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Skeletal muscle
|Skeletal striated muscle
A top-down view of skeletal muscle
|textus muscularis striatus skeletalis
|Anatomical terminology
Skeletal muscle is a form of striated muscle tissue which is under the voluntary control of the somatic nervous system. It is one of three major muscle types, the others being cardiac muscle and smooth muscle. Most skeletal muscles are attached to bones by bundles of collagen fibers known as tendons.
Skeletal muscle is made up of individual muscle cells or myocytes, known as muscle fibers. They are formed from the fusion of developmental myoblasts (a type of embryonic progenitor cell that gives rise to a muscle cell) in a process known as myogenesis. Muscle fibres are cylindrical, and multinucleated.
Muscle fibers are in turn composed of myofibrils. The myofibrils are composed of actin and myosin filaments, repeated in units called sarcomeres, the basic functional units of the muscle fiber. The sarcomere is responsible for the striated appearance of skeletal muscle, and forms the basic machinery necessary for muscle contraction. The term muscle refers to multiple bundles of muscle fibers called fascicles. All muscles also contain connective tissue arranged in layers of fasciae. Each muscle is enclosed in a layer of fascia; each fascicle is enclosed by a layer of fascia and each individual muscle fiber is also enclosed in a layer of fascia.
Skeletal muscles 1
- Structure of muscles 1.1
- Fiber typing 1.2
- Architecture and fiber organization 2
- Cellular physiology and contraction 3
- Physics 4
- Signal transduction pathways 5
- Research 6
- Pathologies 7
- See also 8
- References 9
Skeletal muscles
Structure of muscles
Individual muscle fibers are formed during development from the fusion of several undifferentiated immature cells known as myoblasts into long, cylindrical, multi-nucleated cells. Differentiation into this state is primarily completed before birth with the cells continuing to grow in size there after. Skeletal muscle exhibits a distinctive banding pattern when viewed under the microscope due to the arrangement of cytoskeletal elements in the cytoplasm of the muscle fibers. The principal cytoplasmic proteins are myosin and actin (also known as "thick" and "thin" filaments, respectively) which are arranged in a repeating unit called a sarcomere. The interaction of myosin and actin is responsible for muscle contraction.
Every single organelle and macromolecule of a muscle fiber is arranged to ensure form meets function. The cell membrane is called the sarcolemma with the cytoplasm known as the sarcoplasm. In the sarcoplasm are the myofibrils. The myofibrils are long protein bundles about 1 micrometer in diameter each containing myofilaments. Pressed against the inside of the sarcolemma are the unusual flattened myonuclei. Between the myofibrils are the mitochondria.
While the muscle fiber does not have a smooth endoplasmic reticulum, it contains a sarcoplasmic reticulum. The sarcoplasmic reticulum surrounds the myofibrils and holds a reserve of the calcium ions needed to cause a muscle contraction. Periodically, it has dilated end sacs known as terminal cisternae. These cross the muscle fiber from one side to the other. In between two terminal cisternae is a tubular infolding called a transverse tubule (T tubule). T tubules are the pathways for action potentials to signal the sarcoplasmic reticulum to release calcium, causing a muscle contraction. Together, two terminal cisternae and a transverse tubule form a triad.[1]
Another group of cells, the myosatellite cells are found between the basement membrane and the sarcolemma of muscle fibers.[2] These cells are normally quiescent but can be activated by exercise or pathology to provide additional myonuclei for muscle growth or repair.
Connective tissue is present in all muscles as fascia. Enclosing each muscle is a layer of connective tissue known as the epimysium; enclosing each fascicle is a layer called the perimysium, and enclosing each muscle fiber is a layer of connective tissue called the endomysium.
Fiber typing
There are numerous methods employed for fiber-typing, and confusion between the methods is common among non-experts. Two commonly confused methods are histochemical staining for myosin ATPase activity and immunohistochemical staining for Myosin heavy chain (MHC) type. Myosin ATPase activity is commonly—and correctly—referred to as simply "fiber type", and results from the direct assaying of ATPase activity under various conditions (e.g. pH).[3] Myosin heavy chain staining is most accurately referred to as "MHC fiber type", e.g. "MHC IIa fibers", and results from determination of different MHC isoforms.[3] These methods are closely related physiologically, as the MHC type is the primary determinant of ATPase activity. Note, however, that neither of these typing methods is directly metabolic in nature; they do not directly address oxidative or glycolytic capacity of the fiber. When "type I" or "type II" fibers are referred to generically, this most accurately refers to the sum of numerical fiber types (I vs. II) as assessed by myosin ATPase activity staining (e.g. "type II" fibers refers to type IIA + type IIAX + type IIXA... etc.).
Below is a table showing the relationship between these two methods, limited to fiber types found in humans. Note the sub-type capitalization used in fiber typing vs. MHC typing, and that some ATPase types actually contain multiple MHC types. Also, a subtype B or b is not expressed in humans by either method.[4] Early researchers believed humans to express a MHC IIb, which led to the ATPase classification of IIB. However, later research showed that the human MHC IIb was in fact IIx,[4] indicating that the IIB is better named IIX. IIb is expressed in other mammals, so is still accurately seen (along with IIB) in the literature. Non human fiber types include true IIb fibers, IIc, IId, etc.
|ATPase type
|MHC Heavy Chain(s)
|Type I
|MHC Iβ
|Type IC
|MHC Iβ > MHC IIa
|Type IIC
|MHC IIa > MHC Iβ
|Type IIA
|MHC IIa
|Type IIAX
|MHC IIa > MHC IIx
|Type IIXA
|MHC IIx > MHC IIa
|Type IIx
|MHC IIx
Further fiber typing methods are less formally delineated, and exist on more of a spectrum. They tend to be focused more on metabolic and functional capacities (i.e., oxidative vs. glycolytic, fast vs. slow contraction time). As noted above, fiber typing by ATPase or MHC does not directly measure or dictate these parameters. However, many of the various methods are mechanistically linked, while others are correlated in vivo.[7][8] For instance, ATPase fiber type is related to contraction speed, because high ATPase activity allows faster crossbridge cycling.[3] While ATPase activity is only one component of contraction speed, type I fibers are "slow", in part, because they have low speeds of ATPase activity in comparison to type II fibers. However, measuring contraction speed is not the same as ATPase fiber typing.
Because of these types of relationships, Type I and Type II fibers have relatively distinct metabolic, contractile, and motor-unit properties. The table below differentiates these types of properties. However, it should be noted that these types of properties—while they are partly dependent on the properties of individual fibers—tend to be relevant and measured at the level of the motor unit, rather than individual fiber.[3]
|Type I fibers
|Type IIA fibers
|Type IIX fibers
|Motor Unit Type
|Slow Oxidative (SO)
|Fast Oxidative/Glycolytic (FOG)
|Fast Glycolytic (FG)
|Twitch Speed
|Twitch Force
|Resistance to fatigue
|Glycogen Content
|Capillary Supply
|Red Color
|Mitochondrial density
|Capillary density
|Oxidative Enzyme Capacity
|Z-Line Width
|Alkaline ATPase Activity
|Acidic ATPase Activity
- Fiber color
Traditionally, fibers were categorized depending on their varying color, which is a reflection of myoglobin content. Type I fibers appear red due to the high levels of myoglobin. Red muscle fibers tend to have more mitochondria and greater local capillary density. These fibers are more suited for endurance and are slow to fatigue because they use oxidative metabolism to generate ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Less oxidative type II fibers are white due to relatively low myoglobin and a reliance on glycolytic enzymes.
- Twitch speed
Fibers can also be classified on their twitch capabilities, into fast and slow twitch. These traits largely, but not completely, overlap the classifications based on color, ATPase, or MHC.
Some authors define a fast twitch fiber as one in which the myosin can split ATP very quickly. These mainly include the ATPase type II and MHC type II fibers However, fast twitch fibers also demonstrate a higher capability for electrochemical transmission of action potentials and a rapid level of calcium release and uptake by the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The fast twitch fibers rely on a well-developed, short term, glycolytic system for energy transfer and can contract and develop tension at 2–3 times the rate of slow twitch fibers. Fast twitch muscles are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles, and so fatigue more quickly.[9]
The slow twitch fibers generate energy for ATP re-synthesis by means of a long term system of aerobic energy transfer. These mainly include the ATPase type I and MHC type I fibers. They tend to have a low activity level of ATPase, a slower speed of contraction with a less well developed glycolytic capacity. They contain high mitochondrial volumes, and the high levels of myoglobin that give them a red pigmentation. They have been demonstrated to have high concentration of mitochondrial enzymes, thus they are fatigue resistant. Slow twitch muscles fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers, but are able to contract for a longer time before fatiguing.[9]
- Type distribution
Individual muscles tend to be a mixture of various fiber types, but their proportions vary depending on the actions of that muscle and the species. For instance, in humans, the quadriceps muscles contain ~52% type I fibers, while the soleus is ~80% type I.[10] The orbicularis oculi muscle of the eye is only ~15% type I.[10] Motor units within the muscle, however, have minimal variation between the fibers of that unit. It is this fact that makes the size principal of motor unit recruitment viable.
The total number of skeletal muscle fibers has traditionally been thought not to change. It is believed there are no sex or age differences in fiber distribution, however, relative fiber types vary considerably from muscle to muscle and person to person. Sedentary men and women (as well as young children) have 45% type 2 and 55% type 1 fibers. People at the higher end of any sport tend to demonstrate patterns of fiber distribution e.g. endurance athletes show a higher level of type 1 fibers. Sprint athletes, on the other hand, require large numbers of type 2 b fibers. Middle distance event athletes show approximately equal distribution of the 2 types. This is also often the case for power athletes such as throwers and jumpers. It has been suggested that various types of exercise can induce changes in the fibers of a skeletal muscle.[11] It is thought that if you perform endurance type events for a sustained period of time, some of the type 2b fibers transform into type 2a fibers. However, there is no consensus on the subject. It may well be that the type 2b fibers show enhancements of the oxidative capacity after high intensity endurance training which brings them to a level at which they are able to perform oxidative metabolism as effectively as slow twitch fibers of untrained subjects. This would be brought about by an increase in mitochondrial size and number and the associated related changes not a change in fiber type.
Architecture and fiber organization
Muscle architecture refers to the arrangement of muscle fibers relative to the axis of force generation of the muscle. This axis is a hypothetical line from the muscle's origin to insertion. For some longitudinal muscles, such as the biceps brachii, this is a relatively simple concept. For others, such as the rectus femoris or deltoid muscle, it becomes more complicated. While the muscle fibers of a fascicle lie parallel to one another, the fascicles themselves can vary in their relationship to one another and to their tendons.[12] The different fiber arrangements produce broad categories of skeletal muscle architectures including longitudinal, pennate, unipennate, bipennate, and multipennate.[13] Because of these different architectures, the tension a muscle can create between its tendons varies by more than simply its size and fiber-type makeup.
- Longitudinal architecture
The fascicles of longitudinally arranged, parallel, or fusiform muscles run parallel to the axis of force generation, thus these muscles on a whole function similarly to a single, large muscle fiber.[12] Variations exist, and the different terms are often used more specifically. For instance, fusiform refers to a longitudinal architecture with a widened muscle belly (biceps), while parallel may refer to a more ribon-shaped longitudinal architecture (rectus abdominis). A less common example would be a circular muscle such as the orbicularis oris, in which the fibers are longitudinally arranged, but create a circle from origin to insertion.
- Unipennate architecture
The fibers in unipennate muscles are all oriented at the same (but non-zero) angle relative to the axis of force generation.[13] This angle reduces the effective force of any individual fiber, as it is effectively pulling off-axis. However, because of this angle, more fibers can be packed into the same muscle volume, increasing the Physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA). This effect is known as fiber packing, and—in terms of force generation—it more than overcomes the efficiency loss of the off-axis orientation. The trade-off comes in overall speed of muscle shortening and in total excursion. Overall muscle shortening speed is reduced compared to fiber shortening speed, as is the total distance of shortening.[13] All of these effects scale with pennation angle; greater angles lead to greater force due to increased fiber packing and PCSA, but with greater losses in shortening speed and excursion. The vastus lateralis is an example of unipennate architecture.
- Multipennate architectures
