The last things you imagine as a parent is discovering a week after your child is born that she has a hole in her heart and will have to have open heart surgery. Regardless of what the doctors say about it being a routine operation, the idea of your tiny little bundle having her chest cut open, her heart stopped and a gortex patch glued in over the hole just doesn’t really compute. Should you be afraid? What emotions is one supposed to feel?

April was born six weeks early and weighed a measly 3lbs 11oz. She was underweight even for a preemie. But she was perfect, and a little fighter. She needed no help breathing. She latched on within the first few hours and guzzled away, astonishing the doctors and nurses with her weight gain. The pediatrician heard a murmur when he checked her heart on the third day. We made an appointment to see the cardiologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Once we knew that April had Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), we essentially just accepted it. We were told to be attentive to her breathing. Does she get hot and sweaty when she feeds? Out of breath? Is she having a hard time gaining weight? The answer was no to all of these questions. Aside from being born little, April was definitely thriving. Could she really have been so sick?

Finally, when April was five months old, the time came for her surgery. It was two days before Josh’s thirtieth birthday. I think it was the hardest week of his, and my life. I felt distinctly as though I was watching a movie. This wasn’t real. They took my baby. The job I had been doing for the past five months was suddenly taken from me. I was superfluous. After the surgery, in the ICU, there was this little swollen puffy girl who looked like my baby, but was lying there so still. She had about 14 different tubes intravenously feeding her a cocktail of various medications. She was heavily sedated. Apparently on that first night her chest tube wasn’t draining properly and she went into tachycardia. They wiggled the tube and it drained all of the blood. Her heart rate came back down. I called when this was going on, asking for the nurse on duty. The doctor answered the phone, explaining what had just happened. Would I have been of any use at the hospital? It was all out of my hands.

I will be eternally thankful to my mother and to Josh for helping me through those days. Josh, for being so real and genuine and honest. He cried when he saw her all full of tubes. I didn’t cry until the fifth day, when I was finally allowed to nurse her again. It was all over. She was fixed.

By some strange twist of fate, I ended up with my picture in two magazines this month.  The first is in a French magazine called VSD, which seemingly covers all things fluff, although it is hard to tell since I don’t read French.  VSD had somehow come across The Wiitles, my Wii-remote rock band, and thought we’d fit nicely into their article titled (I love this) “Du jeu video a l’art geek”.  Again, I don’t speak French, but can demise that the article is about Arty Video Game Geeks.  The Wiitles will gladly take France, fits in with our plan to change the world.

Not nearly as exciting but kind of cool in context, I also am in a full sized advertisement in Mix magazine for my alma mater, the Savannah College of Art and Design.  I haven’t yet seen this since my subscription has worn out, but heard about it from one of my favorite old professors, Rob Miller.

Wie ich mich so auf eine Veranstaltung vorbereite, auf der ich am Freitag dieser Woche einen Vortrag halten darf, suche ich Videos, die Kerngedanken zu Klimaschutz und Nachhaltigkeit (mit dem Schwerpunkt Medienproduktion) gut rüber bringen. Bunt gemischt folgen hier meine favorisierten 12 Clips. Alle Links führen zu Youtube, ich hoffe, das eine oder andere Video gefällt Ihnen:

Vom Bionade-Imagefilm könnte sich so manches DAX-X-Unternehmen ein paar Scheiben abschneiden. Sehr glaubwürdig wird dort die nachhaltige und im besten Sinne des Wortes bodenständige Grundeinstellung des Unternehmens kommuniziert.

350 hat eine Reihe guter Videos – dieses hier rockt. Wie die magische Zahl von 350 (parts per million) auf anschauliche Weise vermittelt wird, ist sensationell. Und auch der Sound stimmt.

Unsere Nachbarn aus Österreich sind allerspätestens seit Ludwig Hirsch für ihren schwarzen Humor bekannt. Der Ökostrom-Spot “Böser Strom” zeigt warum. Die Pointe ist einfach zu gut!

IBM hat mit ibm/fightcarbon die aus meiner Sicht mutigste kommerzielle Umsetzung des Themas CO2 gefunden. Wer erwartet im Klimaschutz schon düstere Bilder, wo doch Blumenwiesen und Windräder die Bildlandschaft bestimmen? Von den drei Videos Operation Roadside, Operation Underground und Operation Rooftop ist letzteres mein Favorit. Sehenswert sind aber alle drei Reverse Graffiti Clips.

