Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculus

Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculusC. Warinner1, 2 n1, J. Hendy3 n1, C. Speller3, E. Cappellini4, R. Fischer5, C. Trachsel6, J. Arneborg7, 8, N. Lynnerup9, O. E. Craig3, D. M. Swallow10, A. Fotakis4, 11, R. J. Christensen11, J. V. Olsen11, A. Liebert10, N. Montalva10, 12, S. Fiddyment3, S. Charlton3, M. Mackie3, A. Canci13, A. Bouwman2, F. Rhli2, M. T. P. Gilbert4, 14 M. J. Collins3Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 7104 (2014)doi:10.1038/srep07104Download CitationArchaeologyBiomarkersProteomicsZoologyAbstractMilk is a major food of global economic importance, and its consumption is regarded as a classic example of gene culture evolution. Humans have exploited animal milk as a food resource for at least 8500 years, but the origins, spread, and scale of dairying remain poorly understood. Indirect lines of evidence, such as lipid isotopic ratios of pottery residues, faunal mortality profiles, and lactase persistence allele frequencies, provide a partial picture of this process; however, in order to understand how, where, and when humans consumed milk products, it is necessary to link evidence of consumption directly to individuals and their dairy livestock. Here we report the first direct evidence of milk consumption, the whey protein lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BCE) to the present day. Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record. We then apply this method to human dental calculus from Greenland's medieval Norse colonies, and report a decline of this biomarker leading up to the abandonment of the Norse Greenland colonies in the 15th century CE.IntroductionMilk is a major nutritional resource. In addition to being a source of clean liquid (milk is 80 90% water), milk solids contain approximately 25 55% sugar (lactose), 25 45% fat, and 5 35% protein (caseins and whey proteins), as well as calcium, potassium, and B vitamins1. Adoption of animal milk consumption by humans typically requires behavioral adaptations, such as culturing and curdling techniques, to remove or reduce the lactose content of milk in order to make dairy products digestible after infancy. Additionally, populations with long pastoralist traditions in Europe and India, East Africa, and the Arabian peninsula have also independently evolved lactase persistence (LP),van cleef and arpels necklace sale replica, a genetic adaptation in the regulation of the lactase gene (LCT) that allows continued adult digestion of milk2,3 (Fig. 1). LP is hailed as one of the clearest examples of gene culture co evolution in humans4, yet many fundamental aspects of its evolution remain unknown5,6,7,8,9 and the socioeconomic context and scale of prehistoric and historic dairying are only poorly understood. Helena). Pie charts for each region are scaled by sample size and indicate the proportion of individuals from each region testing positive for milk BLG peptides (black) in dental calculus. A pooled sample of five individuals from Norway testing positive for BLG is shown in gray indicating the uncertainty of the number of BLG+ individuals. Interpolated contour map of lactase persistence frequencies were generated from allele frequencies of all 5 known LP causal alleles ( 13907G, 13910T, 13915G, 14009G and 14010C) in present day populations in Europe, Africa, and northern Southwest Asia. The map was generated with the R statspat package32 using published data available as of March 2014 (see Methods section). Data points are shown as dots, and interpolation may be inaccurate where there are few data points.The ability to directly identify milk consumption patterns in past populations would thus advance understanding of human dietary ecology, evolution, and cultural agency. However, previous attempts to directly measure milk consumption using bone calcium isotopes have proven unsuccessful10. Other milk biomarkers offer only indirect lines of evidence. For example, isotopic inference of milk lipids from pottery residues11 is the most widely used approach to identify dairying, but this method cannot discriminate species of origin, and reuse of communal vessels and exploitation of cervid adipose tissue12 both pose further challenges to interpretation. Milk proteins have also been recovered from food residues13,14,15, but such finds are exceptional and rare, and animal bone evidence for the exploitation of secondary products is limited by the availability of large, well preserved assemblages to provide interpretable mortality profiles16,17.To address these problems we turned to dental calculus, a mineralized form of dental plaque that serves as a long term reservoir of dietary biomolecules and microfossils18. Nearly ubiquitous in archaeological populations and sourced directly from the oral cavity, dental calculus presents a unique opportunity to access primary evidence of ancient diets at an individual level. In a recent study18, we identified the milk whey protein lactoglobulin (BLG) in the dental calculus of a modern Swiss dental patient using tandem mass spectrometry. This protein was also recently identified within preserved kefir cheese curds associated with the mummified remains of Bronze Age Xiaohe pastoralists (ca. 1980 1450 BC) in Xinjiang, China15. BLG is a lipocalin within the calycin superfamily of proteins19, and it is the dominant whey (milk serum) protein in ruminant milk, making up 11% of the total milk proteins and 50% of the whey proteins20. BLG offers many advantages as a milk biomarker19,20 including: 1) humans do not produce BLG and therefore the presence of the protein in dental calculus excludes a host origin; 2) BLG is present only in milk and thus it is a specific biomarker for this fluid; 3) BLG is more resistant to enzymatic degradation and microbial proteolysis than other milk proteins21; 4) BLG lacks close bacterial orthologs, making it readily identifiable against a background of bacterial proteins; 5) over half of the amino acid residues in BLG are variable among traditional dairy livestock, allowing genus and species discrimination between cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, horse, donkey, and reindeer, among others (Supplementary Fig. S1); 6) BLG is the dominant protein in the whey fraction of milk and partitions with lactose during dairy processing, thereby making BLG a superior proxy for lactose than caseins or milk fats, which separate from the lactose rich whey fraction during cheese and butter production20; 7) and finally, because BLG is identified directly from protein sequence data, uncertainties arising from indirect detection methods, such as isotopic analysis, are minimized.This study seeks to employ shotgun protein analysis by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to identify dairy consumption in the archaeological record. In this study, we analyzed 92 archaeological dental calculus samples selected from regions with (Europe and northern Southwest Asia) and without (Central West Africa) long standing dairying traditions for the presence of BLG (Fig. 1; Table 1). After establishing that BLG can be detected in the dental calculus of archaeological populations from dairy consuming regions, we then applied this approach to 6 additional medieval dental calculus specimens from the Norse Greenland sites Brattahli (Qassiarsuk) and Sandnes (Kilaarsarfik). These sites date to a period during which a major dietary shift from ruminant dairy to marine resources has been previously hypothesized on the basis of bone stable isotope and zooarchaeological evidence22,23. We confirm that a decline in BLG observed at these sites is consistent with a dietary shift, and specifically diminished access to dairy products, leading up to the abandonment of the Norse Greenland colonies in the 15th century CE.Table 1: Proteomic results of archaeological dental calculus samples analyzed in this studyFull size tableResultsLactase Persistence in Present Day PopulationsTo assist in the selection of archaeological samples for analysis, we generated an updated interpolated contour map of present day LP frequency in Europe, northern Southwest Asia, and Africa (Fig. 1) using recently published LP genotype data24,25. We then selected archaeological dental calculus specimens from sites located within regions with high (Northern Europe), moderate (Central Europe), low (northern Southwest Asia), and very low (Central West Africa) present day LP frequencies.BLG in Europe and northern Southwest AsiaSeventy four dental calculus samples were selected from 20 sites in Northern Europe (Britain, Denmark, and Norway; n = 40), Central Europe (Germany,replica clover necklace van cleef inspired, Hungary,van cleef and arpel necklace replica, and Italy; n = 38), and northern Southwest Asia (Armenia and Russia, n = 6) dating from the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BCE) through the 19th century CE (Table 1; Supplementary Table S1). Approximately one quarter (25.7%) of the Eurasian dental calculus samples tested positive for BLG peptides (Fig. 1). In total, 229 spectra (representing 37 unique peptide sequences) from the Eurasian dataset were assigned to BLG (Table 1; Supplementary Table S2), resulting in a reconstruction of 72% of the protein (Fig. 2). For each of the 19 Eurasian dental calculus samples that tested positive for BLG, the consensus BLG sequence could be assigned to ruminants of the Pecora infraorder of Artiodactyla, and 18 samples contained bovid specific (Bovidae) peptides. Among these samples, 4 samples contained cattle specific (Bos sp.) peptides, 3 samples contained sheep specific (Ovis sp.) peptides, 2 samples contained goat specific (Capra sp.) peptides, and 3 samples contained BLG peptides from multiple ruminant species (Supplementary Fig. S1; Supplementary Table S2).Figure 2: Protein coverage of lactoglobulin identified within Eurasian archaeological dental calculus.