The 5 Secrets to Surviving a Long Distance Relationship | Brook ...

There are certain times in your life when you have to make big decisions. Not decisions like whether to take the train or bus to work, but decisions that can truly impact your life as you know it. One of those decisions may be whether to continue a relationship long distance or end it.

Maybe she finally was accepted into the university she has always dreamed of attending; maybe those long days of wearing suits and interviewing with companies finally paid off and you have been asked to join a company far away from where you are currently living. Neither one of you can say no to these opportunities, but that doesn?t mean the last few years you have spent together mean nothing. You can live in different cities and even live across the sea without giving up your relationship. You can still be in love and have a strong and successful relationship.

Long Distance Relationship Success Tips

• Have a Time Line- It can be hard dealing with the fact that your significant other lives in a different city or country, especially when it seems like there is no end in sight. Instead of walking into the long distance relationship blind with no concrete idea of when you will see each other again, make a plan. Decide how long you will live apart and stick to it. Maybe she needs to finish her studies before she can move where you are working, or perhaps you will be allowed to transfer to a company that is closer to her after you have been employed for a year? Figure it out before you make any decisions about your relationship and determine if the two of you can handle that amount of time apart.

• Make Plans- While you are discussing time lines, grab a calendar and make plans to meet each other for some quality time while you live apart. If the distance is far, you may need to meet in the middle if money and time is a problem. Also, make plans to talk either via web chat or on the phone every day. You can use technology like Skype to have mini-dates; dress up in your snazzy men?s tweed jacket, grab your laptop, and light a few candles before dinner so you can talk and see each other over a meal. Even if it is just for a few minutes when you are drinking your morning coffee or preparing for bed, it can ease the loneliness and make you feel like you are still together.

• Make Quality Time Count- Speaking of your plans, make sure your quality time counts. This is no time to skimp on the romance. You may only have two days together, and they need to be full of love, fun, and togetherness. Take her out, and remember your appearance matters. If she hasn?t seen you in a month, she is going to be a bit disappointed if you spend all of your time in front of the television wearing sweats. Put on a tweed jacket and a nice pair of trousers for your dinner date. Pick out men?s suits and take her somewhere special. Make sure your suits are wrinkle free, your hair is combed, and you are wearing her favourite cologne.

• Go Out- You can?t go to work and stay home simply because your significant other isn?t around. Have a life. Grab your men?s tweed jacket and go out, make friends, and have a bit of fun. Encourage her to do the same as well; neither of you will be happy if you put off your lives while you are in a long distance relationship.

• Trust Each Other- You can?t stay on Skype with your girlfriend twenty-four hours a day- at some point, you are going to have to put on one of your gorgeous and fitted pinstripe suits and go to work. You have to trust that she will miss you, that she will be faithful, and that she will still love you when you are together again, and she has to do the same.

Long distance relationships can work, if you know how to handle them. If you are in love, are willing to put in a bit of effort and trust, and will make every moment you spend with your significant other memorable, distance won?t mean a thing.

About Susan Grant

Susan has more than 7 years of experience as a Fashion Advisor for several reputed fashion houses and manufacturers including Brook Taverner. Her ultimate dream is to design and sell her own clothing line worldwide!

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Source: http://thefittingroom.brooktaverner.co.uk/2012/12/the-5-secrets-to-surviving-a-long-distance-relationship/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-5-secrets-to-surviving-a-long-distance-relationship

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Biofilm Formation and Adherence Characteristics of Listeria ivanovii Strains Isolated from Ready-to-Eat Foods in Alice, South Africa

¹Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, PMB X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa
²Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon

Copyright ? 2012 Mirriam E. Nyenje et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The present study was carried out to investigate the potential of Listeria ivanovii isolates to exist as biofilm structures. The ability of Listeria ivanovii isolates to adhere to a surface was determined using a microtiter plate adherence assay whereas the role of cell surface properties in biofilm formation was assessed using the coaggregation and autoaggregation assays. Seven reference bacterial strains were used for the coaggregation assay. The degree of coaggregation and autoaggregation was determined. The architecture of the biofilms was examined under SEM. A total of 44 (88%) strains adhered to the wells of the microtiter plate while 6 (12%) did not adhere. The coaggregation index ranged from 12 to 77% while the autoaggregation index varied from 11 to 55%. The partner strains of S. aureus, S. pyogenes, P. shigelloides, and S. sonnei displayed coaggregation indices of 75% each, while S. Typhimurium, A. hydrophila, and P. aeruginosa registered coaggregation indices of 67%, 58%, and 50%, respectively. The ability of L. ivanovii isolates to form single and multispecies biofilms at 25?C is of great concern to the food industry where these organisms may adhere to kitchen utensils and other environments leading to cross-contamination of food processed in these areas.

1. Introduction

In nature, bacterial cells are most frequently found in close association with surfaces and interfaces, in the form of multicellular aggregates embedded in an extracellular matrix generally referred to as biofilms [1]. Biofilms are usually heterogeneous; in that they contain more than one type of bacterial species, but they can be homogeneous in cases such as infections and medical implants [2]. Microbial biofilms pose a challenge in clinical and industrial setting especially in food processing environments where they act as a potential source of microbial contamination of foods that may lead to spoilage and transmission of foodborne pathogens [3, 4]. They can also compromise the cleanliness of food contact surfaces and environmental surfaces by spreading detached individual microorganisms into the surrounding environment [5].

Environmental conditions in food production areas including the presence of moisture, nutrients, and inocula of microorganisms from the raw materials might favour the formation of biofilm. Furthermore, when food processing equipments are not easily cleaned due to its design and food particles not completely removed, the particles aid in the formation of biofilms by providing a coat that not only provides the biofilm with nutrients but also a surface to which it can easily stick on [6]. Once biofilms have formed on food processing surfaces, they are hard to eliminate often resulting in persistence and endemic population.

