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Maker's Mark is one of the most well-known Bourbon brands in the world. Located in Loretto, KY, the distillery has preserved the traditional processes like a 1935 printing press and those famous bottles hand-dipped in red wax. Bourbon and Barns recently caught up with Rachel Ford, a Distillery Diplomat for Maker's Mark.
Bourbon & Barns: Maker's Mark has a distinctive history and is synonymous with Kentucky's Bourbon country. How did Maker's Mark get its start and what has the Samuels family meant to the business?
Rachel Ford: Bill Samuels, Sr., came from a long line of whisky distillers, so it was in his blood. He served in the Navy, but after retiring, the family business pulled him back in and he set out to make his perfect bourbon. Smooth. Forward finish. No bitterness. He found a distillery with a 10-acre spring-fed lake with a limestone shelf great for making bourbon and bought it for $35,000 back in 1953. And thus Maker's Mark was born.
BB: Maker's Mark has worked hard to preserve the tradition of the distillery. This is apparent even in the use of a 1935 printing press to make the labels for each bottle. Why is it so important to Maker's Mark to preserve processes like these?
RF: From the printing press, to rotating our barrels, using a roller mill to gently crush our grains and hand dipping our bottles – every step of how we make our bourbon – is part of who we are. They were all important to Bill Samuels, Sr., when he was creating a smooth, full flavored bourbon that he could share with his friends. And that is what is still most important to us today.
BB: One of the most distinctive features of Maker's Mark is the red wax on the top of the bottles. How did this tradition begin?
RF: We owe so much of Maker's Mark and who we are as a bourbon to Margie Samuels. Her husband, Bill Samuels, Sr., created Maker's Mark and she is credited for the branding and packaging. She not only named our bourbon, she designed the shape of the bottle, created the font (she was a calligrapher), the look of the torn label, and she also wanted the bottles to have the dripping red wax. To this day we still hand dip each and every bottle.
BB: Maker's Mark bottles also feature the term "SIV" on the label. What does this mean?
RF: The SIV on the label is basically the mark of the maker for our Maker's Mark bourbon. The S stands for the Samuels family who have been making whisky for generations. Some say that Bill Samuels, Sr., who created Maker's Mark, was the 4th generation distiller, thus the roman numeral four (not counting the generations before that were making the spirit on the wrong side of the law). Today, his grandson Rob Samuels, now carries on the family affair.
BB: Maker's Mark has three products: Maker's Mark Bourbon, Maker's 46, and Maker's Mark Cask Strength. How would you describe the difference between these three products? What is the mashbill and is it the same for each?
RF: The mashbill is the same for all of our bourbons. It begins with 70% corn, 16% soft red winter wheat and 14% malted barley. They all go through the same fermentation with the same yeast strain we have used for generations. Then they are all distilled to 120 proof for the low wine and 130 proof for the high wine. The differences really come in during the aging, which really shows how much impact the wood itself has on bourbon. Maker's Mark is aged to taste, not time, anywhere from 5.75-6.5 years, with our warehouse team hand rotating them approx. halfway through. Maker's Mark Cask Strength is then bottled at barrel proof, anywhere from 108-114 proof. Maker's Mark is cut to 90proof. Maker's 46 is explained more in depth below!
BB: I understand Maker's 46 ages in barrels using french oak staves. How are french oak staves different? How does this impact the flavor?
RF: It sure does. Maker's 46 starts out with matured Maker's Mark Cask Strength that has matured for 5.75-6.5 years. We then cooper the barrel to remove the barrel head, insert 10 staves of French oak that have been seared, fill it with Maker's Mark Cask Strength and finish it for an additional 9 weeks. In that time frame, it ramps up the notes of spice (baking spices, not rye spices), caramel and makes for a longer finish on the palate.
BB: I understand the first case of Maker's Mark ever sold was bought by Keeneland Race Course. Has Maker's Mark been involved with horse racing through the years? Is it involved in racing today?
RF: Indeed! We have continued our partnership with Keeneland for decades, helping raise money for various charities through limited-edition bottles, sponsoring a race at the track each year (called the Maker's 46 Mile), and they were even the first place in the world to create their very own barrel of Maker's Mark Private Select. This is the distillery's newest innovation: a first-of-its-kind barrel program, the Maker's Mark Private Select experience allows select retail customers to "make their own Maker's" by finishing fully-matured cask strength Maker's Mark Bourbon in a single barrel including their own custom selection of oak staves.
BB: The American Pharoah bottle really stands out for its color and design. How did this bottle come about?
RF: Of course, horse racing and bourbon drinking are a big part of Kentucky and our culture. So we were all pretty excited to experience American Pharoah's Derby win and then watch him go all the way to a Triple Crown and even winning the Breeders' Cup Classic. So it was a wonderful time to get to work together to create a special way to commemorate such an amazing accomplishment, combining 2 great loves together.
BB: Maker's Mark offers a variety of tours. What can visitors expect on a tour?
RF: A truly Kentucky experience. Our distillery campus is such a special place, where we have been making our bourbon for over 60 years – since the very beginning! On our tours you can come and see where every drop of Maker's Mark is made and see the entire process from distillation to hand dipping each and every bottle in our signature red wax. You'll learn a bit about bourbon, its history and ours, and of course get to sample at the end to see what it is all about: the taste! We'll even teach you how to dip your very own bottle in red wax.
For more information on Maker's Mark Distillery, go to www.makersmark.com.


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Accredited Online Colleges & Disability Education
Apps for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Apps For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired
Backgroundchecks.org – Cyber Bullying, the complete resource guide.
CAUSE: Citizens Alliance to Uphold Special Education
College for Students with Disabilities Guide: A Guide for Students, Families, and Educators (via Maryville University online)
Council for Exceptional Children
Cyberbullying Awareness & Prevention Guide provided via Alarms.org
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
How Teachers Can Make Their Classrooms More Accessible for Students with Disabilities via School of Education, American University
How Technology Helps in the Education of Students with Disabilities via University of Cincinnati Master of Education Online
Institute for Community Inclusion
Masterdegree.net – A full guide for students with disabilities who want to get a college or graduate degree. Includes tips for students with disabilities who want to study abroad.
Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education
Michigan Department of Education
Michigan Internet Crime Against Children Task Force 1.888.NETS411 (1.888.638.7411)
Michigan School Performance Data
Michigan Special Education Mediation Program
National Center for Education Statistics
National Center for Learning Disabilities
National Child Safety Council 1.800.327.5107
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Office for Civil Rights: U.S. Department of Education
OnlineSchools.org – Database of Accredited Online Schools & Financial Aide Options for Students with Disabilities
Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights
RampLessTraveled.org – Investing in students with spinal cord injuries to succeed in college
Statewide Autism Resources and Training: Grand Valley State University
Think College! – College Options for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
ToBecomeATeacher.org – A guide for students, educators, & administrators
Top Nursing Schools – offers detailed info on Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) programs
Understood – Expert approved games & apps for learning and attention issues

subset: commoncrawl


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I had a few moments to spare and something on the back of a pack of Andrex rolls caught my eye.
On most household items these days, brands always try to make their product more exciting, easier to use, more attractive to the consumer, and where appropriate, instructions for use.
I always liked a good read of the back of a cereal packet while having breakfast. It doesn't have to be much; at that time in the morning, even an ingredients list can be more than adequately stimulating. And quite frankly, I'll also find myself reading just about anything while on the crapper.
But what I found on the back of this Andrex pack was surprisingly surprising:
I mean, really, who on earth needs instructions for wiping their arse? If someone is capable of reading, then they should surely already know how to wipe their arse.
What's even more surprising, is they seem to have missed out some crucial steps.
So maybe my assumption that everyone is aware of the steps in procedure was incorrect. I mean, if the manufacturers of toilet roll can't get it right, then perhaps it would be a great public service if someone were to outline a complete procedure – so those looking to become proficient have a definitive reference. After all, mistakes could cause quite a mess.
So I've decided to take the liberty of preparing such a guide, which I will include in a future post once complete. It should be noted that while I'm not a professional, I do have a lot of experience.
If anyone has any suggestions on refining my process, please do let me know, so I can work towards a neater, more refined, more accurate, and more useful revision. I will then send it to Andrex – I suspect it will be well received.


