text:
Allocation trade-off under climate warming in experimental amphibian populations
- Published
- Accepted
- Received
- Academic Editor
- Magnus Johnson
- Subject Areas
- Animal Behavior, Climate Change Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Studies, Zoology
- Keywords
- Trade-off, Allocation strategy, Reproduction, Climate change, Food availability, Experimental warming, Feeding rate, Phenology, Mesocosm, Climate warming
- Copyright
- © 2015 Gao et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2015. Allocation trade-off under climate warming in experimental amphibian populations. PeerJ 3:e1326 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1326
Climate change could either directly or indirectly cause population declines via altered temperature, rainfall regimes, food availability or phenological responses. However few studies have focused on allocation trade-offs between growth and reproduction under marginal resources, such as food scarce that may be caused by climate warming. Such critical changes may have an unpredicted impact on amphibian life-history parameters and even population dynamics. Here, we report an allocation strategy of adult anuran individuals involving a reproductive stage under experimental warming. Using outdoor mesocosm experiments we simulated a warming scenario likely to occur at the end of this century. We examined the effects of temperature (ambient vs. pre-/post-hibernation warming) and food availability (normal vs. low) on reproduction and growth parameters of pond frogs (Pelophylax nigromaculatus). We found that temperature was the major factor influencing reproductive time of female pond frogs, which showed a significant advancing under post-hibernation warming treatment. While feeding rate was the major factor influencing reproductive status of females, clutch size, and variation of body size for females, showed significant positive correlations between feeding rate and reproductive status, clutch size, or variation of body size. Our results suggested that reproduction and body size of amphibians might be modulated by climate warming or food availability variation. We believe this study provides some new evidence on allocation strategies suggesting that amphibians could adjust their reproductive output to cope with climate warming.
Climate change is predicted to play a crucial role in population declines and loss of diversity (Thomas et al., 2004). Under current climate warming, the responses of reproductive traits in many animals have attracted more global attention in recent research. Several examples included the mis-timing in reproduction under climate change in birds (Visser, Both & Lambrechts, 2004), the reproductive performance of the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) affected by rainfall regime (Marquis, Massot & Le Galliard, 2008), and an advanced reproductive time and increased clutch size under climate warming in the Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) (Zhang et al., 2009). As sensitive taxa, amphibians have been declining worldwide and some of them are facing a real threat of extinction (Pechmann et al., 1991; Houlahan et al., 2000). With the continuing trend of global warming, there may be increasing unpredictable impacts on amphibian fitness (Gouveia et al., 2013; Visser, 2013).
Climate change could either directly change amphibian survival rate and reproductive success via altered temperature and rainfall regimes, or indirectly, due to limited or increased food availability, or phenological responses (Carey & Alexander, 2003; Gouveia et al., 2013; Høye et al., 2014). Several studies have performed control experiments to obtain further information for assessing the impact of future climate warming on both amphibian larvae and adults (Garner, Rowcliffe & Fisher, 2011; O'Regan, Palen & Anderson, 2014). However, there were few experiments examining the allocation trade-off between growth and reproduction of marginal resources, which could affect life-history parameters and even population dynamics (Li, Cohen & Rohr, 2013). This is especially true for meso-scale experiments at a semi-natural state involving the allocation strategy for adult individuals under climate warming scenarios (Roff, 1992; Stewart et al., 2013). As ectothermic animals, amphibians have a typical positive relationship between metabolic rate and temperature (Gillooly et al., 2001; Dillon, Wang & Huey, 2010). For instance, the common toad (Bufo bufo) does not hibernate when exposed to a warmer temperature during the hibernation period (Jørgensen, 1986; Reading, 2007). Toads that did not hibernate showed lower growth rates, smaller body size at maturity, and higher mortality than ones that experienced hibernation, when food resources are provided ad libitum (Jørgensen, 1986; Reading, 2007). In addition, in a suitable temperature range, metabolic and developmental rates of amphibian larva increased with temperature (Álvarez & Nicieza, 2002; Narayan & Hero, 2014). A shorter larval period may lead to smaller size at metamorphosis under a fixed amount of resources due to a higher metabolic demand (Enriquez-Urzelai et al., 2013). However, an extreme thermal environment could also cause harmful effects for adult Rhinella marina (Narayan & Hero, 2014). Based on this evidence, we would expect that climate warming would cause an overall fitness reduction in amphibian populations even when food resources remain constant.
Climate change could also affect the food resources of many animals either in phenophase or in quantity (Huston & Wolverton, 2011; Visser, 2013). These variations in food resources may trigger unpredictable effects on phenophase, body condition, survival and reproduction (Reading, 2007; Gouveia et al., 2013; Visser, 2013; Fox et al., 2014). For instance, reproduction in birds can mismatch the phenology of their insect prey, plants can decrease their reproductive capacity as the result of increased insect abundance, and fish may miss the plankton's peak abundance (Kristiansen et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2011; Visser, 2013). On the other hand, an abundant food resource would lead to bigger clutch sizes and nestlings in birds (Arcese & Smith, 1988), and more cubs in mammals (Angerbjörn et al., 1991). In addition, the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) has an ability to flexibly allocate resources between reproduction and growth to deal with the fluctuation of food resources (Warne et al., 2012). Such variations in food resources may also affect the fitness of amphibians, which is shown in a controlled experiment with the common frogs (Rana temporaria) revealing that both the females' growth and reproduction respond positively to high food rations (Lardner & Loman, 2003). Based on such evidence, we predict that there should be a negative effect on amphibian fitness when food availability is reduced as a consequence of climate warming.
As animals with indefinite (indeterminate) growth, amphibians have to allocate their energy to survive, grow and reproduce (Kozlowski, 1996; Kozlowski & Teriokhin, 1999). Therefore, given a certain amount of energy, there is a trade-off between reproduction at the present and investment in growth for future reproduction, which should lead to an optimal allocation pattern for higher fitness (Roff, 1992; Kozlowski, 1996; Kozlowski & Teriokhin, 1999). In addition, the large-sized individuals have better fitness in reproduction than small ones in most amphibians (Duellman & Trueb, 1986; Wells, 2010). If the resources were invested in growing a larger body size, the individual would produce more offspring in the future. In the extreme case, the animal could distribute all surplus energy to growth and survival in order to avoid a period of harsh conditions for reproduction, or they would invest in reproduction to avoid disadvantages that might appear in the following seasons (Schwarzkopf, 1993; Roff, 2002). Some animals, such as S. undulatus have evolved an allocation strategy between growth and reproduction (Warne et al., 2012). However, how the allocation strategy between growth and reproduction would change under the current climate warming is unclear. Therefore, a controlled experiment on allocation strategy is an appropriate method that may be able to establish a mechanism generating the trade-off (Roff, 1992).
The pond frogs (Pelophylax nigromaculatus) is a common large-sized anuran species (mean snout-vent length ∼62 mm for males and ∼74 mm for females) widely distributed in Eastern Asia (Fei, 1999). The species is documented as reproducing once every year without parental care of eggs or tadpoles (Fei, 1999; Wang et al., 2009). It is an ideal animal to examine the changes of reproductive strategies and trade-offs for our study, since using it excludes other potential confounding effects, such as multiple clutches in a single breeding season and parental care of offspring.
In order to predict the potential effects of climate warming on life-history trade-offs of amphibians, it is necessary to implement appropriate experimental studies by controlling the interaction between temperature and food resources. In comparison with these fieldwork-based studies, outdoor mesocosm experiments could distinguish between the effects due to climate warming itself, and the variation in food availability caused by climate warming (Stewart et al., 2013). Hence, we performed a cross-year study using non-destructive measurement techniques to examine the effect of temperature scenarios (ambient vs. pre-/post-hibernation warming) and food levels (normal vs. low) on reproductive parameters and allocation strategies for reproduction. Our mesocosm setting imitated the microhabitats of this species and performed experimental warming under daily temperature fluctuations with an average of around 2.3 °C warmer than ambient temperature. Our study addressed the following questions: (1) whether there existed changes in reproductive parameters under these simulated scenarios of climate warming, (2) whether there existed a trade-off in allocating limited food for growth or reproduction on females, and (3) whether the allocation strategies were affected by temperature or feeding rate.
Materials and Methods
Ethics statement
The experiments were conducted under the approval of the Animal Care and Ethics Committee and carried out in accordance with the guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research issued by Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Project No. 2011/43).
Study background
The experiments were conducted in Yanchang Village, Taohua town (29.85°N, 122.26°E), northeast Zhejiang Province, China. The climate is typical of subtropical monsoonal regime with clear seasons, a mean annual temperature of 15.6–16.6 °C, and a mean annual precipitation of 936.3–1,330.2 mm (Zhoushan City Government, 1992). This frog is a dominant and common anuran species in this area, which generally reproduces from April to June in this region and usually spawns near submerged vegetation in shallow waters (Wang et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2009).
Experimental methods
We performed the study during 14th Oct 2011 to 14th Jul 2012 using 18 mesocosm units. Each of them was approximately 45.5 m2 (7 × 6.5 m), surrounded by walls of bricks (height 1.2 m). Each unit was covered by an arc-shaped steel frame covered with plastic films (during warming period) or insect screens (during other experimental period). We simulated the typical habitat of the species in each unit: the soil was substituted with deep-lay soil and floored with grass, a 3.6 m2 pond (3 × 1.2 m and depth 0.5 m) was dug at the middle of each unit. We provided refuges for frogs such as gaps around bricks, stones or tiles, and the frogs could also make holes on the soft ground by themselves (Fig. 1).
Our outdoor mesocosm experiments were designed with three temperature scenarios (ambient temperature, pre- and post-hibernation warming) and two food levels (normal and low). In total, six treatments were deployed: (i) control group, with ambient temperature and normal food level (CG), (ii) low food treatment, with ambient temperature and low food level (LF), (iii) pre-hibernation warming treatment, with normal food level (PreW), (iv) pre-hibernation warming and low food treatment (PreW-LF), (v) post-hibernation warming treatment, with normal food level (PostW), and (vi) post-hibernation warming and low food treatment (PostW-LF). Each treatment was replicated in 3 mesocosms, since our experiment designed as semi-natural study, the confined space of each mesocosm unit could not hold too many frogs. The pre-hibernation warming treatments (PreW and PreW-LF) were heated for 85 days (from 14th Oct 2011 to 7th Jan 2012, lasting 20 days; after which, all the frogs naturally went into hibernation) (Gao et al., 2015); analogously, the post-hibernation warming treatments (PostW and PostW-LF) were heated for 141 days (from 24th Feb 2012 to 14th Jul 2012, starting with 3 days of air temperature >8 °C, and lasting 60 days after the last natural spawning behavior). Both pre- and post-hibernation warming treatments used the greenhouse method (Gao et al., 2015). The air temperatures of pre- and post-hibernation warming periods were automatically regulated by real-time monitoring equipment that simulated a daily fluctuating temperature regime (Gao et al., 2015). We recorded air and water temperature of each mesocosm every hour using data-loggers (Jingchuang RC-500+) during the experimental periods. The air temperature was defined as the temperature 1 m above the ground surface, and the water temperature was defined as the temperature 10 cm below the water surface. The air and water temperature were highly correlated in these treatments (Pearson correlation test, ambient temperature: r = 0.991, P < 0.001; experimental warming: r = 0.984, P < 0.001; Fig. 2). Finally, we warmed the mesocosm 2.2–2.4 °C above the ambient temperature in pre-/post-hibernation warming period. The increases of temperature are consistent with the prediction range (1.8–4.0 °C) of global average surface temperature by the end of the century (IPCC, 2007).
In mid-October 2011, 270 frogs were captured from the wild in the town of Taohua and assigned to each mesocosm randomly (approximately 6 males and 9 females per mesocosm). Here, we acknowledged that the frogs were collected from one site, despite the fact that the clutch size of this species changes among different sites in the wild (Fei, 1999; Wang et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2009). Geographic and temporal variations in reproductive parameters are common phenomena in amphibians (Sparks et al., 2007; Camargo, Sarroca & Maneyro, 2008; Green & Middleton, 2013). However, our experiment is dealing with the change of reproductive parameters and allocation trade-off patterns, meaning that there should be qualitatively similar composition of individuals among treatments. Only then can we examine the changing trends of these frogs under experimental conditions (temperature and food) rather than those variations in geographic and temporal dimensions. In addition, we ignored the potential for diseases among experimental frogs, such as chytrids, since there is lack of evidence for risk of diseases in this area (Bai et al., 2012; Zhu et al., 2014a; Zhu et al., 2014b).
During the experiment, the frogs were artificially fed with standard commercial crickets one by one (Gryllus bimaculatus, approximately 15 mm long). The crickets were dusted with calcium powder and provided every night for the normal food level treatments (CG, PreW and PostW) and every 3 days for the low food level treatments (LF, PreW-LF and PostW-LF; equaling to 1/3 of the normal food level treatments; Leips & Travis, 1994). All frogs were divided into four weight classes (≤20 g, 20–40 g, 40–60 g and >60 g) at the beginning and supplied with corresponding cricket numbers 1:2:3:4 (Lardner & Loman, 2003). Each frog was assigned 1-minute feeding time since they preyed on the crickets immediately, after which we cleared uneaten crickets and recorded the information (Gao et al., 2015).
At the beginning of the experiment, each frog was measured. Then, they were marked with built-in PIT-tags (2 mm × 8 mm, HongTeng HT950) on the right thighs and each individual could be identified by a hand-held scanner (Kingdoes KD-Pi60) with unique identification code of its tag. During the experiment, we did not artificially induce the frogs to hibernation or reproduction, we only provided suitable environment for frogs and they were spontaneously entered into/emerged from hibernation and bred as they were in the wild. During post-hibernation warming period, the reproductive behaviors of frogs were observed every six hours (6:00, 12:00, 18:00 and 24:00), hence we could immediately record the breeding time, measure clutch size (egg number) and egg size (to reduce the human disturbance, the diameters of 100 eggs were measured, which were randomly sampled per clutch). After the eggs hatched, we released the tadpoles at the place where their parents were captured. At the end of our experiment, we measured the snout-vent length (SVL) and weight of the frogs and estimated their age by skeletochronology (Li et al., 2011), then we released all the frogs too.
Statistical analyses
After the experiment, we only use the data from females for this research. Given fact that male frogs may mate several times or indulge in post-mating clutch piracy (Vieites et al., 2004), it was difficult to determine which individuals actually reproduced in our experiment. We used Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests for detecting normality and Levene's tests to test for heterogeneity of variances. We logarithmically transformed the variances to minimize the heterogeneity if necessary (Zar, 2009). We defined reproductive time as the day number when the event occurred between the 1st of January (as day 1) and the 31th of December (as day 365; Visser & Both, 2005). We used a composite index of body size reflecting both SVL and weight based on the principal component analysis (PCA) scores of the SVL and weight data (see details in Lardner & Loman, 2003). Then, we used the variation of body size to reflect both changes in SVL and weight during the experiment, which was calculated as the difference between final and initial body size.
