text:
- Research
- Open Access
Multi-stage gene normalization for full-text articles with context-based species filtering for dynamic dictionary entry selection
- Richard Tzong-Han Tsai1Email author and
- Po-Ting Lai1
© Tsai and Lai; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011
- Published: 3 October 2011
Gene normalization (GN) is the task of identifying the unique database IDs of genes and proteins in literature. The best-known public competition of GN systems is the GN task of the BioCreative challenge, which has been held four times since 2003. The last two BioCreatives, II.5 & III, had two significant differences from earlier tasks: firstly, they provided full-length articles in addition to abstracts; and secondly, they included multiple species without providing species ID information. Full papers introduce more complex targets for GN processing, while the inclusion of multiple species vastly increases the potential size of dictionaries needed for GN. BioCreative III GN uses Threshold Average Precision at a median of k errors per query (TAP-k), a new measure closely related to the well-known average precision, but also reflecting the reliability of the score provided by each GN system.
To use full-paper text, we employed a multi-stage GN algorithm and a ranking method which exploit information in different sections and parts of a paper. To handle the inclusion of multiple unknown species, we developed two context-based dynamic strategies to select dictionary entries related to the species that appear in the paper—section-wide and article-wide context. Our originally submitted BioCreative III system uses a static dictionary containing only the most common species entries. It already exceeds the BioCreative III average team performance by at least 24% in every evaluation. However, using our proposed dynamic dictionary strategies, we were able to further improve TAP-5, TAP-10, and TAP-20 by 16.47%, 13.57% and 6.01%, respectively in the Gold 50 test set. Our best dynamic strategy outperforms the best BioCreative III systems in TAP-10 on the Silver 50 test set and in TAP-5 on the Silver 507 set.
Our experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed dynamic dictionary selection strategies over our original static strategy and most BioCreative III participant systems. Section-wide dynamic strategy is preferred because it achieves very similar TAP-k scores to article-wide dynamic strategy but it is more efficient.
- Gene Normalization
- Static Strategy
- Dictionary Entry
- Dynamic Strategy
- Gene Mention
Gene normalization (GN) is the task of identifying the unique database IDs of genes and proteins found in literature. Even for trained biologists, GN is a difficult task that presents several problems making association with the correct ID number difficult. For one, gene and protein names often have several spelling variations or abbreviations. In other instances, gene products are described indirectly in a phrase, rather than being referred to by a specific name or code.
In many regards, the GN tasks of BioCreative II.5 & III are similar to those of previous BioCreative [1, 2] workshops. However, they have two significant differences: firstly, they provide full-length articles in addition to abstracts; and secondly, instead of being human species-specific, they include multiple species and provide no species ID information. Both changes bring the BioCreative GN task closer to real-world curation of a model organism database.
The first difference, full-text articles, introduces more complex targets for GN processing. Unlike abstracts, full text articles contain many parts and sections, including the main freetext sections (introduction, methods, etc.), metadata, figure/table captions, notes, and so on. Each section or part has its own characteristics which we can use to guide GN and the ranking algorithm. For example, the Introduction section often contains information that repeatedly appears throughout the article (key genes), while the Results section presents new scientific findings, such as PPIs. Extracting a PPI from the Results section may require resolving an acronym whose full name has only been mentioned in the Introduction section. To exploit this type of section-specific information, we have developed a multi-stage memory-based GN procedure and a ranking method.
Predictably, the second difference, inclusion of multiple species, increases inter-species ambiguity. One gene name, abbreviation or code may refer to genes in multiple species, each with its own unique ID, or even to multiple genes in the same species or across different species. For example, without context, a search for 'tumor protein p53, TP53' in Entrez Gene may return results for proteins with the same name in over 20 species. Since the species in the context is unknown, all entries in the gene name dictionary must be loaded for GN. Currently, EntrezGene is the largest and most widely used publicly available gene or gene product database and has the best coverage of names and species. However if the billions of names that it contains are all loaded for GN, it greatly slows down the GN process.
Our GN system is designed to deal with the two changes above. To utilize the characteristics of different sections of a full-length paper, we use a three-stage GN procedure (see Methods section for details). In summary, the procedure is carried out starting from the sections with the richest context information (introduction) to those with the poorest. For our purposes, the informationally richest sections are those that are most likely to mention a gene's full name [3]. Therefore, the introduction section is usually the richest section because it is here that authors first mention the genes of interest, giving their full names often followed by abbreviations used thereafter. The informationally poorest sections tend to be figure/table captions, which lack context information. Identifiers normalized in richer parts are used to help GN in poorer parts.
To handle the inclusion of multiple unknown species, we reduce ambiguity by dynamically selecting relevant entries from the dictionary for each paper or section and by employing an ID ranking model that sorts all genes in the paper according to confidence of correct normalization. By including species context features in the ranking model, we can improve inter-species accuracy. Many similar approaches have been proposed and proven effective [4, 5]. BioCreative III gene normalization task data is used to evaluate our proposed strategies.
After preprocessing, the multi-stage GN procedure is executed (Figure 1: stage 1 to 3). This method refines single-sentence-based GN by using section-specific information, scanning the whole article from the informationally richest to poorest sections—i.e. from the introduction section to table/figure captions.
The final step is ranking all normalized identifiers in a paper. We formulated the ranking problem as a support vector machine (SVM) classification problem, incorporating the confidence of the normalized identifiers and context information as features.
In the following sections, we explain the above steps in details and illustrate our strategies for selecting gene name dictionary entries for GN.
Gene normalization
Three main subtasks are involved in our sentence-based GN method: gene mention recognition (GMR), dictionary matching, and disambiguation processing.
Gene mention recognition
The recognition of gene names is handled by a machine-learning (ML)-based gene mention tagger [9] trained on the BioCreative II gene mention dataset [10]. The GMR problem is formulated as a word-by-word sequence labeling task, where the assigned tags delimit the boundaries of any gene names. The underlying ML model is the conditional random fields [11] model with a set of features selected by a sequential forward search algorithm [12].
After GMR, we employ several post-processing rules developed in our previous work [7] to identify more gene mentions. For instance, if a parenthesized phrase follows an identified gene mention, we also regard the contents of the parentheses as a gene mention. The keywords, abbreviations, and full names recorded in the metadata are also used to adjust the gene mention boundary if the gene name string is a substring of them and vice versa. Take the sentence "Interaction between fortilin and transforming growth factor-beta GENE stimulated clone-22 (TSC-22) prevents apoptosis via the destabilization of TSC-22" as an example. The metadata stores the information that "transforming growth factor-beta stimulated clone-22" is the full name of "TSC-22". Our GM tagger recognizes "transforming growth factor-beta" as a gene which is a substring of the full name stored in the metadata. As a result, the boundary is extended to include "stimulated clone-22". The original string before adjustment is also stored in the metadata, which is checked when the adjusted gene name cannot be successfully mapped (in this example, the original string "transforming growth factor-beta" is also stored).
The recognized gene names are finally examined against a blacklist to filter out false positives. The list is automatically compiled from two databases, MeSH (for diseases), and HyperCLDB (for cell lines) [13], and the website NEB (for restriction enzymes) [14]. Our blacklist contains about 65,000 terms. When processing each article, our system dynamically updates the blacklist with synonyms (full names or abbreviations) according to the full-name/abbreviation mapping in the article metadata.
