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Alla Elana Cohen is a distinguished composer, pianist, music theorist and teacher who came to the United States in 1989 from Soviet Russia. Receiving her education in Moscow and graduating from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the highest honors of distinction, Ms. Cohen lives in Boston, and is a member of the faculty of Berklee College of Music and of New England Conservatory of Music.
As a composer, Alla Cohen works in all genres of orchestral, chamber and operatic music, and has an extensive catalogue of original compositions. Alla Cohen's compositions, often with the composer at the piano, are regularly performed and recorded with much success and acclaim. In February 2010, a concert of the composer's music was presented and sponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to New England at the Goethe-Institut Boston. In this concert, Ms. Cohen's works were performed by stellar Israeli musicians, including the internationally acclaimed Ariel String Quartet, world-renowned clarinetist Moran Katz, and outstanding Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Mickey Katz. In its editor's pick of this concert, the Boston Globe wrote, "and when the program features compositions of pianist and composer Alla Cohen, you go." In 2009, Ms. Cohen presented a landmark concert at the Boston Center for the Arts Calderwood Pavilion, which was of great note in the local press, including the Boston Globe ("Composer Alla Cohen is a pianist and music teacher whose works are reaching a broader audience"), the Boston Herald ("Pianist/composer Alla Cohen scales new heights"), the Boston Phoenix editor's pick ("Alla Elana Cohen may be the best classical musician you've never heard of"), WGBH TV ("She's absolutely fascinating," and [we've] "received many highly positive responses to this segment on Alla Cohen–a lot of good feedback, in which people praised both the music and Alla's sincerity"), and in a featured video on boston.com. Alla Cohen continues to present concerts of her music in different venues around Boston, including the Goethe-Institut Boston, the Old South Church, etc. In 2012, Alla Cohen had a joint concert with world-renowned composer/pianist Ran Blake. Alla's music continues to receive the most positive reviews and previews in the press. Her music is performed by internationally-acclaimed, young musicians–winners of international performers' competitions, such as Sebastian Baverstam, Bianca Garcia, etc.
Alla Cohen's CD Dedications was released in September 2008. Her next, The Route of Compassion, was recorded live at her Calderwood Pavilion concert and was released in the summer of 2009. The CD The Road That Chooses Us was released simultaneously with The Day of Atonement in 2010. With these two CDs, the composer presented many of her compositions for large ensembles, among other chamber works. A CD of the composer's chamber music was recorded in Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory, and was released at a concert in June 2010. The Jupiter Duo CD features Alla Cohen performing her works with her long-time performer and international prize winner, cellist Sebastian Baverstam. The CD Praise Him with Harp and Lyre, Praise Him with Stings and Flutes was released in May 2012, and includes works for chamber orchestra, chamber ensembles and solo piano pieces.
Alla Elana Cohen received the International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition awared by the National Academy of Music in conjunction with the Municipal Conservatories of Neapolis and Sykies, Greece, in 2010; and
the title of Honorary Fellow of National Academy of Music conferred by the same in 2011. Alla Cohen has been recognized as a composer by ASCAP, being annually a recipient of ASCAPLUS Awards, and has received commissions from the Music Teachers National Association, and several outstanding solo musicians. Alla Cohen has been awarded as a teacher by ASCAP with a special award for "inspiring, educating and mentoring young musicians to become composers of tomorrow," as well as being the recipient of numerous certificates of recognition and awards as a teacher of MTNA Young Composers' Competition national level winners. She was also awarded with the Ted Pease Excellence in Teaching Award by Berklee College of Music in 2007. Many composition students of Professor Cohen have been prize winners of numerous prestigious state, national and international composers' competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Composers' Competition, Belgium; ASCAP Morton Gould Award; Composers' Competition in Haifa, Israel; Lepo Sumera Competition, Estonia; Robert Helps Prize; Beethoven Club Competition; International Young Artists Competition, Connecticut; Pikes Peak National Young Composers' Competition; and the National Level of the MTNA Competition. Alla Cohen is the author of an ear-training book, Perfect Pitch for You, published in 2007 by Len Rhodes Music Publishing, and the author of two books dedicated to various aspects of harmony: The Art of Modulation and In the Vertical Realm.
B.M., with highest honors, Music College at Moscow State Conservatory, M.M., with highest honors, Moscow State Conservatory. Also faculty of Berklee College of Music.


text:
I'd like to sample the elements of a symmetric square matrix uniformly. For example, for a $N\times N$ matrix, I'd like to only keep $\alpha$% of the matrix elements to build a sparse matrix, while keeping the symmetry property.
A simple method would be to scan the upper right part of the matrix, generating a random number uniformly between 0 and 1 and compare to $\alpha/2$ to accept or reject the element, and symmetrize the matrix at the end.
However, in my case, sampling a row is costly while sampling a column is not : I'd like to minimize the number of rows that I will visit. For example, in the strategy above, every row is visited while the last row will only have a single element checked: this is thus not optimal since I'll need to access the last row (which is very costly) to decide for a single element. I'd rather discard as many rows as possible if the symmetry property ensures that they will be covered anyway.
Hence, a solution could be to randomly choose $\sqrt{\alpha} N$ rows and sample each element of this row with a probability $\sqrt\alpha$, and symmetrize afterwards. However, I am not sure this would produce a uniform random sampling, similar to the one I would obtain with the first strategy.
What would be the best strategy while maintaining the uniform sampling property ?
Please, don't hesitate to tell me whether the question is not clear enough, or should be rather asked on StackOverflow. Thanks!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Forms Jobs
Posted: Friday, January 5, 2007Department: Police
Winston-Salem Police Chief Patricia D. Norris will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 8, to introduce the Police Department's new photographic line-up software and line-up protocol.
The news conference will be help in the Public Meeting Room on the fifth floor of the Bryce A. Stuart Municipal Building, 100 E. First St. The software will be demonstrated.
The software and the protocol are based on the recommendations of the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission and guidelines provided by the National Institute of Justice and the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission.
The Winston-Salem Police Department's Criminal Investigation and Identification divisions have been trained in the new procedures and are now using them in active criminal investigations. Other units in the department will begin using the new procedures as they are trained.


text: The Philadelphia Eagles had a third-and-goal from the 1/3-yard line against San Francisco in the first half of their game today. Ronnie Brown tried to rush up the middle to extend the Eagles's seven-point lead. Ronnie Brown got stopped cold. So Ronnie Brown tried to throw a pass to no one in particular. The 49ers recovered. The replay upheld the fumble call. Good times.


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HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA – Chad Hennings, a three-time Superbowl Champion as a Dallas Cowboy, will serve as the lacrosse team's honorary captain on March 11 as Hampden-Sydney will play Colorado College at noon local time (1 pm eastern time) on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
He attended the Air Force Academy from 1983-1987 and was amongst the best lineman and players in the country. As a senior in 1987, he led the nation in sacks with 24, was a unanimous All-American selection, and was awarded the Outland Trophy, given to the country's best interior lineman. The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) named him to the WAC All-Decade Team for the 1980s. A two-time Hall of Famer, he was elected to the GTE Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 1999 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Upon graduating from the Air Force Academy, he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round (290th pick), but he delayed his NFL career to fulfill his commitment to the Air Force. He was a member of the Euro-NATO program and was soon given the controls of the A-10 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Warthog." He spent four years with the Air Force and flew 45 missions during the first Gulf War.
He joined the Cowboys for the 1992 season and became a starter midway through the 1995 season. In his nine seasons with the Cowboys (1992-2000), he played in 119 games, starting 72, and recorded 27.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries with one returned for a touchdown, and 216 total tackles. He won the Super Bowl in 1992 (XXVII), 1993 (XXVIII), and 1995 (XXX).
Upon retirement, he has gone into investing, management consulting, and motivational speaking. He is the President of Hennings Management Corporation and works with Stream Realty's Tenant representations business. He has written two books: "It Takes Commitment", an autobiography, and "Rules of Engagement: Finding Faith and Purpose in a Disconnected World."