Because the parameter food level could not reflect the food availability of each individual, we used an index of feeding rate (crickets consumed per individual frog). The feeding rate was defined as the residual in a standardized major axis (SMA) regression of crickets consumed on original weight, using the smatr package for R software (Lardner & Loman, 2003; Warton et al., 2006; Warton & Ormerod, 2007). Because the metabolic rate may vary with temperature (Gillooly et al., 2001), we computed this index in each temperature scenario (hereafter, we used the feeding rate to represent the food level).
We examined the differences in reproductive status of individuals (reproductive or non-reproductive) in these treatments using binary logistic regression model with temperature, feeding rate, temperature × feeding rate, and initial body size as covariates. Further, we examined differences in reproductive time, clutch size, egg size, and the variation in body size among these treatments using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with temperature as a fixed factor, and feeding rate, temperature × feeding rate and initial body size (this variable might have effects on these reproductive parameters) as covariates. In addition, we used multiple linear regression models to examine the relationships among reproductive time, clutch size, egg size, and the variation in body size with temperature, feeding rate, temperature × feeding rate, and initial body size as predictors.
Clutch size investment was defined as the residual of clutch size on original body size by a SMA regression. Similarly, the egg size investment was calculated as the residual of egg size on original body size by a SMA regression. We examined differences in clutch size investment and egg size investment among these treatments using ANCOVA with temperature as a fixed factor, and feeding rate and temperature × feeding rate as covariates. After that, we calculated the residual of clutch size investment on egg size investment by a SMA regression and examined the residual for testing the clutch size/egg size investment trade-off by ANCOVA with temperature as fixed a factor, feeding rate, feeding rate × temperature as covariates. Then, we used the residual of a regression between clutch volume (π/6 × Egg size3 × Clutch size) and initial body size as a measure of reproduction investment index for these females that have laid eggs successfully. The reproduction investment index was calculated as the residual of clutch volume on original body size by a SMA regression. In addition, we used the residual of a SMA regression as the growth investment index, which was computed as final body size on original body size. We examined differences in reproduction investment and growth investment among these treatments using ANCOVA with temperature as a fixed factor, and feeding rate and temperature × feeding rate as covariates. Finally, we calculated the residual of reproduction investment on growth investment by a SMA regression and examined the residual for testing the reproduction/growth investment trade-off by ANCOVA with temperature as fixed factor, feeding rate, feeding rate × temperature as a covariates. Results were considered significant if P ≤ 0.05. All analyses were conducted using R v3.1.2 (R Development Core Team, 2012).
In total, 105 females survived and were included in our analyses, of which 37 individuals bred successfully. As our statistical analyses were related to initial body size, it was necessary to distribute initial body size equally among treatments. Our results showed that the following three body size classes were not significantly different among treatments: small (≤ − 0.5, n = 40; one-way ANOVA, F = 0.923, df = 5, P = 0.478), middle (−0.5–0.5, n = 39; F = 1.036, df = 5, P = 0.413) and large (≥0.5, n = 26; F = 1.548, df = 5, P = 0.220). The reproductive parameters of female P. nigromaculatus were highly variable among treatments. The individuals that bred successfully in the experimental treatments were from 17.7% (LF and PreW-LF, respectively) to 55.6% (PreW; Fig. 3). The reproductive time varied from day 90 (PostW) to day 127 (CG; Table 1). Clutch size ranged between 607 (PostW) and 4,553 (CG), while the egg size varied between 1.47 mm (PreW) and 1.64 mm (PostW; Table 1).
|Age (year)
|Reproduced individual
|Reproductive time (day)
|Clutch size
|Egg size (mm)
|2.4 ± 0.4
|118.6 ± 2.3
|1,804 ± 493
|1.58 ± 0.02
|2.4 ± 0.3
|118.3 ± 4.1
|1,195 ± 196
|1.56 ± 0.02
|2.9 ± 0.4
|114.6 ± 2.3
|2,133 ± 354
|1.55 ± 0.01
|2.5 ± 0.4
|116.3 ± 2.9
|1,166 ± 239
|1.55 ± 0.02
|2.6 ± 0.4
|106.9 ± 3.3
|1,604 ± 411
|1.58 ± 0.02
|2.6 ± 0.4
|102.0 ± 4.8
|1,298 ± 188
|1.56 ± 0.01
The binary logistic regression showed that there were significant and positive relationships between the reproductive status of female P. nigromaculatus and feeding rate (β = 0.014, P = 0.031), and initial body size (β = 5.256, P < 0.001). However, there was no significant relationship between reproductive status and either temperature (P = 0.153) or temperature × feeding rate interaction (P = 0.759) among the treatments.
Because the random factors (replicates) were not significant (Table S1), we removed it from the ANCOVA models in order to increase statistical power. The ANCOVAs showed that reproductive time, clutch size and the variation in body size for female P. nigromaculatus differed among experimental treatments (Figs. 4A–4C), but egg size did not (Fig. 4D). After controlling for initial body size, temperature had a significant effect on reproductive time, and feeding rate significantly affected clutch size and the variation of body size, but temperature, feeding rate and interaction did not show any significant effect on egg size (Table 2). Pairwise comparisons indicated that the post-hibernation warming treatments had an earlier reproductive time than the other two temperature scenarios (Bonferroni, vs. ambient temperature treatments: P < 0.001; vs. pre-hibernation warming treatments: P = 0.002; Fig. 4A), while there was no significant difference between ambient temperature and pre-hibernation warming treatments (Bonferroni, both of them: P = 1.000; Fig. 4A). There were significant, positive relationships between feeding rate and clutch size (β = 0.001, t = 2.298, P = 0.029; Fig. 4B), and the variation of body size (β = 0.003, t = 4.903, P < 0.001; Fig. 4C). Moreover, the models also indicated initial body size have significantly negative relationships with reproductive time (β = − 3.899, t = − 2.622, P = 0.014) and egg size (β = − 0.043, t = − 12.717, P < 0.001), while there was a significantly positive relationship with clutch size (β = 0.290, t = 22.288, P < 0.001), but no relationship with the variation of body size (P = 0.431). Further details of the variations of weight and SVL in supporting information are provided in Table S2.
|Source of variation
|Reproductive time (day)
|Clutch size (log10-transformed)
|Egg size (mm)
|Variation of body size
|Feed rate
|Temperature × feeding rate
|Initial body size
The ANCOVAs showed that only feeding rate had significant effects on clutch size investment, reproduction investment and growth investment for female P. nigromaculatus among experimental treatments, but there was no significant effect on egg size investment (Table 3). The model showed that there was a significantly positive relationship between feeding rate and clutch size index (β = 8.914, t = 3.064, P = 0.004; Fig. 5A), reproduction investment index (β = 4.219, t = 3.427, P = 0.002; Fig. 5C) and growth investment index (β = 0.003, t = 4.855, P < 0.001; Fig. 5D), but there was no significant relationship between feeding rate and egg size index (t = − 1.971, P = 0.058; Fig. 5B)
In allocation trade-off analyses, the ANCOVA showed that feeding rate had significant effects on clutch size/egg size investment trade-off, but temperature and feeding rate × temperature interaction did not (Table 4). There was a significantly positive relationship between feeding rate and the clutch size/egg size investment trade-off (β = 2.947, t = 2.089, P = 0.045). However, the ANCOVA showed that none of these factors has effect on reproduction/growth investment trade-off (Table 4). More details separated by different age classes are provided in Figs. S1–S3.
|Source of variation
|Clutch size investment
|Egg size investment
|Reproduction investment
|Growth investment
|Feed rate
|Temperature × feeding rate
|Source of variation
|Clutch/egg investment trade-off
|Reproduction/growth investment trade-off
|Feeding rate
|Feeding rate × temperature
Reproductive parameters and body size changed due to the variation of temperature and feeding rate induced by controlled experiments in outdoor mesocosm treatments. When initial body size was controlled for, temperature was the major factor determining the reproductive time of P. nigromaculatus, which showed a significantly earlier onset under the temperature scenario of post-hibernation warming in both feeding rate treatments. Feeding rate was the major predictor of the reproductive status of individuals, clutch size, and the variation of body size for this species, which showed significantly positive correlation with feeding rate in any temperature treatments. Thus, our study suggests that reproduction and body size of amphibians might be affected by climate warming or food availability variation that caused by climate warming. In addition, we provide new experimental evidence on the allocation strategies of amphibian individuals for adjusting their reproductive output to cope with climate warming.
Because the reproductive output positively correlated with the body size of female frogs, inadequate sample sizes may not reflect the variation in clutch size. In this study, our samples covered a natural age structure of the species in each treatment, which were expected to be sufficient to reflect the reproductive variation. In addition, we used an appropriate feeding rate within expectations for this experiment. On one hand, we provided sufficient food for the frogs in these normal food treatments, as sometimes the larger ones did not consume all crickets at feeding time (Lardner & Loman, 2003); on the other hand, even in the low food treatments, the SVL of these frogs increased and some of them even bred successfully.
Recently, reports from the field have indicated that climate change has been pervasively affecting biological processes of many animals (Blaustein et al., 2010; Visser, 2013). Our results show compelling evidence that temperature rather than food availability is the main influencing factor for the reproductive time of female P. nigromaculatus. A previous study about male calling behavior (i.e., breeding behavior for males) on Korean Peninsula also indicated that temperature was a significant factor for male P. nigromaculatus (Yoo & Jang, 2012). This is possibly due to the fact that P. nigromaculatus is summer breeder independently of weather and with a typical "explosive" phenology (Wells, 1977; Fei, 1999). Amphibians, as ectothermic animals, have limited thermoregulation ability and they are exceedingly sensitive to climate change (Feder & Burggren, 1992; Blaustein et al., 2001; Lawler et al., 2010). Hence, the aggregated reproduction of this species may be induced by an environmental cue, such as temperature (Visser et al., 2010). This finding is consistent with those reports in lizards and birds, which showed that temperature could either affect reproductive events of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) (Tinkle & Irwin, 1965), or change timing of reproduction of great tits (Parus major) (Visser, Holleman & Caro, 2009). As an explosive breeder, the few limited breeding days of P. nigromaculatus are considered as the key determinant of life-history traits (Kozlowski & Teriokhin, 1999). Therefore, these changes on breeding phenology induced by temperature would influence reproductive success and allocation trade-off pattern of this species. Furthermore, amphibian metabolism is positively correlated with temperature (Gillooly et al., 2001; Dillon, Wang & Huey, 2010). When the food resource is fixed, there should be a higher energy consumption for metabolism under a warmer condition (Dillon, Wang & Huey, 2010), and as a result, there is a lower energy investment in reproduction or growth. However, no effect of temperature on reproduction or growth parameters except reproductive time was found during our experiments. Our result contrasts with the experimental reports in tadpoles, which showed complex results where they either reduced or increased in size at metamorphosis under warmer temperatures (Álvarez & Nicieza, 2002). Although in a suitable temperature regime, tadpoles in a better food resource could reach a larger size (Álvarez & Nicieza, 2002), we did not find this phenomenon in adult frogs. These differences could be caused by the different developmental constraints between tadpoles and adult frogs (Warne & Crespi, 2015).
The variation of food resource, as an indirect effect of climate change, could affect the reproduction of animals through food webs. In our experiment, some small individuals not even breed successfully, since they invested proportionately less on reproduction than larger ones, and spent more in growth to obtain a better fitness following the Cope's rule (Rensch, 1948). Moreover, the clutch size of P. nigromaculatus also showed a positive correlation with body size, regardless of temperature scenarios treatments. Such correlations between body size and clutch size and/or egg size usually appeared among amphibians (Lardner & Loman, 2003; Wang et al., 2009; Xu & Li, 2013), reptiles (Brown & Shine, 2002; Sun et al., 2013) and other taxa (Grossman, McDaniel & Ratajczak Jr, 2002). After correcting for initial body size, the experiment showed that individuals in normal food treatment displayed better reproductive success, bigger clutch size, and larger body size than those in low food treatments in either temperature scenario. In contrast, egg size was not affected by feeding rate. Therefore, under a limited food resource, females tended to reduce investment or skip reproduction altogether in the upcoming season, and instead, invested residual energy to the following season for a higher fecundity, as found in previous studies of amphibians and reptiles (Loman, 1978; Schwarzkopf, 1993). On the other hand, some frogs could reserve a portion of or all eggs after reproduction (Loman, 1978; Reyer, Frei & Som, 1999), and use these unlaid eggs as stored energy reserves for reproduction in the following breeding season (Lardner & Loman, 2003). Considering that the experimental frogs of control treatments mated and bred successfully in synchrony with the wild population, hence, the decrease in clutch size or skipping in reproduction of experimental individuals may be due to the similar allocation strategy in this species. It means that we should account for the actual investment in reproduction during several successive breeding seasons (Lardner & Loman, 2003).
The negative correlation between clutch size and egg size was documented in previous studies (Warne & Charnov, 2008; Wang et al., 2009) and this was concluded as a universal ecological rule in life-history traits regardless of reproductive mode among many amphibians (Duellman & Trueb, 1986; Wells, 2010). There was also a trade-off in allocation between clutch size and egg size investment on female pond frogs. Our results showed that under good food resource conditions the frogs tended to allocate more investment in clutch size rather than egg size. In addition, our experiment suggested that there was a lack of trade-off in allocation between reproduction and growth investment on female pond frogs. Investments in both reproduction and growth were higher in normal food treatments than low food treatments regardless of any temperature scenarios. Another study showed that there was also no trade-off between reproduction and growth in adult female R. temporaria (Lardner & Loman, 2003). The lack of trade-off might be explained by the Y-model theory (Van Noordwijk & De Jong, 1986). The theory argued that a huge variation in acquisition (e.g., food availability) could mask a weak allocation (e.g., reproduction/growth investment) among individuals (King, Roff & Fairbairn, 2011). In our experiment, the food availability between high and low food treatments is up to approximately 3:1. This large advantage in food resource could allow the experimental frogs in high food treatments to allocate more resources in both reproduction and growth, rather than to make a trade-off in investment allocation between them. The flexible allocation strategy offers another explanation for the lack of trade-off (Warne et al., 2012). As it is expected that adult individuals find hibernation sites more efficiently than young ones, age and individual experience might influence the timing of hibernation, although such hypothesis should be further tested.
Although the species have to spend more energy in metabolism and maintenance under warmer condition (Gillooly et al., 2001), amphibians also have some thermoregulation ability to avoid energy consuming through behavioral adjustment (Pough, 1980). On the other hand, climate warming can also lead an extended season for growing and the frogs could obtain more energy for growth and reproduction due to the continuous food supply. Hence, both of the aspects could alter the life-history traits and further complicate the trade-off in energy allocation under climate warming. In addition, an appropriate choice of parameter may be crucial (Doughty & Shine, 1997), which could non-destructively measure and assess the actual energy invested in growth for the following reproduction when taking into account behavioral thermoregulation and variable food supply.
In conclusion, our study has demonstrated experimental evidence for food availability, rather than temperature, as a direct factor affecting the reproductive parameters and the variation in body size for P. nigromaculatus. Although experimental warming can change the reproductive phenology of the species, it did not show an effect on the trade-off allocation of growth vs. reproduction and clutch size vs. egg size. Therefore, our results suggest that the uncertain variation in food availability caused by current climate warming could lead to more complex effects on the life-history of amphibians. These less predictable responses of amphibians may require more thorough species protection plans for dealing with ongoing climate change.
Supplemental Information
Supporting Information
Experimental operating details and detailed results.


