Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Backyard shed maker Modern Shed has added a newcomer to its product line: the DW, a $129,000 tiny home on wheels.

Modern Shed has been known to build backyard sheds that can serve as home offices and gyms, storage units, guest bedrooms, and more. But after almost 20 years of doing so, the company has decided to pivot this year amid the coronavirus pandemic to unveil a tiny home on wheels known as the Dwelling on Wheels, or the DW.

Read more: California's housing crisis is so dire, a startup just raised $3.5 million in VC funding to drop tiny houses in people's backyards

"We wanted to leverage that experience [of building sheds] to offer something that embodies agility, which is really something this year has asked of all of us," founder of Modern Shed Ryan Smith told Business Insider in an email interview. "The DW can do a lot it's great for enjoying nature short-term, for off-grid living, or as a second, remote home."

Right now is also a strategic time to sell tiny homes as the movement has increased in popularity this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on in the US, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

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Modern Shed added $129,000 tiny homes on wheels to product line - Business Insider - Business Insider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A delicate but exquisitely preserved skull of a crow-sized bird with a scythe-like beak that inhabited Madagascar 68 million years ago is showing scientists that they have a lot of learn about avian diversity during the age of dinosaurs.

Scientists on Wednesday said the bird, called Falcatakely forsterae, possessed a face unlike any other known bird from the age of dinosaurs - the Mesozoic Era - not only because of the beak shape but because of its underlying anatomy.

Its beak looked superficially like that of a small toucan though the two species are not closely related. While modern birds exhibit a great variety of beak shapes - from the sword-billed hummingbird to the rhinoceros hornbill - little such diversity had been discovered among Mesozoic birds.

Falcatakelys 3.5-inch (9-cm) skull remains partially embedded in rock because the scientists did not want to risk harming it. Instead they analyzed it using sophisticated scanning and digital reconstruction. Only its skull was found.

Amazing, small, delicate, fragile, challenging to study - all at the same time, said Ohio University anatomy professor Patrick OConnor, lead author of the research published in the journal Nature.

Bird fossils are particularly rare in part because they have such delicate skeletons. Hollow bones arent great at surviving the fossilization process, added paleontologist and study co-author Alan Turner of Stony Brook University in New York.

Because of this, we need to be aware that we are probably under-sampling the Mesozoic diversity of birds. A newly discovered species like Falcatakely provides a taste of the tantalizing possibility of a greater diversity of form waiting to be discovered, Turner said.

Birds evolved from small feathered dinosaurs about 150 million years ago. Early birds retained many ancestral features including teeth. The Falcatakely fossil has a single conical tooth in the front part of the upper jaw. Falcatakely probably had a small number of teeth in life.

It belonged to an avian group, enantiornithines, that did not survive the mass extinction event 66 million years ago, ending the Cretaceous Period.

Unlike the earliest birds such as Archaeopteryx, which in many ways still looked dinosaurian with their long tails and unspecialized snouts, enantiornithines like Falcatakely would have looked relatively modern, Turner said.

It was in the underlying skeletal structure where its differences were more apparent, OConnor added, with more similarities to dinosaurs like Velociraptor than modern birds.

Reporting by Will Dunham; editing by Jonathan Oatis

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Dinosaur-era bird with scythe-like beak sheds light on avian diversity - Reuters

Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Jrgen Klopp has shed more light on the problem that is stopping Thiago Alcntara from adding to his two appearances for Liverpool.

Speaking on Tuesday before the Ajax game, the Liverpool Echo quote Klopp as saying: After Everton it was a really bad injury. He trained from time to time but not in the moment. We realise it was a really big impact on the knee and he has to take a few more steps, and it will take a few weeks.

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The Story of Diego Maradona

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Richarlisons awful challenge on the former Barcelona maestro really seems to have done a lot of damage, which is awful to see.

Liverpool arguably signed the best deep-lying playmaker in Europe when they brought the 29-year-old to Anfield in the summer, shortly after hed just won the Champions League.

However, the Reds supporters have been robbed of seeing the classy No.6, and it doesnt sound like theyre going to see much of him in whats left of 2020.

Its no surprise that the ex-Bayern Munich man is struggling so much.

His knee can be seen going backwards after the Everton No.7 flew into him, as someone on Twitter pointed out in a short clip of the incident.

Joe Gomezs reaction putting his hands on his head in horror tells you all you need to know about how dangerous the challenge from Richarlison was.