René Theiler vom Verband der Schweizer Druckindustrie war für mich der Star auf der diesjährigen MediaMundo. Die öffentlich verfügbaren Auszüge aus seiner Rede gehören zu den Meilensteinen der Geschichte der nachhaltigen Medienproduktion. Hallo René, ich hoffe, wir können unser ausgefallenes Treffen bald einmal nachholen!

Professor Michael Hardt hat auf der Media Mundo die berechtigte Frage gestellt, worüber wir bei nachhaltiger Medienproduktion überhaupt reden und ob wir Printmedien überhaupt brauchen. Diesen Fragen sind provokant, aber berechtigt. Der Vortrag von Michael Hardt gehört damit dringend auf meine Liste.

Mit MIA fällt der Umstieg auf Ökostrom leicht, weil der Song Ökostrom einfach rotzig nett ist, auch wenn der intelligente Text etwas holpert, aber das ist ja eines der Erkennungszeichen der Berliner Band rund um Mieze.

Gesungen geht’s gleich weiter – und zwar auf französisch mit dem Schweizer Rapper Stress, der für Coop von Nachhaltigkeit und unseren Verpflichtungen gegenüber nachfolgenden Generationen rappt.

Extrem überzeugend visualisiert wurde der CO2-Fußabdruck in dem Spot Carbon Footprint von “Act on CO2″: Jeder Schritt, den wir machen, hinterlässt eine Dreckspur.

Die Videos von Tesla finde ich schon deshalb gut, weil ich auch gerne einen Tesla hätte (familienbedingt das Model S). Davon abgesehen überzeugt mich, dass klimafreundliche Fahrzeuge so schön sein können – und die Werbung die Klimabotschaft nicht überstrapaziert. Die Botschaft ist: “So muss es eben sein, ein modernes Fahrzeug.”

TckTckTck – Das neue Video von “Time for Global Justice” von Kofi Annan hat heute in aller Frühe bereits einen eigenen Post bekommen. Es ist das beste Klimawandel-Video, das ich kenne. Und das nicht nur wegen des Songs “When you try you best, but you don’t succeed…” von Coldplay.

TckTckTck hat weitere exzellente Videos. Dieses hier (mit Gael Garcia Bernal) symbolisiert die Dringlichkeit des Handelns besonders anschaulich und ästhetisch. Der Satz “It’s a big deal and it’s not going away” geht mir nicht mehr aus dem Sinn. Das Video rangiert auf meiner Hitliste auf Platz 2.

Boom De Ya Da! In einem Vortrag braucht man ja immer auch ein Beispiel dafür, wie man es tunlichst nicht machen sollte. Die Wahl fiel schnell sofort auf den Riesen von RWE, den ich allerdings hier nur in der sattsam bekannten Version mit Untertiteln eines anonymen Verfassers wiedergebe. Diese Version erfreut sich bei YouTube übrigens einer deutlich höheren Beliebtheit als das Original.

PS: Wer Mind Maps zum Klimawandel sucht, ist bei Learning Fundamentals gut aufgehoben: Jane Genovese hat die schönsten Climate Change Mind Maps weit und breit.

Yet funding for pediatric cancer research is 5 times higher than funding for Congenital Heart Defects.

Erfolgreicher Muffin-Verkäufer: Andreas K.

Ja, ich weiß: Nichts kann einen mehr langweilen als Rezeptseiten. Mir selbst geht es da nicht anders, deshalb werde ich mit Teil 3 meiner schnellen veganen Küche auch erst einmal eine kleine Pause einlegen und mich wieder anderen Themen widmen. Aber das Rezept meiner legendären Schoko-Bananen-Muffins, die innerhalb kürzester Zeit von Andreas K. (s. Foto) auf dem Veggie Street Day unter’s Volk gebracht wurden, muss ich noch schnell hier los werden:

Schoko-Bananen-Muffins
Zutaten für ca. 15 Muffins:
200 g Weizenmehl Typ 1050
90 ml Sonnenblumenöl
4 reife Bananen
2 Esslöffel Backpulver
1 Teelöffel Natron
1 Esslöffel Sojamehl
150 g Zucker
1 Päckchen zartbittere Raspel-Schokolade (100 g), z.B. von der Firma RUF
etwas Wasser

