Grant Park chorus director dies at 51

Michael Cullen, director of the Grant Park Symphony Chorus sinceAugust, 1994, died Tuesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was51.

"He had had a liver transplant a few weeks ago," said PhilipHale, development coordinator for the Grant Park Music Festival. "Heseemed to be on the way to a successful recovery, so we were verytaken aback."

"He was a tremendous musician and a wonderful person, and hewill be greatly missed," said James W. Palermo, the festival'sartistic and general director.Mr. Cullen had been associated with the Grant Park chorus for 28years, as assistant conductor and accompanist. He became directorafter the June, 1994, death of Thomas Peck, …

AP-FBC--T25-Air Force-Oklahoma Stats, FBC

…2064 AP-FBC--T25-Air …

GOP lawmaker apologizes for apologizing to BP exec

Who's sorry now? Rep. Joe Barton, that's who.

The Texas Republican, the House's top recipient of oil industry campaign contributions since 1990, apologized Thursday for apologizing to the chief of the British company that befouled the Gulf of Mexico with a massive oil spill.

His double mea culpa plus a retraction, executed under pressure from fuming GOP leaders, succeeded in shifting attention from the tragedy, BP's many missteps and the stoic British oil chief at the witness table, to his own party's close connection to the oil industry.

Barton started the ruckus at midmorning when he took aim at the $20 billion relief fund for victims of the spill …

Mechanical Deformation of Spherical Viruses with Icosahedral Symmetry

ABSTRACT

Virus capsids and crystalline surfactant vesicles are two examples of self-assembled shells in the nano- to micrometer size range. Virus capsids are particularly interesting since they have to sustain large internal pressures while encapsulating and protecting the viral DNA. We therefore study the mechanical properties of crystalline shells of icosahedral symmetry on a substrate under a uniaxial applied force by computer simulations. We predict the elastic response for small deformations, and the buckling transitions at large deformations. Both are found to depend strongly on the number of elementary building blocks N (the capsomers in the case of viral shells), the …

Ashwagandha: An anti-cancer, anti-arthritis, anti-ulcer 'adaptogen'

Considered the oldest healing science in existence, in one scientific study after another, Ayurvedic herbal medicines are proving their tremendous value in protecting mankind from itself -- from the toxic industrialized environment and frenzied societies we have created and their effects, in turn, on us.

Yet there is hope. A great deal of it. Not only are some ecosystems being protected (and restored) and non-frantic lifestyles being adopted, but ancient wisdom from the dawn of civilization is also being applied to modern medicine, and with some astounding results.

What are adaptogens and why are they important? According to N. Singh, et al., in an article which appeared in …

Lebanon festive for now, but tough issues ahead

Businessman George Jabra isn't certain the stability Lebanon has enjoyed for more than half a year is going to last. Still, he took a chance and opened up a new restaurant on a Beirut hilltop, betting on the craze for fun sweeping Lebanese.

The Lebanese capital is hopping this holiday season. Planeloads of expatriate Lebanese coming home for Christmas and New Year's are greeted by crowds of relatives at the airport. Downtown Beirut is choked with traffic jams, and shops and boutiques are full of customers.

But the festive mood, only months after bloody street clashes threatened to throw the country into civil war, is tinged with concern for what lies …

A Wright challenge // Suburban bungalow gets face-lift by adding wider steps and low wall in front

The late architect Frank Lloyd Wright was one of theacknowledged masters of relating a house (no matter what size) to itssite. He developed a number of design devices to help integratestructure and environment: low-hipped roofs with broad overhangs;the repetition of bands of windows, and low walls extending beyondexterior building walls to form a strong base for the house. Thesewere all characteristic devices of the master's best work, beginningwith his Prairie houses at the turn of the century.

Wright's work sprang to mind during a discussion about a "dumpy"house in the suburbs. The challenge was to improve the entrance andfront elevation of the modest bungalow. It …