Today's print edition Home Delivery Only after seven years of marriage did Yuki Niimi first touch her husband — at a morgue where she collected his body after he was executed a glass screen had always separated her from her death-row spouse Tomomitsu Niimi a notorious member of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult that 30 years ago orchestrated a nerve agent attack on Tokyo.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); Aum members released sarin on five Tokyo subway trains killing 14 people and injuring thousands more In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division. The prestigious Merrie Monarch Festival wrapped up competition this weekend in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island. Like every year, the hula and mele were incredible.  Jaedyn Janae Puahualani Pavao took home the title of Miss Aloha Hula 2025 on Thursday night at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium. Pavao is a student and niece of Kumu Hula Leināʻala Pavao Jardin of Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leināʻala from Kalāheo, Kauaʻi.   Under the direction of Kumu Kunewa Mook and Kauʻionālani Kamanaʻo, Hālau ʻO Kamuela took the top honor at the 62nd annual Merrie Monarch Festival. The Oʻahu-based hālau was named overall winner after 27 performances in the kahiko and ʻauana competitions.  CASS LAKE — Leech Lake Tribal College will host its Anwebiwin Niimi’idiwin annual resting powwow on Saturday, April 12, at the Boys and Girls Club of the Leech Lake Area at 208 Central Ave. in Cass Lake. Grand entry will take place at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. The powwow will include 4K drum split, two step, potato dance, all category men/women and elder spot dances as well as a war cry contest. Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb BEMIDJI — Despite sporadic rotations of overcast skies with rain and sunny skies with a breeze dancers kept their ears to the drum at the 19th Annual Niimi’idiwin but especially our healers that have been involved in the healing here at Sanford and on the reservations that surround us,” Peer Recovery Specialist Joe Beaudreau said A grand entry honoring Indigenous veterans kicked off the afternoon before several rounds of competitive dances brought healing to everyone in attendance Jackson recognized not only the healers in attendance but all other tribal members who came from near and far during the opening ceremony “A lot of our tribal members from northern Minnesota are treated at Sanford,” Jackson added “The healers take good care of our people and it’s important they get the rightful recognition.” Master of Ceremonies Darrell Kingbird noted the sacred nature of cedar trees laid near the perimeter of the grass where the dancers would complete jingle traditional and potato dances — where two dancers have to hold a potato between their foreheads while doing dance moves and try to be the last to drop their potato “Cedar is a protection to our spirituality “When we gather like this in a traditional manner of powwow What these trees do is give us good protection in our area of the circle people will see that this sacred tree is here to protect us.” After a few hours of dancing and attendees milling about booths from local organizations the day concluded with a feast of Red Lake walleye and Leech Lake wild rice A common thread weaved throughout all of Thursday’s festivities was the spirit of collaboration “Today’s gathering was really an opportunity to connect with one another and it’s a testament of collaboration at the heart of our community,” said Karla Eischens President and CEO of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota “We have a lot of partners that work together to put this on and bring everybody together.” Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince recognized the city's relationship with surrounding tribal nations beyond the events on Thursday “It’s really great to be able to share this and a little rain is not a big deal,” Prince said lightheartedly as rain pelted down around him “I just want to say how thankful I am to all of our neighbors: the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe I can’t say enough about what great neighbors and partners they have been.” Beaudreau has served on a powwow committee since 2016 and previously served as a native health advocate for Sanford Health “That’s very unique because it’s one of the only advocacy programs that I know of in the state of Minnesota,” Beaudreau mentioned “so it’s very good because we’re looking at the people we serve and making sure they’re getting the best care they can.” He further emphasized his commitment to collaboration that has been built upon since the Sanford Healing Powwow debuted in 2001 “The main thing was to build a relationship with Sanford Health bridging communications and bridging a relationship between Sanford and the Native communities,” Beaudreau added to come together and build relationships.” The Kappabashi Kitchen Town is a popular destination just off the historic district of Asakusa, another popular neighborhood in Tokyo. For over a century, it has been home to many shops specializing in kitchen supplies, growing bigger in the post-war era. Today, there are over 170 such shops in the area, dealing in every kind of kitchenware from traditional dishes to chef uniforms, and vending machines to the world-famous food samples of Japan Established in 1907, Niimi is one of the oldest companies based in Kappabashi and its five-story building is considered an icon of the entire Kitchen Town topped with a gigantic statue of a mustached chef officially named the "Jumbo Cook." The Jumbo Cook was installed in March 1982 when Niimi renovated its building The company's unforgettable face has since spawned numerous urban legends and according to the most popular (and ridiculous) rumor the rest of its body hidden in the building and will be activated when Tokyo faces a Godzilla-class danger Some also believe that the colossal chef keeps a pigeon in each of his eyes Zoom in to his face and you can see why: the irises are concave white objects represent the light reflected in his eyes—and their shapes do resemble pigeons when seen from afar The statue of a cursed knight is said to come to life every 100 years A deer-headed statue that brings together a 12th-century legend and big wave surfing This figure of a local merchant is said to reanimate and do a dance during Hogmanay those who pray at this statue will also be granted a wish Legend has it that any woman who kissed this statue would soon be married This statue of an eagle taking flight welcomes visitors to Langkawi A unique tribute to the chocolatey past that helped shape one British city Known as "The Spewer," this bizarre fountain has an even stranger urban legend behind it Sign in Join now, it's FREE! you know that I have departed ‘your world’.  I started my journey in the late morning of her two brothers Clemens and Jan and our good friends Fatima My mind is crystal clear and my body doesn’t ache anymore tend to the beautiful gardens in this paradise above listen to ABBA and enjoy a glass of red wine how I will miss enjoying some President’s Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies when you enjoy this treat as it will bring a SMILE to my face We lead a simple life and I will cherish every moment I will always be with you and remain in your heart You will always know; I am near by.  Though you can’t see or touch me you will hear my words of comfort and LOVE I am a man of few words and didn’t say it enough but Liz when it’s time for you to travel this path to greet you with a SMILE and Welcome you Home That is probably the most heartfelt moment and I am so proud of the young woman you have become I didn’t tell you enough but I have loved you since the day you were born You filled our lives with so much joy and happiness and spend as much time as you can together Julia and needs your companionship and your love now thank you for taking the long trip to see me and my family Hearing your voice on the phone has been so wonderful but seeing you in person I’ve enjoyed golfing with you and spending time together thank you for making the trip with your parents It was wonderful to see you after all these years It’s been a while but so nice to see you again all the trips with you and Mary Ann and all the places Your friendship means so much to Elisabeth We share delicious meals that you and Liz prepared I really appreciated all your weekly visits and the food you left I thoroughly enjoyed your visits and the homemade treats that we retired so many years ago as it only seems like yesterday teeing off first thing with the ‘DAWN PATROL” We had many years of memories and I’ll be back on the course thank you for being there as Liz navigates She has all of you to connect with and share life’s experiences Know that Elisabeth values your warmth and friendship I know she looks forward to your phone calls at the Riverside Glen ‘Hotel’ for looking after me There are so many people in the Arthur Neighbourhood I’d like to thank and you know who you are thank you for being there in the last hours I know how busy you were but you made the time to provide the care I needed while keeping my family I’ve never been very good at sharing things about myself but here are a few details I was named Arthur but preferred being called Art but my parents called me Atta I did my undergrad and Masters of Science in Zoology at the University of Hawaii and earned my PhD at the University of Guelph.  