text:
Possible Test for Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease
The Illness in Informed Consent
Heroin Vaccine: A Cure for Addiction?
Gabriella Ojeda-Badillo '18
The notion of responsibility in regard to addiction has been debated copiously in the past decade, with the critical question being whether addiction is a choice or a disease with a biological basis. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), addiction can be defined as a "primary, chronic disease of the reward and motivation pathways in the brain manifested in psychological, biological, and social pursuing of substance use" (ASAM). Since 2002, there has been a six-fold increase in the number of deaths resulting from heroin addiction and overdose, supporting the notion that heroin is highly addictive and fatal (NIDA). Because of heroin's addictive nature, many behavioral therapies have fallen short at aiding addicts in overcoming the abuse and scientists have now changed their perspective on the issue. Instead of targeting the behaviors expressed as a consequence of heroin abuse, scientists have begun to study the biology of addiction and target compounds in the brain associated with reward and motivation by the development of a vaccine. Namely, researchers have changed their perspective on addiction as a choice to addiction as a brain disease. Not only does this treatment evaluation consider the dichotomy of addiction, it also proposes a mechanism of treatment that can universally address heroin's effect on the brain on a biological level in all individuals.
Heroin is a synthetic opioid drug synthesized from morphine. To synthesize heroin, morphine is extracted from the opium poppy seed and reacted with acetic anhydride to produce the chemical. Once heroin is injected or smoked, it enters the body and is metabolized to a compound called 6-monacetylmorphine, or 6MAM, which resembles natural endorphins produced in the body. This molecular structure allows 6MAM to interact with and bind natural opioid receptors and initiate the dopamine reward pathway in the brain. This elicitation of the reward response directly motivates addiction and abuse of the drug. Byproducts of heroin metabolism in the body include 3-monacetylmorphine (3MAM) and morphine, which have related effects on the body. Researchers Joel Schlosburg, Leandro Vendruscolo, and team published a paper in 2013 on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, PNAS, in which they observed that each metabolite of heroin produced in the body following intake of the drug, and heroin itself, contains a nitrogen bridge in its structure (Schlosburg). They then developed a dynamic vaccine, the "heroin vaccine", that targets this nitrogen bridge by presenting an epitope resembling the structure to the immune system. This allows the body to produce antibodies against heroin and its psychoaddictive metabolites and mount an immune response against the molecules before they reach the brain. Researchers tested this vaccine on rats in a pre-clinical stage and observed that heroin's effect on the brain was blocked, resulting in a decrease in activation of the dopamine reward pathway in the brain and reduced addiction (Schlosburg). This treatment provides a method of targeting both biological and behavioral effects of heroin abuse by reducing reward seeking behavior via metabolic intervention of the morphine conjugate vaccine.
Arguments for such therapy have shed light on the notion that the body produces natural endorphins that bind to opioid receptors in the brain. This evokes the criticism that the vaccine is dangerous because it may elicit an immune response against the body's natural endorphins due to their similar structure to that of heroin metabolites. However, the dynamic vaccine targets heroin and its active metabolites in the bloodstream whereas the receptors and natural endorphins are located in the brain. The vaccine is incapable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, which confines the antibodies to the bloodstream as well. Consequently, this treatment effectively does not target the body's natural endorphins and solely sequesters heroin and its metabolites in the blood before they can enter the brain and initiate psychoactive pathways that contribute to the reward-seeking element of addiction.
Another argument, and perhaps the most debated one, is the criticism that efforts to treat addiction require money and since addiction is a choice, addicts need to take responsibility for their addictive behaviors, not taxpayers. According to critic Gerald McOscar, "addiction is not a disease." In 2016, Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania decided to secure $20 million in order to fight the opioid abuse of heroin in Pennsylvania, which aims to provide vital and life-saving care for those addicts struggling with the "disease of opioid addiction." McOscar asserts that "this alleged 'disease' more closely mimics a bad habit brought on by a lifetime of bad choices…the realization that he alone is responsible for his situation and that he alone, if willing, may choose to do something about it (McOscar, G. K)." McOscar, like other critics with similar arguments, fails to understand the biological basis of addiction and continues to perceive addiction as a choice. Addiction stems from the dopamine reward pathway in the brain, which is responsible for actions that involve choices involved in motivation and reward, such as eating food or laughing – these release endorphins in the body, which is why they feel "good." Although first engaging in the act of ingesting the drug is a choice, the addiction is not – it is a biological reaction initiated in the brain that motivates an individual to seek out the drug. For this reason, once addicted, addicts need biologically effective treatment in order to overcome their drug abuse, which can be provided by the conjugated vaccine.
An alternate counterpoint considers those who successfully recover from drug addiction as a result of current drug rehabilitation practices. There are addiction treatments, such as methadone, that address the biological basis of opioid addition to aid in recovery. Some might claim that the use of methadone and other conventional therapies to treat opioid dependence is sufficient. However, this treatment is only successful as long as methadone, a chemical that activates the reward pathway in the brain but does not confer heroin's psychoactive properties, continues to be used as a maintenance drug. It is true that individuals with strong will can resist the urge to relapse. However, "recovered" addicts suggest that the desire to use opioids never goes away and their brain physiology is permanently altered by prior heroin use. Methadone is not a good solution for opioid dependency because it does not reduce that dependency over time, users still experience withdrawal symptoms and serious side effects comparable to those associated with opioid abuse, and overdose and fatality is not uncommon. The ineffectiveness of these treatment strategies calls for a new alternative, and the heroin vaccine proposes to truly resolve the disease of heroin addiction.
As of now, the authorization to initiate clinical trials has been met with much criticism due to the lack of funding by the government and pharmaceutical companies. The reason for the reluctance to fund the heroin vaccine is the idea that pharmaceutical companies that make big money off of prescription drugs like Methadone and Suboxone, which works as an opioid blocker, will lose their profits if such a vaccine is available on the market. This seems trivial given that the purpose of the medication is to treat heroin addiction yet these companies are ignoring the superior potential of the vaccine because it may cost them a profit. In the United States, heroin-related deaths are increasing with no treatment option that takes advantage of our own immune system to fight off disease. Now is the time to realize addiction is not a choice and help those individuals who suffer from heroin addiction to get the necessary treatment they need to overcome the abuse.
Board of Directors (April 19 2011). Definition of Addiction. American Society of Addiction Medicine ASAM. Retrieved February 28, 2017, retrieved from http://www.asam.org/quality-practice/definition-of-addiction
Dinker B. (n.d.). Heroin Vaccine – Why Pharmaceutical Companies Just Say No. Discovery Place Drug and Alcohol Recovery Programs. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from https://www.discoveryplace.info/heroin-vaccine
McOscar, G. K. (September 8 2016). Take some responsibility: Addiction is not a disease. Connecting People Through News Daily Times. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from https://www.pressreader.com/usa/daily-times-primos-pa/20160908/281947427298235
National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) (January 2017). Overdose Death Rates for Heroin. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends
Schlosburg, J. E., Vendruscolo, L. F., Bremer, P. T., Lockner, J. W., Wade, C. L., Nunes, A., Stowe, G., Edwards, S., Janda, K., Koob G. (February 26 2013). Dynamic vaccine blocks relapse to compulsive intake of heroin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from http://www.pnas.org/content/110/22/9036.full
CRISPR: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Alzheimer's: A Race Against Time