Dictionary matching
Dictionary-matching is able to assign candidate identifiers to each recognized gene mention. Two matching strategies are employed. The first uses a dictionary compiled by collecting gene names in EntrezGene and generating their orthographical variants[15]. Each recognized gene mention is looked up in the dictionary. If an exact match is found, then the gene is assigned that entry's ID. Because all these terms are indexed by the Lucene search engine, we can then use the engine to find partial matches for each recognized gene mention.
If a gene mention is assigned two or more gene identifiers, we must determine which is more appropriate through disambiguation processing.
Disambiguation processing
The goal of disambiguation is to select the most likely gene identifier from multiple gene identifiers which share the same gene name. We manually constructed several rule-based classifiers which use context information, such as chromosome location, sequence length and so on, to determine the given identifier's label. Each classification rule follows this general form:
r: (Condition) → y × w
Rule-based classifiers
Species a
S(id) refers to the species keywords of id
Cell b
C(id) refers to the cell line keywords of id
PPI c
PPI(id) refers to the interaction partner of id
Full name/Acronym
FN(id) refers to the gene mention's full name (its identifier is id)
Tissue c
T(id) refers to the tissue keywords of id
Domain d
D(id) refers to the domain keywords of id
Family d
F(id) refers to the family keywords of id
MASS d
M(id) refers to the MASS of id
Gene Ontology
GO(id) refers to the GO terms of id
Chromosome Location e
CL(id) refers to the chromosome locations of id
Sequence Length d
SL(id) refers to the sequence lengths of id
RS Number d
R(id) refers to the RS number of id
The id refers to an identifier from the ambiguous list.
The nid refers to a successfully normalized identifier stored in the metadata.
Multi-stage GN for exploiting the characteristic of different sections
Our three-stage GN procedure is shown in Figure 1.
Stage 1
In the first stage, GN is executed in the following order: Introduction, Abstract, Title. Successfully normalized identifiers are kept in memory (the metadata) for use in subsequent sections. We process the Introduction section first because the Abstract and Title sections are more concise and contain less contextual information and fewer identifiers. Following the order above, certain classifiers, including the PPI, Full-name/Acronym and the History classifier, are more effective. Take the PPI classifier for example. The classifier uses a gene's PPI information to disambiguate identifiers. As shown in Table 1, it requires a normalized identifier, nid, stored in the metadata. For each ambiguous gene identifier id the classifier checks whether id – nid is a PPI pair recorded in HPRD or not. If we process the article in a linear order (Title→Abstract →Introduction), the value of the PPI classifier will always be 0 when processing the Title (the same applies to the Full-name/Acronym and History classifiers). The values of other classifiers also tend to be 0 because of the lack of context information.
Stage 2
In this stage, the successfully normalized gene mentions and corresponding identifiers are extracted from the metadata to generate a dictionary. We then search the whole article for mentions in this dictionary. The Title, Abstract, and Introduction sections are also rechecked in case GMR missed any instances. When tagging gene mentions outside the Title, Abstract, and Introduction sections, the dictionary-based tagger also checks species keywords in the same sentence. If keywords are found and matched with the corresponding ID's species, the ID is assigned. Otherwise, the tagger checks the metadata to see which species is the focus of the paper and assigns this to the mention. The focus species is determined by calculating the frequencies of the species keywords. The most frequent species is chosen as the focus species and is stored in the metadata.
Compared to directly employing a full list of gene names as a dictionary to annotate the whole article, this procedure can reduce the number of false positives [16]. It can also improve gene normalization accuracy in sections outside the Introduction section because an abbreviation's full name can usually be found in the Introduction section.
Stage 3
Gene identifier ranking
In this stage, each normalized identifier from stage three is ranked by an SVM [17] classifier. For each identifier, the corresponding information stored in memory is used to extract features. In the following section, we describe the extracted features for gene identifier ranking.
GN matching method features
As mentioned before, there are two matching strategies to generate identifiers in our system: exact and partial matching. They are represented as Boolean features.
Disambiguation voting features
The value of the weighted vote generated by our disambiguation process is used as a feature. In addition, 13 Boolean features, which indicate whether or not the corresponding GN Classifier listed in Table 1 votes for the identifier, are also used as features.
Frequency features
The frequency with which the ID appears in the entire article is used as a feature. In addition, based on the work of McIntosh and Curran[18], who found that molecular interaction descriptions usually appear in the Results section, we added the percentage of an ID found in the Results section as a feature.
Location features
Location features
Location in full text article
Among the last n1a sentences in the abstract
The first section (usually the introduction section)
Among the last n2a sentences in the first section
The Results section
The other sections
The last section (usually the conclusion section)
Section, sub-section or paragraph titles
Figure captions
Table captions
Known information features
Known information feature sets.
Feature type
Keyword match
A Boolean feature which indicates whether or not the identifier's gene name matches keywords.
Full name/abbreviation match
A Boolean feature which indicates whether or not the identifier's gene name matches full names or abbreviations.
Strategies for reducing species complexity in gene name dictionaries
Most ambiguity in the GN process comes from the large number of existing gene names in dictionaries and the even larger number that results from the expansion of those original names. Inclusion of multiple species greatly compounds this complexity. Limiting gene dictionary size or excluding certain species' genes may lessen the ambiguity and improve efficiency, but it may also lose crucial data. We propose two types of strategies for selecting relevant gene dictionary entries, static and dynamic.
Static strategy
Using a static strategy, the same set of terms is used in performing GN for every article. The sample static strategy that we designed for this paper uses only gene names from the 22 most common species in NCBI (from 7283 species).
Dynamic strategy
In the dynamic strategy, we use varying sets of names chosen according to the species context. The context can range from a sentence or paragraph to a whole section or even article, but in our system we only implement the latter two. We use two methods to detect the species in the context. The first is a keyword-based approach, which employs regular expressions to check for UniProt species keywords in the given section or article. If we identify keywords for certain species, we check only entries belonging to those species when performing GN.
BioCreative III participants were given a collection of training data that contains 32 full-text articles annotated by a group of experienced curators invited from various model organism databases. The articles are available in XML from selected journals in PubMed Central. A list of normalized EntrezGene IDs is provided for each article in the set.
Species distribution across data sets
Training Set (32 articles)
Test Set (50 articles)
Test Set (507 articles)
S.cereviaiae (27%)
Enterobacter sp.638 (23%)
H.Sapiens (42%)
H.sapiens (20%)
M.musculus (14%)
M.musculus (24%)
M.musculus (12%)
H.Sapiens (11%)
D.melanogaster (6%)
D.melanogaster (10%)
S.pneumoniae TIGR4 (9%)
S.cerevisiae S228c (6%)
D.rerio (7%)
S.scrofa (5%)
Enterobacter sp.638 (4%)
A.thaliana (5%)
M.oryzae 70-15 (4%)
R.norvegicus (4%)
C.elegans (3%)
D.melanogaster (4%)
A.thaliana (2%)
x.laevis (3%)
R.norvegicus (3%)
C.elegans (2%)
R.norvegicus (2%)
S.cerevisiae S228c(2%)
S.pneumoniae TIGR4 (2%)
G.gallus (2%)
E.histolytica HM-l (2%)
S.scrofa (1 %)
Other 18 species (9%)
Other 65 species (23%)
Other 91 species (7%)
Evaluation metrics
To measure the overall retrieval efficacy for several sample queries, , the average of the TAP, , over all queries is adopted.
