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How to be a Complete and Utter F**k Up: 47 1/2 steps to lasting underachievement 3rd edition
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Self-Help & Personal Development
How to be a Complete and Utter F**k Up: 47 1/2 steps to lasting underachievement
Paperback by McDermott, Steve
Click here for eBook edition
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Estimated Despatch 21 - 22 Jan 2022
How to be a Complete and Utter F**k Up is your ultimate ANTI life coach. Be warned: whatever you do, don't do the opposite of what you learn here or else you're in serious danger of making some positive changes and leading a more successful life. How to be a Complete and Utter F**k Up turns the concept of self-improvement on its head. It brings together 47 and a half leading ideas in personal and business development, and offers a total antidote to the motivational, gung-ho, over-enthused tone of all the usual self-improvement guides. Delivered in fast, easily digestible chunks, in a style that makes you laugh while you learn, this book offers tongue-in-cheek advice about what not to do to ensure certain failure in every aspect of your life. From not having any goals, to not getting advice from people you've never met or who are dead, to not taking personal responsibility for your life and results, every idea, strategy, suggestion and story is guaranteed to propel you into the slow lane of total inadequacy and has been tested with thousands of real people. How to be a Complete and Utter F**k Up comes with a warning - that you don't think about taking the direct opposite steps to those outlined in the guide, as this could seriously damage your chances of becoming a failure. Behind the humour, though, is good advice and a serious message. And whether you choose to heed the warning or not, it's an extremely entertaining read.
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[Corrected: 9:10 am PT] Parents have long wanted to know whether they are about to bring a child into the world with a chromosomal abnormality like Down syndrome. There's never been a noninvasive, simple, and highly accurate way to make that call at an early stage of pregnancy. But after a flurry of innovation in high-speed DNA sequencing, four companies are slugging it out to offer such tests in what is becoming a fast-emerging market for genetic information.
San Carlos, CA-based Natera is the latest company to enter the fray, as it has started selling its non-invasive prenatal genetic screening test. The test, called Panorama, is going up against competing services from San Diego-based Sequenom (NASDAQ: SQNM), San Diego-based Illumina's Verinata unit (NASDAQ: ILMN), and San Jose, CA-based Ariosa Diagnostics. Several of the emerging non-invasive prenatal genetic test companies have already paired up with distribution partners—Illumina with PerkinElmer, Ariosa with LabCorp of America. Natera is also announcing today it will get distribution help from Quest Diagnostics, one of a handful of high-volume diagnostic providers.
The companies will start to find out this year just how much demand there is from expectant parents for the new DNA-based prenatal genetic tests. There are more than 4 million live births each year in the U.S., and more than 500,000 are considered "high-risk" pregnancies, based on the age of the mother, prior childbirth experience or some other factor. Last year, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine issued guidelines which encouraged members to use prenatal DNA testing in pregnant women considered at high-risk.
That opinion, from influential physician groups, is part of what drove Illumina to pay $350 million upfront to acquire Redwood City, CA-based Verinata Health in January. Illumina, the market-leading maker of high-speed DNA sequencers, said it sees a $600 million market for such tests forming in 2013 based on screening of high-risk pregnancies. Longer term, the market could get much bigger as prenatal genetic tests become part of mainstream maternal medicine.
Pregnant women have long had the ability to find out if they are carrying a fetus with a chromosomal abnormality. There are blood-based tests that look at protein markers of chromosomal abnormalities, and when combined with ultrasound, they can typically detect Down syndrome 60-80 percent of the time. To get a definitive answer, parents turn to procedures known as Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis. The catch is that those tests are invasive, and come with some risk of miscarriage, so they aren't done routinely. Switching to a simple blood draw, which is easy and carries no risk of miscarriage, with accuracy rates in the high 90 percent range, changes the dynamic in a big way. Suddenly, the new DNA based tests are becoming more of a typical consumer choice based on the patient's desire to know the answer, the accuracy/quality of the service, and cost.
Natera has been around since 2004, and already makes money from a test that helps people select embryos for implantation through in vitro fertilization. But the company raised $20 million last year to pursue this much bigger opportunity.


This incredibly beautiful and unique ring made of black ceramic, accentuated by an out-of-this-world blue-green opal inlay, is a gem in our Black ceramic ring collection. With polished beveled edges and a scratch resistant black ceramic surface, This ring combines color and sophistication to create a stylish ring for everyday wear and special occasions. Black ceramic is the perfect material for this type of colorful design. The black ceramic is not a coating and therefore will not lose color due to wear and tear. Wearers should note that the blue-green opal inlay is more delicate and made of softer materials and can be scratched.
It comes in 6mm, 8mm and 10mm widths to allow couples have a matching set. The size and the design of this ring makes it feel great on the hands.


text:
Allium alpinarii är en amaryllisväxtart som beskrevs av Neriman Özhatay och Fania Weissmann- Kollmann. Allium alpinarii ingår i släktet lökar, och familjen amaryllisväxter. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Lökar
alpinarii

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Tomography and Related Diagnostics in Synchrotrons, TARDIS, is an application that uses tomography to reconstruct the longitudinal phase space distribution from longitudinal charge profiles of the beam. The programme has many customizable features and is designed to run as a standalone application, in a batch mode, and an online mode, in which live data is taken and analysed. This note will give a brief introduction to using TARDIS in "online mode" through ACNET, concentrating on the day to day monitoring of the beam.


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Reject the Bishopsgate Goodsyard development proposals.
This petition had 11,404 supporters
MORE LIGHT MORE POWER started this petition to GLA Greater London Authority and 1 other
In the heart of Shoreditch, Spitalfields and Brick Lane, the Bishopsgate Goodsyard is one of London's most unique and challenging development sites, worthy of innovation, creative and inspiring architecture, and a real understanding of its business and residential communities.
The faceless corporate architecture - proposed by a joint venture between developers Hammerson and Ballymore - is completely wrong for this area and will damage the community and environment as well as blocking out light for thousands of people.
We support development, but only if it actually enhances the physical and social environment - not destroys it.
We therefore object to the updated proposals unveiled by the developers on 18th June 2015, on the grounds that they still do not address the fundamental faults of the scheme including:
Inappropriately tall buildings of up to 46 storeys that will block the sun from hundreds of homes in a wide area to the north.
Its failure to address a critical need for affordable housing for rent, or employment and training opportunities for local people
Inadequate proposals for ensuring workspace is affordable for local small businesses and start-ups
Its failure to provide proper community benefits
Its lack of respect of the many heritage assets of the site as well as the existing culture and community of the Shoreditch, Spitalfields and Brick Lane areas
The dull, corporate, high-rise architecture that disastrously conflicts with and clearly harms the adjacent low-rise Conservation Areas.
The updated proposals for the scheme are a bitter disappointment and are merely a token gesture towards addressing community concerns about the fundamental faults of this £800 million scheme.
The community campaign, More Light More Power, has launched this petition in response to these updated proposals. We call on all local residents, businesses, Londoners and visitors to the area to sign our petition which asks Tower Hamlets and Hackney Councils, Boris Johnson and the Greater London Authority to reject the current scheme outright.
We thank you for your support.
Shoreditch, Spitalfields & Brick Lane residents & businesses
More Light, More Power
Find out more at www.morelightmorepower.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/morelightpower
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/morelightmorepower
Developers website: www.thegoodsyardlondon.co.uk
Local Councils and the GLA: Reject the Bishopsgate Goodsyard development proposals
Today: MORE LIGHT is counting on you
MORE LIGHT MORE POWER needs your help with "Local Councils and the GLA: Reject the Bishopsgate Goodsyard development proposals". Join MORE LIGHT and 11,403 supporters today.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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NBA ID
NBA Together
When did Australia last tour India for a Test cricket series?
Mark Molyneux
After having easily taken care of the West Indies and South Africa during the summer, Australia will be faced with a much tougher task when they travel to India to play a four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The Aussies will be full of confidence with their batsman plundering plenty of runs against hapless bowling attacks as records tumbled on home soil. Meanwhile, their bowlers repeatedly ripped through brittle batting line-ups to continue their red-hot form under Pat Cummins. But can they finally break their bad run against India with a famous win on the sub-continent?
When did Australia last tour India for a cricket Test series?
The Australian Test team will be touring India for the first time in over five years when the series commences on February 9th.
Back in February 2017, Steve Smith led the side out and actually claimed the opening match before eventually losing 2-1 to a Virat Kohli-inspired side.
It's fair to say much has changed since then with Smith no longer the captain and a number of starters being moved on for some fresh faces.
Cummins is now at the forefront of this exciting Aussie side who will be attempting to win their first series in India in 19 years.
When was the last time the Australian cricket side toured India?
Despite having a poor Test cricket record against the Indians - losing nine of the past 15 series - Australia have travelled to India in recent times and emerged victorious in various other formats of the game.
They beat the hosts 2-0 during a T20I series in 2019, before then also triumphing over them in a five-match One Day International series that followed.
In order to give his side the best opportunity to beat India this time around, Aussie coach Andrew McDonald will employ similar touring tactics to the ones he used in Pakistan last year. Namely, keeping the time his men spend away from home to an absolute minimum.
"No tour game is something we've done in the last few series, before embarking on overseas tours," McDonald told The Sydney Morning Herald.
"We feel as though we don't need that match practice as such. We're going to go to India about a week out from the first game. We didn't want to press for too much longer, in terms of the preparation."
This approach worked for the aforementioned Test series against Pakistan that Australia won by a 1-0 margin, while giving them the most relaxed lead-in to the gruelling series which is sure to follow against India.
"We feel as though seven days is ample time to get ready and to make sure we maintain freshness throughout the whole four Test match series," McDonald reasoned.
"We had some success doing that, going to Pakistan. We had a shortened period on the ground there."
India vs Australia Test series history
India have the wood over Australia in Test cricket, winning nine of the past 15 series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
While a lot of their wins have come in the favourable conditions at home, India have also won the past two series Down Under in both 2018/19 and 2020/21.
Since its official inception in 1996, India have held the trophy for the majority of the time, with the Aussies last gaining possession of it back in 2015.
YEAR HOST NATION RESULT
1996 India India won 1-0
1999 Australia Australia won 3-0
2003 Australia Drawn 1-1
2004 India Australia won 2-1
2018 Australia India won 2-1
Mark Molyneux is a content producer for Sporting News Australia.


