This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page the location of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona in the sultry southeast of the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG should make it especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change And yet this family-owned winery continues to release wines full of elegance and precision So far and so rapidly has the star of Brunello di Montalcino risen in the wine universe that it’s easy to forget that this was a poor area populated by subsistence farmers who sold off their grapes or made simple wines for their own consumption Now there are over 250,” says Alex Bianchini the Brunello estate owned by his father Paolo and his aunt Lucia because she tells me every day we have to remember that There has been a big development since then.” Wine is but a recent chapter in the estate’s history which can be traced back to the 17th century including a palazzo built by Fabivs de’ Vecchis The tongue-twisting name is a consequence of the marriage between Count Alberto Piccolomini d’Aragona (a descendant of Pope Pius II) and Elda Ciacci the Ciaccis having bought the estate in 1877 who had long wanted to make wine commercially He had planted the first vineyards in 1983 and released the estate’s maiden wines: 20,000 bottles of Brunello and 5,000 bottles of Rosso di Montalcino production has risen to about 300,000 bottles a year – there is a Syrah producing a pair of Rosso di Montalcinos (including Rossofonte and a pair of wines from the Pianrosso vineyard including a Riserva only made in the best years Wine may have come relatively late to the story of this estate but already there’s a feeling of continuity and consistency to the way in which the wines are made – possibly a consequence of family ownership As Alex Bianchini helps his father Paolo with production his aunt Lucia runs the administration and accounting so we do more or less everything,” Bianchini says but the galestro soils of the Pianrosso vineyard which Giuseppe Bianchini started planting back in 1985 have long been the source of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona’s finest wines “Pianrosso means ‘red soil’,” explains Bianchini “These soils are really rich in iron and minerals thanks to the old volcano [Monte Amiata However impressive the galestro soils may be there is one inescapable fact about the Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona estate – in fact it’s the first aspect that Alex Bianchini mentions when we meet: “We are the hottest area in Montalcino.” Throw in the inescapable impact of climate change and you’d expect the wines to be baked Alex ticks off a list of beneficial factors: vineyards – certified organic since 2018 – planted at an elevation of 240m to 360m above sea level; the relatively proximity of the sea; the protection of Monte Amiata “Perhaps during July and August it’s very hot but we get good temperature variation,” he says This is the perfect way to ripen the grapes in terms of aromas and colour Those galestro soils conceal a few secrets too Drill down and you hit clay – crucial in terms of water retention after winter or spring rains “Two or three months without water is not a big problem,” says Bianchini “Only two times in the last 25 years we had a problem with dry conditions This was a problem for the young vineyards because their roots don’t go as far down.” The vineyards are located close to the Orcia river which also helps to leaven the effects of the hot although conversely it can be a problem if there’s a lot of rain in June and July Bianchini cites 2014 as an example of this – so wet that no Pianrosso or Riserva was made The Bianchinis plant mustard and other cover crops then press them down into the soil – a “green manure” which Alex says can create a 2-3C temperature difference – crucial when the mercury climbs into the mid-30s at the height of summer “The harvest time is the other secret,” he says Now we are checking the grapes at the end of August and sometimes the harvest can start in the first two weeks of September.” “A lot of people older than me say this is like a harvest from the 1990s or 1980s,” Bianchini notes but mainly for the harvest time: today is earlier; tomorrow could be later.” Attention is now focused on the 2020 and 2019 vintages with Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona about to release its classic Brunello and Pianrosso 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna de Pianrosso Riserva Santa Caterina d’Oro The name is a tribute to Giuseppe Bianchini who died in 2004 (just before the completion of the estate’s new winery) and who was three times garlanded as winemaker of the year in Siena’s Santa Caterina d’Oro awards The two vintages have some similarities – picking dates general weather patterns – but 2020’s July heat has made its wines a little softer and more generous now while 2019 displays more structure and tannic backbone but you’d imagine most people might drink the 2020s while they wait for the 2019s to reach their peak Not that you can be entirely sure of how a vintage will evolve As the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG abandons its star rating for vintages – a blunt tool at the best of times replaced by a much more detailed and nuanced assessment of conditions – some perhaps overlooked years are getting a second chance you can find a perfect expression of Brunello for me and a lot of my colleagues say the same thing – but people thought it would not be perfect for long ageing.” If there’s one more secret to be unlocked about Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona it’s the estate’s laser focus on tradition in terms of ageing and adherence to the “old regulations”: three years in wood for the classic Brunello and Pianrosso; three-and-a-half years for the Riserva “We only use big barrels for Sangiovese,” says Bianchini with Biondi-Santi.” The classic Brunello spends seven to eight months in bottle before release (the mandatory minimum is four); the Riserva more than 18 months The approach is perhaps best summed up in the management of the four plots that make up the Pianrosso vineyard the grapes are picked for the Brunello Pianrosso wine but one bunch per vine is left behind to ripen further for another week The yields from the Pianrosso plots are eyewateringly low at the best of times – about 5,000kg/ha versus closer to 7,000kg/ha for the rest of the estate because we prefer to focus on the quality,” says Bianchini The wines of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona are represented in the UK by Mentzendorff The estate’s Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (RSP £51 per bottle) Pianrosso 2020 (£68) and Vigna di Pianrosso Riserva Santa Caterina d’Oro 2019 (£125) are scheduled to arrive in the UK in April 2025 We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again A qualitative study method illuminates patients’ fears for the future Dry eye disease (DED) is one of the most common ocular conditions and patients with the disease may experience a wide range of severity and progression A recent study completed by researchers in Italy shone light on the often-overlooked aspects of DED by applying a narrative medicine approach Researchers working on the project collected data from 38 eye care centres in Italy and one in San Marino Respondents included adult patients with DED their informal caregivers and ophthalmologists caring for the patient base.1 The authors collected demographic data as well as written narratives which illustrated quality-of-life (QoL) factors via an anonymous collection portal 171 patients diagnosed with DED participated in the research as did 37 informal caregivers (family members or friends) 27% reported severe DED and 14% stated that they were not informed about the severity of their DED 163 patient narratives and 35 caregiver narratives were analysed and 81 ophthalmologists composed 111 parallel charts to illuminate the clinical factors of the patients’ experiences from the IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan spoke with Ophthalmology Times Europe about the research also presented the results as a poster at the 2024 Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) Conference in Venice “The narrative medicine approach was a bit of a challenge for us as researchers because it was something that we were not so used to It is very commonly used in other medical fields where studying the impact on QoL of both diseases and treatments is much more common,” Dr Aragona said Narrative medicine is also quite different from questionnaires which use precisely selected and defined terms to reach a quantitative conclusion Narrative medicine gives respondents a greater degree of freedom “Patients were prompted to write sentences which answered questions like ‘What are your overall feelings about your experience of dry eye disease Your treatment?’ and ‘What are your most frequent fears about your future?’” Dr Aragona said we completed an evaluation of the terms that were used most commonly.” Analysis of the narratives revealed common themes All parties frequently mentioned the physical experience of DED and the burden of using eye drops and other avenues of relief multiple times per day Patients and caregivers reported drastic impacts of DED at home and in the workplace: daily activities Caregivers who assumed those patients’ responsibilities reported feelings of overwhelm The economic impact of DED was magnified by patients’ limited ability to work and many patients said the cost of their treatment affected their families’ budgetary needs I have to treat this disease for the rest of my life?’” Dr Aragona recalled “They said it feels like they have all the existing burdens of daily life This points toward durability as a priority for future treatments such as anti-inflammatory drugs that could work for a longer period of time or be more active on the pathogenesis of the disease.” Dr Aragona highlighted the inclusion of caregivers in the narrative research project The family members and friends who serve as informal caregivers are frequently excluded from QoL research but this study revealed new findings on caregivers’ perception of DED “The most surprising result was related to the caregivers We found that 35% of caregivers surveyed considered dry eye disease to be a disabling condition,” Dr Aragona said “The patients only made this kind of evaluation in 19% of cases.” Many of the caregivers surveyed said that caring for their family members with DED necessitated major life changes Dr Aragona recalled the experience of one young woman who left her university putting her studies on pause in order to care for a parent with DED we haven’t had so many data regarding the broader impact on patients’ families,” Dr Aragona said Caregivers reiterated a common response from patients which emphasised the doctor-patient relationship 70% said that the therapeutic alliance with their doctor is fundamental to the treatment’s success “Both caregivers and patients said they prioritised a relationship with a doctor who could really understand their problems and suffering I think most of the patients felt a bit lost,” Dr Aragona said I have experienced that patients who come to me say they feel as though other ophthalmologists did not believe in their levels of pain and suffering.. Dry eye is a really complex disease where there are critical symptomatic aspects which are sometimes not in accordance with the clinical signs.” 11% said they craved a sense of constancy or consistency in the therapies used to treat DED Patients were encouraged to share their fears for the future and the most common responses included a worsening of the condition and treatments losing efficacy or not being completely effective while only 5% of patients said they hope DED sees heightened awareness in the future 22% of caregivers advocated for increased research efforts and improved treatment access Caregivers were also less likely to describe patients’ QoL as “good,” and more likely to describe patients’ QoL as “poor” (Figure) Future therapeutics may require a different approach than traditional treatments for ocular pain Newer research is assessing pain independently of other clinical [observations] I think this is becoming a more important aspect that we consider in our evaluations of dry eye disease and there’s still space to improve,” Dr Aragona said “I think that we are starting to better understand the different pathological connections between ocular pain ocular surface diseases and dry eye disease I hope that there will soon be more therapeutic approaches which focus on pain as patients with dry eye disease experience it There is a difference between pain related to dry eye symptoms and pain derived from the sensitisation of the central nervous system.” Some of the ophthalmologists surveyed echoed Dr Aragona’s sentiments: 26% said that DED awareness should be raised among their colleagues and patients Dr Aragona said that narrative medicine projects such as this one could help pinpoint patients’ therapeutic needs in a way that traditional clinical research does not After presenting the research at the TFOS Congress reactions from her colleagues indicated a growing interest in narrative medicine “The study received a really good reception from the audience of international ophthalmologists and there was great interest in narrative medicine as a new way to study patients’ quality of life,” she said “The day after the presentation of the posters one opinion leader in dry eye came back to me and asked for more details on the narrative medicine approach and said that it was a novel idea he would consider more.” Patients who participated in the project reported positive outcomes from sharing their stories which could bode well for the future of narrative medicine 65% of patients described writing as a positive experience (46% of caregivers and 47% of ophthalmologists reported the process was a positive experience) One patient said she hoped sharing her story could help other patients: “Many people like me “I have met other women my age who did not know it is a disease to avoid bothering others.” Dr Aragona said that narrative medicine could help shape future therapies and help researchers understand aspects of DED which are missed in questionnaires or clinical trials “I do think and hope narrative medicine will be used more broadly in the future to evaluate therapeutics’ impact on patients,” Dr Aragona said Dr Aragona has concluded her PhD project at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and is currently an ophthalmologist in IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan Her everyday activity deals with patients affected by dry eye disease Join ophthalmologists across Europe—sign up for exclusive updates and innovations in surgical techniques and clinical care Editorial Advisory Board members bring research findings to ARVO Ophthalmology Times and Modern Retina editorial advisory boards are present and presenting at the 2025 ARVO meeting Higher Molar Dose and Its Translation into Clinical Practice LuxIA receives CE-MDR certification LuxIA is designed to screen adult diabetic patients for more-than-mild diabetic retinopathy EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for teprotumumab (Tepezza, Amgen) marketing authorisation application the European Commission will issue a decision on the first severe thyroid eye disease treatment The future of microbial keratitis treatment is bright Ultraviolet light’s potential in ocular care extends beyond structural reinforcement to antimicrobial applications Vision- and life-threatening neuro-ophthalmological presentations Paediatric diagnoses of juvenile idiopathic intracranial hypertension 609-716-7777 one curiosity lingered as I waited for U.S After working in the dairy industry for 35+ years I am finding City Pulse a challenging and rewarding new start Helping businesses get their message out is an exciting and gratifying experience Joe Aragona joined the show to discuss his priorities in the House this year The state’s 103rd Legislative session began on Wednesday with Republicans taking the majority in the House of Representatives But Democrats still hold a majority in the state Senate requiring bipartisan efforts in the Legislature to get bills passed into law MichMash host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow discuss the first day back in session and some of the new legislative developments being drafted Gorchow sits down with Republican state Rep Joseph Aragona to discuss his goals for this new Legislature and the likelihood for bipartisanship Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts Roth noted that a coveted spot for a bill is to be House or Senate Bill No. 1, and this year’s Senate Bill 1 is Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) expansion — something we’ve talked about a lot on this show It’s an issue that was killed during lame duck last year and one that Gorchow said is hard to be optimistic about this session after multiple terms of inaction and with Republicans in control of the House “When a minority party becomes the majority party See the House Democrats last term,” Gorchow said adding that there are no firm commitments from House Republicans yet on this issue it’s “a clear message from the Senate that they want this done quickly.” a second term House Republican serving Clinton Township in Macomb County says while he’d be supportive of FOIA expansion his priorities this year will revolve around updating Michigan’s tipped wage and sick leave policies as well as on expanding government oversight via the House Oversight Committee “We’re trying to bring a higher value for the tax dollars that people give state government throughout Michigan,” Aragona said referring to House Republicans’ oversight priorities “These subcommittees are meant to try and encompass the breadth of state government and [to address] issues we’ve seen in the past where we haven’t gotten answers.” One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations news you need to know and stories you love to hear Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today Give now » WDET is a community service of Wayne State University CONTACT Membership Sponsorship Studio Rentals Technical Support Pitch Us a Story Help/FAQ Other Inquiries Shows Podcasts Schedule Listen Live Contests & Giveaways SUPPORT WDET Membership Leadership Circle Car Donations Business Sponsorship Broadcast Partners Program More » INSIDE WDET About Staff Jobs & Internships Public File FCC Applications Michigan Republican lawmakers are proposing to end state taxes on tips (Advance Local file photo)Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Michael Kransz | mkransz@mlive.comLANSING MI - Servers and bartenders would keep more of their pay under a proposal by Republican state lawmakers to stop taxing tips said tips would no longer be considered taxable income in Michigan under the bill he introduced Sept Tips would still be subject to federal taxes but