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staff and news service reports
updated 11/9/2009 6:28:27 PM ET 2009-11-09T23:28:27

Researchers have engineered artificial penises in rabbits, using cells from the animals, who then used their new organs to father baby rabbits.

The work takes scientists closer to making other complex solid organs such as livers using a patient's own cells, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.

It provides a tailor-made transplant, said Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, who led the study.

"Once the tissue is there, the body recognizes the tissue as its own," Atala told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Atala focused on the penis because he is a pediatric urologist, who has specialized for years in disorders and congenital defects of the bladder and sexual organs. "One of the major challenges that we find is babies who are born with inadequate organs, and right now there are not a lot of options" he told

In addition to his background in urology, Atala is a specialist in regenerative medicine, which uses the body's own cells to repair damage. In this case, Atala's team used ordinary rabbit cells, not the stem cells often used in such research.

Atala's team first created a scaffold using the penis of a rabbit, and removed all the living cells from it, leaving only cartilage. They then took a small piece of tissue from the penis of another rabbit and grew the cells in a lab dish.

Atala said the work has taken his team 18 years to complete. "We had to find the right growth factors, the right soup to grow the cells in," he said.

They made sure to have two cell types, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells, the same type of cells that line blood vessels. The smooth muscle cells made the organ's spongy tissue and the endothelial cells grew into blood vessels — very important in an organ like the penis, which requires good blood supply.

The cells were seeded onto the scaffold, and six weeks later the researchers had penises to graft onto rabbits that had their penises removed.

The animals seemed to realize they had working organs again — the 12 with the grafts tried to mate with female rabbits within one minute of being put into cages with them, and four of the female rabbits became pregnant.

Those with the scaffolding alone and no working tissue did not even try.

Atala is hoping the procedure will work with people, perhaps starting with adult men who have had damage to their organs. "Patients with congenital anomalies, penile cancer, traumatic penile injury, and some types of organic erectile dysfunction could benefit from this technology in the future," the team wrote in the report.

The process takes six weeks from beginning to end, he said, and there is reason to believe a penis grafted onto a baby would grow with the child. That turned out to be the case with the rabbit experiment.

"The body recognizes this as its own organ," Atala said.

Atala hopes the approach will work with other organs. "We have made clitoral tissue in the past," he said. "We have extensive work going on with kidneys and livers."

Atala's team started their experiments with replacement bladders grown from patients' cells. Patients fitted with artificial bladders have been enjoying good function for 10 years now, Atala said.

Atala declined to say how long it would be before the procedure is applied to human patients. "We always think it's going to happen sooner than it does," he said.

This report includes information from Reuters and

© 2013

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Image: Book cover, "Snow: The Double Life of a World War II Spy"
Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
"Snow: The Double Life of a World War II Spy" describes the first British double-cross agents who played a major role in the defeat of Germany.
updated 12/27/2011 8:56:47 PM ET 2011-12-28T01:56:47

A British engineer regarded for decades as a Nazi spy was really Britain's first double-agent who helped the Allies defeat Germany, according to a recently released book.

The authors of "Snow: The Double Life of a World War II Spy," also reveal that spy Arthur Owens is the father of Hollywood actress Patricia Owens, who starred in "The Fly" in 1958 and "Sayonara" with Marlon Brando in 1957.

Arthur Owens was a Welsh nationalist, according to the book by espionage writer Nigel West (pen name of Rupert Allason) and Welsh author and film producer Madoc Roberts, The Telegraph of London reported.

The Germans recruited Arthur Owens, a failed inventor who needed money, to spy when he was on a 1935 business trip to Belgium.

Under the code name Johnny O'Brien, Owens gave the Nazis vital information about Britain's military buildup ahead of World War II.

Later, the book claims, he agreed to become a double agent for MI5, the British spy agency.

Re-dubbed Snow, Owens paved the way for a string of successful double agents and helped deliver scores of German spies to the British, the book says.

The book, which has a Facebook page, describes Owens' cover as so deep that neither side was ever wholly confident of his loyalties, the Telegraph said. In 1941, Owens' MI5 handlers ordered him placed in Dartmoor prison, where he gained the confidence of German inmates and fed information back to his spymasters.

"Arthur Owens was the foundation of the double-cross system which proved so vital in helping the Allies in so many areas," West told the Telegraph. "His contribution has never fully been appreciated, but it is hard to overstate how important his role was."

Roberts called Owens' character complex.

"His contribution to the war effort is undeniable, but what is less certain is what his motivations were," Roberts told the Telegraph. "Ultimately he was probably out for himself. But even if his intentions were not entirely honorable, without him the entire course of the war may have been different."

As for his daughter, Patricia Owens never fully acknowledged who her father was, the Telegraph said, because she feared backlash from people who considered her father a traitor.

Owens' contributions were officially revealed when documents were declassified in the 1970s, the Telegraph said, but few people took notice.

After the war, Arthur Owens lived in anonymity in Canada and later Ireland, the Telegraph said.

© 2013 Reprints

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Oregon Police Say School Shooter Was 15-Year-Old Freshman

Oregon police on Wednesday identified the gunman in the Reynolds High School shooting as Jared Michael Padgett, a 15-year-old freshman.

They said he had no apparent connection to the fellow freshman he shot and killed before wounding a teacher and then eventually turning the gun on himself.

Sign up for breaking news alerts from NBC News

Padgett arrived on the school bus on Tuesday, carrying a guitar case and a large duffel bag, Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson said at a press conference. One of those held an AR-15 rifle that the teen brought from home, the sheriff said.

"The weapons had been secured, but he defeated the security measures," Anderson said.

Image: Jared Padgett
Jared Michael Padgett was identified by cops as the teenage gunman who killed a fellow freshman and wounded a teacher at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon, on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Facebook

When the teen got off the bus, he entered school through the boys' locker room, housed in the building that holds the gym, Anderson said.

That's where Padgett encountered Emilio Hoffman, a 14-year-old fellow freshman, and shot him dead, the chief said.

Gym teacher Todd Rispler was shot in the hip but still managed to get to safety and initiate the school lockdown procedures, Anderson said.

"I cannot emphasize enough the role that Mr. Rispler and the responding officers played in saving many many lives yesterday," the sheriff said.

After shooting Rispler and fleeing the locker room, Padgett then encountered responding officers in a hallway and, after an exchange of gunfire, fled into a restroom, Anderson said. He was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Investigators found that Padgett had an unused handgun on him as well as a large knife, and was wearing a "non-ballistic" tactical vest, used for carrying ammunition and a camouflage helmet.

Police also uncovered nine loaded magazines capable of holding hundreds of rounds of ammunition, Anderson said.

Students who knew Padgett told NBC News that the young man was in the JROTC and had an “unhealthy obsession with the military," often wearing Army fatigues.

Padgett's parents were not immediately available for comment, but at least one Oregon lawmaker was already casting blame on them.

Oregon State Senate President Pro Tempore Ginny Burdick told NBC News she regrets that the state currently has no law that bans assault-style weapons nor is there any law that holds parents criminally liable.

"This is a public health catastrophe we have on our hands," Burdick said of the epidemic of shootings. She said Padgett’s parents "are ultimately responsible."

Meanwhile, school officials said they were going to go forward with previously scheduled plans to hold graduation on Thursday. There will be a candlelight vigil next Tuesday on the school’s football field.

