Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More Tyler Loree capped off his high school golf career in some rarefied air The UCLA-bound Seabury Hall senior became just the eighth person to achieve multiple career individual wins in the David Ishii/HHSAA boys golf championships as he rolled to a six-stroke victory and a repeat title at the Mauna Lani Resort North Course on Friday led by four after shooting a 5-under 67 in the first round Thursday and his 1-over 73 on Friday was plenty to win on a day that no one shot par or below The three-time MIL champ finished at 4-under 140 Loree became the first boys golfer to repeat for the individual title since Waiakea’s Jarett Hamamoto in 2001 and 2002 Three boys golfers have won two individual titles in non-sequential years Island School’s Lucas Summerhays finished runner-up at 2-over 146 and Waiakea’s Jake Otani was third at 147 Punahou won its 12th team title and first since 2015 with a 616 Two-time defending team champion Waiakea finished third at 620 Waiakea still leads all-time with 13 boys state team titles Coel Berardy and Phoenix Nguyen-Eden tied at 37th with 162s According to Hawaii Prep World, Loree’s six-stroke margin of victory is the fourth-largest in state history. He won by two strokes at Kaneohe Klipper last year he is the only boys golfer in state history to finish in the top three in four consecutive years No one has won more than two individual titles in a high school career Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com Sponsored link Collaborative legislating—or a disdain for public process Part 6 of a series In his January 16 column for The New Yorker Jay Caspian Kang wondered: “Is California going through the early stages of a political realignment that has not quite yet shown up in electoral results?” The question wasn’t whether the state “will flip red—it won’t—but whether its residents are becoming increasingly disillusioned with liberal governance at the local and state level.” signs of such “general unease” included the fact that voters in both Oakland and San Francisco effectively deposed their mayors in last November’s election “two long-standing city-council members running for mayor were defeated by an unknown challenger who the results of the three mayoral elections reflected voter frustration with the status quo But in Berkeley, at least, the outcome did not signal disillusionment with “liberal governance at the local and state level.” Quite the contrary: Adena Ishii owed her victory in large part to her joint endorsement from two prominent, locally-based members of the state legislature, State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks if she was “a complete unknown to many voters” when she declared her candidacy in November 2023 by Election Day Ishii had gained enough recognition—and more importantly credibility—to eke out a win over her rivals Councilmember Sophie Hahn and former Councilmember Kate Harrison the BDC featured its endorsement of her campaign in its full-color The write-up noted the Skinner-Wicks endorsement and was accompanied by a smiling photo of Ishii and the two state legislators Ishii may have been completely unknown to the public at large but thanks to her work with the League of Women Voters she was a familiar commodity to these power brokers they recognized a sister politician who hides an authoritarian style behind a rhetoric of inclusiveness the contempt for democratic governance comes to the fore as they advance the Yimby agenda her victory extended the sway of California’s illiberal liberal establishment Ishii’s tweet about the explosive October 24 Middle Housing meeting didn’t just express solidarity with the Rashi Kesarwani. The future mayor appended that comment to the tirade that Droste had posted on x the day after the meeting As the originator of the Middle Housing concept and its leading Berkeley advocate, Droste had reason enough to weigh in on the October 24 meeting. For one thing, her national reputation as a housing expert (see “Lori’s Recent Accomplishments” on her website) is based on her promotion of the idea Her harangue likely had a second motive: defending the former fellow councilmember who’s now her boss Droste has worked 30 hours a week as a legislative assistant to Kesarwani Her website lists many of her past and current offices The position gives her influence over public policy minus public scrutiny and accountability she played Kesarwani’s attack dog with relish Droste began her x thread by reiterating Kesarwani’s charge of assault Then she derided all the dissident attendees as cranks: ICYMI: An audience member attempted to assault @RashiKesarwani last night Anti-housing anger has reached an absurd level—why the irrational resistance to these common sense housing solutions captioned video clip that was displayed in Savidge’s article documenting Kesarwani’s encounter with Grove and the unruly crowd Next the councilmember-turned-legislative-aide deemed the prospect of further public engagement a delaying tactic driven by opposition to growth: I introduced the idea of missing middle housing in 2019—almost five years ago This community has had plenty of time to discuss This isn’t a matter of process; it’s about a refusal to allow our community to welcome more people at least not to anyone who’s familiar with the city’s townscape and eager to allay its housing woes: and small multiplexes already exist in many neighborhoods and have for decades balanced approach to easing our housing crisis Missing middle housing helps prevent displacement pushing families out and making it even harder to live here The call for further community engagement is just a ploy of unnamed politicians egging on marginal rowdies: some politicians are stoking fear and anger demanding more meetings to appease a small but vocal anti-housing group This appeasement only delays progress and fuels unnecessary hostility After lauding Kesarwani and other “leaders…who are bravely advocating for balanced sustainable growth,” Droste concluded with two screenshots of Savidge’s article; praised Berkeleyside for having “call[ed] out” Grove’s “abhorrent behavior;” and held up his triplex home as evidence of his hypocrisy what’s most striking is Droste’s misrepresentation of the fight over the meeting’s format as a dispute about the Middle Housing plan itself a last-ditch offensive by people who’ve had ample opportunity voice their criticism But the council’s July 2024 approval of the plan was provisional In an email asking her constituents to oppose the revised proposal This proposal means you would have to condense all of your public comments on scores of complex and different items into one single 1-2 minute period Councilmembers could effectively forget about or ignore your public comment when the item you care about comes up hours later The public would not have the benefit of an author’s description of the item or the initial council discussion before commenting which governs public comment in California is to safeguard the public’s First Amendment rights and to ensure transparency and accountability Separating public comment from each policy item effectively strips the public of meaningful input Critical issues around labor or tenant rights or the environment do not lend themselves to sound bites I ran for office to represent and listen to the people of Berkeley Engaging in hours of robust public testimony and debate comes with the job description Democracy can be messy and time-intensive; don’t let Council shirk its duty the council unanimously rejected the proposal and retained permission for an unlimited number of commenters on each action item as it comes up for deliberation To justify her proposed rollback of public comment Droste cited the lengthiness and lateness of council meetings But there’s a democratic way to solve that problem: increase the number of meetings An expanded schedule makes even more sense Berkeley voters approved a 75 percent increase in the salaries of the mayor and councilmembers—now at $120K-plus and $80K-plus respectively Droste’s aversion to public engagement is also a sign of analytical weakness If she were confident about the premises of the Middle Housing plan she would welcome a debate over its provisions entails “not an extreme shift but a modest balanced approach to easing our housing crisis,” would be citizen participation overkill The evidence says otherwise. In an article posted by KQED on July 19 Mayor Jesse Arreguín boasted that the plan would authorize “‘one of the largest upzonings in California.’” KQED also cited Droste herself as saying that the ordinance offered the city “‘a real opportunity to be history makers.’” Writing in the Berkeley Daily Planet on July 20, 2024, Berkeley resident Nico Calavita, professor emeritus in the Graduate Program in City Planning at San Diego State University, cited an April 21, 2024, article in the California Planning & Development Report Titled “Berkeley Considers Massive Upzoning,” the article stated that the proposed “upzoning would allow the development of more than 100,000 homes according to one estimate in a city where there are currently 47,000 homes.” In a CBS Bay Area News story posted on July 25 the day after the council provisionally approved Middle Housing Arreguín called the plan “one of the most ambitious rezoning efforts of any city in the United States.” Droste’s claim for the modesty of her plan is pure spin Missing Middle housing: a land use Ponzi scheme critics have exposed the shaky foundations of the Middle Housing program and Yimby blanket upzoning at large In her opening sally, her February 2019 memo to the council Droste argued that extensive residential densification would “remedy the city’s legacy of racial discrimination;” encourage “greater socioeconomic diversity;” and “potentially reduce greenhouse gas consumption” by “allowing the production of more homes near jobs centers and transit.” In a Yimby Action podcast posted a month earlier There she said that it’s “challenging for people to wrap their heads around” her proposal “because it’s really wonky.” Her gambit: “If we frame this around social justice Translation: Mobilize support for Missing Middle by presenting densification as a strike against racism and elitism—an argument that people can easily grasp—while obscuring “wonky” specifics such as the elimination of single-family residential zoning that would spark protest In her zeal to portray single-family zoning as inherently racist she blotted out African American homeownership in Berkeley I thought that the neighborhood around San Pablo Park the site of a famous hub of Black politics and culture had been zoned for single-family homes (R-1) in the mid-twentieth century I used that to argue that if single-family zoning were racist that neighborhood could not have existed.  I just learned that the area was actually zoned R-3 developers focused on single-family homes.  When the neighborhood was downzoned to R-1 in 1963 it was done at the behest of the Black residents in the area.  The social justice hype wasn’t the only problem with Droste’s proposal Her memo also conjured up the sustainability mirage “is in no way a prediction of future emissions but rather a scenario for deep GHG abatement.” Droste disregarded UC Planning Professor Karen Chapple’s deep skepticism about the effectiveness of smart growth as a means of reducing private auto use she arbitrarily limited her consideration of the evacuation nightmares presented by densification to “the very fire high severity zones as defined by CalFire and/or the City of Berkeley”—which is to say the hills—when cramming more people into many other areas in town would invite similarly harrowing scenarios during an emergency In its catalog of Berkeley’s downzoning sins the Droste memo alluded to “zoning changes initiated in 1973” that “severely limited” Missing Middle housing types—”duplexes and multiplexes.” She was referring to the voter-approved Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance In an April 2019 op-ed published by Berkeleyside, Councilmember Sophie Hahn explained that rather than “an elitist effort to create affluent and exclusionary enclaves,” the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance was a response to urban renewal that sought “to protect lower-income neighborhoods” from the threat of real estate speculators She realized that Missing Middle upzoning portended the same threat which is why she and Harrison tried to have affordability requirements incorporated into the plan She also noted that the city’s General Plan states that “[g]eneral plans and amendments must originate and proceed with citizens’ groups continuously central to the process.” Hahn did not categorically reject the Missing Middle concept she said she “appreciat[ed] the vision of Dan Parolek who coined the term ‘Missing Middle.’” Given the “high” demand “for market-rate housing especially in family-oriented neighborhoods,” she “look[ed] forward to an honest and consultative exploration of the possibility of bringing well-designed contextual units into our residential neighborhoods—without displacement—and inviting more people and families to share the benefits and pleasures of living Berkeley.” Hahn didn’t consider the major source of the high demand for market-rate housing in Berkeley: UC’s incessant growth The university’s expansionist agenda was targeted in Carrie Olson’s open letter to the council regarding the proposed elimination of single-family zoning Writing in the Daily Planet as the President of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association Olson referenced the “dramatic increase in students” called for in UCB’s then-latest Long Range Development Plan [e]ven if the [proposed] Resolution caused the construction of new rental units recent history demonstrates that new rental housing is being consumed by the University; the solution is not to build more rentals that the University will take over but work to limit student population so non-students have [a] chance at securing rental units namely the development surge of the 1950s and 60s during which many of Berkeley’s single-family homes were demolished in favor of ugly apartment buildings that have neither stood the test of time (being largely seismically unsafe) and that (when built) neither created more neighborhood diversity nor provided more affordable housing It was in response to that surge that Berkeley voters passed the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance Olson cautioned that the elimination of R-1[single family residential] zoning would invite another speculative land rush that inflated housing costs It would also “in all likelihood result in demolition of historic and cultural resources in favor of lot-line-to-lot-line condo boxes”—an outcome that would destroy “part of what makes Berkeley unique.” “does not oppose efforts to create more affordable dense housing” in town But it wants to “ensure that whatever housing is built…honors Berkeley’s unique architectural heritage.” She called for a current and full examination of Berkeley’s current population and residential areas (including racial and economic diversity) who actually is living in or has access to renting in newly constructed apartment complexes a census of existing under-utilized properties (empty apartment buildings etc.) and the impact of UCB’s current Long Range Development Plan…on available affordable housing Housing affordability and architectural heritage aside BAHA raised another critical issue that never appears in the rhetoric or legislation around Middle Housing: Berkeley lacks the infrastructure “capable of sustaining a huge surge in population and high-rise buildings in all R-1 areas of the city.” Then there’s the shady “quadplex” standard Recall that in the celebratory tweet she posted on July 24 the day after the council’s provisional approval of the Middle Housing ordinance Kaserwani wrote: “The goal “is to allow up to a 4-bed house which can be quite affordable when rented to a group of students The quadplex goal appeared in Droste’s 2019 memo calling for a “Missing Middle Report which asked the report study “[a]llowing the possibility of existing houses/footprints/zoning envelopes to be divided up to 4 units.” The memo attached a 2017 Berkeleyside op-ed by architect and Missing Middle promoter Daniel Parolek extolling fourplexes  It reappeared in February 2021 in a proposal submitted by Droste and Arreguín for consideration at the March 1 meeting of the council’s Land Use Policy Committee What was devious about the item was its failure to mention the expansionary effects of the state Density Bonus Law Those effects were noted in Councilmember Susan Wengraf’s February 27 newsletter to her District 7 constituents: The City Council is considering what is now titled “Inclusive Neighborhood Scale Zoning” a sweeping and radical change to eliminate single family zoning in Berkeley and allow four unit (quad plex) development in all residential zones throughout the city by right (without review or citizen input) This legislation is being brought forward by Councilmembers Droste It will be discussed at the Land Use Policy Committee meeting on Monday all single family (R-1) parcels in Berkeley would have the potential to be developed as quadplexes with the addition of an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) and a Junior ADU this may qualify the project for a density bonus that could actually yield as many as 8 units per parcel There is no requirement for yards or for off-street parking These projects would be approved ministerially (over-the-counter) with no review by neighbors or the zoning board or right of appeal Thanks to a broad outcry mobilized by Wengraf and others, Droste withdrew the item. Droste and her crew lost that skirmish, but they were already on their way to winning the quadplex war. They squirreled away the quadplex goal in Droste’s “Resolution to End Exclusionary Zoning” that, as amended by Arreguín the council unanimously approved on February 23 One of the resolution’s many Whereases stated that “the League of California Cities called for cities to allow up to fourplexes in single family zones in their Blueprint for More Housing 2020” (so what?) There was no mention of the State Density Bonus Law In an article published by the Daily Planet on March 14 architect and former member of the Planning Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board Patrick Sheahan dissected the quadplex concept focusing on its proponents’ fallacious claims about affordability: What the ‘quadplex’ proposal does not provide is affordable (low-cost) housing currently in over-supply. The State Density Bonus provides affordable units in exchange for a 50% bonus in unit count in