The fibers in multipennate muscles are arranged at multiple angles in relation to the axis of force generation, and are the most general and most common architecture.[13] Several fiber orientations fall into this category; bipennate, convergent, and multipennate. While the determination of PCSA becomes more difficult in these muscle architectures, the same tradeoffs as listed above apply.
Bipennate arrangements are essentially "V"s of fibers stacked on top of each other, such as in the rectus femoris.
Convergent arrangements are triangle or fan shaped, with wide origins and more narrow insertions.[12] The wide variation of pennation angles in this architecture can actually allow for multiple functions. For instance, the trapezius, a prototypical convergent muscle, can aid in both shoulder elevation and depression.
Multipennate arrangements are not limited to a particular arrangement, but—when used specifically—commonly refer to what is essentially a combination of bipennate or unipennate arrangements with convergent arrangements. An example of this architecture would be the human deltoid muscle.
Cellular physiology and contraction
In addition to the actin and myosin components that constitute the sarcomere, skeletal muscle fibers also contain two other important regulatory proteins, troponin and tropomyosin, that are necessary for muscle contraction to occur. These proteins are associated with actin and cooperate to prevent its interaction with myosin. Skeletal muscle cells are excitable and are subject to depolarization by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, released at the neuromuscular junction by motor neurons.[14]
Once a cell is sufficiently stimulated, the cell's sarcoplasmic reticulum releases ionic calcium (Ca2+), which then interacts with the regulatory protein troponin. Calcium-bound troponin undergoes a conformational change that leads to the movement of tropomyosin, subsequently exposing the myosin-binding sites on actin. This allows for myosin and actin ATP-dependent cross-bridge cycling and shortening of the muscle.
Muscle force is proportional to physiologic cross-sectional area (PCSA), and muscle velocity is proportional to muscle fiber length.[15] The torque around a joint, however, is determined by a number of biomechanical parameters, including the distance between muscle insertions and pivot points, muscle size and Architectural gear ratio. Muscles are normally arranged in opposition so that as one group of muscles contract, another group relaxes or lengthens. Antagonism in the transmission of nerve impulses to the muscles means that it is impossible to fully stimulate the contraction of two antagonistic muscles at any one time. During ballistic motions such as throwing, the antagonist muscles act to 'brake' the agonist muscles throughout the contraction, particularly at the end of the motion. In the example of throwing, the chest and front of the shoulder (anterior Deltoid) contract to pull the arm forward, while the muscles in the back and rear of the shoulder (posterior Deltoid) also contract and undergo eccentric contraction to slow the motion down to avoid injury. Part of the training process is learning to relax the antagonist muscles to increase the force input of the chest and anterior shoulder.
Contracting muscles produce vibration and sound.[16] Slow twitch fibers produce 10 to 30 contractions per second (10 to 30 Hz). Fast twitch fibers produce 30 to 70 contractions per second (30 to 70 Hz).[17] The vibration can be witnessed and felt by highly tensing one's muscles, as when making a firm fist. The sound can be heard by pressing a highly tensed muscle against the ear, again a firm fist is a good example. The sound is usually described as a rumbling sound. Some individuals can voluntarily produce this rumbling sound by contracting the tensor tympani muscle of the middle ear. The rumbling sound can also be heard when the neck or jaw muscles are highly tensed.
Signal transduction pathways
Skeletal muscle fiber-type phenotype in adult animals is regulated by several independent signaling pathways. These include pathways involved with the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, calcineurin, calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV, and the peroxisome proliferator γ coactivator 1 (PGC-1). The Ras/MAPK signaling pathway links the motor neurons and signaling systems, coupling excitation and transcription regulation to promote the nerve-dependent induction of the slow program in regenerating muscle. Calcineurin, a Ca2+/calmodulin-activated phosphatase implicated in nerve activity-dependent fiber-type specification in skeletal muscle, directly controls the phosphorylation state of the transcription factor NFAT, allowing for its translocation to the nucleus and leading to the activation of slow-type muscle proteins in cooperation with myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) proteins and other regulatory proteins. Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase activity is also upregulated by slow motor neuron activity, possibly because it amplifies the slow-type calcineurin-generated responses by promoting MEF2 transactivator functions and enhancing oxidative capacity through stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis.
Contraction-induced changes in intracellular calcium or reactive oxygen species provide signals to diverse pathways that include the MAPKs, calcineurin and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV to activate transcription factors that regulate gene expression and enzyme activity in skeletal muscle.
PGC1-α (PPARGC1A), a transcriptional coactivator of nuclear receptors important to the regulation of a number of mitochondrial genes involved in oxidative metabolism, directly interacts with MEF2 to synergistically activate selective ST muscle genes and also serves as a target for calcineurin signaling. A peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ)-mediated transcriptional pathway is involved in the regulation of the skeletal muscle fiber phenotype. Mice that harbor an activated form of PPARd display an "endurance" phenotype, with a coordinated increase in oxidative enzymes and mitochondrial biogenesis and an increased proportion of ST fibers. Thus—through functional genomics—calcineurin, calmodulin-dependent kinase, PGC-1α, and activated PPARδ form the basis of a signaling network that controls skeletal muscle fiber-type transformation and metabolic profiles that protect against insulin resistance and obesity.
The transition from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism during intense work requires that several systems are rapidly activated to ensure a constant supply of ATP for the working muscles. These include a switch from fat-based to carbohydrate-based fuels, a redistribution of blood flow from nonworking to exercising muscles, and the removal of several of the by-products of anaerobic metabolism, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Some of these responses are governed by transcriptional control of the FT glycolytic phenotype. For example, skeletal muscle reprogramming from an ST glycolytic phenotype to an FT glycolytic phenotype involves the Six1/Eya1 complex, composed of members of the Six protein family. Moreover, the hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α (HIF1A) has been identified as a master regulator for the expression of genes involved in essential hypoxic responses that maintain ATP levels in cells. Ablation of HIF-1α in skeletal muscle was associated with an increase in the activity of rate-limiting enzymes of the mitochondria, indicating that the citric acid cycle and increased fatty acid oxidation may be compensating for decreased flow through the glycolytic pathway in these animals. However, hypoxia-mediated HIF-1α responses are also linked to the regulation of mitochondrial dysfunction through the formation of excessive reactive oxygen species in mitochondria.
Other pathways also influence adult muscle character. For example, physical force inside a muscle fiber may release the transcription factor serum response factor (SRF) from the structural protein titin, leading to altered muscle growth.
Research on skeletal muscle properties uses many techniques. Electrical muscle stimulation is used to determine force and contraction speed at different stimulation frequencies, which are related to fiber-type composition and mix within an individual muscle group. In vitro muscle testing is used for more complete characterization of muscle properties.
The electrical activity associated with muscle contraction are measured via electromyography (EMG). EMG is a common technique used in many disciplines within the Exercise and Rehab Sciences. Skeletal muscle has two physiological responses: relaxation and contraction.[18] The mechanisms for which these responses occur generate electrical activity measured by EMG. Specifically, EMG can measure the action potential of a skeletal muscle, which occurs from the hyperpolarization of the motor axons from nerve impulses sent to the muscle (1). EMG is used in research for determining if the skeletal muscle of interest is being activated, the amount of force generated, and an indicator of muscle fatigue.[19] The two types of EMG are intra-muscular EMG and the most common, surface EMG. The EMG signals are much greater when a skeletal muscle is contracting verses relaxing. However, for smaller and deeper skeletal muscles the EMG signals are reduced and therefore are viewed as a less valued technique for measuring the activation.[20] In research using EMG, a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) is commonly performed on the skeletal muscle of interest, to have reference data for the rest of the EMG recordings during the main experimental testing for that same skeletal muscle.[21]
B. K. Pedersen and her colleagues have conducted research showing that skeletal muscle functions as an cytokines and other peptides, now referred to as myokines. Myokines in turn are believed to mediate the health benefits of exercise.[22]
Diseases of skeletal muscle are termed Myopathies, while diseases of nerves are called Neuropathies. Both can affect muscle function and/or cause muscle pain, and fall under the umbrella of Neuromuscular disease. Myopathies have been modeled with cell culture systems of muscle from healthy or diseased tissue biopsies. Another source of skeletal muscle and progenitors is provided by the directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells .[23]
See also
- ^ Saladin, Kenneth S. (2010). Anatomy and Physiology (3rd ed.). New York: Watnick. pp. 405–406.
- ^ Zammit, PS; Partridge, TA; Yablonka-Reuveni, Z (November 2006). "The skeletal muscle satellite cell: the stem cell that came in from the cold.". The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society 54 (11): 1177–91.
- ^ a b c d e f MacIntosh, Brian R.; Gardiner, Phillip F.; McComas, Alan J. (2006). Skeletal Muscle: Form and Function. Human Kinetics.
- ^ a b Smerdu, V; Karsch-Mizrachi, I; Campione, M; Leinwand, L; Schiaffino, S (Dec 1994). "Type IIx myosin heavy chain transcripts are expressed in type IIb fibers of human skeletal muscle.". The American journal of physiology 267 (6 Pt 1): C1723–8.
- ^ Pette, D; Staron, RS (Sep 15, 2000). "Myosin isoforms, muscle fiber types, and transitions". Microscopy Research and Technique 50 (6): 500–9.
- ^ Staron, Robert S.; Johnson, Peter (November 1993). "Myosin polymorphism and differential expression in adult human skeletal muscle". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Comparative Biochemistry 106 (3): 463–475.
- ^ Buchthal, F; Schmalbruch, H (Aug 1970). "Contraction times and fibre types in intact human muscle.". Acta physiologica Scandinavica 79 (4): 435–52.
- ^ Garnett, RA; O'Donovan, MJ; Stephens, JA; Taylor, A (Feb 1979). "Motor unit organization of human medial gastrocnemius.". The Journal of physiology 287 (1): 33–43.
- ^ a b [3] Sports Medicine About.com
- ^ a b Johnson, M. A.; Polgar, J; Weightman, D; Appleton, D (1973). "Data on the distribution of fibre types in thirty-six human muscles. An autopsy study". Journal of the neurological sciences 18 (1): 111–29.
- ^ Michael Yessis (2006). Build A Better Athlete. Ultimate Athlete Concepts.
- ^ a b c Martini, Frederic H.; Timmons, Michael J.; Tallitsch, Robert B. (2008). Human Anatomy (6 ed.). Benjamin Cummings. pp. 251–252.
- ^ a b c d Lieber, Richard L. (2002) Skeletal muscle structure, function, and plasticity. Wolters Kluwer Health.
- ^ Costanzo, Linda S. (2002). Physiology (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders. p. 23.
- ^ Quoted from National Skeletal Muscle Research Center; UCSD, Muscle Physiology Home Page – Skeletal Muscle Architecture, Effect of Muscle Architecture on Muscle Function
- ^ Barry, D. T. (1992). "Vibrations and sounds from evoked muscle twitches". Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol. 32 (1–2): 35–40.
- ^ [4], Peak Performance – Endurance training: understanding your slow twitch muscle fibres will boost performance
- ^ The electrical activity associated with muscle contraction are measured via electromyography (EMG)
- ^ Cè, E; Rampichini, S; Limonta, E; Esposito, F (Dec 10, 2013). "Fatigue effects on the electromechanical delay components during the relaxation phase after isometric contraction.". Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) 211 (1): 82–96.
- ^ Xu, Q; Quan, Y; Yang, L; He, J (Jan 2013). "An adaptive algorithm for the determination of the onset and offset of muscle contraction by EMG signal processing.". IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 21 (1): 65–73.
- ^ Milder, DA; Sutherland, EJ; Gandevia, SC; McNulty, PA (2014). "Sustained maximal voluntary contraction produces independent changes in human motor axons and the muscle they innervate". PLoS ONE 9 (3): e91754.
- ^ Pedersen, B. K. (2013). "Muscle as a Secretory Organ". Comprehensive Physiology. Comprehensive Physiology 3 (3). pp. 1337–62.
- ^ Chal J, Oginuma M, Al Tanoury Z, Gobert B, Sumara O, Hick A, Bousson F, Zidouni Y, Mursch C, Moncuquet P, Tassy O, Vincent S, Miyanari A, Bera A, Garnier JM, Guevara G, Hestin M, Kennedy L, Hayashi S, Drayton B, Cherrier T, Gayraud-Morel B, Gussoni E, Relaix F, Tajbakhsh S, Pourquié O (August 2015). "Differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to muscle fiber to model Duchenne muscular dystrophy".