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Innovative Eye Surgery Helps Patients Step Out From Behind the Lens
"When you wear glasses, you always feel like you're inside something, like you're looking out a window all the time," says Cindy Cromwell, 59, of Clarksburg, who had been wearing glasses nearly all her life.
In her 40s, Cromwell began to develop cataracts. "I had to turn on all the lights in the house because everything looked dark, colors weren't vibrant," she says.
"As people age, the eye's natural lens begins to cloud," explains Natasha Herz, M.D., ophthalmologist with Washington Adventist Hospital. "Once this clouding impairs your vision to the point that it's interfering with your life, it's time for cataract surgery."
It's common for one eye to be affected by cataracts earlier than the other, and in 2008 Cromwell underwent surgery at Washington Adventist Hospital to fix the cataract in her left eye. By 2011, she and Dr. Herz decided it was time to fix the right eye.
"Dr. Herz explained that eyes get to a certain point where contacts or glasses won't correct the problem anymore," Cromwell says. "This was my window of opportunity."
"We needed to remove Cindy's cataract, but we were also dealing with astigmatism in her right eye, which causes blurred vision," Dr. Herz says.
Dr. Herz decided to use an innovative implantable lens, known as the AcrySof Toric lens. The lens, which has been available for several years, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011 to correct severe instances of astigmatism.
"To help her regain high-quality distance vision after surgery and give her freedom from eyeglasses," Dr. Herz says, "we decided to use this implantable lens that makes it possible to treat the cataract and correct the astigmatism at the same time."
Cromwell says the improvement in her vision after surgery was immediate. "On the car ride home, I could tell that blues were bluer and greens were greener," she says. "I didn't realize what I had been missing."
With the new implant, for the first time since she was 8 years old, Cromwell no longer needed glasses. "I must have given away about 22 pairs! I just didn't need them anymore," she says. "It's freeing, and I owe it to Dr. Herz. She works miracles!"

