text: Catholic Faith Our Mission: Inspired by God, in relationship with home, school and parish, students are nurtured to become their best selves through faith, hope and love. With Christ as our role model and Sister Annata Brockman as our namesake, seeing each person as a gift of God with special talents, our school staff adapts our teaching and learning environment in many ways so that every student is able to progress and experience success. Blessed with the Holy Spirit, our students strive to love according to the Gospel to show respect for all people, to appreciate diversity, to work hard in a spirit of joyful, creative, collaborative achievement in a balanced program of academics, arts, physical activity and technology. Our Vision: Sister Annata Brockman Catholic Elementary Junior High School is a vibrant, flexible learning community, centered in Christ, where every student progresses and experiences success as a 21st century learner. Parish Information: Parish Name: Good Shepherd Catholic Church18407 – 60 Avenue NWEdmonton, ABT6M 1X7Phone: 780-487-7765Parish Website:http://www.goodshep.caReligious Education:All of the Schools in the Edmonton Catholic School District use a Religious Education Program that is prescribed by our Alberta Bishops and provided through the National Office for Religious Education in Ottawa. The Program ranges from Kindergarten to Grade Twelve, and offers students with an overview of our Catholic faith as well as grade specific themes.


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Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state, has floated a platform for early-stage startups to raise funds by presenting their ideas before investors.
The sessions 'Venture Capital for Startups 101' would be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode from August 7 to 9. Only 10 selected startups from each venue would get the opportunity to pitch, and they should have a KSUM UNIQUE ID, a press release said.
Chief technology officer of 100x. VC Vatsal Kanakiya would address the startups on venture capital and other topics related to investments.
An early-stage SEBI-registered investment firm, 100X.VC is focused on investing in early-stage startups to effectively become their coach. The final session would be held at KSUM, Technopark, on August 9.
In May, Kerala announced a slew of attractive incentives to encourage women-led companies– including INR 5 lakh marketing incentives — which currently account for 13% of the start-ups in Kerala. The state government has issued a notification endorsing the proposals, submitted by KSUM CEO Saji Gopinath. The same is implemented under the "Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme" (YEDP).
Last month, KSUM hold its "Startup to Scale up" programme at the Integrated Startup Complex at Kochi on July 19 and at Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, on July 20. The programme, meant for start-ups that have completed the 'prototype' stage, offers orientation on a host of topics like the timing to scale up, selection of team, resource mobilisation, finance management and effective networking.

subset: commoncrawl


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We seen lots of Drama so far in the world cup for the Argentina of fighting, bickering and conspiracy theories in the last few days as they lost to croatia but yesterday they shown the class as Messi and Rojo saved the Argentina in the world cup and together moved Argentina to round of 16 stage.
Argentina will be meet the France in the round of 16 clash on 30 June 2018.
Argentina side are happy as Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a typically sublime goal but after Victor Moses goal scored from the spot just after half-time Argentina needed a sweetly struck volley from Marcos Rojo in the 86th minute to claim their place in the next round of 16 in thrilling encouter.
Many Argentina fans – and certainly many of the 30,000 in Saint Petersburg – are happy yesterday as Messi get the form and along with him rojo bring the team to knock out stage.
As against Iceland and Croatia, they had plenty of time to respond to adversity, and this time they managed it by doing victory.


