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Bermuda Riders Compete In Martinique

Bermuda riders Rai Burch, Tyler James, Kimoy Cruickshank, and Kayla Bardgett competed on the Grand Caraibe Tour in Martinique. Day one saw the competitors compete in 2 phases special classes at 3 height divisions. James was eliminated out of 44 starters in the 0.90 cm class, Cruickshank finished 25th and Bardgett finished 29th out of […]




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Quick Rapport Technique.

As most fundraisers know, building rapport with donors keeps them on the phone and listening to your request. Rapport isn't a clever trick; it is a means of showing donors that you are interested in them and that you have at least some small things in common. We build rapport in almost every conversation we have whether on or off of the phone. Building rapport with someone you've just called for the first time can be a little harder, but it is certainly possible.

One simple technique for rapport building is knowing the state nicknames or motto's of the states that you're dialing into. Asking a donor how things are going in the Equality State rather than simply how things are going, makes your question more intimate. Donors really do open up when you take a personal interest in them. Listed below are the state nicknames.

StateNickname(s)
 Alabama
(No official nickname)[1]
 Alaska
 Arizona
 Arkansas
 California
  • El Dorado State
  • The Golden State[12][13] (previously used on license plates)
  • The Land of Sunshine and Opportunity
  • Golden West
  • Grape State
  • Land of Milk and Honey
  • Land of Fruits and Nuts
  • Where Stars Are Buried
  • The Cereal Bowl of the Nation
  • The Eureka State [14]
  • The Bear State (or Republic)
  • The Sunshine State (in disuse) (c.f. FL)
 Colorado
 Connecticut
  • Constitution State
  • Nutmeg State
  • Charter Oak State
 Delaware
 District of Columbia
 Florida
  • Alligator State[25]
  • Citrus State[citation needed]
  • Everglade State[25]
  • Flower State[25]
  • God's Waiting Room
  • Gulf State[25]
  • Hurricane State[citation needed]
  • La Florida
  • Manatee State[citation needed]
  • Orange State[25]
  • Peninsula State or Peninsular State[23]
  • Sunshine State (currently used on license plates)
  • Tropical State[Full Article

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    2026 Cadillac Vistiq Electric SUV



    • SUVs & Trucks


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    Diversity in the NSA Workplace: ‘Your Unique Voice and Skillset will be an Asset’

    How inclusive is NSA in terms of diversity? Recently, two employees answered that question and more. Let’s go straight to the source. Michelle E. Prior to joining the National Security Agency (NSA) as a recruiter, Michelle E., pictured life at the agency like many of us do. “Whenever thinking about NSA, I always thought of […]

    The post Diversity in the NSA Workplace: ‘Your Unique Voice and Skillset will be an Asset’ appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.



    • Diversity Career Stories

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    The Game Changing Techniques of Internet Marketing Services

    Internet marketing is a frantic venture. Even after going through all the articles on internet marketing, it is not easy to keep up with it. Getting into this business, calls for dedication, tons of hours and plenty of research. It is not only frantic at times, but also competitive which means you must make up […]




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    ASUS ProArt LC 360 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

    In this review we are taking a look at the ProArt LC 360, a 360mm all-in-one cooler for your CPU that brings in some outside help from Alphacool for the fan solution. Taking design queues from the existing LC 420, the LC 360's smaller radiator footprint allows for use in many more case options, while still promoting good performance.

    The post ASUS ProArt LC 360 Liquid CPU Cooler Review appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.




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    Empathy in Action: Techniques to Strengthen Relationships and Well-being

    Empathy is one of those quiet superpowers that can reshape our lives for the better. It isn’t flashy, but it has an impact everywhere—from our closest relationships to the way we interact at work, and even how we perceive our broader society. For example, consider a parent who takes the time to understand their child’s ... Read more

    The post Empathy in Action: Techniques to Strengthen Relationships and Well-being appeared first on LifeHack.