Sonnenblumenöl und Bananen mit einer Gabel zermatschen und mit den restlichen Zutaten zu einem Teig mixen. Den Teig bis zur Hälfte in kleine Muffin-Papierförmchen füllen, diese in eine Muffin-Form stellen. Das Ganze dann bei 200 °C im vorgeheizten Ofen ca. 20 Minuten backen und ggf. noch nach Lust und Laune mit veganer Schoko-Kuvertüre, Nüssen etc. verzieren.

Der diesjährige Veggie Street Day unter dem Motto “Aus Freude am Leben” fand übrigens nun schon zum 4. Mal in Dortmund statt. Bei strahlendem Sonnenschein genossen am 1. August 2009 tausende VegetarierInnen, VeganerInnen und andere Interessierte die zahlreichen Verkaufs- und Info-Stände, die vielen veganen Köstlichkeiten und das buntgemischte Bühnenprogramm. Mich begeisterte besonders die Action-Samba-Gruppe “Rhythms of Resistance” aus Köln:

Action-Samba in Aktion

Wohingegen meine Schwester ja völlig hingerissen war von der anwesenden Big-Brother-Prominenz:

Julia (Mitte) mit Jana und Oliver von Big Brother

Bleibt zu hoffen, dass auch nächstes Jahr wieder die Veranstalter “Die Tierfreunde e. V.” gemeinsam mit dem Vegetarierbund Deutschland e. V. (VEBU) so ein tolles Festival auf die Beine stellen. Noch mehr Infos und viele schöne Bilder gibt es unter Veggie-Street-Day.

Fuseless design for reliable, non-aging, maintenance-free circuit protection.

DTC control platform for exceptionally high torque and speed performance.

IGCT power semiconductor for highest reliability

Retrofit-ready for existing motors and suitable for most medium voltage applications including pumps, fans, compressors, extruders, conveyors.

Output sine filter for pure sinusoidal voltage and current output: standard motors, no motor derating, no voltage stress and no common mode voltages on the motor insulation.

Inverter type Three-level Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) with fast-switching power semiconductors – Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristors (IGCTs), without parallel or series connected devices

ABB industrial drives are designed for industrial applications, and especially for applications in process industries such as the converting, pulp & paper, metals, mining, cement, power, chemical, and oil & gas industries. ABB industrial drives are highly flexible AC drives that can be configured to meet the precise needs of industrial applications, and therefore order based configuration is an integral part of the offering. These drives cover a wide range of powers and voltages, including industrial voltages up to 690 V. ABB industrial drives come with a wide range of built in options. A key feature of these drives is programmability, which makes adaptation to different applications easy.

Voltage & Power Range
3-phase, 208 to 240 V, ± 10%, except multidrive and nxR8i ACS800-04 modules
3-phase, 380 to 415 V, ± 10%
3-phase, 380 to 500 V, ± 10%
3-phase, 525 to 690 V, ± 10%

Horse Power
0.75 to 2200 Hp

The ABB ACS550 standard drive can be used in a wide range of industries. Typical applications include pump, fan and constant torque use, such as conveyors. The ABB ACS550 standard drive is ideal for those situations where there is a need for simplicity to install, commission and use and where customizing or special product engineering is not required.

Technical Specifications

ABB general machinery drives are designed for machine building. In serial type manufacturing the consumed time per unit is critical. The drives are designed to be the fastest drives in terms of installation, setting parameters and commissioning. The basic products have been made as user-friendly as possible, yet providing high intelligence. The drives offer diverse functionality to cater for the most demanding needs.

