text:
When I turn up to work, I sometimes describe myself as a surface scientist. It isn't entirely true, but a large part of my work focuses on surface physics and why things stick (or not) to surfaces. But surface physics is really messy, and all sorts of different physical effects play roles at different length and time scales. This makes it difficult to create a clear picture of where and when specific aspects of physics are important.
One particularly messy corner of this de facto teenage bedroom is the Casimir effect. The Casimir effect describes how two apparently neutral metal plates will have an electromagnetic attraction to each other if they are close together. Now, a group of physicists has used a very clever experiment to measure the Casimir effect's little brother, the Casimir-Polder interaction. Even in this early iteration, their technique is quite sensitive, and it may be the first step toward a new kind of surface imaging technique.
Understanding the Casimir effect
Just to confuse you, let's consider two explanations for the Casimir effect. Both will be a little bit wrong, but they both offer some useful insight. On the classical side of physics, think of the Casimir effect as due to charge oscillations in the metal. In a metal, there is a sea of electrons that slosh about. On average, the plate is neutral, but at any instant in time, the electrons are unevenly distributed, so the plate has a net positive charge in some locations and a net negative charge in other locations.
If we place a second metal plate close by, the electrons in that plate will respond to this slight charge imbalance by mirroring. Wherever one plate has a slight negative charge, the other plate has a small positive charge. Since opposite charges attract, the resulting force tries to pull the plates together. Although this is a useful picture, it is wrong. The more accurate picture is given by quantum mechanics.
As we've mentioned before, the vacuum is not a vacuum. Instead, it teems with virtual particles that pop in and out of existence continuously. But this process is not entirely random. Imagine that you are a photon about to pop into existence between two metal plates. To come into existence, this photon must meet a specific requirement: the electric field that generated it must be zero at each plate.
This is just like plucking a guitar string. The wave motion of the string cannot include motion at the ends of the string because the ends are held fixed. This limits the sound frequencies that the string can produce. Likewise, the metal plates provide lots of free electrons that keep the electric field zero in the plate. So a photon that bounces back and forth between these two plates has to have a wavelength that also keeps the electric field zero in the plate.
On the outside of the plates, there are no such restrictions. As a result, the number of particles generated outside the plates is larger than the number generated between the plates. When two plates are close together, the number of photons generated between the plates is much smaller, meaning there is a small net force on the outside, driving the two plates together.
The force due to the Casimir effect is very small, but thanks to the ever-reducing size of mechanical devices, it has become an important consideration in design work. Likewise, the physics and chemistry of a single atom approaching a metal surface has its own version of the Casimir effect, called the Casimir-Polder force. In this case, the classical description is much more useful.
As the atom approaches the surface, the outer electrons of the atom repel the electrons in the metal. This creates a small net positive charge in the plate's surface. That, in turn, distorts the electron orbitals of the atom, creating a net negative charge on the surface side of the atom (it can also happen in the reverse manner). This sets up an attractive force between the atom and the surface.
Measuring this force is challenging. The problem is that, once the atom is really close to the surface, there is a lot of different physics at play, and separating individual effects out is nearly impossible. Instead, you want to measure the Casimir-Polder force at a distance from the surface, before the other, shorter-range forces start to dominate.
Bouncing BECs
To do this, a team of researchers performed a very clever experiment. They produced a metallic grating structure on a glass surface (a grating just means that the metal surface is broken up into stripes). The researchers then dropped a Bose Einstein condensate (BEC) made of rubidium atoms onto the surface. The BEC is a very cold gas of atoms, so cold that the wave-like nature of the atoms dominates over their particle-like behavior (see sidebar).
By itself, using a BEC and a grating structure doesn't provide any advantage. To make a clean experiment, the researchers took advantage of the fact that light can be used to repel or attract a BEC, depending on its color and intensity. The strength of this force is well understood. In this case, the researchers chose a color of light that would repel the BEC, the idea being that the Casimir-Polder force is attractive and the light force repels. If one can measure the difference in force, then the Casimir-Polder force can be obtained after accounting for the force due to the light field.
This is where all the elements come together. The laser is shone through the underlying glass substrate onto the grating. The researchers shine the light in such a way that, in the absence of the grating, the light would be reflected off the glass surface. The electric field of the light, however, still hits the metal grating. In response, the charges in the metal start to oscillate, and, if the spacing between the strips of metal are chosen right, these oscillations resonate with each other, creating a large field in the gaps between the metal strips.
This light field, close to the surface, is confined to the region between the metal strips. In these areas, the BEC atoms are slowed and then repelled, while over the metal they are accelerated to the surface by the Casimir-Polder force. After they bounce off the surface—the Casimir-Polder force is not strong enough to prevent reflection—the difference in distance travelled and the velocity profile of the BEC atoms create an interference pattern (see sidebar). By measuring this interference pattern for different laser light intensities, the acceleration due to the Casimir force can be calculated.
Commonly, researchers who need to think about the Casimir-Polder force use an approximation to estimate its value. According to these findings, though, the approximation underestimates the Casimir-Polder potential, while an exact calculation agrees with the experimental data. Notably, the uncertainties in the calculations are larger than the uncertainties in the experiment, which is quite unusual.
What's exciting, though, is that this may be the start of a new surface mapping technique. Of course, we have plenty of those already, like all the various forms of electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, helium ion microscopy, and, well the list could continue for a long, long time. But this technique might hit a sweet spot of wide-area mapping with relatively good spatial resolution and be sensitive to things like charge mobility, polarizability, and thin layers on top of the surface. I would certainly be interested in playing with that.
Physical Review X, 2014, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011029 (About DOIs)