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    Explore these unique sustainable pergola design Ideas

    The pergola is one aspect of ancient architecture that remains relevant today. Pergolas date back to ancient Egypt, but the concept itself might have come much earlier. The evolution of pergolas has witnessed many changes along the way. Today, it is technically impossible to draw a line between a pergola and a gazebo. However, for clarity, we will stick to the traditional idea of a pergola, one that is relatively merged with the house design.[...]




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    5 unique and sustainable fencing options for your garden

    Gardening is one of the most ecologically conscious projects that most people can practice. With concepts such as net-zero gardening taking shape, gardeners go to unimaginable lengths to avoid harming the environment. The one aspect most gardeners never consider is that a garden fence can have negative environmental effects and must be installed with consciousness. Creating a sustainable garden only to install an unsustainable fence negates the entire purpose of your project. Interestingly, installing a sustainable fence is easy and often more affordable than traditional options. [...]




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    5 Most Common Malware Techniques in 2024

    Tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) form the foundation of modern defense strategies. Unlike indicators of compromise (IOCs), TTPs are more stable, making them a reliable way to identify specific cyber threats. Here are some of the most commonly used techniques, according to ANY.RUN's Q3 2024 report on malware trends, complete with real-world examples. Disabling of Windows Event Logging





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    Wool Applique Chicks - I Love Handwork!!!


    I started this project in October, 2014, so I would have a nice handwork project while traveling for a month in Europe. I love it!!!

    A bunch of pre-cut threads and trims, a small package of mixed seed beads/buttons/sequins, a folded piece of felt with various sizes of needles, embroidery scissors, Sue Spargo's book, and 16 wool chicks already stitched to the background wool fit very nicely into a 12 x 9 inch zippered, mesh bag.... perfect to tuck into my backpack! I stitched on the airplanes, in people's homes, and with my beady/quilty friends! At the end of the month, 8 chicks were finished. You can see them here.


    Since then, I've been busy making a Travel Diary quilt, and starting another very challenging "Shimmer" quilt, which will be the subject of the next post. However, once in a while, the Chicks are just the right break from machine sewing. Working on them makes me happy and peaceful.


    The new ones are in this post... As you can see in the photo below, I still have 2 chicks to embellish, plus one that might need something more.


    When all of them are finished, it will be time to decide what to do with them. My idea so far is to make them into a small wall quilt, hand quilting around the chicks, maybe adding a few flowers between some of the chicks.  I'll wait to decide, keeping all options open until the chicks are finished.


    Most of the chicks are girls, but so far 3 of them seem to have a bit of testosterone...  can you tell which ones are the boys? You'll need to click on the above picture of all 16 to enlarge it enough to find the boys. If you feel like making a guess, let's give them numbers starting at the top left with 1 and going across row by row. As you can probably tell, the one below is definitely a girly girl!

    By the way, the lace trim on the above chick is vintage lace from LaDonne Weinland, an Etsy vendor. It was white, which was too "strong" a color for this piece. So I painted dye on it!!! These are the pieces I painted. To give you an idea of scale, the lace is just under 1/4" wide. The chick, from the bottoms of her feet to the top of her crown, is exactly 3 inches tall.

    Threads! 

    People ask me where I got all the threads I use for these chicks. Here are some answers...

    Variegated pearl cotton. I'd estimate that over half the stitches (all the beaks and feet, most of the edge stitches, tails, and top-knots) are pearl cotton, size 8 or 12. I like using threads that are subtly variegated. DMC and Valdani are two brands of pearl cotton that come in a ball for $5 to $7 per ball. I have purchased some Valdani balls from Sue Spargo and some from this site.

    But most of my perle cotton comes from African Folklore Embroidery ... Leora Raikin, the owner, packages hand-dyed, variegated, pearl cotton on cards of three colors, each color about 10 yards in length, for $5.  She has a HUGE selection, from which you can have 24 colors for only $40!!! I love the colors, the subtle changes of colors in the variegation, and the quality of the thread. Here's a page that shows her colors in size 8 pearl cotton... mind boggling!
    My photo does not show the full amount you get... only how it is packaged, 3 colors to a card!

