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Helio Costa, PhD, is a medical geneticist with expertise in oncology, medical genetics and genomics, computational biology, data science, software engineering, and product development. He is passionate about leveraging his interdisciplinary skillset to build and develop commercial-grade healthcare tools that aid in patient care and clinical decision support.

Dr. Costa's research focuses on developing, clinically validating, and implementing new medical diagnostic genetic tests and software for use at Stanford Health Care. His research group is also developing clinical algorithms using large-scale clinical laboratory datasets and patient electronic medical records to predict patient outcomes and aid in therapeutic clinical decision support.

He is a co-Investigator on the NIH-funded Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) Consortium, and leads the engineering and product management teams developing FDA-recognized medical software applications used by healthcare providers, researchers, and biotechnology companies to define the clinical relevance of genes and mutations identified in patients.

Dr. Costa is the founding director of the Stanford Clinical Data Science Fellowship where post-doctoral fellows engage in interdisciplinary clinical research and embed in health care workflows learning, building and deploying real-world health data solutions in the Stanford Health Care system. Additionally, he is an Attending Medical Geneticist, and Assistant Lab Director for the Molecular Genetic Pathology Laboratory at Stanford Health Care.

Dr. Costa received his BS in Genetics from University of California at Davis, his PhD in Genetics from Stanford University School of Medicine, and his ABMGG Clinical Molecular Genetics and Genomics fellowship training from Stanford University School of Medicine.

Clinical Focus

  • Molecular Oncology
  • Molecular Pathology
  • Medical Genetics
  • Clinical Pathology

Administrative Appointments

  • Founding Director, Stanford Clinical Data Science Fellowship (2018 - Present)
  • Assistant Lab Director, Molecular Genetic Pathology Laboratory (2017 - Present)

Professional Education

  • Board Certification: American Society for Clinical Pathology, Technologist in Molecular Biology (2018)
  • Fellowship: Stanford University Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellowship CA
  • PhD Training: Stanford University School of Medicine Registrar (2015) CA
  • Fellowship, Stanford University School of Medicine, ABMGG Clinical Molecular Genetics and Genomics (2017)
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Genetics (2015)
  • Bachelor of Science, University of California, Davis, Genetics (2010)

Graduate and Fellowship Programs

All Publications

  • High-throughput Sequencing of Subcutaneous Panniculitis-like T-Cell Lymphoma Reveals Candidate Pathogenic Mutations. Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology : AIMM Fernandez-Pol, S., Costa, H. A., Steiner, D. F., Ma, L., Merker, J. D., Kim, Y. H., Arber, D. A., Kim, J. ; 27 (10): 740?48

    Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL) is a malignant primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma that is challenging to distinguish from other neoplastic and reactive panniculitides. In an attempt to identify somatic variants in SPTCL that may be diagnostically or therapeutically relevant, we performed both exome sequencing on paired tumor-normal samples and targeted sequencing of hematolymphoid-malignancy-associated genes on tumor biopsies. Exome sequencing was performed on skin biopsies from 4 cases of skin-limited SPTCL, 1 case of peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified with secondary involvement of the panniculus, and 2 cases of lupus panniculitis. This approach detected between 1 and 13 high-confidence somatic variants that were predicted to result in a protein alteration per case. Variants of interest identified include 1 missense mutation in ARID1B in 1 case of SPTCL. To detect variants that were present at a lower level, we used a more sensitive targeted panel to sequence 41 hematolymphoid-malignancy-associated genes. The targeted panel was applied to 2 of the biopsies that were evaluated by whole exome sequencing as well as 5 additional biopsies. Potentially pathogenic variants were identified in KMT2D and PLCG1 among others, but no gene was altered in >2 of the 7 cases sequenced. One variant that was notably absent from the cases sequences is RHOA G17V. Further work will be required to further elucidate the genetic abnormalities that lead to this rare lymphoma.

    View details for DOI 10.1097/PAI.0000000000000683

    View details for PubMedID 31702703

  • LitGen: Genetic Literature Recommendation Guided by Human Explanations. Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing. Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing Nie, A., Pineda, A. L., Wright, M. W., Wand, H., Wulf, B., Costa, H. A., Patel, R. Y., Bustamante, C. D., Zou, J. 2020; 25: 67?78

    As genetic sequencing costs decrease, the lack of clinical interpretation of variants has become the bottleneck in using genetics data. A major rate limiting step in clinical interpretation is the manual curation of evidence in the genetic literature by highly trained biocurators. What makes curation particularly time-consuming is that the curator needs to identify papers that study variant pathogenicity using different types of approaches and evidences-e.g. biochemical assays or case control analysis. In collaboration with the Clinical Genomic Resource (ClinGen)-the flagship NIH program for clinical curation-we propose the first machine learning system, LitGen, that can retrieve papers for a particular variant and filter them by specific evidence types used by curators to assess for pathogenicity. LitGen uses semi-supervised deep learning to predict the type of evi+dence provided by each paper. It is trained on papers annotated by ClinGen curators and systematically evaluated on new test data collected by ClinGen. LitGen further leverages rich human explanations and unlabeled data to gain 7.9%-12.6% relative performance improvement over models learned only on the annotated papers. It is a useful framework to improve clinical variant curation.

    View details for PubMedID 31797587

  • Increasing Clinical Trial Accrual via Automated Matching of Biomarker Criteria. Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing. Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing Chen, J. W., Kunder, C. A., Bui, N., Zehnder, J. L., Costa, H. A., Stehr, H. 2020; 25: 31?42

    Successful implementation of precision oncology requires both the deployment of nucleic acid sequencing panels to identify clinically actionable biomarkers, and the efficient screening of patient biomarker eligibility to on-going clinical trials and therapies. This process is typically performed manually by biocurators, geneticists, pathologists, and oncologists; however, this is a time-intensive, and inconsistent process amongst healthcare providers. We present the development of a feature matching algorithmic pipeline that identifies patients who meet eligibility criteria of precision medicine clinical trials via genetic biomarkers and apply it to patients undergoing treatment at the Stanford Cancer Center. This study demonstrates, through our patient eligibility screening algorithm that leverages clinical sequencing derived biomarkers with precision medicine clinical trials, the successful use of an automated algorithmic pipeline as a feasible, accurate and effective alternative to the traditional manual clinical trial curation.

    View details for PubMedID 31797584

  • Genomic Evidence for Local Adaptation of Hunter-Gatherers to the African Rainforest. Current biology : CB Lopez, M., Choin, J., Sikora, M., Siddle, K., Harmant, C., Costa, H. A., Silvert, M., Mouguiama-Daouda, P., Hombert, J., Froment, A., Le Bomin, S., Perry, G. H., Barreiro, L. B., Bustamante, C. D., Verdu, P., Patin, E., Quintana-Murci, L. 2019

    African rainforests support exceptionally high biodiversity and host the world's largest number of active hunter-gatherers [1-3]. The genetic history of African rainforest hunter-gatherers and neighboring farmers is characterized by an ancient divergence more than 100,000 years ago, together with recent population collapses and expansions, respectively [4-12]. While the demographic past of rainforest hunter-gatherers has been deeply characterized, important aspects of their history of genetic adaptation remain unclear. Here, we investigated how these groups have adapted-through classic selective sweeps, polygenic adaptation, and selection since admixture-to the challenging rainforest environments. To do so, we analyzed a combined dataset of 566 high-coverage exomes, including 266 newly generated exomes, from 14 populations of rainforest hunter-gatherers and farmers, together with 40 newly generated, low-coverage genomes. We find evidence for a strong, shared selective sweep among all hunter-gatherer groups in the regulatory region of TRPS1-primarily involved in morphological traits. We detect strong signals of polygenic adaptation for height and life history traits such as reproductive age; however, the latter appear to result from pervasive pleiotropy of height-associated genes. Furthermore, polygenic adaptation signals for functions related to responses of mast cells to allergens andmicrobes, the IL-2 signaling pathway, and hostinteractions with viruses support a history of pathogen-driven selection in the rainforest. Finally, we find that genes involved in heart and bone development and immune responses are enriched in both selection signals and local hunter-gatherer ancestry in admixed populations, suggesting that selection has maintained adaptive variation in the face of recent gene flow from farmers.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.013

    View details for PubMedID 31402299

  • Structural Variation Detection by Proximity Ligation from Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Tissue. The Journal of molecular diagnostics : JMD Troll, C. J., Putnam, N. H., Hartley, P. D., Rice, B., Blanchette, M., Siddiqui, S., Ganbat, J., Powers, M. P., Ramakrishnan, R., Kunder, C. A., Bustamante, C. D., Zehnder, J. L., Green, R. E., Costa, H. A. 2018

    The clinical management and therapy of many solid tumor malignancies is dependent on detection of medically actionable or diagnostically relevant genetic variation. However, a principal challenge for genetic assays from tumors is the fragmented and chemically damaged state of DNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. From highly fragmented DNA and RNA there is no current technology for generating long-range DNA sequence data as is required to detect genomic structural variation or long-range genotype phasing. We have developed a high-throughput chromosome conformation capture approach for FFPE samples that we call "Fix-C", which is similar in concept to Hi-C. Fix-C enables structural variation detection from archival FFPE samples. This method was applied to 15 clinical adenocarcinoma and sarcoma positive control specimens spanning a broad range of tumor purities. In this panel, Fix-C analysis achieves a 90% concordance rate with FISH assays - the current clinical gold standard. Additionally, novel structural variation undetected by other methods could be identified and long-range chromatin configuration information recovered from these FFPE samples harboring highly degraded DNA. This powerful approach will enable detailed resolution of global genome rearrangement events during cancer progression from FFPE material and inform the development of targeted molecular diagnostic assays for patient care.