former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have each pledged to end federal taxes on tips if they are elected this November “This is Trump’s idea that Vice President Harris stole so now I’m stealing it for Michigan,” said Aragona Trump in June announced his plan to exclude tips from federal taxes Aragona challenged his Democrat colleagues who hold majorities in the state House and Senate they’d pass it to show that this isn’t just a campaign gimmick by Harris but I’m betting they won’t do that because they know that if the vice president really wanted to get rid of taxes on tips she could go to Congress and make it happen right now instead of just making promises,” he said The effect of ending taxes on tips could be severely diminished by changes starting next year that will see the state’s lower $3.93 an hour wage for tipped workers gradually phased out Related: Michigan restaurant servers urge lawmakers to save tips at Capitol rally Those workers will earn about $6 an hour plus tips starting Feb with that pay gradually increasing each year until it reaches the standard minimum wage in 2030 Many servers and bartenders have warned customers will tip less or not at all if they become minimum wage workers Others have said potential menu price increases caused by the higher wages could also change tipping habits About 70% of readers who responded to MLive’s recent, unscientific survey said they will tip less if servers make minimum wage Related: Most readers will tip less if servers make minimum wage, MLive survey finds The transitioning of tipped workers to minimum wage earners stems from a Michigan Supreme Court ruling this summer Aragona’s bill would define a tipped employee as someone working in an occupation where the worker regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips Workers would deduct proven tips from their adjusted gross income on their state income taxes Aragona said removing taxes on tips would result in better service and more people wanting to work in the industry “Quality waitstaff hustle for their money,” he said “Getting rid of taxes on tips will give them an incentive to work more and provide better customer service It will help with staffing issues because more people will want to work in restaurants Fifteen other Republican state representatives have co-sponsored Aragona’s bill which remains in the Michigan House’s Tax Policy Committee Related: How we got here: Michigan’s minimum wage and pay for tipped workers set for drastic changes Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. 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Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site Obituaries FL passed away peacefully in her home on July 24 2023 in the presence of her most cherished loved ones PA to her late parents of Maria Elizabeth Marino and Anthony Marino She is the youngest of three siblings; brother She was raised in Philadelphia mostly by her mother Her father passed away when she was only 4 years old Frank Joseph Aragona and her two children; son Both Marianna and Frank grew up in South Philadelphia and were high school sweethearts They were wed in September of 1970 and have been happily married for over 52 years and Gina while residing in Pennsylvania and then New Jersey Marianna and Frank both retired and moved south to Florida she dedicated 18 years of service to the Federal Government Defense Logistics Agency of Philadelphia as a management assistant and budget analyst In the early to mid 90s Marianna was a realtor for Prudential of Springfield The remainder of her career was spent in New Jersey as a sales and design consultant for Ethan Allen and Diamond Furniture She also performed visual merchandising for Levitz Marianna and Frank often visited nearby Walt Disney World Marianna and Frank went on a Mediterranean cruise and on an Alaskan cruise Marianna's number one passion was to be by "her" Rialto Bridge in Venice She was fortunate to make her dream come true not once Marianna spent many summers in Atlantic City She loved the beach and walked the Atlantic City Boardwalk Her favorite venues were the Steel Pier with the Diving Horse and Funcade Her fond memories were associated with being at her Aunt Jenny's house on S Marianna and Frank had several family pets Their two dogs were both pugs named Rosie and Bobo whom she dearly loved she went above and beyond for her two children She loved making mashed potatoes and made the best chicken cutlets Marianna was someone who possessed the natural ability to make people laugh She always gave her "spiel" as she would never hold back or refrain from expressing her opinions on just about anything Her qualities included creative writing and storytelling Marianna was diagnosed with stage 3B breast cancer and then in 2013 was discovered to have stage 4 metastatic cancer She courageously battled with the side effects of cancer in recent years July 31 from 10-11 AM at Pagano Funeral Home Online condolences may be made by visiting www.paganofuneralhome.com Pennsylvania19060DE: (302) 792-8485PA: (610) 485-6200 paganofh@gmail.com one of the greatest and fiercest NHRA Competition eliminator racers of the modern era 10 surrounded by family after a long and brave battle with cancer in a variety of open-wheeled dragsters and altereds with a variety of non-traditional powerplants 2018-19) are tied for most in the class alongside other greats such as David Rampy and he is just one of three drivers to win back-to-back Comp crowns in the points-earning era (Dean Carter into the class and scored his first national event win in St then he spent the next two decades terrorizing the class Among his greatest wins was a victory at the prestigious NHRA U.S but he also showed his versatility by winning in Super Comp at the fall 2015 Charlotte event His 15 wins in Comp are tied for fourth most behind fellow class legends Rampy “The things I love about Comp are the challenge and the chess game It’s not as simple as everybody thinks; you gotta know what your opponents can do Aragona bravely battled the disease and even returned to the winner’s circle in June 2022 at the Division 1 event in Atco after his diagnosis and fell just short of winning the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals when a fuel-line fitting shook loose perhaps Aragona’s fiercest competitor over the last two decades probably the biggest advocate for Comp eliminator I ever met,” he said “He was a key member of the SCRA [NHRA’s Sportsman Racing Advisory Committee] and was a rep for a Division 1 forever He was a guy who lived and breathed Competition eliminator I don't know of anybody who put more into the category than Frank did he still wanted to be involved in the SRAC." the recently retired director of Division 1 where Aragona did the bulk of his racing “Frank’s involvement with the SRAC went beyond the rules of the class He knew more about everyone else's index than he did his own He'd be the first person to volunteer to jump in on class index concerns and always tried to make sure the class got the attention it deserves We are all better for having him a part of the SRAC If a racer had any issues Frank would accompany them to the tower for the discussion Always learning and looking for ways to improve racing "I am honored and proud to have been inducted into the Northeast Division Hall of Fame at the same time as Frank last week at the D-1 banquet I'm glad I was able to know Frank and call him a friend.” Massel also addressed Aragona's competitive side on the racetrack and his nature off the track we had some fierce rivalries over the years and then we’d go to the next race and shake hands and hug and that's kind of how Frankie was," said Massel "He was a friend to everybody at the track and he was your enemy when you staged up alongside him “Not only did he compete with multiple cars One of the things I really appreciate is that his uncle did his motors They didn't go like everybody else down the road with a small-block V-8 You always knew he was gonna be in the race He did a great job conserving his index and a great job hitting the Tree He drove both sides of the racetrack as good as anybody.” “I respected him for who he was as a racer and what he's accomplished and it kind of mirrors the relationship I had with my dad and drag racing the class’ all-time GOAT (81 wins) and 100-time NHRA national event winner also had tremendous things to say about Aragona “I raced with his daddy a little bit when I first started but Frankie was a fierce competitor,” said Rampy “He really put forth a lot of effort into it We always seem to wind up racing each other a whole lot and you definitely never took that for granted AUG 18-19 Lucas Oil Series Divisional Event Metrics details it remains unclear how mechanical forces affect their behaviour in vivo Here we develop a mouse model in which the consequences of stretching on skin epidermis can be studied at single-cell resolution Using a multidisciplinary approach that combines clonal analysis with quantitative modelling and single-cell RNA sequencing we show that stretching induces skin expansion by creating a transient bias in the renewal activity of epidermal stem cells while a second subpopulation of basal progenitors remains committed to differentiation Transcriptional and chromatin profiling identifies how cell states and gene-regulatory networks are modulated by stretching Using pharmacological inhibitors and mouse mutants we define the step-by-step mechanisms that control stretch-mediated tissue expansion at single-cell resolution in