Biofilms offer their member cells several benefits, including channeling nutrients to the cells and protecting them against harsh environments. In particular, it has been noted that cells within biofilms are more resistance to antibiotics, disinfectants, and to host immune system clearance than their planktonic counterparts [3, 7]. Several mechanisms account for this increased antibiotic resistance, including the physical barrier formed by exopolymeric substances, a proportion of dormant bacteria that are inert toward antibiotics, and resistance genes that are uniquely expressed in biofilms [8]. Outbreaks of pathogens associated with biofilms have been related to the presence of species of Listeria, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, and Escherichia coli O157?:?H7. These bacteria are of special significance in ready-to-eat and minimally processed food products, where microbiological control is not conducted in the terminal processing step [6].

L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are potential pathogens of listeriosis, a rare but serious disease with a high mortality rate of 30% in pregnant women or immunocompromised individuals [9?11]. Listeria strains have been reported to survive for months to years in food processing environments and, thus, colonize various food products leading to food contamination [12]. L. monocytogenes biofilms in food processing plants have been widely studied [13]. However, there is a dearth of information on the ability of L. ivanovii to form biofilm; this might be due to the fact that it rarely causes human illnesses due to its low prevalence in the environment. Nonetheless, recent studies in the environment of the present study have reported high prevalence of the organism in wastewater effluents and various ready-to-eat foods [14, 15], suggesting that the organism might be endemic in the area. Therefore the present study was carried out to investigate the ability of L. ivanovii isolates to exist as biofilm structures, in an effort to establish the factors for this endemicity.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Biofilm Formation and Quantification

The biofilm forming ability test was done in accordance with the method of Stepanovic et al. [16]. L. ivanovii isolates obtained from different food sources as reported in our previous study [15] were cultured on Nutrient agar (Oxoid, Basingstoke, England) and plates were incubated at 37?C for 24 hours. Few single colonies were suspended in sterile saline to a turbidity standard comparable to a 0.5 McFarland. The suspension was vortexed for 1 minute from which 20??L was pipetted into a 96-well U-bottomed microtiter plate (Greiner Bio-one GmbH, Germany) containing 180??L of Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth (Oxoid, Basingstoke, England). The plates were incubated aerobically for 24 hours at 25?C ? 2?C. After incubation, the contents of the wells were decanted into a waste container and each well was washed three times with 200??L of sterile normal saline. Following every washing step, the well were emptied by carefully aspirating the content into a waste container and the plates were left to dry overnight in an inverted position before they were fixed with hot air at 65?C for 1 hour. Plates were stained with 150??L of 1% crystal violet for 30 minutes; the excess stain was aspirated and plates rinsed off by placing them under running tap water until the washings were free of the stains. The plates were left to dry at room temperature in an inverted position overnight before resolubilizing the dye bound to adherent cells with 150??L of 33% (v/v) glacial acetic acid; the optical density (OD) of each well was measured at 595?nm using a microtiter plate reader (SynergyMx, Biotek^R, USA). Reference strains of P. aeruginosa ATCC 15442 and S. aureus NCTC 6571 were used as positive controls while negative control well contained broth only. Tests were performed in triplicates on three occasions, the results averaged, and biofilms quantified as nonadherent, weakly adherent, moderately adherent or strongly adherent.

2.2. Autoaggregation and Coaggregation Assays

Twelve (three each nonadherent, weakly adherent, moderately adherent, and strongly adherent) L. ivanovii isolates and seven reference strains (S. aureus NCTC 6571, S. pyogenes A ATCC 49399, S. Typhimurium ATCC 13311, P. aeruginosa ATCC 15442, P. shigelloides ATCC 51903, A. hydrophila ATCC 35654, and S. sonnei ATCC 29930) were used for these assays. The bacteria strains were grown separately in 20?mL of BHI broth at 37?C for 48 hours. Cells were harvested by high-speed centrifugation (11,000??g for 10?min) and washed twice in 3?mM NaCl containing 0.5?mM CaCl₂. Subsequently, the cells were resuspended in the same solution (3?mM NaCl containing 0.5?mM CaCl₂) and centrifuged at 650??g for 2?min, and the supernatant carefully aspirated and discarded into a waste container. The OD of the cell suspension was measured and adjusted to 0.3 using an automated spectrophotometer (Optima Scientific V-1200) at a wavelength of 660?nm; the cell suspension was used for coaggregation assay. Equal volumes (1?mL each) of the coaggregating partners were mixed and the OD (OD_Tot) of the mixture was immediately read at 660?nm before incubation at room temperature for 2 hours. Subsequently, the tubes were centrifuged at 2,000?rpm for 2?min and the OD of the supernatant (OD_s) measured at the same wavelength (660?nm) [17].

The degree of coaggregation of the paired isolates was determined using the equation

For autoaggregation assay, the individual bacterial suspension adjusted to an OD of 0.3 was incubated at room temperature for 1 hour and the cell suspension centrifuged at 2000?rpm for 2 minutes. The supernatant (2?mL) was transferred into a cuvette and the OD measured at 660?nm.

The degree of autoaggregation was calculated as follows:

OD₀ refers to the initial OD of the organism, and OD₆₀ is the OD of the supernatant after 60?min of incubation.

2.3. Characterization of Biofilm Formation Using Scanning Electron Microscope

The biofilms were further examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) according to the method previously described by Greetje et al. [18] with some modifications. A representative of the biofilm forming strain population was studied. Briefly, a microscope cover slip (22???22?mm) on a glass slide was placed in a petri dish half filled with BHI broth. Subsequently, a few colonies of L. ivanovii were transferred into the BHI broth and incubated at 25?C for 72 hours. For the coaggregation assay, the partner isolate was added after 1 hour of incubation. The cover slips were washed three times with normal saline before fixing with 2.5% (w/v) glutaraldehyde solution for 1 hour. Subsequently, the samples were dehydrated in a series of 20, 40, 60, 80, and 99.5% ethanol solution for 30?min in each concentration. Finally the samples were postfixed in 1% Osmium tetroxide (OsO₄), critical point-dried using CO₂, and sputter-coated with Gold palladium using Elko 1B.3 ion coater before viewing with the SEM (Japan Electron Optical Laboratories JSM-6390LV).