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Revolutionary surgery has given a paralysed man the ability to move his arms and hands again, it has been widely reported. The surgery, which made global news, has shown that rewiring nerves may allow surgeons to restore basic arm and hand control after serious spinal cord injuries.
A 71-year-old patient had been left paralysed from the neck down after the base of his neck was injured in a traffic accident. In a world first, surgeons were able to successfully bypass the injury site by grafting arm nerves from below the injury to nerves originating above the site of his injury. The surgery was given 23 months after his accident, and after several more months of therapy and training the man can handle objects, feed himself and even do basic writing.
This success story is clearly of massive significance to the man involved but also provides a blueprint for other surgeons around the country for how this technique may be applied in similar situations.
However, despite this fantastic success, it is important to bear in mind that this was an individual case, and it is not clear whether this technique will be equally successful in other patients with different types of spinal injuries or circumstances. The severity and location of the spinal cord injury are likely to be important factors in the success of this type of operation.
Where did the story come from?
The research was detailed in a report written by researchers from the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Department of Neurological Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri in the US. The case report was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neurosurgery. The report did not specify any sources of funding for the research.
This story received widespread media coverage and many papers reported on the restoration of function in a previously paralysed man. The coverage of the story was generally well balanced and reflected the case report accurately.
What kind of research was this?
This case report described a surgical technique designed to restore nerve function to the arms and hands of a 71-year-old man who had been injured in a road traffic incident and left paralysed. The patient had experienced severing of the spinal cord at the top of his spine, causing him to be paralysed below the site of his injury. This meant the paralysis affected his arms and hands, as the nerves that control the arms are situated below the site of his spinal cord damage.
In this cutting-edge research surgeons created a 'nerve bypass' by grafting a working nerve originating in the spine above the injury site to the nerves in the lower arm originating below the injury site to restore some level of control lost following the injury.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is devastating for the individuals affected and their families. Recovery from a complete SCI is rare, leaving most patients with significant permanent disability affecting the area below the site of the SCI. Despite advances in understanding the processes that occur in short- and long-term SCI, corresponding advances in surgical techniques or applications to repair them have so far lagged behind.
Case reports are often published that share interesting developments or new techniques in a particular medical field, in this case surgery. Case reports provide a detailed description of the background of a single person and the treatment they received, along with how effective the particular treatment course has been. They do not necessarily reflect what will be seen in all patients treated with the same techniques in the future, but still provide a good insight into new or experimental techniques.
What did the research involve?
The right-handed 71-year-old man presented to a surgical department 22 months after he was injured in a motor vehicle accident. He had sustained a spinal injury to the lower part of his neck, called the C7 vertebra. This caused extensive paralysis below the injury site. The strength and mobility of his limbs were extensively assessed to see if surgery might be able to help. Before surgery, he could flex his right wrist only weakly and could not pinch or grip with either hand. He could also not move his fingers on either hand.
A month after his initial assessment, the patient had surgery on both arms in a bid to restore some of the function of his hands. This was based on the concept that a working nerve originating in the spine above the injury site could be grafted onto the nerves in the lower arm to restore some of the control lost after the injury. The 'nerve transfer' surgical technique involved taking a working nerve in the upper arm that originates from the C6 vertebral level (above the site of the injury), and joining it to the nerve system in the arm that originates from the C7 vertebra (the site of the injury).
This 'nerve rewiring' allowed working nerves above the spinal injury site to artificially connect with nerves below the injury site, which were previously unable to receive a signal due to the injury. Nerve transfer for spinal injuries is not new, but its application has so far been relatively limited.
After the surgery, the patient received continued hand physiotherapy to aid recovery and rehabilitation of the wasted hand muscles due to the injury.
What were the basic results?
During the operation, the surgeons stimulated the newly rewired nerves to check they were working and found that the nerve responses were essentially normal for the rewired nerves feeding the hand.
Eight months after the operation, the patient was able to move his left thumb and perform a pinching motion with his fingers and thumb in his left hand. The same increase in movement was achieved in the right hand after 10 months.
The authors report that he can now use his right hand to perform simple 'hand to mouth movements', and with his left hand he can feed himself and perform rudimentary writing activities. Recovery in the right hand has been slower than in the left.
Videos made available by the study group show that the man is now able to handle a ball with both hands, touch his fingers against his thumb in a pinching motion and feed himself. These were all activities he could not do before the surgery.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers said that, to their knowledge, this is the first reported case of restored nerve control of the thumb and finger flexing movement after a spinal cord injury.
They also said the patient's 'function has improved significantly with his ability to feed himself'.
This case report represents the positive experience of a paralysed 71-year-old man who has been granted some manual control after a serious spinal injury to his neck. Before surgery, he could only make minimal arm movements controlled by the nerves above his injury site, but no lifting or fine hand movements as they are controlled by nerves joined lower down the spine, below the site of his injury.
While the nerve transfer technique given to this patient is not new, its application is not widespread and the authors say this is the first time it has been used to successfully rewire the nerves supplying a hand. Furthermore, these gains occurred after surgery that was carried out 23 months after the injury was sustained. This suggests that surgery does not have to be performed immediately, and that it may be possible to carry out the technique in people who have been paralysed for some time.
In addition to the hugely significant benefits to the man involved, this success story has also created a blueprint for other surgeons around the country for how this technique may be applied in similar cases.
However, it is important to bear in mind the limitations of the surgery and the evidence of its effectiveness. This case report represents the experience of just one individual. Therefore, it is not clear whether this technique will be equally successful in other patients with different types of injuries or circumstances. The severity and location of the spinal cord injury are likely to be important in determining the relative success of this type of operation. Also, the level of strength and control achieved in this case did not appear to represent a complete restoration of arm function, although it was clearly still a massive improvement.
Analysis by Bazian
Edited by NHS Website
Links to the headlines
Prostate drug abiraterone 'set for NHS use'
BBC News, 16 May 2012
For once England benefits from NHS divide as Nice set to approve prostate cancer drug turned down by Scotland
Daily Express, 16 May 2012
Prostate cancer: health watchdog reverses NHS guidance on drug
The Guardian, 16 May 2012
The Daily Telegraph, 16 May 2012
Nice 'to reverse ban on prostate cancer drug'
The Daily Telegraph, 16 May 2012
NHS ban on pill to treat prostate cancer is lifted
Daily Express, 16 May 2012
Links to the science
Mackinnon SE, Yee A, Ray WZ.
Nerve transfers for the restoration of hand function after spinal cord injury
Journal of Neurosurgery, Published online May 15 2012.


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A 21-year-old man facing charges after a methamphetamine lab was found in his suburban Chicago home was pictured in his mug shot wearing a shirt from the TV show "Breaking Bad."
Police acting on a tip performed a check at Daniel Kowalski's coach home at about 6:45 p.m. Monday in the 1000 block of 61st Street in unincorporated La Grange Highlands, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff's office.
Officers found glass beakers, burners, chemicals, and instructional materials for making controlled substances, though the lab was not active, the statement said. Twelve jars of psychedelic mushrooms were also recovered.
Kowalski's mug shot shows him wearing a "Los Pollos" T-shirt from the show.
This is the second time in less than a year a meth lab was found in his home, police said.
Kowalski was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine manufacturing materials, and possession of methamphetamine precursors, all felonies; and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, the statement said.
Two other men who were in the home during Monday's search were released without charges, the statement said.
Kowalski was also arrested in July 2013 after police found a suspected meth lab in his home and he remains on electronic monitoring, the statement said.


text:
Submission of State ReportsOctober 12, 2016
Ordinary sessions
The Commission holds two ordinary sessions each year. The duration of the session varies in each case from 10 to 15 days depending on needs and finance. The date for an ordinary session is fixed by the Commission upon a proposal by the Chairperson of the Commission in consultation with the Chairperson of the AU Commission. The Secretary of the African Commission must communicate to the members the date and venue of the ordinary session at least 60 days ahead of the session.
Extraordinary sessions
The Commission may hold extraordinary sessions. Extraordinary sessions are convened by the Chairperson of the Commission upon a request by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission or majority of the members of the Commission. Notice of an extraordinary session must be sent to members as soon as possible before the session.
The agenda of an ordinary session is usually first drawn by the Commission's Secretary in consultation with the Bureau of the Commission. Apart from the items proposed at the previous session, the Chairperson, members of the Commission, state parties, AU organs, NHRIs, NGOs and any specialized institution of the UN may suggest additional items for inclusion in the agenda. However, the Bureau of the Commission has the final say on which items finally make it to the provisional agenda. In the case of extraordinary sessions, the provisional agenda includes only the items contained in the notification of the extraordinary session issued by the Chairperson. The provisional agenda must be circulated to members of the Commission not later than 60 days before the session, and in the case of other stakeholders, 45 days. Certain items of the provisional agenda and documents relating to those items may however be distributed 30 days prior to the session.
Activity reports
The Commission submits to every Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly a report of its activities during sessions and inter-sessions. The Executive Council considers the report on behalf of the Assembly. The Report is presented by the Chairperson of the Commission or his/ her representative. The Commission may publish information about its protective activities (communications and protective missions) only after the report has been adopted by the Executive Council and Assembly. The Executive Council has witheld its authorisation for the publication of the Commission's two last Activity Reports. The basis for this decision is not clear. Prior to the adoption of the Activity Report by the AU Assembly, the Commission usually issues a communiqué immediately after the session.
In accordance with Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, States Parties to the Charter are required to submit every two years, a report on the legislative or other measures taken, with a view to giving effect to the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed by the Charter.
The following Initial/Periodic State reports have been submitted to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights as per Article 62, and are hereby made public in accordance with Rule 74 of the Rules of Procedure of the African Commission:
Cote d'Ivoire: Periodic Report 2012-2015


text:
Use your About Page to spark new relationships with your site visitors.
Once a potential customer gets to know, like, and trust you she will be more likely to buy your products and services, and refer you to friends. Your About Page is a great place to create that connection.
3 Essential Elements of Your About Page
Your About page should:
#1 - Help visitors know you by sharing details about your business. Tell the story of why started your business, and walk readers through exactly what to expect when they work with you.#2 - Help visitors like you by sharing about your life even if it doesn't directly relate to your business. Include light details about your family, the causes you support, your passion projects, and your family background.#3 - Help visitors trust you by listing the relevant awards, certifications, testimonials, and press coverage you've received.
Even though the About Page tells your story, make the customer the hero of the tale.
Your business is not the pot of gold a customer wants. Instead, your product or service is a bridge to what your customer desires.
For example, when you recount why you started your business, focus on the passion you have for giving customers high value at a fair price. And when you share personal details about yourself, spotlight the elements of your biography that your target customer will relate to. Aligning your About Page with the needs and desires of your customers is a subtle change that makes a powerful impact on site visitors.
Not everyone who comes to your site will visit your About page. However, we've seen statistically that most visitors who eventually buy from first made a stop at your About page to learn more about the people behind the company.
Crafting an effective About page is critical to having a website that grows your business. Follows the guidelines we've laid out for you, and your page will create a bond with site visitors who are looking to buy what you sell.
Site visitors will scan your About page before will they read a single word. That's why it's important to style the page with the same care you use for your homepage, portfolio, and product pages.
No matter your business, you should give people a chance to connect with you as the owner. Let them know that a real person runs the site by featuring a professional, but warm photo of yourself.
Long blocks of unstyled text won't get read, especially when your site appears on tablets and mobile devices. You can make your About page more readable by using paragraphs breaks, subject headings, and bolding important words.
Your About page is the beginning of your conversation with visitors. Sprinkle links in your text to give readers context if they're interested in learning more about you and your business.
For example, if you mention the reviews you received on a third-party site, link directly to the page. Or if you mention a popular product you sell, link directly to the "Buy" page. Relevant links can make your About page more engaging and useful for potential customers.


