Selection for bigger tomatoes has made the fruits less sweet, but now it has been shown that gene editing can make them sweeter without decreasing yields

Binary chalcogen halogen EX4 species represent intriguing systems in terms of chemical bonding theories, such as hypervalency and stereoactivity of lone electron pairs. Instead of a simple molecular EX4 structure, selenium tetrachloride forms an ionic pair, Cl3Se+Cl−, that assembles into a tetrameric (SeCl4)4 structure, namely, tetra-μ3-chlorido-dodecachloridotetraselenium. This article describes the charge–density analysis of the tetrameric molecule of β-SeCl4 based on the aspherical model obtained from Hirshfeld Atom Refinement of the tetrameric molecule and of an explicit cluster of 15 tetramers that simulates the crystal packing. Deformation density, electron localization function (ELF) and Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) were used to evaluate the bonding situation, the electron-density distribution around the Se atom and the interaction energy of the tetramer.

FIS has announced a partnership with

Andrew J. West stars in Anna Mastro's "Walter"; Credit: "Walter"

It's always dicey to characterize a major film festival based on the movies you personally see there, because no matter how diligent you try to be, your impression will always be statistically anecdotal.

I'll see perhaps 10 percent of the films at this year's Palm Springs International Film Festival by the time they roll up the red carpets for the final time, added to the 25 or so I'd watched before I got here, owing to the festival's unique programming policies.

Not bad considering there are 190 movies being screened. So I think I've got the feel of things here. I wouldn't want my doctor to diagnose me based on a test with a 35 to 40 percent chance of accuracy, but I'm not a doctor. Instead of "Do no harm," I quote Spencer Tracy to myself. He said the secret to the creative process is to "just look 'em in the eye and tell 'em the truth."

And the truth is, with the exception of a couple of documentaries and a horror movie, virtually every film I've seen at Palm Springs so far shared some obvious characteristics: the Palm Springs International Film Festival loves it some poignancy and affirmation.

I've already commented on "Match," the Patrick Stewart acting showcase, and "Cowboys," a very funny Croatian comedy with cross-currents of seriousness. I may comment later about "Today," Iran's Oscar submission. (It's terrific by the way, a deeply affecting story about a burnt out cab driver who gets yanked into the world of a battered, unwed mother who steps into his cab.)

(Still from "Today” (Emrooz) by Iranian filmmaker Reza Mirkarimi)

I also saw an Anne Hathaway passion project called "Song One" here. I'm not going to write about it because I'm not in the mood to stomp on somebody else's butterfly. Plus the dramedy "1001 Grams" by the splendiferous-ly named Norwegian Bent Hamer, whose deadpan satire is routinely compared to Jacques Tati.

WATCH the official trailer for "1001 Grams," which includes some foreign languages

At their best, these are all movies that want to move the audience to tears before bouncing a ray of hope off the screen at them. At their worst, these movies are about pain in the same way Novocain is. They acknowledge its reality, in order to neutralize it.

Filmmaker Anna Mastro's debut film "Walter" (one of the Palm Springs premieres) fits what seems to be the festival's programming model, too, and is, I think, a really quite appealing little indie film, with the by now familiar mildly magical realist bent.

It's is a story about grief, though one with a screwball premise so that it doesn't quite present that way at first. Walter (portrayed with charisma and nuance by Andrew J. West) is a 20-something slacker, but a very uptight one, with a soldier's commitment to dress and routine.

He still lives with mom (Virginia Madsen, now shifting toward the character actress portion of her career with ease and grace) and has a job one rung above fast food worker on the ladder of success: He's a ticket taker at the local multiplex.

But what the world surely sees as failure, Walter knows to be his cover for a far more important vocation. Walter's father died when he was just 10 years old; ever since the funeral, Walter has realized something we don't: His real job in life is to decide where people go after they die.

His snap judgments secretly send people to heaven or hell ... until a dead guy from Walter's past shows up and demands that Walter determine his fate, and then all hell breaks loose.

It's an odd premise, bordering on the labored, but Mastro and her extremely appealing cast pull it off, in part by wearing their influences on their sleeves. The fingerprints of Wes Anderson are all over this picture, especially in terms of the way shots are framed and music is used, and I was able to identify the pivotal contribution of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" co-composer Dan Romer by ear, long before I noticed his screen credit.