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References of "Walther, Dirk"
Give It AGO: The Search for miRNA-Argonaute Sorting Signals in Arabidopsis thaliana Indicates a Relevance of Sequence Positions Other than the 5'-Position Alone.
Thieme, Christoph J.; Schudoma, Christian; May, Patrick et al
in Frontiers in Plant Science (2012), 3
The specific recognition of miRNAs by Argonaute (AGO) proteins, the effector proteins of the RNA-induced silencing complex, constitutes the final step of the biogenesis of miRNAs and is crucial for their ... [more ▼]
The specific recognition of miRNAs by Argonaute (AGO) proteins, the effector proteins of the RNA-induced silencing complex, constitutes the final step of the biogenesis of miRNAs and is crucial for their target interaction. In the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana (Ath), 10 different AGO proteins are encoded and the sorting decision, which miRNA associates with which AGO protein, was reported to depend exclusively on the identity of the 5'-sequence position of mature miRNAs. Hence, with only four different bases possible, a 5'-position-only sorting signal would not suffice to specifically target all 10 different AGOs individually or would suggest redundant AGO action. Alternatively, other and as of yet unidentified sorting signals may exist. We analyzed a dataset comprising 117 Ath-miRNAs with clear sorting preference to either AGO1, AGO2, or AGO5 as identified in co-immunoprecipitation experiments combined with sequencing. While mutual information analysis did not identify any other single position but the 5'-nucleotide to be informative for the sorting at sufficient statistical significance, significantly better than random classification results using Random Forests nonetheless suggest that additional positions and combinations thereof also carry information with regard to the AGO sorting. Positions 2, 6, 9, and 13 appear to be of particular importance. Furthermore, uracil bases at defined positions appear to be important for the sorting to AGO2 and AGO5, in particular. No predictive value was associated with miRNA length or base pair binding pattern in the miRNA:miRNA* duplex. From inspecting available AGO gene expression data in Arabidopsis, we conclude that the temporal and spatial expression profile may also contribute to the fine-tuning of miRNA sorting and function. [less ▲]
Integration of proteomic and metabolomic profiling as well as metabolic modeling for the functional analysis of metabolic networks.
May, Patrick ; Christian, Nils ; Ebenhoh, Oliver et al
in Methods in Molecular Biology (2011), 694
The integrated analysis of different omics-level data sets is most naturally performed in the context of common process or pathway association. In this chapter, the two basic approaches for a metabolic ... [more ▼]
The integrated analysis of different omics-level data sets is most naturally performed in the context of common process or pathway association. In this chapter, the two basic approaches for a metabolic pathway-centric integration of proteomics and metabolomics data are described: the knowledge-based approach relying on existing metabolic pathway information, and a data-driven approach that aims to deduce functional (pathway) associations directly from the data. Relevant algorithmic approaches for the generation of metabolic networks of model organisms, their functional analysis, database resources, visualization and analysis tools will be described. The use of proteomics data in the process of metabolic network reconstruction will be discussed. [less ▲]
Comparative analysis of miRNAs and their targets across four plant species.
Lenz, Dorina; May, Patrick ; Walther, Dirk
in BMC Research Notes (2011), 4
BACKGROUND: MicroRNA (miRNA) mediated regulation of gene expression has been recognized as a major posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism also in plants. We performed a comparative analysis of miRNAs ... [more ▼]
BACKGROUND: MicroRNA (miRNA) mediated regulation of gene expression has been recognized as a major posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism also in plants. We performed a comparative analysis of miRNAs and their respective gene targets across four plant species: Arabidopsis thaliana (Ath), Medicago truncatula(Mtr), Brassica napus (Bna), and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Cre). RESULTS: miRNAs were obtained from mirBase with 218 miRNAs for Ath, 375 for Mtr, 46 for Bna, and 73 for Cre, annotated for each species respectively. miRNA targets were obtained from available database annotations, bioinformatic predictions using RNAhybrid as well as predicted from an analysis of mRNA degradation products (degradome sequencing) aimed at identifying miRNA cleavage products. On average, and considering both experimental and bioinformatic predictions together, every miRNA was associated with about 46 unique gene transcripts with considerably variation across species. We observed a positive and linear correlation between the number miRNAs and the total number of transcripts across different plant species suggesting that the repertoire of miRNAs correlates with the size of the transcriptome of an organism. Conserved miRNA-target pairs were found to be associated with developmental processes and transcriptional regulation, while species-specific (in particular, Ath) pairs are involved in signal transduction and response to stress processes. Conserved miRNAs have more targets and higher expression values than non-conserved miRNAs. We found evidence for a conservation of not only the sequence of miRNAs, but their expression levels as well. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the notion of a high birth and death rate of miRNAs and that miRNAs serve many species specific functions, while conserved miRNA are related mainly to developmental processes and transcriptional regulation with conservation operating at both the sequence and expression level. [less ▲]
Sequence-structure relationships in RNA loops: establishing the basis for loop homology modeling.
Schudoma, Christian; May, Patrick ; Nikiforova, Viktoria et al
in Nucleic Acids Research (2010), 38(3), 970-80
The specific function of RNA molecules frequently resides in their seemingly unstructured loop regions. We performed a systematic analysis of RNA loops extracted from experimentally determined three ... [more ▼]
The specific function of RNA molecules frequently resides in their seemingly unstructured loop regions. We performed a systematic analysis of RNA loops extracted from experimentally determined three-dimensional structures of RNA molecules. A comprehensive loop-structure data set was created and organized into distinct clusters based on structural and sequence similarity. We detected clear evidence of the hallmark of homology present in the sequence-structure relationships in loops. Loops differing by <25% in sequence identity fold into very similar structures. Thus, our results support the application of homology modeling for RNA loop model building. We established a threshold that may guide the sequence divergence-based selection of template structures for RNA loop homology modeling. Of all possible sequences that are, under the assumption of isosteric relationships, theoretically compatible with actual sequences observed in RNA structures, only a small fraction is contained in the Rfam database of RNA sequences and classes implying that the actual RNA loop space may consist of a limited number of unique loop structures and conserved sequences. The loop-structure data sets are made available via an online database, RLooM. RLooM also offers functionalities for the modeling of RNA loop structures in support of RNA engineering and design efforts. [less ▲]
Modeling RNA loops using sequence homology and geometric constraints.
Schudoma, Christian; May, Patrick ; Walther, Dirk
in Bioinformatics (2010), 26(13), 1671-2
SUMMARY: RNA loop regions are essential structural elements of RNA molecules influencing both their structural and functional properties. We developed RLooM, a web application for homology-based modeling ... [more ▼]
SUMMARY: RNA loop regions are essential structural elements of RNA molecules influencing both their structural and functional properties. We developed RLooM, a web application for homology-based modeling of RNA loops utilizing template structures extracted from the PDB. RLooM allows the insertion and replacement of loop structures of a desired sequence into an existing RNA structure. Furthermore, a comprehensive database of loops in RNA structures can be accessed through the web interface. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The application was implemented in Python, MySQL and Apache. A web interface to the database and loop modeling application is freely available at http://rloom.mpimp-golm.mpg.de CONTACT: schudoma@mpimp-golm.mpg.de; may@mpimp-golm.mpg.de; walther@mpimp-golm.mpg.de [less ▲]
ChlamyCyc--a comprehensive database and web-portal centered on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Christian, Jan-Ole; May, Patrick ; Kempa, Stefan et al
Poster (2009)
Background – The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an important eukaryotic model organism for the study of photosynthesis and growth, as well as flagella development and other cellular ... [more ▼]
Background – The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an important eukaryotic model organism for the study of photosynthesis and growth, as well as flagella development and other cellular processes. In the era of high-throughput technologies there is an imperative need to integrate large-scale data sets from high-throughput experimental techniques using computational methods and database resources to provide comprehensive information about the whole cellular system of a single organism. Results – In the framework of the German Systems Biology initiative GoFORSYS a pathway/genome database and web-portal for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (ChlamyCyc) was established, which currently features about 270 metabolic pathways with related genes, enzymes, and compound information. ChlamyCyc was assembled using an integrative approach combining the recently published genome sequence, bioinformatics methods, and experimental data from metabolomics and proteomics experiments. We analyzed and integrated a combination of primary and secondary database resources, such as existing genome annotations from JGI, EST collections, orthology information, and MapMan classification. Conclusion – Chlamycyc provides a curated and integrated systems biology repository that will enable and assist in systematic studies of fundamental cellular processes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The ChlamyCyc database and web-portal is freely available under http://chlamycyc.mpimp-golm.mpg.de. [less ▲]
Identification and classification of ncRNA molecules using graph properties.
Childs, Liam; Nikoloski, Zoran; May, Patrick et al
in Nucleic Acids Research (2009), 37(9), 66
The study of non-coding RNA genes has received increased attention in recent years fuelled by accumulating evidence that larger portions of genomes than previously acknowledged are transcribed into RNA ... [more ▼]
The study of non-coding RNA genes has received increased attention in recent years fuelled by accumulating evidence that larger portions of genomes than previously acknowledged are transcribed into RNA molecules of mostly unknown function, as well as the discovery of novel non-coding RNA types and functional RNA elements. Here, we demonstrate that specific properties of graphs that represent the predicted RNA secondary structure reflect functional information. We introduce a computational algorithm and an associated web-based tool (GraPPLE) for classifying non-coding RNA molecules as functional and, furthermore, into Rfam families based on their graph properties. Unlike sequence-similarity-based methods and covariance models, GraPPLE is demonstrated to be more robust with regard to increasing sequence divergence, and when combined with existing methods, leads to a significant improvement of prediction accuracy. Furthermore, graph properties identified as most informative are shown to provide an understanding as to what particular structural features render RNA molecules functional. Thus, GraPPLE may offer a valuable computational filtering tool to identify potentially interesting RNA molecules among large candidate datasets. [less ▲]
Identification of nutrient-responsive Arabidopsis and rapeseed microRNAs by comprehensive real-time polymerase chain reaction profiling and small RNA sequencing.
Pant, Bikram Datt; Musialak-Lange, Magdalena; Nuc, Przemyslaw et al
in Plant Physiology (2009), 150(3), 1541-55
Comprehensive expression profiles of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) MIRNA genes and mature microRNAs (miRs) are currently not available. We established a quantitative real-time polymerase chain ... [more ▼]
Comprehensive expression profiles of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) MIRNA genes and mature microRNAs (miRs) are currently not available. We established a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction platform that allows rapid and sensitive quantification of 177 Arabidopsis primary miR transcripts (pri-miRs). The platform was used to detect phosphorus (P) or nitrogen (N) status-responsive pri-miR species. Several pri-miR169 species as well as pri-miR398a were found to be repressed during N limitation, whereas during P limitation, pri-miR778, pri-miR827, and pri-miR399 species were induced and pri-miR398a was repressed. The corresponding responses of the biologically active, mature miRs were confirmed using specific stem-loop reverse transcription primer quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays and small RNA sequencing. Interestingly, the latter approach also revealed high abundance of some miR star strands. Bioinformatic analysis of small RNA sequences with a modified miRDeep algorithm led to the identification of the novel P limitation-induced miR2111, which is encoded by two loci in the Arabidopsis genome. Furthermore, miR2111, miR169, a miR827-like sequence, and the abundances of several miR star strands were found to be strongly dependent on P or N status in rapeseed (Brassica napus) phloem sap, flagging them as candidate systemic signals. Taken together, these results reveal the existence of complex small RNA-based regulatory networks mediating plant adaptation to mineral nutrient availability. [less ▲]
ChlamyCyc: an integrative systems biology database and web-portal for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
May, Patrick ; Christian, Jan-Ole; Kempa, Stefan et al
in BMC Genomics (2009), 10
BACKGROUND: The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an important eukaryotic model organism for the study of photosynthesis and plant growth. In the era of modern high-throughput ... [more ▼]
BACKGROUND: The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an important eukaryotic model organism for the study of photosynthesis and plant growth. In the era of modern high-throughput technologies there is an imperative need to integrate large-scale data sets from high-throughput experimental techniques using computational methods and database resources to provide comprehensive information about the molecular and cellular organization of a single organism. RESULTS: In the framework of the German Systems Biology initiative GoFORSYS, a pathway database and web-portal for Chlamydomonas (ChlamyCyc) was established, which currently features about 250 metabolic pathways with associated genes, enzymes, and compound information. ChlamyCyc was assembled using an integrative approach combining the recently published genome sequence, bioinformatics methods, and experimental data from metabolomics and proteomics experiments. We analyzed and integrated a combination of primary and secondary database resources, such as existing genome annotations from JGI, EST collections, orthology information, and MapMan classification. CONCLUSION: ChlamyCyc provides a curated and integrated systems biology repository that will enable and assist in systematic studies of fundamental cellular processes in Chlamydomonas. The ChlamyCyc database and web-portal is freely available under http://chlamycyc.mpimp-golm.mpg.de. [less ▲]
Metabolomics- and proteomics-assisted genome annotation and analysis of the draft metabolic network of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
May, Patrick ; Wienkoop, Stefanie; Kempa, Stefan et al
in Genetics (2008), 179(1), 157-66
We present an integrated analysis of the molecular repertoire of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under reference conditions. Bioinformatics annotation methods combined with GCxGC/MS-based metabolomics and LC/MS ... [more ▼]
We present an integrated analysis of the molecular repertoire of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under reference conditions. Bioinformatics annotation methods combined with GCxGC/MS-based metabolomics and LC/MS-based shotgun proteomics profiling technologies have been applied to characterize abundant proteins and metabolites, resulting in the detection of 1069 proteins and 159 metabolites. Of the measured proteins, 204 currently do not have EST sequence support; thus a significant portion of the proteomics-detected proteins provide evidence for the validity of in silico gene models. Furthermore, the generated peptide data lend support to the validity of a number of proteins currently in the proposed model stage. By integrating genomic annotation information with experimentally identified metabolites and proteins, we constructed a draft metabolic network for Chlamydomonas. Computational metabolic modeling allowed an identification of missing enzymatic links. Some experimentally detected metabolites are not producible by the currently known and annotated enzyme set, thus suggesting entry points for further targeted gene discovery or biochemical pathway research. All data sets are made available as supplementary material as well as web-accessible databases and within the functional context via the Chlamydomonas-adapted MapMan annotation platform. Information of identified peptides is also available directly via the JGI-Chlamydomonas genomic resource database (http://genome.jgi-psf.org/Chlre3/Chlre3.home.html). [less ▲]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


