text:
The Free Library > Science and Technology > Science and technology, general > Caldasia > January 1, 2011
The Free Library > Date > 2011 > January > 1 > Caldasia
Reproduccion continua bajo un regimen de precipitacion bimodal en el anolis Andino (Anolis mariarum) de Antioquia, Colombia.
<a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reproduccion+continua+bajo+un+regimen+de+precipitacion+bimodal+en+el...-a0301555389
MLA style: "Reproduccion continua bajo un regimen de precipitacion bimodal en el anolis Andino (Anolis mariarum) de Antioquia, Colombia.." The Free Library. 2011 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias 19 Jan. 2020 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reproduccion+continua+bajo+un+regimen+de+precipitacion+bimodal+en+el...-a0301555389
Chicago style: The Free Library. S.v. Reproduccion continua bajo un regimen de precipitacion bimodal en el anolis Andino (Anolis mariarum) de Antioquia, Colombia.." Retrieved Jan 19 2020 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reproduccion+continua+bajo+un+regimen+de+precipitacion+bimodal+en+el...-a0301555389
APA style: Reproduccion continua bajo un regimen de precipitacion bimodal en el anolis Andino (Anolis mariarum) de Antioquia, Colombia.. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Jan 19 2020 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reproduccion+continua+bajo+un+regimen+de+precipitacion+bimodal+en+el...-a0301555389
A number of lizard lineages have evolved a suite of life history traits that includes small body size, relatively little growth after maturity, invariant clutch size of one or two eggs per clutch, and short inter-clutch intervals (Vitt 1986, Shine & Greer 1991). While most other lizard species exhibit seasonal reproduction (Vitt & Caldwell 2009), many of the species that have adopted this life history strategy reproduce continuously throughout the year. Thus, comparison of the reproductive ecologies of lizard species with small fixed clutch sizes, such as geckos or anoles, offers an opportunity to examine hypotheses concerning the factors that contribute to the evolution of seasonal vs. continuous reproduction.
Watling et al. (2005) reviewed the literature on 32 populations of 17 species of mainland neotropical lizards with fixed clutch sizes, including eight Anolis species, to inspect for environmental effects on reproductive phenology. They concluded that, after controlling for phylogenetic effects, seasonal breeding was significantly related to the annual amount of precipitation at a site, but not to the duration of the dry season. For example, in the Anolis species they examined, seven of eight populations from habitats receiving more than 2600 mm of precipitation a year exhibited continuous reproduction, while all eight populations experiencing less than 2600 mm of annual precipitation exhibited seasonal reproduction (Watling et al. 2005).
However, all the Anolis populations included in their meta-analysis were Central American, where a well defined primary dry season occurs, with a secondary decline in precipitation during a "veranillo" (or midsummer drought) in the middle of the rainy season (Rand & Rand 1982, Magana et al. 1999, Small & de Szoeke 2007). This second dry season never approaches the primary dry season in intensity or duration, and Central American Anolis that reproduce seasonally either reduce or completely halt reproductive effort only during the primary dry season (Watling et al. 2005 and references within). As latitude decreases, however, the intertropical convergence zone produces the "climatic equator" region (Borchert et al. 2005), where genuinely bimodal patterns of annual precipitation occur. The climatic equator in South America occurs slightly north of the geographic equator. In northwest South America it is centered at approximately 4.5[degrees]N, while in northeast South America it runs SW to NE through Guyana from 2-6[degrees]N (Borchert et al. 2005).
Ramirez-P et al. (1991) studied the reproductive phenology of a population of Anolis heterodermus located at 4.8[degrees]N (in the climatic equator zone) in Cundinamarca, Colombia, where only 880 mm of annual precipitation falls in two distinct wet seasons (April to June and September to November). Contrary to the predictions of the analysis of Watling et al. (2005), reproduction in this population was continuous. More recently, Ardila-M et al. (2008) reported evidence of reproduction occurring during both the end of the second wet season of2004 and the first dry season of 2005 (November to February) in a population of Anolis tolimensis located at 4.6 [degrees]N in Cundinamarca, Colombia where a mean of 1005 mm of precipitation occurs each year (D. Ardila, pers. comm.), further suggesting that selection acts differently on reproductive phenology in Anolis species from the climatic equator region.
Here we describe the reproductive phenology of two populations of Anolis mariarum (Polychrotidae) located at 6.2-6.4[degrees]N in Antioquia, Colombia, where there also is a bimodal precipitation regime, to further examine the effects of the amount and distribution of precipitation on the reproductive phenology of Anolis lizards.
Anolis mariarum occurs in low vegetation in open (usually human disturbed) areas in the Cordillera Central of northern Colombia, from 1300 to 2700 m elevation (Paez et al. 2002, Palacio-B et al. 2006). In this study, we documented reproductive activity in a population inhabiting a roadside area in the municipality of San Pedro de los Milagros (hereafter, "San Pedro", 06[degrees]25'07'' N; 75[degrees]35'55'' W) at 2400 m elevation that has a mean annual temperature of 14[degrees]C and mean annual precipitation of 1700 mm. We also studied reproductive phenology in a second population inhabiting a suburban neighborhood (San Antonio de Prado) in the municipality of Medellin (hereafter, "San Antonio", 06[degrees]11'02''N 075[degrees]40'09 W) at 2200 m elevation with a mean annual temperature of 16[degrees]C and mean annual precipitation of 2600 mm (climatological data provided by Empresas Publicas de Medellin). We collected individuals from October 2008 (middle of the second rainy season of the year) until March 2009 (beginning of the first rainy season of the year), for a total of three rainy and three dry season months. Twenty individuals (in approximately equal sexual proportions) were hand captured each month from each population and sacrificed by cardiac injection of 2% xilocain. For each individual, body mass was weighed ([+ or -] 0.001 g) on a digital balance and snout-vent length (SVL) was measured ([+ or -] 0.01 mm) using a digital caliper. The body cavity was opened with a mid-ventral incision and the following data were recorded with the same precisions as above: for females, ovarian mass, diameter of the largest ovarian follicle, number of vitellogenic and non-vitellogenic follicles, number, mass, length and width of oviductal eggs, and presence or absence of abdominal fat bodies; for males, left testicle length, width, and mass, presence or absence of epididimal convulations, and presence or absence of abdominal fat bodies (Serrano-C et al. 2007). All specimens were fixed in 10% formalin, preserved in 70% ethanol, and deposited in the Museo de Herpetologia of the Universidad de Antioquia (MHUA-R 11809-11903, 11952-11965, 12125-12237).
Studies of reproductive cycles ideally should establish minimum body sizes at first reproduction for both males and females, to help avoid confusing sexually immature individuals with individuals that have interrupted their reproductive effort. To more critically establish size at first reproduction in these populations, we selected individuals from a range of body sizes of each sex in each population and used histology to examine their reproductive tracts (32 males and 29 females from San Pedro and 28 males and 23 females from San Antonio). We removed the left reproductive tract (ovaries and oviduct for females and testicles and epididimus for males) from each individual. These tissues were fixed in Bouin's solution, embedded in paraffin, sectioned into 3 Hm layers, and stained with hematoxylineosin. These histological preparations were used to corroborate the reproductive states previously determined by examination of gross anatomy. In males, spermatogenesis was confirmed by the presence of secondary spermatocytes (spherical cells with a set of homologous chromosomes still joined by the chromatids), spermatids (elongated cells that still had not completed the spermatogenesis process), or sperm cells (with complete head, intermediate section and flagella). In females, initiation of vitellogenesis was indicated by a change in the epithelial follicular morphology; in previtellogenesis it was stratified and polymorphic, while with the initiation of vitellogenesis it was reduced to constitute a cap of flattened cells. Given that in this stage, the follicular cells accumulate nutritious substances to form vitelline, it also was possible to observe vitelline plaques (grains of vitelo; Estrada & Uribe 2002).
Testicular, ovarian, and body mass data and whole testes diameter, follicle diameter, and SVL measurements were log10 transformed and the reproductive variables were regressed on the body size variables to yield size-adjusted residuals to permit inspection of evidence of reproductive cycles in these populations (Ramirez-B. & Vitt 1997). The residual values were compared using ANOVAs, with month and study site as main effects, using Tukey post-hoc tests when significant differences between months or sites were found.
Body size and mass of sexually immature individuals were compared among seasons using Mann-Whitney tests (sexes pooled). Body size and mass of adult females in the four reproductive categories (nonreproductive, vitellogenic, gravid with one egg, and gravid with two eggs) were compared using a Kruskall-Wallis test, with multiple median post-hoc tests when appropriate. Body size and mass of reproductive and nonreproductive adult males were compared using Mann-Whitney tests. When sample sizes permitted, [X.sup.2] tests were used to inspect for heterogeneity in proportions of reproductive males and females in the two populations or in the dry vs. rainy seasons, using only individuals larger than the minimum size at maturity documented for each population using histological analyses.
Spearman correlations were used to inspect for a relationship between gravid female body and egg mass (Ramirez-B & Vitt 1997). Reproductive effort, defined as the amount of reproductive biomass relative to body mass, was calculated by dividing the mass of oviductal eggs by female body mass, and Mann-Whitney tests were used to inspect for differences in reproductive effort between seasons and study sites. Finally, mean daily precipitation values for the dry season months (December, January, and February) and rainy season months (October, November, and March) were compared using Mann-Whitney tests. Overall amounts of precipitation at the two study sites also were compared using the same test. Means are presented [+ or -] 1 SD unless otherwise indicated. All statistical analyses were conducting with STATISTICA (Ver. 8.0; StatSoft, 2007) using a = 0.05 as the criteria for statistical significance.
Significantly more precipitation fell in the rainy season months (SP, [bar.X]=5.90 [+ or -] 6.3, n=92; SA, [bar.X]=9.21+9.9, n=92) than in the dry season months at both San Pedro ([bar.X]=2.03+3.5, n=90; Mann-Whitney U=2301, p<0.001) and San Antonio (]bar.X]=3.95 [+ or -] 6.5, n=90; Mann-Whitney U=2360, p<0.001). San Pedro ([bar.X]=3.99+5.4, n=182) received significantly less precipitation than San Antonio ([bar.X]=6.61+8.78, n=182) during the study period (Mann-Whitney U=13848, p=0.007; Fig. 1).
In San Pedro, a total of 52 males and 63 females were collected, with no evidence of sexual body size dimorphism (SVL, Mann-Whitney U=1498, p=0.43). In San Antonio, 51 males and 57 females were collected, again with no significant sexual body size differences (SVL, Mann-Whitney U=1246.5, p>0.10). There also were no significant differences between sites in body size for either sex (males, SVL, Mann-Whitney U=1226.5, p>0.10; females SVL, Mann-Whitney U=1742.5, p>0.10).
Females in San Pedro with SVLs from 44.2 to 56.3 mm contained vitellogenic follicles or were gravid, and in San Antonio, females of 44.0 SVL or larger also were sexually mature, so the same minimum size at maturity (44 mm) was established for both populations in the analyses of reproductive seasonality (Fig. 2). In San Pedro, males began spermatogenesis at a minimum of 34.8 mm SVL, with meiosis occurring in the spermatogonias but no spermatids observed in the seminiferous tubules at this body size. Sexually mature males with sperm in the lumen of the seminiferous tubules ranged from 37.1 to 56.7 mm SVL (Fig. 2). Thus, to inspect for seasonality of reproduction, only males of 37 mm SVL or greater were included in the analyses. In San Antonio, males began spermatogenesis at a minimum SVL of 32.8 mm and sexually mature males ranged from 38.7 to 55.1 mm SVL (Fig. 2), so only males of 39 mm SVL or greater were included in the analyses of reproductive seasonality.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
There were no differences among immature individuals collected during the dry vs. rainy seasons in terms of body size (dry season, X=33.30 [+ or -] 6.76, n=28; rainy season, X=34.08 [+ or -] 5.08, n=26; Mann-Whitney U=334.0, p>0.10) or mass (dry season, X=0.98 [+ or -] 0.62, n=28; rainy season, X=0.95+0.40, n=26; Mann-Whitney U=344.0, p>0.10). In sexually mature males, there was a significant positive relationship between SVL and testicular diameter (San Pedro, [R.sup.2]=0.83, [F.sub.150]=259.4, p<0.001; San Antonio, [R.sup.2]=0.84, [F.sub.149]=269.45, p<0.001) and between body mass and testicular mass (San Pedro, [R.sup.2]=0.89, [F.sub.149]=433.05, p<0.001; San Antonio, [R.sup.2]=0.66, [F.sub.145]=87.54, p<0.001). Absolute testes size did not vary among months (testicular diameter, San Pedro, [F.sub.546]=0.75, p>0.10; San Antonio, [F.sub.545]=1.96, p=0.10; testicular mass, San Pedro, [F.sub.545]=2.23, p>0.10; San Antonio, [F.sub.541]=2.22, p=0.07). Size-corrected two-way Anovas also failed to show differences among months, sites, or significant interactions in relative testes size or mass.
In San Pedro, 18 of the 63 females collected were immature. Of the sexually mature females, 13.3% were vitellogenic and 82.2% were gravid with one or two oviductal eggs (Fig. 3). Immature females never comprised more than 15% of the females examined in a given month. In San Antonio, 13 of the 57 females examined were immature, with 25.% of the mature females vitellogenic and 72.7% gravid (Fig. 3), again with immature females never constituting more than 15% of the total females examined in a month. There were no differences in the proportion of gravid females encountered in the dry and rainy seasons in San Pedro ([X.sup.2.sub.1]=0.04; p>0.10) or in San Antonio ([X.sup.2.sub.1]=1.37; p>0.10), nor were there differences in the proportion of females that were gravid in the two populations ([X.sup.2.sub.1]=1.15; p>0.10). The three non-reproductive adultsized females were all within 3 mm of the minimum size at reproductive maturity established for these populations and were encountered during the dry season months of January and February (Fig. 3).
In San Pedro, there was a significant positive relationship between female body size (SVL) and gonad size (diameter of the largest ovarian follicle ([R.sup.2]=0.81, [F.sub.1,61]=290.85, p<0.001) and gravid body mass was positively correlated to gonadal mass ([R.sup.2]=0.53, [F.sub.144]=50.42, p<0.001). In San Antonio, female body size and ovarian diameter also were positively correlated ([R.sup.2]=0.84, [F.sub.154]=250.31, p<0.001), but body and gonad mass were not ([R.sup.2]=0.02, [F.sub.1,42]=1.05, p>0.10). Size-corrected gonad size and mass did not vary between months at either site, nor were either site-month interaction significant (Gonad size, 2-way ANOVA, all p's >0.10, Gonad mass, 2-way ANOVA, all p's >0.10).
In females, gravid body weight was correlated with oviductal egg weight (San Pedro, Spearman R=0.33, p=0.04; San Antonio, Spearman R=0.45, p=0.009; Fig. 4). Reproductive effort (oviductal egg mass/ gravid female body mass) was greater in San Pedro (San Pedro: 0.10 [+ or -] 0.04, n=37; San Antonio:0.08 [+ or -] 0.02, n=32; Mann-Whitney U=402, p=0.02), and was greater in the rainy season in San Pedro (rainy season, 0.12 [+ or -] 0.03, n=20; dry season, 0.09+0.03, n=17; MannWhitney U=93, p=0.01), but not different between seasons in San Antonio (rainy season, 0.08 [+ or -] 0.02, n=16; dry season, 0.09 [+ or -] 0.3, n=16; Mann-Whitney U=116, p>0.10).
Histological inspection of reproductive tracts corroborated the correct assignment of sex via gross anatomy in 104 cases (60 males and 44 females). Six immature males were incorrectly classified as females based on gross anatomy and one immature female was incorrectly classified as a male based on gross anatomy. On 11 occasions, males classified as being reproductively active based on the presence of convolutions in the epididymis were not actually producing sperm, while all males classified as possessing an unconvuluted epididymis were confirmed by histology to not be producing sperm.
Adult males in both populations were reproductive (producing viable sperm) during both the dry and rainy seasons, with comparable testicular sizes and masses in all months sampled. One problem with using macroscopic measures such as testicular mass to establish reproductive cycles is that differences might merely reflect the degree of hydration of the gonads (Vitt 1986) or variation in the intensity of sperm production (Garcia-C et al. 1993). However, histological analyses also confirmed that males were reproductive with viable sperm during the entire study in both sites, despite the significant differences in the amounts of precipitation between months.