text:
Q: Rails syntax error in YAML file? Why am I getting the following error when I run rails console?
NOTE: Gem.available? is deprecated, use Specification::find_by_name. It will be removed on or after 2011-11-01.
Gem.available? called from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/jasmine-1.0.2.1/lib/jasmine/base.rb:64.
syntax error on line 1, col 1: `:'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p290/lib/ruby/1.9.1/syck.rb:135:in `load'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p290/lib/ruby/1.9.1/syck.rb:135:in `load'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/instance_methods.rb:151:in `initialize'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/class_methods.rb:21:in `new'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/class_methods.rb:21:in `new_instance'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/class_methods.rb:8:in `instance'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/newrelic_rpm.rb:36:in `block in <class:Railtie>'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:25:in `instance_exec'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:25:in `run'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:50:in `block in run_initializers'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:49:in `each'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:49:in `run_initializers'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/application.rb:92:in `initialize!'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/railtie/configurable.rb:30:in `method_missing'
/Users/Chetan/Development/othermind/config/environment.rb:5:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:237:in `require'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:237:in `block in require'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `block in load_dependency'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:639:in `new_constants_in'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `load_dependency'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:237:in `require'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/application.rb:78:in `require_environment!'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/commands.rb:39:in `<top (required)>'
script/rails:6:in `require'
script/rails:6:in `<main>'
/Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/instance_methods.rb:156:in `rescue in initialize': Error reading newrelic.yml file: syntax error on line 1, col 1: `:' (RuntimeError)
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/instance_methods.rb:139:in `initialize'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/class_methods.rb:21:in `new'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/class_methods.rb:21:in `new_instance'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/new_relic/control/class_methods.rb:8:in `instance'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/newrelic_rpm-3.1.1/lib/newrelic_rpm.rb:36:in `block in <class:Railtie>'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:25:in `instance_exec'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:25:in `run'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:50:in `block in run_initializers'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:49:in `each'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/initializable.rb:49:in `run_initializers'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/application.rb:92:in `initialize!'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/railtie/configurable.rb:30:in `method_missing'
    from /Users/Chetan/Development/othermind/config/environment.rb:5:in `<top (required)>'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:237:in `require'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:237:in `block in require'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `block in load_dependency'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:639:in `new_constants_in'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `load_dependency'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activesupport-3.1.0.rc5/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:237:in `require'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/application.rb:78:in `require_environment!'
    from /Users/Chetan/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/railties-3.1.0.rc5/lib/rails/commands.rb:39:in `<top (required)>'
    from script/rails:6:in `require'
    from script/rails:6:in `<main>'

The newrelic.yml file in question (from the Cedar section of this guide):
---
<%= ENV["RAILS_ENV"] %>:
  error_collector:
    capture_source: true
    enabled: true
    ignore_errors: ActionController::RoutingError
  apdex_t: 0.5
  ssl: false
  monitor_mode: true
  license_key: <%= ENV["NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY"] %>
  developer_mode: false
  app_name: <%= ENV["NEW_RELIC_APPNAME"] %>
  transaction_tracer:
    record_sql: obfuscated
    enabled: true
    stack_trace_threshold: 0.5
    transaction_threshold: apdex_f
  capture_params: false
  log_level: info

It parses fine with http://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com/...

A: Your error message indicates that <%= ENV["RAILS_ENV"] %> is coming up empty so the first line of your YAML is just a single colon and that's not very useful.
I'd guess that you're using Rails 3 and ENV['RAILS_ENV'] is no longer available (note: I know it isn't around in 3.1 but I'm not certain about 3.0). Try using this:
<%= Rails.env %>:

instead, Rails.env should be available in any Rails versions that you're likely to be using. And if that doesn't work, you can try going straight to:
production:

since that will probably be your Heroku environment anyway.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Forex and Contracts For Difference (CFD) brokerages are introducing Bitcoin Cash CFD trading pairs to their platforms. This month, Avatrade and Admiral Markets have launched BCH/USD pairing, demonstrating increasing Bitcoin Cash adoption on the part of traditional financial markets.
Bitcoin cash CFD trading has begun to proliferate this month. Popular brokerages Avatrade and Admiral Markets have both launched BCH/USD trading pairs this month, signaling growing Bitcoin Cash adoption on the part of conventional finance brokers.
Avatrade introduced bitcoin cash CFD this past week. The company now offers CFD trading in 7 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Ripple. Litecoin, and Dash. Chief Executive Officer of Avatrade, Daire Ferguson, has described 2017 as "the year of crypto trading', stating that his company is "very proud to be leading the industry and offering our clients the best trading environment. Avatrade was founded in 2006 and offers fully regulated trading to Japan, Australia, the EU, South African, and the British Virgin Islands.
Earlier this month, London-based trading provider, Admiral Markets UK LTD., claimed to become the world's first brokerage firm to introduce trading pairs for bitcoin cash. Admiral Market offer BCH/USD pairs for both demo and live trading.
Bitcoin cash continues to comprise the third largest total market capitalization in cryptocurrency, and has enjoyed significant trading volume on numerous major crypto exchanges following its conception on August 1st. Bitcoin Cash rallied to test the $900 USD price area this past week, driven by a sudden surge in South Korean trading volume. The price has since lost approximately 25-30 percent and is currently consolidating around $600 USD.
Do you think that bitcoin cash CFD trading pairs enjoy the same success as bitcoin in the forex and CFD markets? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Home>>Information>>Breaking news! Wuyue Electric got TS16949 quality system certificate for automotive industry!
Breaking news! Wuyue Electric got TS16949 quality system certificate for automotive industry!
After improving our quality system for several months, we finally passed the evaluation of automotive industry quality system certification TS16949, and got the certificate finally. Then, we become the only one thermal protector manufacturer in China who gained the certification TS16949 for automotive industry.
Based on the strict quality assurance system TS16949, we are confident that we can provide our thermal protector, thermal switch and circuit breakers with more reliable quality consistence. We would be pleased to build closer business relationship with our worldwide noble customers.


This '3.5mm Jack Plug to Phono Cable 15m Premium' is sold online by the retailer TV Cables and we found this price drop on 22nd April 2019. It was previously listed in the Cables and Parts category on sale at £4.80 but after the price drop it is now on sale at £1.90. That is a saving of 60% compared to the previous price. To get more information or to buy this deal visit the TV Cables website. The £1.90 was correct at the time of our last check but prices may change between us sending the donkey in to look.


After you open a web browser, enter the Agent Management system URL http://10.71.106.185:9000/agentmanagement in the address box, and press Enter, the login page of the Agent Management system cannot be displayed.
1. Log in to the GSU board as the gaea user.
3. Restart the Agent Management process.
The Agent Management process is faulty.