Hopefully, the dreadful, studs-up lunge wont have any long-lasting repercussions on Thiagos career if that was the case, it would be heartbreaking.

In other news, Smith shares what he told Villa's players in the dressing room after West Ham defeat

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Really bad: Jrgen Klopp sheds more light on Thiagos problem at Liverpool - HITC - Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music

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Impact of Covid-19 on Garden Shed Market demand and future scope with top Key players Backyard Products, Newell Rubbermaid, Craftsman, Lifetime...

ROME Opening the Churchs season of Advent, Pope Francis celebrated Mass Sunday with a crop of new cardinals he elevated yesterday, warning against temptations of mediocrity and indifference and touting prayer and charity as the remedy.

Praying and loving, that is what it means to be watchful, the pope said in his homily for the Nov. 29 Mass. When the Church worships God and serves our neighbor, it does not live in the night. However weak and weary, she journeys towards the Lord.

Let us now call out to him. Come, Lord Jesus, we need you! he said, praying, Rouse us from the slumber of mediocrity; awaken us from the darkness of indifference. Come, Lord Jesus, take our distracted hearts and make them watchful. Awaken within us the desire to pray and the need to love.

Marking the official opening of the Churchs liturgical season of Advent, which marks the beginning of the Churchs liturgical new year, the private Mass was celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peters Basilica. Due to ongoing restrictions on public gatherings related to the coronavirus pandemic, the event was not open to the public but was livestreamed on the Vaticans social media networks.

Beyond the pope, the new cardinals and cardinals who are residents of Rome, there were around 100 others present who were either pastors or rectors of the titular churches where the cardinals have been assigned, or friends and family accompanying the new cardinals.

In total, the 13 prelates who got a red hat from Francis Saturday included nine electors eligible to vote in the next conclave and four who are over 80, meaning the title is honorary and they will hold no voting rights.

Among the new cardinals is Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, the only American in the group and the United States first-ever African American cardinal.

RELATED: Pope tells 13 new cardinals that red hat is not a career advancement

In his homily, the pope said Advent is a time to reflect on Gods closeness to humanity, illustrated through his incarnation, and to remember humanitys need of him.

Advent reminds us that Jesus came among us and will come again at the end of time. Yet we can ask what those two comings mean, if he does not also come into our lives today? So let us invite him, Francis said, urging faithful to make their own the traditional Advent prayer taken from the Book of Revelation, Come, Lord Jesus.

Pope Francis also stressed the need to be watchful, insisting that one great mistake in life is to get absorbed in a thousand things and not to notice God.

Drawn by our own interests, and distracted by so many vain things, we risk losing sight of what is essential, he said, adding that Advent is also a time to live in hope.

Just as before our birth, our loved ones expectantly awaited our coming into the world, so now Love in person awaits us. If we are awaited in Heaven, why should we be caught up with earthly concerns? Why should we be anxious about money, fame, success, all of which will fade away? Why should we waste time complaining about the night, when the light of day awaits us? he said.

Noting that Jesuss disciples also fell asleep when he asked them to stay awake and keep watch before his arrest, the pope warned that that same drowsiness can overtake us.

This drowsiness, he said, often manifests itself in mediocrity and indifference.

Mediocrity, he said, comes when we forget our first love and grow satisfied with indifference, concerned only for an untroubled existence. Without making an effort to love God daily and awaiting the newness he constantly brings, we become mediocre, lukewarm, worldly.

As time goes on, this slowly eats away at our faith, for faith is the very opposite of mediocrity: it is ardent desire for God, a bold effort to change, the courage to love, constant progress, he said, insisting that faith is not a tranquilizer for people under stress, it is a love story for people in love! That is why Jesus above all else detests lukewarmness.

Speaking of indifference, Francis said those who succumb to this attitude see everything the same, as if it were night; they are unconcerned about those all around them. When everything revolves around us and our needs, and we are indifferent to the needs of others, night descends in our hearts.

An indifferent person, he said, immediately begins to complain about everything and everyone; we start to feel victimized by everyone and end up brooding about everything. Nowadays, that night seems to have fallen on people who only demand things for themselves, heedless of the needs of others.

Pope Francis suggested prayer and acts of charity as remedies for these two spiritual ailments, insisting that consistency in prayer rouses us from the tepidity of a purely horizontal existence and makes us lift our gaze to higher things; it makes us attuned to the Lord.