An E-value threshold E0 is determined to mirror a user's tolerance for errors. Assume that a user tolerates about k EPQ, k being some arbitrary integer. BioCreative III GN task gives k = 5, 10, 20 as an arbitrary but not unreasonable estimate of a tolerable EPQ. Determine the smallest E-value E k (A) corresponding to a median number of k EPQ over all queries q for a given system A. Thus, for any E-value threshold larger than E k (A), at least 50% of the queries have at least k errors. Each system's E-value predicts the actual number of EPQ with varying accuracy, so the threshold E k (A) depends on the algorithm A. With the same median k EPQ, all algorithms have the same specificity. With their specificities fixed at the same value, their sensitivities are on an equal footing, and therefore comparable. In summary, BioCreative III's measure of overall GN efficacy is , the (query-averaged) TAP-k for a median k EPQ (the 'TAP-k'), i.e. it is the average over all queries of Equation (1) with E0 = E k (A).
BioCreative III results
Our strategies vs. BioCreative III participant average on gold-50 test set
Test set gold standard 50
relative improvement
relative improvement
relative improvement
BioCreative III
Average (Baseline)
Static strategy
(Team 101_R3)
Article-wide species
Section-wide species
Optimal Dynamic Dictionary
BioCreative III average vs. Static vs. Section-wide vs. BioCreative III top systems on silver test set
Test set silver standard 50
Test set silver standard 507
BioCreative III Average (Baseline)
Static strategy
(Team _101_R3)
(+0.1331, +61.20%)
(+0.1443, +57.74%)
(+0.1252, +46.54%)
(+0.1421, +48.50%)
(+0.1289, +42.10%)
(+0.1242, +39.95%)
Dynamic strategy:
Section-wide species
(+0.1357, +62.39%)
(+0.1549, +61.98%)
(+0.1334, +49.59%)
(+0.2010, +68.98%)
(+0.1339, +43.73%)
(+0.1339, +43.73%)
In the first and the second rows of Table 5, we compare the scores of our static strategy, which uses only the most common species, to the average scores of the BioCreative III participants on the test set Gold 50. Our static strategy, which is our overall best performer on BioCreative III, exceeds the BioCreative III average by at least 24% in every evaluation. According to the BioCreative III GN task overview paper, our static strategy consistently remains in the top tier group in all evaluations [22].
The first and second rows of Table 6 show the results of the same configurations on the silver test set. Comparing the results with Table 5, we observe that its margins in the Gold 50 test set (24%-35%) are almost half of those in the Silver 507 test set (40%-50%). We believe this is because the majority of the most frequent species in the Silver 507 are among the 22 most common species in UniProt. On the other hand, only two of the top-10 species in the Gold 50 test set are among UniProt's 22 most common species. This inspired us to try dynamic strategies to select relevant dictionary entries for context-specific normalization.
Effects of dynamic strategies
Rows 3-5 of Table 5 shows the results of different strategies employed on the Gold 50. The first and second configurations (rows 3 and 4 of Table 5) dynamically enable dictionary entries based on whole-article or section context, respectively. Lastly, we show the best performance that could ideally be achieved by using a dynamic strategy with our GN system (row 5 of Table 5). We construct the ideal system as follows: For each article A, we find the species mentioned in A by checking each ID's species in the gold standard ID list corresponding to A. For example, gene ID 10211 is found in article PMC2858709's gold standard ID list. Gene ID 10211 belongs to Taxonomy ID 9606. Therefore, we know that this article mentions Taxonomy ID 9606.
As we can see in Table 5, both dynamic-strategy configurations increase all TAP-k scores by similar margins. In Tap-5, 10, and 20, they outperform the static baseline by about 17%, 13% and 6%, respectively. As k increases, the improvement margin of dynamic over static strategy decreases. This may indicate that more IDs can be correctly normalized in the beginning of the returned gene list after including the dictionary entries belonging to the context species in addition to the top-22 most common species. Take article PMC2887456 for example. Nad7 (ID:3800099) and EXPB11 (ID:778389) cannot be normalized because their species (Triticum aestivum, Taxnomy ID:4565) is not included in the top-22. However, using a dynamic strategy, the gene names corresponding to Triticum aestivum are included, and these two genes are correctly normalized and ranked as 3rd and 8th. The TAP-5 score for this article is improved by 0.1944. The dynamic strategy can identify those gene IDs whose context information is rich but whose corresponding species is uncommon. If their dictionary entries are included, they can usually be correctly ranked in the front of the list, which affects Tap-5 more than Tap-10 or 20 and explains why as the k value increases, the advantage of a dynamic over a static strategy decreases.
As mentioned above, article-wide and section-wide contexts achieve very similar TAP-k scores. Consider the average normalization ambiguity in the test set: when using article-wide context, one gene name matches 2.5 IDs, while when using section-wide context, one gene name matches 1.7 IDs on average. When normalizing every occurrence of one gene in a given article using article-wide and section-wide contexts, 260,412 and 107,205 dictionary entries are enabled on average, respectively. Obviously, using section-wide context is more efficient.
Row 5 of Table 5 shows that the optimal dynamic strategy outperforms the proposed dynamic strategies by a significant margin. This implies that our GN system's TAP score could be further improved with a better species identification system.
Employing the dynamic strategies on the silver test set also shows effectiveness. In Table 6, we can see that using the section-wide dynamic strategy, our GN system outperforms the best BioCreative III system in TAP-10 on the Silver 50 test set and in TAP-5 on the Silver 507 set. According to [22], using the silver standard allows GN developers to assess systems on the entire set of test articles without human annotation. This increases our confidence in the superiority of our proposed dynamic strategies over our original static strategy and most BioCreative III participating systems.
No species keywords found
After analyzing our dynamic-strategy system's results on the gold standard 50 dataset, we found that gene mentions belonging to rare species are often incorrectly associated with IDs belonging to popular species (such as human and rats). This is because our disambiguation process boosts the scores of IDs whose species information are found in the context. Since popular species' keywords appear more frequently than those of rare species, IDs belonging to popular species are more likely to be selected.
Distinct nomenclature of rare species
Another problem is caused by the inability of our GMR system to recognize genes belonging to rare species with distinct nomenclature (naming rules). We may be able to improve GMR in this regard by first generating pattern-based rules from names of more popular species using a local alignment algorithm such as Smith-Waterman.
With recent advances in text-mining technology and increasing availability of full-text articles online, text mining can be carried out on full papers rather than just abstracts to expand and enrich automated literature curation. After an article has been selected for curation, a preliminary step is to list genes or proteins of interest in the article. While the concept is very simple, the task is very difficult to automate. In this paper, we present a multi-stage GN algorithm and SVM-based ranking method that we submitted to BioCreative III GN. We make use of the different characteristics of each paper section in our GN system. In addition, we propose two types of strategies for selecting dictionary entries for GN.