Technical Specifications
0.5 to 3 Hp 200 to 240V (+/- 10%) 1-phase
0.5 to 15 Hp 200 to 240V (+/- 10%) 3-phase
0.5 to 30 Hp 380 to 480V (+/- 10%) 3-phase

Highlights
- Unified height and depth
- Convenient installation
- Optimized interfaces for users and machines
- Impressive software and compact hardware
- Sequence programming
- High ingress protection (IP66) variant as an option
- FlashDrop tool for fast parameter setting

Liebe Followerinnen und Follower, es tut mir leid, eigentlich wollte ich schon vor Wochen hier weitermachen, aber irgendwie komme ich vor lauter Arbeit echt zu nix. Das Sommerloch ist bis jetzt spurlos an mir vorbeigegangen, jobmäßig ist derzeit so viel los wie kurz vor Heiligabend. Also irgendwie mehr als genug zu tun. Da bleibt allenfalls Zeit für einen dieser netten Kurzfilme:

Auf YouTube findet Ihr weitere – sie sind meiner Ansicht nach allesamt sehr empfehlenswert. Wahrscheinlich werde ich dann am Wochenende (dieses oder nächstes) Teil 3 meiner Serie “Die schnelle vegane Küche” schreiben. Es wird voraussichtlich einen Kurzbericht über den Veggie Street Day (mit Farbfotos!) sowie das Rezept meiner sensationellen veganen Schoko-Bananen-Muffins geben. Bis dahin viel Spaß mit Simon und seiner Katze! Und schon bin ich wieder weg… auf zur nächsten Baustelle! Die Arbeit ruft!

My friend Eliza recently took time to answer my questions about growing up with a heart defect, exercise, and participating in the Bolder Boulder 10K road race.

Born with Pulmonary Atresia with a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), Eliza underwent four heart operations as a child.  “I was never the most athletic kid on the block,” she tells me, “but my parents did encourage me to try lots of things.  Even though P. E. (Physical Education) was never my best or favorite class, I’m very glad that my parents followed my cardiologist’s suggestions and never kept me out of it.”  Eliza participated in ballet for eight years and was on the softball team for a year in middle school.

Her biggest challenge in 4th and 5th grade was trying to keep up when her school participated in the President’s Physical Fitness Challenge. The Challenge exposed her weaknesses: “I remember being reduced to tears when I didn’t understand how I was so bad at sit-ups and the mile run. It never occurred to me that it was because of my heart and the surgeries I had for it.”  Luckily she had a great P.E. teacher  in elementary school who emphasized that the important thing was to get outside, move around, and have fun.  “(She) told me that if I wasn’t dirty when her class was over, then I wasn’t having enough fun.  I’ll always remember that.”

Eliza also had another Physical Education teacher in high school who “taught me basic physiology, anatomy and the benefits of exercise.  Without those two gym teachers’ encouragement and knowledge, I certainly wouldn’t be as healthy as I am today.”

After graduating from both high school and college, Eliza took internships in a big city and started on a path that would lead her to the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA). Describing those days as “a very dark time,” she tried to deal with adulthood, work, finding friends and doctors in a new city, and the realization that her heart wasn’t permanently fixed, all while being hundreds of miles from home. “I thought that I was entering a whole new, exciting world, but I ended up feeling very alone on so many levels.”

After a false alarm with her heart and without any guidance from her doctor at home, she finally found an Adult Congenital Heart Defect (ACHD) Cardiologist. A month or so after her appointment, she received a postcard in the mail from her new doctor with information about the Adult Congenital Heart Association.  She was curious to find out how other adults with congenital heart defects managed their health and how that worked in their lives.

Returning to Colorado, Eliza got involved with the group that would eventually become the Denver-Metro Area chapter of the ACHA. Little did anyone, especially Eliza, know what would come next!

Boulder, Colorado is the home of the Bolder Boulder, a 10-kilometer (6.2 mile) road race through the streets of downtown Boulder. Described as a “citizen’s race” because the majority of participants are not professional runners, the race is organized in staggered starting groups called “waves” that allow people of many fitness levels to compete at their own pace. The minimum requirement is to be able to walk 6.2 miles in two hours.  The event concludes at the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field with a Memorial Day celebration after the citizen racers take their seats in the stands to watch the professionals runners compete in their own 10k event.

“The atmosphere is so much fun!  Besides the huge number of racers, (53,000 participated in the 2009 race) there are radio personalities, belly dancers, celebrity impersonators, rock bands, people with their sprinklers on, Slip & Slides, and neighbors sitting in lawn chairs cheering on all of the racers as they pass.”