    Embroidery floss.  For finer stitches and details, I often switch to regular embroidery floss. Again I gravitate toward the variegated colors. DMC has put out a lot of new variegated skeins in recent years. If you have an older supply of solid colors, you might want to check out DMC's 24 new colors. Here's an Etsy seller that offers them. Or, if you are in the Seattle area, Nancy's Sewing Basket (on Queen Anne hill) stocks all of them. They are much more subtle than previous DMC variegated floss choices, more like hand-dyed. Anchor has also added nice options to their line.




    I also buy hand-dyed embroidery floss when I see a skein that appeals to me. Again, I like the subtlety of it.

    Other threads. Sue Spargo offers a line of variegated silk threads in beautiful colors, which she calls Silken Pearl. I bought some of them from her during the class, and have enjoyed using them. The sheen of the silk is a lovely contrast to the more matte quality of the pearl cotton.

    In her book, Sue recommends using a wool thread to applique the wool chicks to the background wool. Since it is quite expensive, I used 60 weight cotton applique/sewing thread by Metler, which I already had in a range of colors. It works fine. If I didn't already have the Metler thread, I probably would have bought a set of Genziana wool threads on bobbins on Etsy, here. This wool thread is a bit too fine for embellishment work, but it's great for wool applique.

    Novelty yarns, metallic threads, chenille, dazzle threads, etc. all have their occasional use as well. As I tend to like more matte and less bling, I don't often use these threads. But it's fun to experiment with them. I did use chenille on one of the above chicks... can you find it?








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    Wool Applique Chicks - Tips

    All 16 chicks are finished now, and I've started quilting the piece!!! I'm quilting by hand, using a single strand of non-mercerized (not shiny) thread (Anchor brand), which is about the same weight as size 12 pearl cotton. This is how it looks so far...


    While I contemplate how to proceed with the quilting, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the design process with you, especially since a few readers have said they might want to try something like this.

    Learning the Stitches - Which Ones to Use and Where to Use Them

    Sue Spargo's book, Creative Stitching, was very important in my design process. I didn't know most of the stitches when I started this piece. The instructions in the book are easy to follow, and I was able to learn all that I wanted from the book. More than learning the stitches, the photos in the book allowed me to see how she uses the stitches to embellish her wool applique shapes. Also, she writes about the threads and needles she uses. I followed her suggestions for needles, but did not use many of the threads she mentions.


    Layout the Shapes

    The wool is felted. I bought already felted (correct term is actually "fulled") wool. But you can make your own by washing wool fabric and drying it in the dryer. Here are some useful instructions for fulling wool fabric.

    The first step is to cut out the chicks from felted wool fabrics. (Although I made chicks, the shape could be anything... butterflies, flowers, circles, donkeys...) I used 16 different colors, making each chick a different color. I used "chick colors" for some of the wings; others are from a bag of wool scraps I bought at the La Conner Quilt Festival.

    I used 60 wt. cotton sewing thread to applique the chicks to the background fabric. Use a thread color that matches the chick color as closely as possible. Although it's a bit shiny, a single strand of embroidery floss would also work for this task.

    Starting to Embellish the Chicks

    When I finished appliqueing the chicks to the background wool, they just looked like blobs, barely recognizable as chicks. This is not inspirational for starting to embellish! I found that in order to even want to start, I needed to make them more real, more chick-like. So I gave them all eyes, all 16 of them. That helped a lot, but still they didn't feel real. So I gave them all feet, and then beaks. So as not to get bored, I changed thread color for both beaks and feet. Some of the eyes are made with a button; some with a flower-shaped bead; some with a disc-shaped bead. When all of them had eyes, feet, and beaks, finally they began to be chicks, and I was ready to start!!!