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Home / Sports Day under way / Sports Day Long Jump
Feedback welcome!
🎟 You can now book tickets for this year's Spring Concert, which will take place at Penryn College on Wednesday 19 April from 6.30pm! 🎶
Please click the following link to access the booking page 👉 http://bit.ly/3G0HTVq. 😊
🎷🎤 After last night's fantastic Achievements Evening, our attention turns to our Spring Concert on Wednesday 19 April!
Don't forget that tickets will be available from 5.00pm today via our socials and website. Places are limited, so please make sure you book early! 🎟 (1/2)
⚽🎨 Our Easter EdVenture Activities, for all children and young people aged 5+, are now available to book!
There's something for everyone - including our ever-popular SuperCamps - as well as football, dance, watersports, BMX activities and more! 🌊 (1/3)
🎤 It was fantastic to hear Year 7's renditions of 𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑌𝑜𝑢, 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑒, and 𝐸𝑦𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟 during last week's Year 7 Big Sing!
Led by our Creative Arts team, pupils created a lovely atmosphere for the event. 🎶
Well done, Year 7! 😊
Yesterday, students and staff paid their respects to a much-loved and valued member of the Penryn community, Anthony Hancock. (1/3)
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text:
The "Unveiling"
of Senator Bartlett
Author: Eric Gislason
Senator Bartlett's statue was unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, March 27, 1971. Felix de Weldon, the Viennese-born artist who sculpted the Iwo Jima Memorial, had worked with Bartlett's widow, Vide, to create the likeness. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens opened the proceedings and the Rev. Edward Elson, Chaplain for the U. S. Senate, provided the invocation. Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Alaska Representative Nick Begich, Washington Senator Warren G. Magnuson, and Alaska Lieutenant Governor "Red" Boucher also spoke in Bartlett's honor. Rev. Elson closed the ceremony with a benediction.
Lieutenant Governor Boucher, presenting the statue to the Nation, announced that "as representatives of the people, the Alaska Legislature authorized that Alaska's first hero in Statuary Hall be Bob Bartlett. His place in history was now inscribed in the halls of the nation's Capitol, the building in which he worked for fourteen long years to achieve statehood for Alaska. "The millions who will visit this statue this year and in the years to come," Boucher concluded, will see in the statue of Bob Bartlett "the face of a man who gave his service and life to Alaska."
Rev. Elson praised Bartlett's "high vision, lofty idealism, prodigious energy and sacrificial devotion;" he lauded Senator Bartlett's legislative and executive talents and "enduring statesmanship," but also spoke of his "selfless labor for others," the "warmth of his friendship," and his gentle and human graces which endeared him to the multitudes of his fellow citizens." "Statehood," Senator Gravel said of Bartlett, "is his monument." He referred to the statue as "a small tribute, but it is one [Alaskans] offer with love and respect." Congressman Begich then introduced Bartlett's wife, Vide, and Hugh Wade, Alaska's Secretary of State, who unveiled the statue. Senator Magnuson of Washington, who had worked with Bartlett since Bartlett's arrival as a Territorial Delegate to the U. S. Senate in 1945, recounted Bartlett's life and work.
Bob Bartlett was born in Seattle, Washington in 1904. His parents, Klondike pioneers, brought him to the Alaskan mining town of Fairbanks the next year, and when he was only two years old Congress passed the bill which gave Alaska an elected delegate to Congress. The second Organic Act of 1912 revised Alaska's relation to the United States but still made no provision for statehood, an elected governor, or tax reform. Bartlett was, however, growing up along with the Territory.
After graduating from Fairbanks High School in 1922, Bartlett attended the University of Washington and then the University of Alaska before taking up a position as staff reporter for the Fairbanks News-Miner. He earned a reputation as an astute commentator on the Alaskan political scene, and as Associate Editor supported Anthony J. Dimond's successful 1932 candidacy for Territorial Delegate to Congress. Bartlett came to Washington, D. C. as part of Delegate Dimond's staff just as the New Deal was getting underway. Bartlett's considerable knowledge of Territorial problems earned him an eventual appointment as Secretary of Alaska in 1939. During his tenure as Secretary, Bartlett served as Acting Governor on numerous occasions, including the opening of the Alaska-Canada Highway and as a member of the Alaska War Council. When Delegate Dimond resigned in 1944, Bartlett was elected as his successor.
In Congress, Bartlett showed extraordinary prowess for writing and successfully promoting bills which brought Federal money into Alaska. Bartlett served on the Committee on Public Lands, the Agriculture committee, and the Armed Services Committee, writing more successful bills than any other Member (thirteen of his measures became law). In 1947, he introduced a statehood bill and urged hearings to be held in Alaska. The importance of statehood to the natural resources of Alaska and her citizens was discussed throughout the state: meetings were held in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Seward, Kodiak, Nome, Barrow, Cordova, Juneau, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Ketchikan. Many forces testified against statehood, among them Alaskan businessmen--who feared an influx of economic competition under statehood--and lobbyists for the canned salmon industry--who hoped to thwart the implementation of Federal conservation laws for their fish traps in Alaskan waters. Congressional opposition usually fretted about Alaska's non-contiguity with the continental states, dwelt on the difficulty of defending Alaska, and expressed insecurity about the racial diversity of the region's population.
Though hotly debated, the bill was never voted on. But in 1949 Bartlett ushered in the Alaskan Public Works Act, which made available some $70 million in Federal matching funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation of community facilities. In 1950, a bill for Alaska Statehood passed the House by a 40-vote margin but was stifled in committee hearings by the Senate. Unfazed, Bartlett continued to speak in favor of statehood, invoking the support of the people--both in Alaska and the United States--and calling on them to get involved in the battle for statehood. Alaskans responded with the 1955 Constitutional Convention and elected a "Tennessee Plan" delegation to Congress: Senators-elect Ernest Gruening and William Egan and Representative-elect Ralph Rivers were sent to Washington to solicit statehood in 1956. These populist efforts showed lawmakers in the Capitol that Bartlett's proposals had widespread support.
In April 1958, both houses of Congress passed a resolution of statehood for Alaska, and on January 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the bill into law. Alaska was now the 49th state, and, in Senator Warren Magnuson's phrase, Bartlett might rightly be called its "Founding Father." Alaskans demonstrated their gratitude by electing Bartlett as its first Senator, a position he maintained from 1958 until his death in 1969. The following obituaries from Alaskan newspapers best sum up Bartlett's relation to his constituents:
The people of this state who loved him are known for their individualism, divisiveness, sectionalism, arrogance, and clannishness. Yet [Bartlett] held them united behind him for 24 years--a longevity in public office that is unequaled in Alaska. On ten different occasions the stubborn, unmanageable, belligerent, and politically erratic populace of Alaska handed him the crown with election returns as much as 81 percent in his favor. No one in all the states' history has ever enjoyed such frequent and solid support from Alaskans. 1
A second obituary referred to Bartlett as a paradoxical man:
He was a humble man, but one who was terribly proud--of his state, his friends, of the loyalty he felt to those who had earned his respect. He was nonpolitical, but a master politician. He was sensitive and shy, but practical and bold. He was quite, yet with gifted wit. He was no great orator, but a charming public speaker who could enthrall an audience.2
In closing, Senator Ted Stevens spoke of Bartlett's self-effacing nature, his friendship with the elevator operators and maintenance men, and his unforced geniality. Bartlett was not just a social success, however, as the Library of Congress estimates that he had more bills passed into law than any other Member in the history of Congress. The success of statehood was just a beginning for Bartlett's efforts. New battles to be fought included the infant mortality rate, the irradication of tuberculosis and ear disease, the poverty of Alaska's native population, the high rate of unemployment and the vulnerability of Alaska defenses. Senator Bartlett labored to make life better for Alaskans until his death in December 11, 1968. When he was buried in Fairbanks, his favorite poem was read:
"Under the wide and starry sky, dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I
live and gladly die, and I layed me down with a will.
"This be the verse you gave: Here I lie where I long to be; home is the sailor, home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill."
Return to Home Page | A Brief History of Alaska Statehood, 1867-1959


text:
Happy Thanksgiving!! I am grateful for each and everyone one of you. I hope that this day is filled with gratitude and love. I hope that you love every morsel of food that goes into your mouth. I hope you eat with pleasure, joy, and contentment. May you be nourished not only by your food but also by the people around you and the environment.
I hope that you remember that your self worth is not dependent on the size of your thighs. You are beautiful, exactly the way that you are no matter much or how little you eat today. If any negative voices should arise today come back to the moment, come back to your breath, come back to love, and with all your might replace those negative thoughts with ones of loving kindness. You are gorgeous and beautiful and handsome. No matter what you eat or how your body changes, it doesn't change who you are and your strong, resilient, wonderful soul.
I hope that you have an amazing Thanksgiving Day! Love your food up and it will love you right back. Eat slowly, taste the flavors, take deep belly breaths, chew, chew, chew your food. Close your eyes and take in the moment. Have a sensual eating experience that brings you into your body and facilitates an explosive amount of joy.
Happy Thanksgiving!


text:
Launched in October 2016, "Natural Moony" is Japan's first baby nappy brand containing organic cotton in the surface sheets of its nappies.
By adding organic cotton, Natural Moony nappies are designed and made softer than Regular Moony nappies. Moony Natural nappies surface sheets are also additive free after Unicharm switched nappy hydrophilic agent to plant based one.
"Yuru--unchi" is a newly developed technology of using an uneven structure to absorb soft stool, Natural Moony has reduced the amount of soft stool remaining on babies' buttocks -- a phenomenon unique to babies less than 4 months old -- by 36%. This has eliminated one of the elements that has caused nappy rash to babies' skin.
* Superb Absorbency
Moony's unique dual channel absorbent core instantly draws in and locks away pee, leaving the nappy surface drier for longer usage!
* Fits 360 degree snugly in all positions!
The airy soft gathers fit snugly and stretch gently around your baby's waist. Made with breathable soft material, it ensures dryness around the waist area, where your baby tends to perspire easily. Let your active baby play in utmost comfort!
* Side Gathers to Prevent Leakage
The raised gathers fit snugly around the thighs to prevent leakage.
* Colour-changing Wetness Indicators
When the strips change colour to dark green, it is time to change the nappy. *(Please note that the colour may change from shades of yellow to green on the strips of unused diapers under hot and humid conditions. However, this does not affect the quality of the diaper).
Use collapsible tabs for more detailed information that will help customers make a purchasing decision.
Ex: Shipping and return policies, size guides, and other common questions.


text:
There's no shortage of compact stick-on, clip-on, magnetic LED lights out there. And if you want your product to stand out, you better focus on features or design. So Osram has concentrated on the latter with its lovely Cuby light and its flexible clip.
Skipping magnets and adhesives all together, the Cuby's clip can easily attach to a bike's handlebars, a hanging rack in a closet, or even your finger as an ultra-modern flashlight, making it easy to direct its 20 lumen glow wherever you need it. And you'll be able to get one in black starting in May for around $25, with other colors to follow sometime in the summer. [Osram via Fareastgizmos]


text:
While this website provides general information, it does not constitute legal advice. The best way to get guidance on your specific legal issue is to contact a lawyer. To schedule a meeting with an attorney, please call 1-303-293-9393 or complete the intake form below.
Bold labels and indicate required information.
Our Location
4100 E. Mississippi Ave
16th Floor
Denver, CO 80246