subset: commoncrawl


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Qwiki is a short, interactive story: a drastically improved information experience provided via interactive video. Unlike traditional rich media content, all Qwikis are created without any human intervention.
You can type in and select the topic you'd like to create a Qwiki about. The software automatically reads selected information from different websites and grabs associated pictures on the subject.
The product launch featured 3 million qwikis, and you can now look for a lot more.
Let's see where this goes. Will I be able to update my qwiki by myself or is it going to be automatic?


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Semi-Live with Tim Pawlenty
Football season over, caucus season starts. The circle of life continues, and Tim Pawlenty brought his soon to be announced campaign for Secretary of Something Or Other to Iowa City.
Nah. For president, of course. The former Minnesota governor hopes to find a sweet spot in the caucus electorate: just religious enough for the Huckabee voters, just businesslike enough for the Romney establishment, and let the other candidates mutually destruct.
Monday leaned to the religious end of the equation as Pawlenty spoke in the Family Leader's "Presidential Lecture Series," with stops in Pella, a nice Republican town, Sioux Center, a reeeealllly Republican town, and... Iowa City?!?
(Administrative note: I'm sort of chronological here: the University of Iowa seems to have improved its wireless internet policy and even acknowledged the existence of Linux, or at least "Ubuntu," but I wasn't able to hack my way in quick enough. So this is more or less live blog structured.)
"We do not view this as a campaign stop but as an educational stop," says Bob Vander Plaats, who to my amazement is still on speaking terms with me. Pawlenty also arrived with a few other big names: Chuck Hurley, Matt Riesetter and Chuck Larson.
Perhaps they're hoping for a confrontation in the People's Republic; they very nearly get it from the media. At one point Vander Plaaats ijumps in to grab a question aimed at Pawlenty to defend his organization: "We sperak the truth but do it with love."
"I'm both a fiscal and social conservative," says T-Paw (not to be confused with 80s one hit wonder T'Pau, named for a Star Trek original series character). "As I try to persuade people, I try to be thoughtful and respectful." But thoughtful and respectful still comes down to: "We as a society should support traditional marriage between a man and a woman. It does not mean people who have other situations can't be successful. The point is what kind of environment makes it likely to be successful. I don't think it's radical or extreme to say marriage should be between a man and a woman."
That answer, uttered next to Vander Plaats, is no surprise; Family Leader is part of the somewhat confusing network of "traditional values" groups that gave you the three fired Supreme Court justices, and it's what Bob is doing these days instead of being governor or lieutenant governor.
After press time Pawlenty was off to a closed door meeting with activists (a "clutch event" in caucus parlance). The press corps and early arrivals listened to the rally music. "I Can't go for that (No Can Do)" by Hall and Oates is presumably some sort of Republican policy statement, while Jewel singing "Am I standing still?" is a good question if you're at the asterisk level in the polls. (But Jewel Kilcher isn't the woman from Alaska that Pawlenty needs to worry about.)
Monday's event is the first in the series of "Presidential lectures" that BVP is sponsoring across the state. Thy're starting low key but the next two should be pandemonium: Ron Paul on March 7 and Michele Bachman on April 11. Bachmann. In Iowa freakin' City.
We're going photoless today – the 2nd floor IMU ballroom has terrible lighting and my hobby-level camera can't capture it. If someone wants to get me a big time writing gig I'll use the proceeds and buy professional equipment, I swear.
At 3:52 the local GOP dignitaries file in from the clutch event. That brings our body count to 75 or so– more townie than student despite the campus location. Proportionally, press interest seems bigger.
Showtime at 3:55. BVP takes the intro. "Strong marriages lead to strong families lead to a strong society. We always try to communicate in the right tone." (Or as I said the other week, the tone is Fred Phelps with cookies).
"I really hope he does get in the race," Vander Plaats says of T-Paw, "but that's not an endorsement," At least not until Huckabee makes his decision, I mutter.
Tpaw takes over at 3:59. He congratulates the guy in the Aaron Rogers shirt; I applaud pretty much by myself.
As he touches on the basics of biography, Pawlenty seems to be saying one very long sentence, with lots of 'ands' connecting.
"We have been the free-est and most prosperous nation in the world's history We need to restore America's freedom, goodness and common sense." American Exceptionalism all around, but if Obama's doing it too it must be OK..
"This is a country that was founded Under God. That's not just my opinion, it's in our founding documents. That example is repeated over and over in the early history of our country," Pawlenty says, claiming that 49 of our 50 states mention God in their constitutions (the implication is that means preambles, but he doesn't specify.) The pauses are few – wonder how he'd handle an applause line? But he didn't get any interruptions, not even when he's talking about "traditional marriage."
"When we talk about family matters, it also touches on other issues. It's important to have a strong economy so moms and dads can have jobs." He doesn't say single people and childless couples can rot, but he doesn't say they need jobs either. Still, not as bad as "heterosexual couples can accidentally reproduce." It made me wonder how much of the Pawlenty Stump Speech (still nascent in form) is being skewed by the specific demands of the Vander Plaats-led event.
"We want a culture that celebrates life. We want to do those things that protect life and I'm proud to say I'm pro-life."
"We shouldn't ask politicians who've never been in the private sector. Ask the entrepreneurs, farmers, people with small businesses. And the thing those people say is 'make my costs more competitive.' In the United States our costs need to go down not up, to make it the kind of place where jobs want to go. You can't be pro jobs and anti business. That's like being pro egg and anti chicken." The obvious laugh line doesn't get a reaction. Salmon are funnier.
In general, Pawlenty sounds more sincere on the economic and education stuff than on the social stuff. And as for education, he just lost my official middle of the road barometer: my retired teacher parents by talking about home schools and charter schools. "We need to break up this lethargic government monopoly." But the caucus base should love it.
He closes by riffing on the Reagan inauguration; everyone wants to grab that mantle this week. Apperantly the force of Ronnie's sunny personality was enough to make the clouds part the second Jimmy Carter left office. Or something like that; there was a broader point but nothing that I could capture in a phrase.
Q and A at 4:20. So much for confrontation: All questions were submitted in writing and Vander Plaats is reading them. That might work for this particular event, but advice to T-Paw: real caucus goers, on both sides, like to do the asking themselves, and they like to know that the other people doing the asking are genuine. It's in the U.S. Constitution that a true test of presidential leadership is your ability to handle a question from a crazy person in Iowa City.
Greatest threat to and asset for families: "Families are stressed out. They're worried about time, money and stability." Refers to "Sam's Club Republicans," (meaning small business owners and families that are just getting by. "They want the best value they can get for their money, so they can save money for things that are more important that I can invest back in my family." He mentioned seeing carts loaded with Doritos, which apparantly are the best value for your money.
But it really all comes back to tax cuts. "One thing that really pressures family is health care." Complains that Obama broke a promise because health care was not bipartisan, which takes some real chutzpah. He also says it's "government run." Now we're into pants on fire territory.
Next question from BVP: College affordability. T-Paw: "Why are costs at a public university going up 7 to 12% a year when the rest of the economy is hardly growing at all?" "The system doesn't require as much productivity from faculty as it should." Wants "measurable" research results, emphasis on measurable. Works in sabbaticals as well. "Every university can't be everything to everybody anywhere." Also talks about cutting staff benefits: "Public employes used to be over benefited and underpaid. Now they're overbenefited and overpaid. You can't have public employees getting paid better than the people paying the bill." (Did Branstad HQ write this?)Says of college classrooms: "ridiculous prices sometimes with ridiculous propositions on the curriculum."
Stem cells. "Most of the things that have been most promising have come from adult stem cells. The science and technogy is actually leapfrogging the debate" The question didn't specify adult vs. embryonic, so Pawlentyu gets away with it.
Deficit. "You can't spend 1.5 trillion more than you brought in. A lot of that was stimulus money that maintained govt bureaucracies." But still says shouldn't cut military. "Anyone who says they're not going to touch entitlements is not telling you the truth. It's not an easy thing to do but we have to look the American public in the eye."
Vander Plaats holds up a card for one last question and, incredibly, makes a joke about Karnak The Magnificent. The students in the crowd were barely born when Johnny Carson retired in 1992. It's Egypt. Tpaw discusses multiple Middle East trips (but not Egypt) "What was the plan? It's fair to say Mubarak's time was, to be charitable about it, winding down." Team Obama's initial reactions seemed confused and conflicting. "We need to follow our principles and priorities" which are 1) minimize risk of radical Islamic regime 2) freedom and democracy ("but you can't just flip a switch when there's been no infrastructure. There needs tyo be some interim time")
I can see this guy being a lot of people's second choice. But with a secret caucus straw vote, instead of the Democrat's complex realignment system, second choices matter less on the GOP side.