    View details for PubMedID 30605765

  • Gene-specific criteria for PTEN variant curation: Recommendations from the ClinGen PTEN Expert Panel. Human mutation Mester, J. L., Ghosh, R., Pesaran, T., Huether, R., Karam, R., Hruska, K. S., Costa, H. A., Lachlan, K., Ngeow, J., Barnholtz-Sloan, J., Sesock, K., Hernandez, F., Zhang, L., Milko, L., Plon, S. E., Hegde, M., Eng, C. 2018; 39 (11): 1581?92

    The ClinGen PTEN Expert Panel was organized by the ClinGen Hereditary Cancer Clinical Domain Working Group to assemble clinicians, researchers, and molecular diagnosticians with PTEN expertise to develop specifications to the 2015 ACMG/AMP Sequence Variant Interpretation Guidelines for PTEN variant interpretation. We describe finalized PTEN-specific variant classification criteria and outcomes from pilot testing of 42 variants with benign/likely benign (BEN/LBEN), pathogenic/likely pathogenic (PATH/LPATH), uncertain significance (VUS), and conflicting (CONF) ClinVar assertions. Utilizing these rules, classifications concordant with ClinVar assertions were achieved for 14/15 (93.3%) BEN/LBEN and 16/16 (100%) PATH/LPATH ClinVar consensus variants for an overall concordance of 96.8% (30/31). The variant where agreement was not reached was a synonymous variant near a splice donor with noncanonical sequence for which in silico models cannot predict the native site. Applying these rules to six VUS and five CONF variants, adding shared internal laboratory data enabled one VUS to be classified as LBEN and two CONF variants to be as classified as PATH and LPATH. This study highlights the benefit of gene-specific criteria and the value of sharing internal laboratory data for variant interpretation. Our PTEN-specific criteria and expertly reviewed assertions should prove helpful for laboratories and others curating PTEN variants.

    View details for PubMedID 30311380

  • Tumor Molecular Profiling Aids in Determining Tissue of Origin and Therapy for Metastatic Adenocarcinoma in a Patient With Multiple Primary Malignancies JCO PRECISION ONCOLOGY Costa, H. A., Reyes, R., Mills, M., Zehnder, J. L., Sledge, G., Curtis, C., Ford, J. M., Suarez, C. J. 2018; 2
  • Detection and surveillance of bladder cancer using urine tumor DNA. Cancer discovery Dudley, J. C., Schroers-Martin, J., Lazzareschi, D. V., Shi, W. Y., Chen, S. B., Esfahani, M. S., Trivedi, D., Chabon, J. J., Chaudhuri, A. A., Stehr, H., Liu, C. L., Lim, H., Costa, H. A., Nabet, B. Y., Sin, M. L., Liao, J. C., Alizadeh, A. A., Diehn, M. 2018

    Current regimens for the detection and surveillance of bladder cancer (BLCA) are invasive and have suboptimal sensitivity. Here, we present a novel high-throughput sequencing (HTS) method for detection of urine tumor DNA (utDNA) called utDNA CAPP-Seq (uCAPP-Seq) and apply it to 67 healthy adults and 118 patients with early-stage BLCA who either had urine collected prior to treatment or during surveillance. Using this targeted sequencing approach, we detected a median of 6 mutations per BLCA patient and observed surprisingly frequent mutations of the PLEKHS1 promoter (46%), suggesting these mutations represent a useful biomarker for detection of BLCA. We detected utDNA pre-treatment in 93% of cases using a tumor mutation-informed approach and in 84% when blinded to tumor mutation status, with 96-100% specificity. In the surveillance setting, we detected utDNA in 91% of patients who ultimately recurred, with utDNA detection preceding clinical progression in 92% of cases. uCAPP-Seq outperformed a commonly used ancillary test (UroVysion, p=0.02) and cytology and cystoscopy combined (p is less than or equal to 0.006), detecting 100% of BLCA cases detected by cytology and 82% that cytology missed. Our results indicate that uCAPP-Seq is a promising approach for early detection and surveillance of BLCA.

    View details for PubMedID 30578357

  • Promoting appropriate genetic testing: the impact of a combined test review and consultative service. Genetics in medicine Suarez, C. J., Yu, L., Downs, N., Costa, H. A., Stevenson, D. A. 2017

    Genetic test misorders can adversely affect patient care. However, little is known about the types of misorders and the overall impact of a utilization management (UM) program on curbing misorders. This study aimed to identify different types of misorders and analyze the impact of a combined test review and consultative service on reducing misorders over time.Selected genetic tests were systematically reviewed between January and December 2015 at Stanford Health Care. Misorders were categorized into five types: clerical errors, redundant testing, better alternatives, controversial, and uncategorized. Moreover, consultations were offered to help clinicians with test selection.Of the 629 molecular test orders reviewed, 13% were classified as misorders, and 7% were modified or canceled. Controversial misorders constitute the most common type (42%); however, unlike the other misorder types, they were negligibly affected by test review. Simultaneously, 71 consults were received. With the introduction of the UM program, genetic test misorders went from 22% at baseline to 3% at the end of the year.Our results show that the combined approach of test review and consultative service effectively reduced misorders over time and suggest that a UM program focused on eliminating misorders can positively influence health-care providers' behaviors.Genet Med advance online publication 26 January 2017Genetics in Medicine (2017); doi:10.1038/gim.2016.219.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/gim.2016.219

    View details for PubMedID 28125079

  • Identification of a Novel Somatic Mutation Leading to Allele Dropout for EGFR L858R Genotyping in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy Costa, H. A., Neal, J. W., Bustamante, C. D., Zehnder, J. L. 2017
  • Discovery and functional characterization of a neomorphic PTEN mutation PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Costa, H. A., Leitner, M. G., Sos, M. L., Mavrantoni, A., Rychkova, A., Johnson, J. R., Newton, B. W., Yee, M., De La Vega, F. M., Ford, J. M., Krogan, N. J., Shokat, K. M., Oliver, D., Halaszovich, C. R., Bustamante, C. D. 2015; 112 (45): 13976-13981

    Although a variety of genetic alterations have been found across cancer types, the identification and functional characterization of candidate driver genetic lesions in an individual patient and their translation into clinically actionable strategies remain major hurdles. Here, we use whole genome sequencing of a prostate cancer tumor, computational analyses, and experimental validation to identify and predict novel oncogenic activity arising from a point mutation in the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) tumor suppressor protein. We demonstrate that this mutation (p.A126G) produces an enzymatic gain-of-function in PTEN, shifting its function from a phosphoinositide (PI) 3-phosphatase to a phosphoinositide (PI) 5-phosphatase. Using cellular assays, we demonstrate that this gain-of-function activity shifts cellular phosphoinositide levels, hyperactivates the PI3K/Akt cell proliferation pathway, and exhibits increased cell migration beyond canonical PTEN loss-of-function mutants. These findings suggest that mutationally modified PTEN can actively contribute to well-defined hallmarks of cancer. Lastly, we demonstrate that these effects can be substantially mitigated through chemical PI3K inhibitors. These results demonstrate a new dysfunction paradigm for PTEN cancer biology and suggest a potential framework for the translation of genomic data into actionable clinical strategies for targeted patient therapy.

    View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1422504112

    View details for PubMedID 26504226

  • Transcriptome sequencing from diverse human populations reveals differentiated regulatory architecture. PLoS genetics Martin, A. R., Costa, H. A., Lappalainen, T., Henn, B. M., Kidd, J. M., Yee, M., Grubert, F., Cann, H. M., Snyder, M., Montgomery, S. B., Bustamante, C. D. 2014; 10 (8)

    Large-scale sequencing efforts have documented extensive genetic variation within the human genome. However, our understanding of the origins, global distribution, and functional consequences of this variation is far from complete. While regulatory variation influencing gene expression has been studied within a handful of populations, the breadth of transcriptome differences across diverse human populations has not been systematically analyzed. To better understand the spectrum of gene expression variation, alternative splicing, and the population genetics of regulatory variation in humans, we have sequenced the genomes, exomes, and transcriptomes of EBV transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from 45 individuals in the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP). The populations sampled span the geographic breadth of human migration history and include Namibian San, Mbuti Pygmies of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Algerian Mozabites, Pathan of Pakistan, Cambodians of East Asia, Yakut of Siberia, and Mayans of Mexico. We discover that approximately 25.0% of the variation in gene expression found amongst individuals can be attributed to population differences. However, we find few genes that are systematically differentially expressed among populations. Of this population-specific variation, 75.5% is due to expression rather than splicing variability, and we find few genes with strong evidence for differential splicing across populations. Allelic expression analyses indicate that previously mapped common regulatory variants identified in eight populations from the International Haplotype Map Phase 3 project have similar effects in our seven sampled HGDP populations, suggesting that the cellular effects of common variants are shared across diverse populations. Together, these results provide a resource for studies analyzing functional differences across populations by estimating the degree of shared gene expression, alternative splicing, and regulatory genetics across populations from the broadest points of human migration history yet sampled.