    Even so... starting is daunting. I used the same method I use (and teach) for bead embroidery... If you've taken a class from me you've heard me say, "Pick up a bead you love, and sew it on somewhere." That's what I did... picked up a thread I loved, picked a stitch that interested me from Sue's book, picked a chick color that appealed to me at that moment, and started practicing the stitch.

    When I finished, I just did the same thing again. Sometimes it was the same chick, sometimes I chose a different chick. I kept picking a thread I liked, usually one I hadn't previously used, a stitch I wanted to learn or really liked, and a chick that seemed "to like" the chosen thread color.

    After a while, some of the chicks were fully embellished. Once I learned the stitches and had experimented with various threads, I tended to work on one chick until it was finished. But if  when I got stuck, and couldn't think what to do next with a particular chick, I just moved along to some other chick that appealed to me at that moment.


    Another way to get started

    If you feel a bit timid about starting, you could make a pincushion, such as I did, shown below. It doesn't take a lot of time or materials, and can give you both practice (particularly in making beaks and feet) and confidence.

    Personality

    I can't help but think of the chicks as youngsters, maybe early teens, with emerging personalities... each, as I work on it, starts to have a story which plays out in my head while I stitch. Once the story begins, it's easier to choose stitches, design motifs, and threads which further develop the story or personality of that chick. Thinking about the chick's personality and background story, keeps me from getting bored, and makes it really fun to work on the piece.


    Thread Hints

    I already wrote about threads, adding it to the bottom the previous post (or, scroll down one more post).

    What's Next?

    As usual, I don't know. I take it one step at a time, trying not to figure it all out before I start. I do what I know to do. If there isn't anything I know to do, then I wait... wait for an idea, for inspiration, for a solution... wait until I know what to do next, but only the next thing... I try to ignore the question of what comes after the next thing. That's what I'm doing now... waiting to know what the next step in the quilting process will be.




    iq

    Finished "Chicks" Quilt (Sue Spargo Wool Applique)

    A week of finishing!!! Oh my, it feels good to finish things, doesn't it?!


    Last October, I started the applique process, stitching chick bodies and wings cut from felled wool onto the wool background fabric. Seven months later, 16 chicks, embroidered with threads and beads, run free! Please click the picture to enlarge it, so you can enjoy the fanciful details.

    If you are new to this process, you can see the various steps and pictures of the chicks on these posts. Of course, they are inspired by Sue Spargo's exhibit at the La Conner Quilt Museum, by her book, Creative Stitching, and by taking a one-day class from her to get me going. Along the way, other books, embroideries, and drawings also inspired me.


    As you might guess, most of the chicks have at least a few beads. Here is one with the main motif embroidered with beads.


    And, here is one with just a few beads, the center of the "flowers," and one with no beads at all.

    Also note that I've quilted the piece with Danish Flower Thread in a shade which closely matches the background color.

    At first, I thought it would be pleasing to embellish the areas between the chicks with flowers, vines, and leaves using three close shades of the background color. Here is an example.


    It looks OK when you look at just four chicks with the flower/vine motif in the center. But when I had finished 6 of the areas (sorry no photo), some of them with larger spaces and larger vines/leaves, it looked too busy. It took away from the chicks. I couldn't tell if I was supposed to look at the chicks or the flowers. So I picked out the vines and leaves, leaving just the flowers, which weren't such a distraction.


    After sewing on the binding, the chicks seemed to need a little warming around them. So I added a line of stem stitch in variegated pearl-cotton in a magenta color. It pleases me!


    Oh, and one more thing... This is a quilt, designed to hang on the wall, with lots of details to enjoy as you view it up close. But what happens to wool felt when it is out in the open? MOTH DAMAGE and DUST are the enemies. My solution? Find, buy, or have somebody make a wall-mounted display case, with a hinged door. Hang the quilt inside the case, which remains closed except when somebody wants to take a closer look. The above, found on the internet, is close to what I have in mind, with a white background of course.


    What's next in chick-land? Well, my dear niece just got married... Here is the start of her wedding gift... I'll post a finished photo soon.