text:
A ZFS volume is a dataset that represents a block device. ZFS volumes are identified as devices in the /dev/zvol/{dsk,rdsk}/pool directory.
In the following example, a 5-GB ZFS volume, tank/vol, is created:
# zfs create -V 5gb tank/vol
When you create a volume, a reservation is automatically set to the initial size of the volume so that unexpected behavior doesn't occur. For example, if the size of the volume shrinks, data corruption might occur. You must be careful when changing the size of the volume.
In addition, if you create a snapshot of a volume that changes in size, you might introduce inconsistencies if you attempt to roll back the snapshot or create a clone from the snapshot.
For information about file system properties that can be applied to volumes, see Table 6–1.
If you are using a Solaris system with zones installed, you cannot create or clone a ZFS volume in a non-global zone. Any attempt to do so will fail. For information about using ZFS volumes in a global zone, see Adding ZFS Volumes to a Non-Global Zone.
During installation of a ZFS root file system or a migration from a UFS root file system, a swap device is created on a ZFS volume in the ZFS root pool. For example:
# swap -l swapfile dev swaplo blocks free /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/swap 253,3 16 8257520 8257520
During installation of a ZFS root file system or a migration from a UFS root file system, a dump device is created on a ZFS volume in the ZFS root pool. The dump device requires no administration after it is set up. For example:
# dumpadm Dump content: kernel pages Dump device: /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/dump (dedicated) Savecore directory: /var/crash/t2000 Savecore enabled: yes
If you need to change your swap area or dump device after the system is installed or upgraded, use the swap and dumpadm commands as in previous Solaris releases. If you need to create an additional swap volume, create a ZFS volume of a specific size and then enable swap on that device. For example:
# zfs create -V 2G rpool/swap2 # swap -a /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/swap2 # swap -l swapfile dev swaplo blocks free /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/swap 256,1 16 2097136 2097136 /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/swap2 256,5 16 4194288 4194288
Do not swap to a file on a ZFS file system. A ZFS swap file configuration is not supported.
For information about adjusting the size of the swap and dump volumes, see Adjusting the Sizes of Your ZFS Swap Device and Dump Device.
You can easily create a ZFS volume as an iSCSI target by setting the shareiscsi property on the volume. For example:
# zfs create -V 2g tank/volumes/v2 # zfs set shareiscsi=on tank/volumes/v2 # iscsitadm list target Target: tank/volumes/v2 iSCSI Name: iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:984fe301-c412-ccc1-cc80-cf9a72aa062a Connections: 0
After the iSCSI target is created, set up the iSCSI initiator. For more information about Solaris iSCSI targets and initiators, see Chapter 14, Configuring Oracle Solaris iSCSI Targets and Initiators (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems.
Solaris iSCSI targets can also be created and managed with the iscsitadm command. If you set the shareiscsi property on a ZFS volume, do not use the iscsitadm command to also create the same target device. Otherwise, you create duplicate target information for the same device.
A ZFS volume as an iSCSI target is managed just like any other ZFS dataset. However, the rename, export, and import operations work a little differently for iSCSI targets.
When you rename a ZFS volume, the iSCSI target name remains the same. For example:
# zfs rename tank/volumes/v2 tank/volumes/v1 # iscsitadm list target Target: tank/volumes/v1 iSCSI Name: iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:984fe301-c412-ccc1-cc80-cf9a72aa062a Connections: 0
Exporting a pool that contains a shared ZFS volume causes the target to be removed. Importing a pool that contains a shared ZFS volume causes the target to be shared. For example:
# zpool export tank # iscsitadm list target # zpool import tank # iscsitadm list target Target: tank/volumes/v1 iSCSI Name: iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:984fe301-c412-ccc1-cc80-cf9a72aa062a Connections: 0
All iSCSI target configuration information is stored within the dataset. Like an NFS shared file system, an iSCSI target that is imported on a different system is shared appropriately.


text:
Dutailier 926 Series Round Back Maple Glider in Chestnut With Cushion 0239
The buyer pays the shipping cost.
Cost calculated according to the buyer's location.
This 926 series maple wood glider features rounded seatback and a base with wooden dowels. Padded arms and smooth gliding motion ensures you and your baby a comfortable experience every time. Made of high-quality wood, solidly assembled and finished with non-toxic products, the wood glider is the perfect chair to simply relax and enjoy life's little pleasures.
- Ultra-durable solid wood construction
- High-density low compression foam for optimal comfort
- Extra long and extra smooth glide
- Includes: (1) gliding base, (1) top frame and (1) cushion set


text:
April 2 girls' lacrosse roundup: Peters scores 7 goals, including a milestone
Senior Jenn Peters scored her 300th career goal, leading Minisink Valley to a 14-4 win over Delaware Valley (Pa.) in a non-league win Tuesday in Westfall Township, Pa.
Peters, a senior, put up seven goals and now has 302 for her career – a Section 9 record. She scored her 300th in the first half. Peters will play lacrosse and soccer at Long Island University next year on full scholarship.
"It was very exciting. All of my teammates were hugging me after I scored the goal," Peters said. "I didn't want any pressure, so I wanted to get it over with."
Emily Houghtaling and Genna Gross each added two goals for Minisink Valley (1-0).
Minisink Valley goals: Jenn Peters 7; Emily Houghtaling 2; Genna Gross 2; Olivia Coppeletti; Bria Litow; Amanda Paino.
Minisink Valley assists: Peters 2, Litow 2, Paino 2; Joanie Cavender.
Delaware Valley goals: Liz Caldwell; Grace Cadigan; Roshni Kamta; Kyra Boccio.
Delaware Valley assists: Boccio.
Goalie saves: MV – Vanessa Santos 6; DV – Carla Centanni 6.
Records: Delaware Valley 2-1; Minisink Valley 1-0.


text:
|Ed Zhang and Harry G. Zhang
|Ed.Zhang.jr at gmail.com
This task view gathers information on specific R packages for design, monitoring and analysis of data from clinical trials. It focuses on including packages for clinical trial design and monitoring in general plus data analysis packages for a specific type of design. Also, it gives a brief introduction to important packages for analyzing clinical trial data. Please refer to task views ExperimentalDesign, Survival, Pharmacokinetics for more details on these topics. Please feel free to e-mail me regarding new packages or major package updates.
Design and Monitoring
Design and Analysis
Analysis for Specific Designs
Analysis in General


text:
Commercial TPO Roofing Systems
TPO roofing systems unite both polypropylene (plastic) with ethylene-propylene (rubber) using the latest manufacturing polymer technology. The result is an ideal roofing system, it is a reliable, affordable, energy efficient option that is environmentally friendly and easy to install. These systems can be installed in either a fully adhered fashion or mechanically fastened. TPO is the perfect solution for both a new construction project or even re-roofs or overlays.
Black roofs can reach excessive temperatures in the heat, sometimes ranging as high as 170F, however, a highly reflective white surface of EverGuard TPO can be significantly lower. This has to do with the emitting qualities of the white membrane, which allows for much less solar radiation transmitted through the roof to your property. Energy prices are on the rise, using a black roofing system will only increase your cost. Why not go with a white EverGuard thermoplastic roof instead?
Installing a white roof can save you a significant amount of money. The U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated that the total savings could offset the cost of the installation of a new white roof up to 50% depending on where you live. That is a staggering amount; give us a call today to set up a consultation!


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text:
Canadian artist Chris Reid has an art exhibition out at the Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George, British Columbia, entitled, "The Good, The Bad, and The Bunny." Hanging from the ceiling are about 70 colorful sock bunnies. According to the artist, "It's a loose narrative, so the idea is that you can make up your mind about what the bunnies are and what they're doing. There's this sense of motion, perhaps running, perhaps one against the other."
For more info: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=121228&Itemid=557