    View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004549

    View details for PubMedID 25121757

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Journal Club

The Department of Ophthalmology offers Journal Club sessions 7 times a year. All faculty, residents and fellows are invited to attend these sessions. The sessions are held on a weeknight at the Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Critical Care Wing, 3rd Floor, Eye Institute, Room #W3261. Light refreshments are available. Twice a year, the Journal Club sessions are held at a local convention centre along with a formal dinner.

Attendance at the journal club are tracked for credit purposes through the online software One45 or by contacting the Departmental Education Program Coordinator Ginette Snook.

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Media Land Rover

Here's Your Chance To Snatch A Defender From James Bond's Spectre Movie

One of the rare Land Rover Defender models used in James Bond blockbuster Spectre will star in Silverstone Auctions’ upcoming live online sale on May 23rd.

Spectre, the 24th film in the famed James Bond series, premiered in 2015 and while the Aston Martin DB10 was certainly the vehicular highlight, Eon Productions also commissioned 10 bespoke Land Rover 110 Defender models to serve as the getaway cars. These weren’t just any regular Defender models, however.

Read Also: Bowler Officially Joins The Jaguar Land Rover Family

Bowler Motorsport was responsible for extensively modifying each example, outfitting them with 37-inch tires, a heavy-duty roll cage, strengthened chassis, and a hydraulic hand brake. A host of exterior parts really make the Defender stand out, including a winch, a large roof rack, a snorkel, LED spotlights and a rope draped over the hood.

Two variants of Bowler’s Defender 110 SVX ‘Spectre’ were built for the film, the first dedicated to high-speed getaway scenes and the others used during snow scenes. This example is the latter snow-spec one and is one of just seven to have survived filming.

“This is a very special opportunity for someone to own a piece of Bond film history. The rarity of these means they don’t come to market that often,” Silverstone Auctions managing director Nick Whale said.

This isn’t the first time one of the Spectre Defenders has gone to auction. In 2018, one of the seven other remaining examples sold for £365,500 (US$455,169).

A number of other vehicles will be auctioned off on May 23. These include a rare 1994 Aston Martin Virage Widebody Volante, a 2003 Aston Martin DB7 with a manual ‘box, a low-mileage Ferrari 360 Modena, and a 1971 Porsche 911 2.7 RS Recreation.


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A special message from our student midwives #WeAreUoN #WithWoman

We are so proud of our student midwives who are embarking on their final placements. Although they'll have to wear masks when delivering babies to protect against COVID-19, they want expectant…

From  Tom Travis on May 29th, 2020 1 likes 156 plays 3

Midwifery Offer-Holder Day

Experience midwifery at the University of Nottingham at our open days and offer-holder days. Discover more about our undergraduate course, speak to staff and current students, and have the…

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Investor Connect – Where You’re Raising Capital Matters

PaulAdvocacy, Innovation, Venture Capital1 Comment

You see a lot of these startups that have raised a seed round and now they’re ready for their next round, what do you think are some of the biggest challenges they face when they go out to raise those follow-on rounds of funding? What mistakes do you see people making?

Hall Martin; Investor Connect

I wonder if they’re mistakes that the startups are making, or if they’re mistakes or experiences that different startup ecosystems are perpetuating in what they’re doing for a business or startup.

What I think we typically see is that depending on where that startup grew up, if that startup grew up in New York, or that startup grew up in Silicon Valley, or that startup grew up in Austin, frankly, they tend to get different advice, they tend to get different perspective from the community and that advice is not right nor wrong, frankly, that advice is attuned to how that particular region tends to work.

Paul O’Brien recently had a chance to chat with Investor Connect’s Hall Martin, to offer to listeners a perspective on media innovation and how ecosystems and economies can develop and mature to serve investor interests. Investor Connect is a program under the Texas Open Angel Network which is a 501(c3) non-profit dedicated to the education around startup funding.

Listen in to Investor Connect

In New York, for example, you’ve got a lot of investment banks and bankers. We’ve got Wall Street and you likely know a lot of finance professionals; and so, the numbers, and the performance, and the financials, and the models and so forth, are expected.

You’ve gotta know the math, you gotta know the numbers.

And that’s correct, but it’s also not necessarily what other regions in the world are familiar with and looking for. And so, the mistake that’s made is often, as a startup matures, they are still fixated on the advice and the experience that they had where they are, and they don’t appreciate that when you get into that next stage – that Series A and Series-B stage – frankly, you have to start talking to other markets to raise capital, just because you need access to other investors. As you start talking to those other markets, you’ve got to appreciate that they may have completely different experiences and expectations with regard to what happens at that next stage.

For example, my experience in Silicon Valley is that a Series-A round really isn’t about getting the math right, it’s really not about getting the financials properly, and frankly, it’s not even about showing revenue nor showing that you can get customers. The Series-A round in California, in my experience, is almost more about showing that there’s a sizeable enough market and that you know how to achieve and secure and compete in that market, so that from there, you can start to figure out how to grow a business and make money.

And of course Texas has a little bit of a different experience from that. So I’d encourage as you’re moving to that next round, you almost have to think about where you’re raising capital and the expectations or the experience or the conventional wisdom of that region of the world, so that you can speak to it; so that you can speak on their terms, not because their terms are right, not because New York’s way is better or worse, or Silicon Valley’s way is better or worse, that’s absolutely not the case, but it is valid to appreciate that where they are means that they have different experiences. They have a different perspective on how this works, and as long as you speak to those terms or the mindset that folks have – depending on where they are – makes it a heck of a lot easier to have a conversation that gets right down to brass tacks, right, gets right down to the details of what you’re hoping to accomplish when you’re raising money, or, if you’re in the investor seat, as you’re hoping to deploy capital in a way that’s meaningful, appreciating where that experience comes from.

Well, that’s good advice. It used to be everybody went to the Bay Area or New York, but now there’s many other places you can go to and there, the regional differences start to come up in a big way and you need to navigate those waters carefully because there is money to be picked up in all of those places, but, the way you do it is different for sure, and language and the seed, Series-A, Series-B methodology is also defined differently as well. That’s always a little bit confusing too.

That’s exactly the way to characterize it, simply. It’s not too dissimilar from appreciating that raising capital for a healthcare startup or a health-tech startup, frankly, is not the same as raising capital for a FinTech startup. The advisors, the way that those companies go to market, the fact that they’re both gonna have regulatory challenges, the fact that there are outside factors that impact how those companies work and how they do business, really differs, really varies the expectations in the way that they go to market when raising capital. Same is true by stage, same is true by region of the world, because there are different regulations, considerations, experiences, partners and so forth to have, in financing and funding these companies.

Well you’ve done a lot of work in the media-tech space, not been up on it lately. What’s new in that space and how do you see it evolving?

It was about six weeks ago perhaps – Fred Wilson was in the news with a bit of a headline that said, “If there was anywhere to be investing at this point, it would be the media industry” (it’s on our Twitter @mediatechvent); a really nice affirmation that there’s something going on in the media industry that the venture capital community should pay attention to.

And I think what Fred was referring to isn’t media per se, in a sense that anybody usually conceives of it. A lot of times when we say media, people immediately think of news media, or social media. We tend to get this myopic, tunnel vision on our personal experience or our personal perspective on what media means. When we refer to media in what we’re doing and what I think Fred Wilson was referring to, is that media really just refers to the content. The film, or the podcast, or the video game, or the written content – if it’s a news media site, or a social media site, or even a book-publishing site, if you will – those are all just forms of media and one thing can be said with the highest degree of certainty we can imagine, is that media will always play a pivotal and critical role in our world. It shapes our culture, it shapes our economy, it shapes what we know, it shapes how we connect with people and so, a fact, whether or not the economy is strong or the economy is weak, there will always be demand for media, in some context. It could be entertainment, it could be news, could be connectivity.

And so, what we’ve seen in the last year or so, is affirmation of that, is validation of that. A lot of the big companies’ increasingly looking to how to participate in more innovation. A lot of the private groups, public funds, grants, federal money, looking at what to do about and how to participate in the media industry at large, because you know that the media industry plays an important part in what we all do. And in turn, venture capitalists follow media and increasingly look, saying something like, “This media space, in particular, is something in somewhere where we absolutely always have to pay attention, because we never know from where the next Netflix, or Atmosphere, or Electronic Arts will come.”

These are all media-technology companies.

You never know from where the next one’s gonna come. It could come from the Ukraine, and if we’re not paying attention to how quickly media evolves in order to create value with that content, if we’re not paying attention to it, we, very easily and quickly can miss – as investors a substantial opportunity that will completely transform the way the industry works.