9/09/2012 · Tethering is when you connect your smartphone to a device like a laptop and use the mobile phones data connection to use the internet on the laptop.... Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo is the new mid-range Smartphone from the Samsung, which was released in April 2014. The device carries almost similar specs as of Samsung Galaxy S3 with various improvements in both hardware and software.
Follow these simple steps to connect your phone with Windows PC: Step 1 – Download Samsung USB drivers for the Galaxy S9 and install them on your computer. Step 2 – Download Samsung Smart Switch and install it on your computer too.... 3- Connect your Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo to your PC via the USB cable 4- Make sure that the USB port number is displayed in the " ID: COM " box and the " Added !" Message in the "Log" box.
Samsung GALAXY S3 Neo gt-i9301i Safely root your Samsung GALAXY S3 Neo gt-i9301i. Ready to root your Samsung GALAXY S3 Neo gt-i9301i? Thanks to One Click Root, rooting has never been safer, easier, or faster.... 3- Connect your Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo to your PC via the USB cable 4- Make sure that the USB port number is displayed in the " ID: COM " box and the " Added !" Message in the "Log" box.
27/06/2012 · Connect to your computer to back up and transfer files to and from your device. Watch this video to learn how on your Samsung Galaxy S III. Watch this video to learn how on your Samsung Galaxy S III.
If you have a new Samsung Gear Fit and for some reason you can't get it to upgrade over bluetooth with Gear Fit manager or by using Samsung Kies installed on your computer, then don't worry.
I am using a Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and a Nexus 6P phone. I can't seem to see how to change the weather data from Celius to Farenheit. Can someone please let me know how to do I can't seem to see how to change the weather data from Celius to Farenheit.
If you are an owner of Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo and searching for the USB drivers for your device, then you have landed on the right page. Download Samsung Galaxy S3 Neo USB driver from here, install it on your computer and connect your device with PC or Laptop successfully.