text:
Nagaraja Rivers brauchte ein neues Button oder Icon Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 25 Designs von 11 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Nagaraja Rivers
I'm an independent app developer working on my second iPhone app. This app will be a talking phrasebook aimed at tourists coming to Thailand.
The target audience is American and European iPhone owners, both men and women, in a broad age range 20~60, who might visit Thailand as a tourist.
I need an eye-catching app icon that will get peoples' attention when they see it in the iTunes app store. The product is a Thai language talking phrasebook app aimed at tourists. I need 2 square icons, 512x512 pixels or larger. They should be identical except one of them will have a lighter background color (for the "Lite" version of the app).
The image should be a cute cartoon picture of a young Thai lady wearing traditional Thai costume and greeting with a smile and "wai" gesture (hands together in front of chest). I will attach some pictures as examples of Thai costume and the greeting gesture. I would like a lavender color (CC66FF) to be used prominently in the icon. The image should show the lady from about the waist up, and the details should clear enough so that the icon looks good when it gets reduced to 57x57 pixels.
The icon should look "fun"!


text:
Loading some great jobs for you...
Home Health Aides & CNAs
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Contact Heart, Body & Mind Home Care in Bonita Springs today to learn more about our services including 24-Hour Home Care, Overnight Care, Veterans Home Care, Assisted Living, Independent Living, Long Term Care, Long-Term Care Insurance and Florida Medicaid.
Lic. 299994472* The salary listed in the header is an estimate based on salary data for similar jobs in the same area. Salary or compensation data found in the job description is accurate.
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text:
This section is for Predator Photo's only and the story behind the Kill. What calls did you use, when you hunted and what kind of weather.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy
Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy
ISBN: 978-0-745-66153-7 April 2013 Polity 220 Pages
Download Product Flyer
The Progressive Confucianism defended here takes key ideas of the twentieth-century Confucian philosopher Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) as its point of departure for exploring issues like political authority and legitimacy, the rule of law, human rights, civility, and social justice. The result is anti-authoritarian without abandoning the ideas of virtue and harmony; it preserves the key values Confucians find in ritual and hierarchy without giving in to oppression or domination. A central goal of the book is to present Progressive Confucianism in such a way as to make its insights manifest to non-Confucians, be they philosophers or simply citizens interested in the potential contributions of Chinese thinking to our emerging, shared world.
Table of contents
Preface page vii
1 Introduction: Contextualizing Progressive Confucianism 1
2 Self-Restriction: The Indirect Link Between Ethics and Politics 24
3 Rethinking Authority and Rejecting Authoritarianism: Giving the People their Voice 36
4 Debating the Rule of Law and Virtue Politics: Zhang Shizhao, Mou Zongsan, and Today 58
5 The Rights of All Under Heaven: Human Rights and Contemporary Confucianism 74
6 Neither Ethics nor Law: Ritual Propriety as Confucian Civility 91
7 Virtue, Politics, and Social Criticism: Toward Deference without Oppression 111
8 Conclusion: The Shape of Confucian Virtue-Ritual-Politics 136
Notes 147
Bibliography 180
Index and Glossary of Chinese Terms 194
"There are so many issues raised in this brilliant book that it is difficult to render justice to them all."
Journal of Chinese Studies
"Confucianism is making a comeback. Cultural conservatives will rejoice. But so should political progressives. With his usual insight, balance, and historically informed normative theorizing, Stephen Angle shows that new interpretations of traditional Confucian values such as hierarchy, deference, and ritual can and should challenge oppressive social practices. This original book is both counter-intuitive and persuasive."
Daniel A. Bell, Jiaotong University, Shanghai and Tsinghua University, Beijing
"Stephen Angle is one of the most well-informed and actively engaged political philosophers seeking to bring the Confucian tradition into productive dialogue as a full and equal partner with the contemporary West in a mutually edifying endeavor he calls global philosophy. His command of the works of Chinese thinkers such as Mou Zongsan is most impressive and clearly displayed in this latest work."
Philip J. Ivanhoe, City University of Hong Kong
"Stephen Angle provides an accessible reconstruction of the political philosophy of Mou Zongsan, an important contemporary Confucian philosopher highly influential in the philosophical circles of Taiwan and Hong Kong. This book opens the door to contemporary developments of Confucianism in China and Taiwan."
JeeLoo Liu, California State University, Fullerton


text:
Build your private cookbook by gathering recipes on the web and using the import features.
Use our search engines to find a new recipe on one of the various cooking websites we support.
Or find recipes from your friends cookbooks.
Add your own recipes manually. Use our bookmarklet to import a recipe from the web. Or import your digital cookbook using one of the file formats we support like Meal Master (.mmf), MasterCook (.mxp), LivingCookBook (.fdx) , Rezkonv (.rk)...
Your recipes are stored in the cloud and will be available on your computer, your tablet or your mobile. You can also synchronize your account with our android application.


text:
Posted by Editoress on 06/13/12
What Really Happened at the KW classic: the Whereabouts of Jamie Riggs.
by David Byer
On Sunday, June 10th, 2012, team Octto-Cervélo arrived at the Kitchener-Waterloo classic. The temperature was already 28 degrees Celsius with 97% humidity and light winds. The dew point was on the rise and we knew it was going to be a hot and humid day. With 28 laps of a 4.6km course ahead of us, at least we knew there would be plenty of opportunity to take on fluids and stay safely hydrated. Or so we thought….
As of late, my form has been questionable to a degree. Not to make excuses, but I have been distracted by hours of volunteer work with various lifesaving organizations and battling a debilitating mystery muscular disease and substantially lowered ferritin levels. For the past few weeks I have been living at altitude in a mud hut training endlessly and eating berries, twigs and sun-dried kale chips as preparation for the rest of my season. Although I was not ready yet to return, the recent public demonstrations calling for my now famous race reports moved me to attend this race. I didn't realize that we had such a large following in Quebec.
Injury and illness had also stricken some of my teammates so we were only three; myself, Yuri 'the missle' Hyraczzaxjjajjx [Ed. Yuri Hrycaj], and the Pete 'Ace of Spades' Morse. The field was small so we knew it would be the veritable 'death march' with nowhere to hide. We also knew that the best place to be was 'up the road'. When the gun (they actually used a whistle) went off, the temperature had hit 29.98 degrees C.
After riding at parade pace for much of the first lap, we got down to trying to feel out who had the legs of the day. The lone Wheels of Bloor rider Bruce Bird was putting his strategy into play already; chase everything. As such, it took more than 4 laps for the break to go. We are still trying to figure out how, but a gap was left and a small group formed. Unknown rider Darren Matthews had been aggressive early on and found his way into the trio along with Chris 'what's-for-lunch' Freeland and Jet Fuel's Man-ton Varabei [Ed. Anton Varabei]. The mistake was made.
The break
Once the gap was established, the posturing started in the peloton. After all, it was early in a long hot race. Maybe if we just ride excruciatingly slow, the Man-ton known for drilling holes into the side of cliffs on his bike would just give up. That unknown Darren Matthews looked like a killer but I am sure he would fold. Or maybe the guy, Chris Freeland, who had been riding his bike since he was three years old, would not know what to do in a break. Funny fact; Chris once summered as a fill in animator for the Simpsons. Seriously.
The gap quickly hit one and then two minutes. Knowing that we missed the break, we had to make a few attacks to try and inspire the group to ride. I was truly hoping that a chase group would form so that I wouldn't have to lend my effort to riding on the front in this heat. Yuri, Peter and I all tried various times. We tried attacking uphill, downhill, on the false flat; everywhere. But the Wheels of Bloor engine always brought the entire group back to us. And then his plan really kicked into action.
The chasers
As soon as the feedzone opened, Bruce began riding hard through it on the far side of the road. This made getting those precious fluids difficult and added an exciting element of risk and danger to those brave volunteers who dared to stick out their arm in duty offering respite to the riders in the heat of the day. Apparently a go-to strategy of masters racing (the category from which the Bird hailed), it did nothing but make the race decidedly more dangerous in this case. Regardless, as everyone knows, if that plan doesn't work the first five times, the best thing to do is to try it 20 more times. And nothing brings a break away back faster than riding super hard for 600meters out of a 4600 meter lap and preventing everyone from taking on fluids.
Lap after lap, the pattern continued. Rush the feedzone, sit up, and listen to how much the gap grew as we cruised by the start/finish line. It quickly hit 4 mins, then 6 mins. Those boys in the break soldiered on consistently and vigorously. At this point, I could see the frustration in our team as well as on the face of Ed Veal from Real Deal/ La Bicicletta and his teammates. Jet Fuel's Evan Mundy rode up to Bruce. While I am not sure I heard the entire discussion, I think it went like this:
Evan: what are you doing?
Bruce: 400 watts.
Evan: no, seriously, what's the deal?
Bruce: low Zone 4.
Evan: Come on man, why are you riding like that?
Bruce: THRESHOLD!!
Evan: Jerk.
Bruce: Grow up.
Stalemate. A 'locking of strategic horns'. And as the gap grew into another time zone, I had noticed that Evan's Jet Fuel teammate Jamie Riggs was no longer in the peloton. I hadn't raced with him yet this year. I missed him. Deeply. Racing with no Jamie is like a bath with no water; a love song with no melody.
I admit my mind began to wander at this point of the race but Yuri and Pete somehow had the attention span to keep attacking. But, as if adjoined by the skill of a trained welder, the attacks were always neutralized. We missed it. The trio was laying the proverbial boots to us.
In many ways, I was lucky. Due to a lack of form, I would have been the one to ride on the front in an attempt to bring back any gaps later in the race. However, as the break was now already into Monday and we had negatively raced our way back to Saturday, it was pretty clearly over. Parched from the feedzone attacks, I felt what could have been cramps creeping into my legs. With five laps to go, I realized that they were not cramps but my overwhelming desire to catch up with Jamie Riggs on the road side.
As I pulled over, Peter Morse finally escaped with Ed Veal and Bruce Bird to form a "chase" group. The irony being that the break actually chased and caught this group before the end. Man-ton surgically removed the legs and lungs of his break away companions in the dying laps of the race. And while Chris Freeland dug deep to stay with him until the final kilometer, the Crusher was able to cross the line alone.
Peter Morse fought valiantly in his group giving his best to salvage the day for the team. And this brings me to the 'lessons learned' section of the report. First; you can always count on Peter Morse to go out fighting. Second; if you can't accelerate, dehydrate.