With adult females, there was also no evidence that the decrease in precipitation caused reproduction to cease at either site, with no differences detected in gonad size or mass during the two seasons, and with vitellogenic or gravid females abundant during all months. However, there was some suggestion that precipitation may have influenced reproductive rates. The only three non-reproductive females larger than the minimum size at first reproduction detected in this study were all encountered during the dry season (Fig 2). In addition, at the dryer site of San Pedro, there also was a smaller proportion of females carrying two eggs simultaneously in the dry season months, while females often carried two eggs in both the rainy and dry seasons at San Antonio. We assume the presence of females with two oviductal eggs indicates high rates of egg production during favorable periods, rather than a case of egg retention during harsh environmental conditions, as has been reported in other Anolis species (Huey, 1977), because only large females were shown to carry two eggs (Fig. 4). Small adult females just beginning to reproduce presumably are required to invest in both reproduction and growth, and thus would be expected to exhibit lower rates of egg production than larger females.
Finally, in pre-reproductive individuals, body size distributions were homogeneous during the different months of this study, further arguing that recruitment in these populations was continuous rather than pulsed. In addition, recently hatched individuals (less than 30 mm SVL) were captured in all months of the study. Thus, all of our evidence argues that reproduction is continuous in A. mariarum during the first dry season of the year. The second dry season in June to August is no longer or more severe than the dry season we studied, so we assume reproduction is continuous during that period as well. Ramirez-P et al. (1991) found reproduction to be continuous during both annual dry seasons for Anolis heterodermus in the climatic ecuator region, while ArdilaM et al. (2008) documented continuous reproduction during the first dry season of the year in Anolis tolimensis from the same region, and made the same assumption that we make here that it is reasonable to assume it is continuous in the second dry season each year as well.
The accumulating evidence for continuous breeding by Anolis species in the climatic equator region (Ramirez-P et al. 1991, Ardila-M et al. 2008; this study) suggests that Watling et al. (2005) were premature in arguing that total annual precipitation, but not length of the dry season, is what determines reproductive cycles in populations of mainland neotropical lizard species with fixed clutch sizes. When annual precipitation is limited, but occurs bimodally, individuals apparently are capable of sustaining reproductive investment throughout the relatively short pair of dry seasons each year.
However, mean annual temperature is a confounding factor in this analysis, given that 18 of 19 Anolis populations included in Watling et al. (2005) were from locations below 1200 m elevation, while all four populations that have been studied in the climatic equator region of Colombia to date were located above 2200 m elevation. It would be interesting to know whether reproduction is continuous or seasonal in Anolis species inhabiting dry lowland areas in the climatic equator area of the llanos of Colombia or Venezuela.
Our evidence that A. mariarum breeds during the dry season, but that some females may lower their reproductive rates at these times, especially at the dryer site, also illustrates the need to consider reproductive phenology as a continuum, rather than a dichotomy (i.e., not seasonal vs. continuous breeding). For example, in the meta-analysis of Watling et al. (2005), populations of Anolis limifrons from Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in Panama were classified as breeding seasonally. It is true that recruitment is limited during the dry season at this site (Andrews et al. 1983), but this primarily results from egg dessication (Andrews & Sexton 1981) and the fact that females that attain the minimum size for breeding during the dry season continue growing but refrain from reproducing until the rainy season begins (Andrews 1989). In contrast, adult females that have begun breeding before the onset of the dry season continue to oviposit during the dry season (Andrews & Rand 1974, Andrews 1979).
Thus, this population would have to be considered intermediate to cases such as Anolis cupreus in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where reproduction ceases completely during the six-month dry season (Fleming & Hooker 1975), and Anolis mariarum, where some, but not all, females may lower their reproductive rates or refrain from initiating reproduction during the two short dry seasons each year.
Just as reproductive phenology should not be treated as a dichotomy, analyses of the influence of rainfall on reproduction also should not consider the wet-rainy season classification as a simple dichotomy. Ideally, both the severity of the dry season and the pattern of precipitation during the dry season also should be considered. For example, while the mean annual precipitation of our San Antonio site is almost identical to the mean annual precipitation on BCI, much less precipitation occurs during the dry season months on BCI than during the two dry seasons at San Antonio, and it tends to occur in major downpours separated by many days with no precipitation, rather than in short showers occurring almost weekly, as in San Antonio. Reproduction in A. mariarum may be continuous not only because the two dry seasons are shorter than the single dry season that populations of Anolis experience in Central America, but also because they are less severe and have, on average, fewer dry days interspersed between dry season precipitation events.
In previous studies of A. mariarum populations (Bock et al. 2009, 2010), mean and maximum body sizes were shown to vary among populations as a function of mean annual precipitation levels at the sites. Bock et al. (2010) found no evidence of differences in adult survivorships between the wettest and driest sites, but speculated that perhaps body sizes were larger at the dryer site due to differences injuvenile survivorship rates and/ or minimum sizes of sexual maturity there. Age-specific mortality theory predicts that body sizes should differ between populations in species with indetermiant growth when their juvenile mortality rates differ, with a life history shift towards delayed maturity, longer adult life spans, and larger body sizes in sites where juvenile mortality rates are higher (Abrams & Rowe 1996, Gadgil & Bossert 1970, Law 1979, Reznick 1982, Charnov & Berrigan 1990, Reznick et al. 1990). The results of this study were curious, because the differences in annual precipitation levels among the two study sites were comparable to those of the sites studied by Bock et al. (2010; 900 mm/year), yet we found no significant adult body size differences in either sex, with both populations exhibiting large body sizes (relative to the wet site studied by Bock et al. 2010). While it is difficult to quantify juvenile (egg and sub-adult) survivorship rates in Anolis lizards, our results clearly showed that females began reproducing at the same minimum body size (44 mm SVL) at both sites. Reciprocal transplant studies will be needed to determine whether the substantial microgeographic variation in mean and maximum body size in this species represents cases of local adaptation, or is due to phenotypic plasticity, but the generalization that individuals are larger at dryer sites apparently does not always hold true.
The mimimum body sizes at first reproduction we documented in A. mariarum were lower than those recently reported for A. tolimensis (43.7 mm SVL in males and 46.4 mm in females; Ardila-M et al. 2008), a closely related species (Poe 2004) also adapted to high elevation conditions in the Andes of Colombia. This difference could be partially due to our use of histology to confirm our determinations of sexual maturity based on inspection of gross reproductive anatomy, as the histological data set caused us to reduce our estimates of minimum body sizes at maturity for both sexes. Ardila-M et al. (2008) used only inspection of gross anatomy, as is typical of most studies of reproductive cycles in lizards. We suggest that histological analysis permits a more precise determination of sex in immature individuals and of minimum size at sexual maturity, especially for males, and hence will often justify the additional effort.
In sexually dimorphic species, the larger sex often begins to produce gametes later in life than the smaller sex (Stamps & Krishnan 1997), and although sexual dimorphism has been documented in some populations of A. mariarum (Bock et al. 2009), when it does occur it is always males that are the larger sex. Yet this study showed that it is females that mature at larger sizes, and because growth rates in the two sexes are comparable (Rubio-R 2009), presumable also at older ages. The sexual bimaturation exhibited in our populations may reflect selection for delayed maturation on the part of females due to the greater energy demands of producing eggs vs. sperm, or it may reflect selection for accelerated maturation on the part of males, or both. Sexual maturation in small males may seem curious, since it has traditionally been assumed in anoles that only the larger/older territorial males procure mating opportunities (Tokarz, 1995). But a physiological puberty that greatly preceeds the size/age of functional sexual maturity has been noted in other lizards, with speculations that early maturity may be more related to hormonal effects on male-male competition and early establishment of dominance relationships than to sperm production (Pratt et al. 1994). However, a recent study using molecular techniques documented that 21% of hatchlings in a population of A. carolinensis were sired by small males who surreptitiously resided within the territories of larger males (Passek, 2002).
This project was supported with a Sustainability Grant from the Comite para la Investigacion CODI of the Universidad de Antioquia and a grant from IDEA WILD. We would like to thank E. Alzate for assistance with the field work and the Alzate-Otalvaro family for offering housing at the San Antonio de Prado site.
Recibido: 01/09/2010
Aceptado: 10/01/2011
LITERATURE CITED
ABRAMS, P.A. & L. ROWE. 1996. The effects of predation on age and size of maturity of prey. Evolution 50: 1052-1061.
ANDREWS, R.M. 1979. Reproductive effort of female Anolis limifrons (Sauria: Iguanidae). Copeia 1979: 620-626.
ANDREWS, R.M. 1989. Intra-populational variation in the age of sexual maturity of the tropical lizard Anolis limifrons in Panama. Copeia 1989: 751-753.
ANDREWS, R.M. & A.S. RAND. 1974. Reproductive effort in anoline lizards. Ecology 55: 1317-1327.
ANDREWS, R.M., A.S. RAND & S. GUERRERO. 1983. Seasonal and spatial variation in the annual cycle of a tropical lizard. Pp. 441-454 in: A.G.J. Rhodin & K. Miyata (eds.), Advances in Herpetology and Evolutionary Biology. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
ANDREWS, R.M. & O.J. SEXTON. 1981. Water relations of the eggs of Anolis auratus and Anolis limifrons. Ecology 62: 556-562.
ARDILA-MARIN, D.A., D.G. GAITAN-REYES, & E.J. HERNANDEZ-RUZ. 2008. Biologia reproductiva de una poblacion de Anolis tolimensis (Sauria: Iguanidae) en los Andes Colombianos. Caldasia 30: 151-159.
BOCK, B.C., A.M. ORTEGA, A.M. ZAPATA, & V.P. PAEZ. 2009. Microgeographic body size variation in a high elevation Andean anole (Anolismariarum; Squamata, Polychrotidae). Revista de Biologia Tropical 57: 1253-1262.
BOCK, B.C., A.M. ZAPATA, & V.P. PAEZ. 2010. Survivorship rates of adult Anolis mariarum (Squamata: Polychrotidae) in two populations with differing mean and asymptotic body sizes. Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia 50: 43-50.
BORCHERT, R., S.S. RENNER, Z. CALLE, D. NAVARRETE, A. TYE, L. GAUTIER, R. SPICHIGER, & P. VON HILDEBRAND. 2005. Photoperiodic induction of synchronous flowering near the equator. Supplementary Discussion 2. Bimodal flowering and bimodal rainfall seasonality near the equator (p. 1-2). Nature 433: 627-629.
CHARNOV, E.L. & D. BERRIGAN. 1990. Dimensionless numbers and life history evolution: Age of maturity versus the adult life span. Evolutionary Ecology 4: 273-275.
ESTRADA, E. & M.C. URIBE. 2002. Atlas de Histologia de Vertebados. Primera Edicion. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Editores y Impresores FOC, SA, de CV. Mexico, D.F.
FLEMING, T.H. & R.S. HOOKER. 1975. Anolis cupreus: The response of a lizard to tropical seasonality. Ecology 56: 1243-1261.
GADGIL, M. & W.H. BOSSERT. 1970. Life historical consequences of natural selection. American Naturalist 104: 1-24.
GARCIA-COLLAZO, R., T. ALTAMIRANO-ALVAREZ, & M. GOMEZ-SOTO. 1993. Reproduccion continua en Sceloporus variabilis variabilis (Sauria: Phrynosomatidae) en Alvarado, Veracruz, Mexico. Boletin de la Sociedad Herpetologica de Mexico 5: 51-59.
HUEY, R.B. 1977. Egg retention in some high-altitude Anolis lizards. Copeia 1977: 373-375.
LAW, R. 1979. Optimal life histories under age-specific predation. American Naturalist 114: 1-20.
MAGANA, V., J.A. AMADOR, & S. MEDINA. 1999. The midsummer drought over Mexico and Central America. Journal of Climate 12: 1577-1588.
PAEZ, V.P., B.C. BOCK, J.J. ESTRADA, A.M. ORTEGA, J.M. DAZA, & P.D. GUTIERREZ C. 2002. Guia de Campo de Algunas Especies de Anfibios y Reptiles de Antioquia. Multimpresos Ltda., Medellin.
PALACIO BAENA, J.A., E.M. MUNOZ ESCOBAR, S.M. GALLO DELGADO, & M. RIVERA CORREA. 2006. Anfibios y Reptiles del Valle de Aburra. Editorial Zuluaga Ltda., Medellin.
PASSEK, K.M. 2002. Extra-pair paternity within the female-defense polygyny of the lizard, Anolis carolinensis: Evidence of alternative mating strategies. Doctoral thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
POE, S. 2004. Phylogeny of anoles. Herpetological Monographs 18: 37-89.
PRATT, N.C., J.A. PHILLIPS, A.C. ALBERTS, & K.S. BOLDA. 1994. Functional versus physiological puberty: An analysis of sexual bimaturation in the green iguana, Iguana iguana. Animal Behaviour 47:1101-1114.
RAMIREZ-B, A. & L.J. VITT. 1997. Reproduction in the lizard Anolis nebulosus (Polychrotidae) from the Pacific coast of Mexico. Herpetologica 53: 423-431.
RAMIREZ, M.P., J., G. DE PEREZ, P. RAMIREZ, & M.L. VARGAS. 1991. Ciclo ovarico de Phenacosaurus heterodermus (Sauria: Iguanidae) con relacion a niveles circulantes de lipoproteinas sericas y variacion anual de las lluvias. Trianea 4: 513-526.
RAND, A.S. & W.M. RAND. 1982. Variation in rainfall on Barro Colorado Island. Pp. 4759 in: E.G. Leight, Jr., A.S. Rand, & D.M. Windsor (eds.), The Ecology of a Tropical Forest: Seasonal Rhythms and Long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
REZNICK, D. 1982. The impact of predation on life history evolution in Trinidadian guppies: Genetic basis of observed life history patterns. Evolution 36: 1236-1250.
REZNICK, D.A., H. BRYGA, & J.A. ENDLER. 1990. Experimentally induced life-history evolution in a natural population. Nature 346: 357-359.
RUBIO-R, L.C. 2009. Ecologia reproductiva y demografia de Anolis mariarum (Squamata: Polychrotidae) en dos localidades del departamento de Antioquia. Undergraduate thesis, Universidad del Valle, Cali.
SERRANO-C, V.H., M.P. RAMIREZ-P, J.E. ORTEGA, & L.A. CORTES. 2007. Annual reproductive activity of Gonatodes albogularis (Squamata: Gekkonidae) living in an anthropic area in Santander, Colombia. South American Journal of Herpetology 2: 31-38.
SHINE, R. & A.E. GREER. 1991. Why are clutch sizes more variable in some species than in others? Evolution 45: 1696-1706.
SMALL, R.J.O., S.P. DE SZOEKE, & S.-P. XIE. 2007. The Central American midsummer drought: Regional aspects and large-scale forcing. Journal of Climate 20: 4853-4873.
STAMPS, J. & V.V. KRISHNAN. 1997. Sexual bimaturation and sexual size dimorphism in animals with asymptotic growth after maturity. Evolutionary Ecology, 11:21-39.
STATSOFT, INC. 2007. STATISTICA, data analysis software system, version 8.0. www.statsoft.com.
TOKARZ, R.R. 1995. Mate choice in lizards: A review. Herpetological Monographs, 8:17-40.
VITT, L.J. 1986. Reproductive tactics of sympatric gekkonid lizards with a comment on the evolutionary and ecological consequences of invariant clutch size. Copeia 1986: 773-786.
VITT, L.J. & J.P. CALDWELL. 2009. Herpetology. 3d Edition. Academic Press, Burlington, Massachusetts.
WATLING, J.I., J.H. WADDLE, D. KIZIRIAN, & M.A. DONNELLY. 2005. Reproductive phenology of three lizard species in Costa Rica, with comments on seasonal reproduction in neotropical lizards. Journal of Herpetology 39: 341-348.
Laura C. Rubio-Rocha Departamento de Biologia, Edificio 320, Ciudadela Universitaria Melendez, Universidad del Valle. Cali, Colombia/Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 569 Dabney Hall, 1416 Circle Drive, University of Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996-1610, USA. lacaruro@gmail.com
Brian C. Bock Vivian P. Paez Instituto de Biologia, Universidad de Antioquia, Apartado 1226. Medellin, Colombia. brianbock1@gmail.com, vivianpaez1@gmail.com
COPYRIGHT 2011 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias
Ecofisiologia
Rubio-Rocha, Laura C.; Bock, Brian C.; Paez, Vivian P.
Caldasia
Cuatresia anomala y Cuatresia physalana (Physaleae, Solanaceae): dos especies nuevas de Colombia y Ecuador. (Botanica-Taxonomia)\.
Evaluacion del habitat, las poblaciones y el estatus de conservacion del barrigon (Cavanillesia chicamochae, Malvaceae--Bombacoideae).