— with NBC News' Tony Freinberg and Andrew Blankstein


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'We pray for God to help you': Reactions to military take-over in Egypt

Protesters against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi celebrate in Tahrir Square in Cairo on July 3, 2013. Egypt's armed forces overthrew elected Islamist President Morsi on Wednesday and announced a political transition with the support of a wide range of political and religious leaders. Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Reuters

On Wednesday, when Egypt’s military announced Mohammed Morsi was no longer president of Egypt after failing to meet the demands of the protesters, reactions poured in from the streets of Cairo and around the world.

"The people and the army are one hand," protesters cheered in Tahrir square, the crucible of the ongoing revolution.

But President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" by the military's actions, was not calling the move a coup.

And a senior Muslim Brotherhood politician in Egypt said the Islamist group had no intention of using violence to regain power.

"There is absolutely no direction towards violence. The Brotherhood are not raised on violence. Their cause is a peaceful one, defending their rights, which is stronger than a military coup," Gamal Heshmat told Reuters by telephone.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the upheaval in Egypt was a loss for political Islam.

"Whoever brings religion to use in politics or in favor of one group at the expense of another will fall anywhere in the world … The summary of what is happening in Egypt is the fall of what is called political Islam," Assad told the an Arabic language newspaper, according to an official Facebook page.

Yet King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia sent a message of congratulations to the newly-appointed Egyptian interim President, Adly Mansour.

"In the name of the people of Saudi Arabia and on my behalf, we congratulate your leadership of Egypt in this critical period of its history. We pray for God to help you bear the responsibility laid upon you to achieve the ambitions of our brotherly people of Egypt," the message said, according to Saudi news site Al Arabiya.

The United Arab Emirates also welcomed the change in Egypt, according to state news agency WAM, and praised the Egyptian armed forces.

"His Highness Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the Foreign Minister of the UAE, expressed his full confidence that the great people of Egypt are able to cross these difficult moments that Egypt is going through," WAM said the foreign minister said in a statement.

"Sheikh Abdullah said that the great Egyptian army was able to prove again that they are the fence of Egypt and that they are the protector and strong shield that guarantee Egypt will remain a state of institutions and law," WAM added.

Meanwhile, the British Foreign Secretary released a statement advising caution.

"The situation is clearly dangerous and we call on all sides to show restraint and avoid violence,” the statement read. “The United Kingdom does not support military intervention as a way to resolve disputes in a democratic system. The chance of a democratic future was hard won for Egypt by the Egyptian people two and a half years ago. But looking forward, we call on all parties to show the leadership and vision needed to restore and renew Egypt's democratic transition.”

The European Union also pushed for caution and democracy.

"I urge all sides to rapidly return to the democratic process,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. "I strongly condemn all violent acts … and urge the security forces to do everything in their power to protect the lives and well-being of Egyptian citizens."

Ashton said the EU was, "unequivocally committed to supporting the Egyptian people in their aspirations to democracy and inclusive governance.”

Reuters contributed to this report


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Grammy Style: Legs Like Lady Gaga

    SPARKLE & SHINE: Before she went on to dominate the dance music portion of the Grammy Awards, Lady Gaga made her entrance in a custom dress designed with the help of Georgio Armani. Bedecked with luminescent circles and a dangerous-looking clutch replacement, the star shone like the fashion diva she's come to be.

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    GET IT: The tights for $24 and the shoes for $85. Tights: Dancewear Solutions; Shoes: Zappos.


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Sonic Expanding in San Diego

Limeade, slushes and milkshakes oh my!

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    Get ready for some Slush: Sonic is expanding its presence in San Diego.

    We know – there’s already one in Santee and Vista. But it’s so far! And the lines are so long! A more central location will certainly have fast food fans queuing up for some sugary, icy beverages.

    “We have significant growth plans for the San Diego market,” wrote a Sonic Drive-In spokesperson to The Scene.

    Today, construction crews broke ground for a Sonic in San Marcos that is expected to open by mid-summer, according to the spokesperson. The franchise is also exploring a potential site in the Clairemont area at the location of the former Black Angus restaurant on 5247 Kearny Villa Rd.

    There are also plans in the works for a National City Sonic Drive-In, but no official dates were released.

    But doesn’t some limeade or a milkshake sound like a great way to cool off this summer? Cheers!

    Follow The Scene for the latest events: iPad App | iPhone App | Android App | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Instagram | RSS | Text Alerts | Email Alerts


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Red Bulls beat Fire to secure Supporters' Shield - NBC Sports

Red Bulls beat Fire to secure Supporters' Shield
October 27, 2013, 7:14 pm

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) Peguy Luyindula had three assists and the New York Red Bulls beat the Chicago Fire 5-2 on Sunday to finish with Major League Soccer's best record.

Ibrahim Sekagya scored early in the second half to help the Red Bulls (17-9-8) get to 59 points for the regular season, lifting them over Sporting KC, which had 58 points. Real Salt Lake led the Western Division with 56 points.

It's the first Supporters' Shield for the Red Bulls, who will carry an eight-game unbeaten streak into the playoffs.

Sekagya's second goal of the season made it 2-1 in the 49th minute, and Lloyd Sam scored seven minutes later for a 3-1 Red Bulls lead.

© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Multi-Car Accident in Giant Parking Lot

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    Two pedestrians were struck and six cars were involved in a crash Saturday in White Flint.

    Police said no one suffered injuries that appeared to be life-threatening.

    One of the drivers involved, a 64-year-old female, suffered a medical condition, lost control of her car and caused the crash, police said.

    The crash happened at 12:45 p.m. in the parking lot of a Giant Food store, in the area of Hubbard Drive and Rockville Pike.


text:
Security Changes in Works at Montgomery Co. Elementary Schools

Video intercom system installed by July, if council approves

View Comments ()

    The Montgomery County School Board wants to beef up security at elementary schools in the county.

    Under a proposed plan, a video intercom system would be installed at the entrances of all 132 elementary campuses.

    The school board voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the idea. It now goes to the county council for approval. If it gets the green light, $364,000 would be released to pay for the camera system.

    Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro said it’s likely the council will approve the request.

    The county hopes to have the system installed by July 2013.

    Montgomery County middle and high schools have guards on duty.


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text:
NBER Working Papers by Yoshiro Tsutsui

Contact and additional information for this authorAll NBER papers and publicationsNBER Working Papers only

Working Papers

March 2006Unhappiness after Hurricane Katrina
with Miles Kimball, Helen Levy, Fumio Ohtake: w12062
In August, September and October of 2005, the Monthly Surveys of Consumers fielded by the University of Michigan included questions about the happiness of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. The date of each interview is known. Looking at the data week by week, reported happiness dipped significantly in the first week of September, after the seriousness of the damage done by Katrina became clear. The impulse response of happiness is especially strong in the South Central region, closest to the devastation of Katrina. The dip in happiness lasted two or three weeks in the South Central region; in the rest of the country, reported happiness returned to normal after one or two weeks. In addition to the reaction to Katrina, happiness dipped significantly after the October 2005 ea...
February 1991Speculative Behavior in the Stock Markets: Evidence from the United States and Japan
with Robert J. Shiller, Fumiko Kon-Ya: w3613
There have been enormous differences of opinion between U.S. and Japanese institutional investors about the outlook for stock prices, differences across the two countries in average one-year-ahead forecasts for the Japanese stock market as great as twenty percentage points. In the past two years most Japanese and U.S. institutional investors have had expectations for a reversal of trends in the stock market, and advised an investing strategy that depended on getting out of (or in to) the market before an anticipated market turnaround. These results, obtained from a number of questionnaire surveys in 1989 and 1990, help explain the relative lack of portfolio diversification across countries and show the short-term nature of speculative behavior.
August 1988Investor Behavior in the October 1987 Stock Market Crash: The Case of Japan
with Robert J. Shiller, Fumiko Konya: w2684
In a questionnaire survey we asked Japanese institutional investors to recall what they thought and did during the worldwide stock market crash in October, 1987. The results confirm that the drop in U. S. stock prices was the primary factor on their minds, and other news stories in the United States dominated Japanese news stories. A comparison with an earlier survey of U. 5. institutional investors at the time of the crash (Shiller [1987])shows a remarkable similarity between Japanese and U. S. institutional investors in a number of attitudinal and behavioral dimensions. The results suggest that events in the United States were the proximate cause of the crash in Japan, but that the transmission mechanism of the crash was very similar in both countries.