addition to a number of waivers and concessions including increased height and bulk and reduced setbacks A benefit of the State Density Bonus is that units must be located on site unlike Berkeley’s affordable housing requirement which allows 100% in lieu fees to avoid providing required 20% affordable units in the project *Because State Density Bonus affordable units are calculated on the base project the percentage of low-cost units may net only about 7% of the total project. What the ‘quadplex’ proposal does not admit is that under State Bonus Density and ADU laws additional units are allowed: 4 unit base units + 2 Density Bonus units + 2 ADU/JADU units = 8 units along with waivers and concessions for height and bulk There is no limit on the number of bedrooms per unit are becoming common for market rate projects This formula presents an attractive opportunity to for-profit developers and for the neighborhood a project taller and bigger than allowable under current development standards with the detrimental conflicts that out of scale projects bring Sheahan pointed to alternatives that provide genuinely affordable housing and neighborhood-friendly design including “non-profit equity and non-equity co-ops,…taking profit out of the equation” and “lowering housing costs for renters and owners.” In an apparent nod to Sheahan, Item 1 on the March 25, 2021, agenda The Housing element should encourage alternative housing models including cooperatives and social housing concepts as well as homeownership models Equity in access and affordability of housing should be a key priority in the development of policies and zoning State Density Bonus Law grants certain allowances for projects that include a stipulated amount of affordable housing Such projects are permitted to include more units and to waive certain development standards Projects that utilize State Density Bonus are typically larger than the projects that are encouraged by the proposed zoning changes but a project could not be prevented from using State Density Bonus under the proposed zoning changes A footnote stated: “The smallest project that has utilized State Density Bonus in the past two years in Berkeley included eleven units.” Klein did not analyze the potential specific effects of the SDB law on the proposed zoning changes nor did he specify that law’s 50 percent bonus-in-unit count Nico Calavita’s July 20, 2024, critique of the Middle Housing proposal as it was presented to the council with the Planning Commission’s amendments didn’t explicitly criticize the quadplex goal after highlighting the enormity of the proposed changes Calavita said he favored “the densification of single-family neighborhoods with ‘gentle density,” i.e. triplexes and townhomes,” adding that “[t]hese typologies with front and backyards and housing facing the street provide much greater densities while being compatible with single-family housing.” It is very likely that middle housing will be concentrated in lower income neighborhoods Berkeley city planners met with Missing Middle Architects who indicated that since densification as proposed is based on the demolition of existing structures “middle housing projects are most feasible on lots that are vacant or with a relatively low-value existing home.”  it is likely that middle housing—which is market-rate housing—will lead to the gentrification of neighborhoods with “relatively low-value existing homes.” The recently approved Demolition Ordinance will protect existing affordable housing units that will be torn down as part of middle housing developments the potential remains for a massive influx of market-rate housing in lower income neighborhoods.  A larger problem was that “broad upzonings” such as the one contemplated by Middle Housing “treat neighborhoods that are socio-economically and geographically diverse the same,” but “the diverse effects on various neighborhoods of the city” hadn’t been analyzed An even larger problem was that “allowing greater densities will lead to higher land values making existing property values go up…(existing single-family homes will become more expensive,”—just the opposite effect of a policy that supposedly sought greater housing affordability Calavita advised that “Council must not approve the proposed ordinance at this time.” Instead council should create mechanisms to widely publicize the proposal in ways that the general public can easily understand (especially density bonus law implications) the city prepare a study on how and where middle housing—and demolitions related to it—is being built and with recommendations for possible changes they attack their local opponents as elitist Droste has a Master’s degree in public policy and has “taught courses on political under-representation and policy analysis at Mills College.” She ought to know the measure of policy analysis isn’t how many people support an idea but the quality of the evidence offered in its support she and her cadres show the Middle Housing plan for what it is: a stack of unproven and arguably unprovable claims—in essence Shortly after their mid-September endorsement of Ishii’s campaign, Skinner and Wicks spoke at a fundraiser in the candidate’s backyard. An October 11 post on her X page displays captioned clips (here and here) of their speeches After praising Ishii’s leadership at the League of Women Voters, her skill at running a fellowship [for The Organizing and Leadership Academy] “and in so many other of her roles,” Skinner said: “The mayor really is the person whose role is supposed to be pull the community together pull the staff together and give the staff the respect so they can do their jobs and deliver the policies that you approve.” Wicks said that it was during her first ran for the Assembly in 2018 that she got to know Ishii: [She] was the constant professional at the League of Women Voters….There’s that sense of maturity that is so critical and when Nancy speaks about bringing people together it’s that level of confidence and maturity and adultness [sic] in the room that we need in our mayor of Berkeley To say that one person is “the adult in the room” implies that everyone else is childish and needs to be disciplined are often more revealing than scripted statements a full accounting of Skinner’s and Wicks’ autocratic records would fill a book Below I note only a few of their most egregious maneuvers particularly those aimed at Berkeley and housing development Besides squelching local concerns about UC’s relentless expansion the legislators exploited two devious mechanisms First, the budget trailer bill workaround. Unlike policy bills, budget bills do not have to pass through committee hearings and then floor hearings at each house. And, as in the case of SB 118/AB 168, trailer budget bills often have nothing to do with budget. As the Inland Regional Center staffer Jennifer Cummings explained trailer bills have become vehicles to semi-secretly do things that might otherwise be difficult to do They are drafted and quickly enacted with minimal exposure to the public The other devious procedure was the gut-and-amend process, whereby legislators completely replace the language in an existing bill with new text. Gut-and-amend, wrote AP staffer Don Thompson allows lawmakers to bypass the usual deadlines for bill introductions and amendments while circumventing a public review process that allows those interested in a particular piece of legislation to testify during committee hearings or write a lawmaker with their concerns SB 118/AB 168 was a gut-and-amend. From the start, these bills referred to the budget, but originally they addressed changes to child care and development programs Wicks’ 2023 bill AB 1307, which quashed another lawsuit objecting to UCB’s expansion, was also a gut-and-amend product to accommodate the campus’s projected growth this time eliminating noise generated by housing project occupants and their guests as a significant environmental impact AB 1307 was also an “urgency bill,” which exempted it from the legislature’s usual calendar deadlines Regular policy bills take effect the January 1 after the governor has signed them; urgency bills take effect immediately Skinner and Wicks authored other impactful anti-democratic bills that went through the Legislature’s regular vetting processes observed the California chapter of the American Planning Association effectively allows developers to “make fundamental land use decisions.” SB 167 also strengthened the developer hand at the expense of local government by altering the Housing Accountability Act’s provisions about attorney’s fees Two years later, Skinner introduced “The Housing Crisis Act of 2019,” SB 330 This labyrinthine measure limited to five the number of public hearings with respect to a proposed housing development that complies with a city’s general plan and zoning standards at the time the developer’s application is deemed complete Anyone who’s been involved with a controversial housing project knows that five meetings are not enough for adequate public input or similar meeting conducted by the city or county with respect to the housing development project whether by the legislative body of the city or county the planning agency established pursuant to Section 65100 or any other designated hearing officer or body of the city or county including both “hearings” and appeals that are continued to a later date To count meetings that are continued as additional “hearings” is out-and-out manipulative. And that’s just one of  SB 330’s anti-democratic provisions In a late December interview published by The Berkeley Times Ishii told R.Todd Kerr that she “‘wants to be known as the “Civic Engagement” Mayor’.” Kerr asked: “Who are your cherished teachers/educators And now that she’s retired from [the California State Senate] I plan on seeking her counseling even more often who didn’t hold a single town hall with her constituents during her last seven years in the State Senate seems like an unlikely source of advice about community engagement even if the project conflicts with its general plan and zoning ordinances Besides expanding the applicability of the “reasonable person” evidentiary standard Wicks’ bill reduced the affordability requirements in a Builder’s Remedy project Housing aside, Wicks’ autocratic sensibilities are reflected in her complicity in killing AB 1999, the 2024 bill that would have lowered PG&E profiteering The San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board explained how in June acting as chair of the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee Wicks used another devious legislative maneuver: the suspense file which allows the Appropriations Committee to kill a bill with no explanation or even a reference to the measure Of the 668 bills on the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s suspense file it was the only one to receive a roll-call vote Thursday According to longtime Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli it was also the only bill for which committee chairperson Buffy Wicks didn’t have a recommendation as to whether it should pass or not.  only two lawmakers — Democratic Assembly Members Tim Grayson of Concord and Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz — voted in favor of AB1999 The remaining 13 committee members didn’t vote — including Wicks and Assembly Member Matt Haney The Chronicle called Wicks’ and Haney’s failure to take a stand a “cowardly cop-out.” last August Wicks killed her own proposal to force Google and other tech companies to pay news companies for their content had bipartisan support in both houses of the Legislature As Riverside Record publisher and founder Alicia Ramirez wrote in a Chronicle op-ed the two bills “incorporated the input of journalists’ unions and independent publishers like me—voices and interests that were conspicuously left out of the handshake agreement that has preempted our public efforts in the 11th hour.” The deal established a “News Transformation Fund” financed by California public money and Google focused on preserving and expanding California-based journalism and administered by the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley Innovation Accelerator to be funded by Google and administered by a private nonprofit Wicks’ office hailed the deal as “a [sic] first-in-the-nation partnership with the State said he was “worried” that the agreement “actually causes harm to journalists instead of helping us in any way.” Pearce noted that the public-private partnership created with Google allowed the company’s contributions to be tax-deductible Finally, like Ishii, Wicks appreciatively retweeted Lori Droste’s rant about the raucous October 24 meeting on Middle Housing. On October 25, Wicks wrote: or acting in a threatening manner has no place in political discourse or our democratic process @RashiKesarwani is one of the most thoughtful & effective housing leaders in the Bay Area Those who chose to act in this way should be ashamed of themselves Wicks imputed violent behavior to all of the meeting’s dissident attendees Her tweet got pushback on X from two Berkeleyans Budd Shenkin wrote: the process for this zoning change is completely flawed Let’s not get diverted by a guy grabbing the mike not a top-down shove down the throat for high density Laurie Nardinelli wrote: We were there because we favor increased density and increase[d] housing but want to ensure new regulations don’t result in areas of treeless concrete jungles in West Berkeley Kesarwani should not have called us to a “meeting” if she intended it only to be a one way presentation 48hills.org is the official publication of the non-profit San Francisco Progressive Media Center We are community supported journalism. Become a member. but we need you to help us beat the billionaires and fight for the soul of San Francisco by becoming a member or donating today Ishii offered insights on her plans to get critical work done and build unity across divisive issues Mayor Adena Ishii spoke candidly to community members Monday night about her first months on the job and what Berkeley can expect from her The Berkeley Democratic Club organized the event introspective and refreshing — and also look forward to seeing how she grows as a leader Connect with the Berkeley mayor's office directly on its website. Learn more about the Berkeley Democratic Club Editor's Note: The Scanner attended Monday's virtual community event as a member of the media. TBS is independent and nonpartisan and welcomes invitations to a broad range of community events given annually since the late Robeson received the first Citation in 1974 honors individuals who leverage theatre to go beyond the stage to enact their commitment to the freedom of expression and conscience In a statement Ishii said: “I have been a member of Equity since 1990 and I have my dear longtime friend and colleague I have long admired the esteemed Paul Robeson for his brilliant artistry and support of his family and many communities and grateful to receive this prestigious Paul Robeson Award presented by the Paul Robeson Award Committee.” Noah Himmelstein will direct Matthew Puckett's original musical Neumann is the Tony nominated choreographer behind Hadestown and Swept Away one Tony winner is playing the trumpet while the other is channeling Madame Rose Due to the expansive nature of Off-Broadway and institutes have been revealed by the industry stalwart Thank You!You have now been added to the list Blocking belongson the stage,not on websites Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors Please consider supporting us bywhitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.Thank you Cast members of the project include Masakazu Arai who played Keima Amemiya in Machi: Unmei no Kousaten who played Minoru Minorikawa in 428: Shibuya Scramble The game itself will use an “ensemble drama” system—a synchronized story with multiple protagonists in which players experience a multiple-perspective structure that shifts between each character’s viewpoint Ishii said that 428: Shibuya Scramble was created as a successor to the live-action adventure game Machi: Unmei no Kousaten He expected that a game would eventually come along to surpass 428: Shibuya Scramble as well Ishii approached various game companies about a follow-up project as many were more concerned with marketing and business than the core of the project he even distanced himself from such projects Ishii and his team decided to develop the new title independently Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without acknowledgment of Gematsu is prohibited Use of this site is governed by all applicable laws Website by 44 Bytes Ishii noted that her policy platforms stem from personal lived experiences Berkeley mayoral candidate Adena Ishii is seeking to bring compromise and cohesion to city politics From creating safe shelter environments to supporting small businesses her vision of Berkeley is borne out of a desire to bring communities together transferred to UC Berkeley from Berkeley City College before attending the Santa Clara University School of Law She recalled her political involvement beginning at BCC where she rallied students to fight against education budget cuts Ishii became a member of the League of Women Voters of Berkeley a nonpartisan political organization of which she was eventually elected president — the youngest and first woman of color to hold the position She credits these experiences as having taught her “politics the non-partisan way.” “I’m running for mayor because I really think we need a reset at city hall,” Ishii said “We have had two City Council members resign stating that our city government has become broken and toxic and if we are too busy fighting each other My background is in nonpartisan politics: this radical idea of bringing people together around common-sense solutions.” crime and traffic-related injuries firsthand in the city She proposes the construction of additional affordable housing in Berkeley as well the revisions of “exclusionary rules around land use” to pave the way for increased housing projects such as those created from Southside upzoning and the Ashby BART development Ishii intends to make shelters safer and more accessible providing specific resources for families and survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking who are experiencing houselessness She advocates for increasing mental health services as well as connecting community members to employment and volunteering opportunities to mitigate barriers between the housed and unhoused Ishii highlighted concerns with recent legislation allowing the city to sweep unhoused encampments without offering interim housing adding that she thinks such legislation “could be