We have demonstrated that the static strategy that we submitted to BioCreative III, which uses only the most common species, exceeds the BioCreative III average by at least 24% in every evaluation. Examining this strategy's much poorer performance in the Gold 50 test set, we noticed that most false negative IDs were of rare species. To improve identification of such species, we decided to try dynamic strategies to select relevant entries from the dictionary according to article-wide or section-wide species context. Our new approaches improved TAP-k scores by up to 17% in the Gold 50 test set. Our best dynamic strategy achieves comparable performance to the best BioCreative III systems in the silver-standard evaluation sets. These results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed dynamic strategies over our original static strategy and most BioCreative III participant systems. Section-wide dynamic strategy is preferred because it achieves very similar TAP-k scores to article-wide dynamic strategy but is more efficient. Comparison of our best results with an optimal configuration for which all species were verified manually shows that our GN system's TAP score could be further improved with a better context-based species identification module.
This research was supported in part by the National Science Council under grant NSC 98-2221-E-155-060-MY3. We especially thank the BioCreative organizers and BMC reviewers for their valuable comments, which helped us improve the quality of the paper
This article has been published as part of BMC Bioinformatics Volume 12 Supplement 8, 2011: The Third BioCreative – Critical Assessment of Information Extraction in Biology Challenge. The full contents of the supplement are available online at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/12?issue=S8.
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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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A couple of weeks ago I discussed the zBoost ZPersonal from Wi-Ex. To refresh your memories, it's the new portable cell phone repeater. Designed to be set up quickly, consumers will be able to move the zPersonal from home to office. Another distinguishing feature is its price. Retailing at $99, it will be the most affordable repeater on the market.
As I said before, we at RepeaterStore are really excited about the new zP. Customers are already asking about availability and we predict it will be one of our most popular models. That's one reason we were pleased to hear that it was recently honored at the CTIA Wireless Expo 2007.
The zBoost zPersonal was 3rd place winner of the CTIA Emerging Technologies (E-Tech) Award. There's no doubt that as a cell phone repeater, it is groundbreaking on several levels. Aside from its expected price, it's also the most portable cell signal amplifier on the market.
We also think that this award is great for the cellular repeater industry in general. It's great that repeaters are being recognised as groundbreaking technology.
We're looking into getting a zP here before they're available to purchase. Hopefully soon we'll be able to devote a blog post to its power output, coverage area, and more.


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Bagnon is a highly customizable bag replacement addon designed to help the player find items as quickly and as easily as possible. Beyond the basic all-bags-in-one functionality, Bagnon provides features such as:
- Ability to view the items of any character, from anywhere *
- Inventory, bank, vault and guild bank support
- Coloring based on item quality and more
- Intelligent item search engine
- Tooltip item counts
- Item rulesets
- Databroker support
* - Requires the player to login and visit the bank once at each character
A wide assortment of plugins has been made by people in the community:
- Bagnon Currencies - Allows you to track currencies on any window
- Bagnon Scrap - Colors your Scrap on all windows
- Bagnon Facade - Allows windows to be skinned with Masque
- And many more...
- Please submit bugs and feature requests at GitHub.
- Are you a developer? Bagnon provides a rich API for developing plugins and extra rulesets!
- Consider supporting Bagnon by becoming a patron or submitting a donation.
- Visit me at jaliborc.com.


text: PegaWorld 2018 replays Geared towards different industries, products, and a host of hot topics, PegaWorld 2018 has something for everyone. Check out this year's session replays below. Showing 21 result(s) for Customer Experience. (Clear filters) Search Apply Show search filters Filter Sessions Days Tuesday, June 5 (13) Monday, June 4 (8) Session Type Customer Case Study (9) Spark Talk (6) Sponsored (3) Customer How To (2) Keynote (1) Topics Artificial Intelligence (24) Pega Platform (22) Customer Service (21) CRM (20) Robotic Automation (17) Marketing Automation (15) Decision Management (14) Agile (12) Application Development (11) Case Management (10) Operational Excellence (10) BPM (9) Cloud (9) Sales Automation (9) Analytics (8) UX & Design (6) Internet of Things (3) Mobile (3) Customer Experience (21) Industry Cross-Industry (9) Financial Services (6) Communications Service Providers (2) Insurance (2) Healthcare (1) Manufacturing & High Technology (1) Product Marketing (6) Platform (5) Customer Service (3) All Products (2) Robotic Automation (2) Customer Decision Hub (1) Onboarding (1) Sales Automation (1) Cancel Close search filters Keynote From Digital Chaos to Digital Transformation The promise and potential of Digital Transformation is immense. When it is done... Customer Case Study Using Robotic Automation to Refocus the Customer Journey at UNUM This session will highlight how UNUM, a Fortune 500 company, and the top... Download this presentation Customer Case Study Bringing the Customer Journey to Life with Pega Marketing at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Hear how Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) used Pega Marketing to... Customer Case Study Banco Santander Brasil Super Charges Business Value, Fast Banco Santander Brasil eliminated manual work, broke down internal silos, and... Download this presentation Customer Case Study Santander UK Brings 1:1 Personalized Customer Engagement to Life The Santander Way is clear: keep it simple, personal, and fair -- always.... Download this presentation Customer Case Study Cisco Customer Service - Digital Agents, Intelligent Routing and now CSA Enabled People We are continuing the evolution at Cisco to deliver world class customer service... Download this presentation Customer Case Study OCBC Reimagines Customer Engagement OCBC is obsessed with elevating the customer experience. The Bank's Pega... Download this presentation Customer Case Study Rabobank AU-NZ Drives Digital Transformation -- Across Business Lines and Countries -- Via a Unified CRM Strategy Rabobank is on mission: to consolidate systems across four lines of business and... Download this presentation Customer Case Study Vodafone: Transforming a Multi-National Business from Traditional Marketing Approaches to Always-on Customer Engagement Vodafone Global has a mission to drive revenue, increase loyalty, relevance and... Download this presentation Customer Case Study Revolutionizing Customer Retention: How Foxtel Drove Up Retention Rates and Reduced Costs In just 7 weeks Foxtel has revolutionized their retention organization enabling... Download this presentation Customer How To PayPal Delivers World Class Customer Service, Worldwide PayPal chose Pega as the strategic platform to build next-generation customer... Download this presentation Customer How To DLL Finance Implements Scrum/Agile Methods to Maximize Customer Satisfaction Organizations are still slow to adopt Agile/Scrum practices even though these... Download this presentation 1 2 Next


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Only a month and a half before it was scheduled to close for lack of funding, the San Diego Housing Commission has found money to keep the Neil Good Day Center open. In a memo sent today to the San Diego City Council, Housing Commission CEO Rick Gentry said that after reviewing his agency's budget for the fiscal year starting July 1—per the request of City Councilmember Todd Gloria—"the Housing Commission is able to make the commitment of $500,000" to fund the Day Center through June 30, 2012.
Gentry's memo points out that the Day Center, which provides services to roughly 300 people a day and is operated by the nonprofit Alpha Project, historically has been funded through federal Community Development Block Grants, but "received no CDBG funding from the City Council" this year. A city facility, the Day Center's been open since 1991 and, as I noted in this article, is part of the city's comprehensive homeless policy. That policy, approved by the City Council in 1995, says that "Day Center services will be made available to the homeless population when needed, in order to offer unsheltered homeless persons a place to be during the daytime; personal hygiene services; and an entry point into shelters and other support services."