What new technologies do you see coming up in the media-tech space? It seems like there’s a lot of challenges with it, with what’s truthful, what’s fake news and who owns that, who controls that and so forth. What do you think are the solutions for that from a technology point of view?

The media business has always been exuberant about, frankly, about very forward-thinking things, very, almost disruptive things. And I share that thought, to point out that it’s been exuberant about those things to a fault, frankly, that it’s always been so forward, that in a lot of respects it takes our focus, takes our understanding and our appreciation off the more pragmatic and practical technologies.

Over the past couple of years, the media industry has been very, very hot on things like blockchain, and artificial intelligence, and bots. Things that are still wonderful innovations and a direction that we will, eventually and increasingly, go. Those technologies are still so far in front of us that we’re not quite there yet. We’re not quite seeing blockchain, as an example; we’re not quite seeing that kind of infrastructure or technology as the solution to all of these things that we’re desperate for in media. Things like intellectual property control, and rights ownership, and payments – managing payments for content creators – we’re really not seeing any sort of AI, or machine learning, or data solution for fake news. There’s a lot of exuberance that we could possibly say to fix this question of fake news in the future, but, we’re really just not there yet.

So what are the practical technologies? Well one, a lot of excitement and enthusiasm for marketplaces, frankly, that – if your thinking about the media business in a much more gig economy, or workforce context – the workforce is flushed with designers, and photographers, and videographers, and content creators, and book authors, musicians, all of these people with incredible talent that’s meaningful to the workforce, and there’s really no where or way for people to easily find and hire them; there is no marketplace. And so, there’s a lot of emphasis on the idea of the marketplace, number one.

Number two, distribution is a practical, pragmatic technology. How do we enable media producers, investors, content creators, how do we enable these people to more effectively and efficiently, reach much larger audiences? But we’re not talking about things like TikTok, or Instagram, or influencers – where we see a lot of attention in the media business – what I mean is, moreso the platforms that enable us to reach many more, across channels – it’s referred to as multimedia or omni media – across many different forms of media and many different channels as quickly as possible.

Number three is related to the second point. Number three is that we’re seeing a lot more investment in understanding how media can be replicated across many different forms. If I produce a video on YouTube, well, why isn’t there also a podcast, audio podcast? Why isn’t there also a written version of the video so that if somebody just wants to read it, right, they can, very easily? How do we enable many other creators and producers and so forth, to very quickly be – what’s referred to as this multimedia format – so that wherever the consumer, wherever the audience wants to consume, they very easily can. There’s no reason I have to watch a video because you only produce a video. There’s no reason I only have to listen to a podcast through my smartphone. I could, or should be able to listen to it on the radio too and tune in to an AM station in the morning, during my drive time, and listen to it that way. How do we streamline and make that much more possible for people?

Well you mentioned Fred Wilson and he also blogged recently about the fact that new technologies tend to run in 15-year cycles. We had the mainframe world, and then we had the PC world, and then we had the mobile world and then we have now the cloud world, but, we’re running near the end of that 15-year window. What do you think the next 15 years will look like and what will be the vector? Will it be – ’cause now though, almost everybody in the world is connected at some level – what is the next stage you think it’ll come up? Do you think it’ll be media focused?

Will it be media focused? No, again, I think media is the content associated with whatever that might be and that media comes in many different forms. A tweet is media, but Twitter itself is not necessarily media – granted it is, so maybe it’s a poor example – but hopefully everybody appreciates my point. I don’t think media is the next phase. We might refer to some of Peter Drucker’s study back in the ’70’s and ’80’s, that media is really just critical piece of every company; Coca-Cola’s in the media business, frankly. Well, moreso a brand and an advertising company that just happens to sell a sugary soft drink that everybody wants to buy. But at the end of the day, the question is whether or not they can move and influence the media in order to do that. So I don’t think media is gonna play as prominent a role as it might sound, given the work we’re doing.

I think the answer – and I hate being too predictive ’cause that’s not necessarily how I think – but I think the answer might lie in one of two things. Either, a much more open-source world. There’re a couple great, great quotes – and unfortunately I can’t quote them, but I’m sure if you Google them, we’ll dig them up pretty quickly – a couple great quotes about the idea that open – source is the greatest competitor that every founder has. That there’s always someone, somewhere else in the world, creating a more open-source version. A more free, a more accessible, a more collaborative version of whatever it is that you’re doing. And so, you get this notion that open-source is gonna eat the world, open-source is gonna enable the world, depending on your perspective I suppose.

So I think the next phase could be a little bit more of that direction or, I really love the notion that what’s really happening – I think this is very valid – what’s really happening is that the next phase of technology is going to very simply be platforms.

Amazon is a platform, Uber is a platform, Tinder is a platform, Facebook is a platform. These companies that are dominating sectors, dominating entire industries, are really just platforms on which other businesses and consumers and companies, on which businesses and consumers and companies can more effectively and efficiently transact and connect. And I think we’re gonna see a lot more platforms in political tech, in real estate, in transportation.

We’re gonna see platforms in education. Texas is a wonderful place, I think, for all of us to focus, for that reason that Texas, if you think about it, it’s historically been a very traditional set of industries. The space industry, agriculture industry, real-estate industry and so forth, that Texas is a place where we’re seeing the fact that all of these traditional industries are realizing what the internet can do and we’re starting to build these platforms that enable the entire industry – an entire sector or segment – to transform, to change and become, all at once, to become a marketplace, and a data company, and a distribution vehicle for all of the participants in that given industry.

Well, if you look at the current platforms we have now and look at the big tech, Amazon, Facebook, Google, they all have platforms. The challenge is once you use that platform, you’re locked into it. You can’t disengage and take your data with you and go somewhere else, you leave that behind. And so, one solution people propose under the name Web 3.0, is that you should not break up big tech, but redefine the platform in such a way that you can, as a user, disengage, take your data, go somewhere else and re-engage with another platform – or many other new platforms that could come up – because now, you’re at some level portable with what you’re doing and you control your data and you control where you want to go. There’s not, with big tech, there’s not that many choices out there today, but in the future, there could be many. You think that’s where it’s going to go?

I want it to go that direction and I am enthusiastic and exuberant in saying this to you and to your listeners, that if anyone agrees with that, please, let’s talk, because the only way we’re going to get there is to start collaborating in the direction.

Here’s a different way to answer it: Remember when Netflix launched and you put together a list of the DVD’s -back when Netflix was still just distributing DVD’s – put together the list of all the movies you wanted to see; at some point, and I had a list of 300 movies on my, send-me-in-the-future kind of thing that Netflix had.

And I remember thinking, back then, how frustrating it was that I couldn’t take that exact same list and just drop it over in Amazon, to have a list of the movies that I would love to have someone buy me, or drop it over in Hulu, when Hulu emerged. And say, “All right, here’s the list of movies I want to watch. It’s the same list no matter where it is. It’s the same list of movies I wanna watch. Can I drop it over there?” Notionally, the same idea applies to Amazon: I’ve written a review for a product on Amazon. Why isn’t my review on every other platform where that product exists? It should be. It’s the same review, no?

But I vehemently agree with you that we people create content, we create information, whether that’s information about ourselves, or it’s information about other things, it’s still our information — It’s still Paul O’Brien’s perspective about the world and data about himself, and whether or not I own that is almost an irrelevant question, which I think gets in the way of the discussion today. We’re talking about who owns the data, yes?

Does Netflix own that data, or Amazon own that data, or do I own the data?

Well, honestly, I don’t even own my own data. That concept almost needs to be squashed. I can’t own my data. It’s data.

Someone else helped to make it available, someone else helped create it, etc., but it is my data It is data about me, so why can’t I do whatever I want with it and bring it wherever I want? And I think the direction, I think the answer lies in what we just talked about, that I think what we’re gonna see emerge are what you might think of as “people platforms,” or even open-source data sets about people.

Because at the end of the day, can we force a Facebook, can we force an Amazon to give me all the information it has about me, to let me move it somewhere else? Well, yes, sort of… because only within the United States can we establish a law that makes that a requirement. Dozens and dozens of other countries, I don’t even even know how many other countries are, right, but we actually live in a global economy and the internet is a global platform. So we can’t really think of the solution as the world requiring that every brand on the internet ensure that I can do whatever I want with my information…just won’t happen. There will be countries and places and laws and governments and so forth, that don’t care and don’t want to participate in that ideal, but, I can conceive of how people can start to create their own open-data sets and we can start to develop this platform in which my information and my opinions and my friends’ and so forth, are actually on the Paul O’Brien open-data stack, and if I want to give that to Facebook, or I want to give that to Amazon, I can, and if I don’t want to, I don’t have to.

I think what we’re gonna see is more options, more of an opportunity for folks to decide, for themselves whether or not they want brands and internet properties to have the information, or if they want to limit the amount of information that is given to them. It’s gonna be an exciting future ’cause we do have these questions of privacy, and security, and data portability and so forth that are exciting to talk about, they’re exciting to discuss, but we tend to miss the fact that legally – with regard to enforcement – they’re incredibly challenging questions and then frankly, with regard to the technology, they’re also difficult questions for us to uncover and so, yes, the next five, 10 years are going to be very heavily focused on what we all can do with information about ourselves and the information we create.