text:
Upcoming investor briefing during the GIIN forum seeks to secure additional support
Violet Zarriello, +1-617-510-7101, vzarriello@edf.org
Ashleigh Lezard, +44 7920510065, ashleigh.lezard@tvcgroup.com
(WASHINGTON, D.C.—October 15, 2018) After being launched earlier this year, The Principles for Investment in Sustainable Wild-Caught Fisheries (the Principles), continue to gain momentum and add supporters from the philanthropic, conservation and investment communities. These new supporters are critical to advancing the effort to generate investor confidence in the rapidly growing sector of sustainable and socially-responsible fishery investment.
At The Economist Group's World Ocean Summit in March, Environmental Defense Fund along with partners at Althelia Ecosphere, Encourage Capital, and the Meloy Fund unveiled these innovative Principles—with broad support from impact investors, charitable foundations, project developers and non-profit organizations. With these additions, the official supporters list has grown by 50% to include eight new organizations.
The new supporters— Arborview Capital, Ceres, Global Ocean Trust, Gratitude Railroad, MAR Fund, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Sant Foundation, and Summit Foundation—add critical new perspectives and constituencies for better aligning investment capital with the recovery of the world's wild-capture fisheries. By deploying their capital towards responsible management, investors can expect a true triple-bottom-line return on their investments.
"Given the numerous assaults on our oceans, from climate change to overfishing, the billions of dollars that flow into the world's fisheries and the billions of people who rely on seafood as their primary source of protein, it is essential that sustainability be factored into investment decisions," said Dawn M. Martin, Chief Operating Officer at the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres. "The Principles offer concrete ESG guidance for investors interested in improving the growing sustainable fisheries sector, and we will continue to encourage the investors we work within the Ceres Investor Network and beyond to follow them."
"Philanthropy can play a key role in catalyzing investment in new sectors," said Lex Sant, President of the Summit Foundation. "This community has the power to drive global fishing towards sustainability by investing in model projects that inspire the broader change we want to see."
The Principles apply globally to all debt and equity investment products deployed to finance a project and/or company, and where the project or company has or is expected to have an impact on wild-caught fisheries and their associated ecosystems and communities. Modeled after the Equator Principles, they complement existing guidelines and frameworks governing environmentally and socially responsible investment.
"Embracing environmental and social principles is critically important in order to build sustainable fishing and seafood supply chains globally," said Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly, Director of Global Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "We welcome these new investment guidelines as a way to enhance collaboration between the conservation community and investors."
As part of a commitment to making the Principles the industry standard for sustainable fisheries investments by reaching new and larger investors, Environmental Defense Fund and The Economist Group's new World Ocean Initiative are co-hosting an investor briefing on October 31 in Paris alongside the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) annual forum. The event is supported by Althelia Ecosphere, Calvert Impact Capital, Encourage Capital, and the Meloy Fund, and is open to all organizations with an interest in a healthy and sustainable ocean economy.
"The Principles cover everything from small-scale fisheries to human rights and food security, said Tim Fitzgerald, Director of Impact at Environmental Defense Fund. "Whether you're a small impact investor or a global bank with a commitment to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, together we can put capital to work in sustainable fisheries that can support more fish, food, and prosperity for fishing communities."
"The World Ocean Initiative was formed to continue the conversations started at the Ocean Summit and we are pleased to support for the further growth of these Principles," said Klaas de Vos, Deputy Director, World Ocean Initiative. "We aim to work with the investment community to educate them on the opportunities available in the nascent blue economy."
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading international nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on EDF Voices, Twitter and Facebook.
The World Ocean Initiative translates the momentum and focus of the World Ocean Summit into a year-round programme on the ocean that leverages the full capabilities of The Economist Group. Through carefully designed and sequenced research and knowledge-building, and by convening decision-makers across the ocean space, we aim to build new outcomes-focused agendas, and new constituencies, across our levers of change—financing, governance and innovation. The World Ocean Summit will beat at the heart of the World Ocean Initiative, providing an annual stage to mark progress across our own initiative, and elsewhere across the cutting edge of the global ocean agenda. www.woi.economist.com @Economist_WOI