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    Wool Applique + Thread Embroidery + Beads = Happy Quilts!!!

    Oh dear, busy me, four months since I've posted here. Lots of quilting, a little beading, some travels, and recently several sets of house guests have made "retirement" a bit of a joke. For now, since the La Conner Quilt Festival is just around the corner (October 2-4), my subject is one small exhibition on the first floor at the Museum, which is currently up, and will remain through the Festival.

    Last year at the Festival (and again this year!) Sue Spargo taught workshops on her wool applique embroidery methods. Those of us who were lucky enough to get in were invited by the Museum to exhibit our finished pieces. These marvelous creations are the subject of this post. Uneven lighting makes it difficult to get good photos, so please forgive poor color or tone on some of these photos.

    In case you are unfamiliar with Sue's work, below is an example of her work. Students in her class could choose to make chicks, circles, or flowers. Most chose the chicks. Eight of her students are showing their work in the current exhibit.

    My vote for the most awesome-creative piece goes to Bunny Starbuck for She Has Flown the Coop! Here it is:

    Having put my chicks all in neat rows similar to Sue's example, I find it amazing that Bunny's mind took the idea and made a whole different story of it... a coop full of chicks, with two in line on the roof ready to follow the one already in the air. Don't you just love the way the lines divide the space?!




    Note Bunny's use of whispy yarn to suggest little chick feathers, her use of snaps for eyes, the one chick turned full front, the one with a bead-tassled braid and glasses, and the one with beaded loop fringe and a gathered yellow ribbon (?) yo-yo. I love them! I'm in awe, Bunny!

    Below is Chicks on Parade by Dorie Benson. It's so fun the way they are so close together, with two of them going in a different direction, just as you might see in a little cluster of chicks. If you click the photo to enlarge it, you can see some of Dorie's excellent stitching and hand quilting!

    The next one is Chicks by Glenys Baker, who not only did all 36 chicks but also made a second quilt featuring circles (shown further down). Awesome work, Glenys!

    And next is Birds of a Feather Can Dance Together by Lorraine Jones. The fun of the title is matched by the fun of Lorraine's embellishments, including her border treatment. (You'll have to see this one in person, because the light from a table lamp, made the lower corner of the photo look terrible.)

    I guess most of us like to "swim the other way," as you can see in the next piece, Chickadees, by Carrie Unick. I thought many of Corrie's embellishments were especially fun and creative, so I've also included a couple of detail photos.




    Last of the chicks is my piece, simply named Chicks. It was so much fun, that I made another small piece (also in the exhibition), shown at the top of this post. Both are displayed in shadow-box type frames to protect them from dust and moth damage.

    Glenys Baker, in one year, made not only a 36-chicks quilt (shown above), but also a 48-circles quilt, Circles. How she keeps thinking of new embellishment variations I can't imagine. Yet each of her circles is completely unique! Her choice of border fabrics is perfect for the quilt, complimenting the flow of color among the circles.


    I love the fun color combinations and the way the beads enhance her embroidery on Nancy Anders' Bodacious Blooms, a joyful wall quilt if ever there was one! (Again, I couldn't quite get the color right in the photo, so you'll just have to go to the Museum to see it in person.)


    The name of Roberta Roberts' flower quilt, Memories, invites us to look closely at the flower with three ladybugs. I don't know the story, but I can tell there is one here... and I love that. Her embellishments are varied and fun as well.