Do you think that will come out of the startup community? You’ve talked about the topic of specialization for startups and investors. Let’s talk more about that aspect of it and how that’s important to startups and investors.

I do think it will come out of the startup community and I think it will come out of the startup community in the sense that it almost must, that, if this is a government-driven initiative, quite frankly, we’re gonna have governance-oriented expectations. We see that in things like GDPR in Europe and we see things like that with CPC, excuse me, CCPA in California, wonderful intentions, wonderful initiatives, right, the right direction, but at the end of the day, they’re gonna be oriented to that particular part of the world and the laws pertinent to that particular world. So I think it’s difficult for us to conceive of how a government-funded or government-driven innovation program, or R&D project or some such, could actually solve this kind of question, number one.

Number two, I think it’s fair, I think it’s valid to appreciate that companies aren’t necessarily gonna solve it either. I mean, at the end of the day we have to be frank in the fact that we live in a capitalist economy – for the most part – and companies do have the rights – and responsibilities – the right to manage their brand, and the technology, and the products, and the investment they make in such a way that it delivers shareholder value. And so, until that changes, companies are gonna focus on what is most important for them. It’s valid to say they’re probably not gonna create these open-data sets for people to do whatever they want with their information because that information is valuable to those companies; that’s not wrong. I think it’s important that we appreciate that.

This is gonna come out of the startup community in the sense that it’s going to take some entrepreneurs and some technology folks who see the need for this, see the demand for this, and understand how it could be done.

And as “entrepreneurs” – quotes, as “entrepreneurs”, these people are folks who don’t necessarily play by the rules when we know the rules can be broken. We will find a way to do this. Startups will find a way to do it differently, do it better, maybe do it wrong, frankly, but that’s the point of startups; startups make mistakes sometimes. That’s how we uncover new innovations and new opportunities.

Someone is gonna sit down and say, “You know what, the entire world needs a way to enable people to do what they want with their information, and control it, and give it, or take it, or monetize it. Frankly, if someone wants to monetize their data, by all means. It’s gonna take somebody who sits down and does that and then really conceives of how that’s technically possible, how it will matter to everyone throughout the world and will actually work in a way that the companies then, and the governments then, will want to participate and support that, right, in a way that it will benefit everybody involved.

And that’s why I think it’s an important conversation for us to have in the venture community, in the funding and financing ecosystem, because it’s only through the support and the encouragement and the resources that investors can bring to bear, that the startups and the entrepreneurs and the founders are going to be able to make the investments of their time, and their experience, and their technology, make the investments of what they’re doing substantially enough, to actually make such a monumental thing come to life and work.

It’s a conversation that we’re having frequently throughout this year.

NOTE: Investor Connect is a program under the Texas Open Angel Network which is a 501(c3) non-profit dedicated to the education around startup funding. Hall Martin is the principal contact, and may be reached at

Hall T. Martin is the Director of Investor Connect which is 501c3 non-profit dedicated to the education of investors for early stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

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Where To Catch No Sign Up Hookup Sites?

Compared to be able to websites, that ratio definitely even close. Tinder may be the main revenue generating application for Match, accounting for $1. 15 billion of Match’s total of $2. 05 billion revenue in 2019 – 56% as a whole. Is actually liberated to produce a profile, help to make swipes, and send emails to mutual matches upon Tinder, however, you may also upgrade to Tinder Plus or Tinder Yellow metal to obtain much more perks — for example five Super Wants daily. The SilverSingles iphone app is an excellent on-the-go version in the user-friendly SilverSingles website, featuring dating prospects for all those finding love 50 seeking connections and adventures.

And also, possibly images or account seems just like it’s 5yrs old, it genuinely could possibly be — there can be a a lot of open non-active user profiles from ancient members and escorts even now lingering on the spot. There’s no moving here—just call for some potential matches to dine” if they allow, skip small talk and gather for the first time frame over 5-star cuisine. Joint recently announced a whole new characteristic called "We met, inches where users who essentially meet and embark on goes can identify Joint that this meet worked, whether or not this went very well, an whenever they prefer to notice that person once again.

In a test of 394 the younger generation, the strongest predictor of set-up behavior was having recently installed — people that involved in penetrative sexual activity hookups had been 600 percent more probable as opposed to runners to do this again over an excellent semester (Owen et approach., 2011). Before,  options offered to singles aiming to date (or people in open relationships) were fewer and further among. Since its roll-out in mil novecentos e noventa e seis, the Mature Friend Person database is growing to feature above 97 , 000, 000 sexy user profiles, possesses designed over 5. 7 , 000, 000 connections currently.

We just like Match given it works on the proven match figures to match up finding love. Mobile software for iOS and Android os allow you to have your pursuit along out and about, and grow in contact with people you intend to meet. Match is constantly on the firm up its place like a well-rounded choice for those ages since it refuses to obtain lost being an antiquated, corny dating ‘re a minimum of tediously scrolling through people Match thinks you may like according to shared passions like volunteering or clubbing, pet choices, whether you would like (or have) kids and much more.

The site includes a clean, intuitive layout that you can now detect, and also the features are streamlined for simple nav (e. g., filtering searches, receiving suitable profiles, and sending messages). It’s less than eHarmony and lacks the ultra-conservative stigma the better-known site is promoting, but like a relative newbie, Elite Lonely people might not provide a deep enough pool of potential fits for many. By way of example when America Online was popular within the mid 1990s they’d email protected which was a totally free way to satisfy locals it had been merely a few time prior to some online dating site bought email protected turning it into a pay out dating internet site.

6 Unproven Facts Around Friends With Benefits At College

This is to go to satisfy people, have sexual intercourse and obtain put the way YOU desire. Despite this, the potential risks for scams on free of charge websites tend to be higher, the amount of messages you are able to send daily could be limited, along with the quantity and excellence of features. This term is slang – usually for young women who employ online dating services products to check with older, richer men so, who supply to them fiscal support somehow. You can respond to your questions, giving both equally your solution and what you need your potential match’s solution to be — setting up a percentile score that reflects abiliyy between users, which was just lately changed to feature questions on good issues just like climatic change, hence you’ll be able to filter those with diametrically opposed suggestions to your self.

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acute posterior ganglionitis

herpes zoster.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Herpes zoster — Also called shingles, zona, and zoster. The culprit is the varicella zoster virus. Primary infection with this virus causes chickenpox (varicella). At this time the virus infects nerves (namely, the dorsal root ganglia) where it remains latent… …   Medical dictionary

  • Facial nerve — Nerve: Facial nerve Cranial nerve VII The nerves of the scalp, face, and side of neck …   Wikipedia

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Meeesh's Kitchen

It’s Taco Tuesday!!! Here’s a delicious twist on your standard taco night that takes less than 30 minutes.  Be careful not to add too much chipotle Chile, those babies are HOT!

This take a bit of preparation work, but it’s great for when you’re entertaining. It’s impressive and once assembled, cooks on its own. You can even make the sauce ahead of time and heat it up when there is 5 minutes remaining in the cook time.

This recipe is very simple, and doesn’t require much work from the chef.  The oven will do it all for you.

What I love about my slow cooker is that it does the work for me.  I go home at lunch, throw everything in my cooker, let it do its magic and dinner is ready by the time dinner rolls around.  All I need to worry about is my salad and what wine I want to drink with dinner.  This recipe was the best pork I have ever made!  It was tender, flavourful,… Read More


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Kantha Patchwork Triangle

Weight1 kg
Dimensions200 × 45 cm

Out of stock

Our beautiful scarves have been skillfully hand crafted by our women artisans in Vietnam and Cambodia. This collection references Vietnam’s ethnic hill tribes and fuses it with other Asian elements such as Kantha stitching from India and natural dyed batik used across Asia.

This beautiful scarf features a triangle design with full straight hand-stitching detail, known as Kantha stitching derived from India. One side of the scarf is made up of subtly patterned cotton, pieced together in an irregular patchwork formation. The other side is plain in a complementary colour. Each stitch line is done by hand in contrast thread and finished with cotton tassels on both ends. A cool and detailed scarf with a refined finish, it is sophisticated and can be worn in a number of ways or perfect as a decorative textile. The scarf measures 200 cm in length and 45 cm at its widest point.

Every item purchased from Mekong Quilts is a gift that gives twice.

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Contact Us

Phone 1300 884 450

If you are looking for opportunities to specifically engage health professionals and reach out to the melanoma community, MPA offers a unique opportunity to sponsor events throughout Australia.

These events range from local patient forums through to our annual gala dinner or our annual national awards.

MPA is committed to ensuring that sponsors receive value that is meaningful to them. Please talk to us about your marketing objectives and the budget you are working within. We believe in authentic partnerships, with aligned goals and the facilitation of an effective pathway for you to engage with our networks. This pathway may look different for every sponsor and we invite you to let us know your preferred benefits which may include logo placement, product placement, tickets, naming rights, workshops, EDMs, advertising or activations.

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Quiet Months

2.5″ X 3.5″
ink and markers on bristol
Kitten - Artist-Trading-Card-drawing-by- Mellanie Collins
2.5″ X 3.5″
ink on bristol
2.5″ X 3.5″
ink and markers on bristol

Not much going on in March and April.  Too much useless introspection and not enough art-making.