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We're Excited About the Battle of Brooklyn '15…Here's Why You Should Be Too
The Battle of Brooklyn not only spotlights the NEC's fiercest rivalry, but almost without fail delivers some of the most compelling television when it is airs annually as part of the conference package.
When the LIU Brooklyn – St. Francis Brooklyn rivalry is renewed on Saturday at the Pope Center (TV: MSG, FCS at 4 pm), there will be plenty of hype, and deservedly so. But can the game top these recent LIU-SFBK TV thrillers?
2014 – Contested for the first time at the Barclays Center, Jason Brickman finishes with 14 assists in a 69-68 win for the Blackbirds. It marked the sixth time in the last seven years that a televised game between the two teams was decided by four points or less.
2013 – LIU rallies from 14 down in the second half, scoring 57 points after intermission to win 78-68 at a packed Pope Center.
2012 – Julian Boyd hits the go-ahead jumper with 18 seconds left as the Blackbirds come back from five down with under three minutes to play and secure an 81-78 home win.
2011 – CJ Garner goes coast-to-coast and hits a runner at the buzzer to give LIU the 82-80 victory as pandemonium breaks out at the Pope Center.
2010 – In perhaps the most exciting game of the series in recent years, the Terriers take down the Blackbirds in triple overtime, 88-84. SFBK twice had to hit late three-pointers to force the second and third OTs.
2009 – SFBK rallies back from 15 down in the second half to tie it up, but the Blackbirds are able to salt the game away at the line, winning 74-70.
2008 – The Terriers win at the Steinberg Wellness Center, 67-64, when a Kyle Johnson three-point attempt is just off the mark with four seconds to play.
2006 – LIU erases a 14-point second half deficit and survives a last possession by SFBK to win at home, 67-64.
2003 – This one wasn't televised, but went down as perhaps the most memorable contest in NEC history. LIU guard Antawn Dobie turned in the most brilliant single-game performance in league annals exploding for an NEC single-game record 53 points. But that wasn't all. He also dished out 15 assists and was directly involved in 87 of LIU's points that day. One would assume those numbers would guarantee a victory for the Blackbirds. Not on this night. Not in this rivalry.
While Dobie was putting on a one-man show, the Terriers received stellar performances from a pair of Brooklyn products. Freshman sharpshooter John Quintana (Lincoln) came off the bench to register a career-high 31 points and senior forward Clifford Strong (Bishop Loughlin) added 29 points. Likewise, future All-NEC point guard Tory Cavalieri dished for 13 assists.
Carrying the Blackbirds on his back, Dobie played the role of hero on more than one occasion. His 40-foot runner as time expired forced overtime and sent the evenly split crowd into a frenzy.
His two free throws at the end of the first extra session sent the game into double overtime. Dobie then scored five of his team's 11 points in the second overtime. One would think destiny would be on Dobie's side as the game reached its final climax, but his potential game-winning 17-foot jumper went in and out with five seconds to play and the Blackbirds trailing by one.
It was one of the very few shots Dobie missed on the day.
In the end, St. Francis (NY) won the Battle of Brooklyn that year. The score: 142-140. To this day, it remains the highest scoring game in NEC history. No single team has ever scored that many points in an NEC game before or since.
So what will Saturday bring?
If recent history is any indication, the answer is clear.
Something memorable.


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These past few days have been an absolute blur for me.
It all started with a phone call on Monday afternoon from the lovely Ben Harlum, producer of The Bump Show. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the 2DayFM studios watching as Jedward sprinted into the studio and hosted the show. While songs played and ad breaks occurred, the boys left the Bump Studio to come and talk to myself and fellow fan Justin. I was nervously tapping on my phone, and it took a while but finally Ben came over and whispered to me "The boys are really embarrassed because they didn't realise you were a fan – they thought you were one of our professional workers". Once we all sorted out who we were, the boys were beyond lovely. I got to go into the studio with them for around ten minutes. Edward gave me the biggest hug while I was asking them a question on air, and then we bonded over our love of Tim Horton. We took selfies, and chatted for ages, before I had to go back down to the lobby while they did some extra recording.
While in the lobby, I met some amazing fans who kept me company while we waited for the boys to finish up recording and come back down. When they came down, they hugged everyone, and took photos with everyone who was waiting. Some of the fans had been there since 7am, and they were so grateful. The boys hung around for ages, just generally chatting with us. When we eventually got kicked out of the building, they stayed with us on the footpath outside. You couldn't ask for cooler guys.
Content with meeting the inspirational twins, I was ready to tick it off the bucket list. But the lovely fans convinced me to join them at Sunrise on Tuesday morning. After sleeping in, and buses mysteriously disappearing, I managed to make it to Sunrise in the nick of time. Seeing my boys perform was amazing, and if you were watching, you would have even seen my awkward face squealing in the crowd. Here's Jedward performing Young Love (wearing awesome jackets made by the ever-so-lovely Fiona) on Sunrise:
I was ready to head back to Uni (and to my compulsory tutorial) when I once again managed to have my arm twisted by the fans, and found myself in a taxi heading to the Channel Nine studios where the boys were going to film Mornings. We were sitting on the footpath outside the studios when a producer came out. She told us the boys had heard we were waiting, and wanted us in the studio while they performed. We all started freaking out, and were taken into a holding bay outside the studio (where journalism idols like Paula Joye, Bronwyn McCahon, and Lisa Wilkinson all walked past us!). After about twenty minutes, we were let in, and instructed to stand on the stage next to the hosts, David Campbell and Gretel Killeen. The boys waved at us, and told us to rock out. So we did. And about halfway through the performance David sprinted down to join the boys, and so, of course, we all followed. Never in a million years did I think I would be on national TV dancing with John and Edward rocking out to Happens In The Dark on either side of me, and giving us all hugs.
It was…an unbelievable experience. After the performance the boys hugged us, took photos with us, and talked to us, until we were literally kicked off the set. It was amazing.Check it out here, but excuse my awkwardness.
After the excitement of Mornings, we all headed into the city as the boys had told us they would be at Nova that afternoon.
The boys turned up as promised (despite the receptionist telling us "they had no record of Jedward") and there was much squealing and many hugs.
They chatted with us for ages until their mum literally dragged them away so they could go and talk to Smallzy. We waited, and before we knew it, they were back. A few more hugs later, they sat down with us to watch their performance on Mornings – which none of us had seen. About halfway through the performance, John said "wow guys, how weird is this. You're watching Jedward WITH Jedward"
That silenced us all for a moment, as the true awesomeness of the situation set in on us. Here we were, a group of fans who for so long had needed to be content with watching these amazing boys on youtube. And we were, again, watching them on Youtube, but this time they were sitting amongst us. Talking to us like friends. Treating us like equals. I almost started crying.
John and Edward…I don't even know how to explain it. Just being around them has made me happier than I have been in a very long time. They have an infectious energy that just makes you forget about all your worries. They're so kind, and caring, and down to earth. They also give the best hugs in the history of the world.
The fans I met on the very first day at The Bump have now been bonded to me. In a way that only fandom can, I now call them friends. And they are the most amazingly exceptional people. They made amazing clothes for the boys, the travelled from around the country (and for one girl, from Hong Kong!), they woke up at five am every morning to catch a glimpse of the boys. I was lucky in that I have somehow made contacts that made meeting the boys easier (by easier I mean I have literally walked in to situations others have only dreamed about), but their dedication astounds me, and I am so glad they got to spend so much time with the boys, and get the interactions they so deserve.
I am going to miss John and Edward. I am going to miss them so much I started crying on a bus thinking about it. But as the boys said to me, no situation is ever so bad that you can't make it into a positive somehow. And my positive is that I got to meet two of my biggest inspirations. I got to meet them numerous times, including in two situations where it was just me and them. I got to hug them, I got to talk to them, I got to experience their amazingness. And so many people haven't had that opportunity. And yes, I'm devastated that they will no longer be a part of my daily life, but I have the memories to live on until they decide to come back (and I can do it all over again!). In the words of Team Starkid:
I don't want to see you go, but it's not forever, not forever. And even if it was, you know that I would never let it get me down. Cos you're the part of me that makes me better wherever I go, so I will try not to cry, cos no-one needs to say goodbye.
frangipani princess xoxo


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February 15, 1999, Section E, Page 9Buy Reprints
The ensemble Pro Musica Nipponia swings back and forth: five years ago it played with the New York Philharmonic; on Wednesday night, it gave a concert at Alice Tully Hall, delighting and dismaying.
The obvious analogy is with an old-fashioned (that is, 1960's-style) medieval-music group. There's the same appealing mix of winds, plucked strings and percussion, except that instead of recorders, lutes and tabors, Pro Musica Nipponia features the shakuhachi (end-blown flute), fue (piccolo), biwa (mandolin), koto (dulcimer) and drums.
There's the same virtuosity, if in a contrasting tradition, in which what counts is the delicate inflection and the precise, sudden gesture. There's the same sort of Latinate name and a different kind of exotic attire, with black robes and blue-gray aprons for the men, and lustrous tangerine and chrome-yellow kimonos for the women.
Here, though, the comparison starts to break down, because traditional dress is still a regular part of people's lives in Japan. Pro Musica Nipponia's aspiration is to place traditional music, too, in a modern context: to arrange old songs and melodies for present-day instruments and, most of all, to introduce new compositions nurtured by traditional ways of playing.
These are difficult tasks. Wednesday's concert opened with an arrangement of a traditional piece, ''Shinyachiyojishi,'' that sounded like Vaughan Williams's ''Fantasia on Greensleeves'': a well-meaning travesty. Worse was to come, in Keiko Abe's ''Prism Rhapsody,'' a soupy marimba concerto featuring Evelyn Glennie. She was given better material by Minoru Miki, Pro Musica Nipponia's founder, in his ''Requiem 99,'' where she could range from very soft throbs to spectacular attacks, beckoned at the start and finish of the piece by the evocative sound of slowly clapped stones.
Mr. Miki's writing for the ensemble was very beautiful, with touches of Debussyesque subtlety, but it seemed a mistake to be treating these instruments as an ensemble at all. Tan Dun had the right idea in his ''Golden Sparrow,'' leaving a lot of space between one sound and the next: space filled with sculptured silence, drawn in the air by the arms of the group's conductor, Takuo Tamura.
Still more impressive was the evening's second traditional item, ''Aoba no Fue,'' a ballad sung in a stately but keenly expressive manner by Junko Tahara, who accompanied herself with a variety of vivid, perfect punctuation marks on her biwa, with occasional extensions of the formal melancholy from Kohei Nishikawa on his fue, bending the note, coloring it and intensifying it in ways that were sadly obscured when a dozen or so instruments played together.