    There you have it... 10 quilts by 8 students who learned some methods of wool applique and embroidery from Sue Spargo, last year at the La Conner Quilt Festival. I'm so grateful to be one of them!




    iq

    Apartheid isn’t the Question, Settler Colonialism is: Black South African Thought and the Critique of the International Left’s Apartheid Paradigm

    “Chigumadzi argues that within the liberal international order, it is “reasonable” and “workable” to struggle to end apartheid and racial segregation, while it is “unreasonable” and “unworkable” to struggle to end settler colonialism and indigenous land dispossession. In arguing that apartheid is overrepresented in the International Left’s racial discourse and historiography, Chigumadzi draws from generations of Black South African political activists, philosophers, and historians—most notably from the Pan Africanist-Black Consciousness Tradition. These traditions critique apartheid’s relatively short 54 years of institutionalized racial segregation as the paradigmatic historical framework for analyzing South Africa’s three centuries of settler colonialism and land dispossession. Drawing from this black radical critique, Chigumadzi rejects the liberal notion that apartheid’s end is the object of liberation struggle, and, instead asserts the centrality of the struggle for the return of indigenous lands.” Dr. Panashe Chigumadzi is an award-winning writer and Assistant Professor of African History at Brandeis University. Chigumadzi holds a doctorate from Harvard University’s Department of African and African American Studies, and a masters in African Literature from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.




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    2024: Discussion: Bank Failures and Contagion: Lender of Last Resort, Liquidity, and Risk Management

    William Dudley, senior advisor, Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University; and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York In conversation with Markus Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Economics, and Director of the Bendheim Center for Finance, Princeton University Wednesday, November 20, 2024, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building, Room 399 Co-sponsored by The Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies (GCEPS) and Bendheim Center for Finance (BCF) Open to the Princeton University Community Group of 30 Report Publication, G30 Working Group on the 2023 Banking Crisis, chaired by William Dudley











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    Extreme ivory poaching led to tuskless elephants in Mozambique

    As the country’s civil war decimated elephant populations, the proportion of tuskless females rose dramatically. A new study explains why the tuskless trend continued in peacetime.




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    CLIQUE PARA SE INSCREVER

    Receba as principais notícias, análises e áudios produzidos pelas nossas equipes em São Paulo e Londres e seja o primeiro a saber dos fatos mais importantes e interessantes no Brasil e no mundo.





    iq

    Reservoir of liquid water found deep in Martian rocks

    Studies of quakes detected from the planet's surface found it in the planet's rocky outer crust.




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    velocityconf: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/Z0EetiQshZ

    velocityconf: RT @oreillyanimals Vote Instant Wild's Digital Eyes & Ears for Wildlife Protection to win Google Global Impact Award http://t.co/Z0EetiQshZ




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    News24 | Mozambique deploys soldiers ahead of planned protests

    Soldiers and police were patrolling Mozambique's capital Maputo early on Thursday ahead of a planned protest against election results seen by the opposition as fraudulent.




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    News24 | WATCH | SA closes Lebombo border port of entry as Mozambique violence escalates

    South Africa has closed the Lebombo port of entry to and from Mozambique after 15 officials from the Ressano Garcia border fled to SA on Thursday morning for protection.




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    News24 | Mozambique on the brink: Violence escalates as youth protests extend beyond Maputo

    Mozambique is on a knife's edge as young people continue to protest against the outcome of the October elections that extended 49 years of Frelimo rule.




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    News24 | At least 30 killed in Mozambique since start of election violence: HRW

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday that at least 30 people have been killed in Mozambique in almost three weeks of crackdowns on protests over a disputed presidential election.




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    News24 | Business as usual at Lebombo border post with traffic flowing between SA and Mozambique after unrest

    It was business as usual at the Lebombo border post between SA and Mozambique on Saturday morning, with vehicles moving freely between both countries after a shutdown earlier this week.




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    News24 | Mozambique opposition's Mondlane calls for protests at border posts, ports

    Mozambican opposition presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane has called for gatherings at ports and borders, and in major cities from Wednesday for what he describes as a fourth round of demonstrations against a stolen election.




    iq

    News24 | Ronald Lamola denies ANC is protecting 'its friend Frelimo' ahead of more protests in Mozambique

    International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola threw diplomacy out the window on Tuesday and responded angrily when he was asked whether South Africa and the ANC were "protecting its friend" Frelimo in troubled Mozambique.




    iq

    As Video Becomes More Ubiquitous, Decisions More De-Centralized

    Interactive Media Strategies released data on July 14 showing that 62% of corporations that purchased video communications technology made the decision at the President/CEO level when there was no prior investment in this kind of technology.  That number dropped to 58% when the prior year's spend was as much as $10,000.