The plan for May is to fret less and draw and paint more.

We’ll see what happens.

Published by Mellanie C

sketch artist, daydreamer Figurative artist specializing in small format art and portraits.

7 thoughts on “Quiet Months

  1. I love your dog drawing. And I am always struggling to make time for art. I thought I was going to be spending more time in the studio this year, but it’s turning out to be less. Need to get back to work on all my unfinished projects!

    Wishing you a May full of drawings.

    1. Thanks Bobby. Yes, the drawings are pen and ink with water-soluble markers. Are those your drawings on your blog? I love your dog cartoons.

      1. They are lovely. Yes, I drew those. I use my ball point pen to create something to complement my stories. Thanks. I am glad you liked the dog-cartoons.

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Hand Sanitizer is a big scam? - MellonPost
October 29, 2020

Hand Sanitizer is a big scam?

hand sanitizer

A recent Japanese research has shown that applying hand sanitizer didn’t kill the flu virus, even when the sanitizer was left on the fingers for two whole minutes.
During the experiment it took about four minutes for the ethanol based hand sanitizer to fully deactivate the virus to the point where it wasn’t infectious anymore.

When the research was made public some people were now asking if the hand sanitizer is really a scam or not? and for me I based on the results from the experiment I still believe it is still a good way to stay safe, it just that we now supposedly knows how long it may take to get the result that we desire.

Meanwhile, In a separate study it was found that washing hands in running water for upto 30 seconds killed both wet and dry flu-infected mucus.

So by all indication it will be smart to wash hands for longer and to also understand that when you apply the hand sanitizer is not when the virus becomes annihilated, it actually take a bit longer for the virus to become deactivated.

Stay Safe.

2 thoughts on “Hand Sanitizer is a big scam?

  1. Pingback: COVID-19 vaccine massive stage 3 trial - positive? - MellonPost
  2. Pingback: Corona – Warn – App has sent out 1.2 million covid-19 test results … how efficient is it? - MellonPost

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Memos from Asia

Remote Learning in Cambodia under COVID-19 Pandemic

It takes about 6 minute(s) to read this content.

Cambodia recorded its first Covid-19 case in January 2020. A second case was later recorded in March in the resort town of Siem Reap, renowned for its iconic Angkor Wat temples, with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport out of caution closing all schools indefinitely with immediate effect.

As one would have thought, education in Cambodia would come to a halt, but that was not to be.

The Ministry of Education quickly devised ways to enhance learning outside traditional classroom settings.

Mirror on the wall for children in Cambodian classroom near Phnom Penh

Implementation of e-learning pilot in Cambodia

In partnership with private companies, the ministry launched new e-learning incentives. Lessons of all grades were pre-recorded and offered via the ministry’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, e-learning website, and other online portals.

In June, as means to improve virtual learning, the ministry established a center for distance and digital learning to provide support and digital education to ensure that students and teachers alike fully utilize and maximize the benefits of technology.

As schools remain closed, teaching responsibility has switched from teachers to families.

Though online lessons offered by the Ministry of Education are necessary to students focused on education during the pandemic, it can be noted that they are not enough to suffice: nurturing children’s curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity, all of which form part of a complete academic lesson plan.

While these newly implemented routines can pose stress to both parents and children, sheltering children in a home-based setting can also serve as an excellent time to help them develop essential learning habits.

A school classroom in a remote village near Tatai, Koh Kong Province, Cambodia

No doubt, helping children study online at home can be difficult for many parents, even those from better-resourced environments.

But what makes it even more challenging in Cambodia is that few families own computers, and many don’t have much literacy in IT skills.

However, one of the positives is that Facebook is widely used across the country on smartphones meaning that online learning does have the potential to reach many children and parents.

The Ministry of Education posts daily storybooks and images on Facebook with videos meant to encourage writing, speaking, reading, and vocabulary. Audio and video stories are typically useful for parents who are not proficient readers.

The Ministry of Education suggests that online studying will continue until the pandemic situation improves within the country and the surrounding countries. It may well continue into the post-pandemic era. The ministry also noted that there has to be a balance between online learning and face-to-face studying because the former doesn’t include physical exercise, something essential for effective learning.

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Addiction, Addictive Disorders and Recovery

    Related Conference of Addiction, Addictive Disorders and Recovery

    October 30-31, 2020

    16th World Congress on Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing

    Vancouver, Bahamas
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    Annual Neurologists and Neurosurgeons Meet

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    Global Summit on Psychiatry and Psychotherapie

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    3rd Annual Congress on Mental Health

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    November 05-06, 2020

    2nd World Congress on Psychiatry and cardiovascular Care

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    27th Cognitive Neuroscience Congress

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    February 10-11, 2021

    2nd International Summit on Mental Disorders and Illness

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    Annual Congress on Psychiatry and Mental Health

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    March 17-18, 2021

    3rd European Autism Congress

    Paris, France
    March 18-19, 2021

    3rd World Depression Congress

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    April 21-22, 2021

    13th Worldwide Forum on Mental Health & Psychiatry

    Berlin, Germany
    May 07-08, 2021

    8th World Summit on Mental Health, Psychiatry and Wellbeing

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Addiction, Addictive Disorders and Recovery Conference Speakers

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Bisbee, Arizona Meth Lab and Fentanyl Cleanup | ASSURED

Bisbee, Arizona Meth Lab and Fentanyl Cleanup | ASSURED

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This is not done for our benefit, this is for yours! Living in or allowing someone else to live in a meth lab before proper clean up is completed, is extremely dangerous. The horror stories found in forums online could make you sick to your stomach. The fumes made in a meth lab are more dangerous in many ways then the end product.

Fentanyl Cleanup in Bisbee, AZ

Although we started doing meth lab cleanup Bisbee, AZ area, we were one of the first to start fentanyl cleanup and decontamination. With fentanyl cleanup in Bisbee, AZ we are dealing with an even more deadly substance then methamphetamine. It is amazing even to our crime scen and drug lab decontamination technicians, how dangerous cleaning up fentanyl is. You need professional meth lab and fentanyl cleaning services in Bisbee, AZ.

How much is meth lab cleanup and fentanyl cleanup in Bisbee, AZ

The range of costs is extreme with meth labs. We have seen mini-mansions have only one room effected and we have seen hotel rooms contaminate the entire hotel or floor. The technicians will work with you every step of the to determine a fair price.

Meth Lab Testing in Bisbee, AZ

With any cleaning special testing should be done as well. In most municipalities there may be laws requiring meth lab testing before and after the cleanup. To deal with these matters we have a technician consult you with what meth lab testing is needed in Bisbee, AZ

Call 1-888-283-8895

Meth Lab Decontamination and Cleaning

Professional meth lab cleaning is not something many companies do any more. We provide top of the line services for home owners needing meth lab remediation and clean up done. You must understand that living or using a home that was once a meth lab, without proper cleanup done can be very hazardous as well as many legal issues surround this subject. This is a growing problem in the Bisbee, AZ, but with our meth lab specialists at your side we can help with meth lab testing and meth lab decontamination in your Bisbee, AZ.

We are available everywhere in the U.S. and will only provide you access to licensed professionals who meet the Bisbee, AZ requirements of where the meth lab reside. Please contact the cleaning experts at 1.888.477.0015 for immediate answers to your questions.

NOTE: We do not ourselves complete meth lab remediation in Bisbee, AZ, you will be placed in touch with one of our trusted partners

You can imagine the types of accidents that require blood cleanup on some sort of professional scare. Technically there in no amount of blood to small that you should try to cleanup yourself. Blood is now a very serious transmitter of disease and bacteria, and many people in United Bisbee, AZ falls ill by taking the risks of handling blood without proper protection and understand of blood borne pathogens. For this reason people should always incorporate on call crime scene cleanup to be responsible for any blood cleanup in a risk safety manual at work or if you are a property owner dealing with a death. Crime scene cleanup businesses understand O.S.H.A safety rules and regulations for handling blood as well as how to dispose of the blood within the guidelines of groups like the EPA. If you want the best help you can get in dealing with and know how to cleanup blood, then contact our crime scene cleanup managers at 1-888-283-8895

Meth Lab Cleaning Arizona

Destroying lives, families, morals…and properties. Meth houses, drug manufacturing and use results in a multitude of dangers, while some are clearly visible, others can be undetectable at first glance. If you have been told the property you’re responsible for, living in or occupying for any reason was at one time a meth lab, you should understand what that means. Many Bisbee, AZs require legal testing of an area that has been used to cook meth or other drugs because the health risks are still present years after the cooking operation is absent. ASSURED Meth Lab Cleaners’s specialists offer professional meth lab testing & assessment and meth lab decontamination services in all 50 States. Meth lab cleaning is essential to the safety of your family should you find out your home once housed a Meth Lab.