Liz and I met the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada I always enjoyed visiting the other islands reminiscing about the ‘good times’ with family and friends I enjoyed going shoreline fishing with my cousin John and my brother Andy and of course golfing with Tom and the gang.  It was a lot of work but learned so much about my family I enjoyed puttering around our garden and being at home with my family Even though I don’t feel it is necessary can be made to the following organizations Alzheimer’s Society of Waterloo Wellington Live and Learn Centre Inc (unfortunately donation tax receipts sent students to learn in the Hudson Valley and exchange cultures A Japanese delegation recently visited New Paltz through a sister city partnership with Niimi City This partnership was initially established in 1998 while contrasting in continents and bordering seas were paired together due to their similarities in geography and population size New Paltz has the Wallkill River and Minnewaska while Niimi has the Takahashi River and Mt This bond was formed when former Mayor of New Paltz Tom Nyquist visited Niimi with his wife secretary for the New Paltz International Exchange Association (NPIEA) The first visit took place at what was then called Osa Japan wished to cut down its “levels of government and make things more streamlined,” according to Sherburne This resulted in the formation of Niimi City according to the Village of New Paltz’s Sister City Committee.  14 Japanese constituents (nine adults and five students mainly from Niimi College) were greeted at a local bus station and brought to a welcome event held at the Fireside Room at the Reformed Church of New Paltz Town Supervisor Neil Bettez and New Paltz High School (NPHS) Principal Mario Fernandez Activities during their visit included a walking tour of downtown New Paltz a trip to Minnewaska State Park Preserve and the Walkway Over the Hudson a visit to the New Paltz Rotary Club and a boat ride on the Rip Van Winkle A walking tour of the NPHS was also organized by Fernandez They returned to Japan only four days later on Sept To watch the faces of young people… I think they were just amazed at the size of the complex and the opportunities that the kids had There was a joke going on that they were going to move to New Paltz,” Fernandez said “The contrast between cultures was just an interesting facet of our conversation.” Sherburne has developed personal connections through this partnership having visited Niimi in August 2000 and April 2007 She even sends cards to an older Japanese couple “I think it is special that my dad was a radar man on a bomber plane in the South Pacific during WW2 and now I have good friends in Japan,” Sherburne said “I always joke that I can hop on a plane and fly 6,000 miles and somebody will leave the light on for me.” Niimi College nursing students were once able to engage in study hours through a similar program that used to exist at SUNY New Paltz according to Executive Director of the Center for International Programs Beth Vargas students from SUNY New Paltz have not been sent over to Niimi themselves.  Middle school students from both Niimi and New Paltz used to participate in this exchange program but this has not happened in about 10 years Sherburne also admits that the connection between these sister cities was “much stronger” in the beginning as there were more activities and fewer obstacles restricting travel creating a better consistency for coming to and from the respective countries.  and last year Niimi had dealt with a large amount of flooding which prevented their travels to New York,” Sherburne said Discussions related to the feasibility in growing the program and establishing a greater number of exchanges are currently in the works who would like for more people to become involved in the association and learn about the history of New Paltz’s sister city “Americans tend to be me-orientated and Japanese [people] tend to be we-orientated,” Sherburne said I think we have more in common than what we don’t have.” Copyright © 2025 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes Okayama — Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama began in 12 cities towns and villages across northern Okayama Prefecture on Saturday please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent By Seiki Hamabata / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer It is the first time the festival has been held A diverse array of artwork created by 43 artists from 12 countries and regions is on display attracting eager visitors from inside and outside the prefecture The opening ceremony was held at the nationally renowned Shurakuen Garden in Tsuyama in front of about 100 attendees director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art performed the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the start of the event “With the cooperation of the locals and the artists we have created exhibits that bring out the beauty of each location I hope visitors discover something new and fall in love with both the places and themselves,” Hasegawa said in an interview with the press One of the exhibits is Dreams of the Beyond in the Abyss an immersive art experience displayed at Makido Cave It was created by photographer and filmmaker Mika Ninagawa and her creative team Visitors that enter the cave are greeted by a space illuminated in blue A narrow path ahead is bathed in red light leading to a pond adorned with around 1,000 artificial spider lilies the sound of droplets falling adds to the cave’s mysterious atmosphere Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission Process Safety and Environmental ProtectionCitation Excerpt :However Shannon index and Chao index showed that the richness and diversity of microorganisms decreased with the deepening of system depth at different shunt stages which was consistent with the study of Yang et al Chao and Simpson under each diversion condition were close which indicated that the diversion method has almost no effect on the microbial community in the upper aerobic zone of the system Journal of Molecular LiquidsCitation Excerpt :Thus the research and development of efficient treatment methods for wastewater containing heavy metals have become a hot topic in recent years many kinds of extensive and effective methodologies are used to treat wastewater these methods have the disadvantages of complex operation high consumption and low removal efficiency Process Safety and Environmental ProtectionCitation Excerpt :Sewage diffuses around under soil capillary infiltration chemical and biological effects of the plant-microbe system Niimi system has been widely studied and applied currently (Yang et al. most reviews concentrate on land treatment technology All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. The New Paltz International Exchange Association (NPIEA) celebrated the 25th anniversary of their sister city relationship with Osa The bond was formed nearly three decades ago in 1998 and still continues to this day the bond was originally created when former New Paltz Mayor Tom Nyquist and his wife Corinne visited Niimi The Village of New Paltz website states that “Osa Tesei and Niimi were merged into one political entity called Niimi City.” Following this change the committee noted that this can be compared to the “merging of the Village of New Paltz and Highland with the City of Poughkeepsie and calling it Poughkeepsie City” Sister Cities International describes a sister city as “a broad-based long-term partnership between two communities in two [different] countries.” Additionally on their “About Us” page the international resource states that “each sister city organization is independent and pursues the activities and thematic areas that are important to them and their community including municipal educational and cultural exchanges and projects with their sister city.” This type of relationship between two towns or cities enables each of them to strengthen and uplift one another through collaboration and communication According to the New Paltz Sister City Committee geography and having shared several common concerns Osa is a town located in the southwest region of a large Japanese island called Honshu Niimi is also similar in landscape to New Paltz considering they are both nestled away in the mountains Niimi and the surrounding towns have tourist attractions such as the Maki Cave Mohonk Mountain House and Minnewaska State Park.  The Oracle wrote about Japanese exchange students visiting our campus here at SUNY New Paltz students from Osa Junior High visited New Paltz Middle School and New Paltz Middle School students visited Osa Junior High This exchange was created between SUNY New Paltz and Niimi College.  Niimi College has been visiting SUNY Ulster and SUNY Ulster is working on planning a trip to Niimi College Hudson Valley One released an article by Sherburne in which she discusses the relationship between the two cities “It is important for people around the world to interact with one another We have more things in common with our friends in Japan than we have differences We would like to grow the sister city relationship by getting more New Paltz folks involved to keep this relationship sustainable for the future,” said Sherburne.  