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text: TY - JOUR AU - Cutler,David M. AU - Finkelstein,Amy AU - McGarry,Kathleen TI - Preference Heterogeneity and Insurance Markets: Explaining a Puzzle of Insurance JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 13746 PY - 2008 Y2 - January 2008 DO - 10.3386/w13746 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13746 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13746.pdf N1 - Author contact info: David M. Cutler Department of Economics Harvard University 1875 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617/496-5216 Fax: 617/496-8951 E-Mail: dcutler@harvard.edu Amy Finkelstein Department of Economics, E17-228 MIT 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel: 617/253-4149 Fax: 617/868-2742 E-Mail: afink@mit.edu Kathleen M. McGarry Department of Economics University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477 Tel: 310-206-2833 Fax: 310-825-9528 E-Mail: mcgarry@ucla.edu AB - Standard theories of insurance, dating from Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976), stress the role of adverse selection in explaining the decision to purchase insurance. In these models, higher risk people buy full or near-full insurance, while lower risk people buy less complete coverage, if they buy at all. While this prediction appears to hold in some real world insurance markets, in many others, it is the lower risk individuals who have more insurance coverage. If the standard model is extended to allow individuals to vary in their risk tolerance as well as their risk type, this could explain why the relationship between insurance coverage and risk occurrence can be of any sign, even if the standard asymmetric information effects also exist. We present empirical evidence in five difference insurance markets in the United States that is consistent with this potential role for risk tolerance. Specifically, we show that individuals who engage in risky behavior or who do not engage in risk reducing behavior are systematically less likely to hold life insurance, acute private health insurance, annuities, long-term care insurance, and Medigap. Moreover, we show that the sign of this preference effect differs across markets, tending to induce lower risk individuals to purchase insurance in some of these markets, but higher risk individuals to purchase insurance in others. These findings suggest that preference heterogeneity may be important in explaining the differential patterns of insurance coverage in various insurance markets. ER -


text: @techreport{NBERw17125, title = "The Effect of Prospective Payment on Admission and Treatment Policy: Evidence from Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities", author = "Neeraj Sood and Peter J. Huckfeldt and David C. Grabowski and Joseph P. Newhouse and José J. Escarce", institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series = "Working Paper Series", number = "17125", year = "2011", month = "June", doi = {10.3386/w17125}, URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w17125", abstract = {We examine provider responses to the Medicare inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system (PPS), which simultaneously reduced marginal reimbursement and increased average reimbursement. IRFs could respond to the PPS by changing the total number of patients admitted, admitting different types of patients, or changing the intensity of care for admitted patients. We use Medicare claims data to separately estimate each type of provider response to the PPS. We also examine changes in patient outcomes and spillover effects on other post acute care providers. We find that costs of care initially fell following the PPS implementation, which we attribute to changes in treatment decisions rather than the types of patients admitted to IRFs. However, the probability of admission to IRFs increased after the PPS due to the expanded admission policies of providers. We find modest spillover effects on skilled nursing home costs and no substantive impact on patient health outcomes.}, }


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 JUSTICE, DISSENT AND THE SUBLIME by Mark Canuel, Reviewed by Robert Barsky

By Mark Canuel
(Johns Hopkins, 2012) xiii + 375 pp.
Reviewed by Robert Barsky on 2013-10-15.

Click here for a PDF version.

Click here to buy the book on Amazon.

This polemical and inspired work makes an important contribution to a number of academic fields, notably literature and law, Romanticism, and the philosophical study of aesthetics, justice, and the idea of beauty. Particularly in the early sections of the book, Canuel assumes a feisty and provocative posture, challenging work in literary and cultural studies by theorists such as Michael Sandel, Lynn Hunt, Martha Nussbaum, Iris Marion Young, and Judith Halberstam, and also dissecting more recent writings by Peter de Bolla, Denis Donoghue, Umberto Eco, Elaine Scarry and Wendy Steiner. Seeking a "reparative perspective on justice," Canuel questions what kind of work aesthetics does when it is perceived as "a politically relevant experience"; by contrast, Canuel suggests that aesthetics works only "because it conveys a sense that disagreement and dissent can be committed to, and bound by, a larger organization of relations" (6). At the heart of the argument, then, "is not the role of aesthetics in political theory or political criticism but the tendency to view the political work of aesthetics solely in terms of picturing modes of being for the sake of replication" (6-7). In constructing his argument this way, Canuel enhances our understanding of the (frightening) tendency to favor homogeneity and predictability so that the corporate comes to be favored over the local, the replicated over the original, and the pre-ordained over the creative. And in the realms explored by this book, "the political aesthetic logic of beauty does not facilitate literary and political theorizing; it controls and limits it" (7).

My favorite parts of this short book are those that explain how a normative conception of beauty dating back to the eighteenth century can still be used to evaluate existing cultural or social paradigms, or as a means to discover better ones. These "normative" conceptions imply that "states of body and mind are attached not only to prescriptions but also to an implied social value of those states" (7). Passionately invoking as a corrective the disruptive and potentially revolutionary idea of the sublime, Canuel offers valuable readings of literary works, especially from the Romantic tradition, and of course from the writings of Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant.

According to Canuel, saluting beauty for its symmetry and its pleasurable effects upon us is like seeking out "replicable and imitable models for human thought and action," even when the models come from "outsider" realms such as Queer or cosmopolitan theory. Refreshingly challenging this replicative approach to beauty, which may at first seem politically viable and even politically correct, Canuel finds it retrograde and homogenizing, particularly when measured against the creative and renewing forces of the sublime, which overturns expectations and creates new creative spaces.

For example, Canuel argues, the Queer theorists Eve Sedgwick and Michael Warner "attempt to build general political positions from particular experiences," and the cosmopolitan theory inspired by Amartya Sen and Kwame Anthony Appiah "infers particular experience from general principles and relationships." Hence Canuel concludes: "[T]hey address problems of social justice by proposing a normative formation for individual political subjects; it is no coincidence that the political-aesthetic commitments of these works are conveyed by making literary characters, or the turns of literary narrative, available for mimetic replication at the level of individual queer or cosmopolitan subjects." (9). Possible forms of action, Canuel writes, are thus straitjacketed by pre-existing standards. In the work of Scarry, he contends, self-interest is exchanged for social interest, "an interest in extending the beauty of populations through biological reproduction and in extending the life of beautiful objects by ensuring their preservation for future beautiful people" (19). Can we equate justice with beauty because "fair" can mean either "beautiful" or "even-handed" to both parties in a transaction? As regards justice, this also comes to imply some kind of equivalence between what is "beautiful" and what is "just." To illustrate the consequences of such a juxtaposition, Canuel invokes the idea of "fairness," linking an attribute of beauty (deemed conventional) to the idea of equality, contractualism, or mutuality under the law. Although we might ask what how this semantic coincidence works in other languages (such as with the French word "juste"), he nonetheless gets his point across.