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Muscle Boost X :- Do you really feel that your hard work at the gym is not paying off? Are you getting difficulty in order to develop a physique like a bodybuilder as well as improve your overall well-being? Are you really wishing to have a safe and natural way to accomplish your bodybuilding goal in a short span of time?
If so, then don't worry because now you can increase the size your biceps and supercharge your workout regimen by using Muscle Boost X. It is an advanced muscle building supplement that has a potential to provide oxygen and nourishment to your muscles during your workout to take your performance to the next level. As your body cannot deliver enough of those things by itself with a view to grow huge muscle that is why this bodybuilding supplement has been recommended by loads of athletes, bodybuilders and gym trainer to help you achieve optimum results. Keep reading this review ahead to explore more about this supplement.
Introduction to Muscle Boost X
Muscle Boost X is a breakthrough muscle building supplement that promises to help you grow a chiseled and ripped body. It takes your training sessions to a higher level by stimulating blood flow to the muscles at the time of your workout to decrease the level of fatigue. In addition to provide strength and size that you want in your muscles, it promotes your metabolism that assists in reducing the excessive body fat much faster. Besides, it is composed of high-quality ingredients that make this product free from dangerous chemicals, fillers and toxin that cause harm to your body. That is why, by adding this supplement to your workout routine, you will be able to get expected results with no side-effects.
Look at the list of ingredients
- L-Arginine – It's an amino acid and utilized in several muscle building supplements due to its capacity to improve the functioning of your body. It effectively increases muscle strength and grows muscles by elevating blood flow to your muscles. Besides, it can also help you get rid of numerous health problems, including congestive heart failure, coronary artery, high blood pressure etc.
- L – Citrulline – It promotes the production of nitric oxide that assists in increasing artery relaxation which delivers required oxygen to the muscles as well as improves the blood circulation within the body during the workout. By doing this, it cuts recovery time and makes you able to do arduous workout sessions for a long time.
- Creatine – It bolsters your body's ability in order to produce sufficient energy. Consequently, you are able to do extensive workout sessions for a long time to increase muscle strength, muscle power, muscle size, and overall performance at the gym.
Need for prescription to use it?
Indeed not! Muscle Boost X does not comprise fatal drugs that demand doctors' prescription. Also, this muscle building supplement is composed of clinically proven ingredients in order to deliver safe results. Therefore, it is sold over-the-counter that allows you to use it without doctors' prescription.
Things you should know while using this product
- Store it in a cool & dry place
- It is only for those who are above 18
- It is not presented to treat any health disease
- Return the bottle if the safety seal is damaged
- Do not exceed the recommended pills
- Women are restricted to use this formula
The best way to consume this supplement
It comes in the form of easy and simple to consume pills and every bottle of this supplement carries 60 pills. You are suggested to consume 2 pills within a day. Together? No! Take 1 pill in the morning after your breakfast and take again 1 pill at night after your dinner. If you really wish to improve your performance at the gym and attain develop a body like a muscular then consume Muscle Boost X constantly for 90 days. Remember, if you are already taking prescribed medication, then ask your healthcare provider first before getting it started.
Incredible benefits
- Promotes your stamina and energy to do intense workout sessions
- Muscle Boost X minimizes recovery time and corrects damaged tissues
- Helps in reducing excessive body weight faster by stimulating metabolism
- Improves focus, concentration and memory
- Assists in building a sculpted, toned and chiseled body with ease
- Delivers essential nutrients and oxygen to your muscles to pump them during your workout
- Increases nitric oxide level in the body to improve blood circulation throughout the body
- Assists in gaining muscle mass and increasing muscle strength
More things to follow along with this formula to boost your results
- Drink a plenty of water
- Eat healthy and fresh food
- Add more protein to your diet
- Stop smoking and drinking cholera
- Shun stress and take sufficient sleep
Muscle Boost X is safe to use?
Yes it is! Muscle Boost X is formulated with the supreme quality ingredients as well as all the ingredients are tested under the direction of experts. Thus, it is believed that this muscle building formula does not contain any harm effects and provides completely safe results. There is a large number of men who are taking it to increase their muscle size and they are blissful with its results.
Let's know about users' experience with this product
- Larry – With growing age, I was not able to do extensive exercise sessions due to lack of energy and stamina. Therefore, I was looking for an effective muscle building supplement that could help me add fuel to my performance. One day, I came across Muscle Boost X over the Internet and decided to give it a try once. Since the day I started taking this supplement, I can experience the noticeable change in my energy that assists me to a do harder workout for a long time. It is such an excellent product and every man must try it!
- Anthony – People used to laugh at me due to my skinny body! I joined a gym and did harder workout to gain muscle mass, but got less satisfactory results. I was totally unable to understand what to do next to develop a body like a hunk! After a few days, I heard about Muscle Boost X from one of my friends. I immediately bought it and started using it. I took it daily as per the directions for 90 days alongside with my balanced diet. Now, I have a body that I was dreaming for that not only enhance my appealing, but confidence too.
Where to order?
Muscle Boost X is available only online with its free trial pack. Also, you can receive this item at your doorstep within 4 to 5 working days after placing your order. To place your order, click on the image below.
Can I consume this supplement along with my prescribed medication?
According to me, you must avoid taking it if you are already consuming your medication. But, if you really wish to add this formula to your daily routine, then you can also ask your healthcare provider on this matter.
When can I expect for the satisfactory results?
If you want to achieve complete results, you'll have to consume this supplement on a daily basis along with a healthy diet plan. By doing this, you can attain the desired results within a matter of weeks with ease.
How many days in a week should I work out?
It will be fine to workout for 2 to 4 days in a week because when you work out five and six days in a week, you are unable to fully recover. It usually takes about 48 to 72 hours for your muscles to recover.
Can I consume more than recommended pills to get prompt results?
No! Consuming more than recommended dosage will not help you achieve satisfactory results. Also, if you take more than recommended dosage, you may suffer from health problems. So you better take Muscle Boost X supplement as per the instructions to attain complete results and stay healthy.


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Ultrasound imaging of a patient with fibroids and heavy bleeding explained
For gynecologic surgeons seeking a fast and convenient way to remove intrauterine pathology, the MyoSure Hysterscopic Tissue Removal and Aquilex Fluid Control Systems offer a fully integrated solution. Working together the two systems make it simple to quickly remove polyps and fibroids while maintaining uterine form and function.
The Aquilex fluid control system is designed to give you the highest degree of control during MyoSure hysteroscopic tissue removal procedures. As the MyoSure tissue removal device simultaneously cuts and removes polyps and fibroids, the Aquilex fluid control system balances steady fluid inflow with active suction to optimize uterine distention and provide a clear field of view – free from tissue debris.
Danilo Herrera, MD
Botros Rizk, MD, FACS


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In the past Fort McMurray Christian School has not provided transportation to and from school for students. Parents depended mainly on car pooling and details are usually worked out amongst parents during the first week of school. This practice is still used by a number of families.
As an alternative school under the umbrella of FMPSD, transportation for our students by FMPSD is not mandated for the 2011-2012 school year. Negotiations, however, have allowed bussing of students under the category of a "Choice School".