(a) Human dental calculus from the British Anglo Saxon site of Norton on Tees (sample NEM18, ca. 6th century CE) found to contain seven lactoglobulin peptides. (b) Three dimensional structure of bovine lactoglobulin protein, rendered from PDB 3NPO using VMD v.1.9.136. The mapped locations of all BLG peptide sequences identified by tandem mass spectrometry within archaeological dental calculus are shown in red, resulting in a coverage of 72% of the reconstructed consensus BLG protein.Absence of BLG in Central West AfricaEighteen dental calculus samples were selected from a 19th century cemetery on the island of St. Helena, located approximately 2,000km west of Angola in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The cemetery contains the remains of Central West Africans26 originating from a region with traditionally very low or no milk consumption (Fig. 1; Supplementary Table S1). As expected, BLG peptides were not identified in any of the West African samples (Fig. 1; Table 1).BLG in Norse GreenlandRecent isotopic and faunal evidence suggests that Greenland Norse settlements shifted from an economy initially based on dairy to one increasingly reliant on marine mammals after the onset of the Little Ice Age ca. 1250 CE23. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed dental calculus from individuals buried at Tjodhildes Church, an early cemetery (ca. 985 1250 CE) at the Eastern settlement landnm site of Brattahli (Qassiarsuk) established by Erik the Red, the founder of the Norse Greenland colonies23,van cleef arpels alhambra necklace replica, and at Sandnes (Kilaarsarfik), a high status farm and church in the Western Settlement that continued to be in use until the abandonment of the settlement in the 15th century CE. The individuals analyzed from Tjodhildes Church (n = 2) exhibited strong evidence of dairy consumption (Fig. 3), with a total of 38 spectra matching BLG peptides (12 unique peptides including one Bos specific sequence). Because these two individuals had not been previously analyzed isotopically, we then performed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on bone collagen extracted from these individuals and confirmed that their isotopic values are consistent with a terrestrial diet (Figure 3). Analysis of the Sandnes individuals (n = 4) revealed that only one individual showed even weak evidence of milk consumption, as evidenced by a single spectrum (Fig. 3). This individual was previously determined to have consumed a primarily terrestrial diet on the basis of isotopic evidence23. The remaining BLG negative individuals exhibited bone stable isotope values consistent with increasing marine resource consumption (Figure 3).Figure 3: BLG pattern in dental calculus is consistent with bone collagen stable isotope evidence of a decline of the dairy economy in Norse Greenland with the onset of the Little Ice Age (ca.1250 CE).(a) Total spectra matching BLG peptides recovered from dental calculus samples from the earlier Tjodhildes Church at 29a Brattahli in the Eastern Settlement (individuals KAL1064 and KAL1052) and from the later V51 Sandnes site in the Western Settlement (individuals KAL934, KAL933, KAL936, and KAL930). (b) Bone collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values measured from burials at Tjodhildes Church (black) and Sandnes (white)22,23, showing a major dietary shift toward marine resources at the later Sandnes site. Isotopic values for individuals also analyzed for dental calculus BLG peptides are represented by triangles, and from left to right on the x axis are: KAL1064, KAL1052, KAL934, KAL933, KAL936, and KAL930. Isotopic data for KAL1064 and KAL1052 were measured in this study.DiscussionOur results show that the milk protein BLG preserves in archaeological dental calculus and can be identified in specimens dating back to at least the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BCE) in Europe and northern Southwest Asia. Moreover, we demonstrate that BLG is a species specific milk biomarker that allows cattle, sheep, and goat dairy product consumption to be distinguished. As expected, no BLG was detected in specimens from Central West Africa, where dairy consumption was historically very low or absent and current LP frequencies are very low.In addition to establishing BLG as a biomarker of milk consumption in the archaeological record, the broad survey of dental calculus BLG conducted in this study reveals previously uncharacterized temporal and geographical complexities in dairy consumption. In Central Europe, for example, it is intriguing given the high prevalence of LP in both modern day (Fig. 1) and medieval27 German populations that no BLG peptides were detected in Bronze Age or medieval German samples (0/9 individuals) (Table 1). This stands in contrast to the northern Italian and Hungarian samples where BLG peptides were detected at a relatively high frequency (5/11 individuals) (Table 1; Supplementary Table S2). Using this approach, it now becomes possible to explore specific cultural, social, and environmental factors influencing past dairy economies at both a population and an individual level.To explore a specific dairy economy in greater detail, we applied this approach to Norse Greenland to examine the hypothesis that this population underwent a dramatic dietary shift in response to environmental change during the Little Ice Age23. The medieval Greenland Norse economy was primarily based on animal husbandry and especially dairying. The short growing season and cold climate of Greenland precluded the successful establishment of agriculture but was sufficient for ruminant pastoralism. Like other Scandinavian populations, the medieval Norse utilized nearly all by products of dairy processing, including BLG rich whey28,29.Our dental calculus BLG results confirm that dairy products were consumed by individuals buried in the early Norse cemetery at Tjodhildes Church (ca. 985 1250 CE), and bone collagen stable isotopic values from the same individuals are consistent with a terrestrial diet. By contrast, BLG was very low or absent in the dental calculus of individuals buried at the Sandnam site, which was occupied until ca. 1430 CE, and bone stable isotope values from these individuals indicate a dietary shift toward marine resources.Diminished access to dairy products and a collapse of dairy herds would have had a strongly negative effect on the Norse economy, removing not only a major source of storable nutrition but also impeding the ability to preserve other perishable foods, such as meats, thereby exacerbating food instability especially during the winter months. Our findings support the hypothesis that climate change and the consequent decline of dairy herds contributed to the decline and ultimate abandonment of the Norse Greenland colonies in the 15th century CE.In this study, we identify the protein lactoglobulin in archaeological dental calculus and demonstrate that it is a species specific milk biomarker and an indicator of dairy consumption in the archaeological record. Nearly ubiquitous and obtained directly from the oral cavity of individuals, dental calculus provides a novel approach to detecting patterns of milk consumption and the dietary variables driving recent natural selection in humans. Latitude and longitude of the data points were taken as near as possible to the collection sites where these were known. Where country alone was known these were estimated using major cities. The contour map was constructed in 'R' (v.3.1.0, 2014 04 10, "Spring Dance") using the spatstat package32 and included weighting for sample size. Interpolation smoothing was conducted at the lowest non overflowing bandwidth (value of sigma) allowable from the heterogeneous data available. Interpolation may be inaccurate where there are few data points, and it should be noted that neighboring populations with different ancestry and life style, in Africa particularly, sometimes have very different allele frequencies.Samples and MS/MS analysisDental samples (n = 98) were obtained from diverse historic human populations in Eurasia, Africa, and Greenland dating from the Bronze Age to the present (Supplementary Table S1). Dental calculus was removed using a dental scaler and stored in sterile 2.0mL tubes until further analysis. Tryptic peptides were extracted from decalcified dental calculus using a filter aided sample preparation (FASP) protocol modified for degraded samples33 according to previously published protocols18. The extracted peptides were then analyzed using shotgun protein tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to detect the presence of lactoglobulin. MS/MS analysis of samples were performed at three independent laboratories in Switzerland, the UK, and Denmark:Functional Genomics Center Zurich at the University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of TechnologySamples from Greenland and Germany (Z1, Z2, Z27, Z46, and Z28) were analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry at the Functional Genomics Centre Zrich (FGCZ) using an LTQ Orbitrap VELOS mass spectrometer (Thermo Fischer Scientific, Bremen, Germany) coupled to an Eksigent NanoLC Ultra 1D plus HPLC system (Eksigent Technologies, Dublin (CA), USA). Solvent composition at the two channels was 0.2% formic acid, 1% acetonitrile for channel A and 0.2% formic acid, 100% acetonitrile for channel B. Peptides were loaded on a self made tip column (75m 80mm) packed with reverse phase C18 material (AQ, 3m 200, Bischoff GmbH, Leonberg, Germany) and eluted with a flow rate of 250nl per min by a gradient from 0.8% to 4.8% of B in 2min, 35% B at 57min, 48% B at 60min, 97% at 65min. Full scan MS spectra (3001700m/z) were acquired in the Orbitrap with a resolution of 30000 at 400m/z after accumulation to a target value of 1,000,000. Higher energy collision induced dissociation (HCD) MS/MS spectra were recorded in data dependent manner in the Orbitrap with a resolution of 7500 at 400m/z after accumulation to a target value of 100, 000. Precursors were isolated from the ten most intense signals above a threshold of 500 arbitrary units with an isolation wind