He observes that most search engines would react to the word "tent." But the additional context regarding location, temperature, tent size, scenery, etc. is typically lost. Yet, this type of specific information is actually what informs many buying decisions. Relaying or maintaining this context is often a burden left to the user and a new solution was needed to remove the hard work associated with shopping.
To build the eBay App for Google Assistant, the knowledge graph they needed would be coupled with natural language understanding and artificial intelligence to store, remember and learn from past interactions with shoppers.
eBay chose Neo4j as the native graph database that holds the probabilistic models that aid understanding in the conversational shopping scenario. The Neo4j graph contains both the product catalog and the attributes of shopper interactions while seeking products.
When a shopper searches for "brown bags" for example, the eBay App knows what details to ask about next, such as type, style, brand, budget or size. As it accumulates this information by traversing through the graph, the application is continuously checking inventory for the best match. This is a great example of real-time decision making.


A Brentwood mum has slammed her daughter's school for deciding to bring study leave forward ahead of looming GCSE exams.
Nikki Da Costa-Smith, 38, was furious to learn that Year 11 pupils at Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School would have three less days of time in school.
She claims the decision made last week stemmed from fears that students were planning to carry out a 'prank day' as a way of celebrating the end of their education.
She says this meant that her daughter, 16-year-old Isabella, was unable to have a number of lessons that were originally scheduled on her timetable.
"My daughter rang me to say they've all been sent home and told not to come back," said Nikki, from Hutton.
"A few people had been caught bringing stuff into school.
Nikki complained as she felt the extra lessons her daughter was due to have would have been beneficial ahead of her exams.
But she claims that on approaching the school about the matter, the decision was put down to safety reasons.
"They've turned around and said they were aware that there were a few children who were planning on being quite disruptive," explained Nikki.
"I asked why they were not the ones who were suspended.
Nikki has blasted the school for taking the "easy option" and depriving her daughter of lessons she was entitled to have.
The worried mum says she met with the secondary school's deputy head and the Year 11 head of year to address her concerns on May 9, the day after the decision was taken to bring study leave forward.
But she has alleged that the school refused to tell her what was supposedly being planned by pupils aside from the fact it was going to be disruptive.
"Most of the time it involves flour and stuff like that," Nikki added.
"It's nothing too bad. I don't know what they were doing this year.
Despite her protests over the decision, the whole year group are believed to have been kept off ahead of the official study leave date last Friday.
Nikki strongly feels the decision was a disservice to the children who wanted to learn and that the classes missed classes could make the difference between achieving one grade or another.
"Isabella has attended all of the extra study sessions put on – this isn't a last minute panic," said businesswoman Nikki.
"This is because my child wants to learn. I think it's really poor.
Do you think the school was right to bring study leave forward?
Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, in Queen's Road, was lasted rated as 'Good' following its recent short Ofsted Inspection in October last year.
The Roman Catholic school is headed by Dr Richard Wilkin and teaches children aged between 11 and 18.
Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School has been approached for comment.


text:
Q: Spark cannot find the postgres jdbc driver EDIT: See the edit at the end
First of all, I am using Spark 1.5.2 on Amazon EMR and using Amazon RDS for my postgres database. Second is that I am a complete newbie in this world of Spark and Hadoop and MapReduce.
Essentially my problem is the same as for this guy:
java.sql.SQLException: No suitable driver found when loading DataFrame into Spark SQL
So the dataframe is loaded, but when I try to evaluate it (doing df.show(), where df is the dataframe) gives me the error:
java.sql.SQLException: No suitable driver found for jdbc:postgresql://mypostgres.cvglvlp29krt.eu-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com:5432/mydb

I should note that I start spark like this:
spark-shell --driver-class-path /home/hadoop/postgresql-9.4.1207.jre7.jar

The solutions suggest delivering the jar onto the worker nodes and setting the classpath on them somehow, which I don't really understand how to do. But then they say that apparently the issue was fixed in Spark 1.4, and I'm using 1.5.2, and still having this issue, so what is going on?
EDIT: Looks like I resolved the issue, however I still don't quite understand why this works and the thing above doesn't, so I guess my questions is now why does doing this:
spark-shell --driver-class-path /home/hadoop/postgresql-9.4.1207.jre7.jar --conf spark.driver.extraClassPath=/home/hadoop/postgresql-9.4.1207.jre7.jar --jars /home/hadoop/postgresql-9.4.1207.jre7.jar

solve the problem? I just added the path as a parameter into some more of the flags it seems.

A: spark-shell  --driver-class-path .... --jars ... works because all jar files listed in --jars are automatically distributed over the cluster.
Alternatively you could use
spark-shell --packages  org.postgresql:postgresql:9.4.1207.jre7

and specify driver class as an option for DataFrameReader / DataFrameWriter
val df = sqlContext.read.format("jdbc").options(Map(
  "url" -> url, "dbtable" -> table, "driver" -> "org.postgresql.Driver"
)).load()

or even manually copy required jars to the workers and place these somewhere on the CLASSPATH.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Input field goes blank when Submit is clicked This is an existing Visual Studio 2003 project (written in VB). There is an input form which contains many fields including a due date field. This field is popultaed based on the value selected in Reason type dropdown and it was also editable. Recently, I had to disable the due date field so that the populated value could not be changed (based on the logged in user). The probelm I am facing is that when the Submit button is clicked, an IE popup window opens and the vlaue in the `due date' field just disappers and becomes blank.
 Private Sub btnSubmitOrdersTab_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSubmitOrdersTab.Click
        If Not Me.txtPRCEmail.Value.Length = 0 Or Not hPRCEmail.Value.Length = 0 Then
                SubmitClick()
        Else
                RegisterStartupScript("PRCEmail", "<script language=javascript>window.open (""" & CType(Application("cBaseURL"), String) & "administration/supervisors/Orders/prc_email_reason.aspx"",null,""height=200,width=400,status=yes,toolbar=no,menubar=no,location=no"");</script>")
        End If
End Sub

I tried to get the value of the due date just before the RegisterStartupScript() function using duedatevalue = Me.txtDueDate.Value, but it is blank.
Is there any way that I can prevent the due date field from becoming blank. This is not an issue if the due date field is not disabled.
This is the Java Script function I am calling from the onload event of the <body> to disable the due date.
function DisableDueDate()
            {
                                    if (udisable == "true")
                    document.getElementById("divduedate").setAttribute('disabled',true);

                else
                    document.getElementById("divduedate").setAttribute('disabled',false);

            }

The reason I used disable is because the due date is in a <td> tag along with a gif next to it (not a server control), which pops up a calender when clicked so that the user can select a date. I want the entire content of the <td> tag disabled- including the gif.

A: Use readonly instead of using disabling the textbox, if you want to read the value of the texbox on server side.
document.getElementById("divduedate").setAttribute('readonly',true);

OR
 document.getElementById("divduedate").readOnly=true

OR
Using jQuery:
 $('#readonly').attr("readonly", true)

Disabled attribute will not allow "divduedate" to post its value to the server.

A: In the btnSubmitOrdersTab_Click event you can save the value of the due date in a Session, and then in the Page_Load you can get the value from the Session and set the due date field with it.