1 The divisions of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.
3 Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth and Eliehoenai the seventh.
6 Obed-Edom's son Shemaiah also had sons, who were leaders in their father's family because they were very capable men.
7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad; his relatives Elihu and Semakiah were also able men.
8 All these were descendants of Obed-Edom; they and their sons and their relatives were capable men with the strength to do the work—descendants of Obed-Edom, 62 in all.
11 Hilkiah the second, Tabaliah the third and Zechariah the fourth. The sons and relatives of Hosah were 13 in all.
12 These divisions of the gatekeepers, through their leaders, had duties for ministering in the temple of the Lord, just as their relatives had.
13 Lots were cast for each gate, according to their families, young and old alike.
14 The lot for the East Gate fell to Shelemiah.1 Then lots were cast for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and the lot for the North Gate fell to him.
15 The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-Edom, and the lot for the storehouse fell to his sons.
17 There were six Levites a day on the east, four a day on the north, four a day on the south and two at a time at the storehouse.
18 As for the court2 to the west, there were four at the road and two at the court3 itself.
20 Their fellow Levites were4 in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries for the dedicated things.
22 the sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel. They were in charge of the treasuries of the temple of the Lord.
24 Shubael, a descendant of Gershom son of Moses, was the official in charge of the treasuries.
25 His relatives through Eliezer: Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zikri his son and Shelomith his son.
26 Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries for the things dedicated by King David, by the heads of families who were the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and by the other army commanders.
27 Some of the plunder taken in battle they dedicated for the repair of the temple of the Lord.
28 And everything dedicated by Samuel the seer and by Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner and Joab son of Zeruiah, and all the other dedicated things were in the care of Shelomith and his relatives.
30 From the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives—seventeen hundred able men—were responsible in Israel west of the Jordan for all the work of the Lord and for the king's service.
31 As for the Hebronites, Jeriah was their chief according to the genealogical records of their families. In the fortieth year of David's reign a search was made in the records, and capable men among the Hebronites were found at Jazer in Gilead.
32 Jeriah had twenty-seven hundred relatives, who were able men and heads of families, and King David put them in charge of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.


The award-winning author Patrick Ness, writer of A Monster Calls and other brilliant books, became our first-ever Writer in Residence back in 2009. In this blog Patrick told us about how writing is like running the marathon (apparently).
The last week has been busy, even by my bee-like standards, hence the slightly longer-than-usual delay between blogs.
Much of the week has been very, very good indeed. I did a couple of events, including one at the London Book Fair and another really great one at a school in east London. I was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for The Knife of Never Letting Go, and also found out I won the very classy James Tiptree Award for the same book.
These are just brilliant things, and I feel privileged and honoured to be part of them. The Carnegie in particular is fantastic because of how many schools participate in shadowing schemes whereby they read the whole shortlist. Just imagine, thousands of students reading these books and debating them at length.
Really very badly, actually. Some dillweed had managed to get his car out on the course, and so the stewards were guiding us all around it. They'd also marked out the car with those big orange traffic cones. Which I didn't actually see until I was picking myself up from the concrete, which I hit with both knees at speed, as well as both hands and an elbow. I bled. A lot!
Nevertheless, I persevered. In ten years of serious running, it was only the third time I've ever fallen, and there's a jarring and unwelcome adrenalin hit from it. I ran for another five whole miles before things started to get seriously uncomfortable, and I ended up walking for several of the worst miles (22-24ish). Which was more than sort of horrible. In fact, the worst running experience of my life (hooray! at least I've met the benchmark!).
I thought seriously about pulling out, but I got all stubborn and Scandinavian and said many expletive versions of 'stuff that'.
I managed to run the last mile, and ended up finishing in 4 hours, 26 minutes, which astonishingly is a new personal best by 8 minutes (it was a pretty crappy previous personal best), so I was obviously running well until the tumble and could maybe have broken four hours (my goal) if I hadn't fallen. Oh, well, next time.At the end, I was greeted by my lovely other half and some good friends from my running club, and then had a nice shower at the Shelter tent (the charity I ran for and, with the kind help of good people, raised £2,665.46 and counting) and got attended to by an ambulance (photo above).
Now what in the world does this have to do with writing? Well, everything. As I've mentioned before, the question I get asked most often from young readers is: Where do you get your ideas from? And the answer, again, is: everywhere.
This is what writers mean when they say 'write what you know.' I know what it feels like to run, and so I can write about running and fatigue and persevering through unpleasantness and, should it ever come in handy, how it feels to fall over a traffic cone in front of thousands of people.
I don't know that anyone is really interested in your fictionalized autobiography (I don't think they're interested in mine), but there's more to your life than just its particular story. There's everything you feel about it, too, and everything you know to be true, and all those things you can put in the minds of characters completely different than you. If writing is your life, there should be life in your writing.
And there endeth my tale of blood and guts and English pluckery. I'm badly sunburnt with a wrapped ankle and a still-bleeding knee, but I can actually go down my stairs facing forward, which any marathon runner will tell you is doing pretty damn good.


text:
Accompaniment is walking at the pace of another
(Unsplash/Soumik Mondal)
by Molly Fernandes
On my way back to the community, I saw that she was walking fast and said casually, "What's up, in a hurry today?"
"Yeah, have to accompany my mom to the clinic" she replied.
Well, this brief encounter with the girl on the roadside enlightened me. The word accompany caught my attention and became the focal point for my reflection.
Two key words played an important role, my brief encounter with the girl and her powerful response: accompany my mom ...
In my childhood, there was someone who always accompanied in all circumstances — none other than my mother. If we are lucky, all of us are accompanied by our mothers. On our journey of religious life too, we have Mary our Mother, the model of accompaniment.
Mary our Mother is the source of inspiration and the model of accompaniment in our journey as consecrated women. The beautiful episodes in the Bible about Mary's accompaniment are indeed a motivation for us even in the most trying times never to give up — especially Mary accompanying Jesus to accomplish his mission!
Throughout salvation history, God accompanied his people — Abraham, Moses, Joseph the son of Jacob. God himself is the first model of accompaniment.
In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis invites all Christians "to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ." We do have personal encounters with Jesus through our service, sacraments, the Scriptures, prayer, and much more through our relationships — yes, interpersonal relationship of love with one another.
A beautiful example of Jesus with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus allowed them to experience this love. The hearts of the two crestfallen disciples were empty, heavy with grief, wounded by disappointment, and numb with pain. Just then Jesus made himself present to them — in other words, accompanied them with tenderness and compassion on their journey.
The words encounter and accompany are two sides of the same coin. They coexist and are indispensable, incomplete one without the other, though the intensity of both the encounter and undoubtedly the accompaniment may differ. It can be deeper or superficial, depending on our likes and our art of accompaniment.
When I say art of accompaniment, in our daily life we meet and encounter people as we travel, at social gatherings, at our workplace or outreach programs and seminars. Some encounters are shallow, a few are deep, and in some, we walk side by side — not ahead nor behind — which allows the other to be whoever they are; and in a word, accepting the other person with all their goodness and limitations.
I was moved by this sentence that I read somewhere: The art of accompaniment is as if we removed our sandals before the sacred ground of the other.
And Evangelii Gaudium reminds us: "The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates and encourages growth in the Christian life."
I said an encounter need not be deep. I had this experience: Once, on my way to the market, I met someone I didn't know well, just by name, and said: "Hi, how are you?" And this person — instead of replying in the affirmative, I am OK, thank you — told me about her ailments for 15 minutes. Finally, I got uncomfortable, became restless, kept looking at my watch and left, promising to pray for her!
I had another experience while working in the missions of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, India: I was visiting a village in the outskirts of Sindhudurg. I kept trying to visit a family even when others spoke ill of them — even my own sisters in the community made sour faces.
I visited them often, and my efforts led two brothers to open up their life journey. Like the two disciples of Emmaus — who said, "Were not our hearts burning when he spoke to us?" — they said to me, "Sister, nobody spoke to us like this, as you did. See, I get goose bumps and the movement in my heart stirs to listen to you."
After five months of empowering and encouraging them to encounter Christ by listening to the word of God and receiving the sacraments, they went to confession and participated in the Eucharist after two decades away from the church. I can still visualize the joy on their faces after receiving the sacrament of confession.
So, accompanying is walking at the pace of another. It is precisely the other person who leads the walk and we are happy to stay close, to give support, making our presence felt to encourage, motivating them when they are weary, lost and neglected, and mediating to help them overcome failures.
As I remember someone beautifully saying: "Accompaniment is a word that contains our joy-filled wonder at moments and at relationships that shine with God's grace."
St. Augustine wrote, "It is solved by walking." No doubt accompaniment bears fruit when we truly walk the road together and try to get to know one another. Through accompaniment, we help to guide the person to decide for themselves, and do not impose our decisions.
In our own journeys, we need accompaniment at different times of life and in different circumstances. In our spiritual journey, the accompaniment we get from our spiritual directors or confessors is different from that we get from community members. Some sisters who need accompaniment — especially in times of trials or loneliness or when falsely accused — have fallen prey to poor counselors, and left the community or even committed suicide.
Well, we stay together in community not because we have chosen one another, but because we have been chosen by the Lord. There are moments that we need someone to accompany us, while there are times when we become saviours of accompaniment to the needy outside our own community.
Accompaniment is a dare, which takes courage. It takes courage to step outside of ourselves, courage to encounter and accept differences. In other words: to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other.
To do this is not easy; it takes humility to forgo our position/status/power. We need to understand that God has the same love for each and every one of us. Yahweh loves each of us with a full, passionate and unselfish love and accompanies us; at times it is he who carries us on his shoulders, like the poem about why there was only one set of footprints in the sand.
Here's what I have learned: Accompaniment entails listening with compassion and reflection. In today's hectic and noisy world, too often we fail to take time with one another, to listen without worrying about what we will say next.
Because accompaniment means sitting with the other, listening to the words they speak and reflecting on the feelings behind the words and reading in between the words and facial expressions. It means recognizing what a gift we are being given when others trust us with their stories.