text:
Author Affiliations
- Khalil El Karoui1⇑,
- Idris Boudhabhay1,
- Florent Petitprez2,
- Paula Vieira-Martins3,
- Fadi Fakhouri4,
- Julien Zuber5,
- Florence Aulagnon5,
- Marie Matignon1,
- Eric Rondeau6,
- Laurent Mesnard6,
- Jean-Michel Halimi7 and
- Véronique Frémeaux-Bacchi3,8⇑
- 1Service de Néphrologie et Transplantation Rénale, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, INSERM U955, Créteil
- 2INSERM, UMR_S 1138, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, F-75006, Paris
- 3Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Laboratoire d'Immunologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris
- 4Centre de Recherche en Transplantation et Immunologie UMR 1064, INSERM, Université de Nantes and Department of Nephrology and immunology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, Nantes
- 5Service de Néphrologie et Transplantation Rénale, Hôpital Necker Enfant malades, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris
- 6Intensive Care and Renal Transplant Unit, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tenon and Inserm UMR S 1155, Sorbonne University, Paris
- 7Department of Nephrology and Clinical immunology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tours and EA4245, François Rabelais University, Tours
- 8INSERM UMR_S 1138, Complément et Maladies, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France
- Correspondence:
KHALIL EL KAROUI khalil.el-karoui{at}aphp.fr
- VÉRONIQUE FRÉMEAUX-BACCHI veronique.fremeaux-bacchi{at}aphp.fr
A typical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a prototypic thrombotic microangiopathy attributable to complement dysregulation. Hypertensive emergency, characterized by elevation of systolic (>180 mmHg) or diastolic (>120 mmHg) blood pressure together with end-organ damage, can cause thrombotic microangiopathy which may mimic aHUS. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical, biological and complement genetic characteristics of 76 and 61 aHUS patients with and without hypertensive emergency, respectively. Patients with hypertensive emergency-aHUS were more frequently males, with neurological involvement, and a slightly higher hemoglobin level. At least one rare complement variant was identified in 51.3% (39/76) and 67% (41/61) patients with or without hypertensive emergency, respectively (P=0.06). In both groups, renal prognosis was severe with 23% and 40% of patients reaching end-stage renal disease after a 5-year follow-up (P=0.1). The 5-year renal survival was 77% in patients without hypertensive emergency or a complement variant, and below 25% in the three groups of patients with hypertensive emergency and/or a complement variant (P=0.02). Among patients without hypertensive emergency, the 5-year renal survival was 100% vs. 40% in those treated or not with eculizumab, respectively (P<0.001). Conversely, the 5-year renal survival of patients with hypertensive emergency was 46% vs. 23% in those treated or not with eculizumab, respectively (P=0.18). In conclusion, information on the presence or absence of hypertensive emergency and rare complement variants is essential to stratify the long-term renal prognosis of patients with aHUS.
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a thrombotic microangiopathy affecting predominantly the kidney and encompasses a heterogeneous group of disorders, including Shiga toxin producing E. coli-associated HUS (typical HUS), secondary HUS (related to co-existing condition such as malignancy, drugs or autoimmune diseases), and atypical HUS (aHUS).1–3 The classification of HUS has evolved with the identification of the mechanisms of endothelial injury. Among patients pre senting with aHUS, complement-mediated aHUS is prototypical of disease and occurs as a consequence of hereditary or acquired complement abnormalities. Eculizumab, a monoclonal anti-C5 antibody that blocks the formation of C5b-9 complexes on the surface of endothelial cells, has revolutionized the care of patients with aHUS.4 However, in 30-40% aHUS patients the cause is ill-defined and the role of additional genetic or environmental factors remains debatable.1
A major complication of HUS is high blood pressure flares related to renal microvascular thromboses and activation of the renin-angiotensin system. Recently, a new concept termed hypertensive emergency (HE) has been introduced to better characterize the syndrome of acute onset high blood pressure with end-organ damage.5,6 HE is defined by severe elevation of systolic or diastolic blood pressure (>180 mmHg or 120 mmHg, respectively), associated with progressive organ dysfunction, such as neurological changes, left ventricular failure, or aortic dissection. HE-associated kidney involvement includes renal failure with mechanical hemolytic anemia mimicking aHUS flares.1,3,5–8 This latter situation raises the issue of whether primary HUS is complicated by secondary HE, or primary HE leads to secondary HUS.
Whether HE-associated HUS is a complement-mediated disease remains debated. The percentage of patients with HE is rarely reported in aHUS cohorts.4,9 In a recent study, no pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were identified in 100 non-elderly patients presenting with severe hypertension, renal failure and a kidney biopsy showing arteriolar thrombotic microangiopathy.10 However, in a large study of 273 patients with aHUS, 14 patients (5%) also had hypertensive flares, with mutations affecting the regulation of the alternative complement pathway in 2/14.11 Moreover, a recent case series reported that 8/17 patients with 'hypertension-associated thrombotic microangiopathy' carried a pathogenic variant in the genes for complement factor H (CFH), complement factor I (CFI), membrane cofactor protein (MCP) or complement component 3 (C3).12
In the current study, in a large French cohort we analyzed the clinical, biological and genetic characteristics of patients with aHUS and HE at onset (HE-aHUS), and compared the findings with those of aHUS patients without HE (noHE-aHUS). We showed that patients with HE-aHUS have specific clinicobiological characteristics compared to those of patients without HE.
HUS was defined by renal involvement (acute renal failure or proteinuria) with mechanical hemolytic anemia (including low hemoglobin, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, and/or the presence of schistocytes) and/or thrombocytopenia. Between 2000 and 2016, we screened 405 patients with adult-onset HUS and ADAMTS-13 activity >15% for complement function and genetic abnormalities. To retrospectively develop this study and identify patients with or without HE and HUS, the patients' medical records were reviewed and relevant clinical and biological data were collected. Patients without blood pressure data were excluded from this retrospective study.
For this study, the exclusion criteria were: (i) HUS with coexisting diseases (such as infection-induced HUS, monoclonal gammopathy, solid-organ transplantation, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or malignancy) or (ii) lack of reliable blood pressure data. We adopted the term aHUS to define HUS without co-existing diseases.
HE was defined according to the 2013 European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology guidelines (systolic blood pressure ≥180 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure >120 mmHg), together with end-organ damage, such as renal, neurological, cardiac or ophthalmological involvement.6 Blood pressure was measured repeatedly during the initial diagnosis. Neurological involvement included acute onset severe headache, confusion, seizures, cerebral infarction/hematoma, and cerebral magnetic resonance images compatible with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). Cardiac involvement included acute left or right ventricular dysfunction and cardiac arrythmia.
HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS were defined as aHUS with or without HE, respectively. This study includes patients previously reported by van der Born et al.8 We retrospectively found that ten patients published as having aHUS in 2013 had HE-aHUS at onset.9
Complement analyses
Complement evaluation and genetic analyses were performed as part of the usual work-up of patients diagnosed with aHUS. Plasma concentrations of C3, C4, factor B, factor H and factor I, and MCP expression on granulocytes were quantified as previously described.9 All coding sequences of the CFH, CFI, MCP, C3, complement factor B (CFB) and thrombomodulin (THBD) genes were analyzed by direct sequencing as previously described or by next-generation sequencing.13 In our study, we defined a variant as rare when its minor allele frequency was below 1% in the general population. Among these rare variants, we named as pathogenic those for which the genetic change affects protein function (well-established in vitro functional studies supportive of a damaging effect on the gene product), and/or the genetic change was found in a disease-related functional domain, and/or affects protein expression (nonsense, frameshift, canonical +/− one or two splice sites variants, well-demonstrated lack of in vitro synthesis, or quantitative deficiency in the patient's plasma) (definitions adapted from Richards et al.14 and Goodship et al.15). The other variants were classified as variants of uncertain significance.
All patients gave informed consent for genetic analyses. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the French national clinical research projects authority (number AOM08198). DNA samples available from 80 healthy blood donors were also sequenced for the same genes.
Statistical analyses
Data are presented as percentages or mean ± standard deviation. The Fisher exact test was used to compare qualitative data. Renal survival was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier estimates and the log-rank test or by univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression when indicated. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Clinical and biological characteristics of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome patients with or without hypertensive emergency
Of 405 HUS patients, 142 were excluded because of coexisting disease, and 126 had no blood pressure data. Thus, 137 patients with aHUS were enrolled in this study. Of these, 76 (54%) had concomitant HE (HE-aHUS), and 61 did not have HE (noHE-aHUS) (Figure 1). A total of 7/44 noHE-aHUS females, and 1/32 HE-aHUS females were diagnosed after pregnancy. Eculizumab was used in 13/76 (17%) HE-aHUS and 17/61 (28%) noHE-aHUS patients. The median follow-up was 39.9 months, and 57 patients presented with definitive end-stage renal disease at onset. Follow-up was not available for two patients with HE-aHUS.
The patients' clinical and biological characteristics are presented in Table 1. The male/female ratio of the 76 patients with HE-aHUS was 44/32 (male 58%). The patients' mean age was 37 years, and their mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure was 214/128 mmHg. The mean hemoglobin concentration was 8.5 g/dL and throm-bocytopenia was profound [mean 104 × 109/L; platelet count <100 × 109/L in 42% (32 patients)]. Acute kidney injury was severe with 81% patients requiring dialysis at onset. Twelve of the 76 patients (16%) presented with a diagnosis of long-lasting high blood pressure or left ventricular hypertrophy. Kidney biopsy, performed in 24 HE-aHUS patients (32%), showed typical features of thrombotic microangiopathy with arteriolar thromboses, except in one patient with only glomerular retraction suggestive of glomerular ischemia. The patients with HE-aHUS had a severe prognosis, since 1-year and 5-year renal survival rates were 36% and 23%, respectively, in patients not treated with eculizumab (Figure 2).
Compared to patients with noHE-aHUS (Table 1), HE-aHUS patients were more frequently males (58% vs. 28%, P<0.01) with a significantly higher frequency of neurological involvement and higher hemoglobin levels (8.5 vs. 7.5 g/dL, P=0.01). No significant difference was observed in age, cardiac involvement, platelet count, presence of elevated lactate dehydrogenase, schistocyte frequency or dialysis requirement at onset between the two groups (Table 1).
Four deaths occurred among the 76 HE-aHUS patients during follow-up, whereas there were five deaths among the 61 noHE-aHUS patients (5.2% vs. 8.2% respectively, P=0.5). The deaths were related to sepsis (3 patients), a cardiac etiology (2 patients), cancer (1 patient), cerebral hematoma (1 patient), and to an unknown cause (2 patients). Five of these nine patients already had end-stage renal disease before death. Without eculizumab treatment, the prognosis of HE-aHUS (n=61) and noHE-aHUS (n=44) patients was similar, since 1-year and 5-year renal survival rates were 36% vs. 45%, and 23% vs. 40% in the HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS patients, respectively (P=0.1) (Figure 2). However, in the whole cohort including patients treated with eculizumab, those with HE-aHUS had a worse renal prognosis than those with noHE-aHUS (1-year and 5-year renal survival rates 42% vs. 62% and 27% vs. 56%, respectively, P=0.002) (Online Supplementary Figure S1). Similar results were obtained when analyzing death-censored renal survival (Online Supplementary Figure S2A-F).
Complement evaluation
Results of the complement work-up in HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS patients are presented in Tables 1 and 2. Low C3 levels were reported less frequently in patients with HE-aHUS than in those with noHE-aHUS (12/76 vs. 19/58, P=0.02). CFH autoantibodies with homozygous complement factor H-related protein 1 (CFHR1) deletion were detected in 2/76 patients with HE-aHUS (2/76) and 1/61 patients with noHE-aHUS.