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Drupal doesnot save changes I have a drupal7 website and I have a drop down menu of products in my website.
I am able to add or rename a product in the list of the products , but when I save and go look at the drop down menu , I cannot see the changes that I just made !
I flush the cache every time I make some change .
Can anyone help ?

A: When you use a menu navigation made by some of your content names, if you rename your product, you have to make the change each time in admin/structure/menu/your menu/list links and modify the link name.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Celebrity hotelier Andre Balazs allegedly groped Jason Bateman's wife, Amanda Anka, in 2012, The New York Times reports.
According to the newspaper, the alleged incident happened at a dinner party at the Chiltern Firehouse hotel -- which Balazs owns -- following the London premiere of Horrible Bosses 2, which Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day also attended. The newspaper reports that Balazs offered to take the group on a tour, and cites witnesses who allege that when Anka climbed a ladder to an upstairs room, Balazs slipped a hand under her dress and grabbed her crotch.
"I witnessed behavior by Andre Balazs that was inappropriate and offensive," Day's wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, also tells the Times.
The newspaper reports that Bateman later confronted Balazs, and spit gum in his face, before the couple quickly exited the hotel.
Bateman and Anka's publicist backed up the account in a statement to the Times.
According to the Times, several women have come forward accusing Balazs of groping them, though the hotelier didn't respond to the newspaper when asked for comment.
ET has reached out to Balazs' rep for comment.
Balazs, 60, is the President and CEO of Andre Balazs Properties. The luxury group comprises such celebrity hot spots as The Mercer Hotel in New York City, the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood and The Standard hotels in Los Angeles, Miami Beach and New York City. Balazs is also known for dating Uma Thurman and Chelsea Handler.
Is Uma Thurman Back With Her Famous Ex?


This document is aimed at developers and system administrators who wish to make use to make calls to web-services outside of the domain of Interlok. Depending on how you want to execute the webservice; it will depend on either adp-webservice-cxf or adp-webservice-external.
There are two ways of accessing external webservices from Interlok; through a generic apache-cxf-soap-service which calls the webservice with the payload of the current message as the operation argument (the service will look after any required SOAP headers); or by generating a custom service which has its own specific standardised input file.
apache-cxf-soap-service is the simplest way of executing a webservice; you just need to know the structure of the webservice document (which can be easily discovered by using SoapUI against the WSDL); map to it, and configure the service appropriately. In the majority of cases, this is the only service you will need. This service relies on the optional optional/webservice-cxf package.
If we wanted to call the WebserviceX.net currency converter webservice; then we can do that quite easily using apache-cxf-soap-service. For the purposes of our example we are going to do a find out the current GBP to USD exchange rate; and to log the reply message.
we do it here using payload-from-metadata-service because that's an easy way of hard-coding a document.
Next we call the currency conversion service using apache-cxf-soap-service.
The various fields being used should be self-explanatory.
This is a more fully featured way of handling a webservice; and is included for completeness. In the majority of cases apache-cxf-soap-service will handle everything you need. Part of the installation now ships with a tool that will generate Interlok services based on a provided WSDL. These generated services can be seamlessly configured into your Adapter configuration.
You must have apache-ant version 1.6 or later installed to be able to execute the service generator.
After the generator has run, you will have a new java archive (jar) file. This new file should then be dropped into the "/lib/" directory of your Adapter installation.
Any java archive files added into the "/lib/" directory will be added to the classpath of the Adapter, meaning any classes or resources contained in that java archive will be available to the Adapter during runtime.
Note: The generator builds a java archive that is very specific to the provided WSDL. Should the web services change, you will most likely need to re-generate a new java archive.
In the root of your Interlok installation, you will find a directory named "optional". Copy all of the files from the "/optional/web-service-external/" directory into Interlok's "/lib/" directory (the "/lib/" directory can also be found in the root of your Interlok installation).
Note: You do not necessarily need to remove these files after this process. There is no downside to leaving the optional files in the Adapters lib directory.
Copy all files from; /docs/example-xml/optional/webservice-external/generator into the root of your Interlok installation. These files include the Ant script and configuration for the generator tool.
In the root of your Interlok installation you should now have a build.properties.template file. Copy this file and rename it to build.properties.
There are many properties in this file, most of which should be left as the default value. The below table shows the properties you should modify.
Notice that we are using Apache Ant to execute the tool. We provide the ant script two commands to execute; clean and generate.
You don't need to call the "clean" command the first time you run the tool. This will simply delete any previously generated files.
The "generate" command is the task that will create your new java archive with your custom services.
Should there be a problem and something goes wrong, then the output on the command line will provide you with the error details.
Once the generator has built your java archive file, you can simply copy this file into your Interlok "/lib/" directory.
Once a jar file exists in the "/lib/" directory any java classes or resources contained in that java archive will be available to the running Interlok instance.
The generator tool, as well as creating a new java archive which contains the new service(s), will also generate 2 documents.
You will find both documents created in the "/build/" directory, in the root of your Interlok installation.
You can simply copy the sample service configuration and paste it into the relevant section(s) in your Adapter configuration. The default values for all fields will have been completed for you.
The second document produced by the service generator, is the sample input message.
This is the expected payload you will be required to have as input for your new service. You will need to take care in your Interlok configuration to make sure that the payload of the current message matches the sample input message before your new service is called.
For testing purposes you can simply consume this sample message document and configure your new service as the first service.