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Last summer, while the world jammed to Drake's "One Dance," I drank sour after sour. Yes, in the same way radio stations, pop music tastemakers, and listicle creators christen the song of the summer (however wrong they are), I christen the beer style of the summer.
Sure it's to myself, and maybe to my wife, who has to put up with me deciding things all the time, but I enjoy this habit. It allows me to dive headfirst into a style, explore its nuances, gain a greater appreciation for the process gifting its presence.
With that out of the way, I christen summer 2017 the summer of the pilsner.
It's a hot style, the result of a generation of beer drinkers pumping brakes on intense West Coast IPAs and sugary barleywines. We're maturing, spitting out babies, and can't necessarily spend our Saturday afternoons halfway in a daze. We need something lighter, more refreshing, more stock photo of well-dressed friends in boat shoes around a picnic table holding a pitcher of beer.
KelSo Pilsner wants to converse a little too much."
I imagine some drinkers would rather celebrate Citra and dive into some East Coast IPAs this summer. That's fine. You do you. But I'm a new dad, so hell, why not go full dad for a few months? I start the summer (my summers begin in May) with KelSo Pilsner, the long-time stalwart from the KelSo Brewing Company.
KelSo Pilsner dates to 2007, brewed with pilsner and light Munich malts and sterling hops. At 5.5% alcohol by volume, it's definitely on the higher side of alcohol content, which is an initial detraction. Pilsners are classic session beers and more often hover in the 4.5% range. So it's not the best first impression.
Here's what I want out of a pilsner: something clean, crisp, bright and clean. I say clean twice because that's the important trait: I don't want a beer that lingers for seconds, one that twists into three or four flavor profiles before burning out. And I do not want a beer that burns. Pilsners should come in, show themselves, and get out, like a doting dad at a preteen daughter's slumber party.
KelSo Pilsner wants to converse a little too much.
Initially it's sweet like toffee, then lemon squirts in along with a decent herbal burn, like parsley or even coriander. The burn lingers well after the sip, which is disconcerting. Without that burn it's a well-above-average pilsner, but instead it's less than clean, more of a negotiation. It doesn't taste perfectly true to the style, which to me is a necessity for pilsners.
It does look beautiful, pouring pure gold with a two-inch head that froths and slowly dies. And it smells great too – toffee and cracker combine for the right balance of sweet and dry.
But the taste is just too convoluted for a pilsner. While it's fine for a couple outdoor beverages, and while I'd still certainly crush it over a ballgame, it's probably not the first pilsner I'd grab off the shelf.
Maybe that's unfair, but I'd rather my IPAs and barleywines hit me with rolling punches of flavors. For summer I want the clean, the simple and the cold.
And please, pop music tastemakers, give me a better summer song than "One Dance."
Ommegang Idyll Days Is the Perfect Beer for Doing Absolutely Nothing
Let this unfiltered half-farmhouse lager lift you up out of your quarantine and into a world where idleness isn't a state-mandated prevention method.
Take a Flavor Trip With Evil Twin's Delightfully Weird Hard Seltzer
Evil Twin gets just as weird with water as it does beer, so I was keen to see how a salted caramel seltzer would taste. Spoiler alert: It's pretty damn good.
A Hudson Valley Beer Tour Down the Taconic State Parkway
New York's scenic escape is filled with delicious beer.


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Sydney Motorist Caught Watching MAFs While Driving
Know someone who'd do this?
We knew it was addictive – but we didn't know it was THIS addictive.
A Sydney driver has been nabbed using their phone will driving – to watch Married At First Sight.
NSW police shared the story on social media today, confirming the driver was issued a $337 fine and with three demerit points.
For those that are interested,the driver appears to have been watching the dinner party episode - when Cyrell and Martha tried to clear the air after their massive fight.
Catch up on today's headlines and download the Triple M app here: iOS | Android


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Posts Tagged 'Design Companies in Savage MN'
Dsk Adwords Savage MN
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SEO Benefits of Having Video on Your Website Savage MN
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We pride ourselves in delivering Dsk Adwords in Savage MN!
If you ever write anything for a website chances are you will be writing SEO. That is, your content has to be search engine optimization ready, meaning that search engines will link it to trustworthy sites and deem the information accurate. Conversely, if you are reading from a website (and who doesn't these days?) you want the information to be trustworthy and relevant to the site you are on. After all, search engines like Google and Yahoo rank pages that are more relevant to a search higher than those that are not.So, that's SEO, but what about the other crazy sounding words that are associated with it? What does all this tech stuff mean? A pagerank for example is a value between 0 and 1 that is assigned by a search engine algorithm. If your page rank is good it'll be higher than one that is deemed bad by the search engine, and this means more people will visit your site.What is MFA? Well, it's a page that is Made For Advertisers. The whole site is built as a site for ads and ads alone, which may sound like something you want to avoid, but in fact for some pages it's a great gimmick.SEM is search engine marketing, something that is associated with submitting, positioning and researching a site within search engines to get the maximum exposure for that site.When you land on a website one of the most useful things there is a site map. This is a page or group of pages that link to all of the accessible pages on a site. Getting you where you need to be quickly and without a lot of stuff you don't want to see.What is a portal? It is a web service that offers a wide set of features. Think Yahoo and comparable sites and you're on the right track. If you surf the web chances are you have been redirected a few times. This simply means that the address of the landing page has changed and you are then taken to the right site, no muss, no fuss.And finally, a mashup is a page that has single purpose software and other programs or links to programs that make it quick and easy to use. These are very popular with users as they get their information quickly and easily right where they want it.
SEO - Internal Factors: Do You Get Them Right?
You know you want a website, you have performed your research on various solutions and have looked into a CMS solution. Now the question of SEO is rearing its head and you're left stumped. With a number of CMS options out there how do you decide which is the best?. Working as a web design company in Yorkshire we have experience of a number of CMS implementations and the SEO benefits associated with them.CMS or content management systems are increasingly becoming the most popular way of building a website. With the growing popularity of WordPress which has made the transition from blogging tool to CMS, the days of opening up your asp or html programming books are quickly disappearing. However WordPress is the new kid on the block. Older more established CMS solutions such as Joomla, Mambo and Drupal have been dominating the opensource CMS market for a few years now. But the question still remains which is best for SEO?. What your first need to consider is your sites purpose and your skill level. For optimum Search engine optimisation you need to have a CMS that maps to your requirements in a website and your ability (and patience!) to implement the solution. For a small blog/site that is based on provision of information, WordPress wins hands down. The built in SEO add-ons within WordPress or simple to deploy and can be performed in a matter of minutes by a newbie following simple to follow forum tips. Joomla is a little more complex in it's SEO implementation. Very often newcomers to Joomla (suing the built in SEO functionality) leave global meta tags and keywords on the configuration which are applied to all pages (and even components) that have not had individual meta data populated. Robust Joomla SEO solutions require a number of third party plug-ins in order to make it operate correctly.So WordPress is the solution then? You would think so reading the above but i'm a great believer in have your cake and eat it. Joomla has a massive array of superior design features and components that not only make it look better than WordPress allow you to extend and grow your site more. You can also implement WordPress into Joomla as an integrated solution, so the best of both worlds. If you have the time and patience this is the best SEO solution. Because I believe good SEO extends beyond the search engine results pages. It's no good if your site ranks high within Google if your site doesn't look the part or you can't extend it as your business needs change or grow. Joomla allows you to add shopping cart functionality via the virtuemart component, which provides a decent ecommerce solution. Granted WordPress also has a shopping cart component but the current offerings are more for selling the odd item here and there as opposed to a full shopping cart.So if you're after a scalable extendable solution, Joomla and WordPress integration is the best option. If your a small site with limited time to learn then WordPress will meet your SEO needs.
Our approach to online marketing campaigns sets the focal point on your conversion rate. Social media marketing improves your standing on search engines, develops your brand, sells your products, and opens floodgates of traffic to your website. We offer scalable digital marketing consulting and social media management packages to suit the needs of businesses and individuals of all sizes. We aim to not only generate new customers, but serve your current ones better, as well.