At the individual level, a rare variant in the candidate genes was detected in 39/76 (51.3%) HE-aHUS patients, which was a slightly lower incidence that in noHE-aHUS patients (41/61, 67%, P=0.06), but significantly higher than in healthy donors (13.7%, P<0.0001). The distribution of each rare variant did not differ between HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS patients: CFH 22% vs. 34% (P=ns), MCP 2.6% vs. 5% (P=ns), CFI 11.9% vs. 8.2% (P=ns), C3 5.3% vs. 11.5% (P=ns), CFB 1.3% vs. 3% (P=ns), THBD 1.3% vs. 0% (P=ns) and more than one variant 6.6% vs. 5% (P=ns), respectively (Table 2). We found genomic rearrangements involving CFH-CFHR1 in four HE-aHUS (5%) patients and two noHE-aHUS (3%) patients. To investigate the consequences of the rare variants on protein expression and function, we analyzed the variant pathogenicity. Among the 45 rare variants identified in HE-aHUS patients, a total of 30/45 (66%) variants were pathogenic, and located in the coding regions of CFH (n=16), MCP (n=2), CFI (n=9) and C3 (n=3) (Figure 3 and Online Supplementary Tables S1-4).
In HE-aHUS patients, 30/76 (39.4%) carried at least one pathogenic variant, a frequency lower than that in noHE-aHUS patients (38/61, 62%; P=0.008) but higher than in controls (2/80, 2.5%; P<0.0001) (Table 2).
The frequencies of the homozygous at-risk MCP ggaaac and CFH tgtgt haplotypes were significantly higher in HE-aHUS patients than in controls (MCP ggaac 27% vs. 6.2%; CFH tgtgt 16% vs. 3.7%) (Table 2). Notably, 8/74 (11%) HE-aHUS patients were homozygous for both at-risk haplotypes, whereas none of the control population was.
Among HE-aHUS patients, three rare variants were identified in six Afro-Caribbean patients, compared to 37 variants in 70 patients of other ethnic origin, defining a similar frequency of rare complement variants in both ethnic groups (50% vs. 53%, respectively). Only one of the six Afro-Caribbean patients was homozygote for the at-risk ApoL1 haplotype, a similar frequency as that in the general Afro-Caribbean population.16
Treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome with or without hypertensive emergency
All HE-aHUS patients were initially treated with anti-hypertensive therapy. Plasma infusion or plasma exchange (PLEX) was used in 39/57 HE-aHUS patients vs. 47/52 noHE-aHUS patients (68% vs. 90%; P=0.009). However, no difference was observed in prognosis according to PLEX treatment (Online Supplementary Tables S5 and S6, Online Supplementary Figure S3).
Eculizumab was used in 13/76 (17%) HE-aHUS patients and 17/61 (28%) noHE-aHUS patients. In HE-aHUS patients, eculizumab was usually proposed after failure of PLEX and anti-hypertensive therapy (median time between diagnosis and eculizumab, 10 days). Overall, eculizumab provided a significant benefit in the whole cohort (HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS patients), with a 5-year renal survival of 79% vs. 30% in patients treated or not with eculizumab, respectively (P<0.001) (Figure 4A, Online Supplementary Table S5A,B). Notably, eculizumab had a major beneficial effect in noHE-aHUS patients, since their 5-year renal survival was 100% vs. 40% in those treated or not with eculizumab, respectively (P<0.001) (Figure 4B). Conversely, in HE-aHUS patients, we did not observe a significant improvement in prognosis with eculizumab (5-year renal survival 46% vs. 23% in HE-aHUS patients treated or not with eculizumab, respectively; P=0.18) (Figure 4C, Online Supplementary Table S6). The presence of rare complement variants was associated with a trend to improved prognosis after eculizumab treatment, since the 1-year renal survival was 85% vs. 50% in HE-aHUS patients with or without rare complement variants, respectively (P=0.06) (Online Supplementary Figure S4).
Multivariate analysis demonstrated that eculizumab treatment and dialysis at onset were independently associated with renal prognosis in the whole cohort, but not in HE-aHUS patients (Online Supplementary Tables S5 and S6).
Characteristics and outcome according to clinical factors and rare complement variants
The patients' characteristics were studied according to the presence or absence of HE and rare complement variants (Table 3A, B). Among HE-aHUS patients, only slight differences in age and platelet count were observed between patients with or without rare complement variants. However, low C3 was significantly more frequent in cases with rare complement variants (11/41 vs. 1/35; P=0.004).
After exclusion of patients treated with eculizumab, a comparison of outcome according to the presence of HE or a rare complement variant disclosed major differences in renal survival: patients without either HE or complement variants had a significantly better outcome than all other groups (with HE, and/or rare complement variants) (Figure 5A). Five-year renal survival rates were 77% (no HE and no complement variant), 22% (HE without a complement variant), 25% (complement variant without HE) and 23% (HE with a complement variant) (P=0.02) (Figure 5A). The median serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate of patients without either HE or a complement variant at last follow-up were 75 μM and 82 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively. No difference in outcome was observed according to the type of complement variant (data not shown). Similar results were obtained when analyzing the whole cohort, including patients treated with eculizumab, since 5-year renal survival rates were 84% (no HE and no complement variant), 21% (HE without a complement variant), 44% (complement variant without HE) and 34% (HE with a complement variant) (P=0.001) (Figure 5B).
Here, we describe the first series of patients with HE-aHUS using the new definition of HE6 and compared variant frequencies and clinical outcome in aHUS cases with and without HE. This study showed that a genetic predisposition accounts for half of the patients in both groups and provided data showing that response to treatment and long-term outcome are predicted by HE phenotype at onset and individual gene abnormalities.
In light of the recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of HUS,2,17 pathogenic variants in complement genes are the hallmark of complement-mediated HUS, and have been found in 40-60% of patients classified as having aHUS.1 Currently, there are few data addressing individual susceptibility to aHUS with hypertensive crisis/HE.7 In this study, we performed extensive complement genetic screening to identify rare variants and at-risk haplotypes identified as the aHUS genetic background.18 We identified rare variants in one or two complement genes in 51.3% of HE-aHUS patients. This frequency is similar to that recently reported in 8/17 patients with 'hypertension-associated thrombotic microangiopathy' and complement variant.12 The variant frequency in each gene was not significantly different between HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS patients. The rare variants identified in noHE-aHUS (91%) and in HE-aHUS (66.6%) patients lead to quantitative or functional deficiency which impairs the protection of endothelial cells from complement damage and are, therefore, pathogenic.19 Interestingly, the frequency of individuals carrying at least one pathogenic variant was significantly higher in HE-aHUS patients than in controls, but significantly lower than in noHE-aHUS patients (control 2.5%, HE-aHUS 39%, noHE-aHUS 62%; P<0.001). We also observed a slightly increased frequency of the homozygous CFH at-risk haplotype in HE-aHUS patients compared to that in controls, but did not find any significant difference between controls and noHE-aHUS patients. This observation needs to be confirmed in larger cohorts but may suggest that the H3 haplotype in the CFH gene confers an increased risk of HUS only in patients with hypertensive crisis. Altogether, we showed that genetically impaired regulation of complement activation is present in a substantial proportion of patients with HE-aHUS. However, whether a hypertensive crisis acts as a disease trigger in variant carriers or whether complement-mediated endothelium damage induces a secondary HE phenotype remains to be studied.20
The cause of the disease remained undetermined in 60% (46/76) HE-aHUS and 32% (20/61) of noHE-aHUS patients. Notably, we identified no DGKE mutation in the 76 HE-aHUS patients. Moreover, the absence of effect of complement variants in the renal prognosis of HE- aHUS patients, contrary to patients with noHE-aHUS, suggests the involvement of superimposed factors other than complement in HE-aHUS. A major involvement of the renin-angiotensin system during HE-aHUS has been demonstrated in the stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rat model.21 Interestingly, C3 is involved in the phenotype of this model,22 and renin has been shown to cleave C3, an effect inhibited by a direct renin inhibitor.23,24 Renin-angiotensin system activation is also correlated with hemolysis in HE patients.25 Increased chronic renin-angiotensin system activation could have a deleterious role in the long-term kidney prognosis of HE-aHUS patients.26 Overall, our results suggest that HE-aHUS has a complex pathophysiology involving complement regulation but also superimposed complement-independent vascular injury.
Interestingly, 12/76 (16%) HE-aHUS patients presented with a medical history of long-lasting hypertension or left ventricular hypertrophy suggesting previously undiagnosed high blood pressure. Among these 12 patients, seven had rare complement genetic variants. Thus, even in the presence of a history of hypertension, patients with HE-aHUS should be studied for rare complement genetic variants. Among HE-aHUS patients, only slight differences in age and platelet count were observed between those with or without rare complement variants. However, low C3 was significantly more frequent in cases with rare complement variant. Thus, patients with HE-aHUS and low C3 levels should be strongly suspected of having an underlying complement-mediated disease.
Our results showed that a diagnosis of HE-aHUS is relevant from a prognostic standpoint. For the first time, we identified HE at onset as a new clinical factor which could be associated with long-term prognosis. The renal prognosis was dramatically better in patients without either HE or complement variants than in all other groups, even in the absence of eculizumab treatment. Similarly, a recent study showed that discontinuation of eculizumab after 6–12 months of treatment seems safe in patients with no documented complement variants.27 Notably, HE-aHUS patients had a severe renal prognosis even in the absence of a rare complement variant, contrary to that of noHE-aHUS patients, in whom renal prognosis was associated with rare complement variants. Furthermore, the dramatic therapeutic effect of eculizumab in noHE-aHUS patients was not observed in HE-aHUS patients, despite a trend to improved prognosis in HE-aHUS patients with a complement variant treated with eculizumab. Overall, our data allow stratification of patients with highly different prognoses according to the presence or absence of HE or rare complement variants: (i) noHE-aHUS patients without rare complement variants have a favorable prognosis even without eculizumab treatment; (ii) HE-aHUS and noHE-aHUS patients with rare complement variants have a good therapeutic response to eculizumab; and (iii) HE-aHUS patients with no complement variant have a severe prognosis and unclear benefit from eculizumab treatment.
Our study has several limitations. First, our analysis was based on retrospective data. Of greatest concern may be the lack of blood pressure data in 31% of patients from the aHUS registry, who were therefore excluded from this study. Second, major changes in the management of aHUS occurred during the recruitment period. Only patients diagnosed after 2011 were treated with eculizumab and thus were compared to patients diagnosed before the era of anti-complement therapy. A prospective study is therefore essential in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. Finally, the scope of the current study did not include cases in which the clinicians considered patients as having HE only or HUS as a direct consequence of high blood pressure. In these cases, clinicians did not perform complement assessment and patients were not enrolled in this study.
In conclusion, our results show that 40% of patients with HE-aHUS have complement dysregulation with pathogenic rare complement variants. HE and complement genetics allow stratification of patients with highly different renal prognoses and suggest new pathophysiological pathways involved in HUS.
This work was supported by grants from the SFNDT (Société Francophone de Néphrologie, Dialyse et Transplantation) (to KEK), from the Délégation Régionale à la Recherche Clinique, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique (AOM08198) (to VFB), by the EU FP7 grant 2012-305608 (EURenOmics) (to VFB), the Fondation Du Rein (FRM, Prix 2012 FDR) (to VFB), and the Association pour l'Information et la Recherche dans les Maladies Rénales Génétiques (AIRG France). FP is supported by a CARPEM (CAncer Research for PErsonalized Medicine) doctoral fellowship.
Check the online version for the most updated information on this article, online supplements, and information on authorship & disclosures: www.haematologica.org/content/104/12/2501
- Received January 21, 2019.
- Accepted March 18, 2019.
- Copyright© 2019 Ferrata Storti Foundation
Material published in Haematologica is covered by copyright. All rights are reserved to the Ferrata Storti Foundation. Use of published material is allowed under the following terms and conditions:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode. Copies of published material are allowed for personal or internal use. Sharing published material for non-commercial purposes is subject to the following conditions:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode, sect. 3. Reproducing and sharing published material for commercial purposes is not allowed without permission in writing from the publisher.