7 “‘We anticipate a bright future for the relationship between New Paltz and Niimi as we continue our international friendship,’ the local committee members said.” BEMIDJI — With the pounding rhythm of drums contrasting the gentle a palpable air of excitement could be felt as the 17th Annual Niimi’idiwin began on Thursday Formerly known as the Sanford Healing Powwow the celebration returned in full force on June 23 after two years of absence due to the coronavirus pandemic Addressing a crowd of hundreds sheltering from the hot sun underneath a series of tents just southwest of Bemidji's Sanford Medical Center welcomed everyone to an event that has become a fixture of the summer powwow season in northern Minnesota “After the challenges of these last few years each of us understands how important it is to be in community,” Jarvis said “After pushing through a difficult few years A collaboration between Sanford Bemidji and the Red Lake and Cass Lake Indian Health Services the event is meant to be an opportunity for everyone from the community to learn and celebrate Anishinaabe culture while also providing information and resources about health care “I love the idea that the community gets involved,” said Marlene Schulman Beginning with a prayer and a grand entry that included veterans from Leech Lake from vendors selling their wares to competitions in different styles of Indigenous dance and Men and Women’s Traditional dances each had competitions available for all ages and each style’s history and meanings were explained prior to the dancers entering the circle who served as the event’s announcer and spiritual advisor explained that the grass dance is meant to mimic the swaying of tall prairie grasses and that the jingle dress dance came to the Anishinaabe people in a dream “There’s a lot of spirituality in our dances,” Kingbird said Audience members were also able to participate and were invited into the circle to dance on multiple occasions The day’s celebration ended after a feast of walleye wild rice and fresh berries and another prayer The Niimi’idiwin started out as the Sanford Healing Powwow just over 20 years ago with the first event in 2001 drawing between 60 and 70 people Now the event regularly draws nearly 800 community members together everybody is welcome here to learn,” said Joe Beaudreau a Sanford employee who has helped organize the event for years “That’s how we share our culture with each other.” Beaudreau explained that Niimi’idiwin means “dance” in Ojibwe and that it’s a more accurate term for the celebration “A typical powwow is three days,” Beaudreau said “this year we thought we’d be a little bit more traditional.” An emphasis on culture and tradition was apparent throughout the event from the beautiful regalia of the dancers to the regular use of the Ojibwe language by Kingbird as he announced we never really hear our young ones speak,” Kingbird said “I was asked to use the language as much as possible.” As much as the event served as a way for anyone who was Indigenous to connect to their culture it also encouraged non-Indigenous people to learn about Anishinaabe traditions and history “I like the idea of non-natives getting to look and see the dances There’s a lot of people who live in Bemidji who have never been to a powwow and they should,” Schulman said Some of the Native American members of the audience also were able to learn something new a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe in South Dakot had a chance to educate the crowd on his culture’s dance traditions explained why he dances counterclockwise in the circle something Anishinaabe dancers don’t typically do someone dancing counterclockwise serves to protect the other dancers by keeping watch for danger “I’m here in a good way to dance for the people,” Greatshield said “I come in the circle to make medicine for the people.” The event encourages the idea of healing through heritage and working to make health care welcoming for Native American populations by improving communication and cultural understanding between patients and their medical providers “It’s a lot of communication and relationship building,” said Rebecca Fineday Sanford Bemidji’s new Native American community advocate who was introduced at the start of the event Fineday works to build relationships and connections between Sanford and different hospital facilities including the IHS and tribal health divisions It also extends to being a resource for patients and staff 30-40% of Sanford Bemidji’s patients identify as Native American so it’s important for staff to be familiar with Indigenous culture “If there are any barriers in communication I work with that person,” Fineday said “I want to be a resource to community and staff … if you come with a learning attitude An educational and celebratory experience for everyone involved the event wrapped up with everyone full of good food and the winners of each competition receiving their prizes A final prayer was held before the crowd began to disperse and begin the wait until next year “I’m really glad that they put it on,” Schulman said BEMIDJI — For many of the attendees at the 18th Annual Niimi’idiwin participating in songs and dances is a form of healing — for themselves and for others A collaboration between Sanford Health and Cass Lake and Red Lake Indian Health Services the event celebrates Anishinaabe culture and the role it plays for many patients and community members as a part of life and health “It’s acknowledging the different cultures in our community,” explained Karla Eischens president and CEO of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota understanding and coming back to some of this history and culture is healing.” The event took place throughout Thursday afternoon in a field just west of Sanford Bemidji Medical Center It began with a grand entry honoring Indigenous veterans and ended with a feast of Red Lake walleye and Leech Lake wild rice a total of 156 dancers competed in different styles and categories grass and men's and women’s traditional dances along with spot dances and the ever-popular potato dances — where two dancers have to hold a potato between their foreheads while doing dance moves and try to be the last to drop their potato “Today’s gathering is not only an opportunity to connect with each other and celebrate It's a testimony to the collaboration that’s at the heart of our community,” Eischens shared Along with the chance to socialize and celebrate the Niimi’idiwin combines two frequently separated forms of healing — those found in Western medicine and those found in Anishinaabe culture “It’s significant that it’s the hospital putting it on,” said Rebekah Fineday a Native American community advocate at Sanford Health “It’s a health and healing powwow that acknowledges It brings together the different ways people heal.” explained that powwows are a form of healing in themselves “You have to be physically active to do some of these dances but it’s not just physical,” Fineday shared “There’s spiritual and cultural aspects for why individuals participate.” a style of regalia and dance that originated with the Anishinaabe and whose sound is understood to inspire hope and healing which provide the beat for the dancers and whose songs have their own significance “I started (drumming) when I was 9 years old,” shared Harvey Jordan a Cass Lake resident who was part of the drum group called Warrior Hill on Thursday Warrior Hill differed from some of the other drum groups at the event and members from other drum groups would join him for different songs as they were able “I signed up and set up by myself,” Jordan said “The circle gets made of just whoever gravitates toward the song.” particularly for those who can’t dance themselves especially for the ones that can’t,” he said Jordan wasn’t the only person dancing for healing for others Fineday shared that it's one of the reasons many dancers take to the circle for those who can’t dance themselves,” Fineday said “I’ve actually had a patient who asked me to dance for him community and partnership sits at the heart of why the Niimi’idiwin has been going on for 18 years and the significance it has for Sanford Health and the surrounding community “We collaborate so much it’s nice to just celebrate together with IHS and our community,” Eischens said “To provide good health care you have to celebrate Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor the lack of oxygen - it was really the tipping point for him,” Naomi Niimi said Gerald Niimi survived the October 2017 firestorm and so did the home near Santa Rosa’s Skyhawk community where he and his wife But smoke from the blazes that devastated Sonoma County didn’t help his lungs nor did smoke from the Camp fire that blanketed the Bay Area last November an incurable lung disease he learned he had the year before forced him to start using oxygen machines to breathe recalled how she found him after a summer car crash on Calistoga Road cut their power for a few hours Unable to call out for help with a dead landline and without a cellphone the former Vietnam veteran stationed himself in the still dark heat of their powerless home with his tank’s level cranked down to preserve his oxygen Then came PG&E’s big planned anti-wildfire outage that knocked out power to more than 2 million Californians earlier this month Gerald Niimi lost his life in the aftermath of that shut-off when he and Naomi had to scramble to a bed and air that Gerald could breathe He was one of about 6,900 ?Sonoma County customers in a PG&E financial aid program for customers with certain medical conditions even a small generator to power the oxygen concentrator Gerald used to breathe was too heavy for Naomi Their oxygen provider was overwhelmed with requests for extra tanks and she figured Gerald’s remaining oxygen would last for