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Dysfunction at Wikipedia on Homeopathic Medicine

In April, 2014, I had the happenstance to run into Jimmy Wales, the co founder of Wikipedia, on the streets of Vancouver. I was there to lecture to a group of medical professionals, while he was attending the TED talks. I expressed my appreciation to him for creating Wikipedia. I also then expressed concern to him about the "unencyclopedic" tone and information in Wikipedia's article on homeopathy. He then encouraged me to express my concerns in writing, and this is that response.

It may surprise and even shock most people to learn that, according to the Washington Post, the two most controversial subjects on Wikipedia in four leading languages (English, French, German, and Spanish) are the articles on "Jesus Christ" and "homeopathy."

Because I know that you want Wikipedia to be the best modern resource of reliable information, my intent in writing is to show you where Wikipedia is falling below your high standards, and in fact, Wikipedia's article on homeopathy is providing strongly biased, inaccurate information. This strong bias is a symptom of a deeper problem at Wikipedia in select articles on topics that challenge dominant medical and scientific worldviews. After reading the below body of scientific evidence on the subject of homeopathic medicine, I hope that we can engage in a dialogue that will help reduce the amount of misinformation that pervades certain subjects, such as homeopathy.

Evidence of the strong bias against homeopathy and against an objective encyclopedic tone is evident throughout the article. I will first focus on the second sentence of the first paragraph of the article and the 6 references which purport to substantiate these claims:

Homeopathy i/homipi/ (also spelled homoeopathy or homopathy; from the Greek hmoios "like " and pthos "suffering") is a system of alternative medicine created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann, based on his doctrine of like cures like, according to which a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people.[1] Homeopathy is a pseudoscience[2][3][4] and its remedies have been found to be no more effective than placebos.[5] [6]Hahnemann, Samuel (1833). The Homopathic Medical Doctrine, or "Organon of the Healing Art". Wakeman. pp. iii , 48 49 . "Observation, reflection, and experience have unfolded to me that the best and true method of cure is founded on the principle, similia similibus curentur. To cure in a mild, prompt, safe, and durable manner, it is necessary to choose in each case a medicine that will excite an affection similar ( ) to that against which it is employed." Translator: Charles H. Devrient, Esq.

^ Tuomela R (1987). "Chapter 4: Science, Protoscience, and Pseudoscience". In Pitt JC, Marcello P. Rational Changes in Science: Essays on Scientific Reasoning. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 98 (Springer). pp. 83 101. doi:10.1007/978 94 009 3779 6_4 . ISBN 978 94 010 8181 8.

^ Smith K (2012). "Homeopathy is Unscientific and Unethical". Bioethics 26 (9): 508 512.