vivo Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Growth on demand: reviewing the mechanobiology of stretched skin Mechanical regulation of transcription controls Polycomb-mediated gene silencing during lineage commitment Heterochromatin-driven nuclear softening protects the genome against mechanical stress-induced damage Appreciating force and shape—the rise of mechanotransduction in cell biology Mechanical forces and growth in animal tissues Emerging views of the nucleus as a cellular mechanosensor Mechanical forces direct stem cell behaviour in development and regeneration Plasticity of epithelial stem cells in tissue regeneration The osmotic tissue expander: a three-year clinical experience Cell adhesion and mechanics as drivers of tissue organization and differentiation: local cues for large scale organization α-Catenin as a tension transducer that induces adherens junction development A single type of progenitor cell maintains normal epidermis Distinct contribution of stem and progenitor cells to epidermal maintenance Defining the clonal dynamics leading to mouse skin tumour initiation Interfollicular epidermal stem cells self-renew via autocrine Wnt signaling Spatiotemporal coordination of stem cell commitment during epidermal homeostasis Homeostatic epidermal stem cell self-renewal is driven by local differentiation Defining stem cell dynamics and migration during wound healing in mouse skin epidermis AP-1: a double-edged sword in tumorigenesis p53/p63/p73 in the epidermis in health and disease C/EBPα and β couple interfollicular keratinocyte proliferation arrest to commitment and terminal differentiation Klf4 is a transcription factor required for establishing the barrier function of the skin GRHL3/GET1 and trithorax group members collaborate to activate the epidermal progenitor differentiation program Single-cell transcriptomics reveals that differentiation and spatial signatures shape epidermal and hair follicle heterogeneity Single-cell transcriptomics of traced epidermal and hair follicle stem cells reveals rapid adaptations during wound healing SCENIC: single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering Slingshot: cell lineage and pseudotime inference for single-cell transcriptomics Polarization of myosin ii refines tissue material properties to buffer mechanical stress YAP and ERK mediated mechanical strain-induced cell cycle progression through RhoA and cytoskeletal dynamics in rat growth plate chondrocytes Actomyosin bundles serve as a tension sensor and a platform for ERK activation Mechanobiology of YAP and TAZ in physiology and disease its cofactors and the link to signal transduction The roles of YAP/TAZ and the Hippo pathway in healthy and diseased skin cortical cytoskeleton and cell shape in epidermal spindle orientation Actin and serum response factor transduce physical cues from the microenvironment to regulate epidermal stem cell fate decisions A mechanical checkpoint controls multicellular growth through YAP/TAZ regulation by actin-processing factors Noncanonical hedgehog pathway activation through SRF–MKL1 promotes drug resistance in basal cell carcinomas Adhesion forces and cortical tension couple cell proliferation and differentiation to drive epidermal stratification Mechanosignalling via integrins directs fate decisions of pancreatic progenitors Competition for space induces cell elimination through compaction-driven ERK downregulation The magical touch: genome targeting in epidermal stem cells induced by tamoxifen application to mouse skin Hyperproliferation and defects in epithelial polarity upon conditional ablation of alpha-catenin in skin Intestinal crypt homeostasis results from neutral competition between symmetrically dividing Lgr5 stem cells Hippo pathway effector Yap promotes cardiac regeneration Lack of Diaph3 relaxes the spindle checkpoint causing the loss of neural progenitors A global double-fluorescent Cre reporter mouse The incompatibility of living systems: characterizing growth-induced incompatibilities in expanded skin Whole-brain imaging with single-cell resolution using chemical cocktails and computational analysis Distinct modes of cell competition shape mammalian tissue morphogenesis Accurate expression profiling of very small cell populations The Sequence Alignment/Map format and SAMtools HTSeq—a Python framework to work with high-throughput sequencing data GREAT improves functional interpretation of cis-regulatory regions Simple combinations of lineage-determining transcription factors prime cis-regulatory elements required for macrophage and B cell identities normalization and visualization of single-cell RNA-seq data in R Pooling across cells to normalize single-cell RNA sequencing data with many zero counts Computational assignment of cell-cycle stage from single-cell transcriptome data Dimensionality reduction for visualizing single-cell data using UMAP Comprehensive integration of single-cell data Download references We acknowledge the animal facility at ULB (Erasme campus) Vanderwinden and LiMiF for the help with confocal microscopy and colleagues who provided reagents mentioned in the text scRNA-seq was performed at the Brussels Interuniversity Genomics High Throughput core and the Genomics Core Leuven is supported by a long-term postdoctoral fellowship of the HFSPO (LT000380/2015-L) and an FNRS fellowship is supported by a Royal Society EP Abraham Research Professorship and a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (098357/Z/12/Z) is supported by a long-term fellowship of the HFSPO (LT000092/2016-L) acknowledge core funding to the Gurdon Institute from the Wellcome Trust (092096) and CRUK (C6946/A14492) FWO postdoctoral fellowship number 12W7318N and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship number 12O5617N a research grant from the Fondation Contre le Cancer the foundation Baillet Latour and a consolidator grant of the European Research Council (ERC-EXPAND Sanger Institute–EBI Single-Cell Genomics Centre Electron Microscopy Platform of VIB Bio Imaging Core The Wellcome Trust–Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute Wellcome Trust–Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics helped with experiments and animal follow-up All authors read and approved the final manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Peer review information Nature thanks Carien Niessen reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations dashed yellow lines denote dermal-epidermal boundary and boxed area in pink orange and green are shown at higher magnification Ultrastructural analysis of cell–cell adhesion Quantification of the intercellular spacing on images as in h and l Quantification of the width of the desmosomes as in i and m Quantification of the width of the number of hemidesmosomes per μm in j and n TEWL measurements from n = 3 CD1 mice in CTRL and at different time point during expansion Immunohistochemistry for the adherens junctions (AJ) component β-catenin Representative images of AJ component p120-catenin (t) and E-cadherin (v) colour-coded for the signal intensity with ImageJ Protein expression is visualized as a colour gradient going from black to yellow with black as indicator of no expression and yellow as indicator of maximal expression Quantification of the average integrated density signal for p120-catenin (u) and E-cadherin (w) Each data point is the average of 3 sections per mouse (n = 3 mice per condition) The quantifications are made on n = 3 different animals per condition on 10 different samples per mouse and represented as mean + s.e.m Source data Representative images of the tight junction (TJ) components ZO-1 (a) and Claudin-1 (c) and of Vinculin (e) colour-coded for the signal intensity with ImageJ Quantification of the average integrated density signal for ZO-1 (b) The number of mice per condition is indicated inflammatory cells stained with CD45 (g) and macrophages stained with CD68 (i) (green) and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) on tissue sections Percentage of CD45 (h) and CD68 (j) positive cells on the total dermal cells quantified based on the nuclear staining mRNA expression analysis for the indicated gene in Untreated (Unt. black) skin and skin treated with Dexamethasone (Dexa. Fold change is expressed compared to one Unt Maximum intensity projection of confocal pictures showing immunostaining for K14 (red) BrdU (green) and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) 4 h following BrdU administration on whole mount epidermis Proportion of basal cells that are BrdU positive (n = 3,694 cells counted from 3 mice for Untreated and n = 3,764 cells from 3 mice for the Dexamethasone treatment) Source data Panel n shows the results of one-progenitor model and the CTRL data p shows the results of two-progenitor model and the CTRL data These results show both the enhanced accuracy of the two-progenitor model over the one-progenitor model despite involving the same number of fit parameters Source data while the two parameters in panel (f) represent variation in the net rates Representative orthogonal confocal sections immunostained for Krt14 (red) Krt10 (green) following short-term BrdU (white) incorporation identifying cells biased for renewal (Krt14+Krt10−) cells primed for differentiation (Krt14+Krt10+) and differentiated cells (Krt14−Krt10+) Percentage of the type of divisions in CTRL (108 divisions from n = 4 mice) and EXP D2 (254 divisions from n = 4 mice) based on short-term BrdU tracing and staining as in h Source data Immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections for c-FOS in control and EXPD4 Quantification of the number of cells c-FOSL+ in the basal layer related to q Immunofluorescence on tissue sections for pSTAT3 in green and K14 (red) to identified the epidermis Quantification of the number of cells positive for pSTAT3 in the basal layer related to s 3 sections quantified per n = number of mice and total number of cells indicated in parentheses d Source data showing the graph-based clustering results annotated by cell type the IFE stem cells cluster are in red (IFE SCs#1) and dark red (IFE SCs#2) the IFE committed cells (IFE CCs) cluster is in pink and the differentiated IFE cells (IFE DIFF.) are in green The differentiated cells from the infundibulum (INF the proliferating cells of the infundibulum (PROLIF INF.) are in plum and the sebaceous gland cluster (SG) is in orange The IFE stress cells (STRESS) are in dark grey and the cluster of stem cells stretch (SCs STRETCH) in yellow UMAP plot of the CTRL sample colored by normalized gene expression values for genes identifying the IFE (c) versus infundibulum (d) the sebaceous gland (e) and the proliferating cells (f) Undifferentiated (g) and more differentiated cells (h) in the IFE identified the SCs cluster (i) the CCs cluster (j) and the differentiated stage (k) Gene expression is visualized as a colour gradient going from grey to yellow with grey as indicator of no expression (that is expression values below or equal to the 50th percentile for that sample) and yellow as indicator of maximal expression Table showing the specific marker genes used to annotate the different clusters Integrated UMAP graphic representation of the IFE cells in CTRL The proliferating stem cells (PROLIF.) are in light blue the stem cells clusters are in red and dark red (SCs#2) the committed cells (CCs) cluster is in pink and the differentiated cells (DIFF.) are in green The stress cells (STRESS) are in dark grey and the cluster of stem cells stretch (SCs STRETCH) in yellow Predicted cell-cycle phases assigned using the cyclone function from scran tool and visualized in the UMAP cells in G2/M are in orange and cells in S phase are in red Percentage of cells in the different cycling phase calculated on the total number of cells UMAP plot colored by normalized gene expression values for the indicated gene and in the indicated sample Gene expression is visualized as a colour gradient going from grey to yellow with grey as indicator of no expression and yellow as indicator of maximal expression UMAP plots coloured by the degree of regulon activation for TFs differentially activated (AUC rank-sum test FDR corrected p-value <0.05) in the different conditions Colour scaling represents the normalized AUC value of target genes in the regulon being expressed as computed by SCENIC Heat map representation of the top 20 gene expression changes along the inferred pseudotime trajectory computed with Slingshot for the CTRL IFE Heat map representation of the top 20 gene expression changes along the inferred pseudotime homeostatic trajectory computed with Slingshot for the EXP D1 IFE Heat map representation of the top 20 gene expression changes along the inferred pseudotime trajectory computed with Slingshot characterizing the stress state for the EXP D1 IFE Columns represent cells ordered by their position along the pseudotime trajectory; rows represent genes whose expression profiles show highest correlation (FDR-correted p-value <0.01) with the pseudotime variable calculated using a generalized additive model (GAM) The colour scaling of the cells represents the normalized expression value of a gene in a particular cell Scheme of the genetic strategy to delete Diaph3 in the epidermis Protocol to delete Diaph3 during stretch-mediated tissue expansion Orthogonal views of confocal analysis of immunostaining for K14 (red) marking basal cells and Phalloidin (green) to visualize F-actin and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) in whole mounts of IFE in CTRL from a CD1 mouse EXP D1 from a CD1 or Krt14-cre-DIAPH3fl/fl (Diaph3 cKO) mouse Percentage of cells with F-actin fibres in the apical side of basal cells related to c (n = 4 mice per condition) Orthogonal views of confocal analysis of immunostaining for K14 (red) marking basal cells BrdU (green) and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) in whole mounts of IFE from Krt14-cre-DIAPH3fl/+ (Diaph3 WT) and Krt14-cre-DIAPH3fl/fl (Diaph3 cKO) mice during expansion Epidermal Diaph3 cKO were born at a Mendelian ratio and did not present obvious pathological phenotypes Immunostaining for the basal marker K14 (red) and the suprabasal markers K1 and K10 (green) in Diaph3 WT and Diaph3 cKO mice in EXP D2 and EXP D4 Epidermal thickness of Diaph3 WT and Diaph3 cKO mice in EXP D2 and EXP D4 (three measurements taken with ImageJ on two sections per mouse n = at least 3 mice for the different conditions) Scheme of the genetic strategy to delete Myh9 in the epidermis Protocol to delete Myh9 during stretch-mediated tissue expansion Immunohistochemistry for MYH9 in untreated and Tamoxifen induced Krt14-creER-MYH9fl/fl mice Orthogonal views of confocal analysis of immunostaining for K14 (white) BrdU (red) and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) in whole mounts of IFE in Myh9 WT and Myh9 cKO mice during expansion Epidermal thickness of Myh9 WT and Myh9 cKO mice in EXP D2 and EXP D4 (three measurements taken with ImageJ on two sections per mouse Analysis of adherens junctions in Diaph3 cKO and Myh9 cKO mice Representative images of adherens junction (AJ) component α-catenin (m) the α18 tension sensitive form of α-catenin (α18-catenin) (o) and Vinculin (q) colour-coded for the signal intensity with ImageJ Quantification of the average integrated density signal for α-catenin (n) Each data point is the average of 3 sections per mouse (n = 5 mice per condition) Source data Protocol for Trametinib or Pimasertib treatment in CD1 mice operated to place the expander and scarified at D2 Immunohistochemistry for pERK on paraffin sections of epidermis form CD1 mice untreated or treated with the indicated drug at EXP D2 Quantification of the proportion of BrdU positive cells during expansion at the indicated time point in CD1 mice untreated or treated with Trimatenib or Pimasertib (n = at least 3 mice per condition as indicated total number of cells analysed indicated in parentheses) Immunohistochemistry for FOSL1 (e) and immunofluorescence for JUN (f) on sections of epidermis from CD1 mice untreated or treated with the indicated drug at EXP D2 Epidermal thickness measured with ImageJ on tissue sections at EXP D8 in CD1 mice untreated or treated with the indicated drug (n = 5 mice untreated 3 measurements on at least 2 sections per mouse) Immunostaining (white) for YAP1 on skin sections in the control and in EXP D1 White arrows indicate nuclear localization Quantification of YAP1 subcellular localization bars and error bars represent the mean and s.e.m similar level of YAP1 in nucleus than in cytoplasm less YAP1 in nucleus than in cytoplasm (n = 150 cells for all samples except n = 120 for EXP D8) Quantification of MAL subcellular localization similar level of MAL in nucleus than in cytoplasm less MAL in nucleus than in cytoplasm (n = 150 cells for all samples except n = 120 for EXP D8) Immunostaining (white) for MAL (k) and JUN (l) on skin sections in the control and in EXP D1 Scheme of the genetic strategy to delete YAP-TAZ in the epidermis (m) and protocol to delete YAP and TAZ in stretch-mediated tissue expansion (n) Immunohistochemistry for YAP (top) and TAZ (bottom) in Krt14-creER-YAP-TAZfl/fl mice before and after Tamoxifen administration BrdU (green) and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) in whole mounts of IFE in YAP-TAZfl/fl (YAP-TAZ WT) or Krt14-creER-YAP-TAZfl/fl (YAP-TAZ cKO) mice at the indicated time point following expansion Epidermal thickness of YAP-TAZ WT and YAP-TAZ cKO mice in EXP D2 and EXP D4 (three measurements taken with ImageJ on two sections per mouse Protocol to inhibit MAL with the CCG203971 small molecule during stretch-mediated tissue expansion Quantification of MAL subcellular localization in EXP D2 and EXP D4 mice treated or not with the MAL inhibitor less MAL in nucleus than in cytoplasm (n = 150 cells per condition) BrdU (green) and Hoechst for nuclei (blue) in whole mounts of IFE in mice treated with the MAL inhibitor or with vehicle control (untreated) at the indicated time point following expansion Epidermal thickness of CD1 mice in EXP D2 and EXP D4 treated or not with the MAL inhibitor (three measurements taken with ImageJ on two sections per mouse Source data The number of counted divisions is indicated in parenthesis from n = number of mice Source data Source data Notes on the modeling of the clonal data related to Fig ATAC-seq peaks upreagulated during expansion Peaks showing chromatin region with increased accessibility in EXP D2 (n=1 mouse) compared to CTRL (n=1 mouse) Differential peaks are defined as peaks having at least a twofold change compared to control and being called peak in the expanded condition and contain at least 3 reads per million Motif enrichment analysis on ATAC-seq peaks upregulated during expansion Transcription factor motifs enriched in the ATAC-seq peaks that were upregulated by more than 2-fold in EXP D2 (n=1 mouse) compared to CTRL (n=1 mouse) as determined by Homer analysis using known motif search (3262 target sequences Marker genes for clusters identified in CTRL Genes differentially expressed in the