text:
And so we come to the next Amazing Discovery that will only make the most gullible and credulous question everything. This one – the "Hidden Character Stone" – is so bizarre that I frankly don't understand how anyone could believe the claims made for it. So, here we go with a continuation of Spirit Science's silly list.
3: The Hidden Character Stone
"This stone is located in a scenic area in Zhangbu village, China. This incredible carving is thought to be a staggering 270 million years old?! There are different versions of the writing that essentially translates to "Communist Party of China"."
Zhangbu (掌布乡) is a village in a tourist area in Pingtang County (平塘县), Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔南布依族苗族自治州) in Guizhou Province (貴州), south-west China. It was the subject of a promotional Exposition in June 2002, aimed at encouraging amateur photographers to visit the area. Encouraging people in a rapidly urbanising country like China to get out into rural areas and appreciate the natural beauty of the countryside, its food and its traditions is obviously a good thing. However, in the aftermath of the Exposition, a carving was found on a rockface that is the source of this story.
The story was first reported in The People's Daily under the byline of Liang Heng (born 1946), Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper. It subsequently appeared online at Xinhuanet on 2 December 2003, which credits a former Party Secretary for Zhangbu, Wang Guo-Fu (王国富), with the discovery, made while cleaning straw from a crack in a fallen boulder. The headline, 2.7亿年"中国共产党"字样地质奇观惊现贵州 ("Geological wonders 270 million years old, with words 'the Chinese Communist Party', discovered in Guizhou") makes the claim repeated by sources in the west about the date of the inscription and is presumably its source. The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency for the People's Republic of China. As such, its public pronouncements are geared towards upholding the public views of the Chinese Communist Party, for which it is often seen as a mouthpiece. It also produces newspapers for circulation only among Party officials. These news sources contain high quality investigative journalism and include stories translated from foreign sources, demonstrating that the Xinhua agency is capable of excellent reportage. We should note, though, that the story about the "Hidden Character Stone" was circulated for public consumption. This is not to say that it is unreliable, of course: it simply means that the story was seen to be in line with officialdom's world view.
Allegedly, what Wang Guo-Fu discovered was a group of six letters that had not previously been seen on a rockface that appears to be one side of a cleft in the rock. It is unclear why the text had not been seen before. The accounts of how it was first recognised are slightly contradictory. An (unnamed) geologist who visited the site in August 2003 is supposed to have determined that the letters formed before the rock split. He (or she!) is said to have been invited by authorities in Pingtang County and to have written a detailed report about their investigation. The geologist is claimed to have established that the spilt boulder (which many sources wrongly call a "megalith") had fallen from a cliff above the Zhangbu river valley; the source of the rock is supposedly visible as an indentation in the hillside. The fall split the rock in two, revealing the words. The characters are said to be composed of fossilised sponges, crinoid stems, brachiopods and other fossils. No artificial carving could be detected and the fossils are said not to have been stuck artificially to the rock, which is relatively fossil rich.
Not all accounts mention this study in August 2003. Instead, most focus on a team of geologists, including Li Ting-Dong (李廷栋), Liu Bao-Jun (刘宝君), Li Feng-Lin (李鳳麟) and Gu Jing-Yi (賈精一), that is said to have examined the inscription between 5 and 8 December 2003. They found the rock to be a Qixia Formation of middle Permian date (298,900,000 ± 150,000 to 252,170,00 ± 60,000 years ago); this is presumably the reason that the letters are claimed to be 270,000,000 years old. This is illogical, of course. One cannot use the age of a rock to date an inscription on its surface!
There are numerous problems with the accounts of the discovery. Firstly, the original geologist is unnamed in any source. Although science does not work from authority, we nevertheless need to know whether or not this individual was a professional geologist with palaeontological experience. It would be good to know if they had expertise in examining inscriptions. What are their qualifications? Do they have a professional reputation for reliability? In other words, can we be sure they are not a crank? Not providing a name raises the possibility that there never was an investigation by a geologist in August 2003, although I am inclined to accept that there was.
Secondly, where is the report? Without the technical details contained in it, we cannot know if the anonymous geologist's pronouncement is backed up by data. What are the grounds for asserting that the letters had formed by the distribution of fossilised creatures inside the rock? What tests were conducted to show that the fossils were not added the one side of the crack? Is there evidence from the opposite rock face that the fossils formerly occupied hollows on that side? Does the unlettered part of the rock face show any evidence for tooling to remove fossils?
Thirdly, accounts vary about the date at which the boulder fell from the cliff. Some accounts suggest that it happened recently (in 2001), others that it was 500 years ago (both dates are given in the same article!), yet others do not give a date. This is not to suggest that the rock has not fallen: it merely suggests confusion about when it happened.
Finally, if the geologist who visited the site in August 2003 had undertaken a study as comprehensive as claimed, why was it necessary to send in a team of fifteen geologists just five months later? If this initial report were reliable, would it really take a whole team to carry out a second investigation? I have the impression that the larger team was sent in precisely because the initial report – which does not appear to be publicly available – could not be verified or made outlandish claims.
There is a less well circulated photograph showing the text in its broader context. This makes it clear that elements of the description given through Chinese media are inaccurate. The cleft in the rock is clearly weathered: there are lichens growing on it that are unlikely to have formed since 2001 (if we accept that as the date at which the boulder fell and cracked) or the "discovery" of the text in 2003. Being able to see both sides of the rock enables us to deduce that the "letters" are in a fossiliferous stratum within the rock. The fossils on the opposite face from the inscription do not form letter-like patterns and are distributed at random. More damningly, the rock face around the six characters is smoother than elsewhere within the cleft. In other words, it looks to have been cut back, leaving the characters standing proud from the rock.
What about the content of the text? It consists of six characters, each said to be about a foot (0.3 m square): 中國共產党亡. According to Google Translate, they read simply "Chinese Communist death". The translation given on most websites is "Communist Party of China perish". However, the news reports from Xinhua and other mainland Chinese sources give only the first five characters (中國共產党) and translate them as "Communist Party of China", which is clearly a more congenial message for the Party to convey. What I find especially hard to understand is that these same news outlets show photographs depicting all six characters. The present day Communist Party of China seems a lot less effective at photographic manipulation than it did under Mao Ze-Dong. Perhaps the greater availability of cameras (especially on mobile 'phones) makes it less easy to remove uncomfortable scenes.
Several features point to this not being of any antiquity: mention of the Communist Party of China (founded 1921) is obviously no earlier than the twentieth century. Equally, the left-to-right direction of the text is a feature that we would not expect before the twentieth century. One commentator has suggested that the text was created in the 1930s by early revolutionaries who painted the slogan on a rock face, the dye in the paint reducing erosion that reduced the surrounding limestone surface. One objection to this view is that at least one (and possibly two) of the characters are in Simplified Chinese Characters (简化字), first promoted in the 1950s during a drive to increase literacy rates. However, at least one of the symbols in the text, 党 ("Party"), is in the Simplified system, the traditional symbol being 黨. However, there is evidence for the Simplified version being in use in the 1930s. The suggestion, which was made anonymously on an internet forum, seems plausible enough.
Looked at dispassionately, this little bit of text is quite clearly a silly hoax, presumably created either by someone who dislikes the current régime in China or by an early counter-revolutionary. Its discoverer, Wang Guo-Fu, is most unlikely to be the hoaxer. As a former Village Secretary, to have created it and then brought it to the attention of the state media would have spelled trouble for him. No, he seems genuinely to have discovered something that presumably amazed him. Perhaps he did not see the last character, which, it has to be said, is less convincingly the shape of the relevant glyph than the others. It is also an object lesson in the state manipulation of physical remains: the site is widely promoted as a tourist venue, supposedly because the text demonstrates that the Communist Party of China exists through divine providence or ineluctable historical dialectics, preordained 270 million years ago. Yet the text itself seems to have originated as an expression of anti-Communist sentiment. Only by ignoring the last symbol is it possible to view it as supportive of the Chinese government!


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Twelve Steps to Financial Privacy – By Matt Mullhofer
- Never release your social security number. Only release your social security number when it is absolutely necessary says Matt Mullhofer.
- Use a corporation or another entity for major transactions.
- Avoid writing checks because they leave an extensive paper trail.
- According to Matt Mullhofer when investing offshore, ensure that you are in compliance with all laws and reporting requirements.
- Only disclose what is necessary to financial institutions.
- Maximize the bearer transactions that are not reported under your name.
- Use financial professionals that will keep your financial information confidential. Attorneys are bound to keep all of your information confidential.
- Always have your accountant work through your lawyer to insure confidentiality told Matt Mullhofer.
- Use a post office box or drop box for mail correspondence.
- Avoid using safety deposit boxes, use private vaults instead.
- Prepare a living trust to bequeath your property. This will avoid the high cost associated with probate as well as any loss of privacy.
- Arrange your investments so that you can provide the least possible amount of financial information.
About Matt Mullhofer
Matt Mullhofer has been practicing law since 1999, and has owned and operated the Law Office of Matt Mullhofer, PC since 2000. The goal of Matt Mullhofer is to provide professional legal services to the clients of ProtectMyAssets.


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Everybody in the sale of real-estate carries a vested interest in the outcome of your appraisal. The result impacts the vendor, the consumer, the financial institution, as well as the agent.
A too very low valuation from the house by the appraiser could imply a owner must decrease the asking price. To get a lending police officer, it may suggest a reduced percentage or not one in any way. A too high valuation implies the buyer may be paying greater than the property may be worth. To the realtor, his/her payment could go better or decrease, which is founded on the acquisition/promote value of real estate.
An appraiser, who ought to be certified from the status, executes the property evaluation. It is best to hire someone community with many years of full-time expertise to acquire an even more exact appraisal. The appraiser and assessment are governed through the minimal criteria, published periodically within the Consistent Standard of Professional Appraisal Exercise by the Assessment Basis. The Cornerstone is chartered by Congress.
The recent real estate property bubble, regrettably, delivered trouble for appraisers and a lot of involved in real estate property deals. According to Realty Times within their Apr 2006 concern, appraisers happen to be routinely asked by creditors to inflate beliefs to take care of the volatile real estate market. A single appraiser in San Diego County quit and turned within his license to the status, following simply being fired three consecutive instances for declining to inflate his valuations. Now, appraisers across the usa are within microscope from national fiscal regulators and Congress.
The appraiser could be hired with the vendor to determine an accurate selling price or through the buyer so that the accuracy of your acquire cost and house loan but typically, the loan originator does the hiring or uses their particular in-property appraiser. Though buyers may think the lender has their best curiosity, house loan creditors have their own best interest at the center, particularly some not-so-scrupulous lending officials who might be targeting a greater commission.
Sellers might retain the services of their particular appraiser to ensure I had been receiving the most for my residence. As a shopper, I might position the money out upfront to use an unbiased and goal appraiser without any link with anybody within real estate purchase. This ensures that I really do not agreement for a mortgage loan, based upon an higher assessment valuation, that may produce a brand new residence by using a lower or negative equity. The loan originator still may require another appraiser.
If five diverse appraisers assessed a similar house inside the identical timeframe and underneath the exact same situations, it could cause five diverse and different property valuations. Why? There is absolutely no establish listing or set up benefit for each and every residence characteristic and amenity. However appraisals are derived from prescribed standards, it is a subjective method.
When there is multiple real-estate assessment and they also disagree significantly, you might have alternatives. In case the worth is simply too reduced for the retailer, remodeling may raise the importance — or you can decrease to market. If the lender insists on its appraiser's benefit, which disagrees along with your real estate property appraiser's importance, because the customer you can seek out funding elsewhere — or decline to purchase the real estate. There is also the option to create the appraisers together to come to a common arrangement in the importance.
Keep in mind, a person searching for your personal interest is your self. Ensure the appraiser inside your property financial transaction is reliable, target with no relationships to any person from the financial transaction, nearby and seasoned.
Inspired by: ezinearticles