^ Baran GR, Kiana MF, Samuel SP (2014). "Chapter 2: Science, Pseudoscience, and Not Science: How Do They Differ?" . Healthcare and Biomedical Technology in the 21st Century (Springer). pp. 19 57. doi:10.1007/978 1 4614 8541 4_2 . ISBN 978 1 4614 8540 7. "within the traditional medical community it is considered to be quackery"

^ Shang A, Huwiler Mntener K, Nartey L, et al. (2005). "Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy". Lancet 366 (9487): 726 32. doi:10.1016/S0140 6736(05)67177 2 . PMID 16125589 .

Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy Science and Technology Committee , British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 22 February 2010, retrieved 2014 04 05

Is Homeopathy Really a "Pseudoscience"?

Wikipedia asserts that "Pseudoscience is a claim, belief or practice which is presented as scientific, but does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status."

The "editors" at Wikipedia have deemed homeopathy to be a "pseudoscience" even though randomized double blind and placebo controlled studies that have been published in many of the best medical journals in the world have shown efficacy of homeopathic treatment for many common and serious health problems (below is a partial list of such studies):

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Frass, M, Dielacher, C, Linkesch, M, et al. Influence of potassium dichromate on tracheal secretions in critically ill patients, Chest, March,replica vans necklace, 2005;127:936 941. The journal, Chest, is the official publication of the American College of Chest Physicians.

Hayfever: Reilly D, Taylor M, McSharry C,replica van cleef and arpels four leaf clover necklace, et al., Is homoeopathy a placebo response? controlled trial of homoeopathic potency, with pollen in hayfever as model," Lancet, October 18, 1986, ii: 881 6.

Asthma: Reilly, D, Taylor, M, Beattie, N, et al.,van cleef and arpels necklaces replica, "Is Evidence for Homoeopathy Reproducible?" Lancet, December 10, 1994, 344:1601 6.

Fibromyalgia: Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo, Rheumatology. 2004:1111 5. This journal is the official journal of the British Society of Rheumatology. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr., July 27,2005,164:758 767.

Jimmy, can you name ONE other system of "pseudoscience" that has a similar body of randomized, double blind, and placebo controlled clinical trials published in high impact medical journals showing efficacy of treatment?

It is more than a tad ironic that this first paragraph in the Wikipedia article on homeopathy references only one article that was published in a peer review medical journal. This one article by Shang, et al. has been thoroughly discredited in an article written by Ldtke and Rutten that was published in a leading "high impact" journal that specializes in evaluating clinical research. The Shang meta analysis is highlighted on Wikipedia without reference to any critique of it. The fact that there is no hint of any problems in the Shang review, let alone a reference to the Ldtke and Rutten article that provided evidence of bias, is itself a cause for concern.

The Shang article is also the primary reference used by the widely ridiculed "Evidence Check" reports issued by the Science and Technology Committee of the British House of Commons, which also conveniently omits reference to the severe limitations of this one review of research. Further, the "Evidence Check" was signed off by just three of the 15 members of the original committee, never discussed or endorsed by the whole UK Parliament, and had its recommendations ignored by the UK Department of Health. Egger who is a well known skeptic of homeopathy and who wrote to the Lancet that his hypothesis before conducting the review was that homeopathy was only a placebo effect. Readers were never informed of this bias.

The meta analysis by Shang evaluated and compared 110 placebo controlled trials testing homeopathic medicines with 110 testing conventional drugs, finding 21 homeopathy trials (19%) but only nine (8%) conventional medicine trials were of "higher quality." Ldtke and Rutten found that a positive outcome for homeopathy would have resulted if Shang had simply compared these high quality trials against each other. However, with some clever statistical footwork, Shang chose to limit the high quality trials to only 8 homeopathic and 6 conventional medical trials, a result that led to a "negative" outcome for homeopathy. Ldtke and Rutten determined this review as biased for its "arbitrarily defined one subset of eight trials" and they deemed the entire review as "falsely negative."

By reducing the number of studies, Shang created convoluted logic that enabled his team to avoid evaluation of ANY of the above high quality studies that were all published in respected medical journals. Further, 7 of 8 homeopathic studies only tested one homeopathic medicine for everyone with the similar disease even though one of the primary tenets of homeopathy requires individualization of treatment. Many other extremely scathing critiques of the Shang research were published in the Lancet shortly after publication, including the exclusion of one high quality homeopathic study due to the questionable assertion that the researchers could not find a study in all of conventional medical research that treated patients with polyarthritis (arthritis that involves five or more joints).

Skeptics typically assert that the above high quality studies published in high impact medical journals are simply "cherry picking" the positive studies, and then, they begin cherry picking studies that had negative results. However,replica van cleef & arpels necklace alhambra, skeptics of homeopathy fail to differentiate good, sound scientific investigations that are respectful of the homeopathic method and those that are not. Just because a study was conducted with a randomized double blind and placebo controlled method does NOT mean that the study gave the appropriate homeopathic medicine for each patient or even each group of patients. This ignorance is akin to someone saying that antibiotics are ineffective for "infections" without differentiating between bacterial infections, viral infections, and fungal infections. Ironically, skeptics of homeopathy consistently show a very sloppy attitude about scientific investigations.