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View Intro
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New Mutants #23 (1985, January)
I swapped shifts with a girl at work. So I work tomorrow, instead of today. So here, by Claremont and Sienkewicz, is "Shadowman."
Emanuel DaCosta and Selene are both introduced into the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. Back in Salem Centre, Colossus is playing chess with Harry, owner of the local tavern. There's a reference to Harry having a mysterious past. One of the waitresses comes in and tells Colossus that Bobby's acting weird. Colossus tries to talk to him, but Bobby punches him, then turns to Sunspot. He looks messed up, so Colossus psi-calls Xavier. Xavier wakes Sam and Dani, with Sam accidentally walking in on Dani as she gets dressed. She says he's cute when he blushes, and adds that he's cute, period. Colossus tries to grab hold of Sunspot, but finds himself getting absorbed. Colossus manages to land a punch, and both are knocked out.
Down in the Bermuda Triangle, Lee is amused at Magneto, Master of Magnetism, one of the most feared mutants on the planet, getting seasick. They head to his old base, the one where he nearly killed Kitty back in UXM #150. He thinks Xavier and the X-Men were stupid for abandoning it to go back to the school. He tries to use his power, and it hurts him, and he pushes Lee away when she tries to help him, but she tells him off and helps him anyway.
Back at the school, Bobby and Colossus are both comatose, but Xavier and Moira can't figure out why. Sam and Dani try to figure out why Bobby went to Harry's, and the phone rings. Dani rushes to Rahne's bedroom, but Rahne's not there, so Dani and Sam rocket to New York. They walk into a fancy hotel, and Dani uses her illusions to make them look like ideal guests. They head for the elevator, not noticing Inspector Clouseau. Cute little Easter egg. Anyway, they head up to the penthouse, and Dani replays a memory she pulled out of the clerk's mind. That's a new trick. Not one she uses often. Anyway, a beautiful red-headed girl had walked in and demanded the best suite in the hotel. Dani recognizes the woman, Sam doesn't. When they get to the penthouse, they're met by Rahne, wearing the same clothes the illusion girl had been. Rahne's upset, and the three go home. Dani takes the necklace that Rahne found last issue.
Once Rahne's in bed, Dani tells Sam about a dream she had, walking the streets of New York. In the same clothes and the same hotel they found Rahne in. She was getting impressions from the psi-link she shares with Rahne's wolf-form, even though Rahne wasn't in that form. Lots of questions. She's frustrated at not being able to figure out the answers. Sam sees a newspaper headline that ties into it. A few nights earlier, a young couple was attacked by a wolf at Lincoln Centre. The girl was mauled, but when the paramedics arrived, she didn't have a mark on her. They recognize the girl in the photo, and go to the hospital to talk to Cloak and Dagger.
Turns out, when Cloak and Dagger had previously purged the drug from the systems of Bobby and Rahne, it must not have been permanent. In fact, Bobby and Rahne have now taken Cloak and Dagger's powers. Cloak – Tyrone – doesn't want to help them. He doesn't want his power back.
Back at the school, Bobby wakes up. And he seems hungry.
There's also a Xavier journal entry on Warlock.
This is a really, really cool issue. It's cool seeing Sam and Dani try to work through the mystery of what's going on. Anyone who read the story where the New Mutants first encountered Cloak and Dagger would obviously figure out pretty quickly what was happening, but you never feel smarter than the characters. Their struggle to work through it is done very effectively, and is very reasonable, given the circumstances. This also provides some solid character work.
The art is fantastic. Sienkewicz is a perfect fit for the story. It's weird and dark and fantastical and just looks great. He brings a creepiness, a spookiness, that does a lot to enhance the story. He also does a very nice job with expressiveness. Facial expressions and even simply body language convey a lot of emotional effect. Sienkewicz really did some absolutely amazing work on this title.
Also this month, Marvel Team-Up #149, by Louise Simonson and Bret Blevins. It features a team-up between Spider-Man and Cannonball. Sam's in the city, shopping for a hat for his mom. He thinks about how being at the school has kept him from earning money for his family, and that he's doing so poorly he might end up flunking out. As he walks out of Saks, he sees Spider-Man swinging around, and admires him. As he walks back towards the bus station, some people fleeing a rampaging monster run past him. Sam rockets into Times Square to help with the fight. He knocks some cops out of the way of an electric blast, and smashes a fire hydrant. The water causes the monster to shrink a bit, but Sam gets distracted when a dog starts chewing on his mom's hat. Spider-Man grabs Sam out of harm's way, and Sam manages to grab the hat, too. Spider-Man remembers him as Cannonball, and notes that Sam was doing a pretty good job. The monster starts absorbing more power from Times Square. A helicopter drops a net on it, and the wind blows the hat away again. Sam catches it. He hands it to Spider-Man to keep, then grabs the monster from below and flies it out to the river. He even manages to pull a quick acrobatic move to turn around. The woman who was piloting the helicopter explains the whole deal to Spider-Man and Cannonball. She mentions the Incandescent Man was her twin brother, and she wants to use him to destroy Project Pegasus, the place that created him. Spider-Man mentions that Sam will probably be famous, and some reporter probably got pictures of him, but Sam says he hopes not, because he might be recognized as one of Xavier's students, and the anti-mutant hysteria would cause problems. So Spider-Man tosses the photos he took of Sam in action. Which seems silly to me. Blur his face, man. That's all it would take. Also, I still object to the whole idea of fighting for mutant rights by avoiding publicity. It's a stupid, backwards idea. A lot of the problem comes down to the nature of the genre, and the need to follow various superhero tropes, including things like secret identities. Still, it's a fun issue, and a good showing for Cannonball. The running gag with the hat was fun. Oddly, Louise Simonson repeats the bit in Web of Spider-Man #2 (from May 1985), with Spider-Man trying to keep hold of a hat he bought for Aunt May while fighting some flying goons called the Vulturions. I guess the idea just really amused her. Interestingly, the Incandescent Man never does show up again. No one ever followed up on this story.
Song of the day: Pull Shapes by the Pipettes.


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Cleveland Browns Daily
Presented by
Cleveland Browns Daily 7/30/2018
Day five of training camp on this Monday with Nathan Zegura and Jerod Cherry is locked and loaded. WR Corey Coleman joins the guys and Nathan sits down with former Browns QB and pre-season TV Analyst Tim Couch plus we hear from Tyrod Taylor, Baker Mayfield and Jabrill Peppers. Throw in our deep dive into practice and top performers from the weekend and the guys have you covered!