I suppose that's supposed to be a damning criticism of a first-timer, but I don't see it that way. Tarantino aped Scorsese for years and virtually remade a minor Hong Kong gangster picture when he debuted with "Reservoir Dogs."

Spielberg acknowledges his debt to David Lean. Hitchcock's apprenticeship at Germany's UFA film studio resulted in a lifelong visual and thematic debt to the great Expressionist master Fritz Lang.

The question is, what do you do with your influences, how do you make them your own? And Mastro — who has a real gift for casting, pacing a scene and maneuvering her actors easily between farce and seriousness — has her own talents. She understands how Anderson's visual syntax has become a cinematic shorthand for quirk, and she deploys it to that effect, then tells the story at hand.

There are some issues with that story, though. There's a girl in concessions (Leven Rambin) Walter likes, and there's a bully at work. For all its surface oddity, the mechanical underpinnings of "Walter" frequently feel like they belong in an "American Pie" sequel.

And yet this movie won me over. I liked its faith in the movie palace as a place that still vibrates with the marvelous. I found a dream sequence, where Rambin undresses to camera while sprawled on a rich yellow bed of movie house popcorn hilarious and deeply expressive.

But I think my affection for this picture is mostly centered on Mastro and her cast, which includes a standout performance by Justin Kirk as a very grounded ghost and a broad but successful cameo from William H. Macy as Walter's psychiatrist. They're all groping toward something rather grim and real about loss, while doing their best to serve up some laughs and wonder along the way.

It touched me, because it feels kind of wise.

Off-Ramp contributor R.H. Greene, former editor of Boxoffice Magazine, is in Palm Spring this week to cover the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Look for his missives here, and listen Saturday at noon to Off-Ramp, when he'll interview Chaz Ebert about her late husband Roger Ebert's contributions to the film festival circuit.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Providing one stop fabrication service to manufacturers throughout the food and beverage industries, Ross, a world leader in mixing and blending technology, designs and builds storage tanks, pressure vessels and reactors for virtually any process or application.

Designed for automatic ingredient additions and high-speed mixing, the pictured Solids/Liquid Injection Manifold (SLIM) Mixer is piped to a 400-gallon jacketed tank and mounted on a compact skid. 

A baker’s dozen is a familiar expression that has been around for generations and even centuries. Why has the baker’s dozen continued on as a perpetual phrase? For ideas, products, even industries to perpetuate, they must connect to a sense of truth or emotional certainty. There are two values the baker’s dozen phrase aligns with, no matter what the conception. Those two values are integrity and generosity.

Lloyd Pans, Spokane, Wash., produces its pan products in the good ’ole USA, using a proprietary stick-resistant coating that cleans easily and is 100% PTFE-free. What’s interesting, though, is that it sells almost all of the baking pans online.

Tegile Systems, a pioneer in primary storage de-duplication in virtualized server and desktop environments, announced today that Billion Automobile, GMC's fourth largest U.S. dealership, has implemented Tegile's Zebi Storage Array.

Atlantic Tire & Service is pleased to announce two new Service Advisors who will be responsible for handling customer service needs and advising customers on recommended services when appropriate.

The Atlanta auto repair shop, Express Oil, reminds customers that they provide fleet services to businesses that own and operate multiple vehicles.

Giant Lottos Celebrates 20 Years of Trusted Service and Highlights Positive Customer Experiences on Trustpilot

Saad Bin Arshad, MS, is a distinguished senior systems modeling engineer at Lucid

smartDOC – Intelligent Content Platform for Knowledge Organizations

Cognitive/AI technologies for customer engagement are white hot. No wonder professionals, who had removed AI from their resumes, are scrambling to add it back in!

The consumer has spoken. Forrester Research asked 5,000 of them, "What created the biggest pain when you contacted a business for customer service?" They answered lack and consistency of agent knowledge, followed by the difficulty of finding relevant answers on company websites. So, what is driving this dissatisfaction?

BIG NEWS: My custom Lightroom presets are now available and 50% off for a limited time with discount code HOLIDAY50. Link in profile!