Les lobbyistes dépensent moins en haut

Dow: / NASDAQ: / S 500: HomeNewsLobbyists dépensent moins sur les consommateurs de haut niveau, les législateurs dépensent plus Comment: réparez votre fatigue et obtenez plus d'énergieRICHMOND, Va. (AP) Les lobbyistes en Virginie dépensent moins en prenant les agents publics pour manger à la haute fin Alors que les législateurs couvrent plus souvent le coût de la restauration avec leurs comptes de campagne pratiquement illimités, selon le financement récent des campagnes de campagne et les déclarations de dépense des lobbyistes. Le changement est le résultat d'un scandale de cadeaux de haut niveau qui a incité les législateurs à resserrer les règles d'éthique de l'État. Les révélations que l'ancien gouverneur Bob McDonnell et sa famille ont accepté plus de 175 000 $ de cadeaux et de prêts auprès d'un vendeur de vitamines, y compris une montre Rolex et des vêtements de marque,le ballon bleu copie, ont amené les législateurs à commencer à limiter la générosité qu'ils pourraient légalement recevoir en 2014. Cour suprême .Les données des récentes déclarations de lobbyistes confirment ce que les fonctionnaires et les autres ont dit pendant un certain temps: la culture politique de Virginie a radicalement changé après McDonnell et les vieux jours où les législateurs pouvaient prendre des cadeaux illimités des intérêts qu'ils réglementent depuis longtemps. Géant de l'énergie Dominion Resources, par exemple, ne traite plus les législateurs et les autres de faire des voyages au tournoi de golf Master ou des billets pour les jeux de Washington Redskins comme c'était le cas. Le porte-parole David Botkins a déclaré que la société a mis en place une politique de non-cadeaux ou de voyages l'année dernière. Il y avait plus de problèmes qu'il ne valait, a déclaré Botkins dans un courriel. Les modifications générales au droit de l'éthique ont été bonnes, et pour nous, éliminer les voyages / cadeaux simplifie les choses. Recueillis par le Virginia Public Access Project, l'argent non partisan en politique, montre que les lobbyistes gagnent et se rendent à des législateurs dans des restaurants moins chers par rapport à 2013. Par exemple, les lobbyistes ont signalé avoir accueilli 17 événements pour les fonctionnaires du quartier de Morton steakhouse en 2013; Cette année,ballon bleu chrono imitation, session législative. D'autres restaurants haut de gamme ont assisté à des retombées similaires. Les lobbyistes en place organisent des événements avec des législateurs à des articulations moins coûteuses. Une raison possible: lorsque les lobbyistes prennent des agents publics pour les manger ou les emmenent dans des événements sportifs,cartier ballon bleu quartz copie, ils doivent signaler ces officiels par leur nom si le coût moyen par personne dépasse 50 $. Si la moyenne est inférieure à 50 $,cartier ballon bleu 33mm copie, les lobbyistes ne doivent pas signaler les noms des législateurs présents. Les auteurs de la publication pourraient également relancer leur jeu avec leurs comptes de campagne, ce qui peut être utilisé pratiquement n'importe quoi en Virginie. Les dépenses du compte de campagne sur les repas ont augmenté de 58% au cours de cette année, la session législative par rapport à 2013, selon les données VPAP. La loi de Virginie interdit aux législateurs d'utiliser leurs comptes de campagne pour un usage personnel et The Associated Press a rapporté plus tôt cette année que la Virginie pratiquement non réglementée Le système est un atout national. Le comportement qui permettrait aux législateurs d'être enfermés dans d'autres États ou au niveau fédéral est parfaitement bien dans le Vieux-Dominion, car la Virginie est le seul État où les législateurs peuvent augmenter des dons de campagne illimités de personnes, y compris les sociétés et les syndicats, et Dépenser de l'argent sur eux-mêmes.INVENT DANS LA LUTTE CONTRE MAINSTREAM MEDIA BIASPresidents changer et les législateurs vont et viennent, mais The Washington Times est toujours là et GRATUIT en ligne. Veuillez soutenir nos efforts.

L'ancien gouverneur de la VA obtient 2,cartier ballon bleu bracelet imitation

RICHMOND, en Virginie. L'ancien gouverneur de la Virginie, Bob McDonnell, une fois sur la liste abrégée pour le vice-président de Mitt Romney, a été condamné mardi à deux ans dans une prison fédérale pour avoir accepté des pots de vin pour promouvoir un supplément alimentaire.

Un jury en septembre a trouvé McDonnell et sa femme, Maureen, coupables de corruption publique. Le couple a accepté des cadeaux, y compris une montre Rolex, des vêtements de créateurs et des vacances en échange de la promotion d'un précieux miracle fait par Star Scientific Inc.

L'ancien PDG de l'entreprise, Jonnie Williams, a témoigné sous l'immunité en tant que témoin principal de la poursuite dans un cas qui a exposé les détails des McDonnells «finances fragiles et mariage en difficulté».

D'une voix forte mais sombre,montre cartier femme ballon bleu copie, McDonnell a déclaré au juge avant de condamner qu'il était «un homme déchiré et humilié» et qu'il se tenait responsable.

'J'ai permis à ma vie de sortir de l'équilibre', at-il dit. Le juge de district James Spencer a annoncé la peine, McDonnell était stoïque. Il doit se présenter en prison avant le 9 février.

Lors du procès, l'ancien gouverneur a déclaré qu'il a commencé à travailler inutilement tardivement, juste pour éviter les explosions de sa femme et l'a suppliée de travailler sur leur mariage en détérioration. Les avocats de la défense ont affirmé que Maureen McDonnell a développé un 'écrasement' sur Williams et était en grande partie responsable de La relation chaleureuse du couple avec Williams.

McDonnell a témoigné dans sa propre défense lors du procès de six semaines, reconnaissant qu'il a accepté la 'largesse' de Williams, mais n'a rien fait pour lui en retour, sauf pour prolonger les politesses politiques courantes. Il a été reconnu coupable de 11 chefs d'accusation.

«J'ai 60 ans. Quelque jours que le Seigneur me permette, je me consacre de nouveau au service des autres », a déclaré McDonnell, dont les avocats avaient demandé au juge d'imposer trois ans de service communautaire. Les procureurs ont voulu plus de 10 ans de prison.

'Cela me brise le cœur,ballon bleu cartier copie, mais j'ai un devoir que je ne peux éviter', a déclaré le juge.

Maureen McDonnell, qui n'a pas témoigné, a été condamnée pour huit chefs d'accusation. Elle sera condamnée le 20 février.

L'affaire de la corruption publique a incité l'Assemblée générale à resserrer les lois d'éthique obscures de l'État, et certains élus de Virginie ont volontairement limité la valeur des cadeaux qu'ils accepteront.

McDonnell, 60 ans, a rendu la réponse républicaine de 2010 à l'adresse de l'État de l'Union et est devenu président de l'Association des gouverneurs républicains en 2011. Il a été inculpé 10 jours après son départ du bureau.

Au procès, la stratégie de défense de McDonnell a dépendu en grande partie de convaincre le jury que leur mariage était tellement tendu qu'ils n'auraient pas pu conspirer pour expulser des pot-de-vin de Williams. Ils sont arrivés et ont quitté le palais de justice séparément chaque jour et ont même rarement regardé Les uns avec les autres alors qu'ils étaient séparés par des avocats à la table de défense.

McDonnell et d'autres témoins ont témoigné au sujet du comportement erratique de la première femme, ce qui suggère qu'elle était principalement responsable de la relation qui s'est développée avec Williams. Ils ont déclaré qu'elle était enclin à des explosions aussi fâcheuses que le personnel de la Mansion Exécutive a menacé une démission massive. Un appel reconnu Maureen McDonnell 'un sac à fruits'.