Choice Schools: If parents choose to enroll their child in a school outside of their designated attendance boundary, they are responsible for transportation services. These students may access transportation services on a priority basis – eligible, user pay, and then choice students provided there is an existing yellow bus route available. If no route is in effect, the public transit system could be utilized by the student.
Rates for a choice school are: $400.00 per student (approximately $1.99 per day).
This opportunity should be available for subsequent years.
If this is an opportunity that you would like to explore, please contact the school office.


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I meet someone who's genuinly scared about losing his life on DayZ. Never thought I'd see the day.
Want some more? Try this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1riBJq4UVo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SiloOnYoutube
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silo-on-Youtube/542972915754095
Get your OWN DayZ server! http://www.gameservers.com/?ref=1657398
Get discount on games: https://www.g2a.com/r/silo
Get your Silo loot: http://802959.spreadshirt.nl/
This video is created using games from Bohemia Interactive
See http://www.bistudio.com for more information.
Music used:
Avicii – Hey Brother (TEEMID & & Tessa Rose Jackson Cover)
Villain – Vengeance


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Implementing climate technology projects is a desire of all countries, but it is often also a challenge. On the one hand, countries often find it difficult to determine which climate technologies they should prioritize for implementation. On the other hand, once they have prioritized climate technologies, they also have to achieve implementation. Supporting countries to overcome these challenges is a key focus of the UNFCCC.
This page provides guidance to support countries to overcome both of the challenges described above. It provides information and guidance on conducting technology needs assessments (TNAs), which may support a country to prioritize climate technologies. The webpage also provides guidance which may support countries to enhance the implementation of these technologies. A key tool for supporting countries to achieve this is the technology action plan (TAP).
Currently, the UNEP DTU Partnership and the Global Environment Facility are supporting 26 developing countries to undertake TNAs. This global TNA project assists developing countries to determine their technology priorities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. UNEP DTU and the GEF have a wealth of experience in supporting countries to undertake TNAs, and have developed guidebooks to support countries as they conduct them. You may access these guidebooks through the dedicated website. Visit the project website to find out more.
The Technology Executive Committee (TEC) analyses TNAs and develops guidance to support countries to enhance the effectiveness and utility of the TNA process. The TEC has provided policy messages to the COP on TNAs and has also produced specific policy briefs. Find out more about the TEC's work here. Here are two of the TEC's policy briefs on TNAs:
TEC Brief 2013: Results and Success Factors of TNAs
TEC Brief 2013: Possible integration of the TNA process with NAMA and NAP processes
The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) is also available to provide guidance to developing countries for undertaking and implementing TNAs. Through its three core services, technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge sharing, the CTCN can provide countries with support for the TNA process. Find out more.
With more than 80 developing countries undertaking their TNAs since 2001, and with countries now preparing national determined contributions (NDCs), the UNFCCC is now focusing on supporting countries to implement their identified technology needs.
One of the key outputs from the TNA is a technology action plan (TAP). A TAP is a concise plan for the uptake and diffusion of prioritized technologies that will contribute to a country's efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change.
To support countries to develop TAPs that achieve implementation, the Technology Executive Committee has worked with UNEP DTU and the UNFCCC secretariat to develop guidance for preparing TAPs.
The TEC has also developed policy messages for supporting TAP implementation. See the TEC policy messages here.
In addition to the TAP guidance, the UNFCCC secretariat has also developed guidebooks aimed at strengthening the capacity of project developers to prepare technology projects for financing.
UNFCCC guidebook on preparing technology projects for financing. This guidebook assists project developers to prepare financing proposals that will meet the standards of international finance providers. Download the complete guidebook.
Guía sobre la elaboración de proyectos de transferencia de tecnología para obtener financiación
Guide d'élaboration de projets bancables pour le transfert de technologies
To support in-country capacity building, the UNFCCC developed a training package which provides the material required for instructors to train project developers on how to prepare technology projects for financing. It builds on the experiences of regional training programmes and the UNFCCC guidebook on preparing technology projects for financing. Download training package.


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Wine & Dine: Bring Your Own Wine Mondays, Every Monday @ Brew Bistro and Lounge
February 6, 2014 at 9:33 am Njathika Leave a comment
Introducing "Bring Your Own Wine" Monday's a partnership between Brew Bistro and Lounge and the Wine Shop.
Choose from over 150 different types of wine, both old world and new world, from all over the globe on display at The Wine Shop.
Enjoy dinner and Bring Your Own Wine (from The Wine Shop) on Monday nights with NO corkage fee upstairs at Brew Bistro and Lounge. From 5pm to 10 pm.
For Bookings Call the Brew Bistro team on: 0731 006 068 or 0719 648 138 or email email@example.com
Minimum spend of Kshs 1000 on either drinks or food, for the non corkage to be applicable.
Entry filed under: Food. Tags: Brew Bistro and Lounge, the wine shop, wine and dine in Nairobi.
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About meGuy Clifton is a lifelong Nevada resident, growing up in the Nye County mining town of Gabbs. He attended the University of Nevada, Reno and has worked at the Reno Gazette-Journal since 1994. He has worked in virtually every department in the newsroom over the past 18 years. He is also the author of five books on Nevada history.
Recent Posts
Monthly Archives: July 2012
A friend's war story, untold for 68 years
Like many members of the Greatest Generation, Bob Ravera and Buddy Garfinkle fought in World War II, came home, hung up their uniforms and went on about their lives.
The war was over. No need to talk about it.
That's how a Continue reading
NTSB features Reno Air Races crash at Wisconsin air show
Last September's fatal crash at the Reno National Championship Air Races has been a hot topic of conversation at the world's largest air show this week.
The Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., is attracting half a million aviation enthusiasts Continue reading
UNR grad unveils debut book 'Battleborn' at Sundance Bookstore
Claire Vaye Watkins says she learned how to parallel park car in front of the Chicken Ranch brothel in Pahrump.
It doesn't get much more Nevada than that.
The Chicken Ranch, under a different name, is one of the sites featured in Continue reading
Friday the 13th follow: 'Jason' in her shower
Columnist's note: If you've been in the writing business long enough, you know that often the day a column runs in the paper, you'll get a phone call from someone that could have made the story better. I call these Continue reading
The last word on the UNR Bell Clapper Caper
Alas, it appears The Great Clapper Caper is to be relegated to Northern Nevada's unsolved mysteries files.
Like the whereabouts of the gold from the 1870 Verdi train robbery and the nature of that Swiss cheese/fish sculpture thing in front of Continue reading
Posted in Reno, Uncategorized


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Family owned and operated since 1936
Chattanooga Roto-Rooter is customer oriented, delivering quality same day service, with most calls answered within two hours.
If you have a problem, our Roto-Rooter plumbers can handle any of your plumbing or sewer and drain problems! Our staff of professional, licensed plumbers and drain technicians are available to service your every need. Service is provided 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and emergency service is provided at no extra charge for holidays, nights or weekends!
Business Philosophy
Our goal is to make lifelong customers – customers who call only us for sewer, drain and plumbing services and who recommend us to their friends. Repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals are the cornerstones for keeping our Company viable. We must satisfy our customers. We want our customers to take joy in our products and services. Satisfied customers come back!
The Company is guided by a basic principle: We will treat our customers like we want to be treated. This principle is supported by 10 commandments or practices of good business – listed below – which every employee is expected to embrace and demonstrate:
The Customer is the most important person in our business.