A: Don't set the Enabled property to False. Instead, use the ReadOnly property and set it to true.


The biggest city in Hokkaido Prefecture, Sapporo is the fifth most populous city in Japan. It has a wealth of sightseeing opportunities and local delicacies to choose from. The city has a lot of activities guaranteed to entertain just about anyone. With traditional tourist attractions and local favorites, visitors are sure to find something that interests them.
Hokkaido is often thought to be one of the most natural places in Japan. While Sapporo is a major city, there's no lack of natural settings. Visitors can take a ski lift to the Mt. Okura Observatory or take a cable car up Mt. Moiwa for panoramic views of the city below. Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park has activities, like snow tubing, which are great for families looking to spend a day playing in the snow. For visitors looking for chances to ski, the Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort is open from November to early May.
Sapporo is the birthplace of Sapporo Brewery and Nikka Whisky, so the city has several places for guests to visit. In Yoichi, visitors can take a free tour of Nikka's Yoichi distillery, known throughout the world for its highly regarded single malt. Nikka is one of the oldest whisky brands in Japan and has an interesting story most visitors are probably unaware of. The Sapporo Beer Museum also offers free tours that tell about the history of the brand and the industry in Japan. Both locations offer tastings after the tours.
For a more cultural experience, there are several temples and religious sites in the area that boast phenomenal architecture and ideal photo opportunities. The Fushimi Inari Shrine is known for its corridor of red arches that stand out against the natural surroundings. Travelers can also spend an afternoon walking through Murayama Park and visit the Hokkaido Shrine, a Shinto shrine that serves as the home to four kami spirits. Both of these sites are ideal travel destinations regardless of the season.
Sapporo has plenty of dining options for travelers as well. Visitors who like seafood should check out the Nijokami Market, an open-air fish market in the center of the city. It's doubtful that travelers will need to buy entire fish at wholesale prices, but there are many stalls that offer freshly prepared fish for diners. Visitors should stop by the market in the morning, when the market is most alive, and treat themselves to some sushi for breakfast. At night, it also has various drinking establishments for people looking for a tasty bite over some beer.


text:
est une comédie fantastique italienne réalisée par Bruno Bozzetto et sortie en 1987.

C'est le seul film en prise de vues réelles de son réalisateur, plus connu pour ses films d'animations et ses bandes dessinées.

Synopsis
Ivan est un étudiant universitaire qui vit avec sa mère. Il est sur le point d'épouser Ursula, sa fiancée, qui est aussi sa patronne. Un jour, alors qu'il quitte son domicile pour faire une course, il rencontre un vieil ami, diplômé de l'université mais exerçant un modeste emploi de déchargeur de marchandises. Pendant leur conversation, trois voleurs étrangers attaquent une banque et Ivan se retrouve impliqué dans le casse. Il parvient à s'échapper, mais les malfaiteurs, bien décidés à l'écarter parce qu'il a vu leurs visages, le traquent, le poursuivant jusqu'à une impasse où se trouve un restaurant chinois.

Ivan se réfugie dans la cave du restaurant et, en tentant de se cacher dans un débarras, ouvre une porte qui, à son immense étonnement, mène à une plage tropicale. N'ayant pas d'autre choix, le garçon décide de franchir le seuil et se retrouve catapulté dans un monde parallèle, peuplé d'étranges créatures. Il y fait la connaissance d'Eva, une jeune fille qui vit dans ce monde depuis son enfance en compagnie de son père. Ce dernier est un professeur qui a réussi grâce à une télécommande de science-fiction à ouvrir une passerelle dimensionnelle : avec cet appareil, il est en effet possible de pénétrer dans d'autres mondes.

La jeune fille, qui a vécu pratiquement toute sa vie avec son père sans pouvoir rencontrer personne, est fascinée par Ivan et décide de le suivre dans le monde dans lequel il vit, l'entraînant dans une série de malentendus et de petites mésaventures. Le garçon découvre peu à peu qu'il est tombé amoureux d'elle, mais Ursula et surtout la bande de malfrats sont toujours à sa recherche, pour deux raisons différentes, ce qui va amener Ivan à prendre une décision qui va changer sa vie.

Fiche technique
 Titre original italien :
 Réalisateur : Bruno Bozzetto
 Scénario : Bruno Bozzetto, Fabio Comana
 Photographie : Agostino Castiglioni
 Montage : Ugo De Rossi
 Musique : Roberto Frattini
 Décors : Carmelo Patrono
 Costumes : Lia Francesca Morandini
 Production : Bruno Bozzetto, Alessandro Calosci, Antonio D'Urso
 Sociétés de production : Bozzetto International S.r.l., Reteitalia
 Pays de production :
 Langue originale : italien
 Format : Couleur - Son mono - 35 mm
 Durée : 94 minutes
 Genre : Comédie fantastique
 Dates de sortie :
 Italie :

Distribution
 : Ivan
Amanda Sandrelli : Eva
 : Bibi, la mère d'Ivan
Bernard Blier : le professeur, le père d'Eva
Nancy Brilli : Ursula
Giuseppe Cederna : Giovanni, le chauffeur d'Ursula
Cinzia Monreale : le voleur
Haruhiko Yamanouchi : le cuisinier chinois
 : le type louche au bar

Notes et références

Liens externes

Film italien sorti en 1987
Film réalisé par Bruno Bozzetto
Comédie fantastique italienne
Film en italien

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was a prominent French landscape painter and etcher. While he created numerous excellent portraits, paintings of figures and engravings, he is most renowned for the radiant clarity of his plein air executed landscapes. One of the most celebrated painters the world has seen, his unpretentious naturalistic style of painting spanned the time between Romantic Neoclassicism and the plein air clarity of French Impressionism.
Corot was born to a cloth trader and milliner in Paris, and was educated at the College de Rouen. After two failed attempts to pursue drapery, he was permitted by his family to make a career in art. His initial artistic training was conducted by Achille Etna Michallon, the landscapist, and subsequent to Michallon's demise, by Jean-Victor Bertin, a historical landscapist. In 1825, Corot travelled to Italy to broaden his artistic horizons and spent time till 1828 in Rome, as well as Campagna and Naples. He made his debut at the Paris Salon of 1827 with two landscape works.
Corot was an extensive traveler; in 1834-1835, he was back in Italy and also spent considerable time in Normandy, Burgundy and Provence regions in France. In 1871, he again visited north eastern France and he also visited Belgium, Holland and London, and was a frequent visitor to Switzerland. Corot took to painting extensively in the open air during these travels, the influence of which can be seen in his early oils with their clear definition, fresh and vibrant colors executed in fluid brushwork. During winters, he made it a habit to work in his studio on religious and mythical landscapes for exhibiting at the Salons. These works were characterized by well-defined forms and colors in the tradition of academic painting.
By the decade of the 1850s, he had consolidated his preeminent status, however, by this time, had toned down his color palette using a relatively restricted color range with soft greys besides blue-green dominating; the only spots of bright colors were confined to the apparel of the figures. Mood and temperament, not topographical detail, were central to his compositions that received widespread acclaim from the public; the insatiable demand was attempted to be met with copies by young artists that were then signed by Corot. The abundance of these works led to numerous intimations and counterfeits as well as problems in attribution.
Corot was awarded a gold medal in the 1855 Exposition Universlle, at which he had exhibited six compositions. A leading light of the artistic firmament, he exercised great influence on landscape painting of the late 19th century.
Don't settle for cheap prints when you can now grace your walls with Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot reproductions. At BrushWiz, our professional artists deliver stunning handmade replicas of famous Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot oil paintings, each displaying meticulous attention to visual detail and painting technique. Museum quality reproduction guaranteed with online preview before shipment, 30-day money back satisfaction guarantee with every purchase and FREE Shipping to anywhere in the world.