And that’s just the bystanders. A good portion of the runners let their sense of humor come out – there is no telling what you’ll see along the course. “There are people who dress up in funny costumes in all of the waves,” Eliza continues.  “There’s a guy in a gorilla suit who is usually in the very first wave.  I’ve seen people in frog costumes playing leapfrog in the walking waves. This year I saw a group of girls dressed like an 1980’s band and another group who was trying to do the race as a 3-legged race.  They have water and Gatorade for the racers at every kilometer and race officials all over to make sure everyone has a safe and really fun time.”

Eliza had been walking the Bolder Boulder course since she was a child, usually with her mother. “The first time I did the Bolder Boulder I was probably ten years old. It was my mom’s idea – she wanted to walk it and thought it would be a fun thing to do with me, even though she is the least athletic person in my family. I walked the race with her on and off for years until I decided to do it for my own health in 2006. “

“That year I invited family, friends and a few people from the local Adult Congenital Heart Defect (ACHD) group.  We thought, ‘Man, it would be great if we could do this and officially raise awareness for the ACHA!’”

ACHA president Amy Verstappen, Eliza and the national staff worked together to create the legal documents needed to make it an official event. The ACHA’s Bolder Boulder team was off and running!

“Given the economic climate this year, I am very proud that we raised over $1,300 even though it’s significantly less than what we’ve raised in previous years.  In 2008, we raised over $3,000 for the ACHA.  This year we had a record number of ACHA racers – 24!.”  (That number includes both Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Survivors and supporters.)

A handful of ACHA members and supporters have come to Colorado from out of state to participate in the festivities. This year, there were people from California, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

While those numbers are impressive, they’re not the essence of the event for Eliza. “Since I decided to do it (participate in the Bolder Boulder) for my own health, it’s been a positive goal that’s kept me exercising regularly,” she says. From her enthusiasm when she talks about it, you can tell Eliza is happiest about getting other CHD survivors to be active. “I’ve been thrilled to find out that our participation not only inspires our racers, but also people across the country and other ACHDers who aren’t quite able to do a 10k to figure out how to incorporate some exercise into their lives. I love that something that started out as a personal goal for me has mushroomed into an avenue and an inspiration for so many in the ACHA to be as healthy as they can be!”

As Adventures of a Funky Heart! readers know, I often ask interview subjects, “Do you have any wisdom or advice for young parents of Cardiac Kids?” Eliza didn’t disappoint:

“Medical interventions like surgery and caths (Catherizations) can help our hearts to function more normally, but that willingness to get out of the house, to get up when we fall down, to actually move around and exercise itself is what strengthens even hearts like ours and gives us the confidence, mental and emotional fortitude to manage our heart health as we get older.”

“For everyone, but especially for kids with CHD, exercise isn’t just about moving your body and making is stronger.  If the adults around you have the right attitude, it’s about having the self-confidence to try another way when you reach a roadblock.  It’s about learning to maintain and trying to top your own personal best. It can be about learning to be part of a team.  It’s about kids (teens and adults too) who have known what it’s like to feel incredibly physically weak and vulnerable, finding ways to feel physically powerful, able, strong and independent.”

As far as specific advice, Eliza says, “Anytime they are excited about doing something physically active, go with it! As long their cardiologist thinks it’s healthy for them, let them do the mile run – even if they end up being the last person who finishes it. It’s even more important for us to learn how to handle minor scrapes & bruises than most people because we’ll face so many physical challenges in our lives.  Resist the urge to run and pick your kids up immediately when they fall.  We need to learn that resilience. Let them climb trees. Let them fall and scrape their knees. ”

Eliza reminds us of a very hopeful statistic: “At least ninety percent of children born with congenital heart defects today will be adults someday. Always assume that your child will be in that ninety percent and treat them accordingly. Don’t forget to daydream about what you hope to do with your child and the kind of person that you hope they will become.”

ENDNOTE: Eliza was recently accepted into graduate school to study health promotion, partially inspired by her love of enabling CHD Survivors to challenge the Memorial Day race over the last few years.  She’ll be leaving the Denver area, but I’m hopeful that no matter where life takes her, she’ll always find her way home just in time to take on the Bolder Boulder!

I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting my friend;

The back of Eliza's 2008 Bolder Boulder shirt

Trung tâm Lưu ký chứng khoán (VSD) vừa thông báo sẽ nhận lưu ký cổ phiếu của Vietcombank ngay từ từ hôm nay với tổng giá trị trên 12.000 tỷ đồng.