maybe nine hours if he didn’t eat “The power wasn’t going to turn back on in nine hours,” she said “so it was up to us to figure something out.” She drove them to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital trying to get Gerald admitted through the emergency room Gerald’s hospice provider wasn’t able to find him a space in Santa Rosa but that barely provided enough air for Gerald’s battered lungs “He spent two days essentially gasping for breath,” Naomi said The stress of worrying about running out of oxygen during the outage plus the increased energy he needed to expend to breathe he was given some morphine in hopes of calming down his respiratory system Naomi remembers what she heard before Gerald Niimi She has friends who lost their homes in the Tubbs fire and said she doesn’t begrudge PG&E’s decision to cut the power But she can’t help but think Gerald’s death was a consequence of the outage the lack of oxygen - it was really the tipping point for him,” she said PG&E has about 6,900 Sonoma County customers in its medical baseline program which provides financial aid to customers who need power because of certain medical conditions said PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras (Naomi identified Gerald as one of them.) About 2,700 were expected to be impacted in the outage planned for this weekend and about 1,950 were affected during the outage that preceded Gerald’s death Customer privacy issues made it difficult to provide specifics but she offered her condolences when a reporter relayed Gerald’s fate over the phone “Our hearts definitely go out to the family indefinite outages were “definitely a hardship for everybody especially our medically fragile,” but she also defended PG&E’s decision to shut off the power “It is a difficult situation for everybody,” Contreras said “but we do stand behind our decisions to call these public safety power shut-offs because the wildfire threat is that real and is that extreme.” Gerald signed up for the medical baseline program earlier this year She didn’t have a problem receiving notifications from PG&E and said the utility “did better” with the outage that began Wednesday than the one that preceded Gerald’s death which she said “seemed somewhat premature” because the lack of obvious winds in many places She acknowledged that PG&E had set up community resource centers but noted that it would be tough for her to get there and thought that she might have hadto leave behind her 10-year-old beagle (Contreras said the rules allowed for pets in cases of emotional support and “there is a broad definition of emotional support.”) Though Naomi believes PG&E’s outage hastened her husband’s demise she also said she thinks she could have done more to prepare she would have had the generator set up on a cart to make it easier to move or would be more willing to impose on neighbors for help “We considered what we thought were reasonable possibilities at the time,” she said Navy Seabee who served in Vietnam before he and Naomi settled in Southern California where he worked as an electrical engineer on offshore oil rigs near Santa Barbara he worked as a geothermal engineer and geothermal consultant His later career included consulting related to energy production in The Geysers - the origin of the Kincade fire that broke out this week and has swollen to nearly 24,000 acres Naomi described Gerald as a sports-wild introvert He was a highly competitive golfer - his short game was solid though his driving suffered with his illness - and “he didn’t like making crummy shots,” she said Two comments she heard from other people who knew him well were that he was “such a nice guy” and “really smart.” A celebration of life will be held at the Bennett Valley Golf Course at 1 p.m There later will be a private ceremony in Hawaii she doesn’t relish the thought of him having to endure the smoke blowing down into Santa Rosa from the Kincade fire I’m just very glad he’s not here to experience this You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5220 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com BEMIDJI — Dancers in traditional Ojibwe dress and drum groups gathered in celebration of holistic healing Thursday at the 18th Annual Niimi’idiwin (powwow) at the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center Red Lake Indian Health Service Hospital and Cass Lake Indian Health Service Hospital the celebration recognized the community’s Ojibwe heritage in the field west of the Bemidji hospital A pipe ceremony and grand entry featuring local tribal and Bemidji honor guard members began the festivities Those gathered for the powwow enjoyed a feast of Red Lake walleye with traditional fixings Darryl Kingbird was the powwow emcee and Gary Charwood was the arena director and spiritual adviser Invited drum groups included Ojibwe Nation Kingbird provided background and knowledge to the dances performed remarking on the grace and wisdom of the grandmother's dance with Sanford Behavioral Health and a lead coordinator of the Niimi'idiwin remarked that the event was a "great way to get people together," acknowledging a traditional powwow is three days but the Sanford Niimi'idiwin provides the community a sampler of an Ojibwe powwow BEMIDJI — Sanford Bemidji and the Red Lake and Cass Lake Indian Health Service Hospitals invite community members to the 18th Annual Niimi’idiwin (Powwow) from noon to 6 p.m The celebration will be held in the field west of the hospital "Intended to celebrate holistic healing and our community’s Ojibwe heritage this gathering is free and open to all within the community and neighboring towns who would like to show respect and celebrate the healing power of heritage," a release said which includes a pipe ceremony and grand entry of dancers led by local tribal and Bemidji honor guard members The powwow will be held with the following specials; men's grass dance There will also be a set time to recognize all health care workers — holistic and traditional The powwow will have Darryl Kingbird as the emcee and Gary Charwood sharing the dual role of arena director and spiritual advisor Invited drum groups will also be participating including Ojibwe Nation A feast of Red Lake walleye and traditional fixings will be served starting at 4:30 p.m Dancers will be awarded at approximately 5:45 p.m A variety of booths will also be present to share local art crafts and health resources during this communal celebration of health and heritage honor guards and vendors/booths will be permitted to perform/setup during the event Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information Vox Populi Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun There was no longer any doubt that he’d been infected and he desperately wanted to get better and go back to writing This was the predicament in which Nankichi Niimi (1913-1943) found himself as outlined in a special exhibition titled “Korona-ka ni Nankichi wo Yomu” (Reading Nankichi during the novel coronavirus pandemic) which I went to see recently at the Niimi Nankichi Memorial Museum in Handa the Little Fox” and other exquisite children’s stories died from tuberculosis at a young age The anguish he must have felt was palpable from the exhibition The plague and the Spanish flu did not spare Nankichi’s hometown when he was a young boy He was 17 or 18 when he expressed his fears about his ill health in a “tanka” poem that went to this effect: “Looking right and left to make sure there is nobody around/ I cough like a lung disease patient.” he gained confidence when his work was published in a literary magazine But he was diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 20 the laughter of the people gathered there stopped at once and the atmosphere became rather awkward.” and it showed in this letter: “The disease has already progressed considerably It is now painful to even slurp hot porridge in the morning and in the evening.” He was 29 when he died in the spring of 1943 I learned that the antibiotic streptomycin was discovered in the United States one year after his death It was dubbed the “magic bullet” for its dramatic effectiveness TB vaccines and other successful treatment methods have become widely available in Japan eventually bringing the disease under control a story depicting the sorrow of a craftsman falling behind the times stirred me the deepest among all of Nankichi’s works he probably would have been saved by medicine and continued his successful career into the postwar era I regret anew the all-too-premature demise of this extraordinary author Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture VOX POPULI: Does Chungking Mansions reflect the goals of Kishidanomics VOX POPULI: Nobel laureate hails from mountain village no longer on map VOX POPULI: Kishida’s snap election call a ‘sneak attack’ to suck in voters VOX POPULI: Provincial areas felt left behind in Suga’s vaccine rollout program VOX POPULI: Face recognition technology puts privacy VOX POPULI: Rushing a return to normal worst idea as states of emergency end Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Metrics details providing immunological and microbiological advantages to neonates together with the nutritional supply from the mother the mechanisms of this functional diversity in the mammary gland remain poorly characterized the mammary gland develops immune and microbial environments consisting of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and the microflora both of which are important for protecting neonates and the mother from infectious diseases The IgA