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A UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Durdle Door is a natural limestone rock arch that was carved out 10,000 years ago by the sea. It's one of the many, and possibly the most famous sights to see on the Jurassic Coast.
Stretching 95 miles along the Dorset and Devon coast, the Jurassic Coast is a stunning piece of land that is a natural museum literally recording 185 million years of the planet's history within its geology. It's so precious that it has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are many great locations along this coast for photography, but for today we are going to look at Durdle Door.
The rock is part of the Lulworth Estate, and is not only a world famous landmark, but also a popular holiday resort. The Durdle Door Holiday Park lies at the top of the cliff. In order to visit the rock you need to drive through the holiday park to the pay and display car park behind it. From there it's a ten minute walk to the beach. Or you can park at Lulworth Cove and walk the coastal hiking path from there.
Man O' War Cove
As you approach the first sight you will see is the Man O' War Cove on your left. Durdle Door sits between here and St Oswald's Bay. Steps lead down the cliffsides to each beach, although the steps to Durdle Door were washed away a few years during a massive storm. So you might have to make your way down the grassy slopes. But it's not too difficult.
It's a great place to photograph at any time of the year, but the prime time is from September to March, when the sun moves further south and sets out at sea. Throughout the summer the sun sets over the land. But there are still photography possibilities such as these:
Best moment for soft light on the arch
There is a small window of opportunity when the setting sun is in just the right position to cast soft warm light on the front of the arch as it hits the sea. This happens in spring and autumn. You have to catch it in autumn just as it moves south from setting over the land. But this only lasts a couple of weeks, then it moves too far south and the light falls on the back of the rock. In spring when it comes back northwards there is another short opportunity before it begins to set over the land. To work out when this happens, use the photographers ephemeris (TPE).
It's not all about the arch though
As I said, this entire coastline is stunning, so don't forget to look around you because there are great photos to be made everywhere.
Great for blue hour shots too.
Try some close ups
Road Directions
Durdle Door is just west of West Lulworth on the B3070 which leaves the A352 (Wareham to Dorchester road) at Holmbridge.
For more photos of Durdle Door, check out my gallery here
[ctct form="34"]


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Dive With Me
Dive With Me
Bathe in the sea with a Spa Salt and Spearmint infused shower gel for a super refreshing, ocean-esq shower.
Song Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXu3T7TXG2c
Shea Butter: Incredibly nourishing and moisturizing for radiant skin. Helps protect the skins natural oils. Helps rashes, scars, eczema, psoriasis. Sun damage.
Sunflower Oil: Nourishes and softens skin.
Rice Bran Oil: Diminish the effects of aging and slow the formation of wrinkles due to the high concentrations of tocopherol and tocotrienol, two forms of the powerful antioxidant Vitamin E.


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Anyway, examples aside, your basic bandana has made its mark on the fashion world. Style bloggers and fashionable people have been sporting bandanas around their necks for a while now, and it's currently in the process of picking up and becoming much more mainstream and not just fashion. Right now, the trendy way to wear them is around your neck, as if it were a choker, a large necklace, or even a little scarf. And before you think you can't pull it off, trust me – you can! Bandanas have been spotted on the necks of the most stylish all summer, but they're great for fall because they keep you warm in the chilly air without suffocating you. Plus, they make any outfit look instantly more interesting and unique.
It's time to get in on this trend! You can buy a bandana for, like, $5, and then use it to make anything you're wearing look even cooler. It's that easy. For some inspiration, check out these outfit ideas accessorized with bandanas:
1. My personal favorite way to tie a bandana around your neck is to let the knot sit in the front and let the strings hang, almost like a necklace. It looks especially cute with a striped shirt.
2. Match your bandana to the rest of your outfit color palette. All black is obviously very glam.
3. An off-the-shoulder top lets you really show off your bandana around your neck, and it keeps you a little bit warmer.
4. Wear a colorful bandana with a white tee to instantly make your outfit look more put together.
5. Get extra trendy by tossing a denim jacket over your shoulders with your bandana. You're basically a fashion blogger.
6. Try wearing a printed bandana, like animal print. It becomes a statement piece right away.
7. Instead of letting the knot show, tuck it under a strip of the bandana so that it ends up looking like a thick choker.
8. Pair your bandana - which is casual – with a sexier piece, like a lace up top, for some nice contrast.
9. Put the knot in the front, then add layers of more delicate necklaces for a cool boho look.
10. Wear your bandana with a plaid shirt for the perfect autumn look.
11. Keep things casual with a graphic tee and ripped jeans.
12. Tie the bandana so that it looks like a scarf and add it to all of your layers.
13. You can even wear your bandana with a fancy outfit, like this cool jumpsuit and heels. It makes it look cool and trendy.
14. Bandanas look killer with button down shirts – it's a mix of professional and casual.
15. Pair your favorite cozy sweater with a bandana to bring it up a notch.
16. Tuck your bandana into your button down or chambray shirt.
17. Add your bandana to even high neck shirts – it looks cute and keeps you warm.
18. Wear yours with a leather jacket for a tougher vibe.
19. Pair your choker with a dark lip for a very '90s look.
20. Or wear it with overalls. So cute!


text:
Shop assistant at the bookshop (precisely, slowly): "You .. want discount .. on books, don't you? I can .. sign you up for .. discount on .. books. Give me your .. email address."
Later I met my partner by the door to the book shop. He too had been cajoled into signing up for their newsletter by a shop assistant doing the scary voice-thing. Gosh, what does the Borders chain do to their staff?


text: Composer: David LiptakPrint Edition Price: $32.95 scoreContact ACA for set of partsYear Authored (or revised): 2015Scoring: pf solo, 2 fl, ob, 2 cl, 2 vln, vla, 2 va, 2 percDuration (min): 10First Performance: December 14, 2009, Albert Kim, piano solo, Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, Brad Lubman, conductorStar Bright was composed in 2009 for the Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble and Brad Lubman, who is the director of the ensemble and my long-time colleague at the Eastman School of Music. The work is a fantasy for piano solo and instrumental ensemble: a one-movement exploration of lightness and clarity. The musc was also written in memory of composer Salvatore Martirano, a musician of profound talent and imagination, whose star burned, perhaps, too brightly for this world.New edition available 2015.Ensemble Type: solo instrument(s) featured+large ens or orchmixed instrumental ens 6 to 15 players Listening Sample: play pause stop mute unmute previous next Star Bright.mp3 Internal FieldsInstrument: piano Place a print order or inquire about this work


text:
Author(s): New Holland Publishers
Stationery | No Category
How much money do you have in your piggy bank? Have you ever used an automatic teller machine? How are coins made? Which country uses giant, heavy stones as currency? In Currencies of the World: How Money Works, find out where money comes from, how it is used, what the word 'economy' means, how you can spot counterfeit banknotes and much more. From the early days of trading furs and tools, to modern banking and stock markets, this book includes: o full-colour photographs and illustrations o informative and fun text o activities to test your knowledge o a glossary to explain new words o an index of subjects covered o a list of websites where you can find out more


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May-June: North Cascades and Mt Baker Ski Mountaineering
May-June: North Cascades and Mt Baker Ski Mountaineering
1 to 5 days
Ratio 4:1 to 1:1
The North and Central Cascades are a ski mountaineers paradise, with a special emphasis on wilderness and remoteness. Roads and chairlifts access less than 1% of the terrain. But that missing access makes the earned elevation and skiing all the sweeter.
All the suggested itineraries here require an overnight pack and at least solid intermediate ski skills. Intermediate is defined as being able to ski any blue run in any condition, groomed or ungroomed, bumped or powder. Dates vary and depend on road access, and road access often depends on snow melting or the government road crews opening the roads.
Interested in something you don't see here? Contact me and let's make it happen!
Eldorado Peak. Rising over 6600' in just 4 miles, the Queen of the Cascade River is a great introduction to ski mountaineering, requiring technical mountaineering and solid ski skills. A fun two-day ascent with a camp on the Roush divide or a big one-day bullet.
Sahale Peak. As soon as the Cascade River Road melts out to 2000' elevation, Boston Basin is in reach. Like Eldorado, Sahale Peak is a great introduction to ski mountaineering with descents down the Quien Sabe glacier. Advanced skiers may also be able to ski the West Face if conditions are just right. Another two-day objective or big one-day bullet.
North Cascades Hut Skiing. Hut skiing often brings to mind French or Swiss "cabane" with quilts and catered meals. That's not what's happening here in the North Cascades! Several retired fire lookouts near Mt Baker and Marblemount have been maintained by local clubs, letting us leave the tents at home, load up a little heavier the menu, and are perfectly positioned for a base-camp ski session. To really enjoy all that this position will offer, I recommend at least three days.
Mt Baker. Arguably one of the best ski mountaineering objectives in the state, a ski tour of Mt Baker via Heliotrope Ridge and the Colman Glacier can be done in a one-day bullet, a two-day overnight, or spend a second night out and include a bit of crevasse rescue practice before heading back. Advanced skiers may also consider the Coleman Headwall, the North Ridge, or Colfax Peak's South Couloir.
The Watson Traverse. This two-day ski traverse travels from Heliotrope Ridge, up and over the summit, then down the Park Glacier headwall along the Ptarmigan Arm to the Mt Baker Ski Area. After climbing more than 10,000' and 17 miles, you can't help but admire the first team to make this crossing, lead by Dwight Watson in 1939. The first day is typically spent staging a car at the ski area, then returning to the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead and reaching the Colman Glacier for our night out before finishing the tour the next day.
Mt Baker Circumnavigation. With relatively little information found, I skied a circumnavigation route around Mt Baker in 2011 that I haven't matched yet. In five days, friends and I skied four 3000' descents: the South Couloir on Colfax Peak on Day 2, the Boulder Glacier from Sherman Peak and the crater on Day 3, the summit and Park Headwall on Day 4, and finally the long fun crossing of the Roosevelt and Colman Glacier back to Heliotrope ridge on Day 5. Because of its high elevation, this tour stays in condition into June.
Mt Shuksan White Salmon Glacier. Quite possibly my favorite two day tour in the Cascades. Starting and finishing at the Mt Baker Ski Area, the tour traverses out to the NW Face of Mt Shuksan, and climbs up the White Salmon Glacier to a high camp on Winnie's Slide. In the morning we climb up and across the Curtis Glacier, to the Sulphide, and then climb up the summit pyramid. Our descent is over 6000' to the valley floor, before an easy climb back up to the ski area finishes the day.
Mt Shuksan North Face or Northwest Couloir. These descents feature slopes greater than 45°, so absolutely perfect snow conditions need to exist and our skiing skills have to be solid. Both of these descents are for expert skiers only. Two days.
The Forbidden Tour. A classic four-day ski tour circling around Forbidden Peak before descending the Forbidden Glacier to Moraine Lake, then climbing up to Klawatti Col before descending the McAlister Glacier, tagging Eldorado Peak, then descending back to the car.
The Isolation Traverse. This point-to-point traverse from the Cascade River and Eldorado Peak to Pyramid Peak and Diablo Lake in four days. A great follow up to the Forbidden Tour - or you can link the Forbidden into the Isolation for an amazing 7 day adventure.
The Pickets Traverse. This is the wildest, most remote 7-day alpine ski tour in the Pacific Northwest, if not the country. This tour requires patience for the right conditions, experience, and skill.