La défense a introduit un courriel de McDonnell en septembre 2011 à son épouse en lamentant la détérioration de leur mariage,cartier ballon bleau imitation, se plaignant de sa «colère ardente» et la priant de travailler avec lui pour réparer la relation.

Ses cadeaux comprenaient près de 20 000 $ en vêtements et accessoires de designer pour Maureen McDonnell, une montre Rolex gravée de 6 500 $ pour le gouverneur, 15 000 $ pour le mariage de leur fille Cailin, les vacances familiales gratuites et les sorties de golf pour leurs fils.

Husband raconte la mort de Rolex

Je ne pouvais pas le comprendre,cartier ballon bleu 3001 copie. '

Il a témoigné au procès de deux hommes accusés d'avoir tué sa femme Joesephine après avoir suivi le couple de Harrods dans leur maison de Hertfordshire pour voler sa montre Rolex.

Mme Martorana, 46 ans, est décédée trois semaines après avoir été abattu dans le dos. Le fils du couple Steven, 18 ans à l'époque, a été abattu dans la poitrine alors qu'il sortait de la maison et avait toujours une balle logée dans sa colonne vertébrale.

La petite amie de Steven,montre cartier ballon bleu homme imitation, Isabella Agnes, 19 ans, l'a suivi à l'extérieur et a été abattu dans le dos. Elle a dû retirer sa rate et un rein.

M. Martorana, 48 ans, a déclaré qu'il a vu deux hommes noirs s'approcher alors qu'il déchargeait la chaussure de sa BMW sur le chemin de sa maison à Hoddesdon. 'Je me suis penché dans la botte et j'ai été saisi de l'épaule', at-il dit. 'J'ai entendu ma femme crier.

'L'un d'eux a dit qu'il avait un fusil'. M. Martorana a déclaré qu'il a vu l'homme qui l'a fait passer un revolver à l'autre attaquant.

'L'homme qui a reçu l'arme a couru de mon point de vue. J'ai entendu ma femme crier et dans la prochaine seconde j'ai entendu un coup de feu'.

M. Martorana a déclaré que l'homme qui le saisit lâche, et 'j'ai vu ma femme tomber'.

Il a poursuivi: 'Presque deux secondes après le premier coup de feu, Steven est sorti de la porte en train de crier:' Quel diable est l'enfer! 'Comme il l'a dit, il y a eu un autre coup de feu et il s'est effondré en face de la porte. ' M. Martorana a déclaré à St Albans Crown Court qu'il a ensuite vu l'homme armé pointer l'arme vers la porte où il a vu Isabella sortir.

'J'étais un peu étourdi. Je suis allé la repousser et la protéger, mais j'ai entendu un autre coup de feu et nous sommes tombés sur le sol. Elle a été abattu et était immobile.

'Je me suis levé et j'ai vu le deuxième homme chevaucher sur ma femme et tirer la montre Rolex de son poignet. Je suis allé pour lui'. M. Martorana a couru après les attaquants. L'homme armé l'a tiré et a manqué. Il les a ensuite poursuivis dans sa voiture alors qu'ils se déplaçaient, poussant leur voiture à un rond-point,montre cartier ballon copie, mais ils s'enfuirent.

Jason James, 29 ans, et Daniel Whyte, 24 ans, tous deux de West Ealing, nient le meurtre, tentent de meurtre et volent la montre de Mme Martorana. James refuse de voler Rolex de M. Martorana, que Whyte admet.

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Style Icon at the Victoria Albert Museum

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a place of pilgrimage. People come from all over the world to see its stunning collection of Old Master paintings and sculpture, medieval armour and galleries of 20th century and contemporary art. So what would you guess is the most popular work of art on display there? Rogier van der Weyden Descent from the Cross, perhaps? Czanne Large Bathers? Even Marcel Duchamp The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors?

The answer at least when I was a young curator there in the early 1970s is that all these masterpieces were mere sideshows compared with the main attraction: Grace Kelly wedding dress.

Designed by Edith Head for Kelly marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, the dress was permanently on view and easy to find because the gallery in which it was displayed was always so crowded.

Nowadays it only comes out for special occasions most recently for a hugely popular show commemorating the 50th anniversary of the wedding.

You can see film clips of the wedding procession (but not the dress itself) in the Victoria and Albert Museum damp squib of an exhibition, Grace Kelly: Style Icon. Though she owned dresses by Dior, Givenchy, Chanel and Balenciaga, in this exhibition her threadbare clothes, well worn hats, naff jewels, scruffy shoes, and scuffed handbags look as if they came from a high class Oxfam shop. When I went to the packed public preview last week I found myself wondering what on earth the visitors were making of it.

On this side of the Atlantic, Grace Kelly is remembered as the beautiful American actress who married a minor European prince,cartier love bracelet rose fake, bore him three of the most badly behaved children in Europe, and then died of a stroke in 1983.

What possible interest this display of her clothes has for a European audience beats me. But in America and particularly in Kelly home town of Philadelphia it a different story. There, anything she touched approaches the status of a relic.

Forget all the clichs about the fairytale wedding. The real interest of her story is what it tells you about class, prejudice and social aspiration in American society in the middle of the last century when Philadelphia was notorious for the rigidity of its social hierarchy.

The Kellys were wealthy and broadly middle class, but they were also Irish and Catholic at a time when Eleanor Roosevelt could declare in a public broadcast that John F Kennedy religion disqualified him from running for president. What is more, Kelly had a second prejudice (or third, if you count her Irish background) to overcome the idea, pervasive in the US,cartier love bracelet pink gold fake, that all actresses were basically courtesans. Believe me, for all her beauty and talent, Kelly background and profession made it easier for her to marry into the ancient Grimaldi dynasty than into one of the old Wasp families on Philadelphia Main Line.

But from the moment Kelly announced her engagement (at the Philadelphia Country Club a subtle signal that the Kellys had already arrived), she placed herself above criticism. Whatever romantic interests she may have had before then, newsreel footage in this exhibition shows that in the months before the wedding Grace was never photographed without her mother, in mink coat and pearls, walking a few steps behind her. And here is the important thing: by behaving with impeccable dignity,cartier love bracelet yellow price, Grace Kelly helped pave the way for the election of an Irish Catholic president four years later. By presenting her wedding dress to the local museum, Her Serene Highness left a neat reminder to the Protestant establishment of her family ascendancy.

All this is relevant for understanding the V show because the most striking thing about Kelly wardrobe is how conservative it is. As one of the most beautiful women in the world, whatever she wore looked sensational, and for me by far the most entertaining part of the exhibition are the film clips showing her public appearances.