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- Increases metabolic rate
- Great for fat loss
- Burns calories long after your workout is complete
- Builds lean lengthening muscle
Amanda from Running with Spoons
great beginner sprints! i think the time rather than distance sets are better for non track running. i dont always have access to a track so time speed work is usually better for me.ReplyDelete
Great place to start with sprints! People too often jump in to advanced speed work and get hurt.ReplyDelete
I love doing speed drills like this! It also looks like you have a beautiful running route!ReplyDelete
Fun and quick! I def. like your approach to start out slowly and then increase as you get used to sprinting~ReplyDelete
Thanks for putting this together! I need to do more speed work now that I'm transitioning to shorter distances after my half this weekend. I'm hoping for some speedy 5ks at the end of the year!ReplyDelete
I love speed workouts! Definitely going to incorporate this in my next round of training! :) Thanks for linking up!ReplyDelete
Speed intervals are great for me since I don't like to run for long distances. Short bursts of running are right down my alley :)ReplyDelete
Great information, you described it well.ReplyDelete


text: TheLaughingMan Posted August 2, 2013 I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my team of super heroes on their hard work, dedication and commitment to keeping the city safe from evil villains, their twin siblings and giant green monster feet. Special congratulations goes to Cosmic Crowbar whose hard headed determination played a pivotal role in reaching the 200,000 branch rating mark. Thank you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Vendor Sales
Vendors Chair
Eugene Vicknair
Eugene Vicknair
This page last updated: January 30, 2019
Diamond Rails Forever 2019 will host a Vendor Sales area. The list of vendors is still being compiled. The Vendor Sales area will be open from approximately 8:30am until 10:00pm on Thursday and Friday but will close around 4:30pm on Saturday for the banquet.
Vendors interested in sales at the convention, please download and complete the vendor form http://pcrnmra.org/conv2019/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Diamond-Rails-Forever-2019-Convention-Vendor-Form-ver-4.pdf.
After completing send to:
2019 Convention Vendors
5643 Sonoma Drive, Apt. 1
Pleasanton, CA 94566
Make checks payable to FRRS and note in memo: 2019 Convention – Vendors
If you have questions, please Eugene Vicknair at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Hospitality is something we can do regardless of how our home appears or how intact our life seems.
Folks, it's time to apply to one of the best Christian worldview programs around.
God created us with the need to share our lives with others.
Finding the right Church is never easy. I should know, after moving to the East Coast, I spent an entire year just sifting through the local congregations.
We are social creatures, made by God for relationship with each other. Our deepest need is for community with God and his children.
It's time Christians took a lesson from geek culture, donned our capes, and lived in such a way that should confound onlookers.
World Vision just reversed its stand on same-sex marriage. I believe the Lord is pleased with the board's decision, and with the way it was communicated with the world.