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Novell's Desktop Advances
The Better Desktop InitiativeAt LinuxWorld Canada 2006, I sat down with Ross Chevalier, Chief Technology Officer of Novell Canada, Ltd, who wanted to talk about why 2006 is finally the year of Linux on the desktop. Or, more precisely, "The Year of Adoption for an Enterprise Linux Desktop." Our discussion mostly centered how it was the many desktop advances Novell managed for the release of SuSE 10.1 that will bring this year about. Some of these are related to the Better Desktop Initiative, a project Novell started in late 2005. Others are related to various technologies Novell decided to integrate into their latest release.
In October 2005, Novell announced the Better Desktop Initiative, whose goal is to obtain and share data regarding desktop "usability." Usability is, according to the Usability Professionals' Association "the degree to which something--software, hardware, or anything else--is easy to use and a good fit for the people who use it." Essentially, it is a measure of how easy the item is to use and how efficiently it allows people to get things done.
When Novell took a look for which market segment was most likely to adopt a commercial Linux desktop, the company decided that it was business users who are going to make the switch first. So, once the usability data was available, Novell used its newfound knowledge of how people work in Windows to redesign its interfaces, enabling business users to get straight back to work quickly and easily.
The GNOME project also made good use of the Better Desktop Initiative data. According to Dave Neary, Chairman of the GNOME Foundation Board of Directors, "usability studies have always been an important part of the GNOME project, whether they have been sponsored by Sun, Red Hat, or Novell, or have been independent efforts like OpenUsability." He points out that each project only has a certain level of resources, but that "GNOME developers care deeply about the user experience, and as a project we have always worked hard to make common tasks easy, without making advanced tasks impossible."
For those who wonder about the real usefulness of such studies, Neary shared an example of just how important it can be for developers to be able to see the effects of their efforts on the average user. "BetterDesktop is a project which had a big impact when it was presented at last year's GUADEC (GNOME User and Developer European Conference) conference in Stuttgart--watching test subjects as they struggled with things which we take for granted was an enlightening experience for many." As a result of these efforts, "The project has reinforced usability in the GNOME psyche, and provided tools for developers to do more and better usability testing themselves."
Federico Mena Quintero, the maintainer of several GNOME modules and GTK +'s core developer, says that the Better Desktop Initiative has "made developers very aware that the assumptions they make are sometimes completely disconnected from users." As an example, he offers the way the Send/Receive button in Novell Evolution, which is confusing to many people. "That was a part of the user interface describing what the code would do, instead of describing what the user is able to accomplish with it."
In particular, Quintero points out that "The killer 'feature' of BetterDesktop is that anyone can see the videos in the same format as the usability team will use for study. The only thing better than that is to actually be in the room when the usability test is being performed. Having the summaries is great for quick reference, but the videos provide deeper understanding."
Projects that have worked particularly close with the Better Desktop Initiative include Novell Evolution, F-Spot, and Banshee. That the Evolution project used this tool is expected, given that both Evolution and the Better Desktop Initiative are Novell projects. Harish Krishnaswamy, the maintainer of Novell Evolution, said that "From the Evolution point of view, Better Desktop has had a significant impact on how we think about the UI and driven much of the UI refactoring efforts during the 2.6 release."
There are five DVDs' worth of video showing people using Evolution during the usability exercises. Krishnaswamy says that these DVDs showing people "carrying out normal tasks gave the project several eye-openers (including the Send/Receive, Menu/Toolbar placements, attachment handling) often turning conventional 'developer thinking' on its head."
Having access to such data has apparently had a lasting impact on the Evolution team, one that Krishnaswamy hopes more GNOME projects will embrace. The Evolution team, according to Krishnaswamy, now subjects all interface changes to usability tests just before the final release, making adjustments to improve ease of use before it is released to the public.
Lest you think that KDE, in its absence here, doesn't focus on usability as well, keep in mind that the Better Desktop Initiative focuses its testing on GNOME. However, the KDE project also keeps usability in mind, working in conjunction with the aforementioned OpenUsability project, among others.
- Skip Ahead
- 1. The Better Desktop Initiative
- 2. The Better Desktop Initiative