Sanskrit name यह्वी means 'heaven and earth conjoined'.
The boy name Trayimurti is derived from Sanskrit. It means "..
The word "karishma" translates as "miracle", in Hindi.
Means"good friend". In that Su means good and Meet means fri..
Derived from Sanskrit word Ramya(रम्य)means lovely, Pleasing..
Aniket (अनिकेत) is a masculine first name in India that lite..
Jatin (Sanskrit जतिन) is ancient Sanskrit word which refers ..
Tishy (Sanskrit तिष्य) is an ancient word that belongs to Sa..


text:
Home Sectors HEALTHCARE International Covid vaccine rollout expected next month
International Covid vaccine rollout expected next month
by Ash Jones
Shipping of the first Covid vaccines internationally should be on track for next month with inoculation expected to commence before the end of the year, according to officials from various nations including the US, UK and EU.
Credit: Wolfman-K (Flickr)
Pfizer and BioNTech recently sent their vaccine - which has just entered phase III clinical trials - in for certification in the US, but the UK is expected to be the first nation to sanction its use.
Read more: Results Show AstraZeneca Corona Vaccine Could be 90% Effective
US approval is awaiting confirmation from the Food and Drug Administration advisory board and is expected sometime after their meeting on December 10.
Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC on Sunday: "We likely, almost certainly, are going to be vaccinating a portion of the individuals in the first priority before the end of December."
The National Health Service (NHS) has begun setting up dozens of inoculation centres around the country in preparation and is set to begin inoculation on the most vulnerable members of the public as soon as they are able.
Read more: 6,000 Volunteers to be inoculated in Phase 3 Vaccine Tests
German officials noted preparations had been made to begin vaccinations next month once EU officials sanction the vaccine.
The EU recently announced plans to purchase up to 300 million doses of Pfizer's Covid vaccine to begin shipping across the bloc.
Clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be up to 95% effective on patients suffering from coronavirus symptoms.
The EU hope to have the vaccine shipped out by the end of the year, as a part of its post-pandemic recovery initiative.
Regulators are facing a constant uphill battle between the public health needs of the population during a pandemic and ensuring the vaccine is safe for application.
EU regulators, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), are being hurried to complete their assessments owing to the UK and US's near-completion of preliminary processes.
However, the EMA confirmed in a statement that it had not faced "any political pressure" to complete its assessments sooner.
It said: "The recommendation will be based on the strength of the scientific evidence on a vaccine's safety, quality and efficacy, and nothing else.
"Authorisation will be granted when the evidence shows convincingly that the benefits of vaccination are greater than any risks of the vaccine."
It is also hoped the vaccine could be efficiently shipped across the world to immunise the frontline and healthcare workers who have been at the centre of the pandemic since its inception.
This has lead to numerous controversies including how healthcare services across the world are often understaffed and underpaid and being forced to work incredibly long work hours to compensate.
Back in April, a WHO report concluded that frontline workers were the highest at risk of not only catching Covid but also faced significant workplace violence and stress-related mental health issues.
The report concluded that sufficient measures needed to be enforced to ensure maximum safety for both patients and medical staff to not exacerbate the issues associated with the virus.
Cases of frontline workers testing positive for coronavirus was considered particularly important owing to underreporting.
A study into the same area conducted a few months later offered similar results.
Discussion about increased pay for healthcare workers early on in the pandemic was shuttered by the UK government.
Covid-19 Germany UK Coronavirus US EU Vaccines Healthcare Clinical trial NHS Lead Story


The Show grounds provide a quiet, relaxed Bush Setting with great facilities. Listen to the variety of birds that visit the area as you relax in the quiet of the afternoon while watching the sunset or the moon rise.
Camping is available at the Miles Showgrounds for a small fee of $20 for powered sites for caravans/tents for up to 2 people$15/night for un-powered sites.
Clean, serviced toilet facilities are available with hot water.
Limited kitchen facilities are available for hire.
Groups are welcome and catering can be made available at cost.
Group bookings can be made by contacting the President or the Caretakers.
Please contact the Caretaker on arrival at the grounds.
Horse stables and cattle yards are available for hire. Please phone for booking before arrival please. Fees apply.
Other Facilities and Miscellaneous items are also available for hire.


text:
AlbaNova Telescope
Sweden's largest optical telescope sits on a rooftop in Stockholm.
The AlbaNova telescope viewed from the back. 2pem/cc by-sa 3.0
AlbaNova university center. I99pema/cc by-sa 3.0
CoolCrab (Atlas Obscura User)
AlbaNova university center. Eige arbeid/cc by-sa 3.0
Top Places in Stockholm
Kymlinge Metro Station
Kungsträdgården Metro Station
When visiting large telescopes most people expect remote places, usually on top of some lonely mountain far away from cities and polluting light. The largest optical telescope in Sweden is not located in such a place though; instead it is found right in the capital city.
The AlbaNova Telescope is situated on top of Stockholm University's building of the same name, right over the astronomy department. It sports a mirror that is over 3 feet in diameter (1 meter), allowing for very high resolution images.
The telescope was made in 2007 by the German company Astro Optik and weighs a baffling 2.3 metric tonnes, nearly 5,100 pounds. Originally it was used for environmental physics studies and was later taken over by the astronomy department. It is now used as a testbed for new astronomical instruments, as a tool for teaching students, and for the observation of supernovas.
During the dark winter months it is also open for public telescope shows.
The telescope can be visited during a scheduled telescope show for 40 SEK per person (20 SEK for children). But do get your tickets well in advance as they get sold out quickly.
Rewilding: Tracking Wolves in the Forests of Sweden
Explore Sweden's boreal forests by day and hear the howling of wild wolves by night.
telescopes astronomy space instruments of science universities
CoolCrab
https://www.astro.su.se/english/about-us/2.16620
Roslagstullsbacken 21
Lego Swedish 1-M Solar Telescope
Scharmer's Small Solar Telescope
R1 Nuclear Reactor
A 1:42 scale model of the world's second largest lensed telescope.
A scale model of the world's second largest lensed telescope.
Sweden's first nuclear reactor, R1, can be visited 25 meters underground.
Stockholms Spelmuseum
It's always game time at Stockholm's only museum devoted solely to video games.
Helsinki Observatory
Finland's oldest astronomical observatory once played a crucial role in seafaring and timekeeping.
Fraunhofer Refractor at the Deutsches Museum
The telescope that discovered Neptune.
Van der Wall Telescope
Once the world's biggest telescope, it was later used as a coat hanger by a famous Dutch astronomer.
Meudon, France
The Grande Lunette
The largest refracting telescope in Europe is housed on the grounds of a former French castle.


text:
Q: mknod of content in directory I would like to create a virtual device from a directory i.e. you know, there's these cloud storage providers like dropbox and co and they generally have a software client and then give you access to files saved with them in a certain directory in your home directory. Now I would like to, instead being able to access the files in a directory, I would like to be able to mount it anywhere and access the files like as if they were on a device. How can I create a virtual device like this using mknod
edit 1: I would like to mount multiple of these devices together in one directory using mhddfs (http://romanrm.ru/en/mhddfs) if possible
edit 2: I am trying it out with Ubuntu One and Dropbox and I have created ~/virtcld in my home and "mounted" both cloud directories like this: mhddfs ~/Dropbox/ ~/Ubuntu\ One/ ~/virtcld/ -o allow_other then I have created a bunch of test files in my virtualcd like time dd if=/dev/zero of=test13.bin bs=1024 count=1000000 but once my Dropbbox is filled up, the files do not start to upload to the ubuntu One directory instead...

A: Given you're trying to make use of mhddfs to create a virtual directory of other directories it seems like you should be able to just provide the paths to Dropbox folders as arguments to it.
This is an example from the URL above:
$ mhddfs /mnt/hdd1,/mnt/hdd2,/mnt/hdd3 /mnt/virtual -o allow_other

These directories are the mounted devices, not the actual HDD's (/dev/sda1, etc.). So I would think something like this would do:
$ mhddfs /path/to/Dropbox1 /path/to/Dropbox2 /mnt/virtDropbox -o allow_other

UPDATE #1
In doing additional research I do not think you'll be able to use Dropbox with mhddfs. Dropbox apparently needs the filesystem to support the ability to provide hardlinks which mhddfs seems not to.
excerpt Using Dropbox With Your Seedbox To Download Torrents

[Why you need this step: If you try to install Dropbox the prescribed
  way (http://wiki.dropbox.com/TipsAndTricks/TextBasedLinuxInstall) it
  will fail. This is because your home directory on BigSB is mounted
  with mhddfs. mhddfs doesn't support hard links, which Dropbox needs.]

The same thing is echoed here in the Dropbox Forums - Problems installing on Linux

However, I was able to get this working after realizing that my server
  provider had mounted /home with mhddfs file system (which does not
  support hard links) After accessing the underlying drive I was able to
  extract the tarball and run dropbox just fine

A: There's a FUSE plugin for Dropbox and many other services. I don't see how mknod relates.


Last year I discovered the Singing Christmas Tree in Portland, Oregon, but at that time I didn't realize what a global tradition it is! Every year folks all around the world are performing holiday shows that include a singing Christmas tree. I'm amazed at all the talented people who build the sets and the many others who sing, dance, and play instruments. Below are a few hand-picked shows that you can enjoy across North America.
If you live near Augusta, GA, clear your schedule next weekend, because the Singing Christmas Tree at Abilene Baptist Church is performing for just 3 days. With a full orchestra, an original drama sequence, and over 85 singers, you won't want to miss it! To get a taste of what you'll see, check out this clip from last year's show.
Admission: Free! But make sure you get your tickets in advance from the main church office.
For the 62nd year in a row, the Singing Christmas Tree in Charlotte, NC is entertaining audiences. This event will include a variety of talent such as puppetry, dance, and—of course—music! In addition to the regular performances, the Singing Christmas Tree is also putting on 2 abbreviated shows for kids. So whether young or old, everyone will be filled with joyful spirit.
The Singing Christmas Tree in Jackson, MS boasts as being the longest running singing tree in America! The first performance at Belhaven University was held in 1933, which makes this year the tree's 84th anniversary.
If you want to see the tallest Singing Christmas Tree in America, then you need to visit Muskegon, MI. This gigantic tree stands a towering 67 feet tall! It can hold 240 singers and is decorated with 25,000 lights. Unfortunately this performance is completely sold out for this year, but mark your calendars for next year so you can get your tickets early. In the meantime, enjoy this video from a previous year that includes footage of the tree being built.
Folks in the Pacific Northwest can kick off the Christmas season at a performance of Portland's Singing Christmas Tree. This musical production will delight audiences with two hours of traditional and contemporary music. A live orchestra, 350+ singers, dancers, and actors bring the spirit of Christmas to life!
For 60 years, the Singing Christmas Tree has been performing in Sacramento, and this year they are going all out to celebrate their anniversary. In addition to the choir, there will also be a 40-piece orchestra, dancers, actors, and soloists.
The Vancouver Singing Christmas Tree is such a beloved Christmas tradition that all their tickets are sold out. But if you haven't already secured a ticket, don't fret because you can still try to grab a seat. Get there early and wait in the "non-ticket holders" line. Thirty minutes before each show, they'll start letting folks in until the auditorium is full. To get updates, follow their Facebook page.