Theo thông báo vừa phát đi, VSD cho biết 1,21 tỷ cổ phiếu của Ngân hàng Ngoại thương Việt Nam (mã VCB), tương ứng vốn điều lệ 12.100 tỷ đồng, sẽ được lưu ký tập trung. Đây là một bước trong các thủ tục để cổ phiếu này lên sàn, dự kiến vào 30/6 tới.

Vietcombank đã được HOSE chấp thuận về nguyên tắc niêm yết hôm 1/4. Ngân hàng quốc doanh đầu tiên được cổ phần hóa này sẽ niêm yết khoảng 112,3 triệu cổ phiếu, tương đương 9% vốn điều lệ.

Với việc được lưu ký, về nguyên tắc, giao dịch của cổ phiếu này trên thị trường OTC cũng ngừng lại từ hôm nay. Với một số doanh nghiệp niêm yết trước đây, sau khi cổ phiếu được lưu ký để lên sàn, một số giao dịch trên OTC vẫn được thực hiện. Song hình thức này chủ yếu dựa vào lòng tin giữa các môi giới và nhà đầu tư, mà không có xác nhận về sở hữu cổ phiếu, và thường có rủi ro cao.

Cùng với Vietcombank, cổ phiếu của Công ty chứng khoán SME và Công ty chứng khoán Châu Á – Thái Bình Dương cũng sẽ lưu ký từ ngày 15/6, với khối lượng lần lượt 15 triệu và 26 triệu cổ phiếu.

Ngọc Châu

Bài viết liên quan

Tôi dự đoán cổ phiếu Vietcombank giá ‘5 chấm’

Cổ phiếu OTC ào ào tăng giá

56 triệu cổ phần VietinBank sắp chào sàn

Rà soát các chợ OTC

Nguồn: viencanh.com 1,2 tỷ cổ phiếu Vietcombank ngừng giao dịch OTC

I have to admit that I’ve been sort of busy – I was recently able to interview the Heart Warrior who organized and led our effort to run the Bolder Boulder. She’s got a lot to say about being active with a CHD, taking care of yourself, raising a child with a heart defect, and about the race itself.  It’s taken a little time to prepare the interview, but now it is ready. The interview will run on JUNE 16, 2009.

Heart Parents, Cardiac Kids, and other Heart Warriors need to read this interview.

An appointment was set up on 25th May for Anaqi to undergo an echocardiogram at the Cardiac Centre at KKH. After a detailed analysis, it turns out that his PD’s suspicion indeed holds true. Anaqi is diagnosed to have "moderate to large perimembranous ventricular septal defect with inlet extension (VSD), moderate atrial septal defect (ASD), high pulmonary pressure". In short, he has two holes in his heart – one in the upper chambers (atrium) and one (slighter bigger) in the lower chambers (ventricle).

Here’s a detailed graphical representation of ASD, VSD versus the normal heart.

According to KKH website library, the left atrium and ventricle is normally at a highler pressure than the right, so the defects allow blood to flow from the left to the right. Blood is shunted across and re-circulated back to the lungs. The effects of having "extra" blood flowing across into the right atrium/ventricle are:

• ASD – The right-sided upper heart chamber (right atrium) and right-sided lower heart chamber (right ventricle) become dilated to accommodate this extra blood volume.
• VSD – The left-sided upper heart chamber (left atrium) and left-sided lower heart chamber (left ventricle) can become dilated to accommodate the extra blood volume returning from the lungs.
• The lungs becomes more "wet" or even become "flooded" with this extra re-circulated blood.
• The blood pressure in the lungs increases.

The degree at which these effects occur would depend on the size of the ASD/VSD and the amount of blood that is re-circulated back to the lungs. This can range from insignificant to severe.

Here’s a graphical representation of blood flow of a heart with ASD/VSD (courtesy of KKH):

According to the cardiologist who did his scan, this is treatable – so this is good news! Anaqi will need to undergo periodic review to see if, over time, the holes will eventually get smaller, or if otherwise, he may need some medication to "buy time" before he’s ready to undergo surgery.

Let’s all hope for the best for the little one.