subset: commoncrawl


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Wedgwood Golf Club New Website! - 8/26/2010Wedgewood Golf Club is pleased to announce the launch of our new website. We are utlizing the new Enterprise "Smart" Web Services platform from GolfTrakk™. We hope that you enjoy our new website, and find it easy to navigate and informative. Please feel free to email us with comments or suggestions at email@example.com. Enjoy!
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Message Board
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Poison Pen
When the body of powerful Hollywood publicist Lindsey Alexander is discovered in her hot tub, a handwritten suicide note at the scene, police assume the obvious. But not everyone believes Lindsey killed herself. Convinced that the handwriting is a forgery, her associate, Ivan Novak, retains acclaimed expert Claudia Rose. As Claudia knows from personal experience, Lindsey was sneaky, cruel, and ruthless. But even Claudia is unprepared for the discovery...


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ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO appears certain to continue playing in the A-League next season and Fairfax Media understands the Italian superstar could sign a new deal with Sydney FC as early as Wednesday.
After months of talks between Sydney FC and their marquee man, it is understood Del Piero has agreed to a new one-year contract worth up to $2 million per-season. His agent, brother Stefano, arrived in Sydney late last week to finalise the contract extension as well as negotiate the finer details of the deal, such as new marketing strategies. Sources close to the negotiations revealed the two parties have agreed to the terms of the contract and his signature is imminent. While Del Piero is not believed to have put pen to paper yet, a source said the deal could be finalised as soon as Wednesday.
Despite the lengthy process of the deal, the nature of the negotiations were said to be straightforward. Sources revealed the two parties agreed in principle to a new deal some time ago but did not rush signing on the dotted line as they wanted to streamline marketing strategies.
Fairfax Media understands the deal will be an extension of Del Piero's existing contract, including the same terms and wages. It is understood that there have not been any complications throughout the negotiation process and discussions were held to clarify specific details that required adjustments.
As the bulk of his personal media and marketing team remains in Italy, his representatives and Sydney FC made minor adjustments to the way Del Piero is promoted in his second season in Australia based on the experiences of his first season. The new deal will give both parties a better understanding of how to promote Del Piero down under, as well as allow Sydney FC more freedom with their marketing operations.
''It's not so much that the club wants to get the brand, the image and complicate all that, I believe it's just a little bit of tweaking about how to conduct ourselves with him in other marketing type activities, attending events or things like that,'' a source said. ''You can imagine that when he signed up, there was a lot to go through and when you travel a year down the track, or not even a year, the practicalities come into play and it's a matter of ensuring those things are understood and clarified.''
Sydney FC are pleased with the impact of Del Piero and are experiencing an average attendance of more than 18,500, their best since the first season of the A-League. His arrival has given Australian football an unprecedented global exposure with games televised live in Italy and merchandise sold overseas. The former Juventus captain became the club's record goalscorer for a single season when he struck his 11th goal of the campaign in Sydney's 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar. Del Piero has stated his affection for Australia and his desire to stay in the harbour city.


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Jemelle Abraham needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 44 designs submitted by 9 freelance designers.
Users will be 18-65
mostly mothers around 40 years old
Young adults
Design will consist of Homepage, Merchant page, Category page, and Logo.
The ideal page will be extremely clean and user friendly. We would like to have all the functionality of other coupon sites out there. For examples of other coupon sites just do a search in google for 'online coupons' or more specific examples email me. We would like to implement current functionality of those sites, so please study the pages closely.
If you recommend using any functionality (ajax, highlighting, etc.) please explain this in your design so we can get it coded.
•Easy to use and clean home page
•Easy to use and clean merchant page
•Easy to use and clean category page


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All items > Knives > Folding Knives > Flipper Knives
- Overall Length:9.00"
- Blade Length:4.00"
- Cutting Edge:3.625"
- Blade Width:1.25"
- Blade Thickness:0.18"
- Blade Material:CPM-20CV
- Blade Style:Drop Point
- Blade Grind:Flat
- Finish:Stonewash
- Edge Type:Plain
- Handle Length:5.00"
- Handle Width:1.25"
- Handle Thickness:0.49"
- Handle Material:Titanium
- Color:Blue
- Weight:5.02 oz.
- User:Right Hand
- Pocket Clip:Tip-Up
- Knife Type:Manual
- Opener:Flipper, Thumb Hole
- Lock Type:Frame Lock
- Brand:Ferrum Forge
- Model:Stinger XL
- Country of Origin:USA
- Best Use:Everyday Carry
- Product Type:Knife
This Stinger XL has a Suspended Animation handle design in a Cerulean Dark Matter finish with blue anodized titanium hardware and pocket clip. It comes outfitted with a stonewashed blade.
The Ferrum Forge Stinger XL is a large folding knife with a precise, ergonomic build and exceptionally smooth action. It sports an all-titanium frame lock handle with a hardened D2 tool steel lock insert, integral over-travel stop, and ceramic HRD. The knife is equipped with a CPM-20CV steel blade with jimping on the thumb rest and flipper, as well as an elongated thumb hole for simple one-handed operation. The Stinger XL will be the last run of 200 knives from Ferrum Forge Knife Works, so get yours while you still can!Features:
- CPM-20CV steel offers heightened edge retention and top-notch cutting performance.
- Caged thrust bearing pivot paired with an HRD ceramic detent provides quick and responsive blade deployment.
- Bent titanium pocket clip allows comfortable and secure tip-up EDC.


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Candy Crush Makers Double Revenue, Triple Users Year-Over-Year
King.com, makers of the world's leading productivity vampire, Candy Crush Saga, has released its most recent financial report. Since the same period last year, the mobile game giant has nearly tripled its monthly user total and more than doubled its revenues.
For 2014's first financial quarter, King is reporting $606.7 million in revenue. This represents only a one percent increase in revenue from 2013's final quarter, but a 193 percent increase over Q1 2013. It's also the third consecutive quarter in which King has netted over $600 million in gross bookings. The active daily user total was 143 million; nearly triple the 36 million reported last March. Perhaps more importantly, the total number of monthly unique payers went from 4.059 million to 11.859 million, an increase of 289 percent.
Profits totaled $127.2 million, up 241 percent from a $52.7 total in 2013's first quarter.
67% of the Q1 total comes from Candy Crush Saga. This is significant decrease from last quarter's 78%, and is attributed to a slight decrease in the game's numbers as well as higher totals from Farm Heroes Saga.
King's CEO, Richard Zacconi, touted the strength of the company's line-up, stating, "Our existing titles are performing well, and with the strong performance of Farm Heroes Saga following its January mobile launch, we had three games in the top 10 grossing games list on all major platforms for the first quarter."
King.com's numbers are steadily rising, and their presence in the mobile gaming market should remain very strong in future months. Personally, I don't think I know a single person who is still playing Candy Crush, but somebody must be. Around 143 million somebodies.