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text:
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*/
angular
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    .controller('<%= classifiedName %>Controller', [
        '$scope',
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Fresh wonders of space exploration continue to awe and inspire artists. In a fresh downtempo release, Italian composer Francesco Novara delivers an EP fabricated from just two sound samples of a European spacecraft that visited (and landed on) a comet. It marks a unique collaboration between record label Establishment and the multinational European Space Agency ESA.(CC) Franceso NovaraEstablishment RecESA, based on a sonification by TU BraunschweigIGEP & Manuel SenfftNovara has honed silky-smooth virtuoso production craft on prolific work for TV and film. He shows off that prodigious talent by weaving every sound in the entire release from a single sample of sonified data from the spacecraft Rosetta. The raw materials for every pad, every drum sound, every melody in the album is derived from the oscillations in the magnetic field of the comet a kind of comet song found by scientists reviewing the data. (There is just one other sound source - a snippet of radio chat marking the end of operating Rosetta.)But the music is far from academic. The resulting grooves have the cool, collected self-assurance you'd expect from an astronaut mission commander. The album tells the saga of a mission in four tracks, recalled in chilled out, precise electronic cinema. Far from the drugged-out or dystopian spaceflight music of the past, this is 21st century technology, efficient and dazzling.Then, Novara delivers a surprise pop single in Ready to Fly.


text:
Q: How to make jQuery dialog working with hyperlink text instead of button? I made it work but the problem is that it works only once. Once the popup appears , the link doesn't work and the popup doesnt show up again. I have to refresh to see that is happening. I got this http://jsfiddle.net/pjVcR/2/ and it works inside the jsfiddle , but in my site it doesn't work. My site link is here : MY SITE
Here is the code:

AAAA

text AAAA

BBBB

text

and the script given in the html as well :

A: You have many elements with the dialog class, so when you call
$('.dialog').dialog('destroy');

you are destroying dialogs that do not yet exist,  thus the exception:

cannot call methods on dialog prior to initialization; attempted to
  call method 'destroy'

Use the local instance of $(this) inside the close handler (which is that specific .dialog element) so that jQuery knows which one to destroy.
$("a").click(function(event) {
  $(this).parent().parent().children(".dialog").dialog({
    close: function( event, ui ) {
      $(this).dialog('destroy');
    }
  });
});

http://jsfiddle.net/pjVcR/3/
Notice if you change the code to use .dialog instead of $(this) you will still get the same error you are getting in your page, and that's why you don't get the error in the jsFiddle, because you only have one div with class .dialog in there.

A: The issue you are having is that when you call
$('.dialog').dialog('destroy');
You are destroying the object/it does no longer exist, You would need to recreate it instead of just calling it..
Try creating a class that you can put on your href tag that will give you what you are looking for
Try doing this:
Your Text Link here
$(function() {

$('.iframe_popup').click(function(e) {
    e.preventDefault();
    var $this = $(this);
    var horizontalPadding = 30;
    var verticalPadding = 30;

    var iframe_popup = $('');
    iframe_popup.dialog(
    {
        title: ($this.attr('title')) ? $this.attr('title') : '',
        autoOpen: true,
        width: 600,
        height: 450,
        modal: true,
        autoResize: true,
        overlay: {
            opacity: 0.5,
            background: "black"
        }
    }).width(600 - horizontalPadding).height(450 - verticalPadding);
});

}); // Close Function

A: $('.dialog').dialog('destroy'); trys to destroy all you dialogs, not only the visible. thats why you get a error.
try $('.dialog:visible').dialog('destroy'); to destroy all visible dialogs. Or you can prefix the id for the dialogs and then select and destroy them.