2.3.1. Data Analysis

Tests were done in triplicate on three separate occasions and the results averaged. The cutoff OD (OD_C) for the microtiter plate test was defined as three standard deviations above the mean OD of the negative control. Isolates were classified as follows: ??= nonadherent, ??= weakly adherent; ??= moderately adherent, and????= strongly adherent [17].

3. Results

3.1. Microtiter Adherence Assay

The biofilm formation ability of 50 L. ivanovii strains is summarized in Table 1. Variations in biofilm formation were observed. A total of 44 (88%) strains adhered to the wells of the microtiter plate while 6 (12%) did not adhere. The majority of the isolates demonstrated weak (44%) and moderate (34%) adherence while only 5 (10%) strains strongly adhered to the wells. The optical density range of nonadherent and strong adherent isolates was 0.332?0.503 and 2.32?3.846, respectively.

Table 1: Biofilm formation by Listeria ivanovii isolates () following incubation at 25?C.

3.2. Coaggregation and Autoaggregation

Coaggregation occurred to varying degrees between all the seven partner strains and L. ivanovii isolates. The coaggregation index ranged from 12 to 77% while autoaggregation ranged from 11 to 55%. Some strains which strongly adhere to the wells were equally able to stick to each other (autoaggregation of 32?55%); this was followed by moderate (35?41%) and weak adherent (30?46%) strains while nonadherent cells registered the least autoaggregation 11?20%. On the other hand, moderate adherent strains had a slightly high coaggregation index range of 44?77% followed by strong adherent 41?77% and nonadherent 12?40% strains (Table 2). It was also observed that 95% of the moderately adherent strains had a coaggregation index of >50% while the weak and strong adherent strains had 90% each (Table 2).

Table 2: Listeria ivanovii isolates with coaggregation indices >50% among the four biofilm phenotype.

The partner strains S. aureus, S. pyogenes A, P. shigelloides, and S. sonnei displayed coaggregation indices of 75% each while S. Typhimurium, A. hydrophila, and P. aeruginosa registered coaggregation indices of 67%, 58%, and 50%, respectively. Isolate Liv 38-1 had the highest coaggregation range of 65?77% while the least was Liv 194-2, 12?28% (Table 3).

Table 3: Coaggregation indices of selected biofilm forming Listeria ivanovii isolates with seven different reference strains partners.

In order to evaluate the architecture of the biofilms, SEM was used. Figure 1 shows the scanning electron micrographs of autoaggregates and coaggregates biofilms of L. ivanovii and their coaggregates partner S. aureus NCTC 6571 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 15442. The different biofilm phenotypes were clearly distinguishable; the strong and moderate adherent strains (SA and MA) were seen as densely packed colonies while for the weak adherent strains (WA) few cells were stuck together and the cell morphology was clear (short thick rods), Figure 1. However, contrary to the microtiter results, it was observed that L. ivanovii isolates preferred to grow in single species than multispecies biofilm.

Figure 1: Scanning electron micrographs of autoaggregates and coaggregates biofilms of L. ivanovii and their coaggregates partner S. aureus NCTC 6571 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 15442. SA, strong adherent autoaggregate; MA, moderate adherent autoaggregate; WA, weak adherent autoaggregate; L + S, coaggregates of L. ivanovii and S. aureus; L + P, coaggregates of weak adherent L. ivanovii and P. aeruginosa.

4. Discussion

Control of foodborne pathogens to ensure food safety requires the consideration of many aspects of its natural and industrial ecology. Some Listeria spp. strains have been reported to be persistently present in environments for a range from eight months to ten years [19]. These resident strains are alleged to form biofilms in food processing equipment; the formed biofilms survive most processes used to kill microorganisms in food production; hence, increasing the chances of food contamination [20]. The present study was carried out to investigate the ability of L. ivanovii isolates to exist as single and mixed species biofilm structures. A number of methods have been developed for cultivation and quantification of biofilms; nevertheless, the microtiter plate method remains among the most frequently used assays for investigation of biofilm formation and quantification of bacterial biofilms. The study therefore used the microtiter plate assay to assess the ability of L. ivanovii strains to form biofilm.

The potential of bacteria to form biofilms is affected by a number of factors including strain characteristics, physical and chemical properties of the solid phase, temperature, composition of growth medium, and the presence of other microorganisms [21]. Previous works have observed low biofilm quantities with tryptic soy broth [22, 23]; therefore this study used BHI broth which has been shown to strongly influence biofilm development in many organisms such as Staphylococcus and Listeria species [23, 24]. The present study observed that 88% of the strains were able to form biofilm at 25?C and four biofilm phenotypes were demonstrated. This is of great concern to the food industry especially in the tropics whose room temperature usually falls between 22 and 28?C; implying that with favorable conditions, these organisms at room temperature may grow and adhere to kitchen utensils or the environment if not properly cleaned, hence creating a source for cross-contamination. The attached cells in part also form a substrate for other microorganisms less prone to biofilm formation; this will lead to an increased survival rate of pathogen and further spreading during food processing. The findings concur those of Di Bonaventura et al. [25] who reported biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes at low temperatures (4, 12, and 22?C) on a glass. However, hydrophobicity was found to be higher at 37?C than at 4, 12, and 22?C.

Autoaggregation and coaggregation are of great importance in biofilm formation; they integrate biological structures, by mediating the juxtapositioning of species next to favorable partner species within taxonomically diverse biofilms. Autoaggregation is a process whereby a strain within the biofilm will utter polymers to boost the integration of genetically identical strains; these interactions are enhanced by increased hydrophobicity [17]. In the present study, isolates displayed variations in their autoaggregating abilities suggesting differences in strains and serotypes.