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Product Description
This Sukkhi Eye-Catchy Gold & Rhodium Plated CZ Ring is made of alloy. This Ring is studded with cubic zirconia (CZ) stone. The model of the Ring is made of CAD/CAM design which gives look of real diamond jewellery. The plating of the metal done by 18ct. Gold. This Ring has high end fashion design which has elegance and style. That will add radiance to the natural beauty of a woman.Feature:Brand: Sukkhi Vendor Name: Marshall ArtsStone: Cubic ZirconiaMaterial: AlloyGender: FemaleColor: White and GoldenAvailable Size:7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18Mail at firstname.lastname@example.com for your ring sizeShipping Dimensions & Weight:Length: 5.5"Breadth: 4.0" Height: 1.5"Weight: 102gProduct's Length & Weight:Weight: 2gNOTE: Avoid of contact with water and organic chemicals i.e. perfume sprays. Avoid using velvet boxes, and pack them in airtight boxes. After use , wipe the jewellery with soft cotton cloth.
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ESPN College Gameday might not be coming to Ole Miss this week, but Ole Miss will be going there, as alumna Melissa King (@Dent4DA) won this week's AT&T #BeTheFan challenge. As the winner, she will receive a VIP trip to this week's ESPN College Gameday in Fargo, N.D., on the campus on North Dakota State.
"I have never been to Fargo, so I get to see a part of the country that I have never seen," King said. "And of course, I get to see the hosts of College Gameday, which is fantastic. I will get to see a behind-the-scenes tour of how everything is set up and how everything works. It's going to be a wonderful experience. And I get to see a different kind of football and a different kind of tailgating from what we're used to in the Grove."
The contest asked participants to submit photos or videos via Instagram, Twitter or Vine showing their game day ritual or superstition. Her winning video is of her dog Jedi, a rescued Maltese Mix, raising his two front paws like the motion for a touchdown.
As part of the VIP trip, she will receive backstage access to meet with Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard, tickets to the game and the opportunity to represent Ole Miss during the broadcast while holding the Twitter Sign of the Week.
She will also be entered to win the Grand Prize trip to Pasadena, Calif., for the 2014 BCS National Championship game.
"I can't be more proud that I get to represent Ole Miss and our university," she said. "I won this competition because it was Ole Miss that the judges picked, and it's humbling that not only I won, but I also did it while I was also representing Ole Miss.
"And now I get to Fargo and meet people who work in college sports on a national level and get to promote the good that is Ole Miss and be a representative of Rebel Nation and show that we're back in the football game."
King, originally from Madison, Miss., is a 2007 Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College graduate with a degree in Business Administration. She is now a practicing attorney living outside Atlanta, with her own firm specializing in Family Law and Estate Planning.
She went to one Ole Miss game last year and has already made plans to go to the Ole Miss-Auburn game in a few weeks. While she doesn't get to go back to Oxford as much as she would like to, she hopes next season she will be a season ticket holder. She also hopes ESPN College Gameday will soon visit Ole Miss.
"It's a perfect time to go, and if I can get in a good word to get College Gameday to come to the Grove, I will absolutely do it," she said. "I think it's time. They need to be there. I was an Ole Miss ambassador and got plenty of students to come to Ole Miss, so I'm going to do my best to get those guys to see us."


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by Tyler Peck, sports information graduate assistant
SKILLMAN, N.J. - The Georgia College & State University men's tennis team (13-2, 6-0 PBC) sits in a two-way tie for the first place in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regional Ranking with Peach Belt Conference (PBC) rival Armstrong Atlantic State University.
Georgia College upset the Pirates Feb. 24, which ended Armstrong's 38-match win streak and gave the Pirates their first regular season PBC loss since 2005.
The Bobcats also found their name among the nation's best as they are ranked No. 6 in the country, dropping two spots since the latest poll.
A trio of seniors are ranked both nationally and in the region while one doubles team is ranked in region.
Erick Siqueira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was slotted at No. 8 in the country. Fellow teammate and doubles partner, Justin Pickham (Armidale, Australia) was notched at No. 15 and Francis Yoshimoto (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was ranked No. 24 in the nation.
Siqueira has a 10-4 mark in singles play on the year. Pickham posts an 11-3 mark on the 2009 campaign and Yoshimoto leads the team with a 12 wins with a 12-3 record.
In the Southeast Regional ranking, Siqueira ranks fourth. Pickham is ranked at No. 6 and Yoshimoto is at the No. 12 slot.
The duo of Pickham and Siqueira sits atop the doubles list at No.1 in the region. The duo is 13-1 on the year and have not lost a match since falling to Valdosta State University 9-0 who was No. 3 in the country at the time.
Georgia College is one of 15 Division II schools to have both their women's and men's programs ranked inside this week's top-25. The Bobcat women's tennis is ranked No. 22.
The Bobcats travels to face PBC opponent North Georgia Friday, April 10 at 2:30 p.m.
Visit www.GCSUBobcats.com to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame. The GCSU Department of Athletics sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, GCSU prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the Bobcats' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at Twitter.com username GCSUSID for up-to-the-minute reports.


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Fit for a Princess®
Captivating in design, inspired by the woman who captured hearts around the world ... and by the young couple whose engagement enchanted millions more. This is a collection truly Fit for a Princess™. Browse our show-stopping, radiant collection of ruby, emerald and sapphire jewelry to pamper the woman that stole your heart.


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Blackjack is absolutely one of the a lot of consistently played bank amateur and is appropriately accepted in the online anatomy of casinos. This fun abounding and accepted archetypal can be begin in every online casino. The origins of blackjack are unknown. The French and the Italians both affirmation to be the creators of this game. In blackjack anniversary amateur gets one agenda adverse down and again bets that the agenda dealt added the added cards accustomed face down will bigger the dealer's duke afterwards traveling accomplished the absolute of 21. Remember an ace counts for 1 or 11, the face cards as 10 and all the added cards calculation depending on their face value. A account of twenty one on the aboriginal 2 cards would be alleged 'blackjack'.
In online bank bank blackjack is a accepted game. Online blackjack is accepted because it allows for a lot of amateur ascendancy and lower abode edge.
A few bank tips for online blackjack: -
1) At all times accumulate affections beneath control. This will admonition you to play bigger and appropriately access your winnings.
2) Be accustomed with the agreement acclimated in the bold e.g. Hit- Take addition card. Stand-Keep the cards one has etc…
3) Having a acceptable action is basal to acceptable in blackjack. This is one of the few amateur area the player's accommodation affects the aftereffect of the game.
4) Remember that you are arena to win and acceptable is possible. If you are accident fix a amount of losses afterwards which you will move on. No one plays to lose. The aim in bank is to aerate the winnings.
5) Find out the rules and apperceive them well. Accident money is not the way to learn. Apprentice afore you adventure into playing. Practice and acuminate your abilities to be able to play well. Do not lose affection if you lose a few easily in the beginning.
6) Bets can alter from 1 dollar minimum to 500 dollars maximum. Don't anguish on this affair because the minimum and best bets are acutely adumbrated at the table you accept called to play.
7) Take a breach or stop arena if you feel tired. Fatigue affects absorption and you ability end up accident money if you are tired.
8) Play in an online bank that offers you the best rules. Smart blackjack players do just that.
9) Look for the afterward aggregate of rules that are favorable to the player;
a) Look for a individual accouter game.
b) Look out for aboriginal and backward abandonment options.
c) Look out for bifold down accustomed on any two cards.
d) Look out for agreeable pairs and again bifold down allowed.
e) Look for abysmal accouter penetration.
Blackjack experts accept devised a basal blackjack action to accord the players the best allowance adjoin the house. This action has been devised application computer simulation. It helps the amateur to play on about even agreement with the house. Multi amateur online versions are agitative and the jackpot money accessible to the amateur is generally absolutely a tidy sum.
Sarah Harrigan is a able bank amateur and reviewer. For beeline talking honest admonition on online bank casinos be abiding to appointment her website for absolute reviews on the best USA online casinos and acceptable bank strategies.


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Exclusive Single-Ear Monitor-Use Shoulder RestThe SE-DJ5000 is equipped with a push-in shoulder pad designed to simplify single-ear monitoring during deejaying. This exclusive feature makes it possible to hold the headphone unit in place by resting it on one shoulder, leaving both hands free for other work.
50 mm Large-Diameter Headphones that Deliver Pro-Level PerformanceThe SE-DJ5000 is ideal for high-volume monitoring with high-sensitivity and 3000 mW high-power input capabilities. Highly insulated, tightly closed structure captures delicate sounds and ensures dynamic reproducilbility
Housing Rotation/Reverse Rotation Mechanism and Foldable DesignThe SE-DJ5000's housing is capable of both rotation and reverse rotation to enable use as a one-ear monitor, or folded for convenience when carried or stored away.
Coiled Cord and Cord-Fixing Belt Clip Ensure Superb Freedom of Movement Active DJs will appreciate the flexibility of movement that the SE-DJ5000's coiled cord and belt-clip provide.
Robust Stress-Absorbing StructureDesigned to support professional DJs in action, the SE-DJ5000 incorporates a solid construction featuring a high durability 04 mm cord and moving bushes that absorb sudden stresses, etc, to minimize the possibility of damage during active use.
Stereo/Monaural SwitchBy switching to Mono during single-ear monitoring, the DJ can listen to a mixed L/R signal. This is an indispensable function for professional remixing.