Before getting ready to visit a country like Laos we need to reset all our certainties of what we think we know, because the same terms we use every day, concepts, definitions, values, verbs, in other cultures can take on a meaning completely different.
Laos is a very poor country, only the main roads are paved, fuel is expensive, the availability of products on the domestic market is modest, salaries are low and expectations of average life too. There are no railway lines, so to travel are used scooters, old and shabby buses or, for the luckiest economically, internal flights. Despite all this, it's very rare to hear a lao complain about what is wrong or missing.
The average lao learns not to complain since he was a child. Without pacifier in the mouth and without a stroller, learn to walk and become great. It doesn't know the concept of prohibition and obligation, lives in contact with nature and learns to make almost everything for himself. The typical citizen passively accepts everything, loves his country, sleeps a lot, works little, gets married young, gets old late and dies early. The average lao eats with his hands, doesn't use detergent to wash dishes, doesn't know what is the microwave or the shower, eat little and drink a lot. The typical citizen in the evening doesn't go for an aperitif in the trendy restaurant, but sits at a roadside table made of concrete and tiles while drinking beer with friends until sleep makes it a vegetable. It doesn't have a car, but a semi-automatic Korean scooter with which it does everything, from shopping to exceptional transport. The average lao has the elementary license, can read and write not only in his own language but also in Thai, the citizen doesn't know the history of his country and doesn't know how to identify it on a geographical map. To communicate remotely uses a very cheap cell phone, but it's almost unusable because it has no money to buy the top-up. The typical citizen doesn't go to the cinema, doesn't read, doesn't have a bank account, it only listens to traditional music and on television only looks at the Thai soap opera and muay thai encounters. The average lao lives well like this, has no existential problems and doesn't seem to need anything else.
The lao woman works as much as the man, even if it isn't uncommon, especially in some ethnic minorities, to come across ladies who work hard, who in our part of the world are traditionally male.
From a family point of view, women have more or less the same human rights, with some advantages. A family structure of matrilineal type is in force, i.e. assets are inherited by ladies. In some ethnic minorities, however, the woman enjoys very few rights. The h'mong, for example, use marrying around 15 years and a girl who arrives unmarried at 18 is considered already out of age for marriage. In cases like these, leaving the village becomes more a mandatory choice than a personal choice.
Laos is the most ethnically complex country in Southeast Asia, and one of the most complex in all of Asia. According to the most recent census of 2005, currently the ethnic minorities present in the country amount to 49. The lack of schools, water supply and sometimes even electricity relegate the inhabitants of the hill and mountain villages a condition of substantial inferiority. It is no coincidence that the highest rates of illiteracy are recorded in those areas, with the result that access to the labor market for minorities is much more difficult. The precarious condition of hospitals and mountain roads, which are transformed into mud sludge impassable during the rainy season, make traveling difficult. Many of the minorities are of animist religion, with the belief that photography steals their souls, so it's really difficult to be able to take some pictures. An example are the lanten tribes in Luang Namtha and akha tribes in Phongsali. In both tribes women still wear traditional clothes and many customs are still intact since many years.
The lao cook everything on the floor level. See older women who, with their backs bent, sit on their heels while chopping meat is something to the limits of the incredible. The traditional lunch is consumed with own hands, except for the chopsticks with which it eat noodles and the spoon with which it can drink soups and broths. Another custom is to eat all from the same plate, so the luck lies in sharing the dish with those who, before sitting down at the table, washed their hands. There are no single dishes, the plates are served all at the center of the table and each takes with own hands what he wants. The lao cuisine isn't very varied, the dishes are practically always the same: the rice that can't miss, vegetables, eggs, chicken, pork or beef and fish. In the territories of the h'mong ethnic minorities it's possible to find dog meat, snakes and lizards, while in the khmu tribes the specialty is the roast mouse.
The typical dwelling of the Lao countryside is the stilt house, while in the mountain villages it's the hut. On the first floor of the palafitte there is the sleeping area, while the ground floor is used for daytime activities: eating, chatting, cradling the children and sometimes working. Raising the sleeping area from the ground mainly comes from the need to protect the house from flooding, a frequent phenomenon during the rainy season, but also from that of preserving the place from dust. The bathroom is separated from the main house and is generally divided into two parts: on the one hand the latrine and on the other the faucet, a large tub to take a bath and a smaller basin. In some mountain villages, latrine is replaced by nature, so own physiological needs are done outdoors. We also remember that not all villages have an electrical system.
"Laos is not a place, it is a state of mind" is a phrase that we find in one of the most famous books by Tiziano Terzani and perhaps, after this article, should be clearer.
Visiting this country trying to live like the locals is the way to understand it better and certainly the one that will give more satisfaction.


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Home » News » Startup 'Spocto' Uses Machine Learning To Understand Customer Behavior
Startup 'Spocto' Uses Machine Learning To Understand Customer Behavior
SPOCTO, a big data analytics company that uses machine learning to help solve problems for the banking and financial services industry.
NewsStartup
By Gairika Mitra Last updated Apr 24, 2020
Sumeet Srivastava, Co-Founder, SPOCTO
Founded in December 2016, Spocto helps the BFSI domain with customer details and insights, enabling them to contact their customers and increase the recoveries on delinquent accounts.
In the retail space, Spocto enables the companies gain insights on their customers so as to provide a unique buyer proposition for each of their customers rather than a generic marketing message targeting a broad segment. Customer experience is therefore enhanced.
Sumeet Srivastava, Co-Founder, SPOCTO tell us more.
How has digital business exploded amid the current pandemic? Is there an upsurge?
I think that the digital business has already exploded with the current pandemic, and businesses that have not invested in technology to run their operations will be forced to rethink their strategies. Traditional ways of operations have been and will be transformed time again. Businesses are more reliant on technology now than ever to function, scale, and be efficient in their operations. Productivity is the key area of focus for organizations to retain or sustain their market position yet alone scale and dominate. Hence, technology that complements the existing business thinking and strategies will definitely be a deciding factor in their operational success
How is Spocto differentiable from the other fintech players?
Spocto has products that specifically cater to the CollectTech segment of banking and NBFC domain, where no other FinTech is currently servicing. Enabling these sectors to grow their bottom line by focussing on recoveries from delinquent accounts through digital medium in a timely and efficient way in comparison to the traditional route apart from the solution being very cost-effective, this is a disruption in the collection space, it has begun and is now picking up momentum faster owing to the working constraints faced by the industry at large and the benefits that the products bring to the table, bridging the gap in the best way possible.
Spocto is able to provide the BFSI domain with a unique proposition of collecting from their customers with the aid of technology, rather than a traditional way of contact center or field collections, saving them huge costs, as the cost of collections digitally is drastically reduced by almost 30%.
How is Spocto equipped with Machine Learning? Does it help in gauging customer behaviour?
So at Spocto, machine learning is used at large to understand and comprehend customer behavior and gather those insights back to our clientele enabling them with better decision-making abilities to further their engagement in a customized route with each of their customers thereafter.
Do you vouch for the fact that technology has become the backbone for business operations?
I believe whether an individual or an organization admits it or not, technology has paved its way into everyone's life in more than ways imaginable few weeks ago. It's the new normal now. Ways of living and working have drastically changed and technology has become a lifeline for business operations to sustain and grow if adopted well and invested well, or merely perish or vanish sooner than they expected.
However, every organization that deals with sensitive data has to be cognizant of the change in operational perimeters and enhance their security protocols to now cover broader perimeters or hubs of perimeters put together as teams continue to work remotely from multiple locations than a concise location or locations earlier. Hence investing and ensuring data security and other security standards are set up and maintained will be the foundation for the organization to build trust amongst its customers, the very basic hygiene factor, and will pave way for its future growth and expansion, without which it is leaving a huge gap for breaches and should be ready to bear the cost or consequences thereafter. Just hoping and praying a hacker wouldn't notice that would be a folly
Any milestones you wish to achieve?
We want to keep investing and creating B2B and B2C solutions for loan borrowers – As the economy improves, access to capital will remain a driver and how to effectively service the loan is an area we will keep focussing – We want to be the UBER for Collections.
What can we except your wannabe clan to behave like?
I would say that they should be true to their purpose and cause, and not just run after the next shiny object if they want to build a sustainable business
If you have an interesting article / experience / case study to share, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
AImachine-learningNewsstartups
Gairika Mitra
Gairika Mitra is a Senior Correspondent with Express Computer. She loves accumulating knowledge on the IT-sphere and also distributing the same. She can be reached at [email protected]
The Future of Education : How E-Learning can be the Game Changer!
Forced Work From Home has broken mental barriers: QNu Labs
[email protected]teronline.com