Prayer allows God to be close to us; it frees us from our solitude and gives us hope, he said, adding, just as we cannot live without breathing, so we cannot be Christians without praying.

Similarly, he said called charity the beating heart of the Christian, saying, just as one cannot live without a heartbeat, so one cannot be a Christian without charity.

Some people seem to think that being compassionate, helping and serving others is for losers, the pope said. Yet these are the only things that win us the victory, since they are already aiming towards the future, the day of the Lord, when all else will pass away and love alone will remain.

It is by works of mercy that we draw close to the Lord, he said, adding, Jesus is coming, and the road to meet him is clearly marked: it passes through works of charity.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on Twitter:@eliseannallen

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Advent a time to shed mediocrity and indifference, pope tells cardinals - Crux Now

Traffic reports say the lorry shed its load at the Beddingham roundabout.

A spokesman for Highways England said: At 10.27am a HGV shed its load of a trio of stainless steel crates, weighing around a tonne each, on the A27 Lewes Beddingham Roundabout.

Narrow lanes were deployed and are still in place.

Estimated time of arrival for recovery is 45 mins to clear the crates, after which well be able to lift the narrow lanes.

No delays at current.

A Sussex Police spokesman added: At 10.17am on Tuesday (December 1), police responded to a report of a lorry shedding its load on the Beddingham roundabout where the A27 joins the A26.

The road was partially blocked by three one tonne steel items.

A ticket was issued to the driver for insecure load.

The Highways Agency were also called to the scene to remove the items blocking the road.

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A27 at Lewes partially blocked after lorry sheds its load - Sussex Express

Erie Times-News

Blind cat gets second chance as therapy animal

Christy Santoro dedicates her life to helping cats in need. When she was introduced to a cat with no eyes, it changed her life forever.

They make them big in Maine. Cats, that is.

The Maine coon the state cat of Maine is not only one of the largest domestic cat breeds, but also one of the most popular in the United States. It ranks fifth among the 45 breeds recognized by the Cat Fanciers Association. The laid-back cats enjoy playing in water, take well to walking on-leash, are known to play fetch, demonstrate mousing prowess, and are usually happy to keep four on the floor instead of seeking out the heights that attract other cats.

No one really knows how the breed was developed, but there are a number of fanciful stories behind its origin. One is that the first Maine coon was the result of a hookup between a cat and a raccoon or in some tales, a domestic cat and a bobcat. It's easy to see why those stories popped up, given the Maine coon's long, bushy tail said to resemble that of a raccoon and pointed ear tufts (known as lynx tips), like those of a bobcat.

It's also suggested that they made their way to North America some 1,000 years ago, arriving with Vikings who came, saw, and went back home perhaps leaving some of their cats behind to colonize the new land. The Maine coon and the Norwegian forest cat share a resemblance, although breed experts can point out differences in head shape and body type. Another theory is that Maine coons descend from six of Marie Antoinette's Angora cats, sent to New England in advance of the French queen. Not as lucky as her cats, she was unable to escape before being taken into custody.

More: Activist uses billboards, petition, email in Erie anti-cat-declawing campaign

The most likely origin story is that New England sea captains and sailors brought home long-haired cats from exotic ports, and that those cats then mixed with the local domestic cats to create the medium- to long-haired beauties we know today. In 1895, a brown tabby Maine coon named Cosey took Best in Show at the National Cat Show at Madison Square Garden, going home with a silver collar now on display at the Cat Fanciers Association's Feline Historical Museum in Alliance, Ohio (sadly, closed indefinitely due to COVID-19).

Nicknamed "gentle giant," or sometimes "coonasaurus," Maine coons can weigh as much as 25 pounds.It can be a surprise when they open their mouth and out comes a small trill, chirp or coo, as well as the usual meows and purrs, all delivered in a quiet tone of voice.

Other distinctive characteristics include a ruff around the neck; tufted paws; soft fluffs of fur, known as furnishings, inside the ears (protecting the delicate interior from snow, ice and chilly temperatures); and a coat that comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Brown tabby is the classic Maine coon look, but the cats also come in solids, calico, tortoiseshell, parti-color (one color plus white), and more. The only colors or patterns you won't see are chocolate, lavender and Himalayan (pointed).