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Integrase Inhibitor GSK744 Safe, Effective as Once-Daily Oral Pill
October 21, 2013
GSK744, an investigational integrase inhibitor, performed well when taken once daily orally, according to study results presented at EACS 2013 in Brussels, Belgium.
The 24-week data, presented by David Margolis, M.D., showed that GSK744 -- also known variously as S/GSK1265744 or simply "744" -- was safe and efficacious for treatment-naive patients, and works best when taken at 30 mg per day.
The partially blinded dose-finding study followed 243 individuals who were split into four groups:
For all groups, the two NRTIs (nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors) were either abacavir/lamivudine (Epzicom, Kivexa) or tenofovir/emtricitabine (Truvada).
The median age of the groups was about 34 years. More than 93% were male, about 60% were white and about 30% were African American. The median viral load was around 20,000 copies/mL and the median CD4+ cell count was about 415 cells/mm3.
In a snapshot analysis at week 24, GSK744 showed high rates of virologic success, defined as a viral load below 50. The three GSK744 dose groups showed an average success rate of about 87%, compared to a 74% virologic success rate for the efavirenz group.
The median increase in CD4+ cell count at week 24 was also good for all three GSK744 groups, at 185.5 cells/mm3, compared to 159 for the efavirenz group.
Protocol-defined virologic failure in this study was a viral load decrease of less than 10 copies/mL by week 4, or a viral load above 200 at week 16 (or after prior suppression below 200). Overall, there were three instances (2%) in the GSK744 groups and three (5%) in the efavirenz group. However, after phenotype and genotype testing, the researchers found no integrase, NNRTI (non- nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor) or NRTI mutations in any patients.
By week 24, eight patients (13%) withdrew from the 10-mg group, seven (12%) withdrew from the 30-mg group and six (10%) withdrew from the 60-mg group. Overall, 21 (12%) withdrew from the GSK744 groups compared to 16 (26%) who withdrew from the efavirenz group. The reasons varied, but in terms of withdrawal because of adverse events, zero withdrew from the 10-mg group, one (2%) from the 30-mg group, three (5%) from the 60-mg group and seven (11%) from the efavirenz group.
In terms of withdrawal because of lack of efficacy, four (7%) withdrew from the 10-mg group, one (2%) from the 30-mg group, two (3%) from the 60-mg group and four (6%) from the efavirenz group. However, Margolis pointed out that three volunteers in the 10-mg group, one in the 60-mg group and one in the efavirenz group withdrew with a viral load between 51 and 189 copies/mL, just missing the below-50 cutoff that was an endpoint of the study.
The most common adverse event was headache, found more in the GSK744 groups (21%) than the efavirenz group (11%); the headaches were mostly grade 1 or 2 and did not lead to any withdrawals.
Based on this 24-week data, the researchers concluded that GSK744 at 30 mg is best for treatment-naive patients if the drug is dosed once-daily. The study is ongoing, but it will also help inform a separate phase-2b study in which GSK744 is being investigated as a long-acting drug used once monthly or quarterly.
Warren Tong is the research editor for TheBody.com and TheBodyPRO.com.
Follow Warren on Twitter: @WarrenAtTheBody.
Copyright © 2013 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
This article was provided by TheBodyPRO. It is a part of the publication The 14th European AIDS Conference (EACS 2013).
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Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Rooney 'not on Bayern agenda'
Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer insists his club have no interest in signing Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.
Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed over the weekend that Rooney had made a transfer request, heightening speculation over the England international's future. Of potential foreign destinations, German champions Bayern have been the club most heavily linked with Rooney's services, but Sammer has moved to play down such talk.
"I don't know what Rooney would bring to the Bundesliga," Sammer is quoted by the Daily Telegraph as having said at the pre-Champions League final media day. "I can't answer that."
He added: "I can answer that we have great respect for Wayne Rooney, but there has been no contact with him.
"He's not on the agenda. No, no. Absolutely not."


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Are You Prepared for the Recession?
Taken 606 times14 Comments Share
This Quiz has 14 questions.0% complete
We all want the US Economy to begin flourishing – but many analysts are claiming that we're not through the worst of the recent economic downturn. Are you well prepared to tackle the hardships which await you? Take this quiz to find out - your financial future depends on it!


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|Skip Navigation Links
|Exit Print View
|Linker and Libraries Guide Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 Information Library
1. Introduction to the Oracle Solaris Link Editors
5. Application Binary Interfaces and Versioning
A. Link-Editor Quick Reference
Capability Specific Shared Objects
Instruction Set Specific Shared Objects
System Specific Shared Objects
Locating Associated Dependencies
Dependencies Between Unbundled Products
E. System V Release 4 (Version 1) Mapfiles
F. Linker and Libraries Updates and New Features
A dynamic object can establish dependencies explicitly or through filters. Each of these mechanisms can be augmented with a runpath, which directs the runtime linker to search for and load the required dependency. String names used to record filters, dependencies and runpath information can be augmented with the following reserved dynamic string tokens.
$OSNAME, $OSREL, $PLATFORM and $MACHINE
The following sections provide examples of how each of these tokens can be employed.


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Art. 450 begins with the short and to-the-point statement, "This article covers the installation of all transformers," and then lists eight exceptions. In essence, Art. 450 covers power transformers, transformer vaults, and most kinds of lighting transformers (Fig. 1). Once you've acquired a thorough understanding of the NEC's transformer requirements, you'll be that much closer to a safe installation.
Overcurrent protection. Overcurrent protection alone won't prevent transformer overheating. As (450.3 FPN 2) notes, nonlinear loads can increase heat in a transformer without operating its overcurrent device. Your first step in transformer protection is to select a transformer suitable to the load characteristics.
Your next step is to provide overcurrent protection, per 450.3. When the secondary current is 9A or more, the primary protection can't exceed 250% and the secondary protection can't exceed 125%. If you have primary protection only, it can't exceed 125%. When supplying overcurrent protection for transformers over 600V, use Table 450.3(A). For transformers not over 600V, use Table 450.3(B). Carefully read the notes below each table.
Now let's test your ability to apply Table 450.3(B) with the following question:
What's the maximum primary protection device rating permitted for a 45kVA, 3-phase, 480V transformer (Fig. 2) if it has primary protection?
Step 1. Calculate the primary current
I = VA division sign (E x 1.732)
I = 45,000VA division sign (480V x 1.732) = 54A
Step 2. Calculate the primary protection device rating [240.6(A)].
54A x 1.25 = 68A, next size up is 70A [Note 1, of Table 450.3(B)]
Ventilation. Don't allow transformer ventilating openings to be blocked by walls or other obstructions (450.9). Not all obstructions may be apparent or present at the time of installation. Anticipate what other equipment will go in that location by consulting the property owner and the construction drawings.
Manufacturers must mark each transformer with their name, the rated kVA, primary and secondary voltage, impedance (if 25kVA or larger), and clearances from ventilating openings (450.11). So look on the transformer for the required clearances. As these are manufacturer's instructions, you must comply with them [110.3(B)].
Transformer accessibility. Install transformers rated 600V or less so they're readily accessible to qualified personnel for inspection and maintenance (450.13). You have the following two options at your disposal:
- Open installations [450.13(A)]. You can locate dry-type transformers of any kVA in the open on walls, columns, or structures (Fig. 3).
- Suspended ceilings [450.13(B)]. You can install dry-type transformers (rated not more than 50kVA) above suspended ceilings or other hollow spaces of buildings not permanently closed in by the structure (Fig. 4).
Specific provisions. Part II of Art. 450 has requirements for specific types of transformers to prevent fire. For example, look at the requirements for dry-type transformers:
If dry-type transformers installed indoors aren't over 112.5kVA [450.21(A)], they need separated from combustible material by at least 12 inches unless separated by a fire-resistant, heat-insulated barrier. But this rule doesn't apply to transformers rated for 600V (nominal or less) that are completely enclosed except for ventilating openings [450.21(A) Exception].
If these units are more than 112.5kVA [450.21(B)], you must install them in a room of fire-resistant construction with a minimum fire rating of 1 hour. Two exceptions exist:
- Transformers with Class 155 or higher insulation systems separated by a fire-resistant heat-insulating barrier or by not less than 6 feet horizontally and 12 feet vertically.
- Transformers with Class 155 or higher insulation systems completely enclosed except for ventilating openings.
If these are more than 35kV [450.21(C)], you must install them in a vault that complies with Part III of Art. 450.
Dry-type transformers placed outdoors must be installed in a weatherproof enclosure (450.22). If the transformer exceeds 112.5kVA, you can't locate it within 1 foot of combustible materials of buildings unless the transformer has Class 155 insulation or higher and is completely enclosed except for ventilation openings.
Part II also addresses the following types of transformers:
- Less-flammable liquid-insulated (indoor and outdoor)
- Nonflammable fluid-insulated
- Askarel-insulated (indoor)
- Oil-insulated (indoor and outdoor)
Transformer vaults. Wherever practicable, locate vaults so they can be ventilated to the outside air without using flues or ducts (450.41). The floors, walls, ceilings, and roofs of vaults must have adequate structural strength, with a minimum fire resistance of 3 hours. A combination of studs and wallboard construction isn't an acceptable method of meeting this requirement (450.42). Further, each vault doorway must have a tight-fitting door that has a minimum fire resistance rating of 3 hours [450.43(A)].
Exception: If you protect the transformers with automatic sprinklers, water spray, carbon dioxide, or halon, you can use a 1-hour fire resistance rating (for the vault and the door) instead of a 3-hour one to save considerable money. As the 450.42 FPN notes, a typical 3-hour fire resistance rating is a construction that consists of 6 inch-thick reinforced concrete.
A curb that includes a doorsill must surround the vault (interior or exterior). The curb must be tall enough to confine the oil from the largest transformer. In no case can the curb height be less than 4 inches [450.43(B)].
Doors must swing out. You must equip these with panic bars or pressure plates so a person inside the vault can open the door with simple pressure. These doors must also be equipped with locks so the vaults are accessible only to qualified persons [450.34(C)].
Vault ventilation openings. You must provide openings for ventilation, per (A) through (F), where required by 450.9.
(A) Location. Place ventilation openings as far as possible from doors, windows, and combustible material.
(B) Arrangement. A vault ventilated by natural circulation can have no more than 50% of the total opening area near the floor, with the remainder of the opening area in the roof or sidewalls near the roof.
(C) Size. For a vault ventilated by natural circulation, the total opening area shall not be less than 3 square inches per kVA capacity, but in no case can the area be less than 1 square foot for any capacity less than 50kVA.
(D) Covering. Cover ventilation openings to avoid unsafe conditions.
(E) Dampers. Provide all indoor ventilation openings with automatic closing fire dampers that close in response to a vault fire. These must be rated not less than 1.5 hours.
(F) Ducts. Ventilating ducts shall be made of fire-resistant material.
More vault requirements. Art. 450 ends with three more requirements:
- Vaults containing more than 100kVA transformer capacity must have the floor pitched to drain oil or water, unless conditions make this impracticable (450.46).
- Only piping or other facilities provided for vault fire protection or cooling shall be permitted in the transformer vault (450.47).
- Store nothing in a transformer vault (450.48).
This last requirement is one of the most commonly violated rules of Art. 450. If you have facility responsibilities, you must maintain constant vigilance to enforce this rule. Don't allow people to store fluorescent lamps, janitorial supplies, or food in transformer vaults. While this is common sense to you, it may not make sense to everyone and few people outside this industry understand the consequences of an arc fault.