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"This gadget I'm handing you is called an override module! Mr. House had two of these made years and years ago - just like him to think ahead! Take the module to the El Dorado substation and attach it to the power control terminal! I'll handle the rest!"— Yes Man
Wild Card: Finishing Touches is a main quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough
|Main Quest: Wild Card: Finishing Touches
|Go to the El Dorado substation.
|Plant a chip to extend the Yes Man's broadcasting range.
|Reward: NCR infamy, 500 XP
|Leads to: You'll Know It When It Happens
Detailed walkthrough
- You will be given this quest once you finished all Wild Card quests except this one from Yes Man. It requires you to upload an override chip into the El Dorado substation controlled by the NCR. An optional objective to the quest is for you to save President Kimball when he arrives to give his speech. This option is only available if your reputation with the NCR is in good standing, otherwise you cannot accept the quest from Yes Man.
Main article: You'll Know It When It Happens
- The main part of this mission is very simple. Go to the El Dorado substation and upload the override chip into the terminal located inside. There will also be a few NCR troops inside though that will shoot on sight so try to sneak in with a Stealth Boy if possible. The best way is to wear NCR armor, the guards don't attack you that way. If you did the optional part of this quest and kill the troops in the substation it will not matter to your reputation because you are well liked. Another way to avoid being attacked by the NCR troops in the substation is to immediately exit it once you've entered it. When you then enter it a second time, the NCR troops will not attack you.
- Optional: Yes Man asks you to convince the Followers of the Apocalypse to give full assistance to the New Vegas region; simply go and talk to Julie Farkas. There appears to be no way that she'll decline, so once you're done just report back to the Lucky 38 and complete your quest. Note: Due to a scripting error, this optional objective will only become available after you have completed Friend of the Followers.
Quest stages
- Unless you are wearing NCR faction armor and so act in disguise, Boone will leave your party if he is with you when installing the override chip at the substation. Without the benefit of a faction disguise, a work-around is to tell Boone to wait outside of the substation so that he does not witness the chip installation, then he will remain with your party.
- If you've done Boone's quest beforehand, he doesn't seem to leave as long as you don't kill anyone.
- Even if the player is already 'Idolized' with the NCR, you will lose the quest You'll Know It When It Happens if you go to the El Dorado substation first. Completing You'll Know When It Happens first and then going to the substation results in the Quest ending with your NCR fame at 'neutral' or higher.
- Doing the optional quest of asking Julie Farkas to support an independent New Vegas has no effect on the Old Mormon Fort ending, although the Followers will leave Medical supply boxes for the Battle of Hoover Dam.
|The following is based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content and has not been confirmed by canon sources.
- A cut stage of the quest required the player to meet a Securitron near the El Dorado Substation after planting the override chip. The Securitron would lead you to a nearby ridge facing New Vegas, and a cutscene would activate showing the Lucky 38 being lit up.
|End of information based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content.


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A VITAL local children's playgroup that has served the Turf Lodge area for 30 years will close its doors for the last time at the end of the month due to a lack of funding.Holy Trinity Playgroup were told by letter this week that money from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust would not be made available to them for the coming school year, forcing the closure of the facility and causing job losses.
Lack of funding forces playgroup closure
'Financial difficulties' force closure
ONE of the Lisburn Road's few remaining pubs has closed its doors due to "financial difficulties".
'Fun' in the sun forces park closure
AN unseasonal heatwave caused early summer madness in a South Belfast park, as huge crowds forced gates to be closed early, due to boozing and anti-social behaviour.
Long running businesses cease trading
THE business community on the Lisburn Road was faced with another double whammy last week as two long running, popular establishments ceased trading.
Three businesses close in one week
A South Belfast councillor is to call a crisis meeting with politicians and business representatives after three more businesses shut up shop on the city's once renowned 'Style Mile'.
'Save our social' plea to Church
MEMBERS of a South Belfast social club are at loggerheads with the local Catholic Church over a controversial plan to bring the curtain down on the 33-year-old institution "behind their backs".


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Over the Moon in Oregon Wine Country
Say "Be Mine" with Wine
Long cold winter days practically beg for cozy romantic getaways to warm both your heart and soul. But you don't need to head to a tropical location to turn up the heat in your love life; this Valentine's Day, Cupid's pointing his arrow straight at Oregon Wine Country. Rediscover the romance in your relationship and watch the sparks fly when you plan a romantic getaway for you and your special sweetheart to any of the following wine country inns.


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We are pleased to announced that this week's explorer is Samuel "Doc" Gruber, a shark expert who received funding from National Geographic in 2009 for his research on adult lemon sharks. As owner and director of the Bimini Biological Field Station located in Bimini, Bahamas, Gruber offers marine biology internships to people interested in shark research. He is a recognized authority of shark behavior and created the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group. In our correspondence, after he sent many, many photos, some of which you see below, I remarked "WOW! What an amazing life you are leading!" He replied by telling me he is a survivor of stage III non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, has learned to never give up, and feels like one of the luckiest people in the world.
Photograph by James Barley
If you could trade places with one explorer at National Geographic, who would it be and why?
Tell you the truth I have never wanted to do anything other than what I do. So I never even considered changing places. I think Bob Ballard and Sylvia Earle are cool. I know and admire David Doubilet and have worked with a number of NGTV producers who are great guys. But I have little interest in doing anything else but teaching the up-and-coming students who want to use sharks as models for their research.
What do you think National Geographic explorers will be exploring in a hundred years?
I think they will still be exploring this planet and especially the seas. But I am hoping that we will also be exploring the cosmos too. Wish I could be here to see it!
Photograph by James Barley
What's the biggest surprise you've discovered in your work or in the field?
When I was a graduate student in the early sixties my boss put me on a project dealing with vision in sharks. The prevailing theories then painted a picture of a relatable blind, bumbling creature, basically a swimming nose. I spent 15 years researching vision in these amazing creatures and discovered that they have among the most sophisticated, advanced visual systems in the sea. The eye of the shark possesses unique structures and capabilities. This work was in complete disagreement with the literature from the generations before my time. While researching their vision I used Pavlov's classical conditioning paradigm to try to teach young lemon sharks to respond to a visual stimulus. In that way I could literally ask them questions about what they were seeing. I was totally amazed and gobsmacked when I saw the rapidity with which they learned the classically conditioned nictitating response. Dr. Niel Schneiderman and I published an article in 1975 showing that a lemon shark can learn 80 times faster than a cat or rabbit using the same training paradigm. So it was a double surprise—lemon sharks are very quick learners with their relatively big brains, and they have a really advanced visual system as well.
See Gruber feed a baby shark by hand:
Have you ever been lost? How did you get found?
While we were spearfishing off Miami in the late fifties our boat slipped anchor and floated away. We were miles off shore and had full gear on. We could just see the boat on the horizon and started swimming for it. But it just got farther and farther away. We were despairing because it was a weekday and few boaters were out. The weather turned nasty and we really got worried. Those were the days before BCDs [Buoyancy Control Device] and even backpacks, so we couldn't stop for fear of losing our precious gear. As the afternoon wore on we headed west, figuring we would get back at some point. Then a miracle: A boat came by and picked us up. They had seen our skiff floating free and searched for us. All was well as it ended well for me and my spearing partner, Dr. Tony Pelicane. We even got our boat back.
What are you reading?
Right now I am reading Bluenoser Tales by Capt. Robert "Punchy" Powell and I love it. Captain Powell was a World War II ace in the ETO [European Theater of Operations] with over a hundred missions in his Thunderbolt and Mustang fighters … and he just turned 91. I am a fanatic for World War II airmen and aircraft. I was already seven years old when the skies were filled with dueling gladiators, and they were my heroes. I had the honor and pleasure of meeting this unique pilot, who is as sharp today as he was 60 years ago. And I am reading his story.
Photograph by William Parks
What is your favorite food?
Saba shioyaki (Scomber scomber) because it is healthy, economical, and delicious.
What are you listening to?
Right now I am listening to NPR, [including] All Things Considered, and Radio Mozart. NPR keeps me in the loop with a variety of news and stories. Radio Mozart is all the music I need.
What one item do you always have with you?
Hate to say it but my "fairly" smart phone. In the field I always carry my Leatherman Wave tool too.
If you were to meet your eight-year-old self, what would you say?
That's easy: Follow your dreams, don't stop, and focus … stay with it.
If you won the lottery, what would you buy? Where would you travel?
I [would] support my research station at Bimini in the Bahamas with a new solar-operated, hurricane-proof facility and not have to worry about where my next grant is coming from—indeed, where the groceries are coming from to feed all 18 of my staff and volunteers. I [would] buy a great research vessel, a better 1957 Porsche Speedster, and a Curtiss P40 Tomahawk Flying Tiger.
If you were a baseball player, and you came up to bat, what song would be played as your "signature song"?
Strange—are there signature songs? I must have been undersea and missed that one. So I have no idea what they are for but will take a guess at "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder" (the U.S. Army Air Corps song).
Listen to Gruber's signature song:
Do you have a hidden talent?
Hmmm … I was a semiprofessional ballet dancer. My dreams included becoming a pilot in the Air force or becoming a professional ballet dancer. In the end, I chose shark research, but I did qualify for cadet training and had danced semi-professionally based on my many years of springboard diving.
Photograph courtesy Samuel Gruber
What is your favorite National Geographic photo?
I just love this photograph by Brian Skerry from the Bahamas, in the "Eden for Sharks," gallery showing yours truly holding a baby lemon shark in tonic immobility, a state induced by inverting a shark.
What is your favorite National Geographic magazine or news article?
The 1967 article by Dr. Eugenie Clark [that] I believe was called "Sharks: Magnificent and Misunderstood"
If you were to bring back one species of animal that has gone extinct, what would it be?
Easy—the baddest of all, Carcharocles (Carcharodon) megalodon