These cats shed up a storm. If you take one home, grooming will become an important part of your life. It's often said that Maine coons don't mat excessively, but that's only true if you comb or brush them out at least weekly. More often is better. One health issue to be aware of is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common form of heart disease in cats. Using a genetic test, breeders can screen adult cats for the mutation that causes HCM before breeding them. Walk away from kittens whose parents haven't been tested.Maine coons' large size also makes them prone to hip dysplasia, which you may have thought only affected dogs.

For mouse patrol and companionship, you can't go wrong with a Maine coon. Given good care and nutrition, the furry giants can live 12 to 15 years or even more.

More: Erie County pet cemetery is the final resting place for Bonzo and plenty of family pets

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by veterinarian Marty Becker and journalist Kim Campbell Thornton of Vetstreet.com. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker.

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Pet Connection: The first pedigreed cat 'made in America,' the Maine coon has its charms - GoErie.com

The deal includes its shareholding in AXA Gulf, AXA Cooperative Insurance Company and AXA Green Crescent Insurance Company. As part of the transaction, Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo, a conglomerate in the Gulf Region, will also sell its shareholding in AXA Gulf and in AXA Cooperative Insurance Company. Under the terms of the agreement, AXA will sell its ownership in its operations in the Gulf region for a total cash consideration of US$269 million.

Simplification of AXAs holdings continues

Thomas Buberl, CEO at AXA, commented: This transaction marks another step in AXAs continued simplification journey. We are convinced that AXAs operations in the Gulf region will benefit from GIGs leadership and scale in the region, to further pursue their focus on delivering growth and excellent customer service.

I would like to thank the management teams and all the employees of our operations in the Gulf region for their continuous contribution and engagement over the years and wish them all the success for the future.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by 3Q 2021.

Recently, private healthcare company AXA PPP rebranded and is now AXA Health, by uniting AXAs health insurance (AXA PPP healthcare and Health-on-Line) and employee support brands (Health Services/ICAS-UK).

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AXA sheds Gulf insurance operations - ITIJ

An overnight fire damaged a shed and garage in Colebrookdale Township and remains under investigation.

The fire started in a shed to the rear of 962 W. Philadelphia Ave. at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, officials said.

The fire was spotted and called in by an Eastern Berks Regional Police officer, and firefighters had it under control in about 30 minutes, officials said.

The shed sustained heavy fire damage, while an attached garage had only smoke and water damage, said Jeff Bealer, public information officer for Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue.

An SUV inside the garage also sustained smoke and water damage. A carport attached to the shed was not damaged, he said.

The fire appears to have been accidental, but the cause is still being investigated, according to Bealer.

A damage estimate was not yet available.

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Fire damages shed and garage in Colebrookdale Township - Boyertown Berk Montgomery Newspapers

Research has shed new light on the genetic risk factors that make individuals more or less susceptible to severe COVID-19.

The findings by researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC Boston, MA, USA) illuminate the mechanisms underlying COVID-19, and potentially open the door to novel treatments for the disease. A growing body of genetic evidence from patients in China, Europe and the US links COVID-19 outcomes to variations in two regions of the human genome, although the statistical association fails to explain how the differences modulate disease. In order to do that, scientists need to understand which proteins these sections of the genome code for and the role these proteins play in the body in the context of disease.

Over the last decade, the BIDMC researchers have generated exactly such a database - an immense library of all the proteins and metabolites associated with various regions of the human genome. When the researchers looked up one genomic hot spot found to be associated with COVID-19 disease severity, they quickly realized that the very same region was linked to a protein that has recently been implicated in the process by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects human cells. The second region was linked to a poorly understood protein that appears to play a role attracting immune cells called lymphocytes to sites of infection, which also merits further study. Early analyses from their work also suggest that these genetic variants and proteins may vary across races. Taken together, these findings provide important contributions as the scientific community works rapidly to understand the mysteries of COVID-19.

Groups are increasingly finding genomic hotspots related to diseases, but its often not clear how they impact the mechanisms of disease, said Robert E. Gerszten, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at BIDMC, who led the study. We leveraged our huge database - its more than 100 terabytes worth of data - to very quickly determine that the protein most highly expressed by that region turned out to be a co-receptor for the virus that causes COVID-19, suggesting that this might be a target for therapeutic interventions. The so-called antibody cocktails currently available mostly target the spike proteins on the virus. In turn, our work identifies which proteins in the human body that SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses latch on to.

Related Links:Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)

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Research Sheds New Light on Genetic Risk Factors That Make Individuals More or Less Susceptible to Severe COVID-19 - HospiMedica