production and microflora development are coordinated in the gastrointestinal tract but seem to be independently regulated in the mammary gland the chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 28 and poly-Ig receptor crucial molecules for the IgA production in milk were expressed normally in germ-free lactating mice but were almost undetectable in postweaning mothers Our findings offer insights into potentially improving the quality of breastfeeding using both immunological and microbiological approaches we show that the microbial diversity can be detected in the mouse mammary gland just after parturition; however there is a time lag before the IgA production is initiated in the tissue CCL28 and pIgR were both expressed normally in the mammary gland of germ-free lactating mice that lacked the microflora whereas the expression of CCL28 and pIgR was almost undetectable in postweaning mothers These results indicate that the immune and microbial environments are developmentally established in the mammary gland Alteration of immunoglobulin (Ig) levels in milk after parturition Concentrations of three immunoglobulin subclasses (IgA and IgM) in milk obtained just after birth (n=100) and 1 week (n=68) and 2 weeks (n=112) later from stomach contents of pups were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) IgA was the dominant immunoglobulin in milk throughout the experimental period (2 weeks after the parturition) The IgA levels gradually but significantly increased after the parturition The “n” indicates the number of pups that were used for collecting stomach contents containing milk samples The unit “μg g−1” on the y axis indicates how much μg of antibody is included in 1 g of stomach content *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ****P<0.0001; NS Morphological and immunological characteristics of the mammary gland throughout the reproduction cycle (a) Mammary gland tissues were collected at 1 week before parturition (n=5) Tissues were also collected 2 weeks after parturition from mice (n=5) whose pups were excluded 1 week earlier Nonpregnant nulliparous mice were used as a control group (n=5) Development of mammary gland alveoli was initiated at a pregnancy stage and accelerated after the parturition the tissue became atrophied immediately after weaning and was similar to that of nulliparous mice Immunoglobulin A (IgA)-producing cells were distributed around mammary gland alveoli (b) The number of IgA-producing cells gradually but significantly increased during lactation but decreased immediately after both forced and normal weaning Few IgA-producing cells were found in pregnant and nulliparous mice B-cell differentiation in the mammary gland mammary glands and inguinal lymph nodes were individually harvested at 13 days of gestation (n=7) Tissues were also collected 2 weeks after parturition from mice (n=7) whose pups were force-weaned 1 week earlier Nonpregnant nulliparous mice were used as a control group (n=7) IgA+B220− plasma cells were remarkably found 2 weeks after parturition whereas IgA−B220+ mature B cells were a minor cell population in all groups tested IgA−B220+ mature B cells were constantly found whereas IgA+B220− plasma cells were hardly detected (b) Absolute numbers of IgA−B220+ mature B cells and IgA+B220− plasma cells were calculated based on the number of total cells isolated and the frequency of each cell population in a flow cytometry profile Because mammary gland alveoli are developed after the parturition a large number of mononuclear cells were isolated 2 weeks after the parturition (7.16±1.46 × 106 cells per fourth and fifth mammary glands) the highest number of IgA+B220− plasma cells was also observed 2 weeks after the parturition (0.52±0.22 × 106 cells per fourth and fifth mammary glands) and IgA+B220− plasma cells in the inguinal lymph node did not vary throughout the reproduction cycle *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001; ****P< 0.0001 Development of microflora in the mammary gland (a) DNA was extracted from the mammary gland just after the parturition (n=5) and 2 weeks later (n=5) to demonstrate the presence of the microbiota and compare the diversity The bacterial gene tuf was commonly detected in the mammary gland immediately after the parturition and 2 weeks later There was no significant difference in the copy numbers between the two groups (b) Metagenomics analysis using a next-generation sequencer identified 780 bacterial species commonly present in mammary glands of a total of 10 mice used A diverse microbiota was found in the mammary gland regardless of the postparturition period analyzed (c) A principal component analysis was performed to compare the microbiotas between the two groups and to create the biplot Involvement of the endocrine system in the development of mammary gland immunity mammary glands were harvested at 13 days of gestation (n=7) Tissue was also collected 2 weeks after parturition from mice whose pups were force-weaned 1 week earlier (n=5) and from germ-free mice with pups (n=4) in addition to that from normal mice with pups (n=5) (a) The expression levels of chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 28 (CCL28) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) gradually increased after the parturition The levels significantly decreased when pups were weaned but no differences were observed compared with the respective levels in the germ-free mice with pups and κ-casein were gradually increased after the parturition (b) The expression patterns of milk proteins such as α-casein and κ-casein were similar to those of CCL28 and pIgR Positive correlations were observed upon comparison of the expression levels of CCL28 and pIgR with those of α- was only found in 1 of the 10 mice analyzed (one of the five mice tested just after parturition) but the frequency was extremely low (4 in 21,332 sequencing reads of 16S ribosomal RNA) it should be noted that the mammary gland is highly susceptible to infection when a large number of S These results suggest that in a normal condition the microflora developed in the mammary gland may provide environmental pressure against pathogenic bacteria so that they are not included easily in the bacterial community such a microbiological environment breaks occasionally when the tissue is highly infected by pathogens locally hormones) derived from the endocrine system to understand the molecular mechanism of IgA production in milk at 2 weeks after parturition when IgA production sufficiently increases under normal conditions we collected mammary glands to compare the expression levels of CCL28 and pIgR among three groups: (i) normal mice with pups and a microbiota; (ii) germ-free mice with pups but no microbiota; and (iii) mice after forced weaning We found that suckling-derived stimulation alone drives the expression levels of CCL28 and pIgR as levels were equivalent between the normal and germ-free mice but were significantly lower in the mice after forced weaning the expression levels of CCL28 and pIgR and those of three major milk proteins (α- These results indicate that the recruitment of IgA-producing plasma cells into the mammary gland via CCL28 and the transportation of IgA into mammary epithelial cells through pIgR are bacteria independent during lactation Using cells individually isolated from the mammary gland and inguinal lymph node we found a large number of IgA+B220– plasma cells in the mammary gland (but not in the inguinal lymph node) 2 weeks after parturition no clear evidence showing the presence of plasmablasts that underwent immunoglobulin class switching from IgM to IgA was observed in the inguinal lymph node throughout the analyzed reproduction cycle The reason why the inguinal lymph node is not actively involved in the induction of IgA production in milk might be because of the fact that its primary role is to respond to external pathogens (e.g. aureus) that infect the mammary gland through a teat opening but are almost undetectable in the mammary gland under normal conditions Another interesting hypothesis is that the inguinal lymph node might not play a role in the entero-mammary pathway indicating that it may not pass the inguinal lymph node it is impossible to expect that immune cells in the inguinal lymph node would recognize mammary gland residential bacteria that are likely to be derived from the gastrointestinal tract our current efforts have been focused on utilizing mice that lack the inguinal lymph node to confirm (i) their susceptibility to S (ii) microbial diversity in the mammary gland or isolated lymphoid follicles are the most responsible for the production of IgA in milk among the MALTs that initiate immune responses to gut microorganisms we found the gut-like bacterial diversity in the mammary gland including mature naive B cells that react to such microorganisms This discrepancy might be because of the fact that the bacterial and immune translocation from the maternal gastrointestinal tract to the mammary gland to develop microflora and to produce IgA in the mammary gland our current effort has been focused on understanding the alteration of immune and microbial environments in the mammary gland of antibiotics-treated mice whose mammary gland tissue is ready to recruit IgA-producing cells and transport secreted IgA we showed that the development of immunological and bacteriological environments is independently regulated in the mammary gland Our findings have a significant potential to further research on breastfeeding Improvement of the quality of the entero-mammary pathway can