Rickard et al. [26] defined coaggregation as a process by which genetically different bacteria become attached to one another via specific molecules. It was observed that S. aureus, S. pyogenes A, P. shigelloides, and S. sonnei were the strong partners while P. aeruginosa, a strong biofilm producer, recorded the least potential to coaggregate. The findings are in agreement with those of Jacobs and Chenia [27].

However, coaggregation results were contrary to SEM images where strong biofilms were observed in single species than in multispecies biofilms. Worthy of note is the fact that in autoaggregation assays, the individual isolates were grown separately, mixed, and incubated for only 60 minutes before the OD was read; while with the SEM the partner isolate was added after 2 hours of initial growth and the mixture was incubated for 72 hours. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of Listeria species to grow on surfaces with other microorganisms, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative species, in a mixed species biofilm in food processing environments [24, 28]. However, Van der Veen and Abee [24] using plate counts and fluorescence microscopy showed that the cell count of L. monocytogenes was more than the partner strain, Lactobacillus plantarum cells. These findings are in agreement with our findings where few cells of the partner organism were apparent in a strong biofilm structures under SEM. Studies on Flavobacterium spp. observed that isolates which were unable to autoaggregate or showed low aggregation indices displayed varying levels of coaggregation with diverse aquatic bacteria [17]. In this study, the nonadherent strain (Liv 188-2) displayed both autoaggregation and coaggregation characteristics entailing that some of the strains though cannot attach to a solid surface as primary colonizers may interact with already formed organisms later as biofilm partners. Microorganisms can adhere to a surface where it acts as primary colonizers or as later biofilm partners by establishing interactions with other microorganisms [29]. Cell surface components (flagella, pili, adhesin proteins, capsules, and surface charge) are the major contributors to attachment and coaggregation in biofilms [27].

As crystal violet basically stains the number of cells that have attached to the wells of the microtiter, SEM analysis was employed to evaluate the architecture of the biofilms. Unlike weak biofilms where the morphology of single colonies were distinguishable, moderate and strong biofilms showed the presence of densely packed colonies of pleomorphic organisms (very short rods and coccobacilli); this could be in part that the cells were smaller due to competition hence they had to adjust for survival. This could explain the high level of resistance observed in biofilms as nutrient and oxygen depletion within the biofilm cause some bacteria to enter a stationary state, in which they are less susceptible to growth-dependent antimicrobial killing. Also some bacteria might differentiate into a phenotypically resistant state and express biofilm-specific antimicrobial resistance genes that are not required for biofilm formation but contributes to the survival of organisms in the biofilm.

5. Conclusion

The study demonstrated the ability of L. ivanovii isolates to form single and multispecies biofilms at 25?C with strong biofilms from single species. This is of great concern to the food industry where these organisms may adhere to kitchen utensils and the environment leading to cross-contamination. Some strains could not adhere to a surface but could autoaggregate and coaggregate implying that preventing primary adhesion would prevent biofilm formation in these strains. Future studies are required to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of the biofilms as well as determine the virulence genes expression of adherence traits in these biofilms, to throw more light on their pathogenic potential in our environment.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Acknowledgment

The authors are thankful to the Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre, University of Fort Hare, for funding.

Source: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2012/873909/

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Israeli military completes West Bank outpost evacuation

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President Benigno Aquino III?s signing into law of the Reproductive Health (RH)...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/philippinesnewsnet/posts/526280530730169

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Great Graphic: Solar Energy and Swanson's Effect

Technological progress is live changing. Economies of scale of powerful. ?Combine the two and the consequences are far-reaching. ?This Great Graphic comes from the Economist. ? It charts the dollar price per watt of electricity generated by photovoltaic cells going back to the late 1970s.?
Essentially, the cost of photovoltaic cells need to generate solar power falls 20% with each doubling of global capacity. ?This has been dubbed the "Swanson Effect" after Richard Swanson the founder of SunPower, the large US-based manufacturers of solar cells. ?
It is parallel to "Moore's Law" that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years. ?The eighteen months, often cited, was added by an Intel executive that combined the number of chips and their performance.

The Swanson effect reportedly more life in it as there are technological advances that have not been commercialized yet. ?The price per watt of solar-generated electricity will continue to decline. ?However, the technological progress in carbon-based fuels, especially natural gas, risks deterring the adoption of energy alternatives. ? In addition, energy independence may encourage greater unilateralism at a time when the international ties that bind, such as financial integration, appear to be going in reverse. ?

Read more posts on Marc to Market ?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/great-graphic-solar-energy-and-swansons-effect-2012-12

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Forget fiscal cliff: Debt ceiling is much scarier

9 hrs.

Ryan Vlastelica, Edward Krudy and Doris Frankel , Reuters

Investors fearing a stock market plunge if the U.S. tumbles off the "fiscal cliff" next week may want to relax.

But they should be scared if a few weeks later Washington fails to reach a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling as that threatens a default, another credit downgrade and a financial markets panic.

Market strategists say that falling off the cliff for any lengthy period -- which would lead to automatic tax hikes and stiff cuts in government spending?--?would badly dent both consumer and business confidence, but?it would take some time for the U.S. economy to slide into recession. In the meantime, there would be plenty of chances for lawmakers to make amends by reversing some of the effects.

That has been reflected in a U.S. stock market that has still not shown signs of melting down. Instead, it has drifted lower and gotten more volatile.

In some ways, that has let Washington off the hook. In the past, a plunge in stock prices forced the hand of Congress, such as in the middle of the financial crisis in 2008.