different clusters in CTRL Differentially expressed SCENIC regulons in CTRL SCENIC analysis on the different clusters in CTRL Wilcoxon rank-sum test FDR corrected p-value < 0.05 Differentially expressed genes CTRL vs EXP D1 SCs populations P-values are FDR adjusted Wilcoxon rank-sum tests Differentially expressed regulons CTRL vs EXP D1 SCs populations Differentially expressed genes EXP D1 vs EXP D2 Treatments Differentially expressed regulons EXP D1 vs EXP D2 Treatments Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2555-7 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2025) Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2024) Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Idaho (CBS2) — Colder weather is here and that means the start of cold and flu season gave CBS2's Ashley Carter some helpful tips to stay healthy this flu season "The biggest thing is prevention right A few key steps to help with prevention include maintaining or establishing a healthy sleep schedule getting in to see your doctor when you need to can be tricky Saltzer Health is extending their hours at their family medicine clinics to help bridge that gap Finding a primary care provider should always be your first step but if you can't get in to see your primary care provider when the flu strikes Saltzer Health has a few options that may help Their extended hours through winter is a big help but you can also see one of their advanced practice providers Those could be nurse practitioners and physician assistants They can see you in the same clinic where you are already known but may be able to help assist you faster than getting in to your primary doctor and think Saltzer Health for your medical needs Wearing a serious demeanor as he peered into his log books earlier this summer at Summit Motorsports Park three-time Comp eliminator champion Frank Aragona Jr initially seemed to give off a "Do Not Disturb" vibe swiftly disassembling the initial impression and he didn't hold back once the conversation began to roll a typical hernia operation had revealed a very untypical cancerous tumor that had nestled into the muscle around his stomach "Only one in a million people get this very rare form of cancer but I got this angiosarcoma," said Aragona "If you knew me and would have seen me in March you would have thought it might be the last time Aragona wasted no time once the diagnosis was made With the help of friends and family in the drag racing community and beyond he sought out the best cancer treatment facilities across the country and spoke with them all finally landing on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York where the now-New Jersey resident had grown up "All fingers pointed back to the doctor in New York," said Aragona husband to Beatrice and father to Frankie III and Emma but you have a very aggressive form of cancer The tumor had grown from 3cm to 8cm in a little more than a month Aragona and his medical team began a return attack He entered a rigorous course of chemo therapy he received the treatment for nine hours a day Aragona did this every 18 days for three rounds and ahead of what was to be the fourth and final round it was determined that his white blood cell count was too low "But it turned out that they had slowed the tumor down and actually stopped it," he said "They did the surgery to take it out and found it was only 10cm and I didn't even need any more chemo or radiation They had to cut a whole section of my right stomach muscle out and a little bit into the left to get everything so I was supposed to recuperate for eight weeks but I was very fortunate that the pathology came back that they got everything Aragona missed the first Northeast Division race of the season he had an appointment with his doctor to assess the progress of his healing he mentioned to the doctor — in front of his wife and the head nurse — that there was another division race coming up It would be seven weeks and five days after the operation and Aragona stated that he would like to compete 'No.' But I felt good; I was just very sore," he recalled "The doctor told me I was going to feel sore for a year and that it was always going to feel different than it had before you can do it.' My wife and the nurse were like 'Don't tell him that!' But we went to Cecil County Aragona raced only his dragster in Comp at Cecil County Dragway in May he entered Comp with his dragster again at Maple Grove Raceway he felt ready to return to the seat of his championship Bantam altered Although it was a little trickier to climb into and 2019 Comp eliminator world champion knew he was ready He immediately raced to the final round at the Lebanon Valley Dragway division race Later in June and for the first time since the diagnosis last December Aragona brought out both his dragster and his altered to race at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals He logged another runner-up for the season there in Comp in Norwalk "I was hoping to get a win [by then]," admitted Aragona "I was very happy that I always lived my life they were the only thing on my mind — so we just did everything that we had to do It's kind of surreal that I'm here racing two cars I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease that has a 35% survival rate Aragona finally got his first post-cancer win this past weekend at the Atco Dragway divisional event and before he even got back to the pit area his phone was blowing up with congratulations on his 40th NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series victory "I'm going to tell you something about friends and family," said an emotional Aragona I couldn't go because of the surgery — but my dad and my cousin said that they would take the kids The kids had an entourage with them on the starting line It was pretty amazing being home and seeing that People from all over the country contacted me when they found out about the cancer People I don't even know were telling me they had been watching me race for years and that I had to get better there were 'win lights for Frankie' shirts Jackie Fricke made decals and took her name off the car and put my name on it Atco photos courtesy of Diane Kubicke and David Smith Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona was born in Messina He graduated in law from the University of Messina on 14 November 1964 and entered the diplomatic service on 28 March 1969 He served as First Secretary at the Italian Embassy in Vienna from 1971 to 1974 as Consul at the Italian Consulate in Freiburg from 1974 to 1977 and as Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in Lagos until 1980 he worked in the Directorate General for Political Affairs and in the Department for Development Co-operation After leaving his post as Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in London he joined the Italian Permanent Mission to NATO in Brussels as Deputy Chief of Mission Following a period as Diplomatic Advisor in the Ministry of Defence from December 1992 to April 1994 he was called to the position of Deputy Chief of Cabinet of the Foreign Minister he was Chief of Cabinet of the Foreign Minister By Seattle Mag April 24 Sign up and get Seattle's best events delivered to your inbox every week Learn how to describe the purpose of the image (opens in a new tab) Leave empty if the image is purely decorative [Photos: S. Pratt] He created a flurry of anticipation this past May after announcing his plans to open a contemporary Spanish restaurant in downtown Seattle. And today, Spinasse's Jason Stratton welcomes his newest project into the world: Aragona After a weekend of practice runs on friends and family the sprawling restaurant — perched high enough above the city bustle to create stellar views of the waterfront — is ready to roll and Portland transplant Clare Gordon will be doing desserts Dinner starts at 5 pm. Regular hours can be found on the Aragona website.· Aragona [Official Site]· All Aragona Coverage [~ESEA~]· All Eater Inside Coverage [~ESEA~] There are a lot of thankless jobs in horse racing—outrider hotwalker come to mind—but few of them are as open to public scrutiny as the morning-line oddsmaker The work of the morning-line oddsmaker is visible daily its correctness able to be assessed by anyone interested enough to pay attention And while a sharp morning line is seldom the subject of commentary the linemaker who gets it wrong also gets an earful David Aragona became the oddsmaker for New York Racing Association about a year ago following a stint as a handicapper at Timeform US He started going to the races when he was in primary school taken there by his father and his uncle.  "My father had all these VHS tapes of the Breeders' Cup and the Kentucky Derby," he recalled "and I'd watch them and educate myself A regular handicapper as a teenager growing up in northern New Jersey racing took a back seat to education when he attended New York University Sign up for BloodHorse Daily "The blog developed a little bit of a following through Twitter and I made some connections," said Aragona "Marc Attenberg at Timeform reached out to me in early 2015 as a kind of informal consultant and that led to my working with them on a part-time basis I started working for them full time." Aragona does analysis of NYRA races and major national races for Timeform along with video analysis for NYRA and DRF He also makes regular appearances on Talking Horses NYRA's in-house handicapping show.  