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Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers, meaning: originators and developers of content also provide media to deliver and display the content for the same. Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books (the "book trade") and newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include electronic resources, such as the electronic versions of books and periodicals, as well as micropublishing, websites, blogs, video games and the like.
- Publish or perish.
- A phrase used to describe the pressure in academia to rapidly and continuously publish academic work.
- ...do not be impressed by the imprint of a famous publishing house or the volumes of an author's publications. Bear in mind that Einstein needed only seventeen pages for his contribution which revolutionized physics, while there are graphomanics in asylums who use up mounds of paper every day. Remember that publishers want to keep the printing presses busy and do not object to nonsense if it can be sold.
- Stanislav Andreski, Social Sciences as Sorcery (1972, London: Deutsch), p 86
- Publishers are so corrupted by our money system that you can't really trust what they say.
- Erica Jong, (August 24, 2016)"Erica Jong Interview: Advice to the young". Louisiana Channel, YouTube.
- "You're telling me he's too good to get published?" I was aghast.
"Oh, yes, Mr. Wickham, you live in an exceedingly commercial era. Your editors understand that they cannot sell champagne to beer drinkers. They buy what sells."
- Jack McDevitt, The Fort Moxie Branch (1988), reprinted in Paula Guran (ed.), Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries & Lore (p. 366)
- The idea of progress … is that human knowledge tends continually to advance because each generation can build on the achievements of the preceding one. Yet, there is an unstated presupposition here regarding the matter of transmission. Faith in progress is based on the (very un-Socratic) assumption that wisdom or knowledge can not only be taught but can be "published" in the modern sense: written down in books in such a way as to be easily and genuinely appropriated, so that the next generation, after a brief period of learning, can begin where the previous one left off. ...
In the modern period, the whole enterprise of philosophy and science has been organized around this idea of progress. The pursuit of knowledge has become uniquely "socialized," become a team effort, a collective undertaking, both across generations and across individuals within a single generation. This has affected our whole experience of the intellectual life. The modern scholar or scientist ultimately does not—and cannot—live to think for himself in the quiet of his study. He lives to "make a contribution" to an ongoing, public enterprise, to what "we know." And at the core of this effort at collective knowing is the modern institution of publication.
- Arthur Melzer, "On the Pedagogical Motive for Esoteric Writing," Journal of Politics, Vol. 69, Issue 4, November 2007, pp. 40-41.
- It is an axiom in the publishing business, however, that pseudoscience will always sell more books than the real science that debunks it.
- Robert L. Park, Voodoo Science (2000), p. 177
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations[edit]
- Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 649.
- But I account the use that a man should seek of the publishing of his own writings before his death, to be but an untimely anticipation of that which is proper to follow a man, and not to go along with him.
- Francis Bacon, An Advertisement Touching a Holy War, Epistle Dedicatory.
- Yon second-hand bookseller is second to none in the worth of the treasures which he dispenses.
- Leigh Hunt, On the Beneficence of Bookstalls.
- If I publish this poem for you, speaking as a trader, I shall be a considerable loser. Did I publish all I admire, out of sympathy with the author, I should be a ruined man.
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton, My Novel, Book VI, Chapter XIV.
- If the bookseller happens to desire a privilege for his merchandize, whether he is selling Rabelais or the Fathers of the Church, the magistrate grants the privilege without answering for the contents of the book.
- Voltaire, Dictionnaire philosophique portatif ("A Philosophical Dictionary") (1764), Books, Section 1.


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Somewhere in France
Dearest sister Madaline
I haven't written you in such a terrible long time it looks as if I have forgotten you but it isn't so the reason was on account of being in the line. I spent fourteen long days in the line and therefore you see my letter is going to be long and interesting. Well dear sister after you read what I have to say you will notice that it was not only my praying but also yours and the gift of god. God surely was with me and I can honestly say that I am the luckiest man on two feet to be where I am today. Of course dear sister a man when writing gets an opportunity to exaggerate things but everything I am writing is so true that it would be impossible to exaggerate a single thing.
Well we started for the support line on a bright moonlight night in which we stayed for a short time. We then advanced to the front line for a few nights. Heres where my first experience on patrolling comes in. After spending one night in the front line I was told to report to company Hdqs. After doing so I was ordered to go out on patrol in "No Mans Land" to go out and get a prisoner. Of course dear sister you understand the predicament I was in to go out never before being out their and capturing a prisoner for information. I reported that same night and our platoon Lieutenant and myself went out as far as Jerries Bob Wire which was about 120 yards away from our trench and eighty yards from Jerries. We ran into a few Jerry patrols but did not battle them as they out numbered us. I will say dear sister that I held myself fairly well but my throat was a bit dry this showed a bit of nervousness but we returned back to our lines safe. The night we hit the front line it started raining until we came out yesterday.
After resting the next day I was ordered to go out on patrol again that night but my objective was different. I forgot to say on my first patrol I did not get my objective but on my second I did. My second objective was to get the exact location of Jerries trenches. After crawling for about 180 yds 20 yds away from Jerries line I drew a small map of Jerries trenches for about 100 yds. Now dear sister after doing a bit in the front line our division went over the top advancing and capturing a big hill. That day they advanced 300 yds. While out on my second patrol my feeling was this way well I don't give a rap I'm just as safe here as if I were home although I wasn't but returned back safe.
Well the next day we went over the top this being my first time over and we advanced 800 yards capturing many prisoners. After holding our new position Jerry counter attacked and me having charge of a machine gun my men got two Jerries and you ought to see the dammed beasts hit the dust. Their counter attack was unsuccessful. After getting relieved we moved to the support and Jerry sent over a barrage and heres where your prayers and every one homes who is praying for my safety was answered. We were in our trench and for one hour and fifteen minutes shells as high as nine inch fell near and around us and for that length of time I held the rosary in my hands and said prayers constantly for that length of time. Now dear sister after going throw all this I can vouch if I get back home safe I'm going to live thats is home first and my church shall be my second home.
Well dear sister I haven't rested as yet since I came out of the trenches and being that its getting kinder late I guess I will stop and continue in the morning. Now about cooties every man is pretty well cootied up and my body is covered with nothing but cootie bites but as soon as I get a good wash and a new set of clothes Mr cootie will then vanish.
Our troops are doing wonders and from what I know this war will be over soon as Jerry is on the run. The whole allied troops have and are still advancing on the entire front and Jerry surely be back at his own front very shortly. It is rumored that we get paid today. Did pa receive my money order yet? Is pa receiving his monthly allotment regularly.
I guess I will close now with love and kisses for you all.
I am
Your Brother
I received your cable gram. Thanks very much. Joe
Corporal Joseph MAus
105 U. S Inf. Co. A
American E. F.
[Note: This letter contains reminiscence of experiences during the Ypres-Lys Offensive]
© Copyright 2011 by Lanny & Patti Brown, All Rights Reserved. No reproduction without permission.


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HPC2 Boosts MSU Supercomputing Power
October 2, 2013
The state's premier research university is boosting its high-performance computing capabilities with the installation of a new supercomputer. Mississippi State's High Performance Computing Collaboratory (HPC2) will soon be home to a CS300-LC cluster supercomputer -- a liquid-cooled system manufactured by Cray Inc. (Nasdaq: CRAY).
Named "Shadow," the new system will serve as the primary high-performance computing asset for shared research, according to an MSU official. "This investment is the latest example of Mississippi State's commitment to providing powerful, technologically-advanced resources for our researchers," said Trey Breckenridge, director of high performance computing. The installation is expected to be completed by December. Once operational, Shadow will be 10 times faster than the university's previous fastest system, but consume far less energy, Breckenridge said.
According to the company, the CS300-LC system features an innovative, liquid-cooled design that uses warm water heat exchangers instead of chillers to directly cool the computer's processors and memory, allowing for a more efficient removal of system heat. "This new cooling technique is revolutionary. The water used to cool the system is the temperature of the outside air, up to 104 degrees, with almost no additional air conditioning required," Breckenridge said. "There are a few systems doing this in Canada and northern Europe, but as far as I know, we are the first to ever try this in a subtropical environment," he added.
Shadow will be housed at the HPC2 facility in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park adjacent to the MSU campus in Starkville. "Shadow achieves its tremendous computing power largely due to the use of 260 new Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors. They are so powerful that two of them, which combined are smaller than a loaf of bread, are as fast as our fastest computer just 10 years ago -- and that system was the size of six refrigerators," Breckenridge said.
The supercomputer will support research for the land-grant institution's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, Center for Computational Sciences, Geosystems Research Institute, Center for Battlefield Innovations and Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, as well as the MSU-led Northern Gulf Institute.
HPC2's members are focused on multidisciplinary, team activities that share a common objective of advancing the state-of-the-art in computational science and engineering using high-performance computing, Breckenridge said. "The supercomputing power we have in Mississippi is becoming more important as the state and region develop an economy where businesses built on technology thrive," Breckenridge said. "The economic impact of Shadow and our other resources is significant now and will be much more so in the years to come," he added.
The Cray system will run a broad set of applications for research projects, including fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, materials modeling, astrophysics, molecular modeling, transportation modeling and planning, weather and ocean modeling, geographic information systems, genomics and bioinformatics.
Mississippi State consistently ranks among the nation's fastest academic computing sites as compiled by TOP500.org, which is an international organization dedicated to cataloging the world's most powerful supercomputers.
Also see: Cray Press Release