be an attractive approach to maintaining good physiological conditions for the mammary gland function BALB/c female mice were obtained from Japan SLC (Shizuoka Japan) and were maintained at the animal facility of the Graduate School of Agricultural Science in Tohoku University (Miyagi Japan) the mice were used for collecting the mammary gland tissues Some mice were killed 2 weeks after parturition but (i) their pups were removed 1 week before slaughter (ii) administered freely with a mixture of antibiotics composed of 1 g l−1 of ampicillin (Wako) and 500 mg l−1 of vancomycin (Wako) dissolved in drinking distilled water from 1 week before mating (iii) exposed with 1 × 106 colony-forming units per 30 μl of S aureus (Strain JE2) via nipples of left and right sides of fourth mammary gland under anesthesia with medetomidine hydrochloride (0.3 mg kg−1 Meiji Seika Pharma) 2 days before slaughter or (iv) maintained at the germ-free facility of Sankyo Labo Service (Tsukuba The stomach contents collected from pups on days 0 and 14 after birth were suspended in phosphate-buffered saline (1 mg per 10 μl) to obtain soluble proteins All experiments with mice were designed in accordance with the protocols approved by the institutional animal care and use committee of the Tohoku University Concentrations of three immunoglobulin subclasses (IgM and IgA) were determined in the supernatants by ELISA MA) were coated overnight at 4 °C with goat anti-mouse IgM After blocking the plates with bovine serum albumin (1% two serially diluted milk samples were added per plate and incubated for 2 h at RT the plates were treated with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgM and the signals were developed using a tetramethylbenzidine microwell peroxidase substrate system (KPL Mouse reference serum (Bethyl Laboratories) Mammary gland tissues collected were fixed in paraformaldehyde (4% Japan) overnight at 4 °C and embedded in paraffin then treated with a blocking reagent (0.5% and incubated with a purified rat anti-mouse IgA antibody (500 ng ml−1 CA) or a purified rat IgG1 isotype control antibody (500 ng ml−1 The sections were then stained with Histofine Simple Stain MAX PO (Rat) (Nichirei Biosciences and the signal was developed with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride counterstaining with hematoxylin was performed Some tissue sections collected from the in vivo infection study with S aureus were stained with a purified bovine anti-S produced in-house) or a purified bovine IgG control antibody (100 μg ml−1 Sigma) overnight at 4 °C after treatment with the blocking reagent for 30 min at RT the sections were treated with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated sheep anti-bovine IgG antibody (2 μg ml−1 Bethyl) at RT for 1 h and then horseradish peroxidase activity was developed with fluorescein tyramide (PerkinElmer) for 10 min at RT the sections were counterstained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (Sigma) Hematoxylin and eosin staining was also performed to investigate the mammary gland development during the experimental period and the pathological alteration when exposed with S Tissue images were obtained with either BX63 (Olympus Total RNA was extracted from mammary gland tissues collected 7 days before the parturition and 0 and 42 days after the parturition using a ReliaPrep RNA tissue miniprep system (Promega WI) according to the manufacturer’s protocol Complementary DNA was synthesized from the total RNA using a PrimeScript RT reagent kit with oligo(dT) primers and random hexamers (Takara Quantitative PCR was performed using SYBR premix Ex Taq II (Takara) to determine the expression levels of mRNA coding for CCL28 The glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene (GAPDH) or β-actin was used as an endogenous control to normalize the expression levels All primers were designed by the perfect real-time support system (Takara) Data were obtained using a thermal cycle Dice real-time system (Takara) Mammary gland tissues and Peyer’s patches collected 7 days before the parturition and 0 and 42 days after the parturition were digested with collagenase (1 mg ml−1 Inguinal lymph nodes harvested from the same mice were processed mechanically to isolate mononuclear cells The cells were blocked with a purified rat anti-mouse CD16/CD32 antibody (10 μg ml−1 BD Bioscience) at 4 °C for 15 min and stained with a phycoerythrin-conjugated rat anti-mouse CD45R/B220 antibody (2 μg ml−1 BD Bioscience) or phycoerythrin-conjugated rat IgG2a isotype control (2 μg ml−1 the cells were fixed in paraformaldehyde (4% Nakalai Tesque) at RT for 20 min and treated with saponin (0.1% The cells were then incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated rat anti-mouse IgA antibody (500 ng ml−1 BD Bioscience) or fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated rat IgG1 isotype control (500 ng ml−1 BD Bioscience) at RT for 30 min and analyzed using an Accuri C6 flow cytometer (BD Bioscience) A cell viability solution (10 μl per analysis BD Bioscience) was used to exclude dead cells and thus improve the accuracy of the analyses The data were analyzed by BaseSpace (Illumina) to identify bacterial species from each sequencing run A quantitative PCR analysis using the bacteria (tuf gene) quantitative PCR kit (Takara) was performed to determine the copy numbers of bacteria specific gene tuf in extracted DNA samples a beta_diversity table was constructed by beta_diversity.py (with “-m euclidean” option) and a principal coordinate analysis was executed by principal_coordinates.py in QIIME Endocrine hormones and local signals during the development of the mouse mammary gland The secretory immune system of lactating human mammary glands compared with other exocrine organs Maternal vaccination: moving the science forward Perspectives on immunoglobulins in colostrum and milk The mucosal immune system and its integration with the mammary glands CCL28 controls immunoglobulin (Ig)A plasma cell accumulation in the lactating mammary gland and IgA antibody transfer to the neonate An indispensable role for the chemokine receptor CCR10 in IgA antibody-secreting cell accumulation Transepithelial transport of immunoglobulins Lymphocyte homing and Ig secretion in the murine mammary gland The human milk microbiota: origin and potential roles in health and disease Sharing of bacterial strains between breast milk and infant feces Influence of methods of collection and storage on the bacteriology of human milk Evolution of the mammary gland from the innate immune system An increase in milk IgA correlates with both pIgR expression and IgA plasma cell accumulation in the lactating mammary gland of PRM/Alf mice NALT- versus Peyer's-patch-mediated mucosal immunity Lymph drainage from the mammary glands in mice: a magnetic resonance lymphographic study with gadofluorine M Gut-associated lymphoid tissues for the development of oral vaccines Design of a new universal real-time PCR system targeting the tuf gene for the enumeration of bacterial counts in food Human milk is a source of lactic acid bacteria for the infant gut Isolation of bifidobacteria from breast milk and assessment of the bifidobacterial population by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and quantitative real-time PCR Phenotypic and genotypic analyses of lactic acid bacteria in local fermented food breast milk and faeces of mothers and their babies High purity galacto-oligosaccharides enhance specific Bifidobacterium species and their metabolic activity in the mouse gut microbiome The origin of human milk bacteria: is there a bacterial entero-mammary pathway during late pregnancy and lactation Vertical mother-neonate transfer of maternal gut bacteria via breastfeeding Regulated production of the chemokine CCL28 in human colon epithelium Constitutive and cytokine induced expression of HLA molecules and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 is modulated by butyrate in the colonic epithelial cell line HT-29 Molecular-level analysis of the serum antibody repertoire in young adults before and after seasonal influenza vaccination Diversification of memory B cells drives the continuous adaptation of secretory antibodies to gut microbiota Secretory antibodies in breast milk promote long-term intestinal homeostasis by regulating the gut microbiota and host gene expression MIG-seq: an effective PCR-based method for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping using the next-generation sequencing platform Download references Julio Villena for his critical comments regarding this manuscript Hidetomo Iwano for his technical advice regarding the in vivo infection model with S and Yuki Arino and Takashi Murata for their support at the animal facility of Tohoku University Graduate School of Agricultural Science NR-46543 was provided by the Network on Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus for distribution by BEI Resources This work was supported by KAKENHI from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (16H06207 and 26660245 by the Grant for Joint Research Project of the Institute of Medical Science by research program on innovative technologies for animal breeding reproduction and vaccine development from the Ministry of Agriculture and by Core-to-Core Program (Advanced Research Networks) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Establishment of international agricultural immunology research-core for a quantum improvement in food safety K Niimi and K Usami: Equivalent co-first authors International Education and Research Center