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edited by Gerald B. Pier, Jeffrey B. Lyczak, Lee M. Wetzler
Covers the foundation concepts of immunology and their application to the real world of diseases and health. * Examines the basic molecular and cellular components of the immune system relative to the pathogenesis and prevention of infectious diseases. * Concentrates on the way in which the immune system is critical to the pathogenesis and prevention of infectious diseases. * Focuses on primary and acquired immunodeficiency and immune system dysregulation as causes of pathology. * Includes examples and illustrations that depict basic immunologic processes in conjunction with their role in infectious or other diseases. This title is published by the American Society for Microbiology Press and distributed by Taylor and Francis in rest of world territories.
「Nielsen BookData」より
「Nielsen BookData」より


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Ways that You can Follow to Reduce EMI on Car Loan
Owing a car with loan is much easier. With the availability of car loans, you can buy your dream car at whatever at point you want and if the EMI is in your budget. It is also possible to reduce the EMI on the car loan before applying for it or maybe during the loan. However, many of us come into decision before doing proper research and end up paying more credit from the monthly salary. Below are the ways that you can follow to reduce EMI on Car loan.
Negotiate on the Car loan
The first thing you should to do id to try to cut on the cost of the car. It is always good to look for better choices so you can attempt various loan specialists before you decide. Even you get accessories for free as well like the free leather seat covers or rust painting, engine lamination. You need to avoid buying any car insurance from the seller as you can get them at low cost through online.
Look for NBFCs from Car Manufacturing Companies
The NBFCs from a car or automobile manufacturing company will provide really god loan-deals which can help to save money. But it is always good if you let them offer first and then you can tell them that you want to take a loan for the car.
Negotiate with the lender
Always try to negotiate with the NBFC or the bank to get a car loan at a lower interest rate as it will reduce the burden of cash outflow. So, you can go through the lists of banks with their interest rates and decide on the car loan.
Make big down payment to cut EMIs
Over here, try to think of paying decent amount of down payment for reducing the burden of EMIs. If it is possible, pay half of the amount in down payment as it could shorten the period of EMIs.
Prepay your loan
This could happen if your salary gets hiked or maybe getting promoted. Where you can use the hike to your advantage by prepaying all of your loan within less months so it will bring down the principal amount and tenure as well. However, this can reduce the interest portion.
Hope that I have covered all the topics in my article about ways that you can follow to reduce EMI on Car loan. Thanks for reading!


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Outline for a sermon preached October 22, 2107, entitled "Your Occupational Life" as part of the "Biblical Blueprints for Life" series. INTRODUCTION God had something in mind when He made you. TEXT: Ephesians 2:10. How do you feel about work? We have a Genesis 2 or GenesisRead more →
Outline for a sermon preached on October 15, 2017, entitled "Take a Stand." INTRODUCTION TEXT: Ezekiel 22:30. There is a battle in our culture for what is right and wrong. Your god is to whatever or whomever you bow. In this life, if you can't take aRead more →
Outline for a sermon preached on October 1, 2017, entitled "Values and Mission." INTRODUCTION God starts nothing without a blueprint. A blueprint is a picture of the finished product before you begin. Jesus came to save your soul and your life (John 1:4.). God had something inRead more →
Outline for sermon preached on September 17, 2017 entitled "The Divine Plan of Pain." INTRODUCTION WWJD? We need to ask WDJD? We will all experience pain. Society today tries to shield their children from all pain. When pain has no purpose life becomes futile (Psalm 119:67). TEXT:Read more →
Outline for a sermon preached on September 10, 2017, entitled "When a Funeral Procession Turns into a Street Party." INTRODUCTION WWJD? We love the hypothetical more than the historical. It is time to ask, WDJD? TEXT: Luke 7:11-17. What/why are miracles? A miracle is an evident occurrenceRead more →


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By JOHN HOWELL As long as water flows from Warwick spigots, the city's water division is taking a cautious approach to the repair of a 30-inch main that runs under Interstate 95 and Route 37 - one of two major supply lines for the city - that has been
As long as water flows from Warwick spigots, the city's water division is taking a cautious approach to the repair of a 30-inch main that runs under Interstate 95 and Route 37 – one of two major supply lines for the city – that has been out of service since last December.
Dan O'Rourke, director of the city's water system – which is a division of the Department of Public Works – said last week that bid specifications for an inspection of the ruptured line and how best to repair it have been prepared by division engineers.
The city's water is purchased from the Providence Water Supply Board and feeds more than 400 miles of pipes providing service to over 25,000 customers. The Kent County Water Authority services an additional 4,000 Warwick customers, mainly in the western section of the city including Apponaug, Natick and Cowesset. Kent is dependent on its water from its own wells and, to a lesser extent, on Providence water supplied through the Warwick system and the feed to the Warwick-owned Bald Hill Road water tanks.
As O'Rourke explains, the 30-inch main now out of service is linked to a far larger Providence network that is also showing its age and in need of attention.
"Providence has had problems with the 102-inch aqueduct over the last decade or so, and they still have a portion of that out of service. That provides a feed to over 60 percent of the state, either directly or indirectly. Because of that still being out of service, it has somewhat delayed the inspection of the 30-inch line," he said.
Yet without the 30-inch line, the city is walking a tightrope without a full safety net.
Warwick Water has two active wholesale connections with Providence Water, two 30-inch connections (one of those is the line that ruptured in December) off of a 42-inch main on Pettaconsett Avenue in Cranston and a 42-inch connection off a 102-inch aqueduct on Natick Avenue in West Warwick.
"We still have the other line in service, and thankfully we have that in service and an additional redundancy with a couple of other locations – God forbid we have to utilize those other lines. So there was no reduction in pressure or volume that I'm aware of throughout our water system during the peak time this spring and summer," O'Rourke said.
At its peak, the city system is using as much as 17 million gallons a day, O'Rourke said. The annual daily average, according to Providence Water, is 7.1 million gallons.
While that is surely a lot, water usage has dropped in recent years as consumers are more conscious of conservation. That, in turn, has cut into water division revenues, which are based on usage.
If the second major feed were to fail, O'Rourke said he would look to supply the system through smaller connections with Kent County and a reactivated connection to Cranston and Providence Water at North Hampton Street. However, these alternate sources of supply could not meet peak Warwick demand.
"I believe it would meet normal demand," O'Rourke said.
Nonetheless, the thought of a major water break and the interruption of service to the city or a large segment of customers keeps him up at night. Surely an emergency situation would be dealt with and service restored as quickly as feasible, but most probably at significant cost.
Limited renewal & replacement
As O'Rourke detailed in his quarterly report to the City Council in August, the system is aging, and according to his estimate, 50 percent of the infrastructure has reached its life expectancy. In recent years the division has linked efforts to the renewal and replacement of aging lines to sewer projects. Where needed, new water lines are installed when neighborhood roads are dug up for sewers, thereby saving on costs and digging up roads on multiple occasions.
Although required by state law, there has not been a recent assessment of major transmission lines or a prioritizing of projects. The division filed a renewal and replacement plan with the Department of Health in 2013. It's due to file an updated plan this year. That plan projected spending $4,631,948 million over the last five years on a wide range of projects from tank cleaning and painting to hydrant replacements, service replacements, main replacements, inspections and pump station maintenance.
But having a plan doesn't mean it is going to be followed or enforced, especially when the funds aren't available.
O'Rourke said the division has paid for upgrades and improvements with its capital budget, but there is no dedicated stream of revenue from fees to renew and replacement as has been done by the Warwick Sewer Authority. Both the water and sewer services are enterprise funds, meaning they cover the cost of operations and improvements though the fees they charge. They are also responsible for the principal and interest on the bonds they borrow.
Warwick is hardly alone in facing an aging water infrastructure. According to Christopher Hunter, spokesman for Providence Water, since the inception of Providence Water's Infrastructure Replacement Program in 1996, it has reinvested $460 million worth of capital improvements and infrastructure replacement into the system, with $118 million expended on the rehabilitation of 86 miles of water mains.
Key to repairing the Pettaconsett break is understanding the condition of the two connections and the feed from which they emanate. The plan, therefore, is to inspect both lines.
"We're all one big happy water family in terms of the wholesale customers, so everything has to be coordinated with them. They're anticipating having that line (the 102-inch aqueduct) back in service sometime during the month of October. They've had delays on it for various reasons," he said.
"We currently have the lower section of the 102-inch aqueduct off line for inspection and repair work. Both of Warwick Water's connections have remained in service while the lower section of the 102-inch aqueduct has been offline. In summary, Warwick Water's 30-inch connection is still being supplied by our 42-inch main and their 42-inch connection is being supplied by the upper section of the 102-inch aqueduct which has not be taken off line," Hunter said in an email.
Once the Providence system is fully restored, O'Rourke said the plan is to inspect the Warwick connection and "come up with a real concrete analysis of the condition of that line to be sure that's in good shape."
"The idea is to take a look – to do an inspection – and there's technology … it will give you an analysis of the pipe, the thickness, weak spots, leaks – it's done the correct way. That's what Bristol County Water Authority, they utilize the same technology for their cross-bay pipeline," O'Rourke said.
He added: "Until you do that conditional analysis, you can't determine what method you're going to utilize. That's where we're at right now. Once a contractor goes out to bid for proposal, it's a matter of coordinating with them. It will consist of a series of four or five taps in the line under live conditions – because you don't want to take it out of service, the good line."
What about ongoing infrastructure repairs and upgrades?
Mayor Joseph Solomon said he is exploring means of addressing water and sewer infrastructure upgrades with federal grants as well as Clean Water and Infrastructure Bank financing.
If an increase in water rates is part of the picture, it was neither embraced nor dismissed as a means of generating additional revenues.
"Part of the mayor's infrastructure view when he took office was not just roads and LED lights, it was sewer enterprise fund and water enterprise funds. The mayor has been a big proponent on reinvesting in the city, whether it's renew and replacement, federal money, looking at historic low rates from the bond infrastructure bank – it's not different than any other government. We've been here 377 years, we're going to probably be here another 377 years, and we have to reinvest, as governments do, in our infrastructure. There's a lot of resources to do it," said William DePasquale, chief of staff and city planner.
More like, "Legs crossed as city faces financial rupture."


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Expanded Scope for New HIPAA Rules
September 23, 2013. Today is the day that many of those who use protected health information (PHI) must comply with new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules, which went into effect 180 days ago.
If you use PHI in your work, hopefully by now you are aware of those changes. For the first time, Privacy and Security rules apply not only to covered entities and business associates, but also to subcontractors who provide services to those business associates. This includes the security breach notification requirements when PHI is compromised.
An HHS press release earlier this year noted, "Some of the largest breaches reported to HHS have involved business associates." With the expanded scope of the rules, look for more enforcement actions in the future.