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How totally fun are these bags and coin purses from the Candy Store? They are so totally retro and fun looking, right? I received a cosmetics pouch, mirror and coin purse to receive and I kid you guys not, my 5 year old (boy!) has already stolen the coin purse to use for his own coin collection that he hoards in his room.
Love that they are made of silicone, too! They feel really good to hold and are just fun! Good for any age too. These are definitely great items for the tween girl in your life, but honestly, I can totally see using one of these myself – especially the cosmetic pouch which is great for on-the-go and I love that it's pliable and easy for sticking in my purse.
Giveaway: One lucky Mommies with Style reader will win 9 cosmetic pouches in the Candy Store's 8 flavors plus their special November Spumoni flavor. Retail value: $180
How awesome is this giveaway? You could use them for a girls' party or give one to every friend this holiday season! Amazing, right?
You can enter up to 4 times (the only required entry is the first one to leave a comment! All the others are additional entries):
1) Leave a comment on this post to enter!
2) Tweet or share this giveaway on Twitter & follow me on Twitter @WhitneyMWS
3) Like Mommies with Style and the Candy Store on Facebook (if you already do, promote this contest on your page)
4) Subscribe to my feed or email newsletter and stay on top of all of my daily posts! If you already subscribe, please leave a separate comment letting me know that you are currently a subscriber (thank you!).
Who is eligible?
You must have a valid US address to be eligible.
Entries for this giveaway will close on November 5th at 3pm. The winning entry will be selected via random.org. The winner will be contacted directly and must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected.


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The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival gets under way this April, but that does not mean that you have to wait until then to enjoy these spectacular trees in bloom. Some of the trees are beginning to bloom quite nicely as many have actually started to show off their pink and whites during the middle of January.
As of this date (March 18th) and under gloriously Sunny skies, some of the blossoms in the West End, notably along Jervis St and Beach Avenue are already reaching full bloom on either sides of the streets, and if the weather holds up like this for a few more days, we can expect to see more signs of the mass awakening that is Spring in the city.
The link below is an interactive map that you can scroll your mouse over, so you can specifically pick and choose the area you will be in and what kind of tree is there.
The festival is a great appreciation of these majestic trees, and if you go and check out their official Webpage page, you will be able to track the progress of these trees at their locations all over the city. Some of the best places to see them are in the West End, Kitsilano and at The Burrard Street Sky train station – at this location, once these trees are fully blooming you find yourself under a canopy of startling bright pink and whites, a stunning welcome in the heart of Vancouver.
See the listings below for more events regarding the festival and for further reading on the blossoms.
These are the 5 best spots to view the blossoms….
And if you really want to get serious about plants and more, look no further than Queen Elizabeth Park and The UBC Botanical Gardens.


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Pros: The iPod's first solar-powered charger, beautifully designed and easy enough to use, with the ability to expand into a PDA/cell phone charger with additional cables. Environmentally friendly, with practical ability to charge from wall.
Cons: Charging from the sun is unpredictable and time-consuming, even in good weather; same price could buy batteries with two or three full days worth of extra iPod power.
If solar power were a 100% reliable form of energy production, every house, car, and office building in the world would be covered in distinctive crystalline ray-catching panels. For that matter, like certain tiny calculators, every iPod would have a little solar rectangle (or Applesque rounded rectangle), and you'd never need a wall charger.
Unfortunately, there are fairly annoying things called "clouds" and "seasons" that conspire to prevent continuous gathering of solar power. And of course, there's a big problem called "night."
Limitations aside, conservationists and technologists alike have respectfully pushed solar power as a complement to – rather than replacement for – other energy sources. Combining a pragmatic conservationist philosophy with the latest technologies, U.K.-based Better Energy Systems Ltd. is now offering Solio ($99.99), the world's first iPod-matching solar powered charger. An iPod-specific cable is included, but using alternate cables ($19.99 per set), Solio also works with other mobile devices, including popular brands of cellular phones and PDAs.
There is plenty to like about Solio's design: its small size, generally white glossy plastic aesthetic, and light 5.8 oz. weight are just right for environmentally conscious iPod owners. Better Energy designed Solio as a collapsible set of three solar panels that unfold from a 4.7" x 2.6" x 1.3" package in a fan-like fashion. Blue and indigo crystalline solar panels are exposed in each of the Solio fan's blades, with translucent plastic front housings and glossy white plastic backs. A battery pack is hidden inside the unit's thick rear blade, storing the sun's power for whenever you're ready to use it.
The three blades are connected by an indigo central hub with a hole that fits any standard pencil, but relatively few pens. Better Energy decided not to package a mount with Solio, and asks that you use a pencil to prop it up on an angle to catch the sun's rays. It's a simple enough request, and easily fulfilled, but an interesting pack-in omission nonetheless. Of course, the conservationist angel inside us asks, "what of the poor trees that died to make that pencil?", but doesn't dwell on the point.
Solio's rear blade casing includes a single multicolored LED indicator light integrated into the unit's only button, as well as two clear plastic-covered ports (power input and output), and an attractive Solio nameplate on the bottom. When pressed, the LED flashes green to tell you the battery's charge level: one green flash is 25%, while four green flashes is 100%. For reasons mentioned below, Better Energy also includes a standard AC adapter with every Solio unit to permit easy wall recharging of the internal battery. The LED indicator glows red to show that the battery is charging from the sun or AC power.
Overall, we love Solio's physical design with only two small reservations. Viewed from the back, it matches full-sized iPods beautifully, and its blue/indigo/translucent front panels work well on a visual level, too. When unfolded, it practically defines "cool solar energy device." Folded up, it is a perfect match for the iPod.
The only issues are that its clear plastic power port cover is a bit tricky to keep properly closed, and its single rear indicator light – while admittedly very simple – doesn't afford you any sense of charging progress unless you unplug it from the wall or flip the unit around when in the sun. While you can see the red light on the rear in direct sunlight if you look carefully, it's not necessarily easy or conveniently placed there. Yes, there are certainly good reasons to design in the way Better Energy did, but there are equally good (if not better) reasons to use more than one light – perhaps in more than one location on the unit. We'd call both of these reservations very small in the overall picture of Solio's design.
Context is extremely important in understanding our evaluation of Solio: as iPod charging accessories go, a $99.99 price tag is not uncommon for a certain level of charging performance, and we tend to expect a fair amount at that price. In recent months, we've seen a high-water mark at that dollar amount (BTI's iPod Battery, iLounge rating: A), a more compatible but smaller and less powerful alternative (BTI's iPod Battery ii, iLounge rating: A-), and a far smaller and more attractive but dramatically less powerful product (Belkin's TunePower, iLounge rating: B-). There have also been a handful of AA-powered battery packs available at a lower price point, each offering 8-10 hours of extra power in a relatively small enclosure.
Solio's unique design does not permit an apples-to-apples comparison against any of these other products, but it does shame some of them. At the $99.99 price point, Solio includes both the solar panels and an internal rechargeable battery pack that can hold 8-10 hours of iPod juice. Under the worst circumstances, you use Solio like any other iPod battery pack, plugging it into the wall and recharging it for four or five hours. Better yet, you can change power output cords and plug in your cellular phone or PDA – assuming of course that you buy the extra cables. It takes less juice – a half Solio charge – to power a non-iPod device, assuming you want to do this.
Under the best circumstances, you leave Solio out in the sun, it gathers solar power, and you don't need to plug it in at all. You do your bit for the environment, recharge your iPod, and everyone's happy. It's actually a time-consuming two-step process, however; you charge your Solio's battery, and then use your Solio's battery to charge your iPod; you don't leave the Solio and iPod in the sun together or expect realtime solar panel to iPod charging.
The only problem with Solio's solar charging is the one first mentioned in this review: the sun. Since the sun is such an unpredictable source of energy in many regions of the world, even Better Energy's representatives admit that you wouldn't want to use it in, say, the notoriously cloudy U.K. much of the time, and at the time of this writing, people suffering winters across the United States are only dreaming of warm sunshine – not seeing it.
Thankfully, iLounge's reviews are mostly conducted in Southern California, a part of the country that benefits from extended periods of sunlight and thus an almost optimal testing environment for Solio's capabilities. Thus we tested and re-tested Solio over the course of several days, giving the device sustained morning to afternoon bursts of direct light, even adjusting its position as the sun moved. Each night, we had to stop, and we couldn't totally account for the impact of infrequent passing clouds, but Solio had plenty of time in the sun.
On our first day of testing, the sun was out all day. But inexplicably, Solio showed only a single green LED flash when the day was done: a 25% charge. After two days, the device showed a 50% charge with two flashes. Better Energy says that Solio needs 8 to 10 hours of sustained sunlight to top off its internal battery – the latter number a challenge in this season, even in Southern California – but we gave it a fair bit more than that, and it was only around half-full.
When we repeated the test another time on another set of sunny days, the results were better. On the first day, after five hours of time in the sun, the Solio showed a 50% charge. The second day, Solio was topped off at 100%.
Fully charged, Solio is capable of fully recharging an iPod's battery: our fourth-generation iPod showed a complete charge and ran for over 13 hours each time the Solio was plugged in. The same was the case whether Solio was charged from the sun or a wall outlet, though wall outlet charging was considerably faster.
As a travel charger for people planning on hiking in the Southwestern United States or other desert climates, Solio isn't just potentially useful – it could spare you a trip to an outlet or create a real savings on disposable batteries, depending on the length of your trip. Similarly, if you're either a big fan of beaches with plenty of lotion, or a hard-core environmentalist with plenty of free time between iPod charges, you may be willing to leave the Solio out for the requisite period to recharge its battery.
But practically speaking, Solio must be compared against products such as BTI's $99 batteries on one hand, which on a single wall recharge can offer over 72 hours of continuous playtime, and Belkin's $99 TunePower on the other, which got only 11 hours, 34 minutes when used with a 4G iPod. Except as measured purely in thinness, Solio's a better product than the TunePower for the dollar, but unless you feel strongly that alternative power sources are worth a significant temporal inconvenience, the BTI batteries are a smarter purchase overall. One brief charge off the wall gives BTI users 5 times the runtime of the Solio off a full solar charge.
Some people will say that such a conclusion misses Solio's point – solar charging, rather than wall charging, is its main selling point. But the promise of solar energy as a replacement for other forms of energy is as yet unfulfilled, and by design, solar power merely complements wall power as a means to charge Solio's internal battery. Many people will find the solar capability far more limited than we did in light of – no pun intended – their local weather and time commitments.
Regardless, Better Energy deserves commendation for the Solio, which offers an attractive and intriguing alternative way to charge your iPod – and potentially other devices – wherever you go. More than a great effort, Solio is a product that realizes both its own limitations and potential benefits, and Better Energy gives you the option to work around or capitalize upon them as you desire. We recommend Solio particularly to people in sun-drenched areas, and those who may be interested in saving the world, even just a little bit of natural energy at a time.
Note: Solio also makes attractive recycled rubber iTread cases for the Solio and iPod, which we hope to review in the near future.
Jeremy Horwitz is Editor-in-Chief of iLounge.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Better Energy Systems Ltd.
Website: www.Solio.com
Model: Solio for iPod
Price: $99.99
Compatible: iPod 3G, 4G, iPod mini, iPod photo