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WORCESTER — In honor of "American Hustle" having been filmed in the city back in April, two local landmarks (and film locales) are staging dueling Oscar parties Sunday night.
"An Evening At the Oscars" will be hosted by Luciano's at Union Station, while the "American Hustle Red Carpet Academy Awards Party" will be at Nick's Bar and Restaurant, 124 Millbury St. Admission is free to both events.
Both party spots were showcased prominently in the movie, which is nominated for a whopping 10 Academy Awards.
While "American Hustle" is not the first film shot here in recent years, it is easily the best one. Directed by David O. Russell (of "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings Playbook" fame), "American Hustle" brought to Worcester two Oscar-winning actors (Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence), as well as three Academy Award-nominated actors (Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner). Renner is the only one of the five principal stars who is not Oscar nominated for "American Hustle."
Bringing Hollywood to our humble city, "American Hustle" might go down in history as Worcester's proudest moment in celluloid. And "American Hustle" is not even the only movie filmed in Worcester that is nominated for best picture this year. Two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks filmed a small scene for "Captain Phillips" at the Worcester Airport.
In "American Hustle," Bale, Lawrence, Renner and Elizabeth Rohm dine at Nick's Bar and Restaurant on Millbury Street, which was transformed into "Baron's Italian Dining" for the film.
"I believe you should treat people the way you want to be treated. Didn't Jesus say that?" Bale tells Renner in the scene. "Always take a favor over money. I think Jesus said that as well."
Also at Nick's, Lawrence insists Bale and Renner smell her nail polish (which she describes as having the scent of "flowers but with garbage") before the two men talk business and Lawrence becomes stumbling drunk.
Later, Bale and Renner are seen belting out Tom Jones' "Delilah" back at Nick's.
"Our Oscar party starts with a red carpet, really," Nicole Watson, proprietor at Nick's, said. "We'll be taking lot of photos to upload on Facebook. We will be watching the awards on the televisions and our large projection screen on the stage. We are encouraging guests to dress in awards or '70s attire ("American Hustle" is loosely inspired by the Abscam scandal in the late '70s and early '80s)"
One of the pivotal scenes in the movie takes place outside of Union Station, when all the key players converge and, more importantly, Lawrence and Adams (aka her husband's mistress) finally lock eyes.
"I know who you are," Lawrence says while giving Adams an ice-cold stare.
Later, Bale is seen walking out of the front of Union Station, around sunrise, wondering how he's going to get out of the mess he's in.
"This is a great year for Worcester to have an Oscar party," James Lewis, founder of the Worcester Film Festival and organizer of the Union Station event, said. "Are we going to having a big film like 'American Hustle' every year? No. This is Worcester's chance to celebrate style. I think we need a little bit more than that."
In addition to both events being billed as red carpet extravaganzas, Watson and Lewis said that their parties will have extras from the film as guests, raffle drawings, large projected screens (to watch the Academy Awards) and actual restaurant booths used in the movie. However, Nick's actually has the one that Lawrence, Bale, Renner and Rohm sat in.
Luciano's will also be passing out gift bags like the Oscars, as well as having a charity auction and offer a "pretty good prize" for best-dressed costume.
"Don't watch the Academy Awards from home this year and wonder if this "Oscar Party" is going to be any good," Lewis said. "Show up and be WHY it was good. This is Worcester's night to shine."
Contact Craig S. Semon at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @CraigSemon


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Joyce and Ron established A Bird In Hand in 1977. We love 18th and 19th Century American antiques, especially decorated stoneware, waterfowl decoys, folk art, painted and original surface furniture and Grenfell Mats. We focus on quality and condition.
Our present inventory reflects our constant pursuit of fine examples of Americana. We are always looking for new pieces for your selection. Let us know what you need so we can find them for you. Contact us
Where to find us:
We exhibit at major Antique Shows, and though we do not have an open shop, we are happy to open our gallery by appointment.
We fully guarantee every antique we sell to be what we say it is. If we do not accurately describe an object you buy, you can return it for a full refund.


text:
Popular Guides
View more guides at Linux Wiki Guides
Bill Giannikos
This guide will help you configure the proprietary nvidia module under SuSE-OpenSuSE 10.3. I will not be covering the open source nv module included with Xorg because its configuration is normally handled automatically by most Linux distributions.
NVIDIA provide their own license for their driver. You will need to read and accept this license before proceeding. You can read this license here.
While this guide is mainly focused to laptop users there isn't any difference for desktop users.
You should run a full update for your SuSE installation to ensure you have all the latest packages installed.
SuSE provides a very easy way of installing the NVIDIA driver. All you need to do is click on the following link and follow the on screen instructions:
Install NVIDIA driver via 1-click
or if you need to use the legacy driver for older card use the following:
Install NVIDIA legacy driver via 1-click
And to configure SuSE to use this driver follow these steps:
1. Load up a terminal window if you are in the graphic interface.
2. Switch to the root user by entering the command "su -" (without the quotes) and typing in your root password
3. Run the following command, his should detect and automatically configure SuSE to use the nvidia driver.
sax2 -r
4. Reboot
You should now be using the NVIDIA driver.
Normally after installing the nvidia driver with the steps above your xorg.conf file should have automatically been updates to use the newer driver. If this did not happen or for some reason it has reverted then, as root, enter the following command:
sax2 -r
This will switch you back to the nvidia driver.


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Liberty News
History class hosts WWII 'Band of Brothers' vet
The Liberty University campus was honored by a visit from Don Malarkey, WWII veteran from the elite Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on Monday, June 29. Malarkey was the guest speaker at a summer WWII history class taught by Liberty's history department chair, David Snead.
Malarkey's company was portrayed in the popular Band of Brothers television miniseries. He is also mentioned in the "Band of Brothers" book by Stephen Ambrose, on which the series was based.
During Ambrose's research for the book, Malarkey told the story of his friend Fritz Niland who had three brothers, two of whom died on D-Day and another who was missing in action and thought to be killed. This storyline became the premise for the plot of Steven Spielberg's film, Saving Private Ryan.
On Monday, people and places came alive as Malarkey recounted his experiences from his company's paratroop drop into Normandy to their elimination of a German artillery unit. According to Easy Company's Maj. Richard Winters, Malarkey spent more days in active combat than any other veteran in the company.
Malarkey described his D-Day experience vividly. "I had to zigzag across that meadow the best I could," he said. "I had guns firing from the side of me and from behind me. And how those … Germans couldn't hit me I'll never know."
The presentation was an informal interview conducted by Vance Day, Oregon lawyer and friend of Malarkey. The pair has lectured at venues all over North America and Europe, including Congress and the White House. "We do it because we just like to have fun together," Day said.
After the class, Malarkey took time for autographs and pictures. The event drew more than just Liberty students, with some audience members making a special trip from other universities.