Served with 2 eggs and choice of side and bread.
Cooked in a homemade batter and topped with creamy butter and powdered cinnamon sugar.
Fresh spinach, mushrooms, cucumber, tomato, avocado and cream cheese on a toasted multi-grain bread.
100 % pure juices provide plenty of vitamin C and other healthy ingredients.
Drink as much as you like of course, we have brewed decaf.
Served with two eggs and choice of side.
Onions, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini and broccoli topped with melted cheeses and diced tomatoes.
Ham, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, onions, melted cheeses and diced tomatoes topped with sour cream.
Bacon, avocado and melted Monterey Jack cheese topped with sour cream. Served with a side of salsa.
Chorizo, avocado, green chilies and onions smothered with melted cheeses and topped with sour cream. Served with a side of salsa.
Spicy Cajun chicken breast, mushrooms, Monterey Jack cheese and onions. Served with Santa Fe dressing.
Roasted red peppers, feta cheese and spinach topped with black olives and red onions.
Ham, bell peppers and onions with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.
Spinach, mushroom and bacon, topped with Jack cheese and sour cream.
Smoked salmon, tomatoes, diced red onions, fresh spinach and Jack cheese topped with hollandaise sauce and capers.
Ham, bell peppers and onions with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses.
Spinach, mushroom and bacon topped with Jack cheese and sour cream.
Served with syrup and butter and dusted with powdered cinnamon sugar.
Waffle topped with sliced bananas, strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream.
A waffle, 2 eggs and your choice of sausage or 2 pieces of bacon.
Waffle with fried chicken tenders.
French toast sprinkled with wheat germ and powdered sugar and covered with sliced bananas, kiwi and berries.
French toast and 2 eggs with 2 pieces of bacon or 1 sausage.
Smoked turkey, avocado, bacon, tomatoes and Monterey Jack cheese. Topped with sour cream and served with salsa on the side.
Smoked turkey, mushrooms, fresh spinach, onions and Monterey Jack cheese. Topped with diced tomatoes, hollandaise sauce and dill.
Spicy chicken, bell peppers, roasted red peppers and onions with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Topped with Vera Cruz sauce and sour cream.
Ham, avocado, mushrooms, onions, Jack cheese and sour cream. Served with a side of salsa.
Add one of your favorite combinations to steaming potatoes, melted bubbly cheese and top with your choice of 2 eggs. Served with fresh fruit and choice of bread.
Poached eggs and hollandaise sauce on English muffin. With choice of side.
A flaky croissant topped with scrambled eggs loaded with spinach, ham and melted cheese and topped with hollandaise sauce. Served with choice of side and fresh fruit.
Scrambled eggs, chorizo, green chilies and onions with cheddar and Jack cheeses in a flour tortilla. Topped with our special Vera Cruz sauce and served with choice of side and sour cream.
Whipped eggs with spicy chicken, homemade chorizo, combo cheese, green chiles, onion and avocado rolled in a crispy flour tortilla and topped with Vera Cruz sauce and sour cream. Served with choice of side.
Fresh mushroom caps seasoned and sauteed to perfection. Topped with melted Jack and cheddar cheese with 2 eggs, served with choice of side.
A flour tortilla layered with black bean chili, avocado, Jack and cheddar cheeses, diced tomatoes, 2 eggs, sour cream with choice of side and fresh fruit.
Biscuits covered with our fabulous sausage and mushroom gravy. Served with choice of side and 2 eggs.
An open-faced Mexican-style omelette with mushrooms, broccoli, celery, zucchini and onions. Topped with our homemade salsa, melted cheese and sour cream. Served with choice of side and choice of bread.
An English muffin topped with sliced turkey, bacon, tomato, avocado, scrambled eggs, melted cheeses, sour cream. Served with choice of side.
A healthy parfait consisting of granola, low-fat yogurt, fresh fruit and nuts. Served with a baked muffin of the day.
2 thin homemade crepes, wrapped around fresh fruit, topped with low-fat strawberry yogurt, cinnamon and sugar. Served with a baked muffin of the Day and granola.
Thin sweet crepe covered with eggs, avocado, tomato, spinach and bell pepper with Jack cheese and topped with sour cream. Served with choice of side, choice of bread and a side of homemade salsa.
2 cholesterol and fat-free eggs, seasoned turkey patty, tomato slices and choice of bread.
Egg white omelette with sliced mushrooms, onions, tomato and green chilies. Served with salsa, choice of bread and fresh fruit.
Fluffy egg whites, smoked turkey, spinach and mushrooms wrapped tightly in a sun-dried tomato basil wrap with Swiss cheese. Served with fresh fruit and salsa.
Fresh vegetables, egg beaters and a hint of cheese rolled up in a flour tortilla. Served with salsa and sliced tomatoes.
Smoked salmon with capers, sliced tomatoes, red onions and cream cheese.
Vegetarian patty on a brioche bun with pesto aioli, red onions, tomato, lettuce and melted American cheese with hash browns or french fries or bay potatoes and house salad and fresh fruit.
Seasoned turkey patty, lettuce, tomato and red onion on a brioche bun. Served with hash browns or french fries or bay potatoes, house salad, fresh fruit and our honey Dijon dressing on the side.
Crispy flour tortilla filled with fresh spinach, avocado, mushrooms, tomatoes and combo cheese topped with sour cream and served with house salad and fresh fruit.
Sweet cranberries and pecans over oatmeal. Served with low-fat milk, sliced bananas, brown sugar and choice of bread.
Served with brown sugar, sliced bananas, low-fat milk and choice of bread.
Filled with the season's freshest.
Served in a hearty bowl.
1/2 sandwich of your choice with a bowl of today's soup and a house salad.
Grilled teriyaki chicken breast on spring mix tossed in our homemade lemon poppy seed dressing with sliced strawberries, pecans and mandarin oranges.
Teriyaki chicken breast, fresh veggies, water chestnuts and whole cashews, sauteed in our own sweet and sour dressing, served hot off the grill and piled atop fresh greens, crunchy noodles and mandarin oranges.
Bacon, smoked turkey, egg, tomato, blue cheese and avocado over fresh greens. Choice of dressing.
Fresh greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and avocado all tossed in our own Santa Fe dressing. Topped with Cajun chicken breast and croutons.
Our version of one of the world's best salads. Spinach, romaine, peppers, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, olives, croutons and hard-boiled egg.
Seasoned chicken breast, bacon, avocados, pecans, tomatoes and shredded combo cheese. Drizzled with warm honey Dijon dressing.
Grilled chicken on romaine, diced tomatoes, boiled egg, Parmesan cheese and crouton.
Ham or turkey, bacon, tomato, avocado, eggs and cheese on your choice of bread.
Grilled chicken breast with onion, green pepper and Swiss cheese on French roll.
Thinly sliced roast beef on a French roll with Monterey Jack cheese. Served with au jus.
A teriyaki chicken breast on a ciabatta roll with melted Monterey jack cheese, mayo, tomato and lettuce.
Dry-grilled flat bread filled with hummus, cucumber, spinach, mushrooms, roasted peppers, tomato slices and feta cheese.
The classic sandwich of bacon, lettuce and tomato, plus a fried egg, cheese and mayo on multi-grain bread.
Smoked turkey, avocado, bacon, tomato, lettuce, cheese and mayo served on multi-grain bread.
Bay Watch's white albacore tuna salad spread on grilled multi-grain bread with melted cheese, tomato and lettuce.
Chicken salad spread on grilled multi-grain bread with melted cheese, tomato and lettuce.
Grilled sourdough with smoked ham, bacon, tomatoes, Monterey jack cheese and ranch dressing.
Grilled sourdough with smoked turkey, bacon, tomatoes, Monterey jack cheese and ranch dressing.
A spicy grilled Cajun chicken breast on a ciabatta roll with melted cheeses, lettuce, tomato and Santa Fe dressing.
Your choice of corned beef or smoked turkey, piled high on rye with 1000 Island dressing, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.
Thinly sliced roast beef, tomatoes, melted cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese on a grilled Parmesan crusted sourdough bread. A sharp horseradish sauce served on the side.
The finest white Albacore tuna available combined with water chestnuts, celery and mayonnaise. Spread on multigrain bread with cheese, tomato & lettuce.
Topped with sauteed fresh mushrooms.
Topped with bacon, avocado and cheese.
New York steak with sauteed mushroom and sliced red onion on top and 2 eggs. Served with hash browns, french fries or bay potatoes and bread.
Chicken salad served atop fresh greens, sliced tomato, season's freshest fruit and our poppy seed dressing. Served with a baked muffin of the day.
Tuna salad served atop fresh greens, sliced tomato, season's freshest fruit and our poppy seed dressing. Served with a baked muffin of the day.
Crispy flour or corn tortilla with cheese, bay watch salsa. Topped with sour cream and served with sour cream and served with house salad.
Serves 8-10 People. Includes seasoned Bay Watch potatoes, fresh English muffins and eggs.
Serves 8-10 People. All hungry jack dishes come with any style of pancakes or French toasts and eggs.
Serves 8-10 People. Your choice of omelette or scramble made with 3 eggs. Served with Bay Watch potatoes, English muffin and Smucker's jam.
Serves 8-10 People. A flaky croissant topped with scrambled eggs loaded with spinach, ham and melted cheese, then topped with hollandaise and served with Bay Watch potatoes and a fresh fruit bowl.
Serves 8-10 People. Served with English muffins and fresh fruit.
Serves 8-10 People. Whipped eggs with spicy chicken, homemade chorizo, green chilies, onion and avocado rolled in a crispy flour tortilla and topped with Vera Cruz sauce and sour cream. Served with Bay Watch potatoes.
Serves 8-10 People. Scrambled eggs, chorizo, green chilies and onions with cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses fill a flour tortilla. Topped with our special Vera Cruz sauce and served with Bay Watch Potatoes and sour cream.
Serves 8-10 People. Served with Bay Watch potatoes and fresh fruit.
Serves 8-10 People. A thin, sweet crepe combined with fluffy whipped eggs. Served with English muffin and Bay Watch potatoes.
Serves 8-10 People. Served with our fabulous Bay Watch Potatoes, fruit and a marinated salad.
Serves 8-10 People. Your choice of up to three from veggie pita, BLTE or veggie delight.
Serves 8-10 People. Your choice of up to three from veggie pita, BLTE, veggie delight, French dip, teriyaki, Monterey club, red eye, Reuben or roast beef.
Serves 8-10 People. Your choice of up to three from veggie pita, BLTE, veggie delight, French dip, teriyaki, Monterey club, red eye, reuben, roast beef, grilled ham or grilled turkey.
Serves 8-10 People. Your choice of oriental salad, cobb salad, Santa Fe salad, Greek salad or pecan Dijon salad. Served with toasted garlic buttered pita.