This collection includes two styles (Everyday and Clean) that I use to edit every shot on this feed. I can’t wait to see what you all do with them! Stay tuned to my upcoming tutorials on how to put the presets to good use. ???? (at Toronto, Ontario)

Tom Franklin runs Franklin Consulting which offers consultancy services in educational technology. His particular interests are in portals, educational technology standards and VLEs and MLEs. He is technical advisor to the Higher Education Academy's Connects portal, where his work has included the selection and definition of appropriate standards and developing appropriate techniques for developing the channels in Web sites and portals. Franklin gave a plenary talk on "There Is No Such Thing As A Silver Bullet: CMS And Portals Will Not Solve Your Problems!" and facilitated a workshop session on "Embedding Third Party Services in Web Sites and Portals - From Links to WSRP the Pros and Cons". Tom can be contacted at tom AT franklin-consulting.co.uk

Tom Natt is a Web Developer working at the University of Bath. He has worked on a selection of institutional projects including wiki and instant messaging software and is currently looking at institutional repositories. In his free time he working on a selection of Web related open source projects. Tom facilitated a workshop on "What's the Point of having Developers in a Web 2.0 World?" with Phil Wilson.

Balluff Leuze has invested in a custom-built automation centre in Bayswater, located 40 minutes east of Melbourne’s city centre, as part of its continued Australian expansion plans. The German company, which specialises in technically innovative products for the Automation industry has been working in Australia for 15 years and is considered a leader in sensor technology. They also build a range of safety products that are used in the Victorian manufacturing sector.

Mary at the Tomb by Master Peace Collection is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to n/a pcs

Airtron Canada announced that it has been selected to perform HVAC and building automation systems (BAS) maintenance services for more than 600 Ontario government buildings. That translates into 21 million square feet of facilities in buildings such as office buildings, laboratories, and correctional facilities.

The need for a risk management system for Tajikistan’s Customs Service and simpler procedures for transparency and accountability are key recommendations of an integrity assessment of the Customs Code, presented to international donors, private and international companies and NGOs by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on 18 July 2016.

The assessment, which was commissioned by the OSCE Office in consultation with government representatives and international development partners, is the third in a series of assessments to examine the administrative codes and legal acts relevant for international business and cross-border trade in Tajikistan. Previous assessments focused on the Tax Code and different administrative legal acts.

Ambassador Markus Müller, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan welcomed the positive reception of the current anti-corruption assessment not only by international organizations but also within government circles and confirmed the Office’s readiness to work with all the relevant stakeholders involved.

The presentation of the Customs Code assessment followed a series of practical workshops on anti-corruption assessments for experts from the government and NGOs. During these workshops, participants learned how to identify in legislation provisions that might lead to corruption and draft recommendations to eliminate potentially corruptive provisions in law.

The Customs Code assessment is part of a multi-year initiative by the OSCE Office with the objective of designing a training module on anti-corruption assessment to be included in the mandatory training curricula for civil servants. 

Related Stories

• OSCE Office in Tajikistan organizes first regional forum for promoting women’s political participation in Khujand
• OSCE Office in Tajikistan donates audio-visual material to enhance interactive teaching at Police Academy
• OSCE Office in Tajikistan support Garm’s local authorities in strengthening referral mechanisms for protecting domestic violence victims

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Talent New Energy and Changan Automotive Released the World Premiere Separator-Free Solid-State Battery Technology  Business Wire

Esta edición ha contado con la creatividad de Hombres G, Chenoa y Susanna Griso, entre otras personalidades Leer

Achacar al 3+2 de Wert el deterioro de la Universidad desvirtúa los recuerdos de cualquier estudiante. 

José Tomás tenía sangre mexicana antes y después de la trágica corrida del sábado. La llevaba antes de enfrentarse a 'Navegante' después de que una grave cogida, precisamente en Aguascalientes cuando tenía 18 años, le uniera definitivamente a esta tierra gracias a la sangre azteca que corría por sus venas y de la que siempre presumía.

De momento, el valor de la degradación de la calificación de la deuda soberada de EEUU por parte de S&P es sobre todo simbólico. Rerpesenta una advertencia a su clase política para que sea capaz de llegar a acuerdos bipartidistas. Asimismo, es un síntoma del desplamiento de poder de los países occidentales a las potencias emergentes. 

Bata India is adjusting its strategies due to changing consumer spending patterns. The company is introducing more affordable products and partnering with quick commerce platforms like Zepto to cater to budget-conscious consumers while continuing its premiumization efforts and offline expansion plans.