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School of Filmmaking
Undergraduate Bulletin
School of Filmmaking
Overview of School
Overview of School
The School of Filmmaking offers a four-year undergraduate program in motion-picture production, preparing students for careers in the moving image arts and industries. The faculty consists of film and television artists-in-residence as well as professional scholars, all of whom are dedicated to instilling in our students the importance of telling stories that speak to the human condition. We are committed to nurturing the "complete" filmmaker ― a storyteller of vision and insight who knows and appreciates the myriad components that are essential to the creation of the entire spectrum of moving images, whether fiction or nonfiction, animated or live-action, series television, music videos, commercials, industrial shorts, or other new media. We are a training ground for young artists, giving them the freedom to explore their creative ideas within a carefully structured environment that strives to mirror the collaborative creative process of the professional world. The relationship between our faculty and students is one of "master-apprentice," involving close collaboration in all aspects of the development, production, and exhibition of our students' digital video and film projects.
Essential to the development of young artists is the exposure to all the performing arts, as well as a strong background in liberal arts studies. Our students benefit greatly from living and working in a closely-knit community of artists from the Schools of Dance, Design & Production, Drama, and Music. Their education is enriched by a liberal arts curriculum that is fully integrated into the School of Filmmaking BFA program. We expect our students to have or to develop a strong base in the liberal arts and humanities, as well as the physical and social sciences, with additional intensive coursework in film history, aesthetics and analysis.
The School of Filmmaking offers concentrations in the areas of Animation, Cinematography, Directing, Picture Editing & Sound Design, Producing, Production Design, and Screenwriting. In the first year of the program, all students are required to write, direct, produce, shoot, edit and design films, whether they feel artistically inclined and qualified in those areas or not. This approach gives students a foundation of general skills and knowledge prior to specializing in one area of focus. Students must demonstrate sufficient aptitude and progress within their chosen areas of emphasis in order to be invited to continue into a concentration. Note that admission into the School of Filmmaking does not itself guarantee subsequent acceptance into a concentration.
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Admissions Requirements
A. Physical and cognitive abilities
Students must, at a minimum, possess functional use of the somatic senses, have adequate
motor capabilities to manage situations in which these senses would be employed, and
be able to integrate data acquired via these senses.
In order for a student to be admitted to Year One in the School of Filmmaking, he/she must have the following physical and mental capabilities:
- Observation Skills: A student must be able to acquire information presented through visual media in a classroom setting as well as on stage or location during production.
- Auditory Skills: A student must be able to clearly discriminate sounds in order to analyze the sound design of an existing work of film-art, to create his/her own film-sound design, and to analyze how sounds work with visual image Furthermore, in the interest of the safety of any individual working on set or stage, each student must be able to utilize his/her senses and react appropriately in the face of a warning signal or threat of danger.
- Communication: A student must communicate effectively and sensitively with other students, faculty, staff, and other professi He or she must express his or her ideas clearly and demonstrate a willingness and ability to give and receive feedback. A student must be able to convey or exchange information at a level allowing development of artistic ideas, identify problems presented, explain alternative solutions, and give directions. He or she must be able to communicate effectively in oral and written forms; he or she must be able to process and communicate information on the production's status with accuracy in a timely manner to members of the production team.
- Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities: A student must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, and synthesize information in the classroom, on set, on location, or in the editing room.
- Behavioral Attributes: A student must have a sense of the professional ethics and integrity necessary to work in a collaborative environment. He/she must have the emotional stability to function effectively under stress and to adapt to an environment that may change rapidly without warning and/or in unpredictable ways. The student must be able and willing to examine and change his or her behavior when it interferes with productive individual or team relationships. The student must possess attributes that include responsibility, integrity, honesty and ethical behavior in the performance of all his/her assigned duties in order to succeed in the program.
- Motor Functions: A student must be able to actively participate in the set-up and preparation of all equipment. This includes but is not limited to the ability to lift 35-50 pounds of weight over his/her head, the ability to climb a ladder, the ability to stand or kneel for extended periods of time, and the ability to use fine motor skills sufficient for the set-up of all equipment.
B. Required GPA and Test Scores
The School of Filmmaking has minimum high school GPA and SAT/ACT requirements. See Admissions pages for further information.
C. Transfer Students
Transfer credits for liberal arts classes taken at another institution are subject
to the general policies of the Division of Liberal Arts.
Transfer credits in lieu of film classes in the School of Filmmaking will be considered on a case-by-case basis, if the student has earned a B or better for the course, and if the course meets faculty approval (based on review of the syllabus and course description).
Our curriculum from Year One onward is sequential and intensive, and therefore it is difficult for applicants to transfer in at an advanced level. However, we will evaluate each applicant's transcript and creative portfolio to determine whether or not transfer credit and/or advanced standing can be awarded. Please follow the guidelines for Transfer Applicants in the Admissions section of the UNCSA website.
Continuation in the program from year to year is based upon a number of factors, including: the student's grades, reflecting both artistic and academic performance; assessment of the student's portfolio; and their ability to interact appropriately and productively within the School community. Particular emphasis is placed upon the professional demeanor and creative discipline exhibited by the student, and the demonstration of collaborative skills in both classroom discussions and on the set of student productions. Please see UNCSA's Undergraduate Policy on Student Probation and Continuation.
A. End-of-the-Year Portfolio Review
At the end of every Spring semester, the faculty will review each student's portfolio from that academic year. The review consists of a general discussion and assessment of all aspects of the student's coursework, practicum experiences, and his/her progress throughout the year.
B. Class Placement and Concentration
At the end of a student's first year, they may request a portfolio review for admission
into either the Animation or Production Design department, each of which is a three-year
At the end of Year Two, those students who are not in Animation or Production Design select 1st and 2nd choice disciplines from among the following options: Cinematography, Directing, Picture Editing & Sound Design, Producing, and Screenwriting, each of which is a two-year program. Faculty will take into consideration each student's grades, artistic portfolio, and professional demeanor in order to select those students best qualified to maximize their potential in their first or second choice. Note that admission into the School of Filmmaking does not itself guarantee subsequent acceptance into a concentration.
C. Minimum Grade Point Averages, Probation, and Non-continuation
Students in the School of Filmmaking are expected to meet or exceed minimum cumulative
Grade Point Averages (GPAs), as delineated in the Institutional Policies section of
the UNCSA Bulletin; see the chart and policy at: https://www.uncsa.edu/bulletin/current/undergraduate/institutional-policies.aspx#UndergraduatePolicyonStudentProbationandContinuation
Failure to meet these minimum GPAs will result in written warning, placement on probation, or possibly discontinuation from the program.
D. Division of Liberal Arts (DLA) Requirements
School of Filmmaking students pursuing the BFA must complete 30 credit hours of Liberal Arts core courses, plus an additional 6 credit hours in designated Arts or Liberal Arts courses in order to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the UNCSA School of Filmmaking. It is recommended that students complete at least 9 credit hours (3 classes) of these requirements each year in order to be on track to graduate at the end of their fourth year.
E. Additional School of Filmmaking Policies
Students must read and comply with all policies and procedures in the School of Filmmaking Student Handbook and the School of Filmmaking Safety Handbook (available online at the Film School Art Hub). Because all filmmakers must understand the importance of safety, not only for their own sake but also for their fellow crewmembers in all production situations, students must take and pass the safety exam in the fall semester of each year before being allowed to work on any productions. Students must also sign a Student Agreement of Understanding at the beginning of each school year verifying that they have read and accept the policies of the School of Filmmaking.
Additional Costs
Additional costs, materials, and equipment
A. Computer and Software Requirements
Each incoming freshman is required to purchase an Apple MacBook Pro with the latest operating system and Final Draft screenwriting software. Students will also be using Adobe Creative Cloud, the license for which is provided by UNCSA at no additional cost. Select the link below for more information about these requirements. http://www.uncsa.edu/mysa/incoming-students/filmmaking-orientation/supply-list-filmmaking.aspx
B. Tools and Equipment
Students are also required to purchase several items in order to work on set safely and responsibly. A list of these tools (such as leather palm work gloves, a crescent wrench, Swiss army knife, etc.) is available at this link: http://www.uncsa.edu/mysa/incoming-students/filmmaking-orientation/supply-list-filmmaking.aspx. All of these items are available for purchase in the Winston-Salem area, but we recommend you buy these essential tools of the filmmaking trade in advance.


