bush's stunning incompetence in continuing to silently countenance Putin's power grab may very well overshadow an unstable Middle East. I really believe that for all its bluster, the Islamist threat is primary a regional issue. Iran might talk a big game, but it is Russia who is, in fact, right now projecting and expanding its power. Who knows what this chapter will bring, but a thuggish Russia redrawing the Iron Curtain seems a lot more likely than it did 6 years ago.
Fears that Russia is using energy supplies as a political weapon increased last night after Moscow forced Georgia to accept a doubling of gas prices.
The deal came within hours of a threat by Gazprom, Russia's statecontrolled energy giant, to cut off supplies to the former Soviet republic from January 1.
While Gazprom insists its motives are commercial, critics say it often acts as a political instrument for Russian president Vladimir Putin.
This is not good. I'd hate to see an emboldened Russia using the various Middle Eastern interests as attack dogs. I could be way off, but to me the big story here is how easily any campaign against terrorism could morph into a Cold War redux.
All the more reason to research alternate energy sources. Spend the money, research the technology, and distribute it to vulnerable countries. The main goal should be to put these guys out of business and cripple their ability to strong-arm their former vassals.
Sorry for the three week old link, but that's when I can get around to these things. Deal with it. All five of you.