    The same data shows that when an enterprise already spends $100,000 or more annually on video, the decision-making authority is almost evenly distributed between IT (35%), functional department heads (31%), and the President/CEO level (34%).

    I think the clear implication of this data is that when corporations are already committing resources to video communications and the value of video has already been established, and this kind of technology is no longer considered exotic, then decision-making authority becomes more broadly distributed to IT and the business units.

    This data is interesting when paired with data released in 2010 that shows 15% of executives surveyed that do not spend money on video and are thus not using video communications believe video communications are "very effective."  58% of executives surveyed that spend $100,000 or more annual on video technology indicated they believe video communications are "very effective."

    I am sure this great difference is due to several factors, including: executives who are predisposed to see value in video are those most likely to invest in it, and those that have already made a six figure investment in video will likely not be motivated to feel as if the investment was wasted.  Nonetheless, video obviously wears well because executives who are heavily invested in video believe much more in its value than executives who do not employ the technology.




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    The endosomal trafficking regulator LITAF controls the cardiac Nav1.5 channel via the ubiquitin ligase NEDD4-2 [Computational Biology]

    The QT interval is a recording of cardiac electrical activity. Previous genome-wide association studies identified genetic variants that modify the QT interval upstream of LITAF (lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor-α factor), a protein encoding a regulator of endosomal trafficking. However, it was not clear how LITAF might impact cardiac excitation. We investigated the effect of LITAF on the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.5, which is critical for cardiac depolarization. We show that overexpressed LITAF resulted in a significant increase in the density of Nav1.5-generated voltage-gated sodium current INa and Nav1.5 surface protein levels in rabbit cardiomyocytes and in HEK cells stably expressing Nav1.5. Proximity ligation assays showed co-localization of endogenous LITAF and Nav1.5 in cardiomyocytes, whereas co-immunoprecipitations confirmed they are in the same complex when overexpressed in HEK cells. In vitro data suggest that LITAF interacts with the ubiquitin ligase NEDD4-2, a regulator of Nav1.5. LITAF overexpression down-regulated NEDD4-2 in cardiomyocytes and HEK cells. In HEK cells, LITAF increased ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of co-expressed NEDD4-2 and significantly blunted the negative effect of NEDD4-2 on INa. We conclude that LITAF controls cardiac excitability by promoting degradation of NEDD4-2, which is essential for removal of surface Nav1.5. LITAF-knockout zebrafish showed increased variation in and a nonsignificant 15% prolongation of action potential duration. Computer simulations using a rabbit-cardiomyocyte model demonstrated that changes in Ca2+ and Na+ homeostasis are responsible for the surprisingly modest action potential duration shortening. These computational data thus corroborate findings from several genome-wide association studies that associated LITAF with QT interval variation.




    iq

    Tyrosine phosphorylation of the scaffold protein IQGAP1 in the MET pathway alters function [Signal Transduction]

    IQGAP1 is a key scaffold protein that regulates numerous cellular processes and signaling pathways. Analogous to many other cellular proteins, IQGAP1 undergoes post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation. Nevertheless, very little is known about the specific sites of phosphorylation or the effects on IQGAP1 function. Here, using several approaches, including MS, site-directed mutagenesis, siRNA-mediated gene silencing, and chemical inhibitors, we identified the specific tyrosine residues that are phosphorylated on IQGAP1 and evaluated the effect on function. Tyr-172, Tyr-654, Tyr-855, and Tyr-1510 were phosphorylated on IQGAP1 when phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity was inhibited in cells. IQGAP1 was phosphorylated exclusively on Tyr-1510 under conditions with enhanced MET or c-Src signaling, including in human lung cancer cell lines. This phosphorylation was significantly reduced by chemical inhibitors of MET or c-Src or by siRNA-mediated knockdown of MET. To investigate the biological sequelae of phosphorylation, we generated a nonphosphorylatable IQGAP1 construct by replacing Tyr-1510 with alanine. The ability of hepatocyte growth factor, the ligand for MET, to promote AKT activation and cell migration was significantly greater when IQGAP1-null cells were reconstituted with IQGAP1 Y1510A than when cells were reconstituted with WT IQGAP1. Collectively, our data suggest that phosphorylation of Tyr-1510 of IQGAP1 alters cell function. Because increased MET signaling is implicated in the development and progression of several types of carcinoma, IQGAP1 may be a potential therapeutic target in selected malignancies.