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Data Tools Platform:Release Engineering
This information is preliminary. While this system is available within CVS, it is not currently used to generate the DTP builds.
This page details the build system utilised by DTP.
This system was derived from the system used by WTP and STP (and probably others). The system performs the following tasks:
- Component builds
- builds plugins and features
- generates install ZIP
- generates update site JARs
- Component testing
- executes unit tests
- generates results files
- Update site generation
- generates html for download site
- incorporates build settings
- incorporates build results (e.g. warnings/errors)
- incorporates test results
- Download site generation
- Uploading build information
- publishes generated files to DTP web site
The build system is designed to organized as follows:
- distribution
- a group of one or more components
- component
- synonymous with feature; the input to the builder/assembler/packager
The system is comprised of custom Ant scripts which are used to initialize build properties, download dependencies, invoke the PDE builder for individual components, generate site files.
The head-less PDE builder is used to generate plugin JARs and ZIPs. The PDE builder executes a build using information in the feature and plugin manifests. This helps ensure the plugin build environment is similar to its execution environment.
The system is composed of two projects within CVS:
- org.eclipse.datatools.releng
- org.eclipse.datatools.releng.builder
This project contains the following files:
- *.map files
- used by the PDE builder to locate and fetch source for the build. These files are used to specify the following information:
- plugin/fragment/bundle/feature ID
- plugin/fragment/bundle/feature location in CVS (project and path)
- tag to fetch
- dependencies.properties
- specifies names and download locations for dependencies (e.g. Eclipse platform, EMF, GEF)
- build.cfg
- specifies which tag of the org.eclipse.datatools.releng.builder should be used to execute the build
This project contains the scripts used to execute the build. It is divided into the following sections (by folder):
- components
- cruise
- distribution
- scripts
At the root is the build.xml file that drives the build for a particular distribution (i.e. the distribution must be specified when this file is invoked; e.g. dtp).
components folder
The components folder contains a folder for each component that will be built. These folders may be used directly with PDE builder as the buildLocation for the build.
A component is synonymous with a feature. The feature specified by the component is used to drive the build. See the PDE builder documentation for more information.
This system deviates from the general PDE build integration by the following:
- allElements.xml is incorporated directly within customTargets.xml
- The allElements and assemble.element.id[.config.spec] targets are defined directly within customTargets.xml.
- most of the targets for customTargets.xml are imported from scripts/build/defaultCustomTargets.xml
- scripts/build/defaultCustomTargets.xml contains targets that are common to all component builds (e.g. fetching dependencies). (Note, individual components may override any targets imported from defaultCustomTargets.xml.)
- dependency.xml
- This file is used to specify the dependencies required by the component. The dependencies.properties file in org.eclipse.datatools.releng must contain an entry for each of the group IDs specified in this file.
- allElements.xml is incorporated directly within customTargets.xml
cruise folder
The cruise folder contains scripts for driving the main build from CruiseControl. The build.xml file within this folder fetches the org.eclipse.datatools.releng and org.eclipse.datatools.releng.builder projects, then invokes the main build file in the root of org.eclipse.datatools.releng.builder.
TODO: Some files in this folder need to be updated for use with DTP; specifically the following files:
- cc.sh
- config.xml
- cruise.properties
distribution folder
Contains distribution specific build files. Each folder in this directory uses the following naming convention:
- <distribution name>.<target name>
- e.g. dtp.build, dtp.site, etc.
The scripts within these folders are pretty specialized (although there may be an opportunity to refactor some of these scripts so common targets can be shared across distributions).
The breakdown of target types is as follows:
- build
- invokes the PDE builder for each component in the distribution.
- site
- generates the download site files for the build. (verify: does this also generate the update site)
- api
- TODO: document this
- tests
- invokes tests and consolidates results
- upload
- uploads generated build zips and site files to the web site
- whatisfixed
- TODO: document this
- build
The following distributions and targets are defined for DTP:
- dtp
- the main DTP distribution
- build
- builds component zips
- site
- builds download site files
- tests
- TODO: needs to be updated for DTP
- upload
- TODO: needs to be updated for DTP
- dtp


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RBC.com | Français | Contact Us | Site Map | Sign In
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RBC Wealth Management Canada > RBC Dominion Securities > Services and Solutions > Insurance Based Solutions
With our insurance-based solutions, you can enhance your retirement income, protect your family's financial security from adverse events, safeguard your business, and maximize the value of your estate for your beneficiaries.
Executive life insurance enables you to provide your managers and executives with a supplementary benefit package. In this instance, both you and your executive purchase a life insurance policy with your executive named as the insured. Both of you will split the benefits. This form of insurance provides protection for an executive's family, while you benefit from an investment offering tax-deferred growth.
To learn more about executive life insurance, please speak with one of our life-licensed Investment Advisors .
An insured annuity allows you to transfer a portion of your wealth and serves as an important asset protection and income enhancement solution.
An annuity is a contract that binds an issuer to provide you with a steady stream of income payments in return for a lump sum deposit. With an insured annuity, a portion of each of your annuity payments covers the premiums on an insurance policy, which ensures that an amount equal to your original capital is provided to your beneficiaries when your estate is settled. As with any annuity, an insured annuity is irrevocable once purchased.
Insured annuities provide the following benefits for your estate:
An insured annuity also allows you to:
The sudden loss of a key person can create a difficult and costly void to fill. If your company relies heavily on the skills and contributions of a single person, you may wish to consider taking out life insurance on this person (or persons) to help mitigate the costs.
One of our life-licensed Investment Advisors can provide you with more information on this unique insurance protection.
Living benefits products not only protect your wealth, they give you the financial freedom to maintain your lifestyle or obtain the care you need in the event of an injury or illness.
Disability Insurance
Personal disability insurance helps protect one of your greatest assets –your ability to earn an income. If sickness or injury keeps you at home for a sustained period of time and you are unable to work, this insurance can replace up to 66% of your income. Disability insurance is an ideal way to help ensure that you and your family can continue to maintain the lifestyle you desire without eroding your portfolio or other assets.
Critical Illness Insurance
Upon diagnosis of a serious illness such as cancer, stroke or a heart attack, critical illness insurance provides a lump sum benefit that may be used in any way you wish. For example, you might use the funds to seek advanced private care to aid in your recovery. If you own a business, you could also use the benefit to keep your business running smoothly until your return.
Long-Term Care Insurance
Considering the high cost of private care, this type of living benefit is an excellent way to protect your retirement savings and other assets. Long-term care insurance provides the necessary funds to pay for additional health care should you need assistance caring for yourself for an extended period. Funds are paid as a daily benefit to cover the cost of either home visits from a qualified individual or a room at either a public or private care facility.
Like mutual funds, segregated funds are professionally managed and invested in a portfolio of securities. However, segregated funds are also insurance contracts that offer additional benefits such as a guarantee of your principle investment on death or at maturity, and guaranteed lifetime income.
Segregated funds can help you insure your retirement and maximize your estate in the following ways:
Lifetime Income Guarantees
Many segregated fund contracts offer income guarantees that will ensure you have a predictable and sustainable retirement income stream that you will not outlive. They guarantee that you will receive 100% of your principal paid back to you over time and that payments will continue as long as you live.
Death Benefit Guarantees
Upon the death of the annuitant, a guarantee between 75 and 100 percent of your initial deposit, or the greater of your investment value, will flow directly to your named beneficiaries.
Estate Settlement Benefits
Proceeds of a segregated fund policy held in a non-registered account can pass directly to your named beneficiaries, without passing through your estate. Therefore, these funds are not subject to probate, lawyer's or executor's fees. However, your estate is taxed on any applicable gains.
Financial Guarantees
Regardless of market performance, segregated funds guarantee 75 to 100 percent of your principle investment (less withdrawals) at the maturity date (a minimum of 10 years from the date of your deposit). At maturity, the greater of the current market value or the guarantee will be paid to you.
Potential Creditor Protection
When there is no reasonable expectation of bankruptcy at the time of your investment, and a "family class" beneficiary is named, a segregated fund can also potentially safeguard your assets from potential creditors in the future.
We can help you significantly enhance the value of your estate by passing along more assets than you could otherwise achieve through a purely investment-driven strategy. One of the main ways we can help you do this is through tax-exempt life insurance.
Like a pension or non-registered account, tax-exempt life insurance serves as another asset within your overall portfolio—with some unique advantages.
Under the federal Income Tax Act:
What's more, tax-exempt life insurance also provides:
To learn about the different types of coverage and how you can use tax-exempt life insurance in your overall estate plan, please contact a Life-Licensed Investment Advisor .
Our Tax Protector solution is designed to help you transfer more of your wealth to your heirs by protecting the full value of your estate's assets from taxes. It allows you to leave a lasting legacy for your family and can significantly lessen the burden on your loved ones.
The Tax Protector helps prevent the erosion or liquidation of your estate by providing a life insurance benefit that can be used to:
To find out how you can benefit from the Tax Protector, please contact a Life-Licensed Investment Advisor .
Our Investment Advisors are here to help recommend the solutions that are best for you. To learn more, please contact an advisor or ask an advisor to contact you.


text:
Walking to stomp out child abuse
Waiving signs and banners that proclaimed messages such as "No Excuse for Child Abuse," a stream of Southeast Texans clad in blue shirts took to the streets surrounding the Jefferson County Courthouse to make a statement that could be not only be heard, but seen by every motorist, employee and guest of Beaumont's central downtown area.
Local Child Protective Services spokeswoman Shari Pulliam readied for the event, stating that demonstrations such as the one in Beaumont on Friday, April 1, will be sprouting up all over the Lone Star State as the next 30 days herald in April as Child Abuse Awareness Month. According to her, child abuse "tears at the very fabric of our society but every community and every individual can play an important role in preventing child abuse."
That's why, she said, the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is teaming with local governments and community groups during April in a call to action to fight child abuse. A schedule of local events is available now at www.ItsUpToYou.org. CPS representatives, along with other community leaders, held a press conference preceding the April 1 walk kicking off the event and assured the community of their commitment to helping children harmed at the hand of those entrusted to protect them.
Last year:
227 Texas children died because of abuse or neglect at the hands of their parents or guardians (53 less than the previous year).
66,897 children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect.
16,347 children were removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect.
Recognize the signs of child abuse, and never assume someone else will do something about it. Report suspected abuse or neglect to the Abuse and Neglect Hotline at (800) 252-5400 or online at www.txabusehotline.org.