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In what was seen as a shocking and unexpected result, Adam Lambert favored to win American Idol by fans and judges lost the title to competitor Kris Allen. Both are undeniably very talented men, but the loss raises questions as to what caused America to have a change of heart?
Many media outlets were focusing on scores of pictures of Lambert in flamboyant outfits, and kissing other males. The right-wing media was also playing up on Lambert's alleged sexuality, while also making the public aware of the "good Christian family man" Kris Allen.
There are those who argue that this is a talent competition and not something for activists on either side to get involved in, I couldn't agree more, except... When a lot of the votes appear to be based on the fact that people disliked Lambert's sexuality and gender expression, it becomes personal for the LGBT community.
Do you think Adam Lambert lost because he was a weaker contestant or because of the still largely queerphobic general population.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Open Forum: America Couldn't Handle a Gay Idol?
In what was seen as a shocking and unexpected result, Adam Lambert favored to win American Idol by fans and judges lost the title to competitor Kris Allen. Both are undeniably very talented men, but the loss raises questions as to what caused America to have a change of heart?
12 comments:
I think Lambert lost because he is from California (less fervent Idol watchers, "historically") and because people had already made decisions about him... love or hate. Kris is from the South and was nice, likable, hard to hate. So every people who left the competition, Kris would get more voters (ending with Gokey leaving in the Top 3 meaning a lot of the "Christian" voting block headed right for Kris).
Honestly, the result wasn't shocking. I wish Adam had won because it would be nice to have a gay American Idol. At the same time... all I care about is that the boy has a career and he's going to. Kris was a decent enough singer and musician, but he definitely needed to win Idol in order to create a career quickly.
- May 23, 2009 at 12:27 AM
- Stacey said...
Part of me wonders if the voting was rigged. I sent in my text votes and didn't get a confirmation text until 8am Wednesday morning. I'm not entirely sure all of my votes (I won't tell you the entire number of votes because it's embarrassing) went through correctly.
If I'm wrong, then I think that all the Christian Danny Gokey fans voted for Kris and that's what put him over the top. I find it incredibly sad that the country is still so closed minded, but it's also not very surprising.
- May 23, 2009 at 1:48 AM
I hate when LGBT people pull the "IT'S BECAUSE I'M GAY" card.
It's just so fucking pathetic.
Never once in my life have I did that (nor have I ever will). It's just a crutch for people who can't accept that they weren't good enough.
- May 23, 2009 at 2:12 AM
- Cerberus said...
Oh look, troll.
But to answer the question, yes. A number of famous homophobes mentioned how they were planning on voting against Adam and how that was the Christian thing to do and Bill O' Reilly did his big thing about voting against the faggot on Fox News. Plus there were some direct videos afterwards made about how glad they were they knocked out the faggot and a number of apocraphal stories from people noting someone who had voted many many times for Kris without knowing his name.
Not likely the majority of Kris voters, but certainly enough to give him that slight edge. Kris even mentioned this briefly in his acceptance speech. If the guy who won picked up on it happening, then its pretty hard to deny it happened.
On the other hand, it's probably for the best. Kris doesn't seem like an asshole and will at least get an ok career and if Adam doesn't get a contract from someone within the week, I'll eat my hat, and he'll probably have more freedom in regards to it than he would have had through American Idol.
It is unfortunate though, because it was a spite attack, simply to remind queers in general that people will work against them in any venue simply for being or being seen as queer.
- May 23, 2009 at 6:51 AM
How is stating my opinion being a troll?
... Seriously?
- May 23, 2009 at 8:47 AM
- fruxforte said...
Actually, the American Idol company has first dibs on the top thirteen.
It's not 'playing the gay card' to bring up a factor that could've played a role. No one's saying that Adam's sexuality was the only factor.
Adam Lambert lost by about 1% of the vote. If all those anti-gay Christians hadn't voted, that could've been enough to let him win.
- May 23, 2009 at 9:42 AM
- Queers United said...
I think this is less about his sexuality and more about his gender expression. America is not ready for a guy who is flamboyant, wears makeup and guyliner.
- May 23, 2009 at 10:37 AM
- Delia said...
Where were you during the 80's? Lol
Maybe American Idol fans aren't ready for flamboyant guys wearing makeup but I think America as a whole has always embraced that sort of thing especially in the pop/rock genre.
There's no doubt in my mind that Adam will have an amazing career despite the AI loss. Likewise there is no doubt that his sexuality and theatrical nature caused a lot of people to vote against him.
- May 23, 2009 at 3:03 PM
- Abelard Enigma said...
If you will recall, when Danny Gokey was voted off, they said there was less than 1M votes between the top two (i.e. Adam and Kris). I think the reason Adam lost is because Danny Gokey fans were more likely to vote for Kris than Adam. And, not because Adam is (likely) gay or because Kris is christian - but because Kris's singing style is more mainstream.
Adam has a beautiful voice and an incredible range - but he is prone to screeching when he gets going, which a lot of people don't like. I think if him being gay was really an issue then he would not have gotten as far as he did.
Regardless of the outcome, I think Adam will make a name for himself.
- May 23, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Honestly I don't think it made much of a difference. Will there have been people that did not vote for him because he's (apparently) gay ? Sure. But many people from the LGBT community that otherwise probably wouldn't have taken part in the vote will have voted for him. So in the end it may not have made that much of a difference.
- May 23, 2009 at 3:32 PM
final cut shows a bias towards homegrown, times underdog + media sexuality hype.
you figure out what threw it over the edge.
- May 24, 2009 at 5:39 PM
- K said...
While I do think this is a talent competition that activists should refrain from making a big deal over, just like I think what Miss California has to say should be a non-issue, .... I don't put it past the Trinity Broadcast Network to line up a bunch of voters to stuff Kris's ballot box.
*To clarify, it's not what Miss Ca said in the pagaent that makes me mad at her, but all the things she did AFTER the pagaent that makes me not like her.
- May 29, 2009 at 4:43 PM