Certified Technicians Decontaminate & Restore Meth Manufacturing Sites

The risk are serious, which is one of the reasons that each Bisbee, AZ has their own set of strict regulations that need to be followed when preforming meth lab remediation. ASSURED Meth Lab Cleaners is informed on the Bisbee, AZ regulations of each Bisbee, AZ we service and their firm procedures of testing and remediating the former methamphetamine manufacturing property. There may be visible signs, such as stains, burns, residue and obvious odors but the risks extend farther than that. Toxins from the meth manufacturing process has filled the entire property, from ceiling to floors and even the entire ventilation system. Which has turned the location into one major hazardous waste site. Our meth lab decontamination process begins with collection samples of the entire location so that we can determine the level of toxins present and the best method of remediating.

Methamphetamine & Illegal Drug Lab Hazards:

  • Respiratory Problems
  • Chemical Poisonings
  • Increased Risk of Explosions and Fire
  • Skin Reactions
  • Migraines
  • Exposure can lead to Death

Meth Lab Decontamination Contractor

The toxins emitted when cooking meth and other hard drugs can be inhaled in, absorbed through the skin and even ingested. The dangers of meth even extend outside of the structure, when the drug waste is quickly and discreetly dumped outside, burned or poured down the drain it often results in soil, septic and filtration contamination. All of these areas need to be tested and dealt with to ensure a restored setting. There is no safe physical contact with a meth manufacturing location, until after our company can decontaminate the entire area, both inside and out. Safety is a priority.

Meth Lab Remediation Process

Our Arizona meth lab company offers a comprehensive process for assessing the biohazard impacts and damage caused by a lab and performing the decontamination work to restore a home to a habitable condition.

Indoor Evaluation:

Visual Inspection—a complete walk-through of the dwelling by one of our specialists noting any unusual odors, stains, damage, residues, etc. Air Testing—check for volatile chemicals using a photoionization dectector (PID). The ambient air in every room and every disposal drain will be sampled. Corrosive Testing—check for the presence of corrosive residues left behind. Areas checked typically include countertop preparation areas, sewer drains and any visual stains. Methamphetamine Issues and its Testing—check for the presence of meth by collecting wipe samples. Samples are submitted to a qualified laboratory for analysis. Documentation—photographs of sampling activities and laboratory data is compiled in a summary report. Conclusions and recommendations are provided.

Outdoor Evaluation:

Visual Inspection—a walk around the immediate property looking for signs of burial, burning or dumping of waste. Field Screening—the collection of soil or ash samples and screening for the presence of volatile compounds via PID head-space technique and corrosive properties based upon pH. Documentation—photographs of sampling activities and laboratory data compiled in a summary report. Conclusions and recommendations are provided.

For homes served by a drinking water well, the collection of a drinking water sample if it is believed that the ground water is at risk of contamination. The tap sample is analyzed for volatile organic contaminants based on the EPA method 8260. The collection of soil or septic tank samples to be analyzed by a laboratory for volatile organic compounds based upon EPA method 8260 and corrosive properties based upon pH.

Methamphetamine Decontamination Services:

Arizona ASSURED Meth Lab Cleaners provides the labor, equipment, and technical safety expertise to ensure that all decontamination activities are completed correctly. At the conclusion of any decontamination project the client will receive a complete report documenting all completed activities. This report is typically forwarded to the overseeing regulatory agency for release of the property.

Ensure the safety of everyone, whether the property is being rented, owned, newly purchased, or is commercial, industrial or any other type of setting; contact ASSURED Meth Lab Cleaners for professional Bisbee, AZ Meth Lab Cleaning Services at 1-888-283-8895

Download our Android App for Crime scene cleanup, Methlab, Fentanyl Cleanup Locator in Amazon

ASSURED Meth Lab Cleanup Services Arizona
Bisbee, AZ,USA
24/7 Helpline : +1-888-283-8895

Get directions on Maps

If you are looking for a discreet and private crime scene cleanup company then Contact our offices in Bisbee, AZ or nearby.

Bisbee, AZ Law help

ASSURED has been providing meth lab, fentanyl cleaning services for over 20 years. We are considered as second responders who work closely with Arizona Law Enforcement and other agencies.

Bisbee, AZ State Police

With nearly 20+ years of cleaning up meth lab, fentanyl, working with the Arizona Police Department and fire departments, and helping community leaders. It is no wonder why we are America’s choice for meth lab cleanup.

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4.8/5 based on 94 reviews

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MetroQuest > [TIPS] (Page 2)
People on cell phones sitting bench over road

What’s at the top of the IT agenda for digital cities? Each year, the Digital Cities Survey reveals where cities, both large and small, are making tech investments to improve citizen services. This year, “citizen engagement / experience” ranked high on the list, in second place after cybersecurity for local government CIOs. For today’s digital cities, it’s never been easier and more rewarding to engage citizens online. Today,...

Read More
cyclists on the street

It was clear to the City of Toronto that engaging less confident cyclists that make up 60% of the population, yet seldom come to community meetings, might be the key to dramatic mode shifts in the city. Here's how it happened. One of my favorite tasks is interviewing clients to prepare a case study. It’s fun to hear their perspective, and sometimes a great story like...

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public meeting

It’s surprising how seldom we see a breakdown of the cost of public participation across multiple channels or tactics. These breakdowns give a unique window into community engagement that can be extremely useful to agencies trying to create engagement plans and realistic budgets to meet their outreach goals. That’s why we were so surprised when the Metro Nashville Planning Commission included a powerful slide breaking down...

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I'm right and you're an idiot speech from James Hoggan

Image from book launch event courtesy Hoggan & Associates My interview with Author James Hoggan: 'I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up'Published by New Society, May 2016 James Hoggan has influenced my work for two decades. I find myself quoting his work in many of my public speaking engagements and the lessons he has articulated have shaped...

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Two girls with a tablet and city skyline

Civic tech, and particularly online community engagement, has grown dramatically over the past few years. For years the field was in it's infancy with only a few players and early adopters experimenting with new approaches. We're now in the teenage years, with rapid growth in the number of vendors and agencies taking the leap. As every teenager knows, every growth spurt comes with both positives...

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Paraguay tourism

Mate is usually enjoyed in the early mornings and late evenings especially during cold days in winter. Beef, pork, and chorizo are cooked over open flames then hand carved for your plate according to your directions.

Topography and tourism[ edit ] Stream in Paraguay Most land in Paraguay is used for agriculture and ranching, although there are still large areas of forest in some areas.

The infusion is prepared by pouring dry yerba into the cup, then adding water: There are books available in stores, though the best way to learn would be to speak to the locals. Avoid walking barefoot for this reason. Right now, everything is especially cheap for anyone with U. Tap water in the rest of Paraguay should be treated to make it safe for drinking.

Paraguay Tourism: Best of Paraguay

Buy[ edit ][ add listing ] The currency is the guarani PYG. According to the legend the hill also guards the footprints of Saint Thomas.

Mercado 4 walk past yuyeras, fake DVD street vendors, and Paraguayans sharing terere. Paraguay's biggest problem is a lack of marketing. No one tells you not to touch or not to sit.

Tourism in Paraguay

Paraguayan society is generally conservative: Past the front sales spot is a bar where local taxi drivers and alike come to eat a snack.

Flights and intercity buses may not run to schedule. In mixed company among friends and peers, it is usual for men and women to give a light kiss on each cheek. There is a well in the city of Santani San Pedro that does not go dry. When Paraguay offered their cut-rate tea leaves to Germany and FranceBritain responded with a vengeance.

Paraguay today is home to 6. You enjoy it all in a big dining room with an elaborately hand-painted wooden ceiling and murals on all the walls. Great place to eat, from street stalls selling typical Paraguayan food and deserts to good cheap Chinese places.

You may be lucky to catch a ride on Sundays to neighbor city of Aregua. The south is flatter and home to wetlands, streams and marshes. Chipa-a bread baked in an outdoor oven or "tatacua", usually made out of mandioca manioc flour.

They sometimes wear uniforms and travel in vans and automobiles with markings that make the vehicle appear official. Many large estancias ranches are open to urban and foreign tourists.

Little-Known Paraguay Is Worth The Trip

You can buy it a supermarkets or order it in various restaurants and bars. Stay healthy[ edit ] Piped drinking water from the national water company in Paraguay is not healthy, but fruit, vegetables, fish and meat are of very high quality.

Safaris expeditions in Paraguay for people who want to know and live a wildlife experience.

Tourism in Paraguay

Paraguayans we've met with speak of it often and openly. Paraguay is one of those countries that are not very high up on the lists of the most popular travel destinations in the world, despite their natural beauty and fascinating culture.

This landlocked country about the size of California is a place of contrasts, with untamed plains, marshes, lagoons, dense forests, and jungles, and welcoming towns and cities. Paraguay Travel Guide Paraguay is the forgotten part of South America. Ignored by travellers for so long, the country has never built up its tourist infrastructure.

Paraguay is a country of remarkable contrasts: it's rustic and sophisticated; it boasts spectacular natural reserves and massive human-made dams; it is a place where horses and carts pull up alongside Mercedes Benz vehicles, artisans' workshops abut glitzy shopping centers, and Jesuit ruins in rural villages lie just a few kilometers from interesting colonial towns.

Exercise normal precautions in Paraguay.