To correct what he sees as the homogenizing tendency of an aesthetics based on beauty, Canuel invokes the sublime, which threatens by its excess the "more placid (and beautiful) form of social life" (31). Remarkably, Canuel argues that recent work on the Vietnam war, on politicization, and on activism within and beyond the academy rejects or ignores the potential value of the sublime in favor of "a symbiotic relationship with multinational corporate entreprises, whose sustaining influence shapes the arena for moral, political and aesthetic argument" (34). By means of this fascinating insight, this book challenges ever-rising levels of homogeneity in all facets of life, even or especially in higher education, where it should be unforgivable; in various ways, Canuel insists, even would-be avant-garde theorists endorse intellectual homogeneity, and in so doing bow to corporate power. Furthermore, he notes, "corporate power is not visible merely as brute force, but rather as a subtle restructuring of dependencies resulting in a rearticulated institutional landscape with muted opportunities, incentives, and rationales for protest" (34).

To bolster his argument, Canuel cites Byron's Manfred and his own opposition to the death penalty for Luddites; Coleridge's Conversation Poems, in which familiarity is taken "as an occasion for insistent estrangement and strangers as an occasion for increasing obligation" (65); and Charlotte Smith's 1807 poem "Beachy Head," which he links to such contemporary issues as biopolitics. As exemplified by these poems, he argues, the sublime provides "a more conflictual mode of configuring the relations between persons; it provides an aesthetic vantage point that highlights complaint, dissent, and disagreement in the midst of a larger scheme of social cooperation" (97).

In his concluding chapter on aesthetics and animal theory, Canuel sheds further light on the relationship between the aesthetic and the sublime. But while he admirably challenges the homogenizing thrust of aesthetic theories shaped to promote social justice, and while he defends his own alternative with examples drawn from literary and philosophical texts, his debates with Academics are overlong and sometimes blunt the point of his critique. Overall, though, articulated by a careful, sensitive, and provocative writer, this critique is refreshing and valuable. When theorists inadvertently imitate corporations that seek to emulate and then infinitely reproduce the same "beautiful" or successful things, this book argues, the power of the sublime is relegated to the obscure, the dangerous, or the out-of-control.

Robert F. Barsky is Professor of Literature and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University.

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Neuropsychologia. 2003;41(2):147-55.

Beauty in a smile: the role of medial orbitofrontal cortex in facial attractiveness.

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  • 1Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, London WC1 3BG, UK.

The attractiveness of a face is a highly salient social signal, influencing mate choice and other social judgements. In this study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain regions that respond to attractive faces which manifested either a neutral or mildly happy face expression. Attractive faces produced activation of medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a region involved in representing stimulus-reward value. Responses in this region were further enhanced by a smiling facial expression, suggesting that the reward value of an attractive face as indexed by medial OFC activity is modulated by a perceiver directed smile.

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J Virol Methods. 2010 May;165(2):325-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2010.02.027. Epub 2010 Feb 26.

Detection of Toggenburg Orbivirus by a segment 2-specific quantitative RT-PCR.

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  • 1Institute of Virology and Immunoprophylaxis, CH-3147 Mittelhaeusern, Switzerland.

Toggenburg Orbivirus (TOV) has been detected recently in healthy goats in Switzerland. The virus is related closely to bluetongue virus (BTV) and is considered tentatively as a 25th serotype of BTV. Upon detection of additional TOV-positive goats in Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, these TOV isolates were characterized genetically by partial sequencing of the viral genome segment 2 which encodes VP2, the major outer capsid protein of orbiviruses. A TOV-specific RT-qPCR was developed, targeting conserved areas within segment 2. Since TOV cannot be propagated up to now outside its natural host, a synthetic positive control for the RT-qPCR was constructed by cloning the entire coding region of segment 2 and subsequent in vitro transcription of RNA from both ends to obtain double-stranded RNA. The TOV-specific RT-qPCR was able to detect as few as 30 dsRNA copies and proved to be equally sensitive as a pan BTV assay that was shown previously to have a detection limit of 0.001 TCID(50).

Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Neurology. 1998 Oct;51(4):1018-25.

An active-control trial of lamotrigine monotherapy for partial seizures.

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  • 1University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-0021, USA.

We report the results of a double-blind, double-dummy, active-control study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of lamotrigine (LTG) administered as monotherapy to adult outpatients with partial seizures.

The effectiveness of LTG as add-on therapy for partial seizures in adults has previously been established.

After an 8-week baseline during which patients continued their baseline antiepileptic drug (carbamazepine or phenytoin monotherapy), 156 patients were randomly assigned to receive increasing doses of LTG (target 250 mg b.i.d.) or valproic acid (VPA; target low dose of 500 mg b.i.d.) during the first 4 weeks of an 8-week transition period. Carbamazepine or phenytoin was withdrawn over the next 4 weeks; then patients entered a 12-week monotherapy period. Study drug treatment was discontinued in patients who met predetermined escape criteria for seizure worsening.

More patients receiving LTG were successfully maintained on monotherapy compared with patients receiving VPA (56% versus 20%; p < 0.001). The time to meet the escape criteria was also significantly longer in LTG-treated patients (median = 168 days) than in VPA-treated patients (median = 57 days; p = 0.001). The incidence of adverse events during the monotherapy period was lower than during the transition period. Four LTG patients and five VPA patients reported serious adverse events. Two of those patients experienced a rash that led to withdrawal soon after adding LTG to carbamazepine.

We conclude that LTG is effective and well tolerated when administered as monotherapy in adult patients with partial seizures.

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Find a Training or Assessment Center »

    State of Hawaii Recognizes NCCER Crane Certification

    For Immediate Release

    Alachua, Fla.— NCCER has been approved by the Hawaii Hoisting Machine Operators Advisory Board to assess crane operators for both written and practical examinations. Individuals with NCCER Mobile Crane Operator Certification will now be recognized in the state of Hawaii.

    As always, NCCER-certified Mobile Crane Operators, Riggers and/or Signal Persons are issued a Gold Card which provides all the information needed to verify their certifications to employers. NCCER Gold Card certifications are portable, industry-recognized credentials that are verifiable in real-time through NCCER’s Automated National Registry (ANR). This streamlined system for identifying certified operators with a single card using a single registry makes verification of credentials simple and straight-forward for both employers and craft professionals.

    NCCER’s Mobile Crane Operator Certification Program is OSHA-recognized and accredited by ANSI (American National Standards Institute). It offers 13 equipment specific certifications, including capacity maximums for each. NCCER’s Rigger and Signal Person Certification Program offers three levels of rigger certification (Basic Rigger, Intermediate Rigger and Advanced Rigger) and a signal person certification.

    For more information, visit or call 888.622.3720.

    About NCCER — NCCER is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) education foundation created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum with portable credentials and to help address the skilled construction workforce shortage. NCCER is recognized by the industry as the training, assessment, certification, and career development standard for the construction and maintenance craft professional. For more information, visit or contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720.

      Download a PDF of this press release.