text: For anyone who loves music and/or movies or is interested in racial and/or gender (in)equality, you must go see "20 Feet From Stardom". It is truly one of the best movies that I've seen in years. And you'll never ever hear the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" in the same light. http://twentyfeetfromstardom.com/


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Thursday May 26 2016 - TRI/TURA Reporting Workshop- Chicopee
View Presentations Here
Name: EPCRA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) / Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA) Compliance Assistance Workshop
Type: Workshop
Date: Thursday, May 26, 2016
Time: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM (Registration - 8:30 AM; Presentations - 9:00 AM)
Location: Mass. Mutual Insurance Learning & Training Center, 350 Memorial Drive, Chicopee, MA
Description: EPA Region 1, in conjunction with the Mass. DEP, Toxic Use Reduction Institute and the Mass. Office of Technical Assistance, is providing a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) and Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA) Compliance Assistance workshop designed for the experienced TRI reporter. The workshop is free but requires registration by email. The TRI workshop will cover important changes for 2015 reporting and using TRI-ME WEB.
Sponsors: US EPA; Mass. DEP; Toxic Use Reduction Institute; Mass. OTA
Contact: Nicholas Leonardi, firstname.lastname@example.com, 617-918-1636
Fee: None


text:
Join our Celebration Family!
Come learn and play with us!!
Community Registration for
the 2019-2020 school year
is now open.
PDO openings still available!
Call today for a tour and registration materials!
Celebration Children's Center is located in the Celebration! Community Life Center and is a ministry of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church.
The Children's Center admits children of any race, color, creed, and national or ethnic origin. God's world is beautiful because of it's many different colors and we welcome the same diversity in our children and their families.