for Food and Agricultural Immunology International Research and Development Center for Mucosal Vaccine Department of Molecular Pathobiology and Cell Adhesion Biology The authors declared no conflict of interest SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL is linked to the online version of the paper Download citation Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia (2021) HOST: Can a simple dress become a coping mechanism for the pandemic age flowing silk - more women are rediscovering the power and the comfort of the house dress in a world where work life and pretty much everything else happens at home NPR's retail correspondent Alina Selyukh is declaring 2020 the year of the house dress renaissance.ALINA SELYUKH BYLINE: In the hamster wheel of homebound life even searching for fashion inspiration by opening dresser drawers can start to fuel tedious For Lauren Niimi...LAUREN NIIMI: Jeans and a sweatshirt; jean skirt and a sweatshirt.SELYUKH: She's a school administrator feeling tired of same old and pining for her missed trip to wine country she ordered a long frock she might have worn there as a pandemic house dress.NIIMI: I just and I immediately felt like - I don't know - that I could transform into a different place have a different feeling.SELYUKH: Lots of women have been doing the same ankle-length T-shirts with pockets - they've been flying off the shelves A single versatile outfit to take you from a nap to the backyard to a work call to a birthday dinner a data manager from Cincinnati.PREETI CHAULK: I've actually gotten rid of some fancier dresses to make room for more house dresses because I'm wearing a house dress at least three times a week.SELYUKH: Malgosia Archer is a Polish and British designer who made some lounge dresses for sale before the pandemic She says she worried her linen fabrics wouldn't be in demand until the summer But her page on Etsy started selling right away.MALGOSIA ARCHER: The most popular dress was the house dress which my daughters call a ghost.SELYUKH: It really does look like a billowy sheet hanging over you.ARCHER: It is and it's really full of air.SELYUKH: For decades a throwback to the times when women's way was confined to housework says fashion psychologist Dawnn Karen.DAWNN KAREN: Like The only place she has power is within the home and within the kitchen.SELYUKH: That was the purpose of the original house dress - a dowdy Even as the house dress got more shapely and stylish it was still about looking chic while doing chores Some in the '50s even came with matching oven mitts they loosened up like the lounge caftans worn by the flamboyant Helen Roper for her shenanigans on the '70s sitcom "Three's Company."(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW "THREE'S COMPANY")AUDRA MARIE LINDLEY: (As Helen Roper) Look How do you like it?NORMAN FELL: (As Stanley Roper) What is it?LINDLEY: (As Helen Roper) It's macrame.SELYUKH: And we might still end up doing errands in a house dress today or weave macrame on the couch wearing a house dress comes with no expectations.LYNETTE GABRIEL: I kind of started with the whole house dress thing because a lot of my friends and I were having and we'd say wear something cute.SELYUKH: Lynette Gabriel is an e-commerce merchandiser from Oakland whose girlfriends keep pandemic company with virtual brunches snacking on smoked salmon potato hash and sipping on a glass of rose in a glam leopard print long-sleeve gown from the back of her closet Gabriel found her new house fashion.GABRIEL: We actually now call ourselves The Real Housewives of Quarantine in our house dresses.SELYUKH: Fashion psychologist Karen argues clothes and mood are intertwined making the house dress a perfect match for pandemic life - a small expression of control during the uncontrollable a sense of free-flowing freedom and style in the time of restrictions and monotony quick choice to relieve at least life's minor anxieties Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information Become an NPR sponsor I had stopped being an active participant in my own life Now I knew I had to shorten my list of regrets – and I began meeting the world with a resounding ‘yes’ I was helping my mother prepare for an appointment at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Honolulu when I got the text message “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII,” the official alert read THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” The islands were already on edge because of tensions between the US and North Korea the most visceral memory I have is how conscious I was of my scalp I remember feeling acutely aware of its presence we could be sitting ducks – or we could just get on with it I was no stranger to these emergency text alerts. Only eight days before, on the way back from picking up some milk from a corner shop while visiting my grandmother in Tokyo, I had received a similar text warning me of an earthquake about to hit the Kanto region I had jumped into a nearby bush in a feeble attempt at self-preservation fool me twice … by now I had convinced myself that some kind of divine power had it in for me and I wouldn’t be able to dodge this bullet twice Honolulu residents took shelter in storm drains A friend of mine in the air force jumped into their 4x4 abandoning another car on the street with keys still in the ignition Several people attempted to shelter in their bathtubs furiously replaying all of my life decisions up until that point attributed to human error – but I was forever changed View image in fullscreenErin Niimi Longhurst with her mother in Hawaii.I had gone to visit my grandmother and mother in Tokyo and Honolulu after the breakdown of a long-term relationship I felt as if I was stagnating in my career and wanted to take some time to recuperate Frustrated with many of the big life choices I had made up until that point I had hoped that some time with family would rebuild a sense of faith and trust in life that I felt I had lost I felt as if I hadn’t been an active participant in my own life That terrifying hour gave me time to reflect on the things I had been too scared to do and what I’d change given the same chance again My first book was published later that year I built up the confidence to go travelling alone a transatlantic move and an impulsive summer romance with an old friend Sometimes the universe sends you a message the magnitude of it is immense: that action trumps inaction that the thing that will end up killing you will never be the thing you spent all that time worrying about So stop putting everything off and just get started What followed was a time when every decision was met with a resounding “yes” I accepted an invitation from a friend to visit her home in Kyiv I would have missed out on a vibrant weekend in a beautiful city That brief moment I spent in all-consuming fear is what its inhabitants now experience daily I still struggle against my own nature – to give in to wallowing frustration and anger – but whenever I take a risk I remember how I felt in those moments and that tingling feeling returns to my head that moment represented a seismic shift in the way I live my life It was a reminder to stop waiting for things to happen and to voraciously seek them out instead - so when I’m next faced with drastic news I can meet it without fear or regret Intended to celebrate holistic healing and our community’s Ojibwe heritage this gathering is free and open to all within the community who would like to show respect and celebrate the healing power of heritage Registration for dancers 5-18+ years-old begins at 2 p.m where those of all ages and genders are lead by local veterans into the dance arbor will also guide attendees through a peace pipe ceremony honoring healthcare workers women’s jingle dress dance and traditional dances for both men and women This web site is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area .css-s4id4f{font-family:Suisse Intl,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:1.9rem;line-height:2.2rem;font-weight:600;letter-spacing:-0.01em;}Official Money Editor's note: The quotes in this story were acquired via email and have been edited for grammar due to Japanese-to-English translations but he remained oddly tight-lipped about who designed them He told PGATOUR.com that he worked with “a company” for 12-14 months on the custom-made irons but that he “can’t say yet” what company it was has confirmed to PGATOUR.com that his company designed and made Patrick Reed’s irons While Niimi says the Grindworks company is “small and unknown,” he says “we are the strongest team for club making.” Niimi himself is a 40-year golf industry veteran who was admitted into the International Club Makers Guild (ICG) Hall of Fame as a designer and fitter in 2014 He is also acting as the Head of Product Development and Global Sales for Grindworks was previously the President of Endo Manufacturing Company – a legendary Japanese golf club forging house -- and he has been designing and manufacturing forged golf clubs for over 40 years Kobayashi was also the founder of Epon Golf a Japanese golf club company that has a cult-like following across the world Grindworks says Kobayashi is known in Japan’s golf industry as the “father of Forged Titanium drivers,” and he now works for Grindworks as the Lead Technical Advisor who has worked with “top industry Japanese golf brands and industry experts,” and he is now tasked with developing technologies and manufacturing processes as the Lead Designer for Grindworks products As discussed in PGATOUR.COM’s