text:
Computational modeling of phagocyte transmigration for foreign body responses to subcutaneous biomaterial implants in mice
Mingon Kang1,
Liping Tang2 &
Jean Gao1
BMC Bioinformatics volume 17, Article number: 111 (2016) Cite this article
Computational modeling and simulation play an important role in analyzing the behavior of complex biological systems in response to the implantation of biomedical devices. Quantitative computational modeling discloses the nature of foreign body responses. Such understanding will shed insight on the cause of foreign body responses, which will lead to improved biomaterial design and will reduce foreign body reactions. One of the major obstacles in computational modeling is to build a mathematical model that represents the biological system and to quantitatively define the model parameters.
In this paper, we considered quantitative inter connections and logical relationships among diverse proteins and cells, which have been reported in biological experiments and literature. Based on the established biological discovery, we have built a mathematical model while unveiling the key components that contribute to biomaterial-mediated inflammatory responses. For the parameter estimation of the mathematical model, we proposed a global optimization algorithm, called Discrete Selection Levenberg-Marquardt (DSLM). This is an extension of Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm which is a gradient-based local optimization algorithm. The proposed DSLM suggests a new approach for the selection of optimal parameters in the discrete space with fast computational convergence.
The computational modeling not only provides critical clues to recognize current knowledge of fibrosis development but also enables the prediction of yet-to-be observed biological phenomena.
Medical implants, such as breast implants, encapsulated tissues/cells, neural electrodes, and eye implants, have experienced remarkable development and growth during the past decades. In the meantime, an increasing number of medical implant failures also has been reported. In earlier studies, it is well documented that excessive fibrotic responses are responsible for the failure of many medical implants [1–4]. Medical implants provoke unpredicted responses and reactions of the immune system, which are fibrotic capsule formations surrounding the medical device. To be specific, wound healing responses start with acute inflammatory responses, and then follow with fibrotic tissue reactions. The continuous inflammatory responses lead to overwhelming fibrotic reactions. Hence, comprehensive understanding of the mechanism governing the reactions can play an important role in successful implantation and development of the biomaterial while reducing its side effects and simultaneously improving the functionality of the implants.
Computational modeling and simulation have been highlighted in biomedical research for decades, since they not only discover the nature and their associations of the biological components but also provide quantitative predictions that go beyond the biological experiment. Therefore, in-depth understanding of the foreign body responses and its computational modeling will disclose the contributing components and help to predict the evolution, which would eventually lead to reduced failure rate of implantation. A number of research has been conducted for modeling and predicting foreign body fibrotic reactions. A hybrid model was proposed by combining a differential equation system and kinetics Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate and predict phagocytes responses at molecular level [5]. Chemical kinetics equations were adapted for building a predictive tool of foreign body fibrotic reactions [6, 7]. Partial differential equations were also utilized for macrophage spatial/temporal dynamics in foreign body reactions[8].
Tang et al. had conducted biological experiments with mice to recognize major components involved in foreign body reactions and to discover their responses and reactions [2]. To summarize the current biological understanding, the evolution of biomaterial-mediate inflammatory responses may be divided into six consecutive events: (1) phagocyte transmigration through the endothelial barrier, (2) chemotaxis toward the implants, (3) adherence to the biomaterial, (4) phagocyte activation, (5) fibrin deposition, and (6) fibroblast proliferation and collagen production [2]. Among these six procedures, we focused on comprehensive modeling of phagocyte transmigration. It is assumed that certain components such as mast cells, histamine, histamine receptors, and P/E selectins, are mainly involved in the event [9]. Histamine release has been reported to trigger inflammatory responses to biomaterial implants in human [10], and the event was reported by observing the concentration change of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and monocytes/macrophages (M Φ), which are the most abundant type of phagocytes.
Phagocyte transmigration is known as one of the major reactions of the immune system. Different components contributing to the process are hypothesized based on our new biological experiments and reported discovery [2, 11]. Figure 1 describes the elements - mast cells, histamine, histamine receptors, and P/E selectins - involved in phagocyte transmigration and their interactive roles as a summary.
Overview of phagocyte transmigration
In this study, we conducted a mathematical modeling of phagocyte transmigration which is one of the processes involved in fibrosis formed around an implanted biomedical device. Furthermore, a new optimization approach, Discrete Selection Levenberg-Marquardt Algorithm (DSLM), based on our previous preliminary work [12] is developed for parameter estimation of the dynamic system for the accurate simulation of the biologic system. The new parameter estimation approach satisfies global non-linear optimization and converges in a feasible time. We will elucidate the biological experiment and elaborate the successive courses in the following sections.
Biological experiments for phagocyte transmigration
We have carried out biological experiments to build phagocytes transmigration models. We chose and tested the model system by using the experimental results obtained from mice, since a mouse model is commonly used to test the compatibility of medical implants and also to mimic foreign body reactions in human. For implantation, Swiss-Webster mice were anesthetized with isoflurane (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL), a 1.5 cm mid-abdominal or mid-dorsal longitudinal incision was made, and 0.6 cm diameter test disks and drug release pumps were implanted intraperitoneally (5 disks/mouse). The incision was closed with stainless steel wound clips. For studies in which the net recruitment of phagocytes was measured, control animals (operated but without implant placement) were always included. Immediately prior to examination, the animals were euthanized with C O 2. The implants were carefully removed from the peritoneal cavity or subcutaneous space and washed with sterile PBS. These samples were used for assay of inflammatory and fibrotic responses.
Inflammatory cells are recruited to the interface between biomaterial implants and skin tissue, which is the area of interest in this study. For measurements of the acute inflammatory responses, investigation was typically performed after sixteen hours. The sixteen hour time point is the earliest time point for maximal inflammatory cell recruitment.
We measured the residual histamine release amount at 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 hours (Fig. 2 a), and PMN and M Φ at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 hours (Fig. 2 b, c), where four mice were used for each time point. Residual histamine is granules in mast cells that are about to be released as histamine. Since histamine has a very short half-life (seconds to minutes) and is hard to measure reliably, the degree of histamine is approximately estimated by residual histamine. Note that PMN and M Φ were measured as the most abundant type of phagocytes.
Experimental measurements acquired from Swiss-Webster mice of same age shipment batch. a residual histamine, (b) polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), and (c) monocytes/macrophages (M Φ). A 'x' represents a measurement of a mouse at the designed time, and dotted-lines show the evolutionary development of the cells on average
For a knockout experiment, PET disks were implanted in the peritoneal space for two groups of mice - normal mice and mast cell-deficient mice. Mast cells are known as the major source of histamine. The PET disk activate a large amount of mast cells in the peritoneal space which in return releases the largest amount of histamine and consequently recruits phagocytes. It was observed that the number of totally recruited phagocytes surrounding implants was significantly decreased for mast cells deficient mice comparing to normal mice (Fig. 3 a). For a normal mice, after implantation, phagocytes were recruited from the capillary to the peritoneal space where the implant was located, whereas the cell-deficient mice produce only half phagocytes comparing to the normal mice.
Experimental measurements for the deficiency study. a the accumulation of PMN on the control and mast cell knockout mice (5 mice for each, % of control) and (b) total recruited PMN and M Φ with H1/H2 receptor knockout (6 mice for each, % of control). The box spans the standard deviation of the data and its central mark is the median. The edges of the box shows the 25th and 75th percentiles of the data
Previous studies hypothesized that histamine might also play an important role in the recruitment of inflammatory cells to implants. To verify the idea, histamine receptors, antagonist pyrilamine (H1 receptor antagonist) and famotidine (H2 receptor antagonist), were injected to the peritoneal space. The combined treatment of H1 and H2 receptor antagonists dramatically decreased the number of phagocytes on implant surfaces as well as the number of PMN and M Φ recruited de novo to the peritoneal cavity (Fig. 3 b). The other intracellular substances via complex intracellular signaling may interfere with the activity of the inhibitory and stimulating actions, but the potential receptor interactions and signaling pathway have yet to be investigated. Therefore, in this study, we assume that histamine enhances phagocyte transmigration via both H1 and H2 receptors.
The half of the phagocytes in the knockout experiments (Fig. 3) can be suspected as a delayed accumulation. However, the knockout mice have normal inflammatory responses as shown in the previous work [13]. Moreover, the knockout mice triggered reduced long-term foreign body responses, fibrotic tissue formation, was shown in a recent publication [14].
Modeling for phagocyte transmigration
In this section, we build computational models of phagocyte transmigration by utilizing reported biological literature and investigating the phenomena of the observations.
Residual histamine
Residual histamine is granules in mast cells. In a biological sense, the phenomenon that residual histamine decreases up to the first two hours can be described as the residual histamine's degranulation from mast cells for histamine releasing (Fig. 2 a). In addition, according to the experimental observations and literature [15, 16], another legitimate assumption that the number of new mast cells is dramatically increased by the immune system shaped as a damped harmonic oscillation after two hours may be persuasive. Modeling biological systems with damped oscillation can be widely adapted in computational biology [17]. Therefore, the source of mast cells is modeled by:
$$ \ddot{U}_{xrmc}(t) + \beta \dot{U}_{xrmc}(t) + {\omega_{0}^{2}}(t){U}_{xrmc}(t) = 0, $$
((1))
where U xrmc is the function of the source that releases new mast cells (mast cell source), β is a non-negative constant for resistance of friction and mass, and ω 0(t) indicates the oscillator frequency. The explicit forms for (1) are:
$$\begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} U_{xrmc}(t) &=& A(t) + A(t) \exp(-{\beta} (t-t_{1})) \\ && \cos(\sqrt{1 - {\beta}^{2}} \omega_{0}(t) (t - t_{1})), \\ A(t) &=& k_{e0} \exp(-k_{k1}(t - t_{1})), \\ \omega_{0}(t) &=& k_{w0} \exp(-k_{k2}(t-t_{1})), \end{array} $$
where k e0 is the initial value of the source, k k1 is the contraction rate of the source, k w0 is the initial value of oscillation frequency, k k2 is the contraction rate of oscillation frequency, and t 1 is the starting point that the source is released.
Most biological components can be represented by a half-life cycle. In quantity analysis, a system is comprised of propagation and self-degradation as conflicting contexts. In this sense, the concentration of residual histamine over time C rh (t) can be modeled by the following equation:
$$ \dot{C}_{rh}(t) = - k_{rhch} C_{rh}(t) + U_{xrmc}(t), $$
where k rhch is the rate that residual histamine degrades.
Histamine C h (t) increases as much as residual histamine decreases:
$$ \dot{C}_{h}(t) = k_{rhch} C_{rh}(t) I_{mc}(t) - k_{hs} C_{h}(t), $$
where k rhch is the histamine release rate which is the same as the residual histamine degrading rate as given in (3), and k hs is the rate that histamine degrades itself. The first term on the right hand side of (4) represents the increase of histamine released from mast cells. I mc (t) indicates the relative concentration level of mast cells for the knock-out experiment using mast cell deficient mice, where 0 ≤I mc (t)≤ 1. The second term on the right hand side of (4) represents the degradation of histamine itself.
H1/H2 Histamine receptor
Histamine receptors enhance the permeability of the endothelial cell barrier of the capillary for the phagocyte to transmigrate into the peritoneal space. Histamine exerts its action only if combined with histamine receptors. The action is determined by histamine receptors - H1 histamine receptor or H2 histamine receptor. Therefore, the concentration of meaningful histamine receptors C hr (t) can be determined by the degree of histamine:
$$ \dot{C}_{hr}(t) = \frac{k_{hchrt} C_{h}(t)}{k_{hchrb} + C_{h}(t)} - k_{hrs} C_{hr}(t), $$
where k hchrt and k hchrb are the upper/lower bounds of rate that histamine receptors combine with histamine, and k hrs is the rate that histamine receptors degrade themselves. In the same way as histamine modeling, the first term on the right hand side represents the propagation of histamine receptors combined with histamine, while the second term shows the degradation rate of histamine receptors. However, we adapted a hyperbolic form for the first term in (5), where it sets a maximally increasable bound with the change of histamine receptors since it would not increase unlimitedly.
P/E selectins
Selectin-mediated leukocyte binding and migration are parts of the leukocyte recruitment processes. P and E selectins control the phagocyte's rolling and adhesion on endothelial cells of the capillary while histamine receptors prompt to increase permeability of the capillary [11]. As same as histamine receptors, P and E selectins C s (t) are stimulated by histamine, where histamine participates in the upregulation of the selectin on endothelium [11]. The mathematical equation for P and E selectins are formulated as:
$$ \dot{C}_{s}(t) = \frac{k_{hcst} C_{h}(t)}{k_{hcsb} + C_{h}(t)} - k_{ss} C_{s}(t), $$
where k hcsb and k hcst are the upper/lower bounds of rate released by histamine in a hyperbolic form, and k ss is the selectins degradation rate.
PMN and M Φ are the most common phagocytes. The total recruited PMN and M Φ represent the concentrations of transmigrated phagocytes into the peritoneal space and surrounding implants. For the modeling of PMN and M Φ, we considered the capillary permeability for PMN and M Φ, C pmnp (t) and C mpp (t), that represent the transmigration rates of the phagocyte, and formulated them as:
$$\begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} \dot{C}_{pmnp}(t)& = &\frac{k_{pmnipt} C_{hr}(t) C_{s}(t) I_{pmns}(t) I_{pmnhr}(t)}{k_{pmnipb} + C_{hr}(t) C_{s}(t) I_{pmns}(t) I_{pmnhr}(t)}\\ && - k_{pmnps} C_{pmnp}(t),\\ \dot{C}_{mpp}(t)& = &\frac{k_{mpipt} C_{hr}(t) C_{s} I_{mps}(t) I_{mphr}(t)}{k_{mpipb} + C_{hr}(t) C_{s} I_{mps}(t) I_{mphr}(t)}\\ && - k_{mpps} C_{mpp}(t), \end{array} $$
where k pmnipb , k pmnipt , k mpipb and k mpipt are the upper/lower bounds of rate for histamine receptors and selectins that increase permeability respectively, and k pmnps and k mpps are the contraction rate of the capillary permeability. I pmnhr (t) and I mphr (t) are the constants indicating block/non-block histamine receptors, and I pmns (t) and I mps (t) are the regulations that control block/non-block selectins.
Then, the total-recruited PMN and M Φ, C pmn (t) and C mp (t), are modeled as:
$$\begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} \dot{C}_{pmn}(t) &=& C_{pmnp}(t) - k_{pmns} C_{pmn}(t), \\ \dot{C}_{mp}(t) &=& C_{mpp}(t) - k_{mps} C_{mp}(t), \end{array} $$
where k pmns and k mps are the rates that PMN and M Φ degrade.
Parameter estimation and simulation for phagocyte transmigration
Parameter estimation for phagocyte transmigration
The above section introduced a dynamic system which contains numerous parameters whose values reflect characteristics of the system. Thus, estimating parameters of the system is essential to discover the components' behavior in the system and hence provides a successful quantitative modeling.
In this study, a total of 22 parameters for Eqs.(2)–(8) were estimated by performing Discrete Selection Levenberg-Marquardt (DSLM) with 100 synthetic data sets of every 30 minutes generated by Iterative Weighted Mean algorithm (IWM) and interpolation (see Model parameter estimation for DSLM and supplementary document for IWM). The optimally estimated parameters are listed in Table 1. The in silicon estimations for the residual histamine, PMN, and M Φ are depicted in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, respectively. In Fig. 4, the bold solid line, which is the estimation of DSLM, shows that the result of residual histamine. The estimation appears to represent well the dynamic pattern that the residual histamine shows in the original observation (Fig. 4). The dotted line in Fig. 4 shows the estimated mast cell sources which release new mast cells. Subsequently, the computational models for the recruited phagocytes (PMN and M Φ) in the peritoneal space estimate closely to the biological observation in Fig. 5.
In silico estimation of residual histamine over time. The bold solid line, which is the in silico estimation, shows that the result is about the same as the synthetic data. The synthetic data is depicted with the mean (thin solid line) and the standard deviation (bars). The dotted line shows the estimated the mast cell sources which release new mast cells
In silico estimation of (a) PMN and (b) M Φ
Table 1 Estimated parameters by DSLM
Simulation for phagocyte transmigration