As AI turns labor into software, the opportunity to productize external professional services has become a hot topic. However, we believe there is also substantial opportunity in productizing internal work within organizations.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) will be the third-ranking Senate Republican, winning election to Conference Chair Wednesday.

The post Tom Cotton Elected Senate Republican Conference Chair appeared first on Breitbart.

A lotta venues around the world are teasing it.

Due to roof damage at City Hall in the recent storms, the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society [BMDS] has postponed the pantomime production of the Pied Piper to January 2015, where it will will take place at the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium. A BMDS spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society has recently been […]

Tickets for the 2015 Bermuda Festival will be available for purchase beginning tomorrow [Nov 25] at 10.00am. The Bermuda Festival is honouring their 40th anniversary with an amazing line-up of talented local and international performers, with 19 events to choose from including jazz, classical, opera, theatre, and even disco. The events start on January 23rd, […]

Grace Kellyová (12. listopadu 1929 – 14. září 1982) byla filmová ikona, jež stihla prožít pod dohledem veřejnosti dva životy: ten kratší patřil úspěšné hollywoodské herečce, ten delší monacké kněžně. Oba obestírá romantický opar dokonalosti. Neprávem: neobešly se totiž bez kontroverze, pragmatičnosti i obyčejného lidského zoufalství.

Индийская компания DRDO провела испытания новой крылатой ракеты большой дальности LRLACM.

A trio of Apple customers this month filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the Cupertino company of violating California consumer protection laws and false advertising for continuing to sell AirPods Pro models that had ongoing issues with crackling or static sounds.


A few months after the ‌AirPods Pro‌ came out in October 2019, buyers began to complain about crackling, rattling, popping, and static-like noises affecting the ‌AirPods Pro‌. The sound seemed to show up when something caused an earbud to move or vibrate, such as walking or running.

Apple tried to fix the problem with software updates, but the company ultimately launched an ‌AirPods Pro‌ repair program in October 2020. Customers with affected ‌AirPods Pro‌ were able to bring them to Apple for a fix or a replacement, but unfortunately, many customers found that their replacement ‌AirPods Pro‌ also suffered from the same issue.

As a result, Apple is now facing a class action lawsuit, with the plaintiffs requesting "relief" due to the defective nature of the ‌AirPods Pro‌. The complaint says that customers would not have purchased the ‌AirPods Pro‌ or would have paid less had Apple made the flaw clear.

Apple is also being accused of false advertising for highlighting features like "superior sound quality" and "pure, incredibly clear sound" when knowing there was an issue with crackling and static.

The court will need to decide if the arguments made here hold up, and whether the case deserves class action certification.

Josh McDaniels joins Colin Cowherd shares a story about being the offensive offensive coordinator in New England and coaching Tom Brady. "I have emails of things he liked and didn't like."

Former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels detailed what it was like to prepare for games with Tom Brady every week during a season.

Solomon Ball stole a pass and took it all the way for a transition dunk to extend the Connecticut Huskies' lead over the Le Moyne Dolphins.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: OpenAI is preparing to launch a new artificial intelligence agent codenamed "Operator" that can use a computer to take actions on a person's behalf (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), such as writing code or booking travel [...]. In a staff meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI's leadership announced plans to release the tool in January as a research preview and through the company's application programming interface for developers [...]. The one nearest completion will be a general-purpose tool that executes tasks in a web browser, one of the people said. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman hinted at the shift to agents in response to a question last month during an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. "We will have better and better models," Altman wrote. "But I think the thing that will feel like the next giant breakthrough will be agents." The move to release an agentic AI tool also comes as OpenAI and its competitors have seen diminishing returns from their costly efforts to develop more advanced AI models.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In a staff meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI's leadership announced plans to release the tool in January as a research preview

Zendaya got candid on how she feels working with her beau Tom Holland.While joining the star-studded lineup on the cover of Vanity Fair’s 31st Annual Hollywood Issue, the actress shared about the “chemistry” she has with Holland when the couple is working together.When asked if...

The difference between what the answer should be-and what it will be-tells you almost everything you need to know about today's Democratic Party.

Tom Brady opened up about being a parent to a crowd in New York and admitted he was no expert in that art. He has three children with two women.