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What is the prostate surgery called?
Surgery to remove prostate cancer is called a "radical prostatectomy." Surgery can be performed in the traditional "open" way in which large incisions (cuts) have to be made to allow the surgeon to get to the prostate, which lies deep in the pelvis. This is called an "open radical prostatectomy." Surgery can also be performed using smaller incisions in which special instruments and telescopes are used to perform the operation. This is "called minimally-invasive surgery." Minimally-invasive surgery can be performed with the surgeon standing at the operating table holding the instruments and telescopes. This is called "laparoscopic radical prostatectomy." At Roswell Park we also perform robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. This is a minimally invasive operation that takes advantage of robotic technology.
How should I prepare for my surgery?
When you come to Roswell Park for a consultation there is a lot of information we need to make sure we do the best job possible. The information can include an up-to-date list of your medications, previous surgeries, allergies, and current medical conditions.
Before surgery we require that you hold any aspirin or Plavix®, herbal supplements and vitamins (as long as your primary care doctor allows) for at least 1 week. 5 days prior to surgery: discontinue Coumadin® (warfarin). 3 days prior to surgery: discontinue all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen. On the day before surgery we recommend drinking clear liquids. We then need you to not eat or drink anything after midnight on the day prior to surgery. You can take your morning medications the day of surgery with a sip of water.
How long is my surgery, and how long do I stay in the hospital?
The amount of time the surgery takes can varies between patients but is on average 3 hours. If lymph nodes need to be removed surgery can take longer. Below is a graph of the time on average the operation has taken over the past 6 years. Our operative times have been consistent for the past four years. In this graph "mean" is a mathematical way to say average. In a large series of patients having prostate surgery, those patients who had minimally-invasive radical prostatectomy were in the hospital for approximately 2 days. Patients who had an open prostatectomy were in the hospital for approximately 3 days. In our robotic experience, at Roswell Park, the majority (93%) of patients are discharged from the hospital the day after surgery.
What else is removed with my prostate?
Open or robot-assisted radical prostatectomy includes removing the prostate gland and the seminal vesicles. Sometimes, depending on how aggressive the cancer is, the lymph nodes near the prostate are removed as well. One consequence of removing the prostate and seminal vesicles is loss of ejaculatory fluid.
The nerves that cause the penis to become erect are adjacent to the prostate gland. Sometimes we leave the nerves behind (nerve sparing) and sometimes they are removed with the prostate (non-nerve sparing). Like most things in the body there is a right and left nerve. Depending on the aggressiveness and location of the cancer the surgeon may decide to leave one, both or no nerves behind. This can impact a patient's ability to have an erection after surgery. Only 0.3%, (3 patients in 1000 per 100 person years) at Roswell Park had to undergo extra surgery for treatment of erectile dysfunction.
What do I go home with?
Catheter and urinary drainage bag
Urine empties from the bladder, passes through the prostate and continues through the urethra to the tip of the penis. When the surgeon removes the prostate and hence the part of the urethra that passes through the prostate, the remaining urethra is sutured (sewn) to the bladder. In order to let the tissues heal a catheter is placed in the urethra and into the bladder to allow urine to drain. This catheter will stay in until the follow-up visit with the surgeon, usually 9 -10 days after surgery. The catheter drains into a bag, which can be fastened to the leg. Urinary bags usually need to be emptied every 4-6 hours. Larger bags can be used while you sleep.
Pain medicine
It's unusual to require pain medicine when you leave the hospital, but we prescribe a small amount of pain medicine just in case.
Stool softener
Pain medicine, which contains narcotics (morphine is an example), can make you constipated. Stool softeners often help.
In order to prevent a urinary infection when the surgeon takes out the catheter, we prescribe an antibiotic for you to take the day before and the day of your first follow-up appointment.
When will I follow up with my doctor?
Upon discharge from the hospital a follow-up appointment is typically 9 to 10 days after surgery. At this appointment we discuss the results of the surgery. From this we can determine whether additional treatments may be needed and whether there were "positive margins."
During this appointment we also remove the catheter that has been draining urine since the operation. Remember to take your antibiotic!
Are there any alternatives to surgery?
Treatment alternatives to open or robotic surgery include radiation therapy and cryotherapy. Radiation can either be delivered by a radiation machine (this is external and requires multiple consecutive visits as an outpatient) or by having radioactive seeds implanted into the prostate. Cryotherapy is a short surgical procedure in which the prostate is frozen with special probes. Another option specifically for low risk prostate cancers is to observe the prostate cancer, also known as "active surveillance." Many prostate cancers are so slow growing that they never cause a problem.
If you choose to have surgery for your prostate cancer the surgeon (urologist) will discuss the different ways to perform the operation.
What will happen in the weeks after surgery?
At your first clinic visit, approximately 9 to 10 days after your surgery, you may have your catheter removed. After it is removed you will be asked to pass your urine and stop and start your stream. Your pathology report will be available and your urologist will review it will you.
It may take some time until you feel comfortable controlling your urine output and preventing leaks. Doing your Kegel exercises will help. You probably will need protective pads for your undergarments, at least for several weeks.
Complete control is the goal but it takes time. You will notice an improvement when you can walk without leaking, and then stand without leaking, and then do regular activities. The following tips will help.
- Drink most of your fluids during the day and stop drinking after dinner. Take sips until bedtime to keep hydrated to cut down on nighttime trips to the bathroom.
- Avoid alcohol, caffeine or any medicine that causes an increase in urine output.
- Pass urine every 3 hours during the day and always stand to urinate.
- When you pass urine, stop your stream 2 to 3 times.
- Continue your Kegel exercises.
- Small amounts of blood and small clots are usually passed for about 1 month after surgery.
- Some burning is common when you urinate for the first week after the catheter is removed. If this occurs with a fever, call your doctor.
Several visits will follow to test your urinary control, sexual function and PSA.
How do I know if my cancer has come back?
PSA. It is possible your doctor used a blood test called a PSA to help diagnose your cancer. PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of this substance in the blood. High levels of PSA can be caused by prostate cancer, prostate infection or just by having a large prostate.
The same test is used after treatment for prostate cancer to monitor for cancer recurrence. If you are cancer-free, the PSA levels should be low or even undetectable. PSA is checked regularly after surgery, typically every 6 months to 1 year for 5 or 10 years depending on your particular situation.


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by Marjorie Langston
The 2011 Gathering of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) in Louisville, Kentucky, provided a chance for members to share their art with each other and the public. One seasoned attendee and another who just discovered the Gathering compare notes on their experiences.
This article was originally published on page 34 of the November/December 2011 issue of Glass Art.


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There's something very strange about this game, which seems to have gripped many players. Enslaved is a game that not many people seem to have noticed, but most of those who did take notice have given it great feedback. Who said that all the top grossing games were the best? I'm not indicating that Enslaved is the best game out there, but it certainly is a game that deserves more than it is credited for.
I don't get all these review popping up for every fucking game, if your are that interested then to metacritic or something. Reviews really should get baned from N4G.
This game looks great. I might just have to check it out.
just beat it today great fu**** ending! Loved every second of it.


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Grolsch Herfstbok bier blikje 500 ml
In Stock
Incl. Tax €3.13
- Shipping Weight: 0.7 kg
- Brand: Grolsch
- Product Code: SKU04119
Grolsch herfstbok is a characterful beer with a sturdy, soft sweet flavour and a rubt colour.
Alcohol 6.6%.
1 Can with 500 ml.
If you live in a country which may have high
temperatures or a hot or humid climate
please be very considerate of the items you are ordering are suitable for transport and delivery.
Meat, fish, chocolate, cheese and dairy products may not be suitable to travel long distances.
Note that aerosols are prohibited to travel by plane.
Also meat, fish, cheese, alcohol and dairy products may be prohibited to import in some countries.
Please make sure you know if a product may be imported at your destination
country before you order.
Ordering and sending of meat, aerosols, fish, cheese, alcohol and/or dairy products is always at your own risk.
Alcohol may not be duty free to all countries, also limitations can apply according to a maximum quantity.
Duty and additional costs for importing are at the customers expense.
Some items have a very short best before date, for example:
Eierkoeken - egg cakes (2-4 weeks)
Roze koeken - glazed cakes (3-6 weeks)
Warme broodjes - sausage/cheese rolls (3-8 weeks)
Broodjes - bake-off bread (3-6 weeks)
Salades - salads (2-4 weeks)
Rookworst - smoked sausage (3-8 weeks)
Vleeswaren - sliced meat (2-4 weeks)
Stroopwafels - syrup waffles (4-8 weeks)
Please make sure the items you order will not go over the date
during transport.
We'll always make sure you receive the longest dates possible, but delivery times and/or delays are out of our hands.
You can always ask us about dates of products, or if an item is allowed in your country before you order.
Unfortunately we do not know all quarantine restrictions that may be applicable to your country,
therefore all orders are shipped on the understanding that we have no control over any restrictions whatsoever and this responsibility is with the purchaser.
We cannot be held responsible for shipping, customs or quarantine delays.


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Flow 1.0.4
Flow 1.0.4 Via Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium by Flow
🎁 Grab a free .design domain for your portfolio or project with our special link.
Unlock the Power of 3D: Torch AR, Sketch, and InVision - the Complete Mobile AR Prototyping Workflow.
New in the publication
Supported by the Adobe Fund for Design.


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It's time to spring forward! Daylight Savings Time begins March 11 and ends the first Sunday in November. So you know what that means right? It's time to set those clocks ahead one hour, and lose that all too important hour of sleep. On March 11, the clocks are moved ahead one hour from 2am standard time to 3am daylight savings time (or DST). Interestingly, not all places in the U.S. will participate in Daylight Savings Time. Hawaii and parts of Arizona will not observe DST, while around the world, countries like China will also not participate.
This is also a good time to remind ourselves to do maintenance around the home. Changing batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are a must and can prevent some very serious situations down the road. Also remember to change filters, such as the filters in furnaces and HVAC systems, as well as water filters.
We have offered yearly maintenance suggestions in our November 3, November 1 and� October 24 blogs, but they bare repeating and remembering. Doing your yearly maintenance can save you a lot of time, money and heartache. Filters Fast offers a wide selection of furnace filters and air conditioning filters for your home. We also offer water filters for your water purification system, refrigerator, and ice maker.
So as you are setting those clocks ahead, remember to put your maintenance on your "to-do list". You'll be glad you did.