The Customer is not dependent on us – we are dependent on him or her.
The Customer is not an interruption of our work – he or she is the purpose of it.
The Customers does us a favor by calling us – he or she has a choice in selecting whom they want to do business with.
The Customer is part of our business – not an outsider. The Customer is not a voice on the phone – he or she is a flesh-and-blood human being with feelings and emotions like our own.
The customer is not someone to argue or match wits with. The customer is a person who brings us his or her wants – it is our job to fill those wants.
A Customer is deserving of the most courteous and attentive treatment we can give.
A Customer is the life-blood of ours and every other business.
Management Philosophy
Roto-Rooter Plumbers pledges to its employees that as long as the affairs of this Company are in our hands, the following principles will govern our actions with employees. Roto-Rooter Plumbers employees and their welfare are very important to the success of our Company. Our long-range objective is the continuous development of a growing and prospering business through which both the employees and the Company will benefit. Every employee is considered a member of our Company team. Our success as a Company is built on the recognition of the skills and efforts made by each employee. It is our policy to work with all members of our team in a fair and friendly manner and to treat each team member with dignity and respect.
Roto-Rooter Plumbers has a long heritage of continually striving to satisfy our customer expectations and to improve our service quality. Our vision is to be recognized as Chattanoga's preferred plumbing, sewer and drain service Company whose good name is held in high esteem by customers and employees because of our outstanding service to God and community! All employees have a shared responsibility in helping our Company attain this vision. Together, we are on a journey of continuous quality improvement in how we do all aspects of our business. By adopting continuous quality improvement as the way we will do business, Roto-Rooter Plumbers has signaled to its employees and customers that we intend to stay in business! We plan to grow our business and provide secure jobs for each of our employees. Year after year, however, our competition will continue to get stronger. Therefore, year after year Roto-Rooter Plumbers has got to get a little better – or one day we will not be number one.
The management of Roto-Rooter Plumbers will work continually for the benefit of our present and prospective customers as well as our employees to improve the competitive position of our Company. This will enable us to provide excellent jobs for our team members. General conditions such as safety, cleanliness, and employee accommodations will be evaluated periodically for possible improvement and will always compare favorably with good industry practice. We will be pleased to meet with any employee to discuss suggested improvements in working conditions.
We will devote our best effort to conducting a prosperous business within which will prevail an atmosphere of harmony with opportunity for all employees of Roto-Rooter Plumbers.


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If you were to ask Manchester United fans what was the most important kick in the club's history, most would give the same answer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's injury time toe-poke against Bayern Munich in 1999. The striker's touch won the club their first European Cup in 31 years, in the most dramatic circumstances imaginable.
However, Solskjaer's finish never happens if Teddy Sheringham doesn't turn in Ryan Giggs scuffed right foot shot minutes earlier. United would have already been eliminated if it weren't for Roy Keane's goal against Juventus. The Treble could have been shot down in flames if Patrick Vieira's misplaced pass, in the FA Cup semi-final replay, lands anywhere other than the feet of Giggs.
The winger would not have went on his famous mazy run if Peter Schmeichel fails to save Dennis Bergkamp's last-minute penalty. One of the most successful seasons in football history hinged on numerous moments, so much so it's difficult to pinpoint the most pivotal.
What's in no doubt though is none of it would have been possible without Eric Cantona.
The Frenchman had retired two years previously, but was Manchester United's most important player during the 1990s. The key that unlocked defences and titles, Cantona was the final piece in Alex Ferguson's first great team and the catalyst for the all-conquering team of '99.
When he signed from Leeds United in 1992, Ferguson said Cantona was: 'the perfect player, in the perfect club, at the perfect moment'. However, their utopia was almost destroyed on this night 20 years ago, a night that, in many ways, would be the making of the club's future successes.
To fully understand the context of the evening, one needs to get a sense of the type of team United were. The reigning Premiership and FA Cup holders were aggressive, arrogant and, at times, nasty.
United were not only capable of matching their opponents physically, they relished the prospect. The only comparable team is perhaps Don Revie's Leeds team of John Giles, Billy Bremner and Norman 'Bite yer legs' Hunter. United were also the best football team in the country, albeit, in January '95, one in patchy form.
While this doesn't explain Cantona's Kung-Fu kick on Matthew Simmons, the 20-year-old who rushed 11 rows to the front of the stand to abuse the Frenchman, it does go some way to explaining how Cantona ended up leaping into the stands.
On January 25th 1995, Crystal Palace hosted United at Selhurst Park. A tight, tetchy first-half had seen strugglers Palace frustrate and contain United.
Defender Richard Shaw had spent the entire first-half kicking Cantona, much to the annoyance of the Frenchman and his manager, whose protests were ignored by referee Alan Wilkie. Three minutes into the second-half Cantona snapped, petulantly kicking his opponent and received a red card, his second of the season and fifth since arriving in England.
'There's the morning headline,' Jon Champion said as Cantona turned down his collar and began walking towards the dressing room, past his impassive manager and alongside the baying crowd. The commentator had no idea what was about to happen would fuel months of morning headlines.
When the camera returned to Cantona, he frees himself from Norman Davies, the United kitman, hurdles the advertising hoarding, connects with a kick to Simmons' chest, stumbles and throws two punches before both men are restrained. It was all over in seconds, but the story was just beginning.
By the time Cantona played again, on September 30th, he'd received and successfully appealed against a prison sentence. He'd fled and handed in a transfer request, lost the captaincy of the French national team, as United surrendered the league title to Blackburn Rovers and the FA Cup to Everton. All the while media hysteria took hold. Cantona's act of hooliganism, against a hooligan, gave some license to turn him into an embodiment of all the game's ills.
1995 was a bad time for English football. Less than a month after Cantona's kick, England supporters rioted at Lansdowne Road. George Graham was sacked as Arsenal manager after it was discovered he'd accepted illegal payments in transfer deals. Yet, according to FA Chairman Graham Kelly, Cantona's incident was 'a stain on our game'.
Cantona's act was a moment of madness, but some of the recrimination was drenched in xenophobia.
In 2015, foreign players dominate the English top-flight. Twenty years ago, a skilful, foreign player was a rare, and widely distrusted, novelty. English football was gradually emerging from the exile of the late '80s, Sky Sports' money was only beginning its osmosis and the game still creeping towards the product it would become.
There had never been a player like Cantona in England. A troubled reputation preceded him upon arrival on English shores. He'd spoke out against the corruption of Marseilles owner Bernard Tapie, thrown his jersey at his coach, a ball at a referee and called his former national team boss 'a bag of shit'.
He was also a marvellous footballer, one of the most gifted of his generation and the key variable in the destination of each English league title during his time in the country.
Built like a heavyweight boxer, with the grace and balance of ballerina, Cantona's spatial awareness, technique and power made him a formidable prospect. The nomadic striker found a home at Manchester United, a manager who would indulge his individuality and offer the perfect stage to fully express his considerable talent.
With his collar up, back straight and chest out, Cantona would stride onto the Old Trafford pitch. He was the player United fans had waited two decades for, the one to restore the club to the summit of English football, after 20 years of mediocrity, and the one they still sing about two decades later.