"If this thing continues for a bit longer and the result is you get a U.S. debt downgrade ... the risk is not that you lose two and half percent, the risk is that you lose ten and a half," said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at UBS Equity Research in New York.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said earlier?this??week that the United States will technically reach its debt limit at the end of the year.

'Tremendous fight'
The White House has said it will not negotiate the debt ceiling as in 2011, when the fight over what was once a procedural matter preceded the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, but it may be forced into such a battle again. A repeat of that war is most worrisome for markets.

Markets posted several days of sharp losses in the period surrounding the debt ceiling fight in 2011. Even after a bill to increase the ceiling passed, stocks plunged in what was seen as a vote of no confidence in Washington's ability to function, given how close lawmakers came to a default.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered the U.S. sovereign rating to double-A-plus, citing Washington's legislative problems as one reason for the downgrade. The benchmark S&P 500 dropped 16 percent in a four-week period ending Aug. 21, 2011.

"I think there will be a tremendous fight between Democrats and Republicans about the debt ceiling," said Jon Najarian, a co-founder of online brokerage TradeMonster.com in Chicago.

"I think that is the biggest risk to the downside in January for the market and the U.S. economy."

There are some signs in the options market that investors are starting to eye the January period with more wariness. The CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, the market's favored anxiety indicator, has remained at relatively low levels throughout this process, though on Thursday it edged above 20 for the first time since July.

More notable is the action in VIX futures markets, which shows a sharper increase in expected volatility in January than in later-dated contracts. January VIX futures are up nearly 23 percent in the last seven trading days, compared with a 13 percent increase in March futures and an 8 percent increase in May futures. That's a sign of increasing near-term worry among market participants.

Consumers don't appear at all traumatized by the fiscal cliff talks, as yet. Helping to bolster consumer confidence has been a continued recovery in the housing market and growth in the labor market, albeit slow.

The latest employment take will be out Friday, and the Labor Department is expected to show jobs growth of 145,000 for December, in line with recent growth.

Consumers will see their paychecks affected if lawmakers cannot broker a deal and tax rates rise, but the effect on spending is likely to be gradual.

Negotiations ongoing
President Barack Obama met with?congressional leaders from both parties Friday?for discussions about the fiscal cliff, and the House of Representatives is set to convene Sunday and continue working through the New Year. Obama has proposed maintaining current tax rates for all but the highest earners.

Options strategists have noted an increase in positions to guard against weakness in defense stocks such as General Dynamics, as those stocks would be affected by spending cuts set for that sector. Notably, though, the PHLX Defense Index is less than 1 percent away from an all-time high reached Dec. 20.

This underscores the view taken by most investors and strategists: One way or another, Washington will come to an agreement to offset some effects of the cliff. The result will not be entirely satisfying, but it will be enough to satisfy investors.

"Expectations are pretty low at this point and yet the equity market hasn't reacted," said Carmine Grigoli, chief U.S. investment strategist at Mizuho Securities USA. "You're not going to see the markets react to anything with more than a 5 to 7 percent correction."

Markets, for the most part, have not shown the same kind of volatility as in 2008 or 2011.

A gradual decline remains possible, Golub said, if business and consumer confidence continues to take a hit on the back of fiscal cliff worries. The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell sharply in December, a drop blamed in part on the fiscal issues.

"If Congress came out and said that everything is off the table, yeah, that would be a short-term shock to the market, but that's not likely," said Richard Weiss, a Mountain View, Calif.-based senior money manager at American Century Investments.

"Things will be resolved, just maybe not on a good time table. All else being equal, we see any further decline as a buying opportunity."?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/forget-fiscal-cliff-debt-ceiling-much-scarier-1C7753061

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Different Car Insurance Policies

Life Insurance Eagan MN You will see more and more drivers on the road every year. This can lead to a higher possibility of a car accident. If you get in a car crash, the auto insurance you own can make a large difference in the experience you have. So how can you find out what insurance you need and the quantity you should purchase? Mandated coverage varies by state/province but typically includes the following: Liability: Bodily injury and property damage that you have caused will be covered under liability insurance. Bodily injury damages include medical fees, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Property damage can refer to damaged property or loss of use of property. It can also cover your defense and court costs if you are sued. State laws typically require minimum amounts of liability insurance, but higher amounts are available and very beneficial. Personal Injury Protection: Personal injury insurance is mandated in some states and is optional in others. It pays you or your passengers for medical treatment resulting from a crash, regardless of who may have been at fault, and is often called no-fault coverage. This insurance can also cover lost earnings, replacement of services and funeral expenses. State government typically sets minimum amounts. Medical Payments: Medical payment coverage is available in states that are not considered no-fault; it pays regardless of who may be responsible. This insurance will pay for an insured person?s reasonable and necessary medical or funeral expenses for bodily injury from a crash. Collision: Damages resulting from a car accident will be covered under this kind of insurance. Comprehensive: This applies if your vehicle is stolen or damaged by something other than a collision, including fire, wind, hail, flood or vandalism. Uninsured Motorist: Thousands of drivers are breaking the law by driving without having the right amount of car insurance. This insurance will protect you if one of these drivers hit you. Under-Insured Motorist: Similar to uninsured motorist protection, this kind of insurance protects you against drivers without enough insurance protection. Emergency road service, car rental, and other types of car insurance can also be purchased. Your car insurance payments vary by company and will depend on multiple factors, including: *Your selected coverage *Your vehicle?s make and model * Your driving record * Your age, sex and marital status * The place where you live Many people think of car insurance as a necessary evil, but it can save you from a financial fiasco. Review your needs, do your research , and with the guidance of your insurance agent, choose the option that best suits you.

Source: http://savetheknoll.org/different-car-insurance-policies-2/

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Five First Families Celebrate New Year's Eve & The Greatest White ...

The Washington Monument which lit up precisely at the turn of the new millennium.

If Presidents and First Ladies seem to exclusively spend the Christmas holiday with members of their family, most of those in the last sixty years have celebrated New Year?s Eve with their friends, and almost always away from the White House.