He acknowledged making the morning line for the Belmont is not exactly the same as making it for a $40,000 claimer on a Wednesday afternoon you get a bit of an opportunity to weigh public opinion more than you usually do," he said "I can log on to social media to see what people are saying and what direction they're leaning I probably wouldn't have made Tacitus the favorite given that War of Will won the Preakness and Tacitus lost the Kentucky Derby (presented by Woodford Reserve [G1]) and everybody seems convinced that he's the horse that will relish the Belmont distance."  and I exceeded my own expectations," he said "I don't track as closely anymore."  He often has to wear two hats when he's assessing a card: his linemaker hat assessing how he thinks the public will bet; and his handicapper hat "I generally do the morning line first," he said "then put it aside for a little while and come to handicap with a different set of eyes."   And while he generally finds it relatively easy to ignore the social media critics he will mute people that start slinging mud "That's not my style," he said And when someone whose opinion I respect has a criticism "It's easy to do a pretty good job when the racing is straightforward especially at Aqueduct," he continued "It's a lot more complicated when you have turf racing and first-time starters and 2-year-olds at Belmont and especially at Saratoga but sometimes it's just impossible." David Aragona posts his picks & plays each live race day David Aragona is a Daily Racing Form handicapper and morning line oddsmaker for NYRA races TimeformUS past performances, available from Daily Racing Form, offer a revolutionary set of tools for analyzing pace, speed figures, and form. Learn more about TimeformUS and get PPs Clear favorite Tiote (#3) may win at a short price but haven't been thrilled with his first couple of starts and wonder how much upside is left here Poppy's Ticket (#1) offers some appeal among the firsters but will pull in support due to the presence of Irad The 5 consecutive gate works leading into the debut are also unconventional Want to instead take a shot with Don Luis (#7) off a layoff but Marisa Monserrate does have a $2.98 ROI with all starters over 5 years Thought this colt showed some potential on debut last year and was just badly overmatched in his second start Appears to be training well for the return and intriguingly attracts John Velazquez while shipping to New York when there were surely easier spots available at the recently opened Finger Lakes meet Don't have much trust left for Bendoog (#6) who possesses the ability to beat a field like this but has struggled to find the winner's circle recently breaking slowly and lugging in on his riders Jose Lezcano figures to get aggressive here but those tactics could be dependent on the break he didn't run as badly as it looks last time where he got involved in a fast pace and understandably faded as the race fell apart His TimeformUS Speed Figures make him look far more competitive here than his price will suggest Also don't mind him pairing back up with Jose Ortiz who has gotten some better results out of him in the past Pretty intrigued by this switch back to turf for On Command (#7) especially now that she appears to be in career best form since the trainer switch to the still underrated Amelia Green Filly ran a bit better than it looks in both turf starts last year contesting fast paces going distances that are just too far for her Strikes me as one that will take well to turf sprinting and may be catching some key rivals in a vulnerable state as they return from layoffs Nothing against the returning Clement pair but each ended their campaigns on sour notes Love Appeals (#3) has had a very light worktab for the return and Dontlookbackatall (#5) has to prove that she can still recapture top form as a 5-year-old Not totally convinced that we're ever going to see General Partner (#5) put it all together after he showed so much promise early in his career Thought his big fig last summer at Saratoga was aided by a favorable pace setup and track bias Did catch a sharp rival off the claim last time and now figures to be a short price again just because of connections Drake's Passage (#1) is obviously the main rival but he's not the most reliable sort either after disappointing twice at the end of last year Any rain that falls before this race may not suit him and don't love the rail draw for a horse that seems to prefer racing freely in the clear Will instead go back to Reddington (#4) one more time $3.16 ROI) second off the claim in dirt routes over 5 years He was oddly live on the board last time and didn't get an ideal trip and Castellano kept to a right-handed stick allowing him to lug in through upper stretch Was still maintaining big strides to the wire once he got clear late and may benefit from more aggressive handling with the switch to Ricardo Santana Feels like there is opportunity in this Vagrancy since I'm not thrilled with either of the two fillies than I pegged as ML favorites It's far from clear that Almostgone Rocket (#2) is still the same horse that we saw last summer after she was so disappointing off the layoff last time and I'm not convinced that Haulin Ice (#5) can reproduce her Oaklawn form in New York The other Saffie runner R Disaster (#1) is more interesting to me after she was involved in a suicidal pace last time at Gulfstream and still tried to battle back last when challenged by the classy Nic's Style She should play out as the speed of the speeds from the rail will try to beat those speeds with Socially Selective (#6) Can't say that I've ever been a huge fan of this mare but she just seems to fit this race really well losing some position into the lane before going to the rail in the stretch She drew perfectly outside here and should rate and finish in a race that seems ripe to fall apart Train the Trainer (#5) is an intriguing new face in the NY-bred ranks after debuting in a tough open company field at Santa Anita behind the highly touted Goal Oriented but he still has to overcome shipping across the country and he figures to get an early challenge from Merica's Back (#8) That Maker trainee ran better than it appears last time after missing the break and then pulling his rider forward into a premature move which could potentially set things up for Iron Max (#3) as he returns from a layoff Colt trained really well in Saratoga last summer but Jeremiah Englehart seemed unsure of what he really wanted to do trying a variety of surface and distance combinations Intrigued to see him show back up in a dirt sprint for the underrated Amelia Green Think there's more ability here than his form would suggest and the presence of the favorite could ensure he's still a fair price even with Prat hopping aboard By clicking the button, I accept the Terms of Use of the service and its Privacy Policy as well as consent to the processing of personal data Don’t have an account? Signup provided the licencing rights for the iconic franchise while Funko contributed to the design of the toys Aragona acknowledges that this transformation requires a careful balance between retaining Kinder’s childlike charm and appealing to a more mature audience as this is our first attempt at such a strategy We plan to achieve this balance through tailored marketing and in-store placements,” he explains While the toys and marketing will remain playful and childlike for younger children older audiences will see a more sophisticated approach with digital touchpoints and mature toy designs The collection has generated significant attention on social media with unboxing videos showcasing the excitement of discovering different character toys Aragona mentions that over 90% of the social media conversations surrounding the new Kinder Joy are organic Although social media buzzes with excitement for the new collection it appears to be unavailable at several marketplaces When asked if this scarcity is a deliberate strategy to maintain hype and curiosity “The brand’s initial steps towards this launch were rather slow We were cautious about production and wanted to gauge initial reactions we have ramped up both marketing and production.” The Harry Potter collaboration is just the beginning Kinder Joy is already exploring new partnerships with other beloved franchises aiming to replicate this success while ensuring alignment with its core values Plans are also in motion to introduce culturally relevant themes for the Indian audience Kinder Joy joins the list of brands playing on nostalgia to continue to appeal to older demographics and that’s especially true in Competition eliminator after claiming a second straight and third overall championship in 2019 the numbers prove that there are few who are better at it than him He’s just the third driver to win back-to-back points-based championships in the class and the third to score a trio of titles “The things I love about Comp are the challenge and the chess game,” he said “It’s not as simple as everybody thinks; you gotta know what your opponents can do a championship was not really in the plan early in the season  “Craig Bourgeois got on a run in the beginning of the year and everyone thought he was just going to run away with it so my main focus at that point was just to win Indy [the U.S After starting the year with their E/Dragster Automatic car and scoring wins at the Division 1 event at Maple Grove Raceway and the JEGS Allstars switched to a new Ken Keir-built Bantam that they had pegged for the J/AA class They debuted it at the Division 1 event at Lebanon Valley Dragway in June where they won the race and the Best