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Professional Painters Charge What Ever They Want.
A Busy Professional Painter Is Always In Hot Demand.
|How Much Do Professional Painters Charge.
A lot of the time how much a painter charges is really determined by the scope of the work that you need completed. Obviously it's going to cost you more to paint your ceilings walls and trim then perhaps just painting your walls. Professional House Painters that really take a lot of pride in their work might charge you more for higher quality painting results. On the other hand a completely beaten up house or home and hasn't seen a paint job in 20 years it's definitely going to cost you more money to get it looking new again even if it's possible.
The color that you pick your new painting also have a lot to do with the price. The cheapest way to keep your painting price down it's to repaint again with the exact same colors. Perfect color matches. You should be able to get away with just a single coat of paint instead of two coats or three coats are for colds or more coats I might be required on the typical job. The type of paint finish that you want is also going to have some play on how much a painter is going to charge you for professional painting services. While brushing and rolling I knew painting finish mine actually look pretty good from time to time nothing out there really be to spray finish in terms of quality.
Spray painting uses a lot of paint and spray painting uses a lot of paint supplies plastic tape paper to mask off areas and to prepare those areas for paint. All of those paint supplies and the time required to prepare your house for spray painting application is obviously going to cost you more money to. The design of your house or the layout or how it's actually built can also have a price on how much a painter is going to charge you for their professional painting services. Some houses and homes are just flat-out easier to paint than others. Painting a flat one-story bungalow home is a lot easier than painting a 4-story 5 level split.
What type of painters that you hire could also have an effect on how much professional painters might charge you for their painting services. Painters coming all types. The painter that just painted the dog house or garage all the way up to a Master painter that paints perfect Painting results and everything in between. Sometimes paying more for a painter doesn't actually get you a better painter or better painting results. On the other end of the spectrum too pain last for a painter and professional painting services doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get a cheaper pour painting result either.
Most of the time it just comes down to the painter. Most types of painters have their strengths and their weaknesses and some do better painting jobs but not others. A spray painter might do perfect spray painting results with a spray gun but might not have very much experience say brushing and rolling walls. Most painters can get by on just using a brush and roller brush and spray ceiling is walls and trims and other surfaces that you would find around the house. But the professional painters know professional painter needs to be able to spray brush and roll everything. so you could be dealing with a professional painter wear on professional painter still got good results on The Price will vary.
The time of the year that you purchase your paint supplies and paint products but also affect how much your painters charge. Right now where I am at this moment writing this how much do professional painters charge post up the cost of paint has gone up 20% in the busy summer painting season. as soon as it gets cold outside again the prices will drop that extra 20% and go back to regular typical pricing. Also again time of the year that you call about your painting is certainly going to have some say in the price. Well I can't speak for everybody most painters out there stay busy year-round. At least a professional painters that do good work do. All the other painters out there might find themselves struggling to pay the bills during the winter season.
As a result you might be able to find yourself a pretty good house painter for a pretty good price in the off-season. most professional painters are extremely busy during the spring summer and fall months painting interiors and exteriors. hiring a painter that is extremely busy with a full schedule is obviously going to cost you more to be accommodated. On the other hand again not so busy painters that are standing around with nothing to do in the winter season might be able to give you a good deal on a paint job. Again most professional painters stay busy year-round painting out beautiful painting finishes and earning their keep. There is something to be sad about painter that can't stay busy during the winter.
The type of paint the type of painting tools and the type of painter and painting strategy that you higher get your paint job completed is the biggest window of opportunity to have your paint job cost more or cost Less. There is more than one way to paint and there certainly are faster cheaper easier and more profitable ways to get it done just as there are slow tedious meticulous not perfect anyways but we're going to charge the customers more money just because we can too. When it comes to price and how much the painter is going to charge you these are the key facts that you need to know about how much do professional painters charge. There is a lot of variables but these are the core ones that are going to affect the price.
And that my friends is what I know about the how much do professional painters charge question. I have been painting and decorating for about 15 years almost every single day as a professional painter and a professional house painting business owner right here in Calgary Alberta These are the types of questions I might ask myself when I'm about to give a customer a price quote or an estimate or review their scope of work with those details in mind. again just because you pay more for professional house painting or a professional painter does not guarantee that you will get professional painting professional painters or professional house painting results.


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Resurgent Ayew out to save West Ham and Bilic
West Ham United attacker Andre Ayew says the team are focused on turning around their fortunes as they hope to protect under-fire manager Slaven Bilic.
Bilic's future has been thrown in doubt following the Hammers' disappointing form this season.
Having won only two of nine Premier League games, West Ham currently sit two places above the demotion zone, and the situation gets worse upon realising that the side are tied on points with relegation-trapped Everton.
Editors' Picks
"It's not been easy, it's been a tough time, but we have a lot of quality players and we need to stick together and keep fighting as a team and we'll get out of this situation," Ayew said, as reported by his club's official website.
"When you're in a club like West Ham and the results are difficult, the manager is under pressure, and the players are too, but we just need to keep working hard.
"The manager knows the players are behind him and will give everything, not just for him but for themselves too, because we have to wear the shirt with pride.
"We're going to do everything to get some points and get out of that zone. There is a fighting spirit and we need to do it week-in, week-out."
Following last weekend's shocking 3-0 home defeat to new boys Brighton and Hove Albion, reports were that Bilic was going to be sacked should he fail to get a good result in Wednesday's League Cup clash with Tottenham.
Fair to say, that the 49-year-old still has his job is down to Ayew, who hit two goals to draw West Ham level from two goals down, before Angelo Ogbonna fetched the winner to complete the comeback against Tottenham.
"This is a good win for confidence," Ayew said.
"It's a derby with Tottenham at Wembley and we were losing 2-0 at half-time, so there are a lot of things from this which smell good."
West Ham play away to Crystal Palace on matchday 10 of the Premier League on Saturday.


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There are certain things that some of us have been waiting patiently for years for. A potential Spice Girls reunion with all five members is one of them. We don't know about you, but we haven't stopped saying a zig a zig ah.
Recently news has broken out that the most iconic girlband of all time may be reuniting in 2018, which then sent chills down the spines of every 90s girl power advocate worldwide.
According to the Independent newspaper in the UK, Mel C has reportedly been working quietly with the band's former boss Simon Fuller over the past few months to bring Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell back together for the one-off special, with a compilation record expected to be released next year. We cannot contain our excitement.
A source told the newspaper: 'The five of them have been locked in secret talks since the summer, and finally they are all on-board for a 2018 reunion.
Previously the stars reunited for the Olympics way back when in 2012, and then later on when they wrote a musical, however Victoria was not involved for that as she was busy launching her now famous fashion line. However hopefully now she is on board so that all five of our favorite pop stars can reunite and sing 'I tell you what I want what I really really want'
This will make so many dreams come true, watch this space for more details soon…
Life-Changing Reasons to Make November a Booze-Free Month
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The truth about DNA Tests
DNA tests are all the rage lately. People want to know where they come from and they want to find ...


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For me as a Pagan, Lammas is a religious holiday which I observe on the first two days of August. Lammas is the first of the harvest festivals, the celebration of bringing in the cereal crops, hence it's name, a derivation of the Medieval 'Loaf Mass'. For me it is a time of looking back over the year and considering the fruits of the seeds I have planted in my life. There is still time to plant, though, so I also consider what else I want to do to get to where I want to be come October, and Hallowe'en.
In the last post, I talked about the cartoon I made to commemorate the 'Help for Heroes' charity match. It was a big deal for me that there were three professional artists there who all praised my work with enthusiasm. And the recipient clearly liked it too!
(And then, when I arrived here in Sussex, at the home of our friends, I found that they had framed and hung a little cartoon I did of them last time we were here - I was so touched!)
This time last year, I would never have even put pen to paper, let alone let anybody see my drawings. And I had totally forgotten how to use watercolours. The seeds I have planted this year have been about my art - about getting out of my own way and drawing and painting, in whatever small way I feel I can, without judgement. I won't say without fear, because its still a scarey process just to get me as far as the drawingboard, but its a start. Lately I've begun to feel I am really getting the hang of it, and the General's cartoon was an enormous milestone. So this is the 'loaf' I am celebrating this Lammas, the fruits of my labours, the first step on my way to becoming more 'myartistself'.
Enough of the cereal crop, then. What will the Autumn Equinox bring, the fruit crop of my life?


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Please find our selection of silk scarves in the menu on the right. All scarves are printed with a découpage design by Anne-Kathrine Stoffregen and made of 100% fine silk.
You can purchase the scarves by using our contact form or by calling 0045 70204058.
The scarves are DKK 990,- (€132) apiece and shipping is free!


text: Ladies Breakfast - 26th January 2019 Details Created: Monday, 04 June 2018 07:44 From 9:30am until 11:00am on Saturday 26h January 2019 there will be a Ladies Breakfast at the Rock Centre for £2. All are Welcome - Come and Blessed! Please contact us if you want to know more information. Prev Next