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    In Vivo Identification of Human Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier Polymerization Sites by High Accuracy Mass Spectrometry and an in Vitro to in Vivo Strategy

    Ivan Matic
    Jan 1, 2008; 7:132-144
    Research




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    Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Eleven Common Cell Lines Reveals Ubiquitous but Varying Expression of Most Proteins

    Tamar Geiger
    Mar 1, 2012; 11:M111.014050-M111.014050
    Special Issue: Prospects in Space and Time




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    A Proteome-wide, Quantitative Survey of In Vivo Ubiquitylation Sites Reveals Widespread Regulatory Roles

    Sebastian A. Wagner
    Oct 1, 2011; 10:M111.013284-M111.013284
    Research




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    A Tandem Affinity Tag for Two-step Purification under Fully Denaturing Conditions: Application in Ubiquitin Profiling and Protein Complex Identification Combined with in vivoCross-Linking

    Christian Tagwerker
    Apr 1, 2006; 5:737-748
    Research




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    20 Years On: Removal of the Ban on LGBTIQ+ Personnel Serving in the UK Armed Forces




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    Adipose differentiation-related protein is an ubiquitously expressed lipid storage droplet-associated protein

    DL Brasaemle
    Nov 1, 1997; 38:2249-2263
    Articles





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    Existence and uniqueness result for reaction-diffusion model of diffusive population dynamics

    A. Kh. Khachatryan, Kh. A. Khachatryan and A. Zh. Narimanyan
    Trans. Moscow Math. Soc. 83 (), 183-200.
    Abstract, references and article information




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    Unique active-site and subsite features in the arabinogalactan-degrading GH43 exo-{beta}-1,3-galactanase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium [Enzymology]

    Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are plant proteoglycans with functions in growth and development. However, these functions are largely unexplored, mainly because of the complexity of the sugar moieties. These carbohydrate sequences are generally analyzed with the aid of glycoside hydrolases. The exo-β-1,3-galactanase is a glycoside hydrolase from the basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Pc1,3Gal43A), which specifically cleaves AGPs. However, its structure is not known in relation to its mechanism bypassing side chains. In this study, we solved the apo and liganded structures of Pc1,3Gal43A, which reveal a glycoside hydrolase family 43 subfamily 24 (GH43_sub24) catalytic domain together with a carbohydrate-binding module family 35 (CBM35) binding domain. GH43_sub24 is known to lack the catalytic base Asp conserved among other GH43 subfamilies. Our structure in combination with kinetic analyses reveals that the tautomerized imidic acid group of Gln263 serves as the catalytic base residue instead. Pc1,3Gal43A has three subsites that continue from the bottom of the catalytic pocket to the solvent. Subsite −1 contains a space that can accommodate the C-6 methylol of Gal, enabling the enzyme to bypass the β-1,6–linked galactan side chains of AGPs. Furthermore, the galactan-binding domain in CBM35 has a different ligand interaction mechanism from other sugar-binding CBM35s, including those that bind galactomannan. Specifically, we noted a Gly → Trp substitution, which affects pyranose stacking, and an Asp → Asn substitution in the binding pocket, which recognizes β-linked rather than α-linked Gal residues. These findings should facilitate further structural analysis of AGPs and may also be helpful in engineering designer enzymes for efficient biomass utilization.