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A generic method for assignment of reliability scores applied to solvent accessibility predictions
© Petersen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2009
- Received: 10 February 2009
- Accepted: 31 July 2009
- Published: 31 July 2009
Estimation of the reliability of specific real value predictions is nontrivial and the efficacy of this is often questionable. It is important to know if you can trust a given prediction and therefore the best methods associate a prediction with a reliability score or index. For discrete qualitative predictions, the reliability is conventionally estimated as the difference between output scores of selected classes. Such an approach is not feasible for methods that predict a biological feature as a single real value rather than a classification. As a solution to this challenge, we have implemented a method that predicts the relative surface accessibility of an amino acid and simultaneously predicts the reliability for each prediction, in the form of a Z-score.
An ensemble of artificial neural networks has been trained on a set of experimentally solved protein structures to predict the relative exposure of the amino acids. The method assigns a reliability score to each surface accessibility prediction as an inherent part of the training process. This is in contrast to the most commonly used procedures where reliabilities are obtained by post-processing the output.
The performance of the neural networks was evaluated on a commonly used set of sequences known as the CB513 set. An overall Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.72 was obtained, which is comparable to the performance of the currently best public available method, Real-SPINE. Both methods associate a reliability score with the individual predictions. However, our implementation of reliability scores in the form of a Z-score is shown to be the more informative measure for discriminating good predictions from bad ones in the entire range from completely buried to fully exposed amino acids. This is evident when comparing the Pearson's correlation coefficient for the upper 20% of predictions sorted according to reliability. For this subset, values of 0.79 and 0.74 are obtained using our and the compared method, respectively. This tendency is true for any selected subset.
- Accessible Surface Area
- Reliability Score
- Matthews Correlation Coefficient
- Primary Network
- Secondary Network
For decades, machine learning has been used as a tool in bioinformatics for predictive purposes. A number of concepts have been implemented in order to estimate the predictive power of the individual methods. The commonly used performance measures have been described in Lundegaard et al. [1] Predictive power is generally estimated from a number of examples that have been excluded from the training process and an overall estimate of the accuracy of the method is calculated. This, however, will not provide information regarding the reliability of each of the individual predictions. For discrete qualitative predictions, the reliability is conventionally estimated as the difference between output scores of selected classes [2]. However, many biological problems are quantitative in nature and are therefore more appropriately characterized by a real value than a discrete class. Real value predictions often provide a single output value and the estimation of the accuracy of a given prediction is more complicated than for predictions of discrete classes. Prediction of the solvent accessible surface area (ASA) of amino acid residues within a native folded protein is an example of a real value prediction problem, where the estimation of reliability scores is nontrivial. The ASA for experimentally solved structures is given in Å2 and the area is calculated by rolling a sphere the size of a water molecule over the protein surface [3]. For comparative and predictive purposes, the ASA is often transformed to a relative surface area (RSA), which is calculated as the ASA of a given amino acid residue in the polypeptide chain, relative to the maximal possible exposure of that residue in the center of a tri-peptide flanked with either glycine [4] or alanine [5]. Knowledge of the degree of surface exposure of an amino acid is valuable and it has been used to enhance the understanding of a variety of biological problems including protein-protein interactions [6, 7], structural epitopes [8], active sites [9], and prediction of disease-related single nucleotide polymorphisms [10].
Several methods for predicting surface accessibility from the primary protein sequence have been developed often inspired by the related field of protein secondary structure prediction as exemplified with [11] implemented in [12]. Generally, the best methods involve the use of advanced machine learning algorithms such as artificial neural networks (ANN) or support vector machines (SVM) combined with evolutionary information [13–20]. The surface accessibility has traditionally been predicted in two classes as either buried or exposed using various more or less arbitrary cut-offs. Recently, real value RSA predictors have been developed thus removing the need to define specific cut-offs [5]. This change in focus from classifying towards quantitative systems has made it difficult to assess the reliability of a prediction. Previous studies have shown that prediction of the RSA is significantly more accurate for buried compared to exposed amino acids [21]. However, the most biologically interesting residues are often exposed, as these are able to interact with the environment. For this reason, it is important to have a good estimate of the reliability, especially for the more exposed amino acid residues. The current best method available for real value surface exposure prediction is Real-SPINE [22, 23]. This method exists in a web accessible form, which in addition to the predicted surface accessibility, also provides a score for each prediction that is a measure of the consistency between two predictors (A, B). RS = 1 - |A - B| where A and B are the results from two predictors on solvent accessibility [22]. As described this score is solely a consistency score and it has not previously been described to what degree such consistency measures provide information of the reliability of the individual predictions beyond the fact that the most exposed residues are predicted most unreliably.
Here, we have developed a generic method that assigns a reliability score to each surface accessibility prediction as an inherent part of the training process. The method is evaluated on a common set of sequences and compared to other state-of-the art prediction methods. In particular, we investigate to what extent our method for residue-specific reliability prediction is able to discriminate between good and bad predictions in the entire range from completely buried to fully exposed amino acids.
Primary networks
Classification artificial neural networks (ANNs) were trained to predict whether an amino acid was buried or exposed i.e., below or above 25% of ASAmax of the given amino acid. Input to the ANNs was sequence profiles and predicted secondary structures. The prediction performance of the secondary structure prediction in terms of the straight Q3 measure on the CB513 dataset was 81%. Secondary structure predictors were trained to predict H or E classes (see methods), which differs from the CASP classification scheme used by many secondary structure prediction methods (CASP Q3 = 78%).
Evaluated performance for the primary networks.
% Correct
NetSurfP Classification CB513
Dor and Zhou [21]
Secondary networks
The output classification values from the primary networks were used together with sequence profiles in the form of Position-Specific Scoring Matrices (PSSM) to train the secondary neural networks as also implemented by [21]. A significant improvement was obtained compared to bare PSSM input only with respect to linear as well as two-state correlations (data not shown). Several neural network architectures were trained using 10-fold cross-validation. The best cross-validation leave out test set performance was obtained by using a window size of 11 residues and a number of hidden neurons in the range 25–200. The Real-SPINE method [22] has not previously been evaluated on the CB513 set. We therefore submitted the sequences in the CB513 set to the Real-SPINE 1.0 web-server.
Evaluation of NetSurfP and other surface accessibility predictors.
Two-Stage SVR
Prediction and analysis of reliability scores
Neural networks were trained as described in section 'secondary networks'. Real value predictions usually gives one output value between 0–1 per residue, however, our described method generates two output values for each prediction; the predicted surface accessibility and a reliability of this prediction for each amino acid residue. This was implemented using a modified back-propagation procedure as described in the method section. We evaluated the performance of this method on the CB511 data set and compared the results to those obtained with the method by Dor and Zhou [21]. Unless otherwise stated, the performance values were calculated from the RSA. The overall predictive performance of the neural network was 0.145 in terms of the mean error, E, and 0.70 in terms of the Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC), which is similar to the values obtained earlier using the conventional networks (see table 2).
The Real-SPINE method provides a residue-specific consistency measure associated with each prediction. The relationship between this value and the mean error is shown in the right panel of Figure 2. Comparing these two plots suggests that both methods are able to identify the most reliable predictions.
Evaluation of the Real-SPINE and NetSurfP method on subsets of residues from the CB511 dataset predicted with high reliability.
The power of a prediction method is commonly evaluated as an overall estimate of the accuracy of the method in large-scale benchmark experiments. Such evaluation, however, provides no knowledge of the reliability of each of the individual predictions. For discrete, qualitative predictions the reliability is conventionally estimated as the difference between output scores of selected classes. For real value prediction this approach is unfeasible. Here, we have described a new reliability score method, useful for real value predictions. We have designed and implemented the method in a way that assigns reliability scores for each single real value prediction. As an example, the method has been implemented as part of a web-server to predict the relative surface accessible area of amino acids within the three dimensional structure of a protein. By nature, the reliability method is different from other procedures where reliabilities most commonly are obtained by post-processing the output [2, 22]. This method was trained to assign a reliability output to each surface accessibility prediction as an inherent part of the network architecture. This output was then recomputed to a Z-score. In tests to investigate the validity of the calculated Z-score we found that the score could indeed successfully be used to filter out more reliable predictions resulting in a significantly better correlation between predicted and measured values.
The accessible surface area has been found more difficult to predict for exposed than buried amino acids and these findings are still valid [5, 21, 22]. However, we see that NetSurfP Z-scores enable the identification of the most reliable/unreliable predictions for both buried and exposed amino acids. This allows for identification of subsets of highly reliable predictions covering all ranges of surface exposure. This is in contrast to the consistency score, the only other surface accessibility prediction associated reliability method [22], where high reliability scores are predominantly associated with buried amino acids.
The prediction accuracy is compared to Real-SPINE 1.0 [22] as Real-SPINE 1.0 is the server that produces the consistency measures. Furthermore the newly published Real-SPINE 3.0 [23] was not available at the time of the evaluation.
In the present context, the developed reliability information is especially valuable when using the surface exposed predictions to estimate other protein structure related features such as fold, B cell epitopes, phosphorylation sites, and active sites. However, the approach is generic and is potentially useful in other types of real value predictions where ANNs have been shown to produce good results.
Barton Evaluaon dataset, CB513/CB500
The dataset of 513 non-homologous proteins created by Cuff and Barton [25, 26] consists of > 84,000 amino acids. It is commonly known as the CB513 dataset. The dataset consist of 117 sequences from the Rost and Sander dataset of 126 non-redundant proteins [27] and 396 sequences are from the CB396 dataset by Cuff and Barton [26]. No sequences in the dataset share more than 25% sequence identity. The CB513 dataset was downloaded from the Jpred section at the Barton Group's website http://www.compbio.dundee.ac.uk/~www-jpred/data/. This dataset is solely used for final evaluations.
Learning/Training dataset, Cull-1764
Protein sequence data was obtained from the RCSB (Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics) Protein Data Bank (PDB) [28] July 2007 using the protein culling server PISCES [29] available at http://dunbrack.fccc.edu/PISCES.php. PDB was culled using the following criteria: Maximum sequence percentage identity <= 25%, Resolution <= 2.0 Å, R-factor <= 0.2, Sequence length in the range 30 – 3,000 amino acids and including full X-ray structures only. This dataset contained 2,263 PDB protein chains, but an additional 197 chains were removed due to parsing errors using the DSSP program [30] and 302 sequences were removed due to more than 25% identity to a sequence within the CB513 set. The final Cull dataset (Cull-1764) is comprised of 1,764 sequences with a total of 417,978 amino acids. Dataset named 'testset' used for optimization of parameters and procedures is always subsets/slices of the Cull-1764 dataset that have been excluded for the particular training session.
Posion Specific Scoring Matrices
Sequence profiles as Position-Specific Scoring Matrices (PSSM) were generated for all protein chains in the Cull-1764 and CB513 dataset, using the iterative PsiBLAST program [31]. The query sequences were blasted for four iterations against a local copy of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) non-redundant (nr) sequence database, which for speed-up purposes had been homology-reduced to less than 70% sequence identity [32]. An E-value cut-off of 1 × 10-5 was used.
Relave Solvent Accessibility
RSA is the ratio of the solvent Accessible Surface Area (ASA) of a given residue observed in the three-dimensional structure, over the maximum obtainable solvent exposed area ASAmax for the given amino acid residue within an extended tri-peptide flanked with either glycine [4] or alanine [5] residues. Values for the accessible surface area were calculated using the DSSP program [30].
Neural Network Training
Two types of feed-forward neural networks [33] were used in this work: the primary and secondary networks. The primary networks assign one of the classes "Buried" or "Exposed" to each amino acid (see section Primary Neural Networks), whereas the secondary networks predict both the real value RSA and the reliability of the prediction in form of a Z-score (see section Secondary Neural Networks). A gradient descent method was used to back-propagate the errors and synapses or weights were updated as previously described [34]. For the primary networks, amino acids were encoded with both PSSM values and three extra neurons for predicted Helix, Strand and Coil, thus a total of 24 neurons were used to describe an amino acid. The two-class output from the primary networks was subsequently used as input together with PSSM to the secondary neural networks. 10-fold cross-validation was used to train the networks, where 9/10 of the data was used for training and testing was performed on the remaining 1/10, named 'testset'. A graphic overview of the method is shown in Figure 1.
Primary Neural Networks
All amino acids in the Cull-1764 dataset were divided into two discrete categories; above and below 25% RSA meaning exposed or buried amino acids, respectively. The RSA values were calculated using the extended gly-X-gly tri-peptide state as maximally exposed. In the Cull-1764 dataset the exposed and buried categories comprised 184,757 (44.2%) and 233,221 (55.8%) amino acids, respectively.
The primary neural networks were trained using window sizes of 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19, and the following number of hidden units: 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 75 and 150. This gives a total of 40 different neural network architectures for each of the 10 subsets, giving a total of 400 neural networks. The networks were trained until maximal test set performance with a maximum of 200 epochs, using a learning rate of 0.01. Final ANNs were ranked according to test set performances. Within each of the 10 training/test set groups, we added an increasing number of trained ANNs to a network ensemble from the top of the ranked list until the best test set performance was obtained.
Secondary Neural Networks
Target values, the ratio of ASA and ASAmax, were assigned for all examples in the Cull-1764 dataset. The ASAmax values were calculated using amino acids in an extended ala-X-ala tri-peptide configuration. Amino acids were encoded by use of PSSM scores and two additional values for buried and exposed class predictions obtained from the primary neural networks. A 10-fold cross-validation training was done with window size of 11, and the following number of hidden units: 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 75, 150 and 200, resulting in a total of 90 neural networks. The best results were obtained using a slow learning rate of 0.005 for a maximum of 300 epochs. For each cross-validation partition, the network architecture that achieved the highest test performance was added to the final ensemble of 10 neural networks.
Implementation of reliability predictions
Here, ti is the target value, oi is the predicted exposure value, wi is the predicted reliability and λ is a parameter defining the penalty for introducing low reliability predictions. The optimal value of λ = 0.05 was determined in a small 5 fold cross-validation benchmark. The rational behind this error-function is that data in the training set that are marginal to the consensus motif will most likely be predicted with the highest error. If this is a systematic error, the network should be able to lower the error by learning the weight value w i associated with such marginal data. To avoid that all weights are assigned a value of zero, the second penalty term is introduced to balance the loss in error introduced by the weight. This term ensures that only data points that are consistently predicted with large errors are associated with weight values lower than one. The architecture is a conventional three-layer network with one input layer, one hidden layer and one output layer. The network was trained using back-propagation, and the training was stopped when the test error was minimal. Note, that the network is trained using just one target value as input, and produces two output values. Without explicit training values, the network hence learns the predicted reliability intrinsically. It does so by lowering the relative weight on data points with high error.
Here, w0 is the reliability baseline value at a predicted exposure value of e, and σ is the baseline-corrected standard deviation at a predicted exposure value of e. The reliability baseline, wo, and standard deviation, σ, were derived for each test set and network architecture from a fit to the test set predicted values. Test set predictions were grouped into 10 equally populated bins. For each bin, the baseline reliability was estimated from the prediction values in that bin. An example of the Z-score corrected reliability values is shown in Figure 5. The final Spearman's rank correlation [35] between Z-score and error is -0.19.
Secondary Structure Predicon
Secondary structure predictions were generated for all amino acids in the dataset using an artificial neural network-based method described previously [36]. Briefly, the architecture includes combinations of primary networks predicting the three classes Helix, Extended strand or Coil with a secondary network filtering the output predictions from the primary network. For training of the method, a dataset, was downloaded from the PISCES server [29] on July 10th 2004 and consisted of 2,085 sequences with sequence identity <25%, Resolution < 2.0 Å and R-factor < 0.25. The dataset was homology-reduced with respect to the sequences in the CB513 dataset, by use of a Hobohm 1 algorithm [37]. Sequences in the CB513 dataset were used to evaluate the performance of the secondary structure predictor. Secondary structure in both sets was assigned using DSSP [30] and grouped into 3 classes: The H class comprised by DSSP class H, E class comprised by DSSP class E, and the C class comprised by the remaining DSSP classes; ., G, I, B, S and T. The method was trained using conventional 7-fold cross-validation. The final method was based on a combination of 70 primary and 70 secondary neural networks using input window sizes of 15–23 amino acids, 50 or 75 hidden units.
We would like to thank Associate professor Thomas Blicher with his help to proofread this manuscript.
This work was funded by the Center for Disease Systems Biology under a grant from the Villum Kann Rasmussen foundation http://www.vkr-fondene.dk/, and the EU Commission, BioSapiens (NoE), FP6, contract no.: LSHG-CT-2003-503265.
Authors' Affiliations
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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Running Man team's cheats and tricks not only bring victory for themselves but also make the audience burst a gut laughing. Because these tricks and cheats are not really for their quick wits, for their silliness. In case nonfans don't know about Running Man team, here are the silly faces of the show: Kwang Soo, Jae Suk and Haha.
However, during the battle to donate rice in the 300th episode, BTS's members are so determined to win that they cheat the Running Man team by surprise. Especially the moment when Jimin rides on Kwang Soo's back is so funny that make fans cry out about their cuteness.
BTS and their impressive greeting performance at Running Man
Greeting gesture of the two leaders is so cool
Cheating game finally start!
Jimin suddenly rides on Kwang Soo's back and Running Man's King of cheat can't do anything but running around and seeking for help
BTS's extremely impressive appearance in Running Man show
Is it the pincer movement?
Suga even teases Jong Kook and Gary that makes fans extremely excited. The moment V sneaky try his nametag tearing skill is also the show's highlight. However, Running Man team is not backing down and they start to seek revenge on Jin and RM that makes these two members of BTS can't help but accepting defeat.
Suga teasing Jong Kook and Gary
Nametag tearing is signature of Running Man and it seems like V also want to experience this interesting game
Leader Jae Suk backfired
It's three on one and there must be many people join BTS's fandom because of this moment
Innocent Jin be cheated by Gary
RM be cheated and he can't do anything but laughing
After a lot of effort, BTS finally achieves final victory with the help of youth and funny tricks.
- 1 year ago
tvN's 'Asadal Chronicles' has confirmed their lineup.
- 1 year ago
Today is the fifth anniversary of K-pop sensations BTS after they debuted on 12 June 2013, and fans around the world are marking the milestone with different ...
The mother of an autistic child has sent a heartfelt thanks to BTS' J-Hope.
Flocks of netizens came to V's defense.
(KPOPLINE) - The reaction of these idols make fans burst out laughing!
(KPOPLINE) - There's no doubt that Jungkook is one of the maknaes on top that fans love the most