far more specific.” but one of the things that I have learned about sweeps of our encampments is that oftentimes it just spreads people around the city making it harder for their advocates to connect them to housing,” Ishii said “It sometimes means they lose their personal belongings and that really prevents them from accessing housing.” Ishii maintained her commitment to creating a “small business-friendly” environment in Berkeley which she plans to achieve in part by increasing resources for the unhoused community and supporting public safety initiatives.Citing her involvement in the Lorin Business Association she recognizes a need for a streamlined permitting process that would clear away bureaucratic obstacles for small business owners Ishii is the only mayoral candidate in this election cycle who has not held a prior position on the Berkeley City Council When asked why she is running for mayor instead of representative for District 3 Ishii noted the history of redlining in her neighborhood sharing her belief that the district should have a Black representative meeting management and communication between cities best aligns with her roots and skill set “It’s important that you run for a job that you care about and sometimes I think people will run for school board or City Council as a stepping stone to something greater — that’s really a disservice to the people that they’re supposed to be serving,” Ishii said “The mayor’s job is running the city council meetings and my background is in facilitation and bringing people together across differences.” Email notifications are only sent once a day We're an independent student-run newspaper and need your support to maintain our coverage Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: KQED Live EventsPRX Podcast Garage EventsEvents Around the Bay AreaMember Benefits with KQED LiveVideos from KQED LiveWatch recordings of recent KQED Live events FeaturedThat's My WordAn ongoing exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history See Senior Director of TV Programming Meredith Speight’s recommendations from this month’s KQED 9 Watch recordings of recent KQED Live events Support KQED by using your donor-advised fund to make a charitable gift a civic organizer and education consultant narrowly defeated longtime Councilmember Sophie Hahn in the race for Berkeley mayor. (Courtesy of Adena Ishii for Mayor)Adena Ishii a civic organizer who had never run for or held elected office has won the tightly contested race for Berkeley mayor narrowly ousting City Council veteran Sophie Hahn Ishii on Wednesday said she’s ready to get to work on an agenda that will focus on building more housing and making progress on the city’s perennial challenges with homelessness A nonprofit education consultant and former president of a local League of Women Voters chapter according to nearly final returns released by Alameda County election officials late Wednesday “My message in this campaign was that we needed a reset at City Hall that we had had two City Council members resign citing that city politics had become broken and toxic,” Ishii said “We needed someone who was going to be focused on the issues.” Ishii won endorsements from several big names in local politics Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and former Berkeley mayor and longtime state legislator Tom Bates Ishii said she plans to quickly start building her team “and really start getting to work.” “Homelessness has been a priority throughout my entire campaign and it will continue to be a priority for me especially as the weather is getting cold and wet,” she added In an email to supporters Wednesday evening “The results of this race are clear: Adena Ishii has been chosen by the people of Berkeley to be your next mayor,” Hahn wrote “Just a few moments ago I called to congratulate her and wish her the very best as she navigates our city through what are likely to be challenging times for our country and our community.” Ishii’s opponents in the campaign also included former City Councilmember Kate Harrison — one of the two members who abruptly quit the council early this year Harrison finished a distant third in the ranked choice contest Ishii, who will become Berkeley’s first Asian American mayor, will be sworn in next month. She succeeds Jesse Arreguín, who was just elected to the state Senate To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. 428: Shibuya Scramble game developer Jirō Ishii launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Japanese website Ubugoe for a new live-action adventure game also set in Shibuya. Ishii is developing the project with screenwriter Yukinori Kitajima (BBK/BRNK, Brynhildr in the Darkness) The project is an "all-or-nothing" campaign and will not earn any funds if the crowdfunding goal is not met The cast for the game features returning members from previous Ishii games including Masakazu Arai and Fumio Kitagami The crowdfunding page for the game describes the game as an ensemble drama with multiple protagonists and an "altruistic" game design where the characters impact the other storylines in a meaningful way The campaign will officially begin on May 28 and end on July 25 Source: Ubugoe via Siliconera Metrics details is a genus of minute egg parasitoids frequently used in agricultural pest management that can feed on the eggs of various lepidopteran pests there is a scarcity of high-quality genomic resources for this category of tiny parasitoids which impedes our comprehension of the population evolution and parasitic ecology of this collective a chromosome-level genome of Trichogramma chilonis was produced by integrating PacBio HiFi A total of 98.59% (199.63 Mb) of contigs were effectively mapped onto five chromosomes The BUSCO assessment revealed that the genome assembly achieved 98.1% (n = 1,367) completeness with 95% representing single-copy BUSCOs and 3.1% duplicated BUSCOs the genome comprises 24.16% (48.91 Mb) repeat elements and 12,163 predicted protein-coding genes chilonis presented in this study offers an invaluable asset for elucidating its evolutionary path and ecological interactions The application of Trichogramma wasps substantially decreases dependence on chemical pesticides and alleviates the adverse effects of agriculture on the environment and human health The inadequate availability of genetic resources has impeded our comprehension of its biological traits and parasitic mechanisms we constructed the chromosome-level genome of T This high-quality genome establishes a valuable dataset for delving deeper into the evolution and essential traits of Trichogrammatidae species an isofemale line was established through the backcrossing of male offspring with a virgin female Corcyra cephalonica eggs served as the host for T and following a minimum of six generations of cultivation substantial populations of female adults were gathered All short-read libraries were sequenced on the illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform The vertical dotted lines indicate the coverage peaks for heterozygous Contact map. Chromosome-level heat map of T. chilonis, with each chromosome outlined in blue. chilonis are illustrated in a circular arrangement Starting from the innermost circle moving outwards long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE) and short interspersed nuclear elements (SINE) Overview of the number of genes in the T chilonis genome annotated by different databases To further assess the assembly’s integrity the mapping rate was determined by aligning PacBio and RNA sequencing reads with the final assembly using Minimap2 and SAMtools These analyses collectively confirm the high quality of the genome assemblies generated in this study All commands and pipelines utilized in data processing were executed in accordance with the manuals and protocols provided by the respective bioinformatic software Internal transcribed spacer-2 restriction fragment length polymorphism (ITS-2-RFLP) tool to differentiate some exotic and indigenous trichogrammatid egg parasitoids in India Biological control with Trichogramma in China: History Nocturnal parasitism of moth eggs by Trichogramma wasps Mass rearing and release of Trichogramma for biological control of insect pests of corn in China Parasitism and suitability of Trichogramma Chilonis on large eggs of two factitious hosts: Samia Cynthia Ricini and Antheraea Pernyi Knockdown of vitellogenin receptor based on minute insect RNA interference methods affects the initial mature egg load in the pest natural enemy Trichogramma dendrolimi The effects of temperature and host age on the fecundity of four Trichogramma species egg parasitoids of the Cnaphalocrocis Medinalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Field control effect of Telenomus Remus Nixon and Trichogramma chilonis Ishii compound parasitoid balls against Spodoptera Frugiperda (J reproductive characteristics and pest control potential of three Trichogramma species on Tuta Absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) Effectiveness of Trichogramma Chilonis (Ishii) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) against sugarcane stem borer Chilo Infuscatellus (Snell) (Lepidotera: Pyrallidae) Parasitism and suitability of fertilized and nonfertilized eggs of the rice striped stem borer Chilo Suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) Enhancing biocontrol potential of Trichogramma Chilonis against borer pests of wheat and chickpea Insights from the biogeographic approach for biocontrol of invasive alien pests: Estimating the ecological niche overlap of three egg parasitoids against Spodoptera Frugiperda in China Comparative analyses of COI and ITS2 in molecular identification of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Hi-C: A comprehensive technique to capture the conformation of genomes BBMerge – Accurate paired shotgun read merging via overlap GenomeScope 2.0 and Smudgeplot for reference-free profiling of polyploid genomes Haplotype-resolved de novo assembly using phased assembly graphs with hifiasm Minimap2: Pairwise alignment for nucleotide sequences Identifying and removing haplotypic Duplication in primary genome assemblies Juicer provides a one-click system for analyzing loop-resolution Hi-C experiments De novo assembly of the Aedes Aegypti genome using Hi-C yields chromosome-length scaffolds MMseqs2 Enables Sensitive Protein Sequence Searching for the Analysis of Massive Data Sets and chromosome details on the immature stage of Trichogramma brassicae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Karyotype Analysis of Trichogramma embryophagum Htg (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) using a new method and estimate its karyotype symmetry A Cytogenetic study of three parasitic wasp species (Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae) from Brazil using chromosome morphometrics and base-specific fluorochrome staining RepeatModeler2 for automated genomic discovery of transposable element families The Dfam database of repetitive DNA Families a database of repetitive elements in eukaryotic genomes Using repeatmasker to identify repetitive elements in genomic sequences MAKER2: An annotation pipeline and genome-database management tool for second-generation genome projects BRAKER1: Unsupervised RNA-Seq-Based genome annotation with GeneMark-ET and AUGUSTUS GeMoMa: Homology-based gene prediction utilizing intron position conservation and RNA-seq data AUGUSTUS: A web server for gene finding in eukaryotes GeneMark-EP+: Eukaryotic gene prediction with self-training in the space of genes and proteins OrthoDB v10: Sampling the diversity of animal bacterial and viral genomes for evolutionary and functional annotations of orthologs Transcriptome assembly from long-read RNA-seq alignments with StringTie2 HISAT: A fast spliced aligner with low memory requirements A hybrid de novo genome assembly of the honeybee High-quality genome assembly of the silkworm Genomics of sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum Sensitive protein alignments at tree-of-life scale using diamond InterPro in 2017-beyond protein family and domain annotations Fast genome-wide functional annotation through orthology assignment by eggNOG-mapper The Pfam protein families database in 2019 20 years of the SMART protein domain annotation resource SUPERFAMILY-sophisticated comparative genomics CDD/SPARCLE: functional classification of proteins via subfamily domain architectures functionally and phylogenetically annotated orthology resource based on 5090 organisms and 2502 viruses TBtools: An integrative toolkit developed for interactive analyses of big biological data Infernal 1.1: 100-fold faster RNA homology searches Rfam: Annotating non-coding RNAs in complete genomes tRNAscan-SE: searching for tRNA genes in genomic sequences NCBI Sequence Read Archive https://identifiers.org/ncbi/insdc.sra:SRP547575 (2024) Wang, C. Genebank https://identifiers.org/ncbi/insdc.gca:GCA_045269175.1 (2024) Wang, C. The annotation results for repeated sequences, gene structure, and functional prediction of Trichogramma Chilonis. Figshare. dataset. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27872361 (2024) BUSCO applications from quality assessments to gene prediction and phylogenomics Download references This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFD1401200) and the Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province (tsqn202312293) Shandong Key Laboratory for Green Prevention and Control of Agricultural Pests Shandong Engineering Research Center of Resource Insects wrote the draft manuscript and revised the manuscript All co-authors contributed to this manuscript and approved it The authors declare no competing interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04792-5 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science The next results aren't expected until Wednesday Adena Ishii is now in first place for Berkeley mayor and Sophie Hahn is in second, according to the latest Berkeley election results No one knows for sure how many Berkeley ballots remain but about 56,000 Berkeley votes had been counted as of Friday afternoon Ishii had 19,268 votes (38%) to Hahn's 18,827 (37%) triggering a ranked-choice run-off since neither candidate secured more than 50% The subsequent ranked-choice calculation left Ishii with 24,265 votes (51%) and Hahn with 23,120 votes (49%) who has held office in Berkeley since 2016 as the City Council member for District 5 Ishii has never held public office but presented herself as a coalition-builder who will bring "people together around common sense solutions" and offer an alternative to the "drama" at City Hall "It's really exciting to take the lead," Ishii said Friday afternoon "It just depends on how many people have voted," she said Sophie Hahn was not immediately available for comment the registrar of voters had not released any estimated totals for expected Berkeley ballots about 60,000 people voted for Berkeley mayor said about 17,000 votes remain to be counted countywide Another 5,000 ballots still need to be cured due to signature issues The ROV has been actively reaching out to those voters by email phone and snail mail depending on what contact information is available You can check your ballot status online via ballottrax or on the Alameda County registrar of voters website. On the county site, log in and click the Election tab to find your ballot status. The next round of results won't come out until Wednesday, Dupuis said. He said Alameda County may be slower with election results than other places due largely to the available resources. "If the community wants it to be faster, we would need a larger facility," he said. "We would need more people and we would need more equipment." Dupuis said he still plans to certify the election results on Dec. 5, in time for the state deadline. This story was updated after publication due to the developing nature of events. Stay tuned for continuing coverage. In addition to her roles at the University of Tokyo, she serves on the Board of the UN Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, Emergent and Global Pandemic Monitoring Board, and the Advisory Board of Capitals Coalition and EAT Foundation. She is also a member of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), and Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW), Her career began in 1981 at the Ministry of Finance, Japan, where she focused on international finance and development. Subsequently she worked for the IMF as well as the World Bank (Vietnam and Sri Lanka). She also studied at the Harvard Institute of International Development (HIID). Prior to her election as CEO of GEF in 2012, she held the position of Deputy Vice Minister at the Ministry of Finance. Dr. Ishii is a distinguished alumna of the University of Tokyo, holding both a BA in Economics and a PhD in International Studies. She has authored several books, two of which have received academic awards. The Rockefeller Foundation's mission is to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal and sustainable. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on all the latest news and events. No. 7 in school history in the outdoor 800m (1:46.22) No. 10 in school history in the outdoor 4x800m relay (7:17.86) 1x Big Ten Men’s Track Athlete of the Week (Mar. 28, ’24) 2x Academic All-Big Ten (F ’23, Sp. ‘24) 2x USTFCCCA All-Academic team (’23, ‘24) Season: Qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in his career…Finished 18th in the nation in the 800m…Set the seventh-fastest 800m time in school history. Season: Set his mile and 600m PRs during indoor season. Season: Set 6K and 8K PRs through the course of the season in which he competed four times for the Nittany Lions. Dolan Duals (9/1): Clocked an 18:09.9 to finish fifth overall in the first meet of the season. Lehigh Paul Short Run (9/30): Ran a 26:22.1, setting his 8K PR. Big Ten Championships (10/27): Concluded his season with a 26:52.3 at the conference meet. Season: Qualified for the NCAA East Prelims for the first time in his career, entering in the 800…Set a PR and finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships in the 1500. Season: Set personal-best marks in the 1000m and the 800m. Nittany Lion Challenge (1/14): Ran a 2:21.99 in the 1000m for a second-place finish. Music City Challenge (2/10-11): Posted a personal-best 1:48.35 for a fifth-place finish in the 800m…Was a member of the 4x400 team that ran a 3:14.05, coming in eighth. Big Ten Indoor Championships (2/24-25): Crossed the line in 1:50.88 for an 11th-place finish in the 800m. Season: Competed in his first collegiate cross country season, setting three personal-best marks. Dolan Duals (9/2): Finished the 6K in 18:34.5 for a PR. Joe Piane Invitational (9/30): Ran a 25:02.7 over five miles, finishing 20th overall. Big Ten Cross Country Championships (10/28): Ran a 27:00.8 in his first Big Ten Cross country championship race. Season: Finished tenth in the Big Ten in the 800 in his true freshman season…Earned one race victory. Jim Thorpe Invitational (5/6): Set personal best in 800m at 1:49.48 to come up with first collegiate race win. Big Ten Outdoor Championships (5/13-15): Ran a 1:50.97 for tenth place in the conference in his first Big Ten Outdoor Championships. High School PRs: 800m, 1:50.21*, 1500m - 3:50.94 Competed in middle distance at 800m and 1500m for Yachiyo-Shion...Was Japanese national champion junior year in 800m. Parents are Chiaki and Shinichiro...Has one sister, Maika...Studying Business Administration...Born in Japan. Adena Ishii has pulled into the lead in the race to become Berkeley’s next mayor, according to the latest ranked-choice elections results by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Ishii holds a 1,100-vote lead over Berkeley City Councilmember Sophie Hahn after taking more than half of the available votes from the third-place finisher The Berkeleyside reported that less than 20,000 ballots – about two-and-half percent of the total number – remain to be processed by election officials There is no indication when final election results will be published Ishii focused her campaign on helping to find solutions to homelessness and housing a member of the Berkeley City Council since 2016 She had raised significantly more money than Ishii and Harrison She was also endorsed by outgoing Mayor Jesse Arreguin and most of her colleagues on the council The latest news and information from the world's most respected news source BBC World Service delivers up-to-the-minute news Ishii has been executive director for six years and guided the community-focused organization through the pandemic Asain Arts Initiative Executive Director Anne Ishii curls up with a sculpture by Jongbum Kim one of six Asian and Asian American artists featured in the exhibition The Erotic Project book and exhibition invites visitors into radical sensuality The free WHYY News Daily newsletter delivers the most important local stories to your inbox WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today. A concert of local Asian American–fronted rock bands opens AAPI month The Japanese house in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park was saved 40 years ago by former inmates of Japanese internment camps Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal local news and information and world-class entertainment to everyone in our community WHYY offers a voice to those not heard, a platform to share everyone’s stories, a foundation to empower early and lifelong learners and a trusted space for unbiased news. Learn more about Social Responsibility at WHYY Ishii will be sworn in as mayor privately on Dec where she will lead her first City Council meeting She noted that her involvement in local politics allows her to feel confident in her ability to be mayor saying she’s ready to get to work in her new position Ishii, who narrowly beat opponent Sophie Hahn and declared victory Wednesday public safety and infrastructure —but most importantly she hopes to rebuild trust between the City Council and the people of Berkeley and make sure the city government is united While she has not held a City Council position Ishii mentioned feeling “confident” and prepared to lead the Council’s meetings.Having been involved in local politics — as president of the League of Women Voters and leading other organizations — Ishii feels sure of her abilities to lead as mayor She is also looking forward to working collaboratively seeing her approach as one that will build consensus instead of a “my way or the highway” attitude While her platforms have changed from the start of her campaign she said the issues she started with would still be “woven in throughout” her term as mayor “We chose to focus on the piece of issues that people felt were the most significant problems,” Ishii said “In terms of how to move forward and implement them I’m very excited to be working with the City Council and our city staff to move that ball forward on a lot of projects I’ve been talking about throughout our campaign.”  Ishii said she will be sworn in privately on Dec Ishii expressed excitement at being the city’s first Asian mayor and first woman of color to be elected mayor.She noted that she does not want to speak for these populations and instead just brings her own perspective to the job Ishii emphasized that she will always consider groups that are and are not being represented and ensure that she can directly connect with communities who are impacted by certain issues Speaking on other goals she hopes to achieve as mayor Ishii said one of the biggest things she wants to see is more young people involved in politics “I want our administration to be very open and transparent and we really do want to engage the public,” Ishii said “I hope that folks reach out to say something that they think I should know about I want to make sure that I’m connected to the city that I’m serving.” The internet celebrities will perform in three special limited engagements for the interactive production The Twenty-Sided Tavern, the officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons live experience will welcome tabletop RPG all-stars Felicia Day and Erika Ishii for three special limited engagements later this year is best known for her work in the digital space where she created and starred in the award-winning web series The Guild and co-starred in Joss Whedon’s Emmy-winning musical Dr “I've loved D&D and theatre my whole life,” shared Day “I can't wait to combine the two and participate in this amazing production.” Day will join the Tavern September 19–24 known for her storytelling in popular TTRPG Actual Play streams such as Critical Role, Dimension 20 "The joy of tabletop games like D&D comes from the surprise and delight of improvisation The Twenty-Sided Tavern is a leap forward in how collaborative storytelling can drive wonderful and unique experiences and I can't wait to share the fun with this audience!” Iyengar will play along September 26–October 7 celebrated for their podcast as well as performances in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and various Dropout TV originals “I’ve had the immense fortune to be part of actual play shows that allowed me to collaborate on telling the stories I wanted to see in the world I am so excited that being part of The Twenty-Sided Tavern allows our audience to be a part of that narrative!” Ishii will join the party December 5–17 READ: How The Twenty-Sided Tavern Lets Audiences Choose Their Own Adventure The Twenty-Sided Tavern officially opened its premiere Off-Broadway at Stage 42 May 5 after beginning previews April 19 and Wizards of the Coast to bring the tabletop adventure game to the stage The Twenty-Sided Tavern is an improvised quest play each performance is uniquely tailored to decisions made by audience members on their phones using patented software from Gamiotics Audience members choose which characters will appear each evening and which decisions they will make along the journey The in-mobile-browser platform does not require any special equipment instead running on audience members' phones The show premiered at The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, later playing runs in Chicago and at Edinburgh Festival Fringe While the production naturally appeals to Dungeons & Dragons players knowledge of the tabletop role-play world is not required as the structure of the game is communicated within the show Created by David Andrew LawsSarah Reynolds, and David Carpenter, The Twenty-Sided Tavern is written by Laws Visit TheTwentySidedTavern.com Adena Ishii gets sworn in as Berkeley’s next mayor Ishii and the incoming council members are excited about their terms hoping to reach their goals and create transparency within the City Council Mayor-elect Adena Ishii and Councilmember-elects Terry Taplin Shoshana O’Keefe and Brent Blackaby were officially sworn into office Dec (Ishii) was quite the underdog,” said Robert Roche a member of Ishii’s campaign fundraising committee “That we’re all here gathered to celebrate her swearing in and the fact that she’s going to become the mayor of Berkeley is pretty cool.” Longtime and now former District 6 City Councilmember Susan Wengraf began the ceremony with a speech congratulating the newly elected officials and celebrating the collective spirit of Berkeley she exited the stage to a lasting standing ovation City Manager Paul Buddenhagen and BCC President Denise Richardson also delivered remarks at the event declaring their support for the newly elected officials in their upcoming terms “Everyone’s in really high spirits,” Taplin said “A lot of folks talked about the need for us as a community to come together to reaffirm our values and push back against potential attacks from the federal government.” The council members were sworn into office by City Clerk Mark Numainville Ben Bartlett will be sworn in at a later date due to a time conflict the council members thanked those who assisted them with their campaigns and shared their stories leading up to the election Berkeley Poet Laureate Aya de León also recited a poem proclaiming her pride in moving forward in an “uncertain future” with a BIPOC mayor leading the city Ishii declared her commitment to addressing Berkeley’s many needs and making the City Council more transparent and accountable to the residents.As a “real product of Berkeley,” Ishii emphasized Berkeley residents’ need to stand united against national forces that endanger progressive values “I’m going to be meeting with all the heads of departments; I’m going to be meeting with folks in the community,” Ishii said in an interview following the ceremony “I really want to make sure that I’m accessible and that’s a huge focus for me in the first few months.” Many attendees described the atmosphere at the event as uplifting and hopeful They expressed hope for progress on building more housing and increasing City Council transparency O’Keefe said she is optimistic about the City Council’s ability to cooperate for the betterment of Berkeley in the future “Everybody really wants to build consensus and to get along,” O’Keefe said “I know we all want what’s best for Berkeley so I really hope that we are able to do a really good job in the coming years.” "I feel like this is the world's longest job interview," she said "I'm grateful to have gotten the job." Adena Ishii will be the next mayor of Berkeley winning the popular vote as well as the ranked-choice contest Ishii will be Berkeley's first Asian mayor and the first woman of color to hold the position "I feel like this is the world's longest job interview," she said "I'm grateful to have gotten the job and excited and ready to get to work." Ishii ran as an outsider candidate who could provide a "reset" to City Hall infighting Her campaign focused on housing and homelessness, public safety and infrastructure She said she believed those issues resonated with Berkeley voters She and her campaign knocked on more than 20,000 doors to spread the word about her candidacy "I think people felt heard," she said Friday "People felt that they could connect with their new mayor and knew I was going to be listening and paying attention to what they wanted to see in the city." Early returns in the race saw District 5 Councilwoman Sophie Hahn in first place initially taking the popular vote as well as the ranked-choice contest The first 25,000 ballots showed Hahn with 53% of the ranked-choice vote As new results came in, other news outlets erroneously reported that Hahn had widened her lead — even as Ishii began to close the gap by the time about 40,000 ballots had been counted Perennial confusion about election office messaging reporting "100%" of the results from all precincts may also have added to the haze In fact, that language only means all precincts have partially reported — not that all votes have been tallied More significantly, it does not reflect mail-in ballots which make up the bulk of Alameda County votes Last Friday, with about 56,000 Berkeley votes counted, Ishii took the lead for the first time with 19,268 votes (38%) to Hahn's 18,827 (37%) That triggered a ranked-choice run-off since neither candidate secured more than 50% The ranked-choice calculation left Ishii with 24,265 votes (51%) and Hahn with 23,120 (49%) When the next results came Wednesday, with more than 59,000 votes tallied Ishii had 19,960 votes (38%) to Hahn's 19,623 (37%) The ranked-choice contest gave Ishii 25,131 votes (51%) to Hahn's 24,094 (49%) Adena Ishii still on top in Berkeley mayor's race, 51.06% to 48.94% for Sophie Hahn; 59,210 Berkeley ballots counted in the race. About 56,000 Berkeley ballots had been counted for Berkeley mayor as of Friday (last results). Our last story: https://t.co/3Qpxem7Hb5 It was a narrow margin of victory, but the registrar of voters said it would be the last major update for this season's Alameda County election results Hahn called Ishii to concede and wish her well the results of this race are clear: Adena Ishii has been chosen by the people of Berkeley to be your next Mayor," Hahn wrote I’m full of gratitude for the amazing support you’ve shown." Hahn gave up her District 5 City Council seat to run for mayor. Shoshana O'Keefe, a close friend and ally of Hahn's, won that race handily Ishii said winning the popular vote as well as the ranked-choice rounds showed confidence from the electorate "That's a really good feeling," she said Friday Ishii has been active with the League of Women Voters locally and at the state level but has never held public office initially vying against three council incumbents: Rigel Robinson Robinson stepped down from his council seat and dropped out of the mayoral race Harrison stepped down from council in the months that followed She continued her mayoral run but many said she tanked her own campaign when she quit That prediction appeared to prove true when results came in with Harrison always a distant third and never a contender for the top spot The changing landscape of the race helped vault Adena Ishii into second place Ishii began to pick up high-profile endorsements including from Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks the East Bay Times and Mercury News endorsed her as the pragmatic choice for Berkeley mayor who didn't carry some of the baggage that dogged Hahn I know that it's about peaking at the right time," Ishii said "I feel like the timing was just really perfect for those endorsements which came from the work my team had been putting in so that we would be ready for it." Ishii said she wouldn't have run for Berkeley mayor if she didn't think she had a real shot She credited her campaign's ground game with helping her get the win In addition to her core team of about 50 people many more jumped in to help her spread the word Ishii said her experience as an organizer helped her put the team together We had values and group agreements," she said and made things bite-sized so people were not too overwhelmed by the task at hand." Ishii also worked to create an inclusive campaign where busy parents and people of differing abilities could easily "plug in." Ishii said she is still working to put her transition team together but met Friday morning with the city manager city clerk and city attorney "to make sure we're doing things the right way." "I'm confident that we'll have a really great team that will guide and support the work we're doing over the next four years," she said Ishii said she intends to release a plan that will map out her goals for her first 100 days in office Her first priority will be to build relationships on and across the Berkeley City Council With Mayor Jesse Arreguín moving on to state Senate Hahn losing the mayor's race and Susan Wengraf retiring much of the institutional knowledge is leaving the dais Wengraf has served on the Berkeley City Council since 2008 Mark Humbert (Claremont/Elmwood's District 8) was elected in 2022 when Lori Droste Igor Tregub (downtown Berkeley's District 4) and Cecilia Lunaparra (Southside Berkeley's District 7) came on only this year Now, Mayor Adena Ishii, Shoshana O’Keefe (North Berkeley's District 5) and Brent Blackaby (the Berkeley Hills' District 6) will join them as the newest Berkeley City Council members Ishii said there will be a private swearing-in ceremony Dec 6 followed by the public swearing-in at the Berkeley City Council meeting on Dec Japan's Sayaka Ishii withdrew from the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament Friday due to an abdominal injury who was the only Japanese player remaining in the singles draw secured her first two wins on the WTA tour this week and was scheduled to face world No 16 and sixth-seeded Russian Diana Shnaider at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum The youngster is the daughter of former Yokohama BayStars shortstop Takuro Ishii who had 2,432 hits in his Nippon Professional Baseball career to rank 11th on the all-time list He is now hitting coach of the DeNA BayStars "I am very sad to have to withdraw," Ishii said in a statement "It has been my best tournament so far in my career." coming out on top again after prevailing at the national championship final earlier this month 279 then beat Turkey's 148th-ranked Zeynep Sonmez 4-6 but had a medical timeout early in the third set with discomfort around her stomach I have a physical issue that I just don't have time to heal," she said "Thank you all so much for your support and I most definitely will be back." third seed and ninth-ranked Russian Daria Kasatkina went down to wild card Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-3 while Britain's Katie Boulter eased past Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-2 6-1 to set up a semifinal with Kenin on Saturday 7 Zheng Qinwen of China in the other semifinal after the Paris Olympics gold medalist defeated Canada's Leylah Fernandez 6-0 Tennis: Uchijima loses to Olympic champ Zheng at Pan Pacific Open Tennis: Injury-hit Naomi Osaka to miss Billie Jean King Cup finals Tennis: Yoshihito Nishioka seeks shortcuts to survival in tall-man's game To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible Ishii is a voice actress best known for voicing video game characters, including Valkyrie in Apex Legends. They have also appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons web series L.A. by Night and Dimension 20 and on the podcast Worlds Beyond Number. Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided TavernApr 19 You can unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy Ishii steps into the role as the first woman of color and Asian mayor to be elected in Berkeley She is also the first mayor in recent memory without prior City Council experience and received 51% of the ranked-choice vote Ishii also confirmed her victory in a call with The Daily Californian Adena Ishii has been elected the next mayor of Berkeley ushering in a significant political shift for the city Recognized for her commitment to nonpartisan collaboration and community-driven solutions Ishii will step into the role as the first mayor in recent memory without prior City Council experience and I’m really filled with a lot of gratitude,” Ishii said “We’re excited and we’re ready to get to work.” there may still be ballots left to count and cure in Alameda County as the California Secretary of State has not yet updated their numbers from Nov Alameda County has been the slowest county in California to count its ballots leading to impatience and wide-spread criticism The race took a turn Nov. 15 when Ishii overtook Hahn An update from the Official Election Site of Alameda County yesterday night showed the ranked-choice vote margin hovering at about 1,000 — enough to win When asked what the first thing Ishii will do to celebrate her victory she said Ishii’s campaign used Berkeley’s public financing program which limited individual contributions to $60 but matched them at a 6-1 ratio who came in third before the instant ranked-choice vote runoff enabling higher individual donations and giving her about a $70,000 spending advantage throughout the campaign Despite entering the race as the front-runner Hahn — a longtime city leader and former vice mayor — ultimately fell short of votes Ishii brings a unique background to the role having never held city office before and running against veteran politicians Her campaign focused on issues of housing equity and accessibility as well as expanding mental health services and increasing community member access to employment and volunteer opportunities Ishii will enter office alongside re-elected City Councilmembers Terry Taplin and Ben Bartlett and newly elected Shoshana O’Keefe and Brent Blackaby for Districts 5 and 6 “I think that it’s important that we’re acknowledging the fact that I’m the first woman of color and Asian mayor to be elected to our city and that’s something that I think the community should be celebrating together,” Ishii said Adena Ishii is leading the race for Berkeley mayor with 51.21% of the ranked choice vote as of today at 4:10 p.m. is in second place with 48.79% of the ranked choice vote according to the Official Election Site of Alameda County the former president of the League of Women Voters of Berkeley is the only mayoral candidate in this election cycle who has not held a prior position on the Berkeley City Council “I’m running for mayor because I really think we need a reset at City Hall,” Ishii said in a previous interview Hahn, elected to the Berkeley City Council in 2016, has served as vice mayor and is currently the representative for Berkeley’s District 5. Hahn co-authored the Pathways Project and Measures O and P which she says have led to a 45% reduction in unsheltered homelessness and significant progress in housing affordability public safety and environmental sustainability for the city 664,606 votes have been counted as of press time with 962,143 voters registered in Alameda County A surprising title change capped off New Japan’s excursion into the United States New Japan Pro-Wrestling hosted their Windy City Riot event that featured three championship matches including the Strong Openweight title match between Gabe Kidd and Tomohiro Ishii This was a rematch from their Battle in the Valley bout that ended in a time limit draw The match ended after Ishii connected with his signature brainbuster finisher This is the first time that Ishii has won the STRONG Openweight title and the NJPW STRONG belt is the second singles title he’s won in New Japan Hirooki Goto defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Shota Umino the 2024 G1 Climax winner couldn’t get the job done as Goto hit the GTR for the three count In the number one contender’s match for Mercedes Mone’s NJPW STRONG Women’s title Mina Shirakawa and AZM ended up in a double countout finish It was confirmed later on that both women will challenge Mone for the belt at Resurgence next month The match is scheduled on May 9th in Southern California Konosuke Takeshita beat Hiroshi Tanahashi in his final US match Since this was billed as a non-title match (Takeshita is the NEVER Openweight Champion) then many assumed that Tanahashi would win but New Japan continues to put over Takeshita strong by giving the 29-year-old a clean victory over the New Japan legend Tanahashi speech after his final USA match #ThankYouAce #njriot pic.twitter.com/E1OJRx0YwB Check out the official results for New Japan’s Windy City Riot: Metrics details The Ishii Test is recommended by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) however the use of this technique is still little explored in the clinical context and the scientific literature We aimed to verify the use of the Test of Ishii in screening for sarcopenia in older adults We searched three electronic databases and two reviewers independently screened and assessed the studies Studies with older adults (60 years or more) of both genders no year or language restriction and which aimed to evaluate sarcopenia using the Ishii Test and another diagnostic criteria were selected sensitivity and specificity were performed using the MedCalc and SPSS software programs A total of 3,298 references were identified in the database and finally 11 studies were included for the review The screening test showed good sensitivity and specificity in both genders All studies showed values above the considered value for the Area Under the Curve (AUC) results and five studies developed a new cut-off point A summary of the AUC curve showed the diamond close to one indicating that the Ishii test has good performance for screening sarcopenia (I2=83,66%; p<0.001; 95%CI: 69.38 to 91.28 for men; and I2=60.04%; p<0.001; 95%CI: 13.06 to 81.63 for women) The Ishii Test can be considered a useful tool for the early identification of sarcopenia in older adults further studies are still needed to understand the behavior of this screening tool it was found that the Ishii Test had good sensitivity and specificity for screening sarcopenia when compared to the other consensus this can be explained because the test was developed in the Japanese population and only validated in the Chinese population until mid-2018; moreover few changes have been made regarding the validity and use in other regions of the world despite being recommended by the consensus most used by researchers and clinicians it is still necessary to investigate the use of the test and its final evaluation in different populations Given the low number of studies on the subject the question about its validity in older adults around the world and the absence of reviews which show the importance of this evaluation method the present systematic review has the main objective to conduct a literature survey on the use of the Ishii test for screening sarcopenia in older adults in different contexts this work will verify the accuracy of the Ishii Test according to the reference measure to which it was compared The research question which conducted this review was based on the PIRD (population namely: “Can the Ishii test be used to screen for sarcopenia in older people inserted in different contexts?” Articles were excluded if they: a) assessed sarcopenia using other diagnostic methods; b) were carried out with participants younger than 60 years old; c) were not published in a peer-reviewed journal and published as editorials review articles with data based on meetings or repositories of dissertations and theses The search strategy was developed using the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) descriptors considering the following standardized formula for all databases: Ishii AND sarcopenia AND screening AND accuracy AND (older or "older people" OR elderly) The results after searching the databases were exported to Rayyan® (Qatar Computing Research Institute – Data Analytics a web-based software which facilitates collaboration between reviewers during the study selection process and full text were assessed by two investigators independently to identify eligible studies (WSB and PRSM) Any disagreements were resolved by a third researcher who evaluated the study and made the final decision (SGGFM) the list of references was manually checked by reviewers in search of new studies that met the eligibility criteria The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) was used to assess the risk of bias in four dimensions (patient selection Two independent reviewers (WSB and PRSM) assessed the quality of the included studies Descriptive data are presented in tables and graphs A summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) curve was constructed with the included studies that presented AUC data and confidence interval (95%) according to gender and considering all reference consensuses Only studies which presented AUC and 95%CI values for both sexes were considered to carry out this test with 9 studies being considered at this stage ROC curves show the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity whereby a test can be more sensitive (by over-diagnosing disease) at the cost of being less specific (more false positives) A test that was 100% sensitive and 100% specific would generate an area under the curve (AUROC) of exactly 1 and generally values closer to 1 indicate better diagnostic performance A Z-test was performed to compare the pooled sensitivity or specificity of Ishii Test for each gender according to diagnostic criteria (p ≤ 0.05 indicated significant differences) All analyzes were performed using the MedCalc 22.09® program Flowchart of studies found for this review which is also included in this systematic review developed a mathematical equation comprising the variables of age handgrip strength and calf circumference according to gender with cut-off points of ≥ 105 points for men and ≥ 120 points for women the values found were the same as the original which used values ranging from 11.1 to 128.5 for both men and women It was seen that when using the Ishii Test the prevalence of sarcopenia was lower when compared to the gold standard method who verified the difference of only one case compared to the AWGS (N=36 vs N=35 In observing the prevalence of sarcopenia using the consensus as diagnostic criteria (L.-K it is noted that there is a variation in the results Figures S1 A and B and Figure S2 C and D (supplementary material) show the summary comparison of sensitivity and specificity results between the test measure (Ishii’s Formula) and the sarcopenia consensus according to gender It can be observed that the Ishii Test showed greater sensitivity when compared to AWGS1 and greater specificity when compared to EWGSOP1 There was no significant difference between the variables for the Z test results In analyzing the results of the diagnostic accuracy of the Ishii Test (sensitivity and Area Under the Curve (AUC)) for screening sarcopenia in the articles included (Supplementary file 01) Considering the original cut-off values according to gender the screening test was more sensitive for men and more specific for women in the studies by Ishii et al (2022) there was a greater sensitivity and specificity for women; while in Li Min et al (2019) there was better performance of accuracy for men despite differences in results between genders all studies show that the Ishii Test has good sensitivity and specificity in men and women proving capable of identifying the presence of sarcopenia when necessary the sensitivity and specificity values were lower than 75% when compared to other screening methods; however the test proved to be effective in screening for sarcopenia in cancer patients When looking at the PPV values for this study (26%) this means that the probability of presenting the disease when the test is positive is lower and it is possible to observe that the Ishii Test had 100% sensitivity when compared to the Society of Sarcopenia Cachexia and Wasting Disorders criteria and the AWGS and presented better specificity (80.9%) with the EWGSOP2 All values regarding NPV are greater than 87% which indicates a good probability that the individual is not sarcopenic in case the test is negative indicating that the probability of having sarcopenia when the test is positive is lower; in addition there is a variation in these values (14.5 – 46.7) depending on the criterion used (consensus) which changes when considering the new cut-off values; however the sensitivity reduces when comparing with the original the PPV value was lower than the other studies analyzed The new cut-off values in Ding’s study present good sensitivity for both sexes; however the specificity of the test was low when compared to other studies analyzed the cut-off values were equal to those found by Ishii et al and showed good specificity and sensitivity in screening for sarcopenia All studies showed AUC values above the considered “value without discriminating power (0.500)”; therefore it is possible to say that the Ishii Test has good performance for identifying sarcopenia in the evaluated older people Figure 2A and B represent a summary of the ROC curves of the studies included according to gender. For this analysis, only articles that presented AUC Curve results for men and women were considered. It is possible to observe in both figures that the diamond is close to the value 1, indicating that the Ishii test has good performance for screening sarcopenia. A Summary of the ROC curves for men; B Summary of the ROC curves for women Regarding the heterogeneity of the studies (I2 index) an I2 value equal to 60% was found for both women and 80% for men which shows moderate and high heterogeneity This systematic review had the main objective to verify the use of the Ishii Test in older adults living in different contexts the validity of this screening tool and the prevalence of sarcopenia when used in this population group were verified further validation studies are still needed this work reinforces the need to encourage the use of this easily applicable and low-cost measure by health professionals allowing rapid screening for sarcopenia and avoiding future complications in the older adult population the Ishii Test works better to rule out those cases at risk of sarcopenia which is different from what is proposed by consensus and gold standard methods that aim to identify those who are really affected by the disease (rule-in); therefore the chance of finding truly sarcopenic people using this screening test is lower when compared to traditional methods we can reinforce that different evaluation methods and instruments and the studied population influence the cases of sarcopenia the choice of these variables was due to the significant correlations about strength and muscle mass essential elements for the screening of sarcopenia and which are also used in the gold-standard diagnostic criteria which is directly linked to test sensitivity was 98% in both sexes when using new cut-off values suggesting that there was a greater possibility of overestimation of sarcopenia in the studied population indicating that the Test was able to identify those who presented the condition in these specific populations this study compares the Ishii Test with a new assessment tool which is still in the process of being developed Validation (AB3C model) and possibly the nature of this tool which contains subjective measures such as the assessment of dietary diversity and the definition of exercise intensity where values close to 1 show good performance the lack of studies evaluating the Ishii Test in other regions makes it difficult to extrapolate its use to older people living in America and Europe; therefore there is a need for external validation studies the small number of participants included in the selected articles and the eligibility criteria may influence the results found and make it difficult to extrapolate the use of the screening tool to other groups the use of variables sensitive to ethnic differences and the use of handgrip strength where the use of a dynamometer is necessary for its evaluation can reduce the ability to use the Ishii Test predictive values depend on extremely broad prevalence estimates so it is rarely meaningful to combine them in a meta-analysis we saw that this is the first systematic review which analyzes the use of the Ishii Test in the older adult population it was possible to carry out a detailed survey of the cut-off values and the diagnostic accuracy of the test according to the place of residence of the older person showing in which situations the Ishii Test presents a better performance for detecting sarcopenia The Ishii Test can be considered a useful tool for the early identification of sarcopenia in older adults; however little is known about the use of the Ishii Test in older adults living in long-term care or nursing home care so it is worth emphasizing the need for further investigation into these same experiences Despite some limitations regarding its use the Ishii Test can have a positive impact on clinical practice since it is a low-cost test with easy applicability the use of the Ishii Test will enable early identification of sarcopenia facilitating management of the older adult by the health professional and helping to develop and strengthen public policies to minimize the deleterious effects caused by sarcopenia No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Diagnostic Test Accuracy Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F, et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2010;39:412–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afq034 Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Bahat G, Bauer J, Boirie Y, Bruyère O, Cederholm T, et al. Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2019;48:16–31. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afy169 Lauretani F, Russo CR, Bandinelli S, Bartali B, Cavazzini C, Di Iorio A, et al. Age-associated changes in skeletal muscles and their effect on mobility: an operational diagnosis of sarcopenia. J Appl Physiol. 2003;95:1851–60. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00246.2003 Reginster J-Y, Cooper C, Rizzoli R, Kanis JA, Appelboom G, Bautmans I, et al. Recommendations for the conduct of clinical trials for drugs to treat or prevent sarcopenia. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2016;28:47–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0517-y Kara M, Kaymak B, Frontera W, Ata A, Ricci V, Ekiz T, et al. Diagnosing sarcopenia: Functional perspectives and a new algorithm from the ISarcoPRM. J Rehabil Med. 2021;53:jrm00209. https://doi.org/10.2340/16501977-2851 Nishikawa H, Asai A, Fukunishi S, Takeuchi T, Goto M, Ogura T, et al. Screening Tools for Sarcopenia. In Vivo (Brooklyn). 2021;35:3001–9. https://doi.org/10.21873/invivo.12595 Bahat G, Yilmaz O, Kiliç C, Oren MM, Karan MA. Performance of SARC-F in regard to sarcopenia definitions, muscle mass and functional measures. J Nutr Health Aging. 2018;22:898–903. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-018-1067-8 Fernandes S, Rodrigues da Silva E, New York B, Macedo P, Gonçalves R, Camara S, et al. Cutoff points for grip strength in screening for sarcopenia in community-dwelling older-adults: a systematic review. J Nutr Health Aging. 2022;26:452–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-022-1788-6 Erdogan T, Catikkas NM, Oren MM, Kılıc C, Karan MA, Bahat G. Ishii test for screening sarcopenia: performance in community-dwelling older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2022;34:785–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-01998-6 Chen L-K, Liu L-K, Woo J, Assantachai P, Auyeung T-W, Bahyah KS, et al. Sarcopenia in Asia: consensus report of the Asian working group for sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2014;15:95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2013.11.025 Studenski SA, Peters KW, Alley DE, Cawthon PM, McLean RR, Harris TB, et al. The FNIH sarcopenia project: rationale, study description, conference recommendations, and final estimates. J Gerontol. 2014;69:547–58. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glu010 Zhu L, Li J, Li M, Li Z, Lin X, Liu L, et al. Accuracy of SARC-F, SARC-CalF, and Ishii test in assessing severe sarcopenia in older adults in nursing homes. J Nutr Health Aging. 2022;26:576–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-022-1798-4 Lin X, Li M, Li Z, Zhu L, Liu L, Chen X. Evaluation of four methods for the assessment of sarcopenia in older adults in nursing homes. J Nutr Health Aging. 2021;25:1119–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-021-1680-9 Li M, Kong Y, Chen H, Chu A, Song G, Cui Y. Accuracy and prognostic ability of the SARC-F questionnaire and Ishii’s score in the screening of sarcopenia in geriatric inpatients. Br J Med Biol Res. 2019;52. https://doi.org/10.1590/1414-431x20198204 Tang T, Wu L, Yang L, Jiang J, Hao Q, Dong B, et al. A sarcopenia screening test predicts mortality in hospitalized older adults. Sci Rep. 2018;8:2923. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21237-9 Ishii S, Tanaka T, Shibasaki K, Ouchi Y, Kikutani T, Higashiguchi T, et al. Development of a simple screening test for sarcopenia in older adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2014;14:93–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.12197 Morandi A, Onder G, Fodri L, Sanniti A, Schnelle J, Simmons S, et al. The association between the probability of sarcopenia and functional outcomes in older patients undergoing in-hospital rehabilitation. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2015;16:951–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2015.05.010 Chen X, Hou L, Zhang Y, Luo S, Dong B. The accuracy of the Ishii score chart in predicting sarcopenia in the elderly community in Chengdu. BMC Geriatr. 2021;21:296. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02244-4 Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Sayer AA. Sarcopenia. Lancet. 2019;393:2636–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31138-9 Huang L, Shu X, Ge N, Gao L, Xu P, Zhang Y, et al. The accuracy of screening instruments for sarcopenia: a diagnostic systematic review and meta-analysis. Age Ageing 2023;52. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afad152 Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, The PRISMA, et al. statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ. 2020;2021:n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71 Moola S, Munn Z, Sears K, Sfetcu R, Currie M, Lisy K, et al. Conducting systematic reviews of association (etiology). Int J Evid Based Healthc. 2015;13:163–9. https://doi.org/10.1097/XEB.0000000000000064 Salameh J-P, Bossuyt PM, McGrath TA, Thombs BD, Hyde CJ, Macaskill P, et al. Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies (PRISMA-DTA): explanation, elaboration, and checklist. BMJ. 2020:m2632. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2632 Shea BJ, Reeves BC, Wells G, Thuku M, Hamel C, Moran J, et al. AMSTAR 2: a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomised or non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions, or both. BMJ. 2017:j4008. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4008 Qian S, Zhang S, Lu M, Chen S, Liu L, Liu S, et al. The accuracy of screening tools for sarcopenia in older Chinese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Public Health. 2024;12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1310383 Lu J-L, Ding L-Y, Xu Q, Zhu S, Xu X-Y, Hua H-X, et al. Screening accuracy of SARC-F for sarcopenia in the elderly: a diagnostic meta-analysis. J Nutr Health Aging. 2021;25:172–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1471-8 Alsadany MA, Sanad HT, Elbanouby MH, Ali S. Detecting a valid screening method for sarcopenia in acute care setting. J Frailty Sarcopenia Falls. 2021;6:111-8. https://doi.org/10.22540/JFSF-06-111 Ding L, Wang X, Mao T, Li J. Diagnostic value of serum creatinine and cystatin-c-based indices and ishii score in cancer-related sarcopenia. Diagnostics. 2023;13:2179. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13132179 Huang S-W, Long H, Mao Z-M, Xiao X, Chen A, Liao X, et al. A nomogram for optimizing sarcopenia screening in community-dwelling older adults: AB3C MODEL. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2023;24:497–503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2023.02.001 The application of Ishii’s scores in the screening for sarcopenia in community elderly Locquet M, Beaudart C, Reginster J-Y, Petermans J, Bruyère O. Comparison of the performance of five screening methods for sarcopenia. Clin Epidemiol. 2017;10:71–82. https://doi.org/10.2147/CLEP.S148638 Erdogan T, Eris S, Avci S, Oren MM, Kucukdagli P, Kilic C, et al. Sarcopenia quality-of-life questionnaire (SarQoL)®: translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation in Turkish. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2021;33:2979–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01780-0 Spick M, Lewis HM, Wilde MJ, Hopley C, Huggett J, Bailey MJ. Systematic review with meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy for COVID-19 by mass spectrometry. Metabolism. 2022;126:154922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2021.154922 Higgins JPT, Thompson SG. Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Stat Med. 2002;21:1539–58. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.1186 Wu B, Lyu Y, Bin, Cao ZJ, Wei Y, Shi WY, Gao X, et al. Associations of sarcopenia, handgrip strength and calf circumference with cognitive impairment among Chinese Older adults. Biomed Environ Sci. 2021;34:859–70. https://doi.org/10.3967/bes2021.119 Morley JE, Abbatecola AM, Argiles JM, Baracos V, Bauer J, Bhasin S, et al. Sarcopenia with limited mobility: an international consensus. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2011;12:403–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2011.04.014 Dent E, Woo J, Scott D, Hoogendijk EO. Sarcopenia measurement in research and clinical practice. Eur J Intern Med. 2021;90:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2021.06.003 Vetrano DL, Landi F, Volpato S, Corsonello A, Meloni E, Bernabei R, et al. Association of sarcopenia with short- and long-term mortality in older adults admitted to acute care wards: results from the CRIME study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014;69:1154–61. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glu034 Rossi AP, Fantin F, Micciolo R, Bertocchi M, Bertassello P, Zanandrea V, et al. Identifying sarcopenia in acute care setting patients. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2014;15:303.e7–303.e12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2013.11.018 Fernandes SGG, Limade Andrade LE, dos Santos Aguiar Gonçalves RS, Airesda Câmara SM, Guerra RO, Cavalcanti Maciel AC. Cut-off points to screening for sarcopenia in community-dwelling older people residents in Brazil. PeerJ. 2021;9:38. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12038 Sims EL, Keefe FJ, Kraus VB, Guilak F, Queen RM, Schmitt D. Racial differences in gait mechanics associated with knee osteoarthritis. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2009;21:463–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03327442 Bijlsma AY, Meskers CGM, Ling CHY, Narici M, Kurrle SE, Cameron ID, et al. Defining sarcopenia: the impact of different diagnostic criteria on the prevalence of sarcopenia in a large middle aged cohort. Age (Omaha). 2013;35:871–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9384-z Bahat G, Tufan A, Kilic C, Karan MA, Cruz-Jentoft AJ. Prevalence of sarcopenia and its components in community-dwelling outpatient older adults and their relation with functionality. Aging Male. 2020;23:424–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/13685538.2018.1511976 Arango-Lopera VE, Arroyo P, Gutiérrez-Robledo LM, Perez-Zepeda MU, Cesari M. Mortality as an adverse outcome of sarcopenia. J Nutr Health Aging. 2013;17:259–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-012-0434-0 Sawada S, Ozaki H, Natsume T, Deng P, Yoshihara T, Nakagata T, et al. The 30-s chair stand test can be a useful tool for screening sarcopenia in elderly Japanese participants. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2021;22:639. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-021-04524-x Bahat G, Kilic C, Ozkok S, Ozturk S, Karan MA. Associations of sarcopenic obesity versus sarcopenia alone with functionality. Clin Nutr. 2021;40:2851–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2021.04.002 Phillips A, Strobl R, Vogt S, Ladwig K-H, Thorand B, Grill E. Sarcopenia is associated with disability status—results from the KORA-Age study. Osteoporosis Int. 2017;28:2069–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-017-4027-y Analysis of the Accuracy of the Ishii Test in Diagnosing Severe Sarcopenia among Multi- ethnic Middle-aged to Older Adults: Results From the West China Health and Aging Trend Study Trevethan R. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values: foundations, pliabilities, and pitfalls in research and practice. Front Public Health. 2017;5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00307 McNamara LA, Martin SW. Principles of Epidemiology and Public Health. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Elsevier; 2018, p. 1-9.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-40181-4.00001-3 Malmstrom TK, Morley JE. SARC-F: a simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013;14:531–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.018 Goodman MJ, Ghate SR, Mavros P, Sen S, Marcus RL, Joy E, et al. Development of a practical screening tool to predict low muscle mass using NHANES 1999–2004. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2013;4:187–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13539-013-0107-9 Onoue Y, Izumiya Y, Hanatani S, Tanaka T, Yamamura S, Kimura Y, et al. A simple sarcopenia screening test predicts future adverse events in patients with heart failure. Int J Cardiol. 2016;215:301–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2016.04.128 Luo S, Chen X, Hou L, Yue J, Liu X, Xia X, et al. Cut-off points of the Ishii test to diagnosing severe sarcopenia among multi-ethnic middle-aged to older adults: results from the West China Health and Aging Trend study. Front Med (Lausanne) 2023;10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1176128 van Stralen KJ, Stel VS, Reitsma JB, Dekker FW, Zoccali C, Jager KJ. Diagnostic methods I: sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of accuracy. Kidney Int. 2009;75:1257–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/ki.2009.92 Mandrekar JN. Receiver operating characteristic curve in diagnostic test assessment. J Thorac Oncol. 2010;5:1315–6. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTO.0b013e3181ec173d Trikalinos TA, Balion CM, Coleman CI, Griffith L, Santaguida PL, Vandermeer B, et al. Chapter 8: Meta-analysis of Test Performance When There is a “Gold Standard.” J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27:56–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-012-2029-1 Download references This study was financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 “National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq” and the Fundação de Amparo e Promoção da Ciência Tecnologia e Inovação do Rio Grande do Norte (FAPERN) Weslley Sales Barbosa & Álvaro Campos Cavalcanti Maciel Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05155-2 After a staggering 10-0 win over Timor-Leste, the Thais followed up with a narrow 1-0 win over Malaysia as they look to claim an unprecedented third title in a row The fact that Thailand are without a whole host of established stars at the tournament -- including Chanathip Songkrasin, Theerathon Bunmathan and Teerasil Dangda -- has made their start all the more impressive with some less-familiar names coming to the fore When it became apparent that the tournament would clash with the domestic Thai League 1 calendar and thus rob the War Elephants of some of their more-prominent players it became apparent that -- while going all the way remained the goal -- there could also be some long-term benefits to be gained And Thailand coach Masatada Ishii admits that looking ahead to the next edition of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup given they are no longer in the running for 2026 "Everyone knows we can no longer qualify for the 2026 World Cup," Ishii said, at Monday's prematch news conference ahead of their meeting with Singapore. "If we look at the next World Cup, we need to start preparing the new generation as soon as we can -- from now. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ESPN Asia (@espnasia) there have - and will continue to be - some mistakes but we still have plenty of time to develop to prepare for the next edition of the World Cup I'm happy that we've won the first two matches but more important is the fact that we haven't conceded any goals "Now we have to look at the third match to get another three points." One of the more-experienced members of the squad despite his relative youth is Suphanat Mueanta who was named Player of the Match in both their victories so far Nonetheless, others have also shone including Patrik Gustavsson, who is one of five Thailand players with two goals to his name already in his ASEAN Championship debut. "I think we've started very well in the first two games," he said. "Of course, there are always improvements to adjust for the upcoming again but we're well prepared for tomorrow. "Singapore have also started really well, winning their first two games. I think it'll be fun. "I hope there will be a lot of fans to add to the energy. We both want to win. I expect them to give 100% and we'll do our best too." In celebration of the Japanese writer Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) we are publishing a feature on Gakuryū’s Ishii’s The Box Man a film adaptation of Abe’s 1973 novel which premiered earlier this year at the 74th Berlinale the postmodern could be boiled down to a skepticism of grand narratives “Lamenting the ‘loss of meaning’ in postmodernity boils down to mourning the fact that knowledge is no longer principally narrative.” In this computer age and communication systems normalize information as the default carrier of knowledge the individual subject especially falters with the demise of narrative knowledge even personal biography suffers from this condition for the postmodern displaces that which was previously most precious to identity formation: origins and theater director Kōbō Abe often dealt with these concerns years prior to the publishing of Lyotard’s 1979 classic The Postmodern Condition Abe was intimately familiar with displaced origins Abe came of age in Manchuria when it was under Japanese colonial control Abe’s early life was defined by a series of incoherent origin stories—the sum of which would lead him to later describe himself as both a “man with no hometown” and one who does “not identify with any fixed placed.” Abe’s lack of interest in providing readers or audiences with single origins is especially evident in his 1973 novel The book centers around the narration of a nameless man who introduces himself as the box man the box man whom he discusses throughout is not himself or a single other box man but instead a synthesis of a series of different men or “cases,” as he describes them whose encounters with other box men occasioned their own transformations the narrator describes a man who became so obsessed with another man who wears a cardboard box and resides beneath his window that he The result is a frenetic and urgent reflection on identity and disaffection amidst the burgeoning information age which celebrated the 50th anniversary of its translation into English this year is already tinged with the familiar fractured narratives and inconsistent points of view of postmodern writing But it is the chameleon-like filmmaker Gakuryū Ishii’s film adaptation of The Box Man which premiered earlier this year in the Special section of the 74th Berlinale which realizes the story’s spectacular potential The origins of Ishii’s adaptation are somewhat murky Ishii first gained approval to adapt the film over three decades ago from Abe himself Coming on the tail end of cyberpunk’s explosion in the 1980s—a genre which Ishii has often been credited with engendering through his bridging of punk subcultures and cinema with his first feature films including Panic High School (1978) and Burst City (1982)—the filmmaker’s embrace of Abe seemed fitting at a time when his style was gravitating toward more poetic and opaque narrative just one day before the production was set to commence shooting in Hamburg Ishii and co-writer Kiyotaka Inagaki rewrote the screenplay centering on the intimate yet emotionally distant set of relations surrounding a titular box man During our conversation at Silent Green in Wedding prior to the premiere Ishii