One of the important goals in biological system modeling is to predict the unknown and yet to be biologically observed or a validated phenomenon. Although our lab experiment data only lasted up to 16 hours, we can go beyond that by using the computational model. Figure 6 a shows the in silico estimation of the dynamic system for both residual histamine and mast cell source up to 36 hours. To predict how the system behaves under different perturbations, we observed the prediction of recruited PMN while blocking mast cells between 0 and 36 hours (Fig. 6 b), blocking H1/H2 histamine receptors after 20 hours (Fig. 6 c), and blocking mast cells for the first 20 hours and H1/H2 histamine receptors after 20 hours (Fig. 6 d). The simulation performances were illustrated as solid lines comparing to the prediction of the control as dotted lines in Fig. 6 b–d. From the in silico estimations in Fig. 6, we can predict the unobserved progression of the phagocyte: (b) PMN recruits about half amount of the control when mast cells are treated, (c) PMN decreases dramatically after blocking H1/H2 histamine receptors after 20 hours, and (d) PMN increases slowly with mast cell knockout for the first 20 hours and decreases with H1/H2 histamine receptors knockout after 20 hours. The tool to predict the progress of the phagocyte might play an important role in reducing the medical implant failure due to the excessive fibrotic responses.
Simulation of residual histamin, PMN, and M Φ. a In silico estimation of residual histamine (solid) and mast cell source (dotted) up to 36 hours. The simulation prediction of recruited PMN while (b) mast cells are treated, (c) H1/H2 histamine receptors are treated after 20 hours, and (d) mast cells are blocked before first 20 hours and H1/H2 histamine receptors are treated after 20 hours. The dotted lines of (b-d) describe the simulation result under normal condition
Model parameter estimation
The parameters of the proposed mathematical equations can be estimated by nonlinear programming algorithm. There are a number of numerical optimization techniques such as Newton's method, Broyden's method, line search method, and trust-region method in nonlinear programming. Those methodologies are all local optimization techniques, where the object function is globally convex. However, the object function of the proposed models is unfortunately non-convex, which needs a global optimization technique. Therefore, in this study, we developed a global optimization algorithm, called Discrete Selection Levenberg-Marquardt (DSLM) for the parameter estimation. DSLM is a global optimization version extended from Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm, which is a gradient-based local optimization algorithm.
Least squares and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm
The optimal parameters of the proposed dynamic systems are typically estimated by minimizing the sum of errors between observation data set and the mathematical model. A least squares method is the standard approximate solution for parameter estimation by minimizing the sum of squares of the errors between the observation data set and estimated variables of the model function. A data set consists of n time-series points (t i , \({\tilde {y}}_{i})\), i=1,…,n, where t i is observation time and \(\tilde {y}_{i}\) is an observation. Suppose that the upper (u) and lower (l) boundary of the parameters x are given. The constrained optimization problem can be defined by the notation of fitting a model to n observations using parameter vector of size p, given R(x) which is continuously differentiable,
$$\begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} \arg\min_{\textbf{x}} && F(\textbf{x}) = {R(\textbf{x})}^{\top}R(\textbf{x}) = \sum_{i=1}^{n}{r_{i}}^{2}, \\ && \text{s.t.}\indent l_{j} \leq x_{j} \leq u_{j}, 1 \leq j \leq p, \end{array} $$
where \(r_{i} = \tilde {y}_{i} - f(t_{i}, \textbf {x})\) and f(t i ,x) is the model function that has p parameters. Here, the goal is to find optimal x ∗ subject to minimization of the function F(x).
In order to solve the non-linear least squares problem, Isaac Newton proposed Newton's method to find the minimum or maximum of a function, F(x), using the first (Jacobian) and second (Hessian)-order partial derivatives of the function [18]. Newton's method can converge quickly if the initial guess is close to the optimum. However, it is often difficult or impossible to obtain the Hessian matrix of the object function. The steepest gradient method is a first-order optimization algorithm using gradient descent to find a local minimum or maximum [19]. It finds an optimum quickly even though the initial guess is far from the optimum and the system size is very large. However, as it goes close to optimum, it is often infeasible due to the constant step size. The Gauss-Newton algorithm remedies the shortcomings of both Newton method and the steepest gradient method. The Gauss-Newton method has an advantage that it does not need the second derivatives, and it has quadratic final convergence if initial guess is close to the optimum. Generally, if the function has small curve, it is expected to be super convergence. However, it may not produce a good performance if the curve of the first derivative of the function varies slowly, since it ignores the nonlinearity part of Hessian matrix.
To improve these limitations, the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm (LM) is proposed by Levenberg and Marquardt [20–22]. LM algorithm defines,
$$ ({J_{f}(x)}^{\top}J_{f}(x) + \mu I)\triangle x = {J_{f}(x)}^{\top}R(x) $$
((10))
where J f (x) is the first differential function of f(x), μ is a positive scalar called a Marquardt damping parameter, and I is an identity matrix. LM can be viewed as a blend of the Gauss-Newton method and the steepest descent method. LM shows similar performance as the Gauss-Newton method if μ is small, while it behaves like the steepest descent method when μ is large. If μ is zero, it will be exactly the Gauss-Newton method. Hence, LM is an adaptive algorithm to retain strength of the steepest gradient method, the Newton method, and the Gauss-Newton method. However, although LM is robust to find an optimal minimum, it has a limitation of local optimization. Therefore, it may fail to find the global minimum if it starts with an initial value belonging to other local curves, which is not suitable to solve the non-linear problems in many cases due to non-convexity.
Discrete Selection Levenberg-Marquardt (DSLM)
Our proposed Discrete Selection Levenberg-Marquardt (DSLM) is motivated by the following observation. Although the LM method converges quickly to an optimum solution, it tends to fall into the local optimum rather than a global solution. Figure 7 a illustrates that the LM algorithm can converge to different local minima with different initial values. Along with the direction of the initials, LM converges to the local optima on the curvature. Note that the objective function F(x) in (9) is non-convex, in which there are multiple local optima. Despite the lack, if it is possible to discretize the space to cover every possible local optima, LM may be extended to a global optimal searching method.
Convergence on DSLM. a LM algorithm quickly converges to local minima from the initials, not a global one. In this objective function, there are multiple local minima (when x=±3.8,±1.9, and 0). b Illustration of the process that DSLM finds the global optimum on iterations, where the red arrows show the update of each variable after checking local optima (black arrows)
A naive global optimization is a NP-hard problem due to the curse of searching dimensions. Hence, most of global optimizations such as genetic algorithm and simulated annealing have adapted heuristic approaches [23–25]. DSLM seeks to search the global optimum for each dimension of x iteratively, instead of the entire p dimensions of x which causes of the infeasibility. This concept reduces the searching space to linear while in the mean time preserving the high performance as a local optimization does. DSLM mainly includes two procedures, selection and discretization.
Like other non-linear least squares algorithms, DSLM starts with initial values x 0 for iterative computation. To avoid the local optima, DSLM attempts to vary the initial guesses iteratively within the dimension of each parameter by fixing other parameters. Denote S i as a searching space corresponding to parameter x i . Global optimizers search the comprehensive spaces with complexity of S 1×S 2×⋯×S p for one iteration. On the other hand, the complexity of searching space in DSLM becomes S 1+S 2+⋯+S p , because it iteratively searches each parameter space. Then, it compares the scores of the functions calculated with an updated x by conducting the LM method and uses the output as the new initial values. Figure 7 b gives an example illustrating the selection of parameters in a 2-dimension space. The arrows show the direction of function scores by varying values on the horizontal axis with a fixed value on the vertical axis. The score of the function is calculated from the result to which the LM algorithm converges. Once the optimal value is calculated for one specific dimension, the parameter is updated as the new parameter. Then, the algorithm seeks the next optimal parameter with fixed parameters previously chosen as the optimum. The selection process iterates until all parameters converge.
Discretization of each parameter space is the key part which will affect the performance and computational cost for DSLM algorithm. Given N number of discrete spaces of a parameter, the discrete spaces can be denoted as a vector, D=(D 1,…,D N). However, the function score is not necessarily to be calculated for all discrete spaces. The LM method updates the initial \({x_{k}^{0}}\) to the new parameter, \({x}_{k}^{new}\) subject to converging toward its local optimum. Then, the DSLM algorithm marks the spaces between D k and \(D^{k^{'}}\) where \({x_{k}^{0}}\) and \(x_{k}^{new}\) belong to, respectively. It further reduces the space to check. Unlike other competing algorithms using discretization, DSLM's discretization does not affect the accuracy of the solution but only for preventing rechecking the space.
Pseudo-code
The following pseudo-codes, Algorithms 1 and 2, briefly illustrate the DSLM algorithm. DSLM starts with randomly chosen initial values x 0={x 1,…,x p }. It iterates updating x until x converges or the number of iterations is bigger than a maximum constant. DSLM ensures F(x ′)≤F(x), where F(x) is the function score with x. Lines 5−12 of Algorithm 2 illustrate the optimum selection for each parameter and marking the discrete spaces. After the selection of all parameters, it conducts the LM algorithm to obtain its comprehensive local optimum. The LM method was implemented as the way George, Sam and Ting proposed [26].
Algorithm assessment
We assessed the performance of DSLM with classical multidimensional benchmark functions and the phagocyte transmigration system, while comparing to global optimizers such as the genetic algorithm (GA) and the stimulated annealing algorithm (SA). Being the most widely-used benchmark functions for global optimization test, the Rastrigin function and the Michalewics function of various dimensions (d) were computed (Table 2). The Rastrigin function has several local minima, but the minima are regularly distributed. The true minimum scores and the optimal parameters are both zero for any number of dimensions, and the search domain is defined as −5.12≤x i ≤5.12(1≤i≤d). The Michalewics function has d! local minima, where the parameter for the steepness of the valleys and ridges (m) is given as 10. The true solution of the Michalewics function is known as −1.8013 when d=2, −4.687658 when d=5, and −9.66015 when d=10. The global minimum of the 10-dimensional Michalewics function occurs when x={2.2,1.57,1.29,1.92,1.72,1.57,1.45,1.76,1.66,1.57}. The search domain is given as 0≤x i ≤π,1≤i≤d.
Table 2 Benchmark functions
We conducted the assessment with two, five, and 50-dimensional Rastrigin functions and two, five, and ten-dimensional Michalewics functions, by performing GA, SA, and DSLM ten times for each with the randomly generated initial guesses. For the experiments, the three algorithms were all implemented in MATLAB R2012a, where 'ga' and 'simulannealbnd' functions that Global Optimization Toolbox provides were used for GA and SA respectively. Although all global optimizers showed the good performances evenly (F(x)∗≈0) when d=2, the outstanding achievement of DSLM was appeared for both Rastrigin and Michalewics functions when the dimension increased (e.g., d=50) (Fig. 8). The optima of DSLM were 3.50±0.96 and −8.69±0.58 for 50-dimensional Rastrigin function and ten-dimensional Michalewics function, while them of GA and SA were 126.63±33.34 and 303.48±53.03 for Rastrigin and −7.88±0.70 and −4.86±0.68 for Michalewics. Note that the true optima of any dimensional Rastrigin and ten-dimensional Michalewics functions are 0 and −9.66015 respectively.
Comparison of the global optimizers. a Rastrigin and (b) Michalewics
Moreover, we empirically examined the number of the iterations that the optimizers need to converge. We considered the number of generation for GA and iteration numbers for SA and DSLM. As described in Table 3, DSLM had least iterations among them as well as the slowest increase when the dimension increases.
Table 3 Performance comparison (iteration numbers)
The convergent procedure of DSLM for both 50-dimensional Rastrigin function and 10-dimensional Michalewics function are illustrated in Fig. 9. The 50 parameters of the Rastrigin function converged to zero after five iteration as shown in Fig. 9 a. The scores that monotonically convergent on the iterations are observed in Fig. 9 b. The trajectories of both the parameter updates and the score convergence for the Michalewics function are shown in Fig. 9 c, d.
Iterations of the optimization. a illustrates the trajectories of the parameter updates on the iterations and (b) shows the score convergence of DSLM for the Rastrigin function. c and (d) are for the Michalewics function. The minimum scores of the Rastrigin function and the Michalewics function are known as zero for all of dimensional spaces, and −9.66015 for 10-dimensional space, respectively
We also tested the global optimizers with the phagocyte transmigration model in order to assess the performances on the biological system. With the residual histamine model equations, (2) and (3), the ground truth parameters and the simulation data with white noise (σ=0.1) were randomly generated for the test. Then, the minimized scores and iteration number are examined and compared by repeating 100 times (Fig. 10). In Fig. 10 a, baseline shows the residual sum of squares with the ground truths, which is the minimum errors that the simulated data intrinsically has. SA and DSLM show similar performance of less mean and standard deviation than GA, whereas DSLM needed much less iteration numbers than SA in Fig. 10 b.
The assessment of the performance on the phagocyte transmigration model. Baseline is the residual sum of squares. SA and DSLM show similar performance of less mean and standard deviation than GA, whereas DSLM needed much less iteration numbers than SA
In this paper we presented a computational modeling framework for the study of biological system in response to biomedical implants. As an example of application, phagocyte transmigration has been studied to tackle the problem of fibrotic tissue formation surrounding the biomaterial implants, which causes implantation failure.
Foreign body reactions are complicated processes. Many cells and cellular products participate in the processes. To model such complex reactions, we focused on the key components identified in many previous works. Furthermore, the proposed model system is aimed at modeling short-term acute inflammatory responses at which there are many similarities between wound healing responses and foreign body reactions, while most of the chronic diseases, including foreign body reactions and fibrosis, are the long term outcomes. Based on the in-depth understanding of the successive reactions, mathematical equations are developed.
To complete the quantitative modeling, reverse engineering is conducted to estimate the parameters of the mathematical modeling equations. We developed a global optimization technique, DSLM, which overcomes the limitations of existing local optimization algorithms such as the LM algorithm and shows better performance than other global heuristic approaches. The proposed DSLM globally estimates the optimal parameters of the phagocyte transmigration modeling system, which discloses the inner nature of the dynamic system. To verify the global optimization capability of the modeling, the system was tested with the Rastrigin function and the Michalewics function. Nevertheless, DSLM is rather optimized to this study not as a general optimizer yet, since it needs more concrete analysis theoretically and empirically as a future work. With mathematical equations and estimated parameters by DSLM, we are able to further simulate and predict different aspects of phagocyte transmigration process under different conditions of system inputs.
This research does not involve human subjects, human materials or human data. All animal data came from an early publication (Tang et al., PNAS, 95:8841-6, 1998). The animal experiments for that study were approved by the Albany Medical College's Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and in accordance with the National Institutes of Health guidelines for the use of laboratory animals.
The generated transmigration data named Transmigration.xls and MATLAB source codes DSLM.zip are publicly accessible at: http://faculty.tamuc.edu/mkang/DSLM. The measurements of transmigration data can be found in Additional file 1. The source code as well as the synthetic data are provided in Additional file 2.
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This research was supported by NIH under grant R01EB00727.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 UTA Blvd., Arlington, 76019, USA
Mingon Kang & Jean Gao
Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 UTA Blvd., Arlington, 76019, USA
Liping Tang
Mingon Kang
Jean Gao
Correspondence to Jean Gao.
JG designed the study. LT conducted the biological experiments. MK developed the algorithms and conducted computational experiments. MK, LT, and JG wrote the manuscript, and the final version of the manuscript is approved by all.
List of histamine, P selectin, PMN and M Φ measurement data named. (XLS 31 kb)
Details of ordinary differential equation solution and synthetic data generation. (PDF 149 kb)
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Kang, M., Tang, L. & Gao, J. Computational modeling of phagocyte transmigration for foreign body responses to subcutaneous biomaterial implants in mice. BMC Bioinformatics 17, 111 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-016-0947-3
Computational modeling
Foreign body responses
Phagocyte transmigration
Results and data