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North Carolina Department of Justice
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Submit this request

State Crime Lab achieves international accreditation

Release date: 6/14/2013

Lab moving toward dual accreditation, would make it unique among forensic labs

Raleigh: The North Carolina State Crime Laboratory has achieved accreditation under tough new international standards.
The Lab received notice this week from Forensic Quality Services (FQS) that it has achieved accreditation under ISO 17025, which provides a global basis for laboratory accreditation in management and technical requirements.
“Quality work by the crime lab is critical to solving crimes and ensuring justice for victims and suspects,” Cooper said. “I’m proud of our forensic science professionals for achieving the highest standards and pursuing the latest science.”
In addition to the new accreditation achieved this week, the Lab remains accredited by the nation’s largest accrediting group, American Society of Crime Lab Director Lab Accreditation Board (ASCLD-LAB) and is seeking to become the only crime lab in the country to be ISO accredited by two outside organizations.
The State Crime Lab analyzes crime scene evidence including digital evidence, drugs, DNA, firearms, fingerprints, hair and fibers. Analysis by forensic scientists working for the lab can pinpoint suspects and exonerate the innocent.
“Our forensic scientists are hard-working, dedicated public servants,” SBI Director Greg McLeod said. “Achieving this milestone is the result of a total team effort and clearly demonstrates our continued commitment to excellence and the pursuit of justice.”
“Our scientists are experts in their fields who follow precise scientific standards, record accurate results, and let the chips fall where they may,” said Judge Joe John, State Crime Lab Director. “I’m proud of their dedication in achieving these high standards which will make our Lab even stronger and better.”
The new ISO standards have undergone intensive legal and practical review, John said, resulting in a thorough evaluation prior to implementation. The North Carolina Forensic Science Advisory Board, made up of forensic experts from around the country, has also reviewed the standards.
Information on the ISO standards under which the State Crime Lab is currently working are available online at
The State Crime Lab has three facilities: the main Lab in Raleigh, a full-service crime lab providing analysis of crime scene evidence for law enforcement statewide; and two limited-service regional laboratories in Greensboro and Asheville.
The Lab’s main facility in Raleigh is now ISO accredited in all disciplines in which it operates: drugs, toxicology, biology (DNA), firearms, trace, latent and digital evidence. The Triad Regional Crime Lab has achieved ISO accreditation for drugs and digital evidence, while the Western Regional Crime Lab has achieved ISO accreditation for drugs, firearms, trace and latent evidence.
Cooper is currently seeking funding from the General Assembly to expand the Triad and Western labs to include DNA and toxicology.
“Our criminal justice system depends on accurate, timely forensic analysis and the legislature needs to provide us with resources to get the job done,” Cooper said.
The North Carolina State Crime Lab has been accredited by ASCLD-LAB since 1988 and with each reaccreditation must undergo a full review of the laboratory including an onsite inspection of the forensic disciplines. This is the Lab’s first year to also seek and achieve accreditation by FQS.

Media contact: Noelle Talley (919) 716-6413


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Do you have a friend or family member staying in one of our hospitals? Brighten up their day by sending them a free Email Greeting Card. It’s fast and easy! Just follow the simple steps and your card will be received, printed and delivered within 1-2 business days.


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Self-reported symptom burden; outcome in 418 patients from the Newcastle Vasovagal (Neurocardiogenic) cohort (2008)

Author(s): Ross R, Parry S, Norton M, Newton JL

      • Journal: QJM
      • Volume: 101
      • Issue: 2
      • Pages: 127-135
      • Publisher: Oxford University Press
      • Publication type: Article
      • Bibliographic status: Published

      Professor Julia Newton
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Transgender Law

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Transgender Parents

Since its start, NCLR has worked to ensure that LGBT parents have the legal protections they need.

Transgender Youth

NCLR is committed to establishing legal protections that ensure transgender youth can live freely.

Featured Court Cases & Advocacy

Federal Legislation & Policy

Case: Student v. Arcadia Unified School District

STATUS: Victory, National

NCLR represents a transgender student who transitioned from female to male a few years ago. After transitioning, the student returned to middle school hopeful that everything would go smoothly. Although he presented as male and had completed a court-ordered name change, the school district still required that he use the nurse’s office for restroom access…

Case: Adams v. Federal Bureau of Prisons et al.

STATUS: Victory, Massachusetts

The National Center for Lesbian Rights litigated and settled a case for Vanessa Adams that ensured proper treatment and healthcare for transgender prisoners housed in the federal prison system.

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Transgender Law

Policy: Medicare

NCLR, along with the ACLU national, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and a New Mexico civil rights attorney, filed a challenge in March 2013 to Medicare’s ban on medically necessary healthcare for transgender patients. Since the early 1980s, Medicare, which provides healthcare to Americans ages 65 and older and younger people with certain…

Additional Civil Rights

Legislation: School Success and Opportunity Act

On February 22, 2013, California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano introduced the School Success and Opportunity Act—Assembly Bill 1266—to ensure that transgender students are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. The bill requires that school district provide transgender students with access to restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-separated activities based on their gender identity. By…

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Transgender Law

April 25, 2015

NCLR Applauds Jenner’s Courage In Sharing Transgender Identity With the Public

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April 8, 2015

NCLR Applauds the EEOC’s Decision Ensuring Restroom Access for Transgender Employees

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NCR Privacy Policy

(Last Updated:  February 7, 2014)

NCR Corporation, its affiliates and its subsidiaries (collectively “NCR”) is committed to protecting the confidentiality and integrity of Personal Information (as defined below) about you that we collect, use, or disclose or otherwise Process (as defined below), including Personal Information to which NCR has access in connection with the provision of products and services to our customers (in this Privacy Policy, “you” includes any individual about whom NCR collects, uses, or discloses Personal Information).  NCR takes reasonable and appropriate steps to safeguard this information in accordance with the applicable laws of the countries in which we conduct business and our contractual requirements.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to any Personal Information that NCR collects, uses, or discloses regardless of how or where that information was obtained, or where it is stored or used, unless otherwise noted either in this Privacy Policy, in a supplement, or in a separate policy that we make available to you.

“Contract Data” means Personal Information about our customers’ customers or our customers’ personnel that NCR Processes in connection with providing products and services to a customer under a customer contract.  Contract Data is a subset of “Personal Information.”

“Personal Information” means information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person to the extent such information is afforded the protection of law. An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to the individual’s physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity.

“Process” means any operation or set of operations which is performed upon Personal Information, whether or not by automatic means, such as collection, recording, organization, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, blocking, erasure, or destruction.

NCR Customer Obligations with Respect to Contract Data

In furtherance of the provision of products and services under certain of our customer contracts, NCR may Process Contract Data covered by this Privacy Policy for, and at the direction of, our customers. In such situations, NCR acts solely as a processor and relies on its customers to comply with applicable legal requirements.  Except as otherwise noted, the NCR customer’s privacy policy, and not this Privacy Policy, applies to such Processing.

Collection of Personal Information

The Personal Information NCR may collect about you includes, but is not limited to, user IDs and passwords; demographic information; contact details, such as your name, address, email address, or telephone number; geo-location data; or education or employment data.

You may provide Personal Information to NCR in a variety of ways, such as by registering for an on-line account or event, joining a mailing list, purchasing a product or service, applying for employment, filling out an information form, or otherwise contacting us with a question, comment, or request.  Additionally, NCR may collect information about you or obtain Personal Information from third parties. NCR may also use certain technologies to collect information about you while you are visiting an NCR website, as described below.  NCR will obtain Personal Information about you only by fair and lawful means.

With respect to Contract Data, it is our customers’ responsibility to ensure that NCR‘s collection and processing of their customers’ Personal Information is consistent with the terms of such customers’ own privacy policies.

Use of Personal Information

NCR will use Personal Information covered by this Privacy Policy in a manner that is consistent with applicable law and that is reasonably necessary to fulfill its business needs, including facilitating NCR’s compliance with regulatory and legal requirements. NCR may combine Personal Information it obtains about you from various other sources to help us improve its overall accuracy and completeness, and to help us better tailor our interactions with you. NCR will retain Personal Information only for so long as it is helpful to support the overall purpose(s) for which NCR collected the information. NCR’s use may include, but is not limited to, making sales calls, sending marketing communications, delivering or completing requested services or transactions, and analyzing a series of transactions.