initial article on Reed’s mystery irons the USGA Conforming List noted that Reed’s irons were manufactured by Emery Japan Co Niimi clarified that confusion by saying that Emery Japan Co was a previous company name for the new Grindworks Co. and that the USGA and R&A websites use the Emery name for approval of its products because the USGA and R&A “still have not changed the name of our account.” While the Grindworks company has a number of different products available on its website, Niimi says Reed’s irons were a completely original design because of Reed’s needs. “About one year ago, Patrick contacted me asking to try one of our products, but I preferred to offer him an original designed iron set. His iron lie angle is very flat, which would change the total design concept of the iron if we bent an existing head 4 degrees more flat!” Niimi told PGATOUR.COM. “He also wanted a head with CG (center of gravity) at the exact center of the head for every iron. It was a hard job, hence we have to spend a lot of time and make a lot of prototypes.” Reed previously told PGATOUR.COM that due to the CG placement on the new irons, “the ball does what it’s supposed to do.” Niimi said that he doesn’t know how Reed actually found out about the Grindworks company. Patrick contacted me through email,” Niimi explained. “I don't know how he could find me. Kobayashi and I were working with many USA brands and OEMs once ago -- before China took our place -- such as Ben Hogan, Titleist, Callaway, Cleveland etc.” While Grindworks may be relatively small and unknown, Niimi and Kobayshi have had their hands in designing and forging popular golf clubs for top U.S. brands for years. Now, with the help of Reed’s custom set, it’s likely that golf equipment fans will start to recognize the Grindworks name, too. As Reed told PGATOUR.COM at the Hero World Challenge, he will reveal more about the irons on Jan 1. We will be sure to keep you updated on any new information once it’s made available. Copyright © 2025 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved. and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks The Korn Ferry trademark is also a registered trademark and is used in the Korn Ferry Tour logo with permission Sign In Subscribe Now Sidney and the Japanese city of Niimi will be renewing their sister-city relationship this week when a group of Japanese students and their adult chaperones visit later this month chairperson of the Niimi committee of Sidney Sister City Association said this will be a second time a student delegation has visited Sidney since 2014 Sidney has hosted at least five delegations from Japan RELATED: Sidney Sister Cities always a learning opportunity RELATED: Get to know Sidney’s three sister cities “It’s an international relationship,” McLure said “Japan has a very good relationship with Canada [and] Niimi has always been ahead of other cities in that they really want their students to learn to speak English and they are very technologically advanced compared to other places here as well as Japan.” Sidney and Niimi formed their sister-city relationship in 2008 “We were approached by a lady from Niimi in Japan to see if we wanted to form a sister-city relationship,” McLure said Sidney had previously established sister-city relationships with Cairns in Australia in a mountainous region known for mining and cattle raising “I think it is the contrast that they look for,” said McLure noting that Niimi officials have been very welcoming “The town has always supported our sister city relationship Local highlights on the group’s itinerary include public skating at Panorama Recreation Centre and tours of the BC Aviation Museum and Sidney Town Hall They will also receive a guided tour of the B.C wolfgang.depner@peninsulanewsreview.com Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines 15 years old when the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck was traumatized when she realized nearly how many lives were lost in her neighborhood in the disaster Her desire to somehow immortalize precious lives led her to carve out a career as a sculptor specializing in super-realistic reproductions of animals The earthquake that struck the Kobe area on Jan The Hyogo Prefecture native is holding an exhibition of her work at the Niimi Museum of Art here to mark the 30th anniversary of the museum's opening It is also intended to raise hope for reconstruction of the city buffeted by torrential rain in recent years western Japan was slammed with severe flooding which also impacted Okayama Prefecture the northern part of the prefecture was also hit by devastating downpours which assembles wooden animal carvings by the popular sculptor is hosted by the city government and sponsored by The Asahi Shimbun's Okayama General Bureau and other organizations The event features 100 or so life-size animal sculptures the main character of "Lovely Muuuuuuuco!" a popular manga series which was also adapted into an animated TV series Visitors are permitted to take photos of all the exhibits The venue is closed on Mondays except national holidays 300 yen for junior and senior high school students and 200 yen for elementary school students Visit the museum's official website at (https://www.city.niimi.okayama.jp/usr/art/) Let it rot: Ainu totem pole left to decay according to artist’s wishes STONE RIDGE — Misaki Matsushita felt the fingers of the "patient" and straightened the blankets around his body Her classmate put her hand on the mannequin's shoulder The new mannequin patients of SUNY Ulster's high-tech nursing lab seem so real they were getting sympathy Wednesday The computerized dummies can be programmed to act just like the human body when stricken with illness One even coughed in the middle of a presentation to students visiting from Niimi causing a surprised chuckle to ripple through the ranks The patients are part of the newly-transformed Dr Tucker Clinical Nursing Pavilion that offers students a 21st-century education SUNY Ulster upgraded the nursing department converting a single large room into a classroom and the lab There was even a get-well balloon hanging on a bed Wednesday who are part of a cultural exchange program toured the new facilities and also got a peek at the college's new Second Life virtual hospital students face lifelike scenarios in a simulated environment Second Life is an online gaming and socializing program that has also been used by companies to hold virtual meetings and training After about a year of training and programming SUNY Ulster piloted its Second Life program last spring building a virtual hospital and helping students create their own nurse avatars The students also responded to a simulated Haiti earthquake assessing patients and the surroundings in a disaster scenario professors will combine lectures with case studies in Second Life Students can do simple activities like taking a pulse on the mannequin but they can also administer drugs and start IVs or catheters nursing department chairwoman Jody Mesches said "The more practice a student has in school the more successful they will be in the hospital," Mesches said The advancements at SUNY Ulster will also be shared with other colleges The school is spearheading a Second Life Medical Center that all SUNY schools can use in nursing education HOME ＞ Topics2017 ＞ 14 December 2017 14 December 2017Naoko Niimi (Diabetic Neuropathy Project) published a paper on “A spontaneously immortalized Schwann cell line from aldose reductase-deficient mice as a useful tool for studying polyol pathway and aldehyde metabolism” in Journal of Neurochemistry The increased glucose flux into the polyol pathway via aldose reductase (AR) in Schwann cells under high glucose conditions is recognized as a major contributing factor for the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy; however little is known about the physiological roles of AR in the peripheral nervous system catalyzes the conversion of glucose to sorbitol The escalation of the glucose flux into the polyol pathway via AR under diabetic conditions results in the increases of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to the development of diabetic complications AR catalyzes the reduction of reactive biogenic aldehydes and plays a role in aldehyde detoxification Kyorin University and the University of Hong Kong Naoko Niimi (Diabetic Neuropathy Project) and others of Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science established spontaneously immortalized Schwann cell lines from long-term cultures of normal and AR-deficient C57BL/6 mouse peripheral nerves These cell lines exhibited distinct Schwann cell phenotypes and synthesis and secretion of neurotrophic factors Microarray and real-time RT-PCR analyses revealed significantly down-regulated mRNA expression of polyol pathway-related enzymes and significantly up-regulated mRNA expression of aldo-keto reductases and aldehyde dehydrogenases in AR-deficient Schwann cells compared with those in normal cells Exposure to reactive aldehydes (3-deoxyglucosone and 4-hydroxynonenal) significantly up-regulated the mRNA expression of aldo-keto reductases AKR1B7 and AKR1B8 in AR-deficient Schwann cells Because no significant differences in viability between these two cell lines after exposure to these aldehydes were detected it can be assumed that the aldehyde detoxification is taken over by AKR1B7 and AKR1B8 in the absence of AR These cell lines will be useful tools for studying the physiological and pathological roles of AR Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version