Crowds stream into the 1902 New Year?s Day Reception at the White House.

Of course, until eighty years ago, they rarely left Washington at this time of the year, to avoid irritating or infuriating the diplomatic corps, army and navy officers, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, the House, the Senate and the general public all of whom had come to expect to meet them at the annual New Year?s Day Reception, a tradition in place since being initiated by first President George Washington (The White House New Year?s Day Reception).

Then, in 1931, Herbert Hoover was conveniently out of town over the hump day between two years and there was no New Year?s Day Reception ? and there was no widespread protest (the Great Depression was apparently enough to be angry about).

Repeatedly remaining out of Washington over the New Year?s Day holiday seemed to be the one certain method for dispelling the hope which occasionally arose, time to time, that the New Year?s Day Reception would be revived.

In the 1950s, New Year?s Eve meant Augusta, Georgia for the Eisenhowers.

Dwight D. Eisenhower made his first visit there as the retired Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, in 1948, three years after the end of World War II as a guest of club and Masters Tournament co-founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts.

Roberts, Jones & Ike, from left, 1953.

Mamie?s Cabin as it was then called, on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club.

When he became President in 1953, a number of his friends and fellow members there, joined forces to build him and the First Lady a special ?Mamie?s Cabin,? one of a total of ten white-clapboard cabins on the grounds of the Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia.

As President, he and his wife spent several weeks there each winter or early spring, a total of twenty-nine visits during his presidency.

Built on the number ten tee, it has a wide, broad porch with rocking chairs and a view of a bright green putting green.

Ike and Mamie arrive for New Year?s 1957-1958.

Ike relaxing on the green.

Standing three stories, with two bedrooms on the top two floors, a basement used for Secret Service agents and a large dining room and living room, where there was always a bridge table up for cards or a game of Scrabble.

Spending New Year?s Eve and Day there with his friends was a desperately needed break for the older yet overworked President. ?Any person enjoys his or her friends; a president needs them, perhaps more intensely at times than anything else,? he remarked after his 1957-1858 stay, where the two photos below show the Eisenhowers ringing in New Year?s Day.

The Eisenhowers raise a glass of cheer for the new year with friends.

President and Mrs. Eisenhower ringing in New Year?s Day with friends at Augusta National Golf Course.

Although Lyndon B. Johnson conceded to his wife?s wishes that they spend the last Christmas during his presidency at the White House, he insisted that they return to their LBJ Ranch in Texas for New Year?s Eve, 1968.

LBJ and Lady Bird with their cook Zephyr Wright in the LBJ Ranch dining room.

LBJ driving on his ranch property.

Having become overwhelmed with the Vietnam War nearly a year before, in January of 1968, he had removed his name from the Democratic primary race. One after the other there then came national crises: the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, urban riots, anti-war protests at the Democratic National Convention, failed peace negotiations with the Communist North Vietnamese.

Even though he would be retiring to the ranch less than three weeks after New Year?s Day, his expression on welcoming in the new year seemed numbed and saddened. He would only live four years, dying just before President Nixon?s second inauguration.

The LBJs ring in 1969 at their Texas ranch with friends.

The Nixons spent New Year?s Eve in a variety of way.

The Nixon Winter White House, Key Biscayne, Florida.

On their first such holiday while White House incumbents, the close family returned to their new home in San Clemente, California. On the first day of the new decade of the 70s, the President signed the National Environmental Policy Act which would set in motion the most substantive environmental protection and renewal in history.

Four years later, was a radically different type of New Year?s Day for Nixon. Both of the President?s daughters and their husbands were in Europe, and First Lady Pat Nixon had flown home to California, to participate in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. Although it was just two months after his overwhelming re-election victory, President Nixon spent New Year?s Eve 1972 entirely alone, sequestering himself with work at Camp David.

President Nixon with his confidante Bebe Rebozo outside his Florida Winter White House.

Perhaps the happiest of those spent during his presidency was their third, where the family enjoyed the last day of 1971 and the first day of 1972 together at their ?Winter White House? in Key Biscayne, Florida, joined by family intimate Bebe Rebozo.

Rebozo was a Cuban-American banker and real estate developer who had introduced the Nixons to the property several years earlier and owned a home within the compound where theirs was also built.

Nixon takes his daughter and son-in-law out for a row at Key Biscayne.

President Nixon with his friend Bebe Rebozo at his Florida Winter White House.

The Nixons at the shore of their Key Biscayne Winter White House.

Even before Ronald Reagan had been elected President in 1980, he and his wife had honored their long-standing tradition of making New Year?s Eve the one annual holiday reserved for their close coterie of friends, many of whom had been loyal financial supporters of his political campaigns since his first run as California Governor.

The Reagans with William and Betty Wilson, Walter and Leonore Annenberg, Earle and Marion Jorgensen, Armand and Harriet Deutsch at the President?s 75th birthday.

Most of the husbands were self-made millionaires and their wives were all close friends, the group all within the same generation and residents of southern California.

A terrace at Sunnylands the Palm Springs estate of the Annenbergs where the Reagans always spent New Year?s.

Perhaps the most prominent of all, outside of Reagan, was the former U.S. Ambassador to England and publisher Walter Annenberg. The annual New Year?s Eve gathering was always held at their Rancho Mirage, California estate, near Palm Springs,? (now a restored museum-conference center), known as ?Sunnylands.?

The Annenberg Palm Springs estate Sunnylands.

Except for one year, the Reagans attended for 18 years, starting in 1973.

For the President, while he still dressed in black tie for the evening dinner dance held as each new year of the 80s was welcomed, the greater gift was being able to simply relax and rest in the sun.

Last year, the former First Lady recalled her memories of the event for Bob Colacello of Vanity Fair: ?Ronnie and I were never big New Year?s Eve people. But we loved the New Year?s Eves at Sunnylands. They were wonderful parties. People came from all over: London, Paris, New York?everywhere.?