NCR will use Contract Data consistent with applicable contractual obligations and applicable law.   NCR also may use Contract Data to facilitate compliance with regulatory and legal requirements.

Sales and Marketing. NCR may use your Personal Information for sales and marketing purposes, including contacting you for feedback in customer satisfaction surveys or for market research purposes, providing you with marketing literature on products and services, notifying you of events, and providing you with information about NCR. You may always change your privacy preferences as set forth below. From time to time, NCR may co-brand an offering or a communication with a third party, which may also collect your Personal Information or with whom we may share it.  In such cases, the use of your Personal Information by such third parties is covered by their respective privacy policies, and not this Privacy Policy. If those cases where you choose to forward a page to another individual (where such option is available), NCR may request certain Personal Information about that individual to complete your request, such as their name and e-mail address, but NCR will not make further use of such information.

Social Networking Tools. If NCR uses social networking tools to provide information to you, your information will be governed by the terms of use and the privacy policy for the applicable social networking tool.

Fulfilling Business Transactions. NCR may use your Personal Information to fulfill business transaction requests with you or your organization.  With respect to our customers, such requests may include, but are not limited to, providing products or services, such as delivering notifications of product fixes and updates, or contacting you in response to your questions, comments, or requests. With respect to our suppliers, such requests may include issuing purchase orders, receiving invoices, or providing other information such as forecasts.  If, in providing support (including support to assist you with the use of our website), we engage you telephonically through tools such as online chat, we may monitor or record our interaction for purposes of quality assurance, training, or to document the details of a transaction.

Recruitment. If you seek employment with NCR, you may provide us with information about yourself, such as a resume. We may use this information throughout NCR in order to consider you for employment purposes, and may keep your information on file for future consideration and to support NCR’s compliance with applicable legal requirements.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We may share Personal Information (including Contract Data) within NCR and transfer it to countries around the world in which we operate in connection with the uses described in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with its terms.

We may share Personal Information with third-party suppliers and service providers that help us Process Personal Information. It is NCR’s practice to enter into contracts with our suppliers and service providers that require them to handle your information in a manner consistent with NCR policy and applicable law.

NCR also may provide information that identifies you at an individual level to third-party business partners, such as resellers.  NCR does not, however, sell or rent such information to these third parties.

From time to time, NCR may contemplate entering into various business development activities which may include the sale, purchase, merger, or reorganization of one or more of its businesses.  These business development activities may require the disclosure of Personal Information to the prospective or actual purchaser(s). When such disclosures are required, NCR will seek appropriate protections of your Personal Information.

In certain circumstances, NCR may use or release Personal Information to third parties when disclosure is required by law (e.g. statute, judicial proceeding, court order, or subpoena). We also reserve our right to use or provide your Personal Information to third parties, including law enforcement, auditors, consultants, and government officials, to protect NCR’s rights or property, and/or the rights or property of our customers, business partners, suppliers, or other third parties.

Setting Your Privacy Preferences and Opting Out

We will provide mechanisms for opting out of mass marketing communications directed to you. In addition, you may indicate to us that you no longer wish to receive emailed marketing communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the email communications we may provide to you, and you may always contact us directly as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Accessing and Maintaining the Accuracy of Your Personal Information

NCR strives to maintain the accuracy of any Personal Information we collect, and we provide several mechanisms to allow you to review and request correction or deletion of Personal Information related to you where it is inaccurate (except where the burden or expense of providing access would be disproportionate to the risks to your privacy, or where the rights of other persons would be violated).  We may, however, take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access to your Personal Information.  With respect to Contract Data, the NCR customer is responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the Personal Information it collects about you.

You may use the contact mechanisms specified below to request that we update, correct, or delete your Personal Information on file with us (subject to the limitations set forth in the preceding paragraph). Requests to access, correct, or delete Personal Information controlled by third parties (such as Contract Data) must be made through that third party.

Use of Cookies and Other Technologies

As described in more detail below, NCR websites may employ a variety of tools to help us improve your experience on our website and determine the effectiveness of certain of our marketing initiatives.

Cookies.  A cookie is a small element of data that a website can send to a Web browser, which is then stored on the browser user’s computing device. We may use cookies, alone or in combination with other data we may collect from other technologies (such as server logs) to make our website work or operate more efficiently, to personalize a user’s experience, or to make our websites more useful to our visitors. When NCR places a cookie on your device from an NCR domain, such as, this is a called a “first party cookie.”  If a third party, such as an advertiser, places a cookie on your device, those cookies are called “third party cookies.”  NCR’s Privacy Policy only applies to first party cookies. You can learn more about cookies by visiting or

Internet browsers typically have a default setting to “automatically accept cookies.”  Most browsers, however, permit users to change their settings either to refuse all cookies or to selectively accept them. If you would like to change your browser’s cookies settings, please refer to the online help offered with your browser or to the manufacturer’s website.  Please note, however, if you decide to turn off cookies, there may be some features of our websites that may not be available to you and some pages may not display properly.

Other Technology NCR May Use to Improve Your Experience.  NCR may also use other technology to improve your experience.

Analysis tools. NCR may use Google Analytics to help us analyze the data we obtain from cookies and other technologies.   If you wish to turn off Google Analytics, Google has provided a browser add-on for many commonly-used browsers.  Please visit Google’s website to obtain this add-on:

Log File InformationNCR records log file information whenever you access our websites.  Examples of log file information include your IP address, your browser type, the page from which you accessed our website, the pages you viewed while visiting our website, the last page you viewed before you exited our website, and the page you accessed after leaving our website. We use this data in the aggregate and do not use it to identify you individually.

Web Beacons.  This Privacy Policy covers web beacons placed by NCR.  A web beacon is an electronic (and usually transparent) image that is placed on a website or in an email.  Web beacons recognize certain information on your device such as cookies, the time and date of a page you viewed and the length of time you viewed the page, the IP address of the device that retrieved the image, the time the web beacon was viewed and for how long, and the type of browser that retrieved the image.  We may use web beacons, for example, to determine whether you have opened, or accessed links included in, a marketing communication from NCR. Web beacons often work with cookies; therefore, if you do not want us to associate your cookie information with your visits to our website, you must turn off cookies in your browser.

Web Links.  Emails from NCR may contain links that are designed to take you to a web page after redirection through NCR’s servers (or those of its suppliers). We use the information we obtain during the redirection process to determine whether a particular marketing initiative is effective, and may collect information connected to your identity. If you do not want NCR to collect information about the links that you click, you can choose a text-based version of the message (if the option is available).  You may also choose not to click the links we provide in the emails we send to you.

Local Shared Objects (“Flash Cookies”).  NCR may use Adobe Flash Player® to deliver multimedia content, such as a video, to you.  To improve your user experience, NCR may use Flash local shared objects (LSOs) – sometimes called “flash cookies” – to store your flash content information and preferences, similar to other types of cookies NCR employs.  You can manage flash cookies by accessing the following link on Adobe’s website:
In addition, users of the Mozilla Firefox browser can install an extension that detects and deletes flash cookies.  You may obtain this add-on by accessing the following link:

Online Advertising. Third parties do not advertise on NCR’s websites.  NCR, however, may contract with third parties who collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites (including NCR websites).  We engage with these third parties to help us deliver targeted advertisements about NCR on other websites you visit. These third parties use cookies or web beacons across multiple websites, including NCR’s websites, to collect certain information about you to provide you with targeted ads based on your interests. Your name, address, and other contact information are not collected. You have several choices to control the delivery of targeted ads to you.