But from the point of view of design, the clothes are not in themselves especially memorable. Whether you are looking at costumes by Edith Head for her film roles or the glamorous evening gowns Christian Dior and Hubert Givenchy made for her to wear at charity galas in Monaco, Grace had her own style which was correct, proper but never adventurous.

Even Kelly jewels reflect her slightly suburban taste for brooches in the form of bugs and poodles. As you can see in a 1956 diamond and sapphire brooch set in platinum, her favourite jewellers, Van Cleef Arpels, were superb craftsmen, but unlike Cartier, they were not noted for their inventive design.

Clothes lent Princess Grace the dignity she needed to fulfil the role she had chosen for herself. With her regal bearing she looked completely natural wearing them. Unlike the actresses at the Oscar ceremonies, when Princess Grace wore a ball gown it didn look as though she borrowed it for a few hours.

In fact, the grubby condition of a lot of the clothes, hats and bags in this show suggests that Kelly wore them until she worn them out.

Unfortunately,cartier love bracelet diamond imitation, this admirable character trait makes for a truly dispiriting exhibition. As I gazed in dismay at the moulting, crumpled hats on display, I remembered the Schiaparelli exhibition at the Muse des arts dcoratifs in Paris a few years ago, where each elegant object looked pristine, largely (I assume) because it had been worn once or twice, and then carefully put away.

Likewise, the opulent dress coats, uniforms, livery and regalia shown at the V recent display of male costumes from the Russian Imperial Court had all been lovingly mended, folded, wrapped in tissue, and kept from the light.

The installation is pedestrian, with far too much crammed into two small galleries. The light levels are so low that even the most vividly coloured evening gowns look monochromatic. The catalogue didn tell me a single thing I didn already know or couldn have guessed.

UMass wins Atlantic 10 Conference men's cross country title by 1 point over Duquesne

The Minutemen bunched five runners between ninth and 21st to finish with 75 points and edge Duquesne by a single point. Richmond was third with 111 points.

"The team has worked hard in the last nine months to put ourselves in a position to become a better distance running team," UMass coach Ken O'Brien said. "This was a real test for our guys. After all the work they put in during the spring season and this summer,cartier love bracelet yellow copy, I'm glad they got the reward they were looking for and deserved."

Jonathan Pierce in ninth,cartier love bracelet white cheap, Nils Fischer in 11th, Nicolai Naranjo in 16th, Andrew Mulvaney of South Hadley in 18th and Jesse Regnier of Hampden in 21st led UMass. It was the first time all season that Pierce led the UMass pack, and both Pierce and Fischer earned all conference honors with their finishes.

Andrew McCann, Kevin Johnson, David Johnson and Sean Duncan were all 32nd or better for the winners as well.

Adu Dentamo of host Charlotte covered the 8 kilometer course in 24 minutes, 1.9 seconds or just about 21 seconds in front of Pierce.

This was the first conference title for the program since 1995 and the second overall. The Minutemen were third overall in 2007.

On the women's side,cartier love bracelet rose faux, Richmond won the title, and UMass was sixth. Shiyi Zan was eighth for the Minutewomen and Karen Roa 15th.

OTHER MEETS: Junior Kerry Arouca placed first to lead Westfield State to a second place finish at the New England Alliance women's championship meet at Stanley Park. Keene State won with 25 points, and WSC was next at 64.

Arouca covered the 5 kilometer run in 18 minutes, 27.21 seconds. Also earning all Alliance honors for the Owls by finishing in the top 20 were Marianne Mealy (8th), junior Ally Brown (13th) and Nicole Brouwer (18th). Keene State also won the men's meet.

The WNEC men was fifth in the TCCC Cross Country Championships it hosted.

The Springfield College women placed third and Mount Holyoke eighth at the NEWMAC Championships. Amanda DiPaolo took third for the Pride and Lacey Cartier 13th, earning all conference honors in the process.

WNEC 3, Colby Sawyer 0: Brian Dill scored his second goal of the season in the opening minute, leading No.1 WNEC past Colby in the quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament.

The Golden Bears host No.5 Salve Regina, a 1 0 winner over No.4 New England College, in Wednesday's semifinals.

Dale Trotman scored from Justin Martins later in the half to make it 2 0, and WNEC picked up an own goal in the second half. Goalie Kyle Bak recorded his third shutout of the season.

Westfield 2, MCLA 0: Jeff Trudeau finished up his career with a pair of goals,cartier bracelet 2016 cheap, both of which came in the second half, to lead Westfield (6 9 2, 2 3 2) in MASCAC play.

Coast Guard 3, Springfield 0: Nate Wojcik scored a pair of goals for Coast Guard (10 7, 3 3) against Springfield (6 9 2, 3 3) in a NEWMAC game at New London, Conn.

Westfield 7, MCLA 0: Seven different players scored for Westfield State, which secured a share of the Mass. State Conference regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament.

Westfield (13 4) and Bridgewater State finished tied for first at 6 1, but the Owls won a 3 2, overtime decision during the regular season which served as the tiebreaker.

Elms 4, Daniel Webster 0: Krystyna Gagne, Alicia Bobbie, Serina Percoski and Sarah Donais scored as Elms (11 7) advanced to Saturday's New England Collegiate Conference title game against Lesley.

Wheaton 2, Mount Holyoke 1: Emmy Fontaine scored, but Mount Holyoke

(6 11 1) lost its conference tournament game to Wheaton (15 4 2) on penalty kicks.

HCC 4, Jefferson CC: Sarah Jaskula scored three goals, and Grace Santiago broke a 3 all tie with eight minutes left as HCC (14 7) advanced to the Division III national semifinals in Texas.

Jaskula tied the game at 3 all before Santiago provided the winner. Valeria Cuesta Ortiz had three assists in the win.

Katelyn Orlando registered her 14th goal of the season for the Minutewomen, and Makaela Potts added a goal on a penalty stroke in the second to make it 2 all.

The Minutewomen will open play on Friday in the A 10 tournament at Temple in Philadelphia. They are the top seed.

Wellesley 4, Mount Holyoke 1: Mary Kate Switchenko scored from Anne Doton for sixth seeded Mount Holyoke (9 7) in its loss to third seeded Wellesley in the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC tournament.

Parents appeal walk zones to Portage school board

Mark Bugnaski Kalamazoo GazettePortage parents and students walk home along Tattersall Road from Amberly Elementary School after school. Melanie Tipken, pushes Annabelle, 1 while walking with her nine year old third grade son Alexander, followed by Adrianna Rosas in white, with her eight year old third grade daughter Xochitl Robertson, right, on their way home to the Milham Meadows apartments,cartier love bracelet men faux, about a mile away. PORTAGE Parents from Portage West Middle and Amberly Elementary schools remain unhappy about new walk to school zones for their buildings and say safety concerns outweigh the cost savings.