Beyond the money & position that would eventually come to a chef's career life, we all know how challenging and hectic a chef's life is, especially in the early stages of their career. To become a chef, one should be prepared physically as well as mentally to join the industry knowing the nature of stress their work demands.
Being a chef is a very tall order, and everyone knows it by now, but what usually goes unnoticed is how challenging it is to be married to one. Yes, we are talking about the wonderful life partners of chefs, who are their greatest support system to be the best at their games. Be it any profession, the support, and understanding that you have with your spouse matters a lot when it comes to maintaining a successful career life. And, it is double the effort when your better half is a Chef.
A chef is someone who has to be in the kitchen round the clock whipping up delicious meals for his/her guests. It doesn't matter whether it is a weekend or a holiday considering those are the times a chef is most wanted in the kitchen.
Being married to a chef means taking charge of the house completely, you have to get used to spending weekends and holidays alone with the rest of the family and friends, odd timings to see or communicate with your spouse, be ready to cook all the meals in spite of having a chef at home because they aren't going to come home and cook after spending the whole day in the kitchen, try not to impress your chef spouse with your cooking skills as it's difficult no matter how good your cooking skills are.
"My husband recently started working as a chef and till then I was used to seeing him after work and now that schedule has completely changed. Nowadays, we mostly communicate over the phone during his break time and most of the household responsibilities have also come onto my shoulders. Also, he never cooks at home unless he's in a mood which is once in a blue moon", says Shwetali Bhandare, Project Manager at ICCA when asked about her experience on being a chef's life partner.
"It all sounds a little hectic in the beginning, but if you are ready to understand the effort the job demands then things will slowly settle in. For me, I know that he's finally doing something he is passionate about, so I had already made up my mind when he took the decision of a career change. And trust me after all these compromises we both make, the time we get to spend with each other now is much more special and we together try to make it exceptional. I think this way you will never lose that spark in the marriage because you will not take "being together" for granted she adds.
Before you get married to a chef, it's good to know the actual truth behind all that glitz and glamour they show you on TV so that you understand the real nature of the job and be prepared to make a wonderful life together.