Cricket On The Hearth (1967) is a delightful, animated musical version of Charles Dickens' classic tale. A Cricket on the Hearth, tells the story of a poor toymaker and his daughter whom a helpful Cricket named Crocket befriends on Christmas morning. When tragedy strikes the family, it's Crocket who comes to the rescue and restores peace and happiness.
"This Christmas will be different for Manuel Kontaros. His name day will find him upright playing with his children, just as before. The nightmare of the terrible car accident, which happened to him as it dawned on the feast of St. Spyridon, is in the past. In 3 to 4 months he will even completely toss away the crutches, say his German doctors, who attribute his walking only to a miracle and the strength of his soul.
Popular Soviet film actress Lyubov Sokolova (July 31, 1921 – June 6, 2001), who appeared in over 300 films, having just been married, found herself in Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. On 31 July 1941, her 20th birthday, when nothing as yet heralded a siege of the city, Lyubov set out together with her mother-in-law by train to the city outskirts, where they worked together in a factory. They got off at the designated station and walked down the street. This is what happened afterwards.


We've developed over 10,000 residential and commercial landscape plans in the Mid-Atlantic region, and managed hundreds of those designs to full completion. Below is a small sampling of both digitally rendered concepts, as well as finished and maturing landscapes.
Explore the images below to see what Earth Graphics can do for you.


Hi my name is Amanda.
I am an artist, illustrator, sculptor and nerd living in New York. I love drawing quirky, cute and interesting characters.and I try to exercise mu talent in some way everyday. I am also a fan of fantasy, sci-fi, video games and animation.
On a professional level I have a degree in Graphic Design from the School of Visual Arts. For the past 15 years I have been working with my associate creating websites. I am now looking to focus my talents on illustration and digital art.
I hope you enjoy my characters and creations as much as I do.


text:
Cash or Cheque Donations
We are happy to accept cash or cheque donations throughout the year and will provide a tax receipt for any direct donations made to the Library.
ATB Cares Online Donations
We are also happy to accept donations to the Library via ATB cares. We encourage this method ATB will match 20% of every dollar donated to Alberta-based, non-religious charities through this site, up to $30,000 per month and $36,000 per fiscal year.
The Friends of the Canmore Library
Cash donations to the Friends of the Library can be made at Library directly via cash or cheque, or through The Friends of the Canmore Library Society which accepts donations on behalf of the Library. Tax receipts are available for all cash donations. Donations to the Friends can also be made online via ATB cares.
The Library has an endowment fund via the Banff Canmore Community Foundation which accepts donations on our behalf. To contribute to the Endowment fund, please use the link below.
Contribute to the Endowment Fund
Adopt-a-Magazine Program
Individuals or local businesses can donate all or a portion of the subscription cost for one or more magazines currently in the library collection, or suggest a new title for consideration. Donors will receive a tax receipt and be acknowledged on cover of the current issue on display in the library. For a list of current titles or more information please contact the library at staff@canmorelibrary.ab.ca


Despite a call by the Spanish Actors' Guild to support a nationwide general workers' strike planned for Thursday, June 20, the film industry will not come to a full stop.
Several film production companies contacted said they would not halt work on films currently shooting or rehearsing in Spain. A spokesperson for the Spanish Producers' Federation says the organisation has no indication of other guilds or professional groups striking within the sector.
However, as sources at production companies, laboratories and studios alike point out, companies such as theirs may open doors for business but workers have the right to join in the strike, meaning the ramifications will not be known until then. Strike-related staff reductions in sectors such as public transportation could also affect activity.
Most television production does look likely to stall for the day. Private free-to-air channels Antena 3 and Telecinco plan to offer minimum services including regular news broadcasts, but otherwise will play previously recorded material.
The Actors' Guild Wednesday called on its members to support the strike. Among the high profile actors to sign the Guild's petition were Pilar Bardem, Fernando Fernan Gomez, Juan Diego Botto and Asuncion Balaguer.


text:
3900 ingersoll avenue • suite 104 • des moines, iowa 50312
phone 515.277.6411 • info@midiowahealth.org
HealthConnect is Mid-Iowa Health Foundation's invitation to our community to rethink how we address the most challenging barriers to health and disparities facing Central Iowa's children and youth. We believe that by connecting non-traditional partners in innovative ways, creative approaches to improving children's health will emerge.
Messaging to Mobilize Support for Children's Issues - The Topos Partnership
Six Capacities for Effective Advocacy - Community Catalyst
Know What Affects Health: Social Determinants of Health - CDC
Factors for Healthy Communities to live, learn, work and play - County Health Rankings
Tag : fellow story
One voice for a children's mental health system
Chaney Yeast shares her journey as part of the first cohort of fellows. Her project focuses on improving children's mental health through a coordinated, collaborative approach.
Persistence for quality health care
Mary Nelle Trefz shares her journey as part of the first cohort of fellows. Her project focuses on enhancing how Medicaid delivers care to kids to improve their health now and as adults .
A call to action for Latino youth
Dawn Martinez Oropeza shares her journey as part of the first cohort of fellows. Her project focused on advocating for more inclusive policies and practices in school districts to address the mental health needs of Latino students.
For all children in Central Iowa to have equal opportunity for good health, greater attention and resources must be directed to addressing the fundamental causes of poor health for children and youth. These fundamental causes, or social determinants, of health are often largely impacted by public and private, organization, local, state and federal policies and practices.
The Mid-Iowa Health Foundation HealthConnect Fellowship strives to engage and build the capacity of key professionals working to improve social determinants of children's health, and help them grow as public policy change agents to improve children's health in central Iowa.
This HealthConnect Fellowship Blog is intended to share learnings from the Fellows and other national experts with our broader community of children's health advocates.
Mid-Iowa Health Foundation Announces New Strategic Initiative
Taking A New Approach - A MIHF Board Member's Perspective
I Have a Dream...and an Action Plan
What Do Youth Who Are Homeless Need? And How Far Am I Willing...
The Teachers Will Learn and the Students Will Teach
Decision-makers Aren't Acting as We'd Like: Three Reasons
Housing(6)
Advocacy(18)
Resilience(3)
A fellow's perspective: Getting to do the work we should be doing
In a battle too important to lose, the journey of being an influential...
How my advocacy work became personal
The Power is in the Partnership
system change
children's mental health
Copyright 2017 Mid-Iowa Health Foundation. All rights reserved.
Your browser does not support the canvas element.


The 6th Top Star Awards took place on December 28 at the Seoul Dragon City Grand Ballroom where popular Korean stars in film, music, and entertainment received awards in nine categories.
More than half of the award's recipients were not in attendance due to filming and personal scheduling conflicts. Out of those who did not attend, Hyun Bin was the only actor to send in a video message of his award acceptance speech. The show has been under fire for not only false reports about which stars would be attending, but also the reportedly disorganized manner in which it was carried out.


text:
Loveland oil painter still going strong with…
Loveland oil painter still going strong with major commissions after long career
Paul Albani-Burgio/ Loveland Reporter-Herald
Loveland residents David Hale (left) and Jeanne Downing stand around a painting Downing recently completed of Hale's yard.
Paul Albani-Burgio / Loveland Reporter-Herald
Loveland painter Jeanne Downing shows off a floral pot similar to the one she created for the Blair House in Washington, D.C.
By Paul Albani-Burgio | palbani-burgio@prairiemountainmedia.com | Loveland Reporter-Herald
Loveland painter Jeanne Downing sometimes wonders what kind of artist her mother, who taught herself to paint in her free time, could have become under different circumstances.
"She just sat down and looked at things and would paint them," Downing said of her mother. "So I sometimes think what she could have done with any kind of real formal training. But she had five kids to take care of."
Downing need only look at her own art career — which has seen her become an accomplished painting instructor and publish several books about painting while creating art that has been sought worldwide, including for the president's guest house in Washington, D.C. — to see what might have been.
Her career began in 1970 when Downing says she became "hooked" on oil painting after taking six three-hour painting classes in Longmont. Though those classes represented the only professional instruction she received, Downing said it wasn't long before she was teaching what she learned to friends.
Jeanne gravitated to painting what she calls "functional surfaces" or household items that she adorned with painted images. Soon, she was traveling the nation to show her works at various conventions and shows.
At one such convention during the 1990s in San Francisco, Downing's work caught the attention of the manager of the president's Washington, D.C., guest house, which is called the Blair House and located across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
"She saw my pieces and wanted to know if I would do something for Blair House," Downing said.
So Downing created a tea set consisting of a painted tea pot and matching tray that is still used in the Principal Suite — the only room in the Blair House where room service is provided. Downing was later invited to visit the house, where she presented two tea cups matching the set.
It was also at one of those art shows that Downing met fledgling book publisher, Gretchen Cagle, who said she wanted to work with Downing on a book about how to create functional art pieces. That partnership proved to be successful; Downing and Cagle published six books over the next several years, two of which were translated into Spanish and Japanese.
"A lot of Japanese people really loved my work," she said. "They would come to a lot of the shows and see it."
Downing also was quick to embrace technology. She was an early adopter of digital art programs like Photoshop, which she used to create digital designs which she would paint.
Six years ago, she founded oilpaintingexpressions.com, a website offering online painting classes with artists and students from around the world.
But through these various evolutions, Downing has remained committed to oil painting as a medium.
"I've never been into acrylics," she said. "I prefer oils because they have a richness and a glow to the finished look."
Recently, Downing's career has taken yet another turn as she's undertaken several landscape compositions for Loveland resident David Hale, including one that required her to get up onto scaffolding to paint. She delivered her most recent piece a 3 ½ by 4 foot painting of Hale's gardens, just a few days ago.
The painting's most unique attribute is its sense of depth, which suggests the garden goes back about 50 feet. Downing used shapes and colors to create that effect, she said.
"You use lights and darks, and the other thing you have to consider is the temperature of your color. When you want something to look like it comes forward, you need to put more yellows, warm colors, in it to bring it forward," she said. "And when you want something to extend back, you have to make it darker and use cooler colors with more blues in them."
Downing's use of color is what draws Hale to her work, he said, and has led him to commission her for several pieces in his home.
"When I look at art, I don't see shapes as much as I see color," he said. "That palette of color is the essence. And when you commission (Jeanne), she's very particular in ensuring that she understands what it is you really would enjoy."
Jeanne, meanwhile, said she has no plans to slow down with her painting any time soon.
"I'm still teaching and still marketing my work and one thing just keeps leading to another," she said. "I still enjoy it and keep evolving, and I'm sure I'll be holding a brush until the very end I'm sure."
Paul Albani-Burgio: 970-699-5407, palbani-burgio@reporter-herald.com
Woodward and Hexcel chasing tip-to-tail manufacturing strategy in planes and turbines
Loveland opens its 2020 Valentine design and verse contest
Paul Albani-Burgio
Paul Albani-Burgio writes features and covers entertainment, the arts and community events for the Loveland Reporter-Herald and Longmont TImes-Call. He came to Loveland from Fort Morgan, where he covered city and county government, crime and the ups and downs of the local sugar plant. He has also written for 5280 and Boston magazines and Bizwest. He is a fan of old movie theaters, Thai food and, despite their unwavering tendency to break his heart, the Mizzou Tigers.
Follow Paul Albani-Burgio	@albaniburgiop


The popular 22B propeller is now available in carbon fiber! It's stiffer than wood which provides benefits in noise and performance. The 22B prop is generally used on 50-60cc powered aircraft. See our main site at www.vessaero.com for application details.