assured me that even this choice was in dialogue with the past “This film is starting from that time and continuing until this time,” he said there’s a continuation from that time until now.” and perversity first explored by Abe as emergent feelings in the mid- to late-20th century are colored by the omnipresent normative status of those very same feelings today played by actor Masatoshi Nagase—My Sons (1991) Patterson (2016)—is no longer a far-fetched character and photographing that which comes through his limited window slit is not a far cry from what we consider to be incels today The fact that he actively attempts to avoid romance and sex only makes the comparison more fitting insofar as Ishii (taking a cue from Abe) equally presents the undue violence and overwhelming stimuli that the box man faces the film also uncovers the vicious cycle of self-protection and projecting insecurity that produces such subjects those who attempt to coax the box man out of his self-willed isolation are portrayed as being the most violent and met with constant judgment merely because of his imperceptible it is such violent men who most want to become him—in much the same way that Nagase’s character was voyeuristically preoccupied with another box man before becoming one himself He later becomes an object of study for a small medical practice operating out of a rundown Tokyo hospital become preoccupied with the box man in a typically repressed to the point where voyeurism morphs into outright violence occupies a more ambiguous relation to the box man and the only character seemingly uninterested in living her own life under a cardboard box Yoko is the film’s closest approximation to what it means to be a discerning subject today whose solipsistic ramblings and megalomaniacal obsessions with box men ignore a key facet of their identity solution which is that they are no longer masters of an already-splintered postmodern language Yoko’s more sparse dialogue and pensive disposition make her character’s mode of judgment distinctly aesthetic Lyotard calls for this aesthetic turn in The Postmodern Condition advocating for a more “reflective” judgment that does not seek to denotate and unify knowledge but instead moves deftly amongst the various irrational conditions that one is faced with Yoko achieves this by remaining open yet reticent a figure at once affected by and somewhat visibly apathetic toward the box man’s plight Ishii linked the identity dissolution at the heart of The Box Man to his own relationship with photography His experience making the film underscored the widely felt disintegration of subject and object categories that the role of the photographer had previously masked I just started taking photos because of the film,” he says I felt there was no difference between the subject and object in terms of authority.” While he sees this as sometimes being a positive thing The Box Man explores the opposite direction “We describe the negative side of the craftsman as being frantic and aggressive.” Nagase’s method performance as both an anxious watched figure and an objectifying voyeur makes this excruciatingly clear “I obviously first did this 27 years ago,” Nagase says “But I was actively inside the box for a month before shooting this time as well.” The Box Man ends by revealing a cinema audience as the ultimate box man instantly decimating the typical audience-film separation and thus extending the implications of its diagnosis in that it suggests that no one is exempt from the conditions which catalyze our becoming pariahs “It’s a meditation for people who are seeing or making films,” Ishii says Gakuryū Ishii’s adaptation is auto-fictional in this way containing the mark of his own life’s practice and that of Abe’s I STILL LIKE TO MOW IT ALL DOWN: Harmony Korine ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY’s DUNE is the Most Influential Movie Never Made More Politicians Should Be Artists / More Artists Should Be Political: Take Note from Albanian Prime Minister EDI RAMA BEDA ACHERMANN: Portrait of a Swiss Art Director Come back closer to the match starting time for the WTA insider live blog Metrics details To assess the relative performance of simple screening methods for sarcopenia in Chinese community-dwelling older adults Data of older adults aged ≥ 60 were collected through a cross-sectional investigation Sarcopenia was defined according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria The accuracy of screening methods was evaluated using sensitivity receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC curves (AUC) The AUC value greater than 0.8 represented the good screening ability mean age 70.4 ± 6.5 years) were included in this study The overall prevalence rates of possible sarcopenia the SARC-F-EBM and Ishii tests indicated good screening capabilities for confirmed sarcopenia with an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.77–0.85) and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.76–0.84) the highest AUC was also achieved using the SARC-F-EBM at 0.79 (95% CI: 0.75–0.82) followed by the Ishii test at 0.77 (95% CI: 0.74–0.81) A ranking diagram showed that SARC-F-EBM was most likely to be considered the best method for diagnosing sarcopenia in terms of AUC and sensitivity We recommend the SARC-F-EBM for sarcopenia screening in community-dwelling Chinese older adults when respondents are able to answer the questionnaire accurately; otherwise the Ishii test consisting entirely of objective measures could be used early identification in older adults is essential to slow down its progression and reduce the substantial healthcare burden reported that the same tool had a considerably lower sensitivity of 25.0% in identifying sarcopenic individuals in Turkey This discrepancy underscores the urgent need for validating existing screening tools across diverse races diagnostic standards and optimal cutoff values and possibly seeking ones that are culturally and regionally appropriate the current study evaluates the diagnostic performance of various sarcopenia screening tools within a dataset specifically comprising Chinese community-dwelling older adults we aim to identify the most effective screening method tailored to this demographic thus providing critical insights that could enhance screening practices for this population we conducted a cross-sectional investigation in Ma’an approximately 26% of whom were older adults (aged ≥ 60 years) The town administered five communities and 11 administrative villages randomly selecting three administrative villages—Guoqing We included all community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 60 who had attended a local government basic health checkup from March to October 2022 was extracted from health checkup records on 12 November 2022 physical performance and sarcopenia status were collected through face-to-face investigation by trained researchers The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) participants who had implanted electronic devices and metal implants; (2) participants unable to stand or walk independently; and (3) participants with language or hearing impairments cognitive impairments (as reported by accompanying family members) or those unable to accurately provide basic information The study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of our center and all subjects provided written informed consent This scale includes five components: fatigue with a maximum of 5 points in total; (6) CC The best cut-off values of each of these tools were based on our population characteristics rather than the criteria put forward by the original studies participants were asked to stand upright with elbows fully extended After the researchers giving the instruction each participant started to squeeze the handle with maximum effort using dominant hand with the higher value recorded as the final result HS < 28 kg for men and < 18 kg for women are regarded as the decreased muscle strength all participants were asked to walk over a distance of 6 m at a normal pace A 6-m GS is equal to 6 m divided by the recorded time and the average value was calculated as the recorded speed Reduced muscle function is defined as GS < 1m/s the sum of the appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM) was normalized by the square of the height (m) A decrease in muscle mass is defined as < 7.0 kg/m2 in men and < 5.7 kg/m2 in women which classifies the condition into possible sarcopenia Possible sarcopenia is defined by either low muscle strength or low physical performance Confirmed sarcopenia requires low ASM in addition to either low muscle strength or low physical performance Severe sarcopenia is characterized by low ASM which statistically compares the areas under two correlated ROC curves to evaluate the significance of their differences in diagnostic performance We also summarize the ranking of the all competing screening strategies in terms of AUC and sensitivity to explore the optimal screening tool Analyses were performed using the statistical software SPSS v20.0 (SPSS Statistics; IBM NY) and MedCalc v 19.6.1 (MedCalc Software bvba and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant Prevalence of Sarcopenia according to diagnostic criteria The ROC curves of optimal tools for screening sarcopenia (A Ranking of tools for sarcopenia screening in terms of AUC and sensitivity (A Given the high AUC of half the screening tools in detecting severe sarcopenia The aim of the study was to assess the comparative accuracy of several simple tools for sarcopenia screening in community-dwelling older adults The results showed that SARC-F-EBM was most likely to be ranked the best in terms of AUC and sensitivity When only severe sarcopenia was considered most of the existing tools indicated good predictive ability the poor sensitivity limits its use since most patients are overlooked with a sensitivity of 87.0% for men and 82.8% for women the SARC-F-EBM may serve as the best screening tool for sarcopenia in older adults who are able to answer the questionnaire accurately HS is tool-dependent and not practical for older adults which restrict the Ishii test to be applied in a broad population there is a need to develop a tool that can overcome the influence of adipose tissue on screening accuracy in obese participants The prevalence observed in our study falls within this reported range suggesting that our sample is representative and that the quality of result extrapolation is high The present study has several limitations: (1) The measurement of skeletal muscle mass relies on BIA device and requires the older adults to stand independently so some objectives such as bedridden patients were not included participation was voluntary and healthier volunteers were willing to take part in the project than the general population underestimating the actual prevalence of sarcopenia were not evaluated in our study because the space of the questionnaire did not permit us to get into the specifics of all screening tools our study suggested that SARC-F-EBM was most effective in identifying Chinese community-dwelling older adults with sarcopenia distinguishing those currently affected from those who are not we recommend the SARC-F-EBM for screening when respondents are able to answer the questionnaire accurately; otherwise Further studies with large sample size are required before a robust conclusion can be drawn Data generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request Chen, L. K. et al. Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia: 2019 Consensus Update on Sarcopenia diagnosis and treatment. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 21, 300–307e302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2019.12.012 (2020) Malmstrom, T. K., Miller, D. K., Simonsick, E. M., Ferrucci, L. & Morley, J. E. SARC-F: a symptom score to predict persons with Sarcopenia at risk for poor functional outcomes. J. Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 7, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12048 (2016) Bone, A. E., Hepgul, N., Kon, S. & Maddocks, M. Sarcopenia and frailty in chronic respiratory disease. Chronic Resp. Dis. 14, 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1479972316679664 (2017) Association between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis Beaudart, C. et al. Validation of the SarQoL®, a specific health-related quality of life questionnaire for Sarcopenia. J. Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 8, 238–244. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12149 (2017) Yalcin, A. et al. Sarcopenia and mortality in older people living in a nursing home in Turkey. Geriatr. Gerontol. Int. 17, 1118–1124. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.12840 (2017) Li, C. W. et al. Sterol metabolism and protein metabolism are differentially correlated with sarcopenia in Asian Chinese men and women. Cell Prolif. 54, e12989. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpr.12989 (2021) Lim, W. S. et al. Singapore Clinical Practice guidelines for sarcopenia: screening, diagnosis, management and prevention. J. Frailty Aging 11, 348–369. https://doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2022.59 (2022) Visvanathan, R. & Chapman, I. Preventing sarcopaenia in older people. Maturitas 66, 383–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2010.03.020 (2010) Cruz-Jentoft, A. J. & Sayer, A. A. Sarcopenia. Lancet (London England) 393, 2636–2646. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)31138-9 (2019) Cruz-Jentoft, A. J. et al. Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 48, 16–31. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afy169 (2019) Lin, Y. H. et al. Comparison of four screening methods for Sarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults: a diagnostic accuracy study. Geriatric Nurs. (New York N Y) 49, 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2022.12.007 (2023) Bahat, G. et al. Comparing SARC-F with SARC-CalF to screen sarcopenia in community living older adults. J. Nutr. Health Aging 22, 1034–1038. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-018-1072-y (2018) Malmstrom, T. K. & Morley, J. E. SARC-F: a simple questionnaire to rapidly diagnose sarcopenia. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 14, 531–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.018 (2013) Kurita, N., Wakita, T., Kamitani, T., Wada, O. & Mizuno, K. SARC-F validation and SARC-F + EBM derivation in musculoskeletal disease: the SPSS-OK study. J. Nutr. Health Aging 23, 732–738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1222-x (2019) Barbosa-Silva, T. G., Menezes, A. M., Bielemann, R. M., Malmstrom, T. K. & Gonzalez, M. C. Enhancing SARC-F: improving sarcopenia screening in the clinical practice. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 17, 1136–1141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2016.08.004 (2016) Ishii, S. et al. Development of a simple screening test for sarcopenia in older adults. Geriatr. Gerontol. Int. 14 (Suppl 1), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.12197 (2014) van Abellan, G., Rolland, Y. M., Morley, J. E. & Vellas, B. Frailty: toward a clinical definition. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 9, 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2007.11.005 (2008) Comparing the areas under two or more correlated receiver operating characteristic curves: a nonparametric approach Chen, M., Lei, X., Zhu, T., Li, Q. & Chen, X. Evaluation of the accuracy of six simple screening tools for sarcopenia in schizophrenic patients. J. Nutr. Health Aging 26, 571–575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-022-1799-3 (2022) Kim, S., Kim, M. & Won, C. W. Validation of the Korean Version of the SARC-F questionnaire to assess sarcopenia: Korean frailty and aging cohort study. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 19, 40–45e41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2017.07.006 (2018) Parra-Rodríguez, L. et al. Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Spanish-language version of the SARC-F to assess sarcopenia in Mexican community-dwelling older adults. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 17, 1142–1146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2016.09.008 (2016) Voelker, S. N., Michalopoulos, N., Maier, A. B. & Reijnierse, E. M. Reliability and concurrent validity of the SARC-F and its modified versions: a systematic review and Meta-analysis. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 22, 1864–1876e1816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2021.05.011 (2021) Erdogan, T. et al. Ishii test for screening sarcopenia: performance in community-dwelling older adults. Aging Clin. Exp. Res. 34, 785–791. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-01998-6 (2022) Zhu, L. et al. Accuracy of SARC-F, SARC-CalF, and Ishii test in assessing severe sarcopenia in older adults in nursing homes. J. Nutr. Health Aging 26, 576–580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-022-1798-4 (2022) Lin, X. et al. Evaluation of four methods for the assessment of sarcopenia in older adults in nursing homes. J. Nutr. Health Aging 25, 1119–1123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-021-1680-9 (2021) Chen, X., Hou, L., Zhang, Y., Luo, S. & Dong, B. The accuracy of the Ishii score chart in predicting sarcopenia in the elderly community in Chengdu. BMC Geriatr. 21, 296. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02244-4 (2021) Donini, L. M. et al. Definition and diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity: ESPEN and EASO consensus statement. Clin. Nutr. 41, 990–1000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2021.11.014 (2022) Lim, W. S., Lim, J. P., Chew, J. & Tan, A. W. K. Calf circumference as a case-finding tool for sarcopenia: influence of obesity on diagnostic performance. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 21, 1359–1361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2020.03.033 (2020) Download references We would like to thank all participants for agreeing to contribute to this important research project Hospital-Acquired Infection Control Department Department of Non-communicable Diseases Control and Prevention Shaoxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention Kangkang Chen and Qian Guo contributed to the conception and design this study Qifeng Chen and Kangkang Chen carried out the development of the methodology Qian Guo analyzed and interpreted the data Qian Guo wrote the manuscript and approved the final submission of the study All authors read and approved the final manuscript The study was conducted according to guidelines in the Declaration of Helsinki The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Shaoxing center for disease control and prevention (approval number: 2022002) informed consent was provided by all participants Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75975-0 Part Two: How an outsider with no political experience became mayor Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of a series on the election of Adena Ishii as mayor of Berkeley. Part One is here I didn’t pay much attention to Adena Ishii’s campaign I figured that her lack of relevant experience would doom her mayoral bid Then I saw not only the endorsements from Nancy Skinner and Buffy Wicks, but also Ishii’s latest campaign finance report which indicated that she’d raised and spent more than $100,000 Ishii had opted for Berkeley’s public financing program which offers participating candidates a 6-to-1 match on donations up to $60 from Berkeley residents I also saw that Ishii had been endorsed by East Bay for Everyone which meant that she would have Yimby support on the ground I realized that Ishii had a serious shot at winning the most effective way of heading off an Ishii victory would have been for Hahn and Harrison to instruct their respective supporters to rank the other as their second choice and not to vote for Ishii emailed her followers that she was ranking Harrison first and Hahn second the Alameda County Labor Council sent a mailer urging a vote for both these appeals were too little and too late When Hahn conceded to Ishii on November 20, 17,675 ballots remained to be counted, but the results indicated that she could not win. In an article posted by the Berkeley Daily Planet on that day, Rob Wrenn counted the unofficial numbers Ishii was the first choice for 19,268 (38.2 percent) of the voters; Hahn for 18 The ranked choice votes gave Ishii 25,131 (51.1 percent) of the vote and Hahn 24,092 (48.9 percent) Wrenn noted that Harrison’s voters favored Ishii over Hahn as their second choice by 4,841 to 4,174 Former Albany councilmember Michael Barnes observed to me: “Regarding Kate Harrison’s second choice votes: 4,841 went to Iishi Hahn’s and Harrison’s other tactical errors The two political veterans ran surprisingly inept campaigns She sabotaged her candidacy by resigning from the council Besides raising questions about her reliability and emotional stamina her withdrawal left her District 4 constituents without representation until a successor had been chosen in a special election in May She could have stayed on the council and continued to campaign as a critic of the status quo she could have dropped out of the mayoral race and urged her supporters not to vote for Ishii Harrison could have questioned Ishii’s key pitch We both think Berkeley’s city government is broken I think it’s the council’s pursuit of a pro-market agenda and its suppression of challenges to that agenda Hahn was widely regarded as the frontrunner in the mayoral race Her blunders were less spectacular but no less significant than Harrison’s she issued a twofold appeal: I deserve to be mayor because I love Berkeley where I’ve lived almost my entire life; and give me money Hahn did not enroll in the city’s public finance program Berkeley campaign law limits individual donations to candidates who have not enrolled in its public finance program to receive a maximum of $270 per donor and that’s the amount that Hahn repeatedly solicited Money did not determine the outcome of the race. The Daily Cal reported that as of November 4 The figures for Harrison and Ishii were $233,000 and $101,000 respectively Inexplicably, Hahn’s campaign website never laid out her platform displaying instead an extensive record of her public service both on and off the council Harrison and Hahn publicly slammed each other As Alex Gecan reported in Berkeleyside at a July forum sponsored by the Berkeley People’s Alliance the two sparred over the state of downtown Referring to [Harrison] only as the “former District 4 councilmember,” Hahn laid the deterioration of some sections of downtown at Harrison’s feet saying the area “has been in freefall.” “My plan is for our city to invest in a downtown and civic center that puts community and commerce first outdoor dining and music festivals and public art,” Hahn said “Downtown is a bright example of Berkeley’s failure to plan Individual projects are permitted without any concern as to how they work together to create a vibrant community … properties are being flipped and then sitting empty.” She advocated a commercial vacancy tax design standards and incentives for businesses to stay downtown and a requirement that any project must be under construction within two years of approval At the mayoral debate sponsored by the Daily Cal and CalTV in late October in light of her resignation from the council she would tell voters who were “concerned about her commitment.” Harrison said “that her resignation…allowed her to ‘tell people the truth about what’s been going on in the council.’” Hahn then commented that “‘a captain does not jump ship,’ adding that ‘while Kate left the council I was busy trying to get a new city manager.’” It’s essential to tell voters why you’re a better candidate than your opponents But to advertise a rival’s weakness in which you had a hand especially when most voters don’t know the back story Harrison’s campaign sent out a mailer that featured a chart comparing Hahn Among the other questionable digs it took at Hahn was the claim that she “failed to deliver anything on Hopkins.” That was a reference to the council’s refusal to approve paving rutted Hopkins Street without installing bike lanes a controversial project in Hahn’s north Berkeley district The proposal had been voted down 5-4 at the council on November 28, 2023 (Item 17); Harrison cast the vote that killed the item thereby depriving her rival of a major accomplishment Her maneuver would have been apparent only to those who knew the order of the vote at the council meeting Surely the taunt on Harrison’s campaign mailer further inflamed Hahn’s resentment of her former colleague the gibe must have seemed like just one more item in the ongoing Harrison-Hahn hostilities Ishii refrained from directly criticizing Hahn and Harrison they only went after her as lacking the requisite political experience to be mayor Neither one questioned her claim to be an impartial mediator who’d reconciled adversaries One column in the Harrison campaign mailer chart was labeled “Delivers Concrete Results.” The text in the box under Ishii’s name read: “Little to say about planning or creating a livable city.” At the debate sponsored by the Daily Cal and CalTV in late October Ishii said that “it was ‘not possible’ to have 30 years of experience due to being in her mid-thirties.’” (Ishii is 32.) Hahn shot back: “Mayor Jesse Arreguín had ‘already served the city for 14 years,’ when he had been elected mayor at age 32.” Hahn and Harrison were merely doing what rivals do in a democratically run election their clashes may have sounded like the infighting that Ishii deplored and reinforced her argument that the council needed the conciliatory leader that she claimed to be Hahn further weakened her candidacy by refusing to take a stand on the Israeli-Palestinan war in Gaza pro-Palestinian activists staged raucous demonstrations at the council’s meetings chanting “cease-fire now!” and booing pro-Israel counter-protesters who were also in the packed chamber It became impossible for the council to conduct its business Citing a passage in California’s Brown Act that addresses legislative bodies’ response to willful disruption that prevents usual orderly conduct Arreguín repeatedly adjourned the meeting to a private room open only to city staff and journalists stating that she was “waiting on” Arreguín ‘to show leadership.’” The Daily Cal reported that on January 9 Arreguín signed a letter “opposing a ceasefire resolution because it would ‘fan the flames of hatred at home’ without making a significant impact on the war abroad.” At the forum sponsored by the Daily Cal and CalTV on October 21 (2024) all three candidates voiced support for a ceasefire in Gaza—in principle “said she wouldn’t vote for a resolution in favor of such indicating that she had not seen a consensus on the topic and wanted to avoid hurting her constituents.” Hahn elaborated on that position in response to questions on the candidate questionnaire prepared by the Green Party of Alameda County: Should the Berkeley City Council take positions on national and international issues but I don’t believe the Council should take positions on issues beyond our own community that are likely to be divisive to our own community We should only take positions when we are confident of overwhelming consensus in our community on that issue Would you sponsor or support a resolution on Gaza in support of an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to military aid for Israel I support individual councilmembers/the mayor making whatever statements are true to them but do not support the City Council passing a resolution I support an immediate ceasefire and end to all hostilities There are no good actors and civilians are paying an extreme price for the failures of all of their leaders My most ardent wish is for peace now and in the long term her reluctance to grapple with the Israeli-Palestinian war signaled an appeal to pro-Israel voters “‘and we organized dozens of volunteers who put in hundreds of hours knocking on doors writing postcards and hosting house parties in order to ensure that the Jewish community continues to have local office holders who will stand by our side.’” The Jewish Coalition of Berkeley endorsed Hahn and Arreguín Its name appeared among the endorsers listed on his campaign website; curiously Given her emphasis on the need for conciliation and her avowed “background in bringing people together across differences,” you might expect that Ishii urged a compromise positionsimilar to Peskin’s Hahn’s reply was consistent with her other statements on the subject [She] called for a ceasefire and noted her disgust toward heightened Islamophobia and antisemitism in Berkeley “I have not brought forward a resolution because I do not engage in foreign policy that has the potential to divide our community,” she said Hahn also said that “she ha[d] experienced heightened antisemitism.” who sounded like someone seeking to reconcile adversaries: Harrison and Ishii had differing views—both supported formally calling for a ceasefire Harrison noted the wording would have to be very specific because she believes Israel has the right to exist Ishii said the decision to pass a ceasefire resolution is “not complicated” when “tens of thousands of innocent people are being killed.” When Ishii declared her candidacy in mid-November 2023 the tumult at the council over a cease-fire resolution was already garnering headlines She could have pointed to that disorder as a symptom of failed mayoral leadership her elevator pitch noted only the resignations of two council members and unspecified infighting; it never mentioned the upheaval over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict When asked to state her position on a ceasefire at public forums But positions taken at those events received far less publicity than the ones taken by councilmembers which substitutes a one-on-one debate with a beauty contest the Green Party was the only one to raise the ceasefire resolution on a candidate questionnaire fifteen-page mailer published by the Berkeley Democratic Club Slate Mailer Organization reached far more voters than either the Daily Cal’s stories or the Green Party’s questionnaire Live Monday at 6pm - San Francisco Chronicle's Sophia Bollag reviews the new laws Californians must follow now Berkeley's new Mayor Adina Ishii takes our questions - and yours - and discusses her priorities What do you think her priorities should be or what questions do you have for her Meet San Francisco's new poet laureate Genny Lim Maryland man is facing ten total charges after allegedly vandalizing and prowling in Greene Township multiple nights in an effort to “find who’s framing him” Patrick Matthew Ishii is free awaiting his next court date after being given a $25,000 unsecured bail This comes after he was charged with misdemeanor stalking four counts of misdemeanor loitering and prowling at night four counts of misdemeanor defiant trespassing and misdemeanor criminal mischief damaging property Pennsylvania State Police Troopers were initially dispatched to a home in Greene Township on May 12th of this year for a man that was acting suspiciously around a series of homes Troopers say that the man was later found to be Patrick Ishii of Maryland who had a previously relationship to one of the victims Ishii allegedly attempted to peer through windows of a home and tampered with the air conditioning unit of Ishii trying to look in through bathrooms and other windows before tampering with the AC unit A canvass of the area reportedly turned up Ishii in a vehicle that belonged to his estranged wife An interview with Ishii allegedly saw the Trooper being told that “he (Ishii) was being set up and the reason he was snooping around…was to ‘catch the person’ whom he believed he’s being framed for” Troopers say in their report that they believed his explanation to be “absurd” and told him to not return to the home or face legal consequences of charges for stalking The same victims later returned to PSP’s station in Chambersburg providing them with surveillance footage of Ishii returning to the area exactly a week to the day of his initial confrontation with Troopers Ishii is reportedly found on the footage to spray paint the camera lenses in an attempt to conceal himself The Tri-State Alert is a News Talk 103.7 FM publication.  Any views or opinions expressed in this publication are of the host author or group and not the publication, owner(s) AI technology assists in content creation on this site; verify independently for accuracy Privacy Policy Nathan Kamal is a Newsweek contributor based in Chicago His focus is sports and entertainment content focusing on the NFL and professional wrestling Nathan has been with Newsweek since 2024 and previously worked at Inside the Magic and Giant Freakin Robot He is a graduate of the University of Oregon You can get in touch with Nathan by emailing n.edwards@newsweek.com and find him at @heynathankamal on X either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content AEW and NJPW icon Tomohiro Ishii was legitimately injured in a recent championship match but it is unclear the extent to which this will slow him down More News: WWE News: Current UFC Champion Wants to Enter Royal Rumble Ishii recently faced a scare during his AEW Collision match against Kazuchika Okada Ishii appeared to injure his left ankle or calf after taking a flapjack from Okada early on The injury initially raised concerns, but wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer quickly put fans' worries to rest While confirming the injury wasn't part of any storyline he says that Ishii's condition is not considered serious stating that Ishii is "fine" and reminding everyone that the wretler is known for his tough demeanor often downplaying the severity of any injury he's not going to act like any injury is serious," Meltzer remarked underscoring Ishii's reputation for pushing through physical pain marked Okada's ninth successful title defense as he continues his impressive reign with the AEW Continental Championship and now sits comfortably past the 300-day mark as champion where he has yet to secure a singles victory especially considering Ishii's more recent lengthy and hard-fought draw against Gabe Kidd at NJPW's Battle in the Valley Ishii's legacy in the world of professional wrestling remains intact Ishii is one of the most decorated and respected figures in NJPW He has also held the IWGP Tag Team Championship and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship multiple times cementing his place in NJPW's storied history have been more of a showcase for his endurance and toughness than a campaign for titles with his bouts serving as reminders of his reputation as an underdog who can still hang with the very best Though he has not yet found championship success in AEW his presence is a nod to the enduring appeal of his hard-hitting which has earned him a cult following over the years The Rock Says Rhea Ripley is Carrying WWE Action Bronson Calls Out 'Weird' Backstage Antics in AEW For more on AEW and pro wrestling, head to Newsweek Sports Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all The action comes thick and fast on the WTA Tour as the focus turns to the Miami Open. Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is chasing her second win at the tournament after an inconsistent start to 2025 We predict all the first-round matches from the second and last leg of the Sunshine Swing Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports It promises to be an exciting opening day of WTA Rome action. Ten matches are scheduled in total, and four of them are predicted in ATP Masters 1000 Rome 1/64-Finals Diallo – Giron: Time TBA H2H: first meeting Gabriel Diallo has won four of his last five matches. Last week ATP Masters 1000 Rome 1/64-Finals Nishioka – Struff: Time TBA H2H: 2-1 Yoshihito Nishioka has lost three of his last five matches. His last match ATP Masters 1000 Rome 1/64-Finals Gaston – Jarry: Time TBA H2H: first meeting Hugo Gaston has lost three of his last five matches. Last week and Felicia Day answer twenty (sided) questionsThree prolific performers sit before you by Simone de Rochefort as well as veteran performers and roleplayers Felicia Day and Aabria Iyengar for a wide-ranging conversation on roleplay and how to prepare for a chaotic off-Broadway appearance The Twenty-Sided Tavern is an actual-play DnD show where the audience participates Scanning a QR code on your program gets you assigned one of the three players onstage and lets you help out in their challenges along the way and really enjoyed the level of participation and kept the show moving and feeling interactive without being distracting Iyengar and Day have both taken a turn as players, and imparted some critical advice for Ishii over the course of our conversation, which was livestreamed to Polygon’s Twitch channel a straightfoward interview isn’t really our style — and with three veteran roleplayers we felt it would be a shame not to take advantage of their skills We had the three roll against a QC (question class) to determine the quality of questions we asked even adeptly handling a critical fail from Ishii in the Cringe Dungeon along the way which is full of wisdom and insights and kindness from three incredibly talented performers