The Reagans on New Year?s Day at the Sunnylands estate of their friends, Walter and Leonore Annenberg.

Annenberg, the President, Ambassador Charles Wilson, Attorney General William French Smith, Secretary of State George Schultz, Chief of Staff Don Regan at Sunnylands for New Year?s in 1985.

The Reagans dance in 1986 at the Annenbergs?s New Year?s Eve party.

Mrs. Reagan with her closest friend Betsy Bloomingdale who also traditionally joined the annual Annenberg New Year?s holiday party with their coterie of friends.

Before and after he was elected President in 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Rodham had been attending the annual ?Renaissance Weekend?at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

President Clinton speaks with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan at a New Year?s Renaissance weekend.

The Clintons participating in a Renaissance Weekend panel.

The gathering of leaders in science, technology, industry, diplomacy, politics, arts, and business is an informal weekend of panel discussions and networking which occurs over the New Year?s holiday and extend over the closest weekend. In many ways, the participation of President-Elect Clinton, following his 1992 election, and his continuing attendance gave the gathering wider global exposure. Both of the Clintons continued their support of the weekend organization throughout and beyond their White House years.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden was enclosed and converted into a jazz club for the Clintons?s 2000 Millennium party.

Over the seventh of their eight New Year?s Eve celebrations as President and First Lady, however, the Clintons realized they would be in their visible positions at a time of global interest as not merely a century but a millennium turned, from the end of the second to the third 1000-year period. To mark it, they hosted one of the most historic parties ever held in the White House. It began with a dinner for Americans of recognition, including Italian actress Sophie Loren whose family had been saved by Americans during World War II. There followed a public celebration of the midnight moment, at the Lincoln Memorial.

After the Lincoln Memorial ceremonies, they returned to the White House to host a party that rollicked from one century into the next, complete with an early breakfast in the wee hours and dancing in tented areas of the East Jacqueline Kennedy Garden and the west Rose Garden. (The author himself was among those in attendance).

The President, Mrs. Clinton and their daughter at the Lincoln Memorial at the moment the new millennium began.

Mary Wilson, formerly of the Supremes sang in the new millennium at the Clinton New Year?s Eve White House party in 2000.

President Clinton welcomes actor Sophie Loren to the White House Millenium party, one of many accomplished figures who attended.

One of numerous blown glass trees by artist Dale Chihuly installed for the Clintons? Millennium party.

President Clinton dips his daughter in a dance at the 2000 White House New Year?s Eve Party.

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Source: http://carlanthonyonline.com/2012/12/29/five-first-families-celebrate-new-years-eve-the-greatest-white-house-party-ever-held/

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Ruth Hughes' Inspirational, Plant-Based Weight Loss Story | Will ...

Every now and then I meet someone during my travels that moves me beyond words. Shortly after publishing my one-year road trip update, naming the 10 14 most memorable people from the journey, I landed in San Diego and met Ruth Hughes. Ruth and I had been in touch about meeting up when I made my way to San Diego, so we set aside a dinner date at Cafe Gratitude. During our chat I learned about Ruth?s incredible journey to veganism and her life-changing weight loss story. I rarely invite guest bloggers to WTFVF but I?immediately?knew that Ruths? story was one worth sharing. Ruth is our very first guest writer, related to a personal vegan-transition story.

Welcome, Ruth Hughes:

Since a young age weight has been a struggle in my life. I definitely experienced challenges growing up, from peer acceptance to trying to keep up with healthier and fit kids, but never really realized until my late 20?s, how carrying the extra weight would lead me to a reality that I never thought I would face- ongoing health issues. At the end of 2009, I was prompted to see a doctor after experiencing nausea, muscle aches, dizziness and extreme exhaustion for several weeks. During this appointment I was given a routine exam. It had been several years since I had been in a doctor?s office let alone stepped on a scale. After weighing in, the nurse told me the actual number; I was in shock?290 pounds! Immediate shame, remorse, among other feelings took over as I sat in the examination room waiting for the doctor. After these initial feelings though, I thought ?what if I could finally beat the weight issue for good and live a healthier life?? This wasn?t the life I had imagined. All of the food choices I had been making for 29 years were literally shortening my life expectancy and I knew I had to make immediate changes. With a history of high blood pressure and diabetes in my family it wasn?t a shock when the doctor told me that I had both, but I thought that I had more time, before having to succumb to taking medications and managing a disease on a daily basis. I told the doctor that I had no desire to be dependent on medication and that I would do the work necessary to lose the weight. I left that appointment, feeling for the first time in my life, that I could truly attain my weight loss goals with fortitude and perseverance.

Immediately after leaving the doctor?s office I started researching healthy eating, weight loss programs, fitness routines, among other topics in an effort to jump start my weight loss. Several stepping stones in my weight loss journey included Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. Due to the high costs of membership and food though, I only participated in each of these programs for a short time. These programs provided me with a wealth of information on making better food choices, but were only a jump start in my weight loss journey; because in order for me to achieve long term weight loss my approach to health and fitness would need to become a permanent lifestyle change. While I did see results from these programs I still wanted to eat less processed foods and felt that in order to maintain long term weight loss I needed to continue my research towards finding the right balance of healthy eating and fitness.