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Well, that was quite the week...first a huge thanks to everybody who helped me, in any way, with getting last week's exhibition together. I pulled in so many favours, and couldn't have done it without you all. I foolishly and hopelessly underestimated the extent of the work involved in getting something like this together...last time I got that stressed was when I was doing my thesis!
After a frenzied morning getting the show hung and the place all set up, for the first time ever I was able to see so many of my pictures up on a wall. Felt good.
Then, just when we were ready to open the doors, this happened:
Well...that's what they were worried about. The whole of the CHQ, and numerous other buildings on the Quays were evacuated, due to a serious gas mains leak just to the east. So, that was the end of that. Opening night cancelled. I was shell-shocked. So many people had come from all over to be there...it was a tough one to take.
We carried on regardless. The next day we were ready to make up for lost ground.
All in, 15 of the photos sold, which I am delighted with...especially since we only really had one day for the show. The raffle too was a great success. A special congrats to Daragh Murphy who was the lucky winner. He will receive his framed copy of the Troop Stables in a week or so.
Huge thanks to everybody who bought pieces and raffle tickets. Without you all this would have all been for nothing.
Between that and the raffle I will be making a donation of €3,900 to Pieta House. I'll be meeting up with Brian McEvoy from Pieta House next week to hand over the funds. I was hoping for more, but given that we had just one day for the show, I'm happy with the result.
I still have 20 images from the collection for sale and have set up a mini-gallery at home if anyone wants a private viewing! I will put up more details on the remaining images in a later post. If anyone is interested in them please contact me.
Thanks again to everyone for all your support and encouragement. You can be assured that your donations will go a long way in helping provide support and assistance to those who really need it.
Onwards and upwards.


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Velveteen Zine (#1)
$3.00(AUD) inc GST
Available Stock: 1
Velveteen Zine is an Australian poetry zine dedicated to encouraging, inspiring, and publishing new and emerging poets. it aims to demystifypoetry and engage new or young writers who mayhave previously dismissed peotry as a 'hard'genre to read or write within. Velveteen Zine works towards linking new writers with local writers' resources and events. http://velveteenzine.wordpress.com/


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How many times have you been talking out loud in the presence of your dog and you wonder if he really understands what you are saying?
If you have one of the smartest dog breeds, then you've probably done this a lot.
Perhaps you've sensed that your dog actually knows what you're saying — either by his body language, or by the way he adjusts his ears, wags his tail, or his sudden display of excitement.
I know I have.
Well, I'm beginning to think my dog is much smarter than I give him credit for.
I think he can spell words!
Here's what I'm talking about…
My Dog Spells Words
My husband and I have resorted to spelling various words in order to talk about certain things in his presence.
The idea: If we spell it, he won't hear that magic word that gets him all riled up in anticipation of whatever it is.
So when hubby and are talking amongst ourselves about something we're planning to do with the dog (like take him for a ride in the car, give him a treat, go for a walk, take the dog to get the mail, etc.), we typically spell those "trigger" words:
T (for treat)
…you get the idea.
Well, as it turns out, we've apparently been spelling things so frequently in front of him, that he now gets just as excited when we spell the words as when we actually say them!
And believe me… he knows exactly what we're talking about, too.
This actually makes perfect sense, because it's the same way that a dog learns any new word. It's just funny to think that a dog can actually associate "letters" with things just as easily as he can associate "words" with new behaviors and dog tricks.
What's next?… Will he be talking soon?
Yep, I'm pretty sure. He's already started singing on cue!
Proof That Dogs Understand Human Language (And Photos)
There is a Border Collie named Rico that can understand at least 200 different names for objects and fetch them for his owners. So it's clear that dogs can understand the human language!
They've also looked at how dogs understand images (like photographs) compared to the real thing.
They took 5 Border Collies — 3 that knew names of different items and the other 2 had no idea. They first showed the dogs photos of an item. Next, the dogs went into a different room to find the "real" item that they had just seen depicted in the photograph.
Surprisingly, all of the dogs did very well on this experiment.
So yes, dogs understand human language and items in photographs!
I like to help people find unique ways to do things in order to save time & money — so I write about "outside the box" ideas that most wouldn't think of. As a lifelong dog owner, I often share my best tips for living with and training dogs. I worked in Higher Ed over 10 years before switching gears to pursue activities that I'm truly passionate about. I've worked at a vet, in a photo lab, and at a zoo — to name a few. I enjoy the outdoors via bicycle, motorcycle, Jeep, or RV. You can always find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites).


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In this MMORPGs players will use Magatama instead of armor. Players can hold up to 4 Magatamas, these will offer players various buffs. To equip a Magatama players need Chakra and to meet the level requirement of it. There are four different types of Magatamas that can be equiped: Defense, Elemental, Weapon Affinity and Skill Force. Each one raises a particular set of stats.
Magatamas can be obtained from monster drops, quest rewards, NPC shops and can even be crafted. The type of monsters players fight will determine the types of Magatamas they drop. Magatama have different purities and grades, the purity determines the strongest ornamentation a Magatama can receive while the grade affects the base physical and magical defenses of it.
As players increase their friendship with Kaguya they will be able to perform Ornamentation on Magatamas, this allows players to give them additional stats on top of the existing stats.
For more Details on Magatama and a list of ones players can obtain visit: http://onigiri.wikia.com/wiki/Magatama


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Glossary - Subclade
Refers to the sub-classification of Clades (Haplogroups) in the Y-DNA or mtDNA phylogenetic tree into further sub-branches. For example, E1 and E2 are subclades of Y-DNA Haplogroup E. E1a and E1b are subclades of E1.
To find out more about DNA testing or other Genex Diagnostics services, please contact us by Email.