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Oilers end 2009 with a stinker
Well, the Oilers have ended this year with a real stinker. It was only a 2-1 loss, but in case you were out partying and missed this one, the Oilers didn't show up until about the 58 minute mark. It wasn't as close as the score would have you believe. As they are so famous for doing, they left their goaltender out to dry and attempted to make up for it with a rally in the dying minutes. Not going to work, folks.
Really, Tambellini needs to do something with this team. We're going to need a stronger group of veteran and complementary players. If there aren't any moves within the next little while here (even a couple of small deals to shake things up), I'm going to have to assume that Tambellini's on board with tanking for Taylor as well.
Anyways, look for our Edmonton Oilers quarter 2 review. We should have it up sometime on Monday. I'm going to have to take a guess and say that the 3 of us probably won't many kind words to say.
Lastly, to close things out… Lubomir Visnovsky left the game with a foot injury. No word on the extent of the injury. I didn't see what caused it, so I'm not sure what happened.
UPDATE: Happened in the middle of the 1st period… Visnovsky said that he crashed into the boards after being hit and twisted his ankle. He still managed to play a full shift on it, but he says it's quite painful now. He will go to the doctor tomorrow to get it checked out and "needs a couple of days off" (at minimum). I replayed the game on the PVR, and it happens with 7:05 remaining in the first period. Visnovsky is following beside Prust as he goes behind the goal line. Vis is super low to the ice to block the pass. Prust cuts in front of Visnovsky, and Vis loses his balance and falls and goes feet first into the boards. The miraculous part is Visnovsky still plays nearly a full 2 minutes on that shift after getting hurt, and was already out there for a minute before getting hurt. To top it off, he even prevent a Calgary goal on the play too. What a warrior.


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The Indian IT industry is a pretty big industry by most standards. It is an industry that will employ close to 4 million people, contribute about 7% GDP for the country in 2008, give or take a few (Nasscom).
But there are many who simply cannot stomach the fact that this is, in fact, an industry. They are those who missed the bus either in the job market, stock market or even in setting up a similar business. The choices they made in hoping for something better did not work out and the IT industry happened and India suddenly found itself on the growth path, much to their chagrin. By creating of millions of jobs (and for every job it creates, there is also a multiplication factor) resulting in the improvement of standards for millions of Indians, it has made them envious. So, if you are asked to write about the Indian IT industry now, heres how you go about it.
Start off with the facts and figures, (Nasscom is a great site for facts on the industry). Then add almost immediately that a billion dollar industry be built by pure luck or pure circumstance or both. Of course, it is as easy as Ctrl+Alt+Del. So, wear your blinkers.
The cost advantage is the first thing to attack. With the rising value of the rupee and the increase in wages in India the cost advantage has to come down. This much is true. But even taking it at face value, a 1:3 gap is still a big gap - effectively you can hire 3 programmers for the price of 1.
Then, make a general assumption that Indian IT services does only data entry. Will low value added jobs and easily automatable tasks go out of the door. Of course, they will sweet people. And guess who is doing it? Those idiot Indians themselves - many companies have automated themselves out of data entry jobs. Ask around and those dumb call center guys will tell you. They will tell you how they did not like data entry work and how they innovated and created an application that did the work for them. Guess who made money on it? Guess whose productivity improved? Guess which customer was happy? And guess who is managing those applications? Guess who got some more work.
Indians in IT dont think. Indians in IT cannot think. Indians in IT are stupid. Repeat till you are convinced. That was easy, wasnt it? But how did they automate their work? Did they think about it, did they? But isn't India the back office, those million minions, who just do? How did they think? Well, like anybody and everybody else, they have a head and they often use it, some times more than a hat stand. Now, most of these thinking does not result in VC deals - because they were executed for their customers. Some of them will and some of them are.
Now, you have to get a bit angry that the standard of living has gone up and you are unable to get cheap servants and drivers and houses anymore regardless of the fact that you too benefited out of this equation in some way. The employees have everything, a job, a family, a house, a cook, a maid. Well, did you ask the cook and maid where they were working before this? Maybe you should. Also check how their kids are doing in school - since they surely would be going to school? Check with these employees about the condition of their fathers offices and working conditions. To say that the present generation is not thinking or complacent is somewhat less valid than a statement that all journalists who write about Indian IT are stupid.
There is a talent shortage, there is a talent shortage, there is a talent shortage in India only. Philipines and China, apart from Morocco and Hungary are the best destinations because there is no talent shortage there. How? Any figures on attrition in China?
Finally, paint a simple forecast that the industry will die in 2015. So, like I said, the industry is dying because of the dollar value reducing, the Indians refusing to think, rising wages and because everybody has a good standard of living. It will help if you also take a piece of data and use a minuscule piece of data to come up with this grand analysis.
Once in a while it will help if you include that the industry is dominated by upper caste Hindus, there is caste discrimination. A comparison to sweatshops (like the ones in more progressive countries) or children working in IT companies might be helpful if you want to sound particularly odious. And there are more facts you can include - let me know if you need more info.
Anyway, here are some facts: Did you know that in many companies salary is adjusted to company performance? Not sure in how many industries in the world, will you see such a radical compensation structure. Count on the fingers of one hand please.
Also, future contracts exist and are available, so currency risks are hedged - somewhat, but this is a big risk. Did you know that some of these companies have margins of some 30%? They can bring it down to 5% if they wish - and they still havent, not as of 2008. Why? Because customers are willing to pay. How can you assume that currencies will move only in one direction?
Did you know that many of these (stupid, dullard, non thinking) companies are present in "nearshores" and "smartshores"? Already? To take advantage of lower cost or proximity to customers? Did you also know that some of them sit with an excess of 2bn USD in cash which they can use to buy out companies - as they have already done (yes, they have) - consulting firms, BPO operations, chip design firms - the whole hog.
Even if you do, act as if you dont care. You are out on a hatchet job remember.
Friday, March 07, 2008
How to write about Indian IT
The Indian IT industry is a pretty big industry by most standards. It is an industry that will employ close to 4 million people, contribute about 7% GDP for the country in 2008, give or take a few (Nasscom).
12 comments:
- 5vd33p74 said...
Absolutely agree :), very succinctly put. IT has also helped the pseudo-statistics that are weekly generated by many of our mainstream media. Adultery, social disbalance, crime, skewed-relationship surveys are easily made to sound convincing by just including junk data about the IT demographic.
Another thing that is perturbing is the assumed implicit equivalence of BPOs and software companies.
- 10:13 PM, March 08, 2008
You left out the part where they are supposed to ask: How come India hasn't produced a Google or a Microsoft. Pompous, Muslim-hating Jackasses like Atanu Dey have been after the IT Industry's life for ages, as have unemployed ivory tower morons like Dilip D'Souza. What more can you expect of tabloid Rediff, when these so-called 'intelligent' bloggers decide to put something down just because so many Indians are proud of it. It is pure 'Tall Poppy Syndrome'....
- 1:28 AM, March 09, 2008
- Shreyash said...
I have been reading simimlar articles for more than a couple of years now. Initially they used to say that India cannot produce something like an Accenture or an EDS. Now most Indian biggies can buy EDS and 3 are comparable to Accenture.
Not producing a Google or Microsoft is another argument. But frankly - for the benefit of the country - we need more TCS's and Wipro's and Infy's as they mean more employment.
We have grown from nothing to 50-60 BUSD in 15 years and even if we stabilise around 150, that would be a great success. That does not mean the death. It just means stabilization because of market forces!!!
- 11:00 PM, March 11, 2008
- Data Entry India said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- 11:24 AM, March 12, 2008
- Guha Rajan said...
Good post....No doubt, Indian IT industry acheived great heights, but Indian IT industry cannot rest on its laurels. Its a testing time now for IT services company.
I had written about this in my blog as well
- 9:10 PM, March 27, 2009
- Cignus Web Services said...
That's is true. Indian IT is at a position where we have to use our experience and skills to reach new heights.
It's not time to rest but to push harder to stabilize and gain more respect and faith in Indian IT.
Comments please.
Cignus Web Services
- a Data Mining Company
- 8:36 PM, May 26, 2009
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- 2:37 PM, November 09, 2009
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- 8:44 AM, December 09, 2009
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- 3:51 PM, January 01, 2010