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The Lazy Girl's Secret To Endless Energy
We all know of electrolytes but we tend to think of them only when we are sick and can't keep anything down and/or in. But electrolytes are important every moment of our life. If you want to start running, your brain starts the signal that initiates a complicated series of timed muscle actions. Wiggle your finger. Blink your eye. Every sequence of these is both timed and controlled by electrolytes.
Body fluids are primarily water and electrolytes and there are 4 of them: Sodium, (Na) Potassium, (K), Magnesium (Mg), and Calcium (Ca). Electrolytes are vital for cellular function and especially necessary for high performance.
Simply put, without them we could not exist… even with the absence of just one of the basic 4 electrolyte minerals, we would be toast.
We lose our electrolytes not only because of illness but due to stress, poor diet, medications, exercise, and yes, illness. I have a lot of sick patients who can't seem to hang onto their electrolytes. It has helped patients with migraines as well as fatigue. Of course it helps with muscle cramps, and often with sleep.
Even folks with healthy GI tracts can benefit though. My husband is a home builder and so he's outside working on a daily basis. Using an electrolyte replacement has made a HUGE difference in his energy through the day. Huge. He used to come home and be spent after a days work, even if he stayed on top of drinking enough water. Now, he takes a swig or two of an electrolyte replacement through the day and he's home mowing the lawn and irrigating. Did you hear that ladies? I can't say it'll get YOUR husband off the couch but it works 'round here!
The list of functions that electrolytes control is endless but include:
- temperature control
- fluid level
- cardiac arrhythmia
- respiratory rate
- digestion
- fluid transport across cells
- ion transport
- renal function (bladder control)
- neurological function
- signal transduction
- thought
- memory
- all the senses both gathering information and then transporting that message to the brain and to the muscles including the sense of touch
- energy production
- glucose metabolism
Several of these functions influence what we call muscle cramps. Besides being sick, that is the other time that we tend to think of electrolytes.
I think you get the point right?!
You cannot provide the body with the optimal level of energy until you balance the electrolytes required by all the molecules within the body. Read this again and again until you can say it without looking.
Here's the kicker though. It's important that your electrolyte replacement beverage does NOT contain added or unnatural sugar. Sweet drinks add a burden to metabolic control by forcing the production of insulin to balance your blood sugar levels. So not only do these drinks do little to enhance performance, it's quite possible that the extra sugar they add is doing more to slow you down. Electrolytes are replenished to improve function and performance; not satisfy your sweet tooth and give you a years supply of artificial colorings.
I bring all of this up because summer is fast upon us. Yes, I think we should have balanced electrolytes all year but summer is when we tend to really sweat and thus lose them.
If we are hiking and it's not convenient to pack a large quantity of liquid, my electrolyte replacement of choice is E-Lyte or it's also called Balanced Electrolyte Concentrate. It contains no sugar and is the exact ratio of electrolytes that is in our body. Nothing else. Does it taste good? No. Well, if you think the Pacific Ocean tastes great then you'll love this. But, do I feel better after exercise or working outside in the heat? Absolutely. Knowing what I know, sometimes I even take it just because I feel a little "off" and maybe it's psychological but I think it helps. I KNOW it helps with my cardio days in the gym. I also know it keeps me going when we work outside all weekend.
If we are at home, I prefer coconut water. It does have a sweet taste, because it is from a sweet food, the coconut right? But I believe that when mother nature makes it, we're golden. When man starts to create "food" or "beverage" in a lab (gatorade, powerade), we're toying with disaster. It just takes us years to figure it out and by then, a lot of people are sick!
If you are a patient, you probably already have an account established with www.emersonecologics.com. If you aren't a patient already, follow the link and establish a new account using the codes HL2012 and 59044 (upper right hand corner when you get there.) The electrolyte product I mentioned has a code you can put in the search bar; it is "BALAN" and if you purchase at Emerson, you'll save 15% off the retail price which always beats the Amazon price.
To your best health!


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The work "A deep learning approach to prioritize customer service using social networks", written by Paulo Amora, Elvis Teixeira, Gabriel Maia, Isabel Lima and Javam Machado, was accepted for the 5th Symposium on Knowledge Discovery, Mining and Learning (KDMiLe), which will occur in Uberlândia.
According to one of the researchers, Paulo Amora, "the work investigates how the Sentimental Analysis strategy can assist customer service by manifestations in social media. In addition to proposing a strategy for identifying urgent claims, it compares several machine learning techniques for this application".
KDMiLe, which focuses on data mining and machine learning, has been taking place concomitantly with Simpósio Brasileiro de Banco de Dados (SBBD), the Brazilian Database Symposium (SBBD), since 2013. Articles are evaluated for their originality, relevance, technique and clarity of presentation.


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Two of the best female skaters from Argentina, Euge Ginepro and Tati DiSanto have landed themselves a spot in the "Girls Do" feature in online magazine Surfarte. It's a great looking piece and an interesting read – check out the whole of the 7th edition here.
(c) Photo: Girls Assault


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Kitchen is one of the most important spaces within a residence. Not only does it serve as a place to get together for the morning coffee, but also facilitates all kinds of cooking activities. Almost every homeowner dreams about having a nice and convenient kitchen that suits their requirements effectively.
Fortunately, getting the ideal space to brush up one's culinary skills is now easy, all thanks to the advent of modern bespoke modular kitchens. They are customised as per the specifications of a homeowner as well as the unique style of their abode. They can be bought from any business that offers made to order furniture in Berkshire. But the question is, why should anyone opt for bespoke modular kitchen? In order to make things clear for consumers, experts have explained the benefits of this amazing furniture:
- Custom made modular kitchens grant homeowners the freedom to pick from a wide range of available styles as per the existing decor of their house. A buyer can even choose to conjunct various styles for reflecting their own taste.
- They fit appropriately within the amount of space available. In case the buyer has space problems, he or she can have the bespoke furniture prepared accordingly for ensuring that the piece fits perfectly.
- They are far more practical than their regular counterparts due to their inherent convenient features. Moreover, their storage capacity can be constructed intelligently to accommodate everything that the user wants to store.
- The buyer can select the surface materials as per their preferences and choice. For instance, materials that resist stains, scratches and heat can be incorporated as backsplashes and countertops.
Thus, there are plenty of ways that a bespoke modular kitchen can be beneficial for a homeowner. However, before making plans to buy one, it is important to spend some time doing research on the material options available. To be more specific, going through the pros and cons of those material options is important. Besides that, comparing their standard costs is also important. Although these tasks can feel time-consuming, they would help to make a more informed decision.
Another thing that must be taken into account is finding a reputed business who will be able to craft the modular kitchen as per desired specifications. To locate the most efficient one, one can compare different service providers online by going through their client feedback and portfolio. The most competent one will have plenty of positive reviews from their previous customers.


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Big Red can Hit!!
As Chris Shelton's two run homer flew out of Comerica Park in the ninth inning Sunday to tie the game, I couldn't help but to think that this guy could be something special. It's not often you see a player with such limited professional experience get to the big leagues and immediately hit. Shelton had a grand total of 46 at bats last year in his Rule 5 season with the Tigers. He hit.196 with one home run and three RBI. This year, after 43 at bats, he's hitting .302 with 2 homers and 10 RBI. The difference? Last season Shelton had 46 at bats…ALL YEAR! As a Rule 5 pick, the Tigers had to keep him on the roster the entire season or risk losing him.
With sporadic at bats and nothing more that catching bullpen sessions to keep him busy, it was a tough year for Chris to swallow. He did not however waste the year. He took every opportunity to learn what it takes to get to the big league level and to stay. Tigers hitting coach Bruce Fields managed Shelton this past off season in the Arizona Fall League, a winter league comprised of many of the game's top young prospects. After only 46 at bats in the big leagues, Shelton went on to tear up the AFL. He hit .404 and was the league's MVP. "For him to do that after basically sitting the entire year in the big leagues is incredible," Fields said.
The former University of Utah Utes star has also seemingly mastered the art of DH'ing. The designated hitter is very rarely a young guy. The best DH's in the past have been veterans who have had the ability to be able to hit and then sit and wait a half hour for the next at bat. Guys like Harold Baines and Edgar Martinez. For Shelton, it's no sweat. "I did it a lot in college and in the minors," he said. "I'm able to find ways to fill time between at bats. I like to watch their pitcher for patterns he may be using. It's just a matter of finding ways to fill the down time while you wait for your next at bat."
Part of the reason the Pirates let Shelton go in the draft may have been the feeling that he wasn't as good defensively as some others in their system. Chris played first at Toledo this season and caught a handful of games before his call- up. In Detroit, he has played first and DH. While he may not have the glove of a Carlos Pena, he has provided something that Carlos couldn't: a spark offensively. There is a saying in baseball: "If you can hit, they'll find a place for you."
Chris Shelton can hit.
1 Comment
As a avid Tiger fan and a regular viewer and a 2 time Tiger fantasy camper I am enjoying the play of Chris Shelton. How ever I here you and Rod call Chris Big Red.
I have a nick name for him that I feel better fits.
How about " Orange Crush"
With Chris's orange hair and the way he is crushing the ball. Of course it is a take off on a popular soda pop ( Orange Crush). What do you guys think?
Bob Huston of Oxford, Michigan.
Keep up the great work!


text:
US President Donald Trump (seen here with wife Melania) has arrived in Brussels on the eve of a tense NATO summit where he is set to clash with allies over defence spending.
BRUSSELS - US President Donald Trump will harangue European allies for not spending enough on their defence on Wednesday as NATO begins its most difficult summit in years, as a yawning transatlantic rift widens.
Trump set the tone for the two-day meeting as he touched down in Brussels, tweeting a demand that NATO allies "reimburse" the United States for defence costs.
Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are also delinquent for many years in payments that have not been made. Will they reimburse the U.S.?— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2018
His stance earned him a summit eve rebuke by EU President Donald Tusk who said that Trump should "appreciate" his allies and that the United States didn&39;t have many.
While NATO officials and diplomats will try to promote an image of unity in the face of growing unease about the threat from Russia, the tensions between Brussels and the White House are growing ever sharper.
Trump said before leaving Washington that his meeting in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Monday "may be the easiest" part of his European tour, which also includes a trip to Britain, where the government is in crisis over Brexit.
And he vowed not to be "taken advantage" of by the European Union, which he accuses of freeloading by relying on the United States for its defence while restricting US imports into the bloc, the world&39;s biggest market.
- &39;Appreciate your allies&39; -
The meeting of 29 Western leaders has the potential to turn into another public bust-up following a divisive and bad-tempered summit of G7 nations in Canada last month.
Trump has ramped up his rhetoric ahead of the talks, explicitly linking NATO with the transatlantic trade row.
"The European Union makes it impossible for our farmers and workers and companies to do business in Europe, and then they want us to happily defend them through NATO, and nicely pay for it. Just doesn't work!" he tweeted as he arrived in Brussels.
European officials have expressed hopes that NATO members can paper over their differences but Tusk&39;s salvo exposed the deep transatlantic divisions.
- Spending demands -
There have been fears that Trump, keen to be seen to make a breakthrough with the Kremlin strongman, might make concessions that would weaken Western unity over issues like Ukraine and Syria.
Trump set the stage for clashes at the summit by writing to around a dozen allies to berate them for lagging on a 2014 pledge to try to spend two percent of GDP on defence by 2024.
According to a joint declaration prepared in advance of the summit, part of which was seen by AFP, NATO members will make an "unwavering commitment to all aspects of the defence investment pledge agreed at the 2014 Wales Summit" which includes the two percent target.
But in a bid to appease the US president, they also vow to "submit credible national plans on its implementation".
However new figures published Tuesday will do little to satisfy Trump&39;s demands -- they show that only seven European NATO countries will reach the two percent target in 2018.
Crucially, they do not include Germany, Europe&39;s biggest economy and prime target for Trump&39;s invective, which is on course to spend just 1.24 percent of GDP on defence in 2018.
US ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison told reporters that Trump would also recommit to one of the founding articles of NATO -- Article 5 -- which holds that an attack on one member is an attack on them all.