Paraguay travel guide

Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory. 🇵🇾 Paraguay Tours, Trips & Vacations to Asuncion, the Chaco, Jesuit missions, and more of Paraguay.

Tailor-made & Fully-Custom. Explore All Inclusive Luxury Paraguay travel planning and Paraguay Tours Vacation Packages and experience the best luxury / Paraguay izu-onsen-shoheiso.comr: Juergen Keller, Bradley Nehring.

Paraguay Tourism: TripAdvisor has 66, reviews of Paraguay Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Paraguay resource.

Paraguay tourism
Rated 0/5 based on 61 review
THE 15 BEST Things to Do in Paraguay - (with Photos) - TripAdvisor


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How will Virginia Address Mental Illness in Jails and Prisons?

The following is a guest post. Opinions expressed in this post are the author’s own.

Virginia’s recent legislative session produced several bills and budget amendments to improve mental health services. However, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe challenged state legislators to also include jail mental health assessments and investigation of certain jail deaths in Virginia’s budget. The legislature’s actions and Governor McAuliffe’s concerns highlight the tremendous impact funding concerns have on mental health services for the general population and for jail-prison populations. Previous budget cuts and funding concerns have increased already existing program constraints at local, state, and national levels.

Over the years organizations have conducted research to further understand mental illness and incarceration. In 2014, The Treatment Advocacy Center did a survey for every state, Virginia is on page 93, to examine how common it is for people with mental illness to be incarcerated (also known as “mental illness-to-incarceration-pipeline”). As with budget cuts and funding concerns, the incarceration of people with mental illness is prevalent locally, statewide, and nationwide. There is substantial impact on people of lower socioeconomic status and blacks and non-white Hispanics.

To further capture the pattern of mental illness-to-incarceration, the 2016 Mental Illness in Jails Report found 6,554 jail inmates (almost 49% pre-trial; 51% post-conviction) are known to have or are suspected to have a mental illness. Of approximately 39,888 inmates in the general inmate population in 2016, there are approximately 16% with mental illness and 8% with serious mental illness (schizophrenia/delusional, PTSD, bipolar/major depressive).

Existing programs that provide mental health services to incarcerated populations include Virginia Department of Corrections Mental Health Services; and provide training to law enforcement representatives to further encourage crisis de-escalation include the Virginia Crisis Intervention Team Coalition. The mental health Crisis Intervention Team concept started in Memphis, Tennessee and has spread nationally and internationally. We need more collaborations with mental health organizations, law enforcement, and communities. Increased collaborations potentially increase access to mental health services, reduce forms of violence and crime, and decrease incarceration of people with mental illness.

Challenging the “mental illness-to-jail/prison-pipeline” includes under-served populations in Virginia: Individuals, families, and communities in which mental health is silenced and shamed. This includes, but is not limited to, gender; race, ethnicity, and culture; LGBTQ; and cultural and societal barriers. There are Virginians with less access to mental health services because of geography, cost, or cultural beliefs. Some people’s identity is shamed by other people (e.g., LGBTQ) and they are unable to talk to family, friends, and community members about their identity, let alone mental health issues. There can also be difficulty finding local mental health services that match people’s school and work schedules, can be reached through public transportation, and are affordable since most people lack private insurance or employment insurance. This can increase the prevalence of mental struggles, violence, and being placed in the criminal justice system.

Therefore, we need to examine factors that contribute to access to and under-use of mental health services: Under-served populations; correlation between mental illness, violence, and crime; and the mental illness-to-incarceration-pipeline. To capture this we must continue to challenge the dehumanization of people in jails and prisons. We must also continue to highlight how such challenges need funding. Yes, there are Virginia families and Virginia professionals passionate about this issue. Yes, there are Virginia families and Virginia professionals that will keep working despite funding concerns. However, we should not be met with minimal resources. We need resources to provide resources.

By Kimya N. Dennis

Kimya N. Dennis is a sociologist and criminologist originally from Richmond, VA. She lives in Winston-Salem, NC and does interdisciplinary work on mental health, suicide and suicidal self-harm, and reproductive choices. Dr. Dennis’s work reaches diverse audiences and particularly under-served populations. She is on the board of directors for The Mental Health Association in Forsyth CountyNorth Carolina chapter of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and LEAD Girls of NC. Dr. Dennis is faculty and the creator and Coordinator of the Criminal Studies program in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Studies at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC. She can be contacted: ;


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News Mashup!

mashupSorry for the lack of updates lately – I had to put in some extra time at the studio last week and ended up working over 60 hours!  My brain was in complete meltdown mode for a little while there, but I’m all better now and ready to resume work.

The level design for Slate, the area I’m currently mapping out, is nearly complete!  Slate is similar to Mulch in many ways, but uses a completely new colour palette that I designed from scratch!  The area should be finished later this week, and I’ll be sure to make a blog post about it as soon as it is.

In other news, Unearthed will be featured at the NCFC this coming Sunday.  The NCFC is a Nintendo online fangame convention that features a lot of great work from all over the interweb.  The Unearthed booth will showcase a lot of old videos and pictures of the game during it’s development, so it would be a great place for those unfamiliar with the project to get some quick information.  I’ll post up a direct link as soon as the festival goes live.

And I’d just like to say thanks to all the people who have been commenting on the blog.  It is always a pleasure to read your responses and to answer your questions.  Commenting is generally the best way to ask me game-related questions, since it makes the answers visible for other readers.  So keep on commentin’ and I’ll keep answerin’!

1 Comment

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  • No prob with the lack of updates. It’d be virtually impossible to provide updates every single day. Take your time, and I can’t wait for Unearthed to be finished.

By Michael


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Eastern Hog-nose Snake

Eastern Hog Nose Snake 2

Eastern Hog Nose Snake 2, photo by ShaneWyatt.

The Michigan DNR page on the Eastern Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) says this is a:

A thick-bodied, slow-moving snake with a flattened, upturned “nose.” Color is variable some have dark spots and blotches on a yellow, orange, or brown background, but other specimens are solid black, brown, or olive with little or no visible pattern. Easily identified by defensive behavior. Adult length: 20 to 40 inches.

A snake of open, sandy woodlands – found in the wooded dunes of western Michigan. The upturned snout is used to burrow after toads, a favorite food. When threatened, hognose snakes puff up with air, flatten their necks and bodies, and hiss loudly. (This has led to local names like “puff adder” or “hissing viper.”) If this act is unsuccessful, they will writhe about, excrete a foul smelling musk, and then turn over with mouth agape and lie still, as though dead. Despite this intimidating behavior, Hog-nosed snakes are harmless to humans.

You can see a lot of pictures at the UM Animal Diversity Web and definitely check out Hog Wild on the Herping Michigan blog.

Shane writes that it was pretty intimidating to see the snake flair like a cobra and start hissing at him. Check it out bigger and see some more shots in his eastern hognose slideshow.

More Michigan snakes on Michigan in Pictures!

8 thoughts on “Eastern Hog-nose Snake

  1. Just about stepped on one today wile on a trail run in Southern Betsie county. Same thing last year in Northern Manistee county. Awesome looking snake…

    1. Oddly enough, I just decided to look this up. In 1957 at the age of 13, my brothers & a couple friends were going swimming near point Au Gres MI. I went in to the weeds to put on my trunks & heard this “hissing”. I parted the weeds, sure enough, in the perfect arch was a cobra. I ran to get my brothers but couldn’t find it. After 20 minutes of ridicule, we found it again. The laughter subsided quickly. We were scared to death. We took it in to Doc Harper, but he couldn’t identify it either. All these years, I have always wondered what it was.

  2. Well, I did step on one right in my front yard in Lake County! Flattened his head and hissed at me with mouth open! Didn’t bite me thank goodness. Then slowly slithered under our porch. Kept hanging around all afternoon. Seemed to like our patio bricks. Rubbed his belly all over it. Thought he might to shedding?

  3. What’s interesting about these snakes, if you handle them a bit, they eventually will play dead!!! They’ll flip over on their backs, mouth hanging open, tongue hanging out. If you place them on the ground right side up while they’re in this mode, they’ll flip back over on their bellies!! Of course I know not too many people are keen on picking up a snake, but I don’t have the fear, try to do what I can to promote them on my property… rock piles, log piles etc.

  4. I found a baby snake in Newaygo county about a month ago.it was 6inch at the time, my cat was trying to eat it. I saved its live. I believe its a puff-adder, when I first got it. it flattened out its head but now it never does and I hold it every day and feed it little frogs and trying to get it to eat piglets. Its about 8inches now and shedding for the first time. Is my snake going to get to big and will I not be able to hold it any more? Do they bit when they get bigger?

    1. Hi Laura, they can bite. Don’t know if they can eat piglets though! Probably would be a good idea to release it in the spring.

      Speaking of baby snakes, check out >a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/mfobrien/15453346505/”>this photo of a baby hognose that frequent Michigan in Pictures contributor Mark O’Brien took.

  5. Just had one of these snakes chasing a toad in my back yard in Lake City, Mich. I used a rake to hold it for a minute for a picture. It hissed at me, then flipped over. Exactly matched your description. Wow. Glad to find out it’s not poisonous!

    Liked by 1 person

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