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Bugs in 2.4
It seems as of 2.4 releasing you piece will spawn you all the way back in curators room. This may or may not cause you to loose the ability to loot your badges. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Gattsbr (talk • contr).
- And the GMs are inconsistent. It happened to four out of ten in the last run I was in. I put in a ticket asking for just the badges, and was told that since it's a known problem and posted on the forum that it sucked to be me. Someone else put in one asking for the belt and the badges, and got an apology and mail with them. --Azaram 10:42, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
Changes in 2.3
Not sure if anyone knows this, but the Chess event used to be optional. As of 2.3, it is no longer optional, i.e. you need to do the Chess event before the door will open to Prince Malchezzar.--slxception (me/speak) 15:42, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
One other change since 2.3. The chest now drops Badge of Justice. If you have Master Loot on, only the ML can distribute the epics (apart from the badges). Prior to this patch, the chest was exempt to the ML rules. --slxception (me/speak) 15:58, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
As of 5.3
As of 5.3 this Boss fight is a bit hard to solo even tho older posts say it's possible, getting there isnt that bad...the timing needed to switch pieces and move as well as the cheats make it very hard...I was able to get the enemy king down to 25% health alone, but, I would advise having at LEAST a 2 player team (preferably 3). one to attack thier king...one to keep your king healed and one to operate your king. Good luck :-) --Wickidlee (talk) 22:07, May 23, 2013 (UTC)Wickidlee


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VERTIGO the New Ride at the Fair [WATCH]
At the 2016 Big Sky Country State Fair, you'll have a brand new BIG ride to test your carnival limits! It's called VERTIGO and here you can see it in action.
This particular ride will send patrons approximately 70' above ground in a swing. This is MUCH higher than the traditional swing ride.
The Big Sky Country State Fair is happening THIS WEEK with the carnival opening on Wednesday.
GET YOUR CARNIVAL TICKETS HERE or at the gate at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. We can't wait to see you there! (if you dare).


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Opening a school is a herculean task in India. Despite this, more and more people are coming forward to start a venture because the demand for schools seems to be unending
A school is a unique business. Unique because it cannot even be called a 'business'.
Running a school is considered a not-for-profit venture, but you just need to look around to see that the business opportunity is huge. According to an estimate by an NGO active in the field of education, there are more than 14 lakh children in Delhi alone who seek admission every year in various classes.
Schools cannot be set up by private entities. They have to be run by a society formed under the Societies Act of 1860, or a trust under Public Trust Act as existent in different states, or by forming a company under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956. In other words, a school has to be set up strictly as a non-profit business. At least that is the theory.
Setting up a school is not just about constructing physical infrastructure in the form of building classrooms and setting up libraries and laboratories. It does involve obtaining permissions and licenses from concerned authorities at various stages. It starts with the setting up of a trust or a society, with a governing board of five or six members, with a president, chairperson, and a secretary duly identified, as specified under the law. This article will focus primarily on identifying the various steps involved in opening a school, providing facility for the study for students from Class 1 to Class 10.
The next step
Once the governing entity, whether a company, trust, or society, comes into existence, it will have to look for land. There are two possibilities—one, if the society or trust has a land of its own, or, second, when the governing entity decides to buy a land for the proposed school. Buying land from the government requires permission in the form of a no-objection certificate from the Department of Education of the concerned state. The no-objection certificate, called Essentiality Certificate (EC), certifies the requirement of a school in a particular area. The logic behind the practice is to make sure no two schools compete with each other and one becomes redundant. The EC comes with a rider that construction must commence within three years, failing which the society will have to reapply for the same.
One can apply to the concerned municipal corporation for land for the school with the EC. Land is supposed to be allotted to the governing entity at subsidized rates is usually allotted through auction.
"It is almost impossible for a new entrant to get land. Land is normally granted to established players with a chain of schools," says R.B. Adityodaya Karna, deputy secretary of Prarthana Society, Bangalore, a trust that runs a school in the city.
Even if a member on the board of a governing entity has land that the entity wants to use for setting up a school, a no-objection from the Department of Education stating the requirement of a school in that area is required. The major education boards of the country, namely, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), and state government boards, have clearly laid down norms for land requirements for schools. This, in most cases, is 2 acres, except for hilly regions and metropolitan cities, where the requirement is less. Construction can take place only on a part of the land, and a playground has to be created in the rest.
Adityodaya says, "While conceiving the idea of a school, one has to asses the potentials of a location, kind of competition possible, and the target group—the lower middle class, upper middle class or the rich class—the school will cater to."
From the time of forming a governing entity to a school actually starting up, one normally requires about a year, though taking more than two years is also not unheard of. Normally the infrastructure required to start up can be constructed within a period of six to seven months. Once the construction is over, school authorities need to apply for recognition. Up to Class 5 recognition from municipality is all that is required. For Classes 6 to 8 recognition comes from the Department of Education. Recognition for anything above this also comes from the Education Department, but after a minimum gap of two years. School authorities are free to seek affiliation to CBSE or CISCE. In that case, the school will have to follow the guidelines of the board it is seeking affiliation to. The school will need to follow the syllabus, books prescribed by the affiliating board, and pay specified salaries to the teachers.
If it is not a government school, affiliation for schools normally comes in stages. Initially, for Classes 1 to 6 a temporary affiliation is given and guidelines are laid down for schools by the concerned education board. Once things are in place according to the guidelines, an inspection is conducted. If things are to the satisfaction of the board authorities, permanent affiliation is bestowed on the school. Adityodaya says inspections are not so rigorous after permanent affiliation is granted, but a school has to be run according to the rules of the board.
Licenses and documents
Setting up a school involves a lot of legal processes from the very beginning. While forming a society, trust, or company, one has to have a Memorandum of Association, a document needed almost at every stage later. Like for any other business, a detailed project report for the school is also needed.. In addition, details of land and building, auditor's statement, bank statements of the governing entity and their members and auditor's statements are needed at some point or the other.
Once the school building is ready for initial use, a certificate of recognition has to come from the state government, issued by the municipality for the junior classes, and by the Department of Education for middle school. If high school is to be added subsequently, certificate of up gradation is required which is again issued by the Education Department. Affiliation from either the CBSE or CISCE is also done through a set process. Things do not stop here, as schools need certificates for hygiene, water, and completion of the building from the municipality.


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Another Origami Hand Skeleton Video Tutorial by Jeremy Shafer You must to fold this model to decorate your Halloween costume!. Ideas for Halloween! Origami Skeleton Earrings Made from uncut square 3.5 inch paper. Specifications: 1 inch wide (About 2.5cm). 2.5 … Continue reading
The post Origami Hand Skeleton Video Tutorial appeared first on Origami Blog.


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Six Astrology and Numerology Reports
The Astrology and Numerology package for couples provides six reports where couples get a complete unbiased understanding of themselves as individuals along with two relationship compatibility reports. The individual reports will assist couples to understanding themselves based on Astrology and Numerology data for each person.
The two compatibility reports will show where the gifts and the challenges lie within the relationship when the two dynamic forces of each individual come together in relationship. It will also point out which of the two has the task of accepting the responsibility to improve harmony within the relationship. These reports will also identify potential abusive relationships, infidelity, short term relationship aspects and potential court proceedings. This package is suitable for couples who are thinking about getting engaged, are already engaged, marriage partners, family members or those in business together to gain greater understanding of themselves and their relationship. The reports provided will be a written Astrology and Numerology report for each person along with a Compatibility Astrology report and Numerology report for the relationship.
These six reports will provide a comprehensive look at oneself and the relationship based on the Complete Name at Birth (based on Birth Certificate), Current Name, Time, Place and Date of Birth for each person. This information is required when ordering these reports. Cost: $US100.


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Death By Design – April 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22
Set during a weekend in an English country manor in 1932, Death by Design is a funny tribute to the classic, witty English murder mystery. A playwright, his wife and numerous unexpected guests arrive at a country house. When one of the guests is murdered, it's left to Bridgit, the feisty Irish maid with a macabre interest in homicide, to solve the crime.


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Get in touch
You can contact any of The Net team below by calling 01634 310011.
Alternatively email us on firstname.lastname@example.com or click on the envelope icon next to a contact name.
We are also happy to see you at our office at 4 Saracen Close, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, Kent ME8 0QN Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
If you are involved with a local voluntary organisation you can get your group listed on the website by going to the 'Group Register' section. Any new group or an amendment to an existing group will need to be approved prior to any changes appearing on the website.