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Meg-The-Lunge-Witch necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 56 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
Total Bodhi provides an all in one approach to health and fitness. We offer in-home personal training as well as homeopathic healthcare. Our goal is to make our clients associate their living spaces as healthy, fit environments, while making fitness and health completely accessible and convenient.
Total Bodhi
Looking for a simple logo incorporating our business name Total Bodhi. We provide in home personal training and homeopathic medicine consultations. The word Bodhi (sounds like body), means to awaken or enlighten. Looking to use the logo on business cards, website, promotional materials, and as a car decal.
- Design is totally open to creativity.
Considering the T from Total and B from Bodhi as maybe body silhouettes.
A bold easy to read font, so that if the logo is displayed on a car etc it would stand out.
Otherwise anything that would combine fitness and health, nothingtoo detailed as it will need to be printed and re-sized to varyingdegrees.
Variety of formats would be preferred for finished product (don't exactly know what formats are needed for cards versus website versus car decals, but can easily find out)
Incorporating the phrase "Awaken Your Best Self" would be a plus, the final logo should have the option of removing this phrase however (ie for different webpages)
Open to color suggestions, right now feeling the green/oranges/dark brown theme, however anything goes!
- Anything goes!
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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The chapelry of Milburn, Westmorland is also of significance to the family in early times. "The chapel, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, was founded by William de Lancaster, about 1355. Many vestiges of encampments are visible. Howgill Castle, formerly the seat of the knightly families of Lancaster and Sandford, and which, with Grange Hall and Lownthwaite, belongs to the Earl of Thanet, lord of the manor, occupies a commanding situation, half a mile east of the village; some of its walls are 10½ feet thick." [2]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
|Popular Products
|Armorial History With Coat of Arms
|Coat of Arms & Surname History Package
|Family Crest Image (jpg) Heritage Series - 300 DPI
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|Armorial History with Frame
|Framed Surname History and Coat of Arms


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You already have all the complex, high-tech machinery you need to get into shape: your two legs. Walking works the major muscle groups of the body, raises your heart rate, burns calories, and lowers your blood pressure with a third of the impact running has on your joints. "Plus, walking makes you feel more in control of your life and gives you the energy to get things done," says Therese Iknoian, author of "Fitness Walking."
For optimum health, Iknoian advises walking a minimum of 30 minutes a day, four or five times a week, at a moderate pace. Here, she outlines a progressive walking plan that'll get you on your feet and out the door.
Phase 1: Get Started
Goal: Walk 20 to 30 minutes, at least 3 times a week or more
Duration: About 4 weeks, or until you can walk 30 minutes at a time
Benefits: Lowered stress levels; better sleep; improved mood
How to Do It: Walk only as far as you comfortably can, even if that means walking in one direction for a few minutes and then turning around. Iknoian recommends increasing each walk by about 2 to 3 minutes, until you're walking the full 30 minutes.
Tip: Walk with purpose -- as if you're late for an appointment.
Phase 2: Ramp Up
Goal: Increase the frequency and length of your walks; find your rhythm; refine your technique
Duration: 4 to 8 weeks
Benefits: Noticeable improvement in overall fitness; increased energy
How to do it: Add one to two walks to your weekly regimen. In addition, go for one longer walk each week. If you're walking 3 times a week for 30 minutes, make one of those walks 45 to 60 minutes long.
Tip: Bend your arms at the elbows and take shorter, quicker steps.
Phase 3: Intensify and Maintain
Goal: Stick to a regular practice
Duration: Ongoing
Benefits: Weight loss and weight management; improved cardiovascular fitness; reduced risk of life-threatening diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer
How to Do It: Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 to 6 times a week, including an additional longer walk when you can. For an added challenge, try for higher-intensity intervals once a week: Choose a landmark, such as the end of the block, and walk at top speed until you reach it. Repeat 4 to 8 times on your walk.
Tip: Boost the intensity of your workout by walking up hills or on grass, sand, or trails. And to quicken your pace, bend your arms to 90 degrees and swing them alongside your torso.Take shorter, quicker steps rather than long strides.
More Walking Strategies For:
Stress Relief
Better Posture
Text by Kate Hanley; photography by John-Francis Bourke


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The Billings, Mont., KOA Campground will become the Billings KOA Holiday Campground tomorrow (June 7), according to a press release.
The change is the beginning of a new brand structure for the 51-year-old iconic North American camping company. KOA said that three new brand segments will better identify the specific offerings of its 485 campgrounds for the millions of North American camping families that use KOA each year.
Over the next few years, KOA campgrounds across North America will be rebranded as either a KOA Journey, KOA Holiday or KOA Resort campground.
"Segmenting our famous KOA brand in this way will help our campers select just the KOA they need for their next trip," said KOA's Vice President of Marketing Toby Hedges. "Each KOA is unique, but each Journey, Holiday and Resort KOA will have amenities and services in common that will make it easier for campers to find just the right campground. KOA began 51 years ago right here in Billings, so it's only right that we should begin this new chapter for KOA at the Billings KOA Holiday."
The three brands designate:
"¢ KOA Journey Campgrounds are identified as being convenient to major highways, include long pull-through sites and provide a relaxing overnight oasis for travelers.
"¢ KOA Holiday Campgrounds, such as the Billings KOA Holiday, are great base camps to explore the area and include family activities and additional amenities to make these facilities great getaways for short vacations. They will also all feature KOA Deluxe Cabins, which include full bathrooms and kitchens.
"¢ KOA Resorts will offer campers a true resort-style vacation with luxurious pools, patio RV sites, Deluxe Cabin linen service and a specially trained activities and recreation staff.


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NBA Live Tour Heading Back To Europe With Celtics, Mavs, Marketing Partners
By Barry Janoff
June 25, 2012: The Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks will head up the NBA's 2012-13 pre-season tour of Europe, which will feature top teams from Euroleague Basketball and support from marketers led by title sponsor BBVA.
NBA Europe Live 2012 presented by BBVA is scheduled to run Oct. 5-7.
This is the sixth time since 2006 that the NBA is making a pre-season tour of Europe. The tour was canceled last season due to the lockout. EA Sports was the previous title sponsor.
This will be the first tour with BBVA, the official bank of the NBA, as presenting sponsor. Turkish Bank Garanti, which is owned in part by BBVA, will be presenting partner of the game in Istanbul. Returning partners include adidas and American Express. Turkish Airlines is presenting partner of Euroleague.
According to the NBA, extensive community events and programs will compliment the games, including interactive fan events, basketball development programs, and player appearances.
"Returning to Europe with two storied NBA franchises for the sixth installment of the NBA Europe Live presented by BBVA is a testament to our commitment to bringing more live games and events to our fans in Europe," Benjamin Morel, svp for NBA Europe, said in a statement. "As part of our longstanding collaboration with Euroleague Basketball and with the support of BBVA and all of our partners, fans can look forward to an exciting blend of basketball action, interactive fan events and community-based initiatives as the sport of basketball thrives across the continent."
The schedule includes Boston against five-time Turkish champions Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul at Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul, Turkey (Oct. 5); Dallas against eight-time German champions Alba Berlin at O2 World in Berlin (Oct. 6); Boston against 25-time Italian champions EA7 Emporio Armani at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan (Oct.7). The Mavericks will play an additional game in Spain with details to follow, according to the NBA.
"By serving as the presenting partner of NBA Europe Live, we will help bring world-class basketball to the cities of [Europe] and ... reinforce our global sponsorship strategy."
"By serving as the presenting partner of NBA Europe Live, we will help bring world-class basketball to the cities of Berlin, Istanbul and Milan and through this series of games, reinforce our global sponsorship strategy," Mafe Laverde, sponsorship director for BBVA, said in a statement. "As the official bank of the NBA, we intend to provide extraordinary content to fans through our brand, promoting the values of effort, innovation and teamwork embodied by the two best basketball leagues in the world."
Following the 2012 tour, more than 450,000 fans will have attended 32 Europe Live games in 12 cities since the inaugural NBA Europe Live series in 2006. The NBA said it will have played 60 games featuring 25 NBA teams in 18 European cities since 1998.


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Lighthouses, Beaches and More
Enjoy the top sites of Gloucester, and the Best of Rockport -- seeing five lighthouses, artists' studios, movie sites, expansive quarries, idyllic villages and scenic beaches. With time for strolling, shopping and photo's.
Picking up in Gloucester on Stacey Boulevard (32 Western Avenue), passing the working harborfront on the way to Rockport Dock square, where we will have 15-20 minutes to enjoy Rockport. In Rockport, we will have time to take a photo of Motif #1, visit a few stores and we can pick-up Lobster rolls and/or chowder (optional with pre-order).
Picking up in Rockport, Dock Square at :30 past the tour start time we will leave Rockport for Pigeon Cove, The Paper House, Lanesville, Plum Cove Beach, Annisquam, Bay View, Stage Fort Park, and The Man at The Wheel. It is a 21 mile Essex Coastal Scenic Byway segment.
Thursdays and Sundays will be around sunset, truly he most scenic time to visit Cape Ann. Let us know if you would like to add on a lobster roll or clam chowder to enjoy on our stop at Plum Cove Beach.
Sparkling or regular water is included.
We will return first to Western Avenue and then back to Rockport Dock Square.