Engineered Car award and then also won the next two divisional events to change the course of their season “We knew J/AA was a good index because nobody’s really been in that class for many we were on a cloud because that put us right into the hunt again and it made wanting to win Indy much more interesting because it’s an extra 10 points [for the 64-car field].” Aragona raced his way through five rounds of competition in Indy capping the victory with a strong (-.56) 7.60 to defeat David Billinsgley in the final and we got the right breaks — which you gotta have at the right time to win in Comp — and we used up index when we needed to I probably didn’t need to use up as much as I did in the final but it was 10:30 at night against a great driver like Billingsley I’d drive it to the second turnoff if I had to.” Aragona went to work on the numbers and knew what he needed to do better than anyone to lock up the title which he did in Charlotte at the NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals You look online and see you can better their score nobody else in the country could pass us no matter what they did.” Frank Affronti trigged a foul start against Aragona to secure the title then Aragona went on to beat Elio Mannino for good measure “It’s hard to compare the three championships because each is special but I’d have to say this year was better because of winning Indy and the Allstars and the world championship in one year — I mean That’s pretty much all my favorites in one.” and it was in Pomona where his season was really capped when fellow three-time Comp champ Bill Maropolus asked him to pose for a photo with he and David Rampy he figured that I would be next [to win three] and that I would be the one who broke the tie and won four Aragona extended thanks to his father and to Dave Yediny Even when I’m home I’m thinking about racing and strategy and things to do to make it better and I thank my family for their support.”   with the Austin American-Statesman's editorial board » ELECTIONS 2020: Check your voter registration & read the latest news JoJo Aragona had no idea that he had a diehard fan Fresh off his 138-pound state championship for Pope John he was wrestling in the Pittsburgh Classic on March 15 That is where he was approached by a 6-year old girl named Kamryn who was able to name all of his accomplishments and everything he had ever done Aragona gave Kamryn his Pittsburgh Classic medal Aragona got a text from her mother that Kamryn had slept with the medal all three days and had even taken it to school That is the kind of impact and legacy Aragona will leave at Pope John as he embarks on his next chapter at Rutgers Aragona -- the winningest wrestler in Sussex County history -- is the 2018-19 New Jersey Herald Wrestler of the Year "It feels amazing that I can engrave my name in Pope John history as hopefully one of the best wrestlers to ever come through here," Aragona said Eddie Ventresca can come in here and do the same thing in excelling past my records to break them Aragona finished his Pope John career with a record of 158-6 The previous all-time wins record for the Lions was 130 by Jake Rotunda while former High Point wrestler Nick Francavilla previously led Sussex County with 156 career wins Aragona's state championship bout ended with a 7-1 win over Jacob Perez-Eli of Paulsboro as Aragona was able to live up to his billing as the No Aragona's senior year ended with a perfect 38-0 record that included titles at the Beast of the East District 2 and Region 1 along with the state title Aragona also helped Pope John win two North Non-Public B titles and a Non-Public B state title in his junior season a couple of random events got Aragona started in wrestling he gave me a flier to come out and try it," Aragona said so I was always more interested in football and wrestling was kind of like the side sport that I played until eighth grade when really that all changed so I had to quit football and I really just started pounding wrestling Once Aragona started focus solely on wrestling He was just 85 pounds in eighth grade before he started intensifying his workouts His daily routine now includes getting up at 4:15 a.m going through his school day and then going to Pope John's practice before either hitting up another practice or going home to lift becoming the top wrestler in the county does not just happen by accident "My mom and dad drove me mainly," Aragona said "My dad was always pushing me to be the best I can be and my mom was always making sure that I was staying healthy by eating the right foods They are the main reason why I am where I am today." Aragona will join a host of other talented New Jersey wrestlers at a program on the rise in Rutgers Aragona will be joined in RU's recruiting class by Robert Kanniard of Wall who won the state title at 160 pounds this year They will join three New Jersey state champions from last year's recruiting class in Bill Janzer of Delsea Jake Benner of Ocean Township and Kyle Lightner of Delaware Valley The grind of the Big Ten Conference is something Aragona is looking forward to "Definitely my top-bottom work will improve a lot just by being in the Big Ten and being in the room with all of those guys," Aragona said everything will get tweaked to improve more but I feel like I will become a better wrestler wrestling in the Big Ten I can win a couple of Big Ten titles and a couple of national titles." There is a certain buzz in the air when Pope John senior JoJo Aragona is competing in a wrestling tournament he carries himself with the swagger you would expect from somebody with his pedigree He always has the same bright green and gray shorts on and either a Pope John jacket or a long-sleeved shirt of his future college destination — Rutgers Aragona is in his own world with headphones always blasting in his ears to mentally prepare himself for the battle ahead The intensity in his eyes is something to behold The Lions senior has taken New Jersey high school wrestling by storm since he arrived on the scene four years ago He came to Pope John with all the talent in the world as a freshman but now he has added the confidence and swagger to go with it “My attitude and my mindset are the biggest factors of what’s changed,” Aragona said “I’m just more confident in myself and going out there That’s really all it is — just going out there and scoring as many points as I can do my own warm-up and everything I have to do for myself to get myself right I go out there knowing I am where I am for a reason I just go out there to have fun and get to my attacks and score my points I just stick to the solid basics that I do.” Aragona is about to embark on his final journey to Atlantic City in hopes of capturing the only thing missing from his career — an individual state championship He got that started off by dominating the Region 1 Tournament winning it for the fourth time in his career on Saturday at West Milford Aragona pinned his first two opponents before beating Craig Manno of St It was actually his first decision against an NJSIAA opponent this year Aragona beat Travis Mastrogiovanni of Blair Academy for his only other regular decision against a New Jersey opponent Every other win against New Jersey opponents has been by at least a major decision His record this year stands at an unblemished 35-0 headed into Atlantic City and 153-6 for his career He is four wins away from setting a new Sussex County wins record after High Point’s Nick Francavilla won 156 matches from 2008 to 2011 Aragona became just the second Pope John wrestler and fourth from Sussex County to win four Region 1 titles with the win over Manno in the finals Mike Frick last accomplished the feat for the Lions from 1968-1972 before High Point legends John Gardner (1987-1990) and Francavilla did it for the Wildcats “Everyone in the room pushes each other and we work hard,” Aragona said “We fight for what we have and what we want on the mat To be the second ever from Pope John is just an amazing feeling really.” That confidence has also helped Aragona keep his edge and his laser focus he takes into each match Even the best wrestlers can get caught by surprise by one move It happened to two-time state champion Pat Glory of Delbarton in Atlantic City last year when he got taken to his back before recovering Something similar happened to Aragona as a sophomore when he got upset in the District 2 semifinals by Mark DiGeronimo of Kittatinny Aragona welcomes the challenge of every opponent He knows that as the top ranked 138-pounder in the state and in the country he will get the best shot from everybody looking to knock him off his perch to make a name for themselves The Rutgers commit has not let that happen so far and he wants to be challenged at the highest level the kids will wrestle me hard because I like when kids wrestle hard and get a little chippy,” Aragona said When kids just like to back up and run away I’m still going to get to my attacks and try to score but it just doesn’t look good on their part backing up and running away That’s really what I look forward to when I come to places like this It all comes down to this week for Aragona after placing third in the state as a freshman (106) and a junior (120) and second as a sophomore (120) Everything he has been working toward is a culmination of this moment “I’m just going to take it one match at a time and one step at a time,” Aragona said “I’m going to warm up the same way I’ve been all year I’m going to wrestle every match the same and try to score as many points as possible