text:
The Quran
Commentaries for
Al Baqara (The cow) - البقرة
1 - Al Fatiha (The opening)
2 - Al Baqara (The cow)
3 - Al Imran (The family of Imran)
4 - An Nisa (The women)
5 - Al Maida (The food)
6 - Al Anam (Cattle)
7 - Al Araf (The heights)
8 - Al Anfal (Spoils of war)
9 - Al Tawba (Immunity)
10 - Yunus (Jonah)
11 - Hud
12 - Yusuf (Joseph)
13 - Ar Rad (The thunder)
14 - Ibrahim (Abraham)
15 - Al Hijr (The rock)
16 - An Nahl (The bee)
17 - Bani Israil (The Israelites)
18 - Al Kahf (The cave)
19 - Maryamn (Mary)
20 - Ta-Ha
21 - Al Anbiya (The prophets)
22 - Al Hajj (The pilgrimage)
23 - Al Muminun (The believers)
24 - An Nur (The light)
25 - Al Furqan (The discrimination)
26 - Ash Shuara (The poets)
27 - An Naml (The ant)
28 - Al Qasas (The narrative)
29 - Al Ankabut (The spider)
30 - Ar Rum (The Romans)
31 - Luqman
32 - As Sajda (The adoration)
33 - Al Ahzab (The allies)
34 - Al Saba (The Saba)
35 - Al Fatir (The angels)
36 - Ya Sin
37 - As Saffat (Those who set up ranks)
38 - Saad
39 - Az Zumar (The troops)
40 - Al Ghafir (The forgiver)
41 - Fussilat (Explained in detail)
42 - Ash Shura (The council)
43 - Az Zukhruf (Gold)
44 - Ad Dukhan (Drought)
45 - Al Jathiya (Kneeling)
46 - Al Ahqaf (The dunes)
47 - Muhammad
48 - Al Fath (Victory)
49 - Al Hujraat (The apartments)
50 - Qaf
51 - Adh Dhariyat (The scatterers)
52 - At Tur (The mount)
53 - An Najm (The star)
54 - Al Qamar (The Moon)
55 - Ar Rahman (The beneficent)
56 - Al Waqia (The event)
57 - Al Hadid (Iron)
58 - Al Mujadila (The pleading woman)
59 - Al Hashr (Exile)
60 - Al Mumtahana (The examined woman)
61 - As Saff (The ranks)
62 - Al Jumua (The congregation)
63 - Al Munafiqun (The hypocrites)
64 - At Taghabun (Manifestation of losses)
65 - At Talaq (Divorce)
66 - At Tahrim (Prohibition)
67 - Al Mulk (The kingdom)
68 - Al Qalam (The pen)
69 - Al Haqqa (The reality)
70 - Al Maarij (Ascending stairways)
71 - Nuh (Noah)
72 - Al Jinn (The Jinn)
73 - Al Muzzammil (The enshrouded one)
74 - Al Muddaththir (The cloaked one)
75 - Al Qiyama (Resurrection)
76 - Al Insan (Man)
77 - Al Mursalat (The emissaries)
78 - An Naba (The tidings)
79 - An Naziat (Those who yearn)
80 - Abasa (He frowned)
81 - At Takwir (The folding up)
82 - Al Infitar (The cleaving)
83 - Al Mutaffifin (The cheats)
84 - Al Isnhiqaq (Splitting open)
85 - Al Buruj (The stars)
86 - At Tariq (The morning star)
87 - Al Ala (The most high)
88 - Al Ghashiya (The overwhelming)
89 - Al Fajr (The dawn)
90 - Al Balad (The city)
91 - Ash Shams (The Sun)
92 - Al Lail (The night)
93 - Ad Duhaa (The brightness of day)
94 - Al Inshirah (The expansion)
95 - At tin (The fig)
96 - Al Alaq (The clot)
97 - Al Qadr (The power)
98 - Al Bayyina (Clear proof)
99 - Al Zalzala (The shaking)
100 - Al Adiyat (The assaulters)
101 - Al Qaria (The calamity)
102 - At Takathur (Abundance of wealth)
103 - Al Asr (The time)
104 - Al Humaza (The slanderer)
105 - Al Fil (The elephant)
106 - Quraish (The Quraish)
107 - Al Maun (Almsgiving)
108 - Al Kauthar (Abundance)
109 - Al Kafirun (The disbelievers)
110 - An Nasr (Divine support)
111 - Al Lahab (The flame)
112 - Al Ikhlas (The unity)
113 - Al Falaq (Dawn)
114 - An Nas (Mankind)
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Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn 'Abbâs
Then He mentioned the favours enjoyed by the believers in Paradise, saying: (And give glad tidings unto those who believe) in Muhammad (pbuh) and in the Qur'an (and do good works) of obedience that bind to their Lord; and it is also that this refers to doing any righteous deeds; (that theirs are Gardens beneath which), trees and habitations, (rivers flow) rivers of wine, milk, honey and water; (as often as they are provided with food), whenever they are fed in Paradise (of the fruit thereof) with different kinds of fruit, (they say: This is what was given us before), this is what we ate before, (and it is given to them) i.e. the food (in resemblance) as far as the colour is concerned but not the taste which is different. (There for them) in Paradise (are pure spouses), pure from menses or any kind of filth, (therein), in Paradise, (forever they abide) dwelling forever: never to die or be banished from it.
Asrar - Kashf Al-Asrar
And give good news to those who have faith.
This verse is a caress for the friends, giving them hope for everlasting largesse and bliss, and an encouragement to the faithful, inciting them to obey and to seek increase of blessings. The previous verse warns the strangers against confusion in the heart and associationism on the tongue, and it threatens with the fire of punishment and the harshness of being cut off from the Real. The person of faith is he who becomes frightened and without ease when he hears the first verse and thinks about the chastisement of hell. He becomes happy when he hears the second verse, he makes his heart fast and his hope strong, and he brings ease into his heart. The Lord of the Worlds praises both the frightened and the one at ease. Concerning the frightened He says, "The faithful are only those whose hearts quake when God is remembered" [8:2]. Concerning the one at ease He says, "Those who have faith and whose hearts are serene in the remembrance of God" [13:28]. The custom of the Generous Lord is that whenever He sends a verse of fear with which He frightens the servants, after it He sends down a verse of hope and mercy to give ease to their hearts so that they will not despair.
And give good news to those who have faith. Let there be good news for all those who are today in the playing field of service, for tomorrow they will be in the assembly of repose and ease [56:89]. Not everyone who reaches the paradise of approval will reach the generous gift of repose and ease. The paradise of approval is the furthest limit of the pleasure of the worshipful servants,
and repose and ease is the kiblah of the spirits of the lovers. The paradise of approval is the High Chambers and the Abode of Peace. Repose and ease in the Presence of At-ness is the gift for the spirit of the passionate. Everyone who watches over his actions will reach the paradise of approval; everyone who watches over his breaths will reach repose and ease.
Who can explain this repose and ease and how can it be given expression!? When something does not come to the tongue, how can it be explained? A wind begins to blow from the World of the Unseen that is called "the wind of bounty.
" Clouds begin to gather that are called "the clouds of kindness." A rain begins to fall that is called "the rain of gentleness." The rain brings forth a flood that is called "the flood of love."
A flood must take away both worlds
so that no one again may suffer the world's grief.
The flood of love that is appointed for this makeup of water and dust leaves no mark of water, no news of dust. No name of mortal nature remains, no trace of human nature. Put aside every preoccupation that arises from water and clay and every confusion that comes from mortal and human nature so that you may reach nonbeing. Then pass beyond nonbeing to reach repose and ease.
I saw in secret the world and the root of the universe, I passed beyond defect and repute with ease.
And that black light-know that it is beyond the non-pointedthat too I passed; neither this nor that remained.
Jalal - Al-Jalalayn
And give good tidings to, inform, those who believe, who have faith in God, and perform righteous deeds, such as the obligatory and supererogatory [rituals], that theirs shall be Gardens, of trees, and habitations, underneath which, that is, underneath these trees and palaces, rivers run (tajrī min tahtihā'l-anhāru), that is, there are waters in it (al-nahr is the place in which water flows [and is so called] because the water carves [yanhar] its way through it; the reference to it as 'running' is figurative); whensoever they are provided with fruits therefrom, that is, whenever they are given to eat from these gardens, they shall say, 'This is what, that is, the like of what we were provided with before', that is, before this, in Paradise, since its fruits are similar (and this is evidenced by [the following statement]): they shall be given it, the provision, in perfect semblance, that is, resembling one another in colour, but different in taste; and there for them shall be spouses, of houris and others, purified, from menstruation and impurities; therein they shall abide: dwelling therein forever, neither perishing nor departing therefrom. And when the Jews said, 'Why does God strike a similitude about flies, where He says, And if a fly should rob them of anything [Q. 22:73] and about a spider, where He says, As the likeness of the spider [Q. 29:41]: what does God want with these vile creatures? God then revealed the following:
Kashani - Kashani
And give good tidings to those who believe, in the Maker and who have performed deeds that make them good for Paradise in accordance with their knowledge of the unity of [God's] acts, [give them good tidings] that they shall have what they want and desire over and above what they imagined and longed for, because of the indefinite form of 'Gardens'. Gardens underneath which rivers run are the most splendid and delightful that a place can be and the most pleasurable and sweetest that a desired thing can be for the people of this world, for these [gardens] for their souls are of the same kind as the gardens of this world but purer than them, commensurate with the physicality of the final return, which is real as you shall see;
[and perform righteous deeds, that theirs shall be Gardens underneath which rivers run]
whensoever they are provided with fruits therefrom, they shall say, 'This is what we were provided with before', in this world as they are familiar with them; and they shall be given it, [this] provision, in perfect semblance, being stations for their hearts, such as [the station of] reliance, for example, and the lushest gardens of the world of the Holy every rank of which produces rivers of knowledge that profit the wayfarers and benefit the malady of those spiritually thirsty who are yearning, while the fruits are the wisdoms and the gnostic sciences. As for their saying This is what we were provided with before, this is an allusion to the fact that such sciences and wisdoms are fixed for the heart in its state of disengagement, but become veiled from it when it is preoccupied with matters of the physical world upon its attachement to it, forgetting them as a result and only remembering them upon its being disengaged from its vestments. For the Prophet said: 'Wisdom is the believer's ultimate goal'; [and there for them shall be spouses purified]: [these are] spouses for their souls, black-eyed houris pure of any lewdness and untouched, and for their hearts [the spouses are] the holy souls pure of the blemishes of physical nature and the impurity of the elements, but there is no Paradise for their spirits because these are veiled from the witnessing; [therein they shall abide].
Kathir - Ibn Al Kathir
Rewards of Righteous Believers
After mentioning the torment that Allah has prepared for His miserable enemies who disbelieve in Him and in His Messengers, He mentions the condition of His happy, loyal friends who believe in Him and in His Messengers, adhere to the faith and perform the good deeds. This is the reason why the Qur'an was called Mathani, based on the correct opinion of the scholars. We will elaborate upon this subject later. Mathani means to mention faith and then disbelief, or vice versa. Or, Allah mentions the miserable and then the happy, or vice versa. As for mentioning similar things, it is called Tashabbuh, as we will come to know, Allah willing. Allah said,
وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَـرُ
(And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise)). Consequently, Allah stated that Paradise has rivers that run beneath it, meaning, underneath its trees and rooms. From Hadiths it is learned that the rivers of Paradise do not run in valleys, and that the banks of Al-Kawthar (the Prophet's lake in Paradise) are made of domes of hollow pearls, the sand of Paradise is made of scented musk while its stones are made from pearls and jewels. We ask Allah to grant Paradise to us, for verily, He is the Most Beneficent, Most Gracious.
Ibn Abi Hatim reported that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
«أَنْهَارُ الْجَنَّةِ تَفَجَّرُ تَحْتَ تِلَالٍ أَوْ مِنْ تَحْتِ جِبَالِ الْمِسْك»
(The rivers of Paradise spring from beneath hills, or mountains of musk.)
He also reported from Masruq that `Abdullah said, "The rivers of Paradise spring from beneath mountains of musk.''
The similarity between the Fruits of Paradise
Allah said next,
كُلَّمَا رُزِقُواْ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقاً قَالُواْ هَـذَا الَّذِى رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ
(Every time they will be provided with a fruit therefrom, they will say: "This is what we were provided with before'').
Ibn Abi Hatim reported that Yahya bin Abi Kathir said, "The grass of Paradise is made of saffron, its hills from musk and the boys of everlasting youth will serve the believers with fruits which they will eat. They will then be brought similar fruits, and the people of Paradise will comment, `This is the same as what you have just brought us.' The boys will say to them, `Eat, for the color is the same, but the taste is different. Hence Allah's statement,
وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَـبِهاً
(and they will be given things in resemblance). Abu Ja`far Ar-Razi narrated that Ar-Rabi` bin Anas said that Abu Al-`Aliyah said that,
وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَـبِهاً
(and they will be given things in resemblance) means, "They look like each other, but the taste is different.'' Also, `Ikrimah said,
وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَـبِهاً
(and they will be given things in resemblance) "They are similar to the fruits of this life, but the fruits of Paradise taste better. '' Sufyan Ath-Thawri reported from Al-A`mash, from Abu Thubyan, that Ibn `Abbas said, "Nothing in Paradise resembles anything in the life of this world, except in name.'' In another narration, Ibn `Abbas said, "Only the names are similar between what is in this life and what is in Paradise.''
The Wives of the People of Paradise are Pure
Allah said,
وَلَهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ
(and they shall have therein Azwajun Mutahharatun). Ibn Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "Purified from filth and impurity.'' Also, Mujahid said, "From menstruation, relieving the call of nature, urine, spit, semen and pregnancies.'' Also, Qatadah said, "Purified from impurity and sin.'' In another narration, he said, "From menstruation and pregnancies.'' Further, `Ata', Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak, Abu Salih, `Atiyah and As-Suddi were reported to have said similarly.
Allah's statement,
وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَـلِدُونَ
(and they will abide therein forever) meaning ultimate happiness, for the believers will enjoy everlasting delight, safe from death and disruption of their bliss, for it never ends or ceases. We ask Allah to make us among these believers, for He is the Most Generous, Most Kind and Most merciful.
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
It will be a pleasant surprise for the dwellers of Paradise to have fruits just like the ones with which they were familiar on the earth. Of course, they will be much more delicious. For instance, they will be like mangoes, pomegranates, oranges, etc., in shape and colour and the dwellers of Paradise will at once recognize them as such but they will be infinitely more delicious than the mangoes, pomegranates and oranges of the world.
The word azwaj (sing. zauj) as used in the original is used both for the husband and for the wife: the wife is zauj for the husband, and the husband zauj for the wife. In Paradise the spouses will be joined on the basis of piety. For instance, if a certain man lived a pious life in this world, but his wife did not, their marriage will be dissolved in the Hereafter, and the pious man will be united with another pious woman whose marriage had similarly been dissolved and so on. But if both the husband and the wife led pious lives here, they will continue to live as husband and wife for ever in Paradise.
Qushairi - Al-Qushairi
And give glad tidings to those who believe and perform righteous deeds that theirs shall be gardens underneath which rivers run The glad tidings of the gardens are included to inform [us] of the blessings that await the general body of believers according to the description which is explained in the tafsīr literature. In addition to these blessings [the verse] alludes to the glad tidings for the elite-immediate blessings that God has granted to them specifically. That which is to come is the gardens of the reward mathwaba while these are the gardens of nearness qurba. Those [for believers] are the meadows of recreation nuzha while these [for the elite] are the meadows of intimacy zulfa. Those are the gardens of favors afḌāl while these are the gardens of communion wiṣāl. Those are the raising of degrees darajāt while these are the refreshment of intimate conversation munājāt. That is the matter of His generosity jūd while this is independence through His existence wujūd. That is the refreshment of mortal beings abshār while this is the promenade of the innermost selves asrār. That is the kindness of giving to the external forms ẓawāhir while this is the unveiling of the covering from the innermost secrets of hearts sarāÌir. That is the kindness of His gifts and favors wa-tilka luṬfu nawālihi wa-afḌalihi while this is the unveiling of His Beauty and Majesty wa-hadhihi kashfu jamālihi wa-jalālihi. whensoever they are provided with fruits therefrom they shall say " This is what we were provided with before " ; they shall be given it in perfect semblance; and there for them shall be spouses purified; therein they shall abide. The blessings of the people of the garden will be renewed for them in every moment. They will think that the second [blessings] will be like the first but when they taste it they will find it beyond what came first. Similarly the states of the innermost consciousnesses of the people of realities are forever rising. When one of them has risen from one place he imagines that what he will meet in this [new] breath will be like what came previously. When he tastes it he finds it more than that many times over just as the one who spoke for them said: From your love I kept stopping at a waystation. The bewilderment of the deepest hearts does not stop.
Tustari - Al-Tustari
…They shall be given it [the fruits] in perfect semblance; …and there for them shall be spouses, purified…,He replied:In Paradise there are no carpets, vessels, clothes, perfume, birds or plants, nor any fruits [as we know them]. Thus the semblance that the things of this world bear to those [mentioned in the verse] is no more than a coincidence in their names. So the pomegranate of this world does not in the least resemble the pomegranate in Paradise, except in name. The same is the case with resemblance of the date, the jujube and other such fruits [to those of Paradise]. What is intended in His saying in [perfect] semblance is only a likeness in colour, for there is a differencein taste. When in Paradise the angels bring an apple to the friends of God (awliyāʾ) during the day, and then they bring them another during the night, and they ask, 'Is this one [like the other]?' They are told, 'Taste it', and on tasting it they experience a different taste to that of the first one. It should not be discounted from God's ability, Exalted is He, that He could make an apple taste like a pomegranate, almond or quince.'Sahl continued:Indeed I know one of the friends of God (awliyāʾ) who saw on the seashore a man who had before him the biggest pomegranate that there ever was. The friend of God (walī) asked him what he had before him, to which he replied, 'It is a pomegranate that I saw in Paradise. I desired it so God granted it to me, but when He placed it before me I regretted my haste for having it while still in this world.' That man [the walī] asked, 'May I eat some of it?' and the man responded, 'If you have the capacity to eat it, then do so'; upon which he grabbed the fruit from him and ate most of it. When the man saw him eating the fruit he it was astounded and said, 'Receive glad tidings of Paradise, for I did not know your [spiritual] rank before you ate it; no one eats of the food of Paradise in this life except the people of Paradise.'Then Abū Bakr asked Sahl if the one who had eaten the pomegranate had informed him of its taste, to which he replied:He did, and its taste brings together the tastes of all fruits, and in addition it has a smoothness and coolness which is unlike any of the tastes [experienced] in this world.Then Abū Bakr commented, 'I have no doubt, nor does anyone who heard this story from Sahl, that he himself was in fact both the possessor of that pomegranate and the one who ate it.'Sahl was asked about His words:


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Steam/Violence Level: (Ranked from 1 to 5, as noted by the author): Steam Level 5
A romantic story of suspense and mystery begins to unfold the minute Rade Matheson, a handsome billionaire, meets Dylan Adams, a simple girl. Rade's obsession to catch the man who stole from him, ends up costing him the one thing he never thought he had. One wrong decision could cause him to lose her forever. Will the power of love prevail or will his secrets destroy the one thing he has only ever wanted, her.
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Market Research
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