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This is a regular feature breaking down, minute-by-minute, the content that appears on ESPN's 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter throughout the week. Graphic by Jim Cooke.
When last we met, Joe Paterno was the talk of SportsCenter , and Chris Berman's "2 Minute Drill" was getting 5.5 minutes of airtime (or 3.5 minutes less than the NHL got all week). What would a new week bring? Here are the results from Jan. 27-Feb. 2. (Note: Tennis and the Winter X Games join the categories this week; both the Australian Open and the X Games aired on ESPN.)
Total time: 440.5 minutes
Time (minus commercials): 328.5
NFL: 114 minutes (34.7%) (last week: 34.5%)
NBA: 73.75 (22.5%) (last week: 18.2%)
College basketball: 51.5 (15.7%) (last week: 12.1%)
College football: 2.25 (.7%) (last week: 10.8%)
MLB: 2.25 (.7%) (last week: 3.5%)
NHL: 5.75 (1.7%) (last week: 2.5%)
X Games: 10.75 (3.2%) (last week: n/a)
Tennis: 10.75 (3.2%) (last week: 0.8%)
Other sports: 10.75 (3.2%) (last week: 3.3%)
SportsCenter staples (things like the "Top 10," "Encore," "What 2 Watch 4," etc.): 48.25 (14.7%) (last week: 14.1%)
New England Patriots (NFL): 40.25 minutes (12.2%)
Miami Heat (NBA): 28.5 (8.6%)
Murray State Racers (college basketball): 7.25 (2.2%)
Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL): 0.5 (.6%)
Texas Rangers (MLB): 1 (.3%)
(Note: The time allotted to college football consisted of 1.5 minutes for the Senior Bowl and 0.75 minutes for assorted national signing day. No one team was given any time on SportsCenter.)
Rather than break down the amount of time a specific sports figure was covered, we counted how frequently names were mentioned in the transcripts from the week. The 15 most-mentioned sports people for Jan. 27-Feb. 2:
Rob Gronkowski: 69
LeBron James: 58
Peyton Manning: 53
Tom Brady: 45
Eli Manning: 36
Dwyane Wade: 34
Derrick Rose: 31
Tom Coughlin: 26
Bill Belichick: 25
Dwight Howard: 22
Rafael Nadal: 22
Novak Djokovic: 20
Tim Tebow: 18
Kobe Bryant: 17
Ricky Rubio: 16
Total time: 1,726 minutes
Time (minus commercials): 1,291
NFL: 472.25 minutes (36.6%)
College football: 95.75 (7.4%)
College basketball: 182.75 (14.2%)
Other sports: 67.25 (3.2%)
SportsCenter staples: 156.25 (12.1%)
NFL coverage didn't go up during Super Bowl week: I figured that, in the run-up to the Super Bowl, ESPN would surely double down on football and treat the rest of the sports world the way it usually treats hockey. Turns out I was wrong. SportsCenter devoted just a shade more coverage to the NFL—34.7 percent of its non-commercial minutes, versus 34.5 percent the week before.
What happened? The obvious explanation is that there weren't any highlights from the previous weekend's games to pad the total. But restraint is not ESPN's style. The network's sinister genius lies in finding ways to talk and "debate" and bloviate about things that have little to do with what transpires on the field; the Worldwide Leader operates at its awful best in the middle of a news void—and Super Bowl week is a black hole. The cynical explanation is that SportsCenter had no interest in hyping an already-well-hyped event on someone else's network (especially not while ESPN had some events of its own to hype—namely, the X Games and Australian Open, which got 21.5 minutes total).
Peyton Manning emerged as the story of Super Bowl week: Peyton Manning's future dominated talk on SportsCenter—14.5 minutes in all. Part of that time was an actual one-on-one interview with Manning himself. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot about Manning this offseason.
The week in Tebow: How does a middling quarterback who hasn't done anything noteworthy in nearly a month find his way onto SportsCenter? Well, Kim Kardashian. That's one way, at least. ESPN spent a minute and change discussing a National Enquirer story about Kim's pursuit of the Virginal One. We also got a two-minute Pro Bowl segment in which participants were asked why Tebow wasn't invited and a snippet of an upcoming interview with Skip Bayless, who looks at Tebow the way teenage girls used to look at the cover of Tiger Beat. His first question? "Why won't John Fox and John Elway treat you with the respect you deserve?"
National signing day was largely ignored: Considering how badly ESPN wants to be a player in the recruiting game—ESPNU 150, a televised high-school All-America game, etc.—-it's surprising that SportsCenter devoted only 45 seconds to the major signings. On this count, at least, we'll give them credit for restraint.
The NHL received more coverage than college football and baseball: Hockey got 5.75 minutes, which was enough to beat out two major sports. With the NCAA tournament and spring training just around the corner, I wouldn't expect that to happen again.


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Siku Is So Cute! Little Polar Bear Is New Video Star
Go ahead. Try not to feel all warm and fuzzy after you watch a video or two of Siku, the month-old polar bear who is quickly becoming an Internet hit.
He's living at a zoo in Denmark and is being hand fed with a bottle because his mother hasn't been able to produce any milk. The zoo has been posting videos and updates on a Facebook page that has quickly attracted more than 20,000 followers.
Siku (the name means "ice" in Greenlandic, according to Der Spiegel) is invoking memories of Knut, the Berlin Zoo polar bear who was an Internet sensation himself before his death last March.
But enough build up. Check out some of the videos:
Siku At 32 Days (posted this week).
Siku, The Adorable Danish Polar Bear (posted Dec. 22).
Siku Being Fed And Sucking His Handler's Finger (Posted Dec. 17).
(Of course, we should remind everyone that hopefully someday Siku will weigh about 1,000 pounds and stand about 10 feet tall when he's on his hind legs.)
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Researchers study factors affecting self-reporting among people with TBI
West Orange, NJ. February 26, 2014. Kessler Foundation researchers have found that among individuals with TBI, depression and self-awareness affect subjective reports of memory, quality of life (QOL), and satisfaction with life. The study was published in the February 2014 issue of Brain Injury.
Impairment in self-awareness (the ability to accurately recognize one's own abilities and limitations) often occurs after TBI. Intact self-awareness would result in accurate self-reports; however, intact self-awareness can also be associated with depressive symptoms. This is the first study to examine the complex relationship between self-awareness and depression, while also accounting for the self-reporting of well being and QoL by individuals with TBI.
Researchers studied 30 community-based adults with TBI of at least one-year duration. Testing included the Awareness Questionnaire, Health Status Questionnaire (SF-12), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Memory Functioning Questionnaire (MFQ), and the Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory (CMDI).
"Our findings help answer the question: What abilities must be considered when interpreting responses on a self-report questionnaire?" explained Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director of TBI Research at Kessler Foundation, and project director, Northern NJ TBI System. "These results showed first that higher levels of self-awareness are associated with poorer QoL, reports of poor memory performance and better strategy use; and also that symptoms of depression are significantly associated with self-reports of QoL and Satisfaction with life (greater depression associated with lower QoL and lower satisfaction)," reported Dr. Chiaravalloti. "Because of this impact of depressive symptoms, it is very important to diagnose and treat depression in rehabilitation and develop comprehensive treatment plans for individuals with TBI."
More information: Brain Injury DOI: 10.3109/02699052.2013.860474


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April 26, 2011 -
The Dodd-Frank Act included a liability provision for credit rating agencies if their ratings were determined to be inaccurate. Within days of the Dodd-Frank Act becoming law, this liability provision temporarily shut down the asset-backed securities market, forcing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to step in and issue a temporary no-action letter on July 22, 2010. On November 23, 2010, the SEC issued a permanent no-action letter. The Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act provides certainty to the issuers of asset-backed securities by repealing the liability provision. The legislation is sponsored by Representative Steve Stivers.
Print version of this document


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Turns out, Mr. Demi Moore has quite the Twitter following—one that rivals the likes of news giant CNN. In a video addressing his fans, Punk'd star Kutcher reveals how he recently learned just how popular his Twitter feed is. According to twitterholic.com, a site that monitors the popularity of Twitter feeds, Kutcher currently has more than 92,000 followers. "I didn't realize that there were that many people following. That is kind of crazy," says the actor, who goes on to put it in perspective—he currently holds the No. 2 spot in overall popularity, behind only CNN. So thrilled by his newfound 140-character power, he goes on to say, "If I beat CNN to a million followers, I will literally go and ding-dong-ditch Ted Turner's house while I'm in Atlanta." (Side note: he will be on location there shooting an upcoming film.) If you want to help Kutcher's noble cause, click here to visit the star's Twitter and sign up to receive his momentary updates.
—Meredith Stebbins
More From ELLE


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Medical Genetics Test Details
View Custom Req | Tests in Custom Req: 0
|Carnitine Determination - Plasma
|Test Information:
|This test provides quantitative analysis of Free and Total Carnitine in Plasma.
|Test Details
|Test Code:
|Technical Information
|Tandem Mass Spectroscopy
|Test Type:
|Analyte Analysis
|References Values or Ranges:
|Normal Ranges:
Age 3 weeks or less: Free: 8-33, Acyl 2-9, Total 12-41, Free/Total 70-94
Age over 3 weeks: Free 28-56, Acyl 5-18, Total 36-70, Free/Total 70-94
Unit: micromoles/L
|Sample & Shipping Information
|Test Requisition:
|Specimen Type:
|Draw blood in a Sodium Heparin (green-top) tube(s) and separate as soon as possible. Send 1-2 cc of plasma. Store the specimen frozen at -20C. Specimen may be stored frozen for up to 7 days.
|Shipping Conditions:
|Ship frozen on 3-5 lbs of dry ice in an insulated container by overnight courier.
|Turn Around Time:
|8 days
|Billing Information
|List Price:
|*For Insurance or Institutional Prices, please call.
|CPT Codes:
|82379 x 1


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Got a Lakka nightly build now.
Read a lot about RetroPie, gonna try Lakka first as you can use RetroArch, which I'm very used to by now. Don't know if you can install both, Lakka and RetroPie, as this is my first Raspberry, so I have to fiddle around a bit, still a newbie.
Anyway, at the moment there's not yet support of RetroPie for the Pi4. Have to wait.