When we were proud to be able to celebrate Lottoland's entry into the Guinness World Records, thoughts turned to some other record-breaking feats. We did some research so as to satisfy our curiosity and we now present our choice of the strangest car records in the world. We hope you enjoy reading about some of the craziest record-breaking cars you can imagine.
Let's start with a topic that seldom gives pleasure to motorists - we are talking about the good old traffic jam. Yes, it does exist, the official record for the longest ever measured traffic jam. Every driver has their own story of motorway misery, but France takes the (unwanted) prize as the holder of this record.
If you were unfortunate enough to have been trying to drive from Lyon to Paris on the 16th of February 1980, then you would have had to settle in for a long journey. The length of the traffic jam was measured at a scarcely believable 176 kilometers. Long before smartphones and the Internet were accessible to the masses, holidaymakers and locals had to become creative while passing the time in a stationary vehicle for hours on end.
If traffic isn't moving straight ahead, you might come up with the idea to try your luck on higher ground instead. Perhaps the German Matthias Jeschke thought that when he set out in 2007 to "climb" the Chilean volcano Ojos del Salado. Matthias didn't bring along crampons and climbing gear to assist, but instead elected to try and drive his Jeep Wrangler to the summit.
Matthias and team managed to climb the 6,646 meters in altitude to get to the top of the highest volcano in the world. In doing so they claimed the world record for the highest point ever reached by car. If the thought of that fresh mountain air has cleared your head, you may like to try the next record.
Of course, one classic record can't be left out of our car-related world-beaters. We present the most expensive car in the world: and this time, in the battle of the dream rides, Italy clearly comes out on top.
A Ferrari 250 GTO, built in 1963, changed hands in 2013 for the not inconsiderable sum of 60 million euros from an anonymous buyer. Our record Lottoland winner Christina who won €90 million from betting on EuroJackpot could easily make a counter offer, but for most of us that price tag is a little over budget.
Much more affordable is the cheapest new car of all time. That prize goes to the 1922 Red Bug created by the American company Briggs Stratton Co. sold for an average of around $ 125-150. Even in 1922 that was a steal, although the drawback was that the buyers had to assemble the car themselves.
Whether the cheapest car could break the following record seems unlikely. Although both of the previous vehicles have plenty of years under the hood, a Volvo P1800, built in 1966, is undisputedly the most durable car in the world, having covered a total distance of more than 4.83 million kilometers!
Things start getting weird now, as here comes the hairiest car in the world. A Fiat 500 owned by a couple of Italian car lovers earned this rather wacky title.
A total of 120 kilograms of natural hair covered the vehicle when it was officially weighed in March 2014. Incidentally, the hair used had been combed, washed and dyed, although the corresponding barber bill has not been submitted.
Lots of motorists fall in love with their vehicles, although perhaps the next record is taking things a little bit too far. The longest kiss between man and car lasted 72 hours - a truly romantic record as I am sure you will agree.
Luckily, this record isn't quite as crazy as it sounds. This was not a declaration of love between man and machine, but instead a contest held by Chevrolet with the winner earning a free car. Messrs Ambrosio and Vita from Mexico both lasted 72 hours when the competition organisers decided to declare both of them the winner and give a car (plus that world record) to each man.
There may not be any kissing involved in this next record, but close physical contact was certainly unavoidable. How many people fit in a smart car? This question arose in 2011 and a group of cheerleaders from Glendale stepped up to the mark to try and provide a definitive answer. If you've ever ridden in one of these compact cars you may be surprised to discover that they managed to squeeze exactly 20 people into one of them!
No article like this would be complete without the classic "the fastest ever..." car records. But since we like to swim against the tide here at Lottoland, we are going to take a look at some more of the more unusual mobile records.
A particularly fluffy and comfortable speed record was set by Tom Onslow-Cole from Great Britain in 2016. He converted his bed into a vehicle and managed a top speed of 135 kilometers per hour on a racetrack - a new world record for the fastest bed.
If a bed can race around a track then why not a toilet? At least that's what serial inventor Colin Furze thought in 2013 when he set out to create and drive the world's fastest toilet. In the end, he made it to a nippy 85.6 km / h, pretty handy if you are ever caught short and he is in the neighborhood!
The world record for the fastest lawnmower looks almost sensible when compared to Mr Furze and his racing toilet. At one time this record was held by the gang from the Top Gear TV show, but that record was smashed in 2015 by a Viking raider.
Norwegian Per-Kristian Lundefaret steered his modified Viking T6 lawnmower to a top speed of 214.967 km / h on an airfield in 2015 to take the record which remains unbeaten to this day.
Believe it or not, driving very fast is even easier when you dispense with lawnmowers and toilets. The holder of arguably the most prestigious speed record is Brit Andy Green driving the specially designed 'Thrust SSC', who reached the incredible mark of 1,227.985 km / h to take the title as the fastest car in the world. The record was set all the way back in 1997 in the Nevada desert, and this was also the first time a car ever broke the sound barrier.
Almost half as fast, the fastest electric car raced across a salt lake desert in Utah on 19 September 2016. The American Roger Schroer steered the electrically driven vehicle to speeds of 549.211 km / h over the salty ground. The vehicle was developed by, among others, students from Ohio State University.
At 91.332 km / h comes the fastest solar car, which took the record in August 2014 at the Japanese airport Shimojishima, with rally driver Kenjiro Shinozuka at the wheel.
Two wheels speed records can also be broken, even without a bike, moped or motorcycle. Vesa Kivimäki from Finland proved the point on August 31, 2016 in his home when he managed speeds of 186.269 km / h on just two wheels of his car - the fastest side-wheelie of all time!
Finally, we have two more classic car records, covering both ends of the size spectrum. The smallest motorised car was created by the Denso corporation in Japan and is so tiny that it can use a matchstick as a bridge. With a length of 4.785 mm and a motor diameter of 1 mm, the tiny vehicle won't break any land speed records with its top velocity of 0.018 km / h.
Much longer is the following stretch limousine. With a total length of 30.5 m, Jay Ohrberg (USA) developed the world's longest car in 1986 - with a swimming pool and a waterbed on board to add that extra touch of class!
Records will continue to tumble, whether in cars, in the lottery or just about any activity you can imagine. We look forward to what may come, because the human imagination knows no bounds. We wish you every success in setting new records too - whether they are world-beaters or personal bests.


text:
Man jailed for 'manic' driving on Cork city quays
Martin O'Connor broke lights before crashing into taxi, leaving driver with three broken vertebrae
Tue, Dec 11, 2018, 18:52
A man who overtook a garda car on the wrong side of the road before driving through three sets of red lights and then seriously injuring a taxi driver in a collision, has been jailed for two years.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Martin O'Connor (30), from Tircullen, Tallow, Co Waterford, had gone drinking that day after splitting up with his girlfriend.
O'Connor pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment and single counts of dangerous driving, drink driving and criminal damage at various locations between Lavitt's Quay and Anderson's Quay in Cork city on September 3rd, 2017.
Garda Linda O'Keeffe told the court she was in a patrol car with a colleague on Lavitt's Quay at around 4.48am when O'Connor pulled up behind them in his white VW Golf.
He reversed, pulled out and accelerated past, overtaking them on the wrong side. The car then broke a number of red lights before colliding with a Ford Mondeo taxi which was coming over a bridge.
O'Connor, who had only been back on the road for a month after serving a three year ban for drink driving, was not wearing a seatbelt, had music blaring from his car and was very aggressive as he attempted to leave the scene.
He shook his fist at gardaí after telling them he had consumed just three pints, Garda O'Keeffe said. However, he returned a reading of 285mgs of alcohol per 100mls of urine, some four times the legal limit.
Remorse
Garda O'Keeffe said O'Connor had never once shown any remorse for his action and had never made any inquiry on the night or since as to the well being of the taxi driver, Mihia Stoian (37).
Mr Stoian told the court he remembered nothing about the crash as he was knocked unconscious but woke up to find firefighters cutting the roof of his taxi to free him. He said the crash had a serious impact on him and his family as he suffered three broken vertebrae, and could not work or hug his six-year-old son for months.
In his victim impact statement, Mr Stoian said he had to use up his savings to support his family while injured and that his wife also had to work extra hours to make up for the loss in his earnings.
O'Connor took the stand to apologise for his actions and said he deeply regretted his actions on the night and the injuries sustained by Ms Stoian.
He had been working as an agricultural contractor but had since lost his job, he said.
"I'm sorry for my actions. I don't know what I was doing. I'm sorry for anyone I hurt. I was just after going through a break-up, my head wasn't in the right place," said O'Connor, who added that his current partner was due to give birth to their first child on Sunday.
Niamh Stewart BL, for O'Connor, said her client was an alcoholic who had since gone for treatment and had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. Contrary to the garda evidence, O'Connor was deeply remorseful, she said as she asked Judge Seán Ó Donnabhain to be as lenient as possible.
The judge said he had no doubt O'Connor was remorseful but he had difficulty understanding how he could have gone drinking and driving at the time given he was just back on the road after a ban.
"This was manic driving in a city centre area, albeit late at night, but he showed a complete disregard for the safety and wellbeing of others," he said.
He said there was a high level of endangerment to O'Connor's driving and he sentenced him to four years imprisonment but suspended the final two years. He disqualified him from driving for 10 years in light of his previous ban.
Brian Boru Bridge
Linda O Keeffe
Martin O Connor
Mr Stoian
Ms Stoian
Niamh Stewart Bl
Sean O Donnabhain
Garda Síochána
Southern Correspondent
Anderson(US.SC)
Cork City Centre
No need to put right to housing in Constitution, Minister says
Journey times 'will continue to get worse' without BusConnects
Journalist sues over fall on step at Helix during Christmas panto
Plan to ban ads suggesting medical treatment for cancer is unnecessary
Expelled at age 10: 'He hasn't been at school for over a month. I'm heartbroken'
John Connaghan to leave role as HSE director general
Former charity boss awarded €50,000 for unfair dismissal
Sinn Féin call for Irish unity poll 'destructive', Taoiseach says
Richest 10 per cent cause half of lifestyle carbon emissions – climate expert
Q&A: How to ensure your dash cam does not infringe privacy law
5 Water charges: Regulator backs proposal for excessive use levies