I just failed emissions and went to check my O2 sensor and EGR, the O2 seems to be fine. Then I was going to clean my EGR, but before I disconnected it, I noticed the hose is not there, I think this might be the cause of my problem. This is on an H22A if that matters.
My question is where am I supposed to connect this to? The part coming out on the right side is what I'm talking about.
Also my idle is low and the car does die after hard acceleration so it definately seems like this should be the issue, however if this does not bring my idle up enough, if someone could show me which screw I turn on the throttle body to adjust the idle I'd appreciate that.
Thanks. I assumed as much. Just figured out how to adjust the idle on the throttle body. Still need to know where that hose is supposed to connect to.
It goes to the black box on the firewall.
It is hose #16. It goes to the EGR control solenoid.
I think my egr solenoid might be missing altogether. Could someone take a pic of theirs so I can see exactly what I should be looking for?.
Its a rubber hose that your missing...it either connects to the vacuum box or the manifold..that missing hose can cause ur engine to die since you have a vacuum leak..im guessing you failed the smog test either because you had a check engine light or high nox....right?
No check engine light. It was High Carbon Monoxide that caused me to fail.
When you say it either connects to the vacuum box or the manifold, do you mean it can connect to wherever?
I think I might be missing this box? Do you know a part number for it?
Alright yea. I'm missing that whole thing. Thanks a lot for the picture. I'll check some junkyards this weekend.


This unit is a four-day American civil rights unit for second graders. The first two lessons are an introduction to the subject. The third lesson allows for student discovery by completing a webquest. The final lesson will include students sharing a presentation with the class.
Content Statement 4. Biographies can show how peoples' actions have shaped the world in which we live.
Weebly- Used to display thematic unit.
Google Sites- Used for the webquest in Lesson 4.
Google Forms- Used for peer review.
Youtube- Used for overview video. Also used in dipity timeline and prezi presentation.
Prezi-Used by the teacher in lesson plan 1.
Dipity- An interactive timeline that students will use in groups during lesson 2.
Glogster- Students may use glogster to make an online poster for their webquests.


The above quote is from President Obama, speaking today on the prospect of how shutting down the government may affect the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. We have received numerous inquiries during the government shutdown talk on how it might affect Obamacare, but you can rest assured that there will be no effect on Obamacare implementation, as of now. Tomorrow, October 1, 2013 CoveredCA, California's state based health exchange, will go live. We will be able to shop plans, compare rates, check for subsidy eligibility and even enroll in coverage. Count on Quotebroker to be with you every step of the way. While the phone lines (800-783-0802) may be jammed with others trying to secure their subsidy, you can always visit us online at www.quotebroker.com for self-service or email us at info@quotebroker.com and we'll be able to get to your inquiry same business day.


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Home » Entertainment » 8 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend
8 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend
Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.
WALLY CARDONA at Gibney Dance (Nov. 8-10, 8 p.m.). The choreographer unveils "Given in the Black Box." Its details are mysterious aside from a statement by Cardona, who dances in the work along with the engrossing pair of Joanna Kotze and Molly Lieber. In press materials, he states: "After six years of travel (dancing on dirt, concrete, living room carpets and pagoda tiles), a return to the dance studio. Time spent emptying, waiting and doing what seemed like nothing … now an offering on the way, in the black box." The score is by the composer Jonathan Bepler.
646-837-6809, gibneydance.org
'EMILY COATES & JOSIAH MCELHENY AND EMMANUÈLE PHUON: A SHARED EVENING' at Danspace Project (Nov 8-10, 8 p.m.). For this program, Coates and Phuon — two choreographers and dancers who performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project and Yvonne Rainer and Group — present new works. Phuon looks at her journey through dance in "Bits & Pieces (Choreographic Donations)," with choreography by Phuon, Rainer, Vincent Dunoyer, Patricia Hoffbauer, Elisa Monte and David Thomson. And Coates unveils "A History of Light," made in collaboration with McElheny, a glass artist. Coates will dance the piece with the particle physicist Sarah Demers, who appeared with Coates last year in her "Incarnations." In this new work, Coates looks back in time as well as into space.
866-811-4111, danspaceproject.org
HUNGARIAN NATIONAL BALLET at the David H. Koch Theater (Nov. 4 and 7, 7 p.m.; through Nov. 11). This company, under the artistic direction of Tamas Solymosi, makes its debut in the United States, first with mixed repertory at a gala performance on Sunday, followed by three evening-length programs. Along with Rudi van Dantzig's production of "Swan Lake" (on Wednesday), the group performs Michael Messerer's "Don Quixote" (on Nov. 9) and a triple bill of contemporary ballets by Hans van Manen (on Nov. 11).
212-496-0600, davidhkochtheater.com
LIME RICKEY INTERNATIONAL at the Invisible Dog Art Center (Nov 2-3, 8 p.m.). This brainchild of Leyya Mona Tawil, a Syrian-Palestinian-American artist working in dance, sound and performance, unveils the New York premiere of "Unstoppable," which takes inspiration from many sources in politics and culture to create a world of Arab experimentalism. The piece features Tawil performing fictional folk dances and singing about a homeland that doesn't yet exist.
theinvisibledog.org
PHANTOM LIMB COMPANY at BAM Harvey Theater (Nov. 7-10, 7:30 p.m.). "Falling Out," the final installment in the group's environmental trilogy, was created in response to Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster. The performance piece, directed and designed by Jessica Grindstaff, with original music and puppet design by Erik Sanko, features a mix of styles, from Butoh — Dai Matsuoka of Sankai Juku is one of the collaborators — to contemporary flex dance.
718-646-4100, bam.org
SUNDAYS ON BROADWAY at WeisAcres (Nov. 4, 6 p.m.; Sundays through Dec. 16). Cathy Weis Projects ushers in another installment of the popular series, which this fall is curated by Weis, a choreographer and video artist, along with the dance artists Jon Kinzel, Jennifer Miller, Mina Nishimura and Vicky Shick. This Sunday, the shared program features Patricia Hoffbauer and David Thomson in a new duet; Stephen Petronio Company in an excerpt from Steve Paxton's "Goldberg Variations" (1986), as danced by Nicholas Sciscione; and a screening of Weis's videos from the mid-1980s of Paxton's improvisations onstage in Philadelphia and in the fields of Vermont to Bach's "Goldberg" Variations.
cathyweis.org
SASHA WALTZ & GUESTS at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (Nov. 2, 3 and 5, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 4, 3 p.m.). Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, this group presents "Kreatur," a stark, otherworldly work that takes place — timely enough — in a chaotic setting rife with disruption and disenfranchisement. Along with her 14 dancers, Waltz collaborates with the Dutch artist and fashion designer Iris van Herpen, the experimental music trio Soundwalk Collective and the lighting designer Urs Schönebaum.
JAMES WHITESIDE at the Joyce Theater (Nov. 6-7, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 8-9, 8 p.m.; through Nov. 11). Whiteside, an American Ballet Theater principal, is branching out with "The Tenant," a dance-play directed by the choreographer Arthur Pita. It features Whiteside along with Cassandra Trenary, a Ballet Theater soloist, and the dancer Kibrea Carmichael, and is based on Roland Topor's 1964 novel about alienation (it was later made into a film by Roman Polanski). Whiteside portrays the protagonist Trelkovsky, who finds himself living in a room where the previous tenant (Trenary) committed suicide by jumping out the window. Paranoia sends Trelkovsky into darkness.
212-242-0800, joyce.org
DanceNYC
Listen: Amy Landecker Reads 'An Ancient Coda to My 21st-Century Divorce'
Imagine Burning Man Without the Tech Crowd
11/05/2018 Entertainment Comments Off on 8 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend


Japanese Experience nature, local farming lives, fresh air and comfortable cool weather at the modern budeget hotel in Cameron Highlands.
* All price are set for per night.
*speak to our staff for special rate if you're from other part of the world!


text:
Andrew L. Foster
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Hong Kong)
Andrew Foster is a competition partner in Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's Hong Kong office. He has worked on antitrust and competition matters in the New York, Brussels and Beijing offices of Skadden. He has extensive experience in U.S., European and international antitrust regimes, including: advising clients in cartel and abuse of dominance investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, European Commission, U.K. Office of Fair Trading and other national competition authorities; advising on global competition aspects of mergers and acquisitions in China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey and other jurisdictions; designing and auditing global antitrust/competition compliance and training programs for multinational corporations; and defending multinational corporations in private antitrust litigation in the United States. Mr. Foster has counseled multinational corporations such as J.P. Morgan Chase, General Electric, Cemex, Sekisui Chemical, Mylan, and Travelport, and private equity firms such as Doughty Hanson, Castle Harlan, and MacAndrews and Forbes.
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Asian Antitrust
Nominee, 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards: Academic, Asian Antitrust
Brian Baggetta
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Washington)
Bill Batchelor
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (London)
United Kingdom 36 contributions 17091 visits
Simon Baxter
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Brussels)
John H. Beisner
Boris Bershteyn
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (New York)
Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Andrew L. Foster, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Niels Baeten The EU Commission proposes a new merger and public procurement control legislation to combat foreign subsidies
5 May 2021 402
The European Commission (EC) has proposed legislation to curb M&A, public procurement and market conduct by foreign-subsidized companies that may distort the European Union's internal market. New requirements include: Mandatory notification of acquisitions where the target's EU turnover (...)
Julia Zhu, Andrew L. Foster The Chinese Competition Authority publishes a draft amended Anti-Monopoly Law for public comments
2 January 2020 52
For the first time since China's Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) came into force in 2008, the government is proposing major changes to its centerpiece antitrust legislation. On January 2, 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published a draft amended Anti-Monopoly Law for public (...)
Andrew L. Foster The Chinese Government announces the establishment of a unified market regulator, the SAMR which now is responsible for all antitrust enforcement in China
In March 2018, China's State Council announced the establishment of a unified market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), which now is responsible for all antitrust enforcement in China. Previously, antitrust enforcement in China was administered by three separate (...)
Andrew L. Foster, Ingrid Vandenborre, Steven C. Sunshine The Electronic Intellectual Property Center of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) releases a draft "Template for Intellectual Property Policies in Industry Standardization Organizations"
1 January 2015 225
The Electronic Intellectual Property Center of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released a draft "Template for Intellectual Property Policies in Industry Standardization Organizations" (the Draft Template), seeking public comments by January 30. The Draft Template (...)
Andrew L. Foster, Frederic Depoortere, Simon Baxter The Chinese MOFCOM introduces simplified merger review provisions to improve process
China Introduces Simplified Merger Review Provisions to Improve Process*Over the past several years, companies engaging in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures have been subject to long and unpredictable competition reviews for transactions notified in China. Although China's Anti-Monopoly (...)
Andrew L. Foster, Simon Baxter The Chinese MOFCOM clears an acquisition in the desktop hard drive disks market but imposes both structural and behavioral remedies (Western Digital / Hitachi)
This article has been nominated for the 2013 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Companies contemplating global mergers,acquisitions and joint ventures should be aware that the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), China's antitrust agency tasked with (...)
Andrew L. Foster, Simon Baxter The Chinese MOFCOM conditionally approves the acquisition of the HDD business of a Korean electronics company by a U.S. competitor (Seagate / Samsung)
12 December 2011 547
Companies contemplating global mergers,acquisitions and joint ventures should be aware that the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), China's antitrust agency tasked with merger control, is increasingly imposing competition remedies exceeding those required by the European Commission, U.S. Federal (...)


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Костёл святого Винсента и монастырь миссионеров — памятники виленского барокко, располагавшиеся в деревне Смиловичи. Не сохранились.

История
 1767—1791: возведён комплекс каменного костёла и монастыря миссионеров.
 1785: освящение костёла святого Винсента.
 До 1831: при монастыре действовала миссионерская школа.
 1832: монастырь закрыт, костёл передан католической парафии.
 1866: костёл передан православным христианам.
 1867: костёл переосвящён в православную Троецкую церковь, однако из-за отсутствия финансирования скоро пришёл в упадок.
 1930-е: здания костёла разрушено. Здание монастыря разрушено частично (существующее здание по ул. М. Горького).

Архитектура
Основательница  монастырского комплекса Мартибела Завишанка из рода Огинских разместила священников из объединения миссионеров при деревянном костёле и завещала деньги на возведение каменных строений.

Монастырь находился на окраине местечка при дороге Минск — Игумен. У 1774 году построен двухэтажный каменный корпус монастыря.

Костёл был трёхнефный, с двумя башнями на фасаде. В храме было 6 алтарей с иконами и скульптурами.

Литература
 Кулагин, А. М. Каталіцкія храмы на Беларусі: Энцыклапедычны даведнік. Мн., 2001. ISBN 985-11-0199-0

Ссылки
 www.radzima.org

Виленское барокко
Смиловичи
Католические храмы Минской области


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text:
import gconf
import MySQLdb

def execute_sql(sql, args=(), fetch=True):
	conn = None
	cur = None
	count = 0
	rt_list = []
	try:
		print sql
		conn = MySQLdb.connect(host=gconf.MYSQL_HOST, port=gconf.MYSQL_PORT, user=gconf.MYSQL_USER, passwd=gconf.MYSQL_PASSWORD, db=gconf.MYSQL_DB, charset=gconf.MYSQL_CHARSET)
		cur = conn.cursor()
		count = cur.execute(sql,args)
		if fetch:
			rt_list = cur.fetchall()
		else:
			conn.commit()
	except BaseException as e:
		print e
	finally:
		if cur:
			cur.close()
		if conn:
			conn.close()
	return count, rt_list

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Sister Act Tickets
Home > Artists > Sister Act Tickets
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About Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (as Joseph Howard), with musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman. It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to join a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It also features Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, and Harvey Keitel.
Sister Act was one of the more financially successful comedies of the early 1990s, grossing $231 million worldwide. The film spawned a franchise, which consists of the 1993 sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and a musical adaptation, which premiered in 2006. A remake of Sister Act is in the works. On December 7, 2018, it was confirmed that Regina Y. Hicks and Karin Gist were hired to write the script to Sister Act 3 to be released on Disney+.
Lilly Hiatt
The Beths
Geowulf
Rolling Loud Festival
Jamie Xx
Kevin Nealon
Nick Murphy


text:
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<title>3 Line Matrix</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no">

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