My mother, in a moment of quiet and bemused reflection, the summer before her death.
Today is my mother's birthday. She has been dead now for more than a quarter century, but many days I think about her and wish I knew what she'd think about something or another, usually something related to language.
She was an English teacher, in love with language, both from the perspective of a writer and from the perspective of a "technician," the latter evidenced by her fascination with the mechanics of grammar. She was a stickler about correct grammatical usage, an old school teacher who believed it necessary to properly diagram a sentence (at least mentally) to understand it. The sentence diagram gene didn't make it to me, her sixth child.
Even 30 years ago, the autonomy of teachers in their classrooms was under attack, a deeply upsetting situation for my mother, who for most of her teaching career had been in control of her classrooms with no undue interference, neither from school administration nor parents. So, when she could retire, she did. I think she had some bitterness about what she perceived as the disintegration of the quality of education in light of giving administrators, children, and their parents more choice in educational content and delivery. Though she was a believer in individual rights, those rights had limits. Children did not have the experience nor the wisdom to know what they needed to know. And somehow, parents and administrators had decided children's immediate desires should take priority over the opportunity to have an educational foundation that would serve them for the rest of their lives. She had no hope of winning the battle, so she left the war.
Hers was a retirement into tight finances, having reared and funded at least part of the education and mobile lifestyle and post-teen living expenses for some of her children, on top of the enormous expense of simply having to provide for six children for 18 years each. She and my father chose to spend their very meager incomes on getting by with their six kids. Witnessing the absence of vacations, the needed home repairs going undone, the lack of little luxuries, and the miniscule savings account they built over a lifetime contributed, in large part, to my decision not to have children. Having children and the lifetime commitment that entails did not correspond with the life I saw for myself. She never scolded me for my decision, early on, to forego having children.
The year after my father's death, she finally began to come out of her self-imposed geographic isolation in South Texas, joining friends for a cross-country trip or two. My brother, who lived in Alaska at the time, had convinced her, I think, to finally board a plane to go visit him, but she died before that came to pass.
Every year on her birthday, I gave my mother flowers. Since she died, I have acknowledged her passing on her birthday. I think each year of getting her flowers. This year, this realistic remembrance will serve as the flowers. I think she would approve.
a nice remembrance of your mother. i too think she would approve.
Robin, thank you so much for your comments. They really mean a great deal to me. The Yahrzeit candle is such a civilized and healing tradition; I just may adopt it.
What a beautiful tribute to your mother, John. She sounds like a wonderful woman. I've always been rather partial to English teachers! I loved diagramming sentences when I was young. Hah! For many years after my father died (20 years ago now), I would scatter flowers for him in the sea or in a creek that flowed to the sea. Sometimes, I would scatter petals, sometimes whole flowers, tossing them in one a time and telling him how missed and loved he still was after all these years. In the Jewish tradition, we burn a Yahrzeit candle on the anniversary of the death. It burns for 24 hours. We light it at sundown the day before, and let it burn until sundown on the anniversary. It is a way to mark the day, the grief and to contain it in 24 hours. I watched my father do that every year for his mother.
Your reason for not becoming a parent is much like mine. I made a very conscious choice when I was young. My mother tells me that even as a child I told her that I would never have children. My decision was based in part on the feeling that I could not promise a child a future where their lives would be safe and enriched. I have never for a moment regretted that decision.
Happy birthday to your very lovely mother.


Journey, now inherited by his grandson Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies.
raven hilt with gold accents and a gold inlaid blade.
The sword comes with a 3-dimensional polystone wall display sculpted to match the styling of Thorin's regal war shield.
Each piece is individually serial numbered and includes a certificate of authenticity.