Cantona was voted PFA Player of the Year in 1994, so appreciation of his talent extended beyond Old Trafford. But, when things went wrong, as they did so dramatically 20 years ago today, a wider underlying distrust returned to the surface. The echo of 'I told you so' was deafening.
Pundits and commentators were largely in agreement; there could be no place for Cantona in English football. Mark Lawrenson, writing in the Irish Times, said 'French arrogance' was to blame for Cantona's disposition. Former United player Bill Foulkes said: 'Eric is French, they are different to us and he reacts differently'.
Cantona's house was besieged by photographers as some media outlets commissioned psychologists to help shine a light on his seemingly troubled mind. One newspaper sent reporters to Marseilles, in an attempt to unearth details from his childhood to help explain his actions. A television crew even followed him and his family on holiday.
All the while commercial interests were exploited. Sky Sports subscriptions increased in the immediate aftermath, helped by The Sun's coverage of the event, with Rupert Murdoch's newspaper devoting 12 pages to the incident the following day. Meanwhile Nike planned Cantona's return, content that their product was on the front page of every newspaper.
United, trying to preempt the Football Association, banned Cantona for the remainder of the season and fined him two weeks wages. However, the FA then extended the ban by a further six months to the last day of September. The longest suspension imposed by the FA since two players were banned for life in the 1960s for match-fixing.
Cantona also received a two-week prison sentence, before successfully appealing and carrying out the required community service. By the time of his famous 'Seagulls' press conference in March '95, public opinion was beginning to turn.
In addition to the wit of the Frenchman, details about Simmons and his actions emerged. The 20 year-old sold his story to The Sun and claimed he'd confronted Cantona to say: 'That's an early bath for you Mr Cantona'.
Witnesses said it was more likely: 'Fuck off back to France, you French bastard'.
Simmons lost his job, some friends and family disowned him and he couldn't even go into a pub without being provoked. In 2007, he said he'd been 'a bit of a cretin' in his younger years.
United had planned to ease Cantona's exile with a series of practice matches. However, when the FA got word of it they reminded the club that their striker was banned from all footballing activity. Cantona was furious, leaving England for France and submitting a transfer request.
Inter Milan had long wanted to sign the Frenchman, were prepared to meet United's valuation of £5 million and could increase Cantona's wages fivefold.
Italy was still the apex of world football at the time. Cantona had the chance to escape the British press, start over again in a new country and such a move would have been in keeping with his nomadic career path. Yet, he stayed, saying: 'morally, it would be impossible for me to leave after what the people there have done for me'.
Ferguson's initial reaction to the kung fu kick was he would have to sell Cantona. However, he almost instantly changed his mind, offering support and protection to his talisman. In his first autobiography, Roy Keane said: 'I don't think any other football man would have demonstrated the skill, resolve and strength that Alex Ferguson did managing the Cantona affair'. Cantona would stay and United fully reaped the benefits.
The Frenchman was incredible the following season as United overturned Newcastle's 12-point lead and won the double. 'There was a sense of a man inhabited by a kind of ferocious but controlled anger,' the journalist Philippe Auclair said about Cantona's performance. 'A zealot bent on redressing an injustice and imposing a greater truth. Nothing would stand in his way'.
In the title run-in the score tended to be 1-0 to United, with Cantona getting the goal. The Frenchman's redemption was complete with the Football Writers' Player of the Year Award, and the winning goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup final. The rebirth of English football and the appeal of Premier League was built on such dramatic storylines.
Within a year he was gone and United were left without their talisman, however the influence of Cantona, and the legacy he helped create, carried the team through to their greatest triumph.
It's purely hypothetical, but if Cantona doesn't vault the advertising hoarding at Selhurst Park, such glory may not have happened.
Cantona's actions marked the end of Ferguson's first great team as United finished the season empty-handed, hastening the renewal of the team and the emergence of the young players, who would form the nucleus of the Treble winning side.
A petulance had crept into Cantona's game in the months leading up to his explosion at Selhurst Park. When he returned he was a more controlled, measured and focused presence. The striker's influence on the 'class of '92' was massive. At a time when going the pub after training was still a common practice for English teams, Cantona stayed behind and trained with Beckham, Giggs and Paul Scholes.
Cantona broke the mould and was the key factor in the destination of each league title during his time in England. By the time United had a worthy foe capable of challenging their domestic dominance, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, he'd helped establish a title-winning pedigree.
During his time United developed the winning aura that would carry the club through until end of Alex Ferguson's tenure, a winning habit, that fuelled the club in their Treble season.
If Cantona doesn't hurdle the advertising hoardings, and then return to guide the side to two more league titles, it's difficult to imagine United's future dominance taking the same form.


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1 panini roll
1 tablespoon of basil pesto
¼ avocado, sliced
30g Cathedral City Lighter, sliced
3 slices of tomato
4 basil leaves (optional)
Cut the panini roll in half lengthways and spread one half with the pesto. Lay the avocado, cheese and tomato onto the bottom half and place the basil leaves on top. To cook, either position place the top half of the roll on the panini and cook the roll in your panini press or place the open panini under a medium grill for 3-4 minutes until the cheese starts to melts. Toast the top separately and place on the panini. Cut in half and serve straight away with some salad.
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We are pleased to bring you the MM Squonker Refill System. Designed by us to make an easy job of refilling your squonker bottle.
By attaching the supplied tube the squonker lid will fit all unicorn size bottles but we have also provided 2 sizes of bottle for you to use.
We cannot sell the lid separately as the bottle cost pennies and the cost would be the same.
In The Pack:
1 x 30ml Long Unicorn Bottle + Tip & Lid
1 x 30ml Short Unicorn Bottle + Tip & Lid
1 x Length of 4mm OD x 2mm ID Silicone Tubing
1 x MM Squonker Refill System Stainless Steel Lid System
Video Information In Action
MM Squonker Refill System
- Brand: ModMaker
- Product Code: 554
- Availability: In Stock
- Ex Tax: £8.33


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We had a few extra fun weekends in Niagara Falls...here are two weekends in one post.
This weekend started with a trip to Niagara Safari!
Kali enjoyed the petting zoo area...
The park was a huge hit!
Lunch time!
Train ride
At the splash pad
Feeding monkeys
We were even joined that weekend by cousin X -here they are at the arcade!
And we found the BEST splash pad we have ever been to:
-Astro turf in the playground and sponge on teh splash pad! Finally the perfect combo
-Away from the parking lot beside a community center with pool
-Shaded (!) picnic area
-Little kids and big kids playground areas
-Swings for little kids, big kids, and disabled
-Well timed splash pad
-Lots of sitting areas
-Picnic benches and grass to picnic on
-Beside a skate park
Basically the dream splash we have been searching for!!! While it's in Niagara Falls we plan on visiting when ever we are there (Wish it was in Markham/Cornell!). For a four year old and a one year old this is perfect and much better then paying to go to one of the indoor splash areas.
Bathrooms by the swings and more picnic tables
Little kids play area
Big kids play area with the splash pad beyond it
And then back at the house we had more fun with the slip and slide and a bubble blower machine!
Cuddles for Daddy!
And Logan and I visited the new upside down house. Totally not worth it DO NOT GO! BOOOO! But Logan did actually like it but not worth the admission price.
At the Filipino restaurant with Lola
And then on our way home we stopped by a BBQ with the cousins!