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|"Is this all real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
The subject of this article is a real-life person, company, product, or creative work that has been mentioned "in-universe" in a canon source. The Harry Potter Compendium is written from the perspective that all information presented in canon is true (e.g., Hogwarts really exists), and, as such, details contained in this article may differ from real world facts.
|Mediterranean Sea
|Location information
|Permanent residents
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea that runs between Europe and Africa. It is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow channel called the Strait of Gibraltar.[1]
The island nation of Cyprus is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.[2] Minas, a wizard or witch who worked for the British Ministry of Magic, was given a high-profile job in this country in 1995.[3]
Flora and faunaEdit
Magical creatures which lived in the Mediterranean Sea included the hippocampus, the sea serpent, and merpeople. The merpeople found off Greece were the first to be mentioned in historical records and were called sirens. They, along with merpeople from other warm-water regions, were noted for their physical beauty, and inspired the popular depiction of the species in Muggle art and literature.[4]
Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean was a book that covered the sea's native flora. One species it discussed was gillyweed, which caused a person to grow gills and webbing between their feet when eaten, allowing them to breath underwater and swim more easily.[5]
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ "Mediterranean Sea" on Wikipedia
- ↑ "Cyprus" on Wikipedia
- ↑ Harry Potter Limited Edition - A Guide to the Graphic Arts Department: Posters, Prints, and Publications from the Harry Potter Films (see this image)
- ↑ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


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Sept. 24, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Junior Izzy Ayala scored four touchdowns to lead a dominating rushing attack that totaled 436 yards as the Lancers of Worcester State (2-2) handed MIT (1-2) its biggest defeat in 15 years. Five different players reeled off runs of at least 30 yards to help Worcester level its season ledger in the NEFC.
The Lancers opened Saturday's tilt with a 66-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. Ayala broke through the middle and raced down the field for the score just 18 seconds into the game. After a quick three-and-out by the Engineers, Worcester turned the ball over to Steve Kasprzak, who rushed for 67 yards on four carries during the drive. Kyle Beatrice completed the first of his two touchdown passes on the drive's fifth play with a six-yard strike to Jonathan Godfroy.
Worcester State worked for its next score, although MIT could do little to stop the ground attack. An 11-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Beatrice to Ayala, which put the Lancers ahead 21-0 at the end of the first frame.
Things worsened for the Cardinal and Gray in the second as Godfroy added to the Lancer lead early in the quarter with a 37-yard run. Ayala reached the endzone for the third time just before the half; completing a 97-yard drive with a one-yard score that gave Worcester State a 35-0 advantage at halftime.
The Engineers were able to slow Worcester State in the second half, but not before aAnthony Bizzotto returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown to give the Lancers an insurmountable 49-point lead.
MIT finally got on the board late behind the effort of rookie quarterback Richard Mancuso. Making his debut for Tech, Mancuso completed 10 passes, including a four-yard score to Kevin Vogelsang with just under a minute left in regulation.
Worcester State had 531 yards of total offense, most of which was covered on the ground. Although no one reached the 100-yard mark, three players had over 80 yards, including Kasprzak, who led all rushers with 94 yards on 11 carries. Ayala added 88 yards and three rushing scores, plus a 23-yard reception for another six to headline the day's performers.
MIT was paced by tight end Chris Ruggiero, who caught five passes in the second half for 59 yards. Robert Utz led MIT's ground attack with 54 yards on 16 carries.


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"R.I.P.D." was D.O.A. and "The Lone Ranger" was unable to lasso moviegoers. Yet at summer's end, Hollywood is riding happily off into the sunset thanks to an unexpected number of $100-million-plus hits that drove the seasonal box office to a record.
Total box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada for the May 2-Labor Day period climbed 10.2% over last year to a record $4.7 billion, while attendance rose 6.5% to roughly 572 million, according to Hollywood.com. The average ticket price also hit a new high of $8.23.
The strong business was needed: Heading into the summer, ticket sales were down about 12% compared with the same period in 2012. Four months later, the box office is now about even with last year.
While the season is ending on a positive note, there were certainly plenty of high-profile tales of woe this summer: Sony Pictures' "After Earth" and "White House Down," Walt Disney Studios' "The Lone Ranger" and Universal Pictures' "R.I.P.D." — each of which cost well over $100 million to produce — all flopped in spectacular fashion. But at least 17 movies crossed the $100-million milestone this summer — five more than in summer 2012.
The six highest-grossing films this summer were sequels, prequels or reboots. A few original titles did crack the top 10, however, including the Sandra Bullock-Melissa McCarthy buddy-cop comedy "The Heat" and the low-budget horror flick "The Conjuring."
Like last summer, the top earner came from Disney-owned Marvel Entertainment. "Iron Man 3," starring Robert Downey Jr., grossed over $400 million domestically and more than $800 million internationally. Its $1.2 billion global tally is slightly below that of "The Avengers," which ruled the season a year ago with an astounding $1.5-billion haul.
That superheroes triumphed at the multiplex yet again may not be surprising, but there were at least five other more subtle lessons from the summer movie season:
1. Yes, you can have too many cartoons
Six computer-animated films were released this season — two more than in summer 2012 — but only one was a massive hit: "Despicable Me 2," which has raked in $820 million worldwide since its July 3 debut. The film about bouncing yellow Minions from Universal's Illumination Entertainment overpowered the competition, including DreamWorks Animation's "Turbo." That tale of a racing snail came out two weeks after "Despicable Me 2" and has grossed just under $80 million domestically — the second-worst performance ever for a film from Jeffrey Katzenberg's studio.
"The Smurfs 2," which opened at the end of July, proved similarly disappointing. Because the first "Smurfs" made $563 million worldwide in 2011, Sony Pictures expected the sequel to improve upon that figure. But so far, the second film has collected less than half that, and only $67 million domestically.
As for Disney, its Pixar Animation release "Monsters University" got a jump on "Despicable," hitting theaters in June and ending up a hit with over $700 million in global sales. The studio's "Planes," meanwhile, has been far less successful since its August debut with just over $100 million worldwide — but the film only had a budget of $50 million because it was initially slated to go direct-to-DVD.
The possible takeaway here? Sure, kids are out of school, but families may not want a new animated film every two weeks. Which brings us to:
2. Be creative with the calendar
The colder months have traditionally been home to horror films, but Universal decided to open "The Purge" in June, and Warner Bros. followed a month later with "The Conjuring" — each of which played to enthusiastic crowds. "The Conjuring," made for $20 million, was especially profitable, grossing $133 million stateside.
Counterprogramming also paid off for Lionsgate, whose Summit Entertainment launched its stand-up comedy film "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain" over the July 4 holiday against "The Lone Ranger" and "Despicable Me 2." Playing in no more than 900 theaters, the movie went on to gross $32 million — a win for a film with a $2.5-million budget.
Early summer, meanwhile, is becoming a hotter blockbuster breeding ground. Many of the season's biggest films were released not in July — which has long been thought of as the ideal launching pad for a potential smash — but in May. This year, four of the summer's top 10 films opened in May, versus just two last summer.
3. Doppelgangers were doomed
Yes, audiences have yet to tire of most sequels and remakes. But if your movie resembles another one too closely, it can spell disaster. That may have been the problem with "White House Down," released in July, in which an aspiring Secret Service agent helps protect the president as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue comes under terrorist attack.
Despite its star power — Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx — the Sony movie couldn't top the more modestly budgeted "Olympus Has Fallen," which was released four months earlier by FilmDistrict and centers on a Secret Service agent who tries to stop a North Korean-led attack on the White House. "White House Down" grossed $25 million less domestically than "Olympus" — even though it cost $80 million more to produce.
"R.I.P.D." was another film rejected by audiences perhaps because it seemed redundant. The film about two cops who come back from the dead to fight crime on earth reminded many of the "Men in Black" franchise. Likewise, with its hulking robots, "Pacific Rim" was often compared to the "Transformers" series, and didn't do as well in the U.S. as Warner Bros. hoped.
Moral of the story? Hollywood needs to get more creative, or start putting more space between expensive films with similar themes.
4. Exhibitors are becoming more flexible, and it's paying off
About 89% of the 40,045 screens in the U.S. are digital — up from 75% in August 2012, according to the National Assn. of Theatre Owners. Now, studios don't have to transport heavy physical reels, and theaters can be more nimble: When a movie sells out in one auditorium, an exhibitor can easily decide to put that film in a bigger space the next day or add show times at the touch of a button. Conversely, films that aren't working can be pulled.
Theater owners are maximizing grosses in other ways too. Instead of opening at 12:01 a.m. Friday — as was long the custom — many highly anticipated titles have been debuting between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursdays. That's because exhibitors began to notice that filmgoers were more apt to show up at earlier hours, and they asked studios if they'd be amenable to Thursday night screenings — a mutually beneficial agreement.
5. 3-D is falling — but it's not going away.
American moviegoers have been increasingly less inclined to shell out extra bucks to see a movie in 3-D, but this summer, their interest really dropped. When "Turbo" debuted in July, only 25% of the opening weekend crowd opted to see the movie in 3-D, an all-time low for the format. Other family films fared little better, as "Despicable Me 2" only did 27% of its Independence Day opening weekend business in the format.
While kids' films have always been less popular 3-D options, even movies that seemed more fitted to the medium faltered, like "World War Z" (34%) and "The Great Gatsby" (33%).
Still, don't expect to stop seeing 3-D movies in theaters any time soon. While it costs studios extra to produce movies in 3-D, there's minimal added cost to distribute 3-D movies. Technology now allows digital prints to be switched between 3-D and 2-D at the turn of a key, so cinema owners don't have to offer as many 3-D showings if audiences aren't expressing much interest.
While U.S. filmgoers may not be crazy for 3-D, studios aren't particularly worried because international audiences love it. With the exception of "Fast & Furious 6" — a franchise that has been set in countries like Japan, Brazil and Britain — all of the summer's biggest hits overseas have been 3-D movies.
The recent moviegoing boom in countries like Russia and China has coincided with Hollywood's embrace of 3-D, and many foreign audiences feel 3-D is essential to the experience. In China, where piracy is rampant, the 3-D option can entice someone to choose a theater over an Internet download or a street vendor's illegal DVD.