  • You may turn off cookies in your browser. For more information about this choice, please refer to the “Use of Cookies and Other Technologies” section of this Privacy Policy.
  • Some browsers permit users to adjust browser settings or may contain add-ons to help you manage your ad choices.  Please refer to the online help offered with your browser or to the manufacturer’s website.
  • You may opt out of the third party’s advertising network.  We have provided the following information to help you with this choice:
    • The Network Alliance Initiative and the Digital Advertising Alliance websites offer opt-out tools to assist you in managing your choices for participating companies. For more information about these tools please visit NAI Opt-Out Page and DAA Opt-Out Page.
    • You may opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s AdsSettings.
    • You may opt out of DoubleClick’s use of cookies by visiting the DoubleClick Opt-Out Page or the NAI Opt-Out Page.
    • You may opt out of Bizo’s use of cookies by visiting the Bizo Opt-Out Page.

Please note that, even if you exercise your choices, you may still receive generic, non-targeted ads from NCR.

NCR websites do not respond to Web browser “do not track” browser header (or equivalent). If we do so in the future, we will describe how we do so in this Privacy Policy.  Visit the following website,, for more information on this developing area.  If, however, your Web browser is set so as not to accept cookies, your use of our websites will not be tracked.

Protection of Your Personal Information

NCR takes data security seriously. We have implemented reasonable and appropriate physical, technical, and organizational measures that are designed to protect Personal Information covered by this Privacy Policy, including Contract Data, from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. NCR is not responsible for, nor can it guarantee, the security of any Personal Information transmitted over the Internet. There is no guarantee that Personal Information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or organizational measures. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information.

U.S. – EU and U.S. – Switzerland Safe Harbor

In connection with providing the Aptra e-Marketing for Retail SaaS offering NCR has certified that offering’s compliance with the U.S. – E.U. and U.S. – Switzerland Safe Harbor Frameworks with respect to Personal Information that NCR operations in the E.U. and Switzerland transfer to NCR operations in the U.SPlease click here to review the NCR’s safe harbor statement for this offering.

Children’s Information

NCR’s applications and websites are not directed to, nor do we knowingly collect Personal Information from, children under the age of 13.  By your use of our websites you affirm that you are at least 13 years of age. NCR does not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or a guardian, and you believe your child has provided NCR with Personal Information without your consent, please contact us.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

If we update this Privacy Policy we will notify you by posting a new Privacy Policy on this page.  If we make any revisions that materially change the ways in which we use or share the Personal Information previously collected from you, we will give you the opportunity to consent to such changes before applying them to that Personal Information.

Contacting Us

We want to address any concerns you may have. You may send any comments or questions regarding this Privacy Policy or NCR’s handling of your Personal Information by email to NCR Corporation, or by mail to:

NCR Corporation
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National Catholic Register

‘God’s Particular Closeness’ in the Catacombs

BY Steven D. Greydanus

August 1-14, 2010 Issue | Posted 7/23/10 at 1:43 PM

Aug. 6 marks the feast of the Transfiguration, the manifestation of Jesus’ glory to his inner circle of disciples on a mountain (traditionally Mount Tabor). Mountains, Pope Benedict notes in his comments on the Transfiguration in Jesus of Nazareth, can represent a “locus of God’s particular closeness,” of inner as well as outer ascent.

But closeness to God can also be found in the depths of the earth — as I recently discovered in the catacombs of St. Callixtus while on pilgrimage in Italy with my daughter Sarah. On the mountain, Jesus’ face shone like the sun, foreshadowing the glory of the Resurrection. Away from the face of the sun, in the darkness of the catacombs, the effects of the Resurrection on Jesus’ followers and their world can still be seen in a particularly dramatic way.

Jesus’ glory, like the Resurrection, is a mystery of faith that is not openly revealed to all. Yet the historical effects of these mysteries continue to be felt, like ripples in the ebb and flow of history — patterns that point beyond themselves, phenomena that resist easy explanations. The mystery makes its presence felt in different ways, not only to the eyes of faith, but also to the eyes of historical inquiry.

Everything we know historically about the development and spread of Christianity — from what fragments of pre-Pauline tradition we have (the creedal formula of 1 Corinthians 15:3, the Christological hymn of Philippians 2) to the various strata of New Testament tradition and extracanonical evidence — confirms that, from the start, the resurrection of Jesus was the defining and central Christian idea: the impetus of the whole Christian movement.

The Resurrection changed everything. For the early Christians, it changed death itself. Even the Jewish hope for what we now call the general resurrection wasn’t as vital a part of Judaism as it became in Christian faith.

Jews had always practiced burial, in contrast to the common pagan practice of cremation. In Rome, where land for burial was scarce, Christians took burial to a whole new level — in fact, to several new levels. Excavating massive underground labyrinths in the soft volcanic rock of the Roman countryside, they carved out row upon row of niches for burying the dead. The uniqueness of their hope was even evident in the language they used. In contrast to the pagan term “necropolis” (city of the dead), the Christians coined the usage “cemetery,” a term literally meaning “dormitory” or “place of sleep.”

The catacombs of St. Callixtus go four levels deep, more than 65 feet below the surface, with 12 miles of galleries winding around a 90-acre plot of land. Nine popes and a number of other Roman prelates were buried here, along with innumerable other faithful, though many notable remains have since been removed to other locations.

Much of the catacombs look just the way you imagine them: dark, winding corridors with rows of pockets carved into the walls on both sides from floor to roof far above visitors’ heads. Many are still sealed, walled over with brick or slabs of marble. Others are open, the remains long gone. Most of the relics, I suppose, were distributed for veneration. The niches are of all shapes and sizes, perhaps custom carved for the deceased. Some are tiny; these are surely crypts for children or even babies.

In rooms hewn out for family burial, there are much larger niches carved with apse-like arches. Within these niches, the burial spots were dug out, not horizontally into the back wall, but vertically, downward, like an above-ground grave. A marble slab was then placed over the remains, forming the bottom surface of the large niche: a natural table or altar where the Eucharist was celebrated, literally upon the tombs of the saints.

In some of these are dim images, dating to the second through fourth centuries, representing baptism, the Eucharist and the resurrection of Christ. Other images date to later times, such as a ninth-century fresco depicting Christ Pantocrator, the Lord of All, in the crypt of St. Cecilia.

The tour guides try to keep you moving at a pace not especially conducive to prayerful contemplation. A few times Sarah and I ignored our guide, kneeling to pray as the group moved on. Sometimes you have to make your own pilgrimage.

Kneeling in those corridors, I reflected: The people who first excavated them belonged to the ancient world of Jesus and the apostles. They lived in the shadow of the imperial power under which Jesus was crucified. They were separated from Jesus by only a few generations — closer in a way than we are to the time of Abraham Lincoln or George Washington, since the world has changed drastically from the times of Lincoln and Washington, whereas the Roman world in the second and third centuries hadn’t changed that much since the time of Jesus.

I’ve prayed at the tombs of Peter and Paul. In those sites, finished in marble under two of Christendom’s grandest churches, there is a corporeal and spiritual connection to the apostles, but no experience of their world. In the catacombs, the walls around me, the floor under my feet and the roof over my head, the recesses yawning as far as the eye can see are all a direct historical effect of the apostles’ belief and preaching that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

I’ve never been to the Holy Land. In the catacombs, I was, in a way, nearer to the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth than at any other time in my life.

Why does this matter? Don’t we have Jesus alive, in glory, in the Blessed Sacrament? Yes. But there’s a reason why Catholics who have the sacraments at home have always gone abroad on pilgrimages. In the Eucharist, we have the whole Jesus, but we also believe that the Eucharist is a perpetuation of the Incarnation, in which the Divine Nature entered the human world in a particular historical and cultural context.