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Fie on Photoshop: Krita, the Real Photoshop Killer
Photoshop Assassins
Two weeks ago we learned why Gimp, even though it is a superior cross-platform image-editing application, is not a "Photoshop Killer." I'm not fond of lurid headlines, but if I were to nominate a "Photoshop Killer" I pick Krita.
Krita isn't really going to kill anything or anyone. What it will do is meet most of the needs of users who want a modern, sophisticated native paint and image-editing application for Linux. It was designed from the ground up for graphics professionals. Unlike Gimp, which is constrained by its elderly 8-bit RGB graphics engine, Krita supports 8- and 16-bit CMYK, 8-, 16-, and 32-bit RGB, 8- and 16-bit YCbCr, 32-bit LMS cone space, 16-bit L*a*b*, 8- and 16-bit grayscale, and it even has a realistic Watercolors simulation. There is a lot of difference in subtlety and accuracy between the various bit ranges. At 8 bits you get 256 values per channel for color images, and at 16 you get 65,536. 32-bit RGB is really 24-bits per channel. The leftover 8 bits are either ignored, or used as a transparent Alpha channel; then it is called RGBA.
If you're shooting photos in RAW mode, modern DSLRs deliver 12- or 14- capture bit depth. To make a long story short, in real life you'll find that 16 bits gives you plenty of elbow room and excellent image quality.
Krita supports the PNG, TIFF, JPEG, Dicom, XCF, PSD, GIF, BMP, XPM, Targa, RGB, and OpenEXR file formats. It can import ICO files. PSD (the Photoshop file format) is only supported up to version 6, because starting with version 7 it became a closed format.
- Skip Ahead
- 1. Photoshop Assassins
- 2. Photoshop Assassins
- 3. Photoshop Assassins


text:
Arch Coal Inc, one of the world's top five coal producers, reported a surprise profit as cost cuts paid off, and the company said thermal coal shipments were improving.
Net profit rose to $45.8 million, or 22 cents per share, in the third quarter, from $8.9 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, profit was 20 cents per share.
Continue Reading Below
Revenue fell 9 percent to $1.09 billion.
Analysts on average had expected a loss of 16 cents per share on revenue of $1.01 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Arch Coal shares rose nearly 7 percent in trading before the bell on Friday.


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Drone On's reviews of Steel and Steam, Return and Astral Disaster CDs by ['ramp]
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Drone On's reviews of Steel and Steam, Return and Astral Disaster CDs by ['ramp]
January 24, 2013, 11:46:18 AM »
Stephen Parsick returned in 2011 after his debut as the lone musician of the ['ramp] project in 2009, with the "Debris" album. "Debris" showed his prowess in combining classic analog sequencer music with more experimental, even industrial timbres, making for a fascinating, if coldly clinical at times, recording. The follow-up, "Steel and Steam," released in July 2011, again on his own Doombient label, was the first in a "trilogy" of sorts where the music took on a decidedly more cosmic tone, full of thick, warm analog instrumentation, sometimes delicate sometimes bombastic sequencing, and ghostly drones, while still maintaining shades of the experimental and industrial. "Steel and Steam" contains the heaviest sequencing of the trilogy. Leadoff track "Zeppelin" (sorry, no Jimmy Page here, haha) catapults the listener into analog heaven with throbbing, battle-cry sequencers while majestic lead lines and angelic choirs give the whole thing an ethereal air. What a track! And believe me, it gets even better. The hypnotically aggressive two-part "Node" is an in-your-face menacing sequencer suite that sounds like a pissed off locomotive going right for your jugular. "Solenoid," a definite favorite for me, layers some exquisitely gentle melodic Vangelis-like flourishes over echoing rhythmics, followed by "[led]", using more excellent sequencing and haunting lead lines like a lost track to the "Blade Runner" film. Phenomenal. For the album's second half, Stephen is joined by one of the true giants of EM, Mark Shreeve from Redshift. Their first piece together "Puppets" is a heady brew of ominous, eerie atmospherics for its first 10 minutes, like an unseen monster rising out of the depths, then morphs into a slow-burning sequencer meditation. The title track, in four parts, finds Stephen and Mark jamming in very Redshift fashion, with moods ranging from lonely piano notes, to heavenly choirs, spacy effects, to very loud distorted sequencer lines. Just a phenomenal album from start to finish!
"Return," also released in 2011, is divided into two parts. Part One, "Astral Disaster," effectively imparts a feeling of dread and impending doom (helped by titles like "122112" and "Unholy Messiahs"). Whatever is coming, it sounds like something you DON'T want to mess with. This feeling is achieved with haunted spectral choirs, brooding drones, eerie effects, and sometimes subtle, sometimes pounding funereal bass drum soundscapes. By the fourth track, "Infernal Machines," the sequencers are in full swing, and for some reason I'm reminded of the remake of "War of the Worlds," with the alien machines roaming the Earth and killing everything in their path. Talk about doombient!!! I joke here, but seriously, this is some of the darkest music you will ever hear (if you dare). "A New Dawn" and "122212" offer some repose from the storm with dark strings and mellotrons, although they aren't exactly sweetness and light, reminding you you just got your ass kicked. The second half, "Return," replaces the feeling of dread with awe and mystery--there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. The soundscapes here are more cosmic and ethereal, not claustrophobic as on the first half. On "Beacon," for example, a spiralling solo floats above infinitely sustained chords to beautiful effect. "Radiocarbon Part Two" brings back the bombastic sequencing, but this time imparting a sense of strength rather than destruction. The album closes with "Lighthouse," a sublimely melancholic space hymn, one of my favorite styles in all of EM, a style which previously has been perfected by Redshift most notably, and Stephen really nails it here. Overall, "Return" plays like a concept album, going from dread to hope in a series of vignettes. I don't know if this is what Stephen intended, but whatever the case, this is a real magnum opus of dramatic EM.
This "trilogy" concludes with the jaw-dropping, pure cosmic live album "Astral Disaster," recorded July 2012 at Bochum Planetarium, and broken into two sets. First set "Flatten Them!" is like the best Redshift album you've never heard. And I mean this as the highest compliment! This YOUNG man (only 40 years old) has really achieved a level of greatness other masters of the genre (Roach, Shreeve, Boddy) have who are well into their 50's. Just listen to "Halo Inductor" and try not to weep at the pure electronic perfection on offer here. This is how it is DONE. This is timeless, moving music that seems to have been captured rather than merely composed. When Archie Patterson writes in the liner notes, "You will hear the sound of tomorrow, today," I believe him. Set two, "Doomsday is Family Time" (ha! my favorite title of 2012, and possibly, ever), channels the spirits of Edgar Froese, Peter Baumann, and Chris Franke circa 1974 on "The Nameless is the Origin" and "Oscillator Planet" with their dark-cloud-like abstract soundscapes. The title track "Astral Disaster" then arrives dramatically with bludgeoning slabs of bass heavy sequencers. The album winds down with "Jericho," sequencers still firing like cannons, but here comes (again) an absolutely gorgeous hommage to another master, Vangelis, with a delicately haunting piano motif being layered in, which ultimately takes over and fades out into the ether.
On a final note, I should point out the classy way these albums were released and made available. Each one is a limited edition of 300 pressed CD's, with high quality booklets/artwork, each hand-numbered and signed by Stephen Parsick. My copies included personal notes along with the signature; nice! The albums are not available as downloads, and have been available direct from Stephen primarily (
is the email address). They are still available! (though "Steel and Steam" may be very nearly gone at this point). The prices are extremely reasonable, at just under $20 which includes worldwide shipping. As a fan and collector, these were three of the most satisfying purchases I have made. And I cannot recommend all three of these discs highly enough!!
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Re: Drone On's reviews of Steel and Steam, Return and Astral Disaster CDs by ['ramp]
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