During my research and recommendations from numerous friends I watched the documentary Food, Inc. This documentary changed my perspective towards eating meat and was extremely informative. A little under a year and half into my weight loss journey I reached a plateau and was not able to lose weight as consistently as I had been. While continuously adjusting my exercise routine, counting calories, etc., proved to be helpful it still did not yield the results I was hoping for. Earlier this year I was talking to a good friend of mine, who adopted a whole-food plant-based diet nine months prior, about my weight loss journey and she encouraged me to watch Forks Over Knives. Literally, a few days after that conversation the documentary was available to view for free on an internet video streaming website and after watching this documentary, I knew I needed to adopt a whole-food plant-based diet. This was a whole new world to me though, and I am the type of person that always researches something in order to have a plan in place or at least an idea of how I would implement this new lifestyle change before diving in. I knew in order to be successful the first six months of my transition from?carnivore to herbivore, while finishing my Master?s degree (which by the way I graduated a couple weeks ago), would require me to find resources that clearly explained this type of diet and provided quick and easy recipes. So I started my research on the Forks Over Knives website, which introduced me to the world of plant-based eating and through the amazing list of resources provided I purchased several books including: Plant-Based Nutrition, Engine 2 Diet, Happy Herbivore Cookbooks, and The China Study. This website truly opened my eyes in ways that I will be forever grateful.

After my initial research, reading several books, and finding additional resources through the world of Facebook, (where I found another great resource ? Will Travel For Vegan Food) I decided to make the switch to a whole-food plant-based diet immediately and not gradually ? I went all in from day one. Personally, that approach is much easier for me than still keeping one foot in a lifestyle that I wanted to move away from. I have been vegan strong since June of this year and within that time I have lost 70 pounds, making my total weight loss 155 pounds since my journey began. Since adopting a whole-food plant-based diet I have reversed and eliminated all of my medical issues (Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, etc) no longer experience feelings of exhaustion, have so much more energy than I know what to do with?LOL, as well as many more positive health results that my list literally could go on forever. Bottom line ? I feel absolutely amazing!

I?m truly blessed to have the opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle and will maintain a low-fat, whole-food plant-based diet the rest of my life. I?m so thankful for amazing resources like Will Travel For Vegan Food that provide excellent product and restaurant reviews as well as a community of support and encouragement! Now that I have graduated and have my free time back I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and friends, traveling around the world, mountain biking, and volunteering at various organizations.

##

Ruth, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us. It was an honor to meet you and I look forward to staying in touch! :)

xo
Kristin
Eat well and travel often, friends!

Source: http://wtfveganfood.com/weight-loss-ruth-hughes/

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How Neuroscientists Observe Brains Watching Movies

Image: Todd Davidson/Stock Illustration Source

• 

  How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it actually feel an insect?s tiny, spindly legs? And how do cherry blossoms know when to bloom? Can they...

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Unless you have been deaf and blind to the world over the past decade, you know that functional magnetic resonance brain imaging (fMRI) can look inside the skull of volunteers lying still inside the claustrophobic, coffinlike confines of a loud, banging magnetic scanner. The technique relies on a fortuitous property of the blood supply to reveal regional activity. Active synapses and neurons consume power and therefore need more oxygen, which is delivered by the hemoglobin molecules inside the circulating red blood cells. When these molecules give off their oxygen to the surrounding tissue, they not only change color?from arterial red to venous blue?but also turn slightly magnetic.

Activity in neural tissue causes an increase in the volume and flow of fresh blood. This change in the blood supply, called the hemodynamic signal, is tracked by sending radio waves into the skull and carefully listening to their return echoes. FMRI does not directly measure synaptic and neuronal activity, which occurs over the course of milliseconds; instead it uses a relatively sluggish proxy?changes in the blood supply?that rises and falls in seconds. The spatial resolution of fMRI is currently limited to a volume element (voxel) the size of a pea, encompassing about one million nerve cells.

Neuroscientists routinely exploit fMRI to infer what volunteers are seeing, imagining or intending to do. It is really a primitive form of mind reading. Now a team has taken that reading to a new, startling level.

A number of groups have deduced the identity of pictures viewed by volunteers while lying in the magnet scanner from the slew of map?like representations found in primary, secondary and higher-order visual cortical regions underneath the bump on the back of the head.

Jack L. Gallant of the University of California, Berkeley, is the acknowledged master of these techniques, which proceed in two stages. First, a volunteer looks at a couple of thousand images while lying in a magnet. The response of a few hundred voxels in the visual cortex to each image is carefully registered. These data are then used to train an algorithm to predict the magnitude of the fMRI response for each voxel. Second, this procedure is inverted. That is, for a given magnitude of hemodynamic response, a probabilistic technique called Bayesian decoding infers the most likely image that gave rise to the observed response in that particular volunteer (human brains differ substantially, so it is difficult to use one brain to predict the responses of another).

The best of these techniques exploit preexisting, or prior, knowledge about pictures that could have been seen before. The number of mathematically possible images is vast, but the types of actual scenes that are encountered in a world populated by people, animals, trees, buildings and other objects encompass a tiny fraction of all possible images. Appropriately enough, the images that we usually encounter are called natural images. Using a database of six million natural images, Gallant?s group showed in 2009 how brain responses of volunteers to photographs they had not previously encountered could be reconstructed.

From Images to Movies
These reconstructions are surprisingly good, even though they are based on the smudged activity of hundreds of thousands of highly diverse nerve cells, each one firing to different aspects of the image?its local intensity, color, shading, texture, and so on. A further limitation I have already alluded to is the 1,000-fold mismatch between the celerity of neuronal signals and the sedate pace at which the fMRI signal rises and falls.

Yet Gallant?s group fearlessly pushed on and applied Bayesian reconstruction techniques to the conceptually and computationally much more demanding problem of spatiotemporal reconstruction.

Three members of the group each watched about two hours? worth of short takes from various Hollywood movies. These data were used to train a separate encoding model for each voxel. The first part of the model consisted of a bank of neural filters. These filters are based on the cumulative research that has been conducted over two decades into the way nerve cells in the visual cortex in people and monkeys respond to seeing visual stimuli with varying positions, size, motion and speed. The second part of the model coupled these neuronal filters to the blood vasculature, describing how the neuronal activity is reflected in much slower fMRI signals.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c18a3f4e0f8a99d8a713abdd891545c2

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