Our belief in the Eucharist, in Jesus in glory, in the Blessed Trinity itself is rooted in historical events that occurred in an obscure backwater of the ancient Near East two millennia ago. We are creatures of culture and history as well as spirit and body, and we need that historical and cultural connection to the Divine as well as the sacramental connection of the holy Eucharist. In such moments, we find what Pope Benedict called “God’s particular closeness.”

Such experiences don’t last, of course. They aren’t meant to. Peter, James and John had to come back down from the mountain; I had to come back up from the catacombs into the heat and light of day. But Jesus intended that experience of particular closeness to strengthen the disciples during a coming experience of particular absence. Likewise, my experience in the catacombs means little if I emerge unchanged — if I haven’t experienced something I can hold onto.

Archaeology cannot point to the footprints of Moses and Elijah on the mountain. At most, weighing the Synoptic tradition, historical inquiry can reasonably argue that something must have happened on the mountain — an extraordinary experience that dramatically confirmed the disciples’ faith in Jesus and set Jesus on the road to his execution.

The catacombs represent dramatic evidence that something happened on Easter Sunday. As many have contended — most recently and exhaustively N. T. Wright in The Resurrection of the Son of God — the historical origins of belief in Jesus’ resurrection virtually defy any explanation but one: that Jesus really was raised from the dead.

To accept this — and to accept, moreover, Jesus as the Son of God — remains a leap of faith. But it’s a leap with unique explanatory power. In the catacombs, I was confronted with the triumph of life over death. That’s something I can hold onto.

Steven D. Greydanus, the Register’s film critic, is editor of Decent and a blogger at


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on Jul 08, 2014 03:22 PM • Views 1999

The Troy Boating Access Area provides boaters and anglers with access to the Little River, which has good fisheries for bluegill, largemouth bass and crappie.

Media Contact: Jodie B. Owen

CANDOR, N.C. (July 8, 2014) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has re-opened the Troy Boating Access Area on the Little River in Montgomery County after completing renovations last week.

The area, which is located at 2382 Pekin Road in Candor, is a popular destination for anglers looking to catch largemouth bass, bluegill, redbreast sunfish and crappie. Wildlife Commission staff completely renovated the area by constructing a new boat ramp, dock, ADA-compliant parking and kiosks, which provide information to boaters and anglers about the area and fishing opportunities.

Staff also improved the entrance road to the boat ramp.

“The ramp had degraded and had caused problems for launching some of the larger trailers,” said Dean Barbee, a conservation technician supervisor for the Commission’s Division of Engineering and Lands Management. “The new ramp extends way beyond the old one and should be an excellent launch for all types of users. We also added a boat dock, which will assist users with launching their watercraft.”

The Wildlife Commission paid for the renovation of the access area through the Sport Fish Restoration Program.

For more information on boating in North Carolina, including the locations of more than 200 free, publicly accessible boating access areas, visit the Commission’s online locater map. For more information on fishing in North Carolina, including where to fish, visit the fishing page.

Download a high-resolution version of the photo above. Please credit Dean Barbee/NCWRC


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nd.gov - The Official Portal for North Dakota State Government
North Dakota: Legendary. Follow the trail of legends

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Bismarck, N.D. - The North Dakota Highway Patrol’s Southwest Region conducted a Trooper on a Bus event in the New Salem area on Tuesday. No violations were observed.

During a Trooper on a Bus detail, troopers ride on a bus during regular school routes to observe traffic violations and take enforcement action. These efforts enhance enforcement of related traffic laws and increase public awareness of dangers created by motorists who fail to stop for school buses when children are loading and unloading.

North Dakota law requires that if a stopped school bus is displaying alternating flashing red lights or a stop sign control arm, drivers meeting the stopped bus from either direction (front or back) must stop before reaching the school bus. Motorists may not proceed until the red lights are deactivated, the bus driver signals them to proceed, or the bus resumes motion. Violation of this law is a $50 fine and six points on the violator’s driving record.

The Highway Patrol encourages drivers to continue to obey traffic laws and be alert for children when approaching school buses.

For More Information

Contact: Sergeant Tom Iverson, NDHP
North Dakota Highway Patrol


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Alpharetta resident dies after fall from upper deck at Atlanta Braves game
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State transportation officials are studying plans to widening a highway across Atlanta's far northern suburbs. They're also considering construction of a new highway to the north or south of State Route 20.

Plans for State Route 20, which connects Cumming to Canton, are prompting concern from residents in the area, who fear their properties could be in the way of highway construction.

According to Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale, State Route 20 has reached its capacity. She said that as the area continues to grow, traffic volumes will increase.

The Highway 20 Coalition, a group of homeowners and businesses concerned about the project, favors improvements, but is opposed to creating a full-scale expressway.

Officials say a decision on the plan isn't expected until 2018.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Infectious Diseases

A child washing her hands to ward off infectious diseaseschild washing hands to avoid infectious disease

Symptoms of some infectious diseases in children (like a fever that lasts too long) can not only be puzzling to you, but to your child’s primary care doctor, too. Nemours’ team of pediatric specialists is there to help uncover the cause of your child’s symptoms. We create a management plan for all infectious diseases in children, which means we work with your child's doctor to ensure the condition will be well-monitored and managed.

Read More About Infectious Diseases In Children

The first sign of infectious diseases in children can be a fever or feeling unwell. However, it might be more severe, longer-lasting or show unusual symptoms that are confusing to you and your child’s doctor.

Common infectious diseases in children we evaluate:
  • MRSA (a contagious staph bacteria)
  • chronic or recurrent infections
  • pediatric HIV/AIDS
  • perinatal exposure to HIV (that is, exposure to the virus around the time of birth)
  • unusual bacterial, fungal or viral infections
  • unexplained fever
  • Lyme disease
  • infectious mononucleosis
  • pneumonia
  • tuberculosis
  • bone and joint infections
  • encephalitis
  • meningitis
  • Kawasaki disease
  • rheumatic fever
  • hepatitis
  • infections in patients whose immune systems are not fully functioning

Nemours Children's Specialty Care, Jacksonville

807 Children’s Way
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Get Map & Directions »

For Appointments: (904) 697-3600

Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Learn More About This Location »

What to Bring
  • photo ID
  • medical and pharmacy insurance cards
  • preferred pharmacy name and phone number
  • names and dosage of all medications, including over-the-counter medication, your child is currently taking
  • guardianship and custody papers, if a legal guardian rather than a parent accompanies your child
New Patients

Bring these forms for your first appointment:

Returning Patients
Forms & Resources
New Patient Forms
Returning Patient Forms
Resources for Patients & Families

Our Division of Infectious Diseases at the Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, Jacksonville, provides evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment for a wide range of severe and recurring infectious diseases in children.

Children who are referred to our team will meet with an attending infectious disease doctor as well as others on the team, who will take a complete medical history and perform a thorough physical exam. Many types of diagnostic testing are available for infectious diseases in children, from blood tests to state-of-the-art medical imaging.

Preparing Your Child to Travel Abroad

We offer a travel clinic that provides counseling, immunizations, and other preventive care measures to protect kids who are leaving the country from infectious diseases.


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Faerie Sparkle Candy
Travel back in time to receive some fun old summer goodies! Open this capsule and select a category (two if you are lucky) of your choice to receive one (or two) exclusive retired Summer Shop item(s).
Sweet Summertime Retired Mystery Capsule
Made with crushed foxgloves, a pinch of rosemary and oodles of sparkly light.
Light of the Faeries Jam
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Become the Ultimate Dragon Trainer!

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