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Alexandria School--Nanny Service for Reception/Guests/
Are you planning on having younger children at your reception? Will you be inviting out of town guests with small children who will need someone to watch them at the hotel they are staying at?If so, I would like recommend that you contact Alexandria School. They place nannies and offer a temporary service that would be perfect. Here is information about their services that I received from Erin Whaley, the Director of Operations at Alexandria School.
"Most of our temporary/babysitting nannies are working nannies who would like to earn extra money at night and on weekends. They have been background checked (which includes National Sex Offender Registry and driving records check), are current in CPR and First Aid, and have been educated in Injury Prevention, Safety, Child Abuse Awareness, and Household Childproofing, to name a few areas of study. Our nannies have a 4 hour minimum for babysitting/temp jobs and are paid directly by the family at a rate of $15 per hour.
Given the fact that the Alexandria School staff has met and evaluated each potential nanny, we can speak directly to the strengths and talents of each – this can be helpful when placing a temporary nanny with a new client or in a particularly challenging setting (hotel rooms during a special event, multiple children, etc.)."
For more information, contact Erin at 440-914-0044


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Relocating Overseas To Brazil
Domestic USA & International House Moving
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Or call: 1-888-509-3213 for an additional 15% off.
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- Compare rates for shipping to or from Brazil
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- Get instant quotes using our form, or call now 1-888-509-3213
Brazil International Moving Services
Despite the thrills that come with the thought of moving abroad, the reality is that it is a rather challenging process. You have to meet some rigorous requirements set by some immigration departments and get down to the business of sorting your items, packing and shipping them. It is an emotional taxing, time-consuming process.
Table of Contents
- Moving to Brazil Cost & Time Examples
- Import duties when moving to Brazil
- Import paperwork when moving to Brazil
- Duties when importing your vehicle into Brazil
- Paperwork when importing your vehicle into Brazil
- Tips on how to make your international move easier
- Brazil Overseas Relocation Video
- Why you need a professional moving company when relocating overseas
- How to find the best international moving company
- Our Brazil international moving services
- Why A-1 Auto Transport?
- Make the switch!
- Sources
Moving to Brazil Cost & Time Examples
|Estimated Time
|New York to RJ
|$3,300- $5,500
|$6,100- $10,200
|4-6 weeks
|Jacksonville to RJ
|$3,600- $5,900
|$6,700- $11,000
|4-6 weeks
|Los Angeles to RJ
|$3,700- $6,100
|$6,900- $11,400
|4-8 weeks
|Charlotte to Salvador
|$3,700- $6,100
|$6,900- $11,400
|4-6 weeks
|Seattle to São Paulo
|$3,700- $6,300
|$7,000- $11,700
|4-8 weeks
|Dallas to São Paulo
|$3,800- $6,400
|$7,200- $11,800
|4-6 weeks
|Portland to São Paulo
|$4,000- $6,800
|$7,600- $12,500
|4-8 weeks
|Columbus to Salvador
|$4,100- $6,800
|$7,600- $12,400
|4-6 weeks
|Memphis to São Paulo
|$4,100- $6,900
|$7,700- $12,700
|4-6 weeks
|Las Vegas to RJ
|$4,200- $6,900
|$7,800- $12,900
|4-8 weeks
*Please note that these estimates do not include taxes, customs fees & duties, insurance & quarantine inspections. They assume easy access to both pick up and drop-off addresses and do not allow for special items such as pianos.
Estimated Weight (based on home size):
1BR=2600 lbs – 3900 lbs
2BR=3900 lbs – 5200 lbs
3BR=6500 lbs – 9100 lbs
4BR=9100 lbs – 14300 lbs
5BR=11700 lbs – 19500 lbs
Import duties when moving to Brazil
Customs permits you to import your household goods without paying any duty – and even new items are eligible for duty exemption (1). This is a nice benefit of moving to Brazil, but you will need to follow certain guidelines in order to receive it. First, your shipment should be imported no later than 180 days after you enter the country (though 90 days is better). Second, you must list all new belongings on your inventory, in order to receive duty exemption for them (2).
Import paperwork when moving to Brazil
Among the documents you must provide when your shipment is clearing customs, is a notarized employment contract. You'll also need either a temporary Work Visa or a permanent Residence Visa. As mentioned above, you must show a comprehensive inventory of all new items – and an inventory of used items is required as well. These forms should be written in Portuguese, and you also must submit your Original Bill of Lading or Air Waybill. Two copies of your RNE (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiros) paperwork are also needed (3).
Duties when importing your vehicle into Brazil
Whether you have a temporary or permanent visa – you're not permitted to import your vehicle for personal use. This benefit is reserved for diplomats or employees of international organizations like UNESCO (4).
Paperwork when importing your vehicle into Brazil
If it's possible for your company to import a vehicle on your behalf, or if some other exception is found – you'll still need some paperwork to proceed. This includes the purchase receipt or invoice for the vehicle and a REDA-E Form. A notarized Power of Attorney, Original Bill of Lading and your passport are also required. Documents showing that you own (or the company you work for owns) the vehicle and a notarized Brazilian tax card should also be provided (5).
This coverage of the duties and documents required when shipping your goods to Brazil isn't all-encompassing. For this reason, it's vital that you speak to Brazilian customs, before sending your goods from your country of origin.
Tips on how to make your international move easier
- Start early: Without a doubt, when there is so much to be done, ample time is required. In fact, you should start preparations about 90 days to the day of moving. This will help you avoid delays and attend to everything needed.
- Visa and passport: It is important to find out what type of visa you will require. For instance, if you are moving to Brazil for work purposes you will need a work visa. Kindly find more information on how to apply for a visa by visiting the Embassy of Brazil's website. Also, ensure that you apply for a US passport through the US Government.
- Buying real estate and a car: Before moving abroad, most people think of acquiring assets such as a house and a car. It is however, advisable to take your time before making such acquisitions. Give yourself time to learn your new home, who the best suppliers are and any such information that will keep you from being ripped off. So, before you start looking for Brazil International Moving Services, talk to an expert about future acquisitions.
- Reach out to people: Moving to a new place might be a confusing experience so talk to friends and family who have either been there or live there. You could also join local social media groups and make new friends. Ensure that you get as much information as possible about your preferred location.
A-1 Auto Transport can help you move your household goods internationally. Call 888-509-3213 to get a free, no obligation to buy price quote on interstate moving services.
Why you need a professional moving company when relocating overseas
Professional movers come with the required expertise and equipment for the job. Indeed, they will ensure that your valuables are handled with care and see that these get to your new destination safely.
If you decide to do it alone, you will experience mental and physical strain. It will also consume a lot of your time and there is the risk of you losing or damaging your belongings.
How to find the best international moving company
When looking for Brazil International Moving Services, begin by searching the internet. Also, ask for recommendations from friends and family members. Next, get a list of a few companies and before you settle for one, kindly consider the following:
- Ensure that you choose a company that is licensed and has insurance that covers damage on valuables during transit.
- Read customer reviews on the respective companies' websites. A company with more negative than positive reviews is, definitely, not a good choice.
- Compare different estimates and choose a company that is offering you a good service package at the most affordable rate.
- Settle for a company that has achieved high service standards by attaining accreditations.
Our Brazil international moving services
Our offer package has the following:
- Packing/unpacking: Leave the packing and unpacking of your valuables to us.
- Corporate moving: We will help you move your office or business.
- Apartment moves: We also handle international moving between rental apartments.
- Planning and preparation: We will offer you important information regarding international moving. This includes a checklist of the things you need to be done.
- Visa and immigration services: We also offer assistance in applying for Brazil visa and immigration services.
- Housing assistance: We will help you to find a suitable housing unit.
- Family services: We will also help you to find family services such as schools and hospitals.
- Auto transport: We also handle the international shipping of vehicles.
Why A-1 Auto Transport?
We have helped thousands of people relocate abroad and have gained valuable hands-on experience while doing so. Our vast knowledge and resources are all you need when looking for expert information on international moving. We can therefore, confidently assure you that if you have any questions regarding moving abroad, we definitely have the answers.
Make the switch!
If you have plans to move to Brazil, kindly contact our experts on our toll-free number 888-509-3213. Also, to get free estimates of our services, don't forget to fill-in the form at the top of this page.
Found on Atlas Int'l "Importing Personal Property Into Brazil" page.