They also expressed concerns about a Portage Public Schools transportation advisory committee that will hear appeals Thursday.

Parent Julie Cartier, one of nine people to address the Portage Public Schools Board of Education on Monday about the walk zones,cartier love bracelet gold cheap, said the advisory committee is ill equipped to make an informed recommendation.

She said most of the committee members are new to the group, there are no written guidelines on how they should make their recommendation and the group takes its cues from the same officials who drew up the walk zones.

question the independence of (the panel) and the ability of its members to make a recommendation on a subject they will just be learning about when they convene this week, Cartier said.

In June, the board voted to save $106,000 by eliminating nine daily bus runs, affecting about 550 students at eight schools. Since then, the board has revised the walk zone for 12th Street Elementary.

Trustee Melanie Kurdys urged district administrators to address the parents concerns.

is the third board meeting where we heard concerns about walk zones, Kurdys said. appreciate the progress that administration has made on this,cartier love bracelet rose replica, but it appears there still a problem. it not resolved to the satisfaction of the parents,cartier love bracelet for men imitation, it may require board intervention, in my view, Kurdys said.

Board President Jennifer Whistler said administrators will report at the next board meeting about what action has been taken and take it from there.

BRASILIA, Brazil -- Ghana threw Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng out of its World Cup squad for disciplinary reasons on Thursday, plunging the African team into further chaos ahead of its decisive group-stage match against Portugal. Anton Stralman Jersey . Just a day after seeming to resolve a possible player mutiny over World Cup bonus payments, the Ghana Football Association released two separate statements saying two of the countrys stars had been "suspended ... indefinitely from the Black Stars with immediate effect." Muntari was suspended "in the wake of his unprovoked physical attack on an executive committee member of the GFA and a management member of the Black Stars, Mr. Moses Armah" on Tuesday, one statement read. The other statement said Boateng was dropped from the squad because of "vulgar verbal insults targeted at coach Kwesi Appiah" during a training session this week. "Boateng has since showed no remorse for his actions which has resulted in the decision," the statement added. Both players have had their World Cup accreditation withdrawn. Boateng, who plays for German club Schalke, told German newspaper Sport Bild that he accepted his suspension and wished his teammates well for Thursdays game against Portugal -- "but no one should think that I insulted the coach or did anything wrong." Boateng said he and Muntari had been joking with each other during training Wednesday. The coach asked why they were laughing, and then sent Boateng to the dressing room, he added. "After training I went to the coach and asked him if he had a minute for me. I asked him what he had against me," Boateng was quoted as saying. "Then he started shouting at me." Ghana, a quarterfinalist in 2010, must beat Portugal in Brasilia on Thursday to stand any chance of reaching the second round from Group G. Muntari was suspended for the match after collecting two yellow cards. Ghanas World Cup campaign was already in turmoil following a row over appearance-fee payments that squad members had been promised but had not yet received. The countrys cash-strapped federation had been forced to ask FIFA for an advance on the $8 million prize money it is guaranteed from playing at the World Cup to pay outstanding debts to players. FIFA said Wednesday that Ghanas request was "under evaluation." Ghanas deputy sports minister earlier had said that as much as $3 million in cash was being flown into Brazil from the West African nation to finally pay the bonuses to the unhappy players, averting a possible player strike. World Cup prize money -- which ranges in Brazil from $8 million for being knocked out in the group stage to $35 million for winning the title -- is normally paid after the tournament. Ghana midfielder Christian Atsu dismissed fears the team would boycott its final group game in Brasilia over the bonus-payment row. "We are not going to say we are not going to play because of the money," Atsu said. "We love our nation and we are going to play for our nation." Appiah said Wednesday that he had been having "sleepless nights" this week, and also said he had patched up his differences with Boateng after a training-ground altercation. Mitchell Stephens Lightning Jersey .com) - Avery Bradley scored 21 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets, 89-81. Matthew Spencer Jersey .com) - Bradley Beal deposited a season-high 33 points and John Wall posted another double-double as the Washington Wizards went on the road and beat the Houston Rockets, 104-103.MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens want to accentuate the positive after blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period of their playoff game in Boston. Coach Michel Therrien said on a conference call on Sunday that his team was happy to be home from Boston with a split of the opening two games of the best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference second round series. The Canadiens pulled out a 4-3 overtime win in the series opener on Thursday, but let a lead slip away under relentless Bruins pressure in a 5-3 defeat on Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden. The third and fourth games will be played Tuesday and Thursday respectively at the Bell Centre. "We went to play two games where its tough for any team to play in the NHL and were out of there with the series tied," said Therrien. "Thats the big picture. "I think its a boost of confidence for our players that were able to compete with that team and play with that team. And one thing for sure, playing at the Bell Centre, with the fans and support weve got, is a tough place for the other team to play. Im sure the players will feed off our fans." The Canadiens were given the day off Sunday and will practice Monday at their suburban training centre to prepare for Game 3. While the Canadiens took home ice advantage away from Boston, the Bruins looked to have grabbed momentum in the series with four third-period goals. "Momentum, yes its a part of hockey, but theres nothing you can do about the past," said Therrien. "Whats important is the moment. "Our preparation for the next game has alreaady started. Braydon Coburn Lightning Jersey. From the coaching standpoint, there are going to be things well apply during practice and make sure we apply them in the next game. "Momentum starts when they drop the puck." He denied that the Canadiens were nursing a lead in the third period before the Bruins stormed back. He said Boston had only one scoring chance in the third 10 minutes and scored on their first real chance of the final frame. Defenceman Josh Gorges said the players want to put Game 2 behind them. "Theres no sense in celebrating too much after a win or beating yourself up after a loss," he said. "It doesnt do anything for you for the next game. We know where we stand. We know we have to be better." Therrien would not discuss any potential lineup changes. He said winger Brandon Prust, who looks to be struggling, is "totally healthy" and that he liked what he saw from rookie winger Michael Bournival, who returned to the lineup after sitting out a game in favour of veteran Travis Moen. "He had a really good first round,"said Therrien, who used Bournival in every game of an opening round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning. "We put him back in the lineup. I wanted to use his speed. I thought he did a good job with (Tomas) Plekanec." Therrien also said he hopes that popular singer Ginette Reno would be back to sing the Canadian anthem in Game 3. The Canadiens scored early after she sang in both home games against the Lightning. 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