North Hollywood Research Articles

The Private Investigator

The Private Investigator

76. Robot-assisted Vaginoplasty: A Multidisciplinary Technique for Gender Affirmation

Background: Gender affirming trans female bottom surgery is critical in treating gender dysphoria but can result in complications such as stricture/stenosis development, neovaginal prolapse, and rectal injury. The authors describe a multidisciplinary robot-assisted technique incorporating a free peritoneal graft to alleviate these complications. Methods: Patients who met the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) criteria for bottom surgery, underwent robotic-assisted penile inversion vaginoplasty with senior author (J.D.K), and had at least three months of follow-up were included in the study. Patients undergoing zero-depth vaginoplasty or revision vaginoplasty were excluded. The free peritoneal graft is harvested robotically and used as a strip of mucosal-like tissue for a more anatomic neovagina and sutured to scrotal skin grafts over a vaginal conformer. The construct is sutured to the remaining penile shaft skin and then then inverted and passed through the perineal body into the robotically-created space. The apex of the neovaginal lining created by the skin graft-peritoneal graft construct is then sutured to the peritoneal reflection with barbed suture in two layers intra-corporally via the robot. Results: Thirty-eight patients were included in our study. Average age at the time of initial consult was 31 years. All patients were on hormone therapy and 42% of patients had previously undergone top surgery. The average length of follow-up was 230 days. The most common complication was stricture/stenosis secondary to non-compliance with post-operative dilation protocol. Eight patients (21%) experienced stricture, four of which were managed with aggressive dilation. Three patients required surgical revision and one patient did not require any intervention. Seven patients (18%) experienced wound dehiscence with four patients requiring operative repair. Four patients (11%) developed labial banding/webbing that required revision. Other complications included one hematoma, one infection, and two episodes of post-operative bleeding. Eleven patients (29%) developed symptomatic granulation tissue during the healing process that was treated with silver nitrate application and resolved with time. Lastly, two patients (5%) had labial asymmetry that did not interfere with function, but who desired revision for cosmesis. Eighty-four percent of patients used Soul Source vaginal dilators (Sour Source Therapeutic, North Hollywood, CA) post-operatively and of those patients 53% could dilate with the orange dilator (the largest, 1 1/2 inch diameter), 13% with teal (1 3/8 inch diameter), 16% with blue (1 ¼ inch diameter) and 19% with purple (1 1/8 inch diameter). All dilators are 9 inches in length. Patients are cleared for sexual intercourse three months after surgery. Many patients had return of sensation to light touch of the neo-clitoris and were able to achieve organism through direct neo-clitoral stimulation. Conclusion: With experience and an interdisciplinary team, robotic-assisted vaginoplasty with free peritoneal grafting is safe and effective with a low complication rate and high neo-vaginal patency rate. Many patients report successful penetrative intercourse and the ability to achieve orgasm post-operatively.

Richard Stafford Poole (1930–2020)

Father Richard Stafford Poole, CM, passed away on November 1, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri, at the Apostle of Charity Residence. He was 90 years old. He was a Catholic priest, a gifted teacher, an accomplished historian, and a beloved friend.Father Poole was born on March 6, 1930, in Oxnard, California, to Joseph Poole and Beatrice (Smith) Poole, and he was raised in North Hollywood. After high school he joined the Congregation of the Mission of Saint Vincent de Paul and took his religious vows in 1949. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1952 at St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Missouri, and continued his theological studies there. He was ordained in 1956. Father Poole pursued his education, earning from Saint Louis University a master's degree in Spanish literature in 1958 and a doctorate in history in 1961.Father Poole taught at Cardinal Glennon College in Saint Louis, Missouri; St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Missouri; and St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. He also served as dean of students at Cardinal Glennon College and as an academic dean and seminary rector at St. John's Seminary. He was a priest at Saint Jude the Apostle Church in Westlake Village, California, for nearly 20 years, where he regularly presided at Sunday masses.Father Poole was a prolific scholar who published more than a dozen books, 85 articles in anthologies, encyclopedias, and journals, and many book reviews on Spanish American history, the Catholic Church in the Americas, and Vincentian themes. His meticulously researched and clearly written books and articles made important contributions to the field of Latin American history. He wrote important biographies of colonial administrators, including Pedro Moya de Contreras and Juan de Ovando, based on extensive archival research. He also translated several important texts from Spanish and Latin, especially Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas's In Defense of the Indians as well as the Third Mexican Provincial Council's 1585 “Directory for Confessors” and Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci's Idea of a New General History of North America.Perhaps Father Poole is best known as the preeminent historian on the Guadalupan devotion in Mexico. In Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531–1797 (1995), he painstakingly traced the history of the sources for the devotion, showing how evidence of the apparition story has evolved over time. He exposed the many silences in the record and the faulty genealogy of texts that proponents of the devotion have promoted. Based on his careful reading of the sources, he argued convincingly that the worship of Guadalupe emerged as a mid-seventeenth-century criollo devotion that was only later promoted among the Indigenous population of New Spain. Father Poole continued his research on the topic in The Guadalupan Controversies in Mexico (2006), in which he examined challenges to the authenticity of the Guadalupe apparitions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the more recent opposition to the canonization of Juan Diego. Father Poole examined both the apologists' and their critics' arguments and shows how changing political, religious, and cultural factors have shaped the controversies.Father Poole's deep interest in the sources on the cult of Guadalupe led him to undertake studying the Nahuatl language at the age of 60. He went on to publish translations of several important Nahuatl-language texts in the Guadalupan corpus, enriching the translations with his knowledge of the history of the devotion and of religious concepts, phrases, forms of address, and objects. First, he cotranslated Luis Laso de la Vega's Huei tlamahuiçoltica of 1649, the oldest Nahuatl-language account of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Tepeyacac and of the miracles attributed to her. He also cotranslated two Guadalupe plays for the second volume of Nahuatl Theater (2006). These important projects made available to an English-speaking audience texts that propagated the cult of Guadalupe among Nahuas from the mid-sixteenth century on. Father Poole was a generous colleague who enthusiastically shared his vast knowledge of Catholic doctrine, ritual, and history and translated Latin passages for other historians. He was a warm friend, an encouraging and collegial mentor of younger researchers, and an erudite scholar who participated actively in many annual professional meetings. In addition to his academic studies, he enjoyed traveling, listening to classical music, collecting clocks, and researching his family's genealogy.Father Poole was predeceased by his parents and his siblings, Dorothy and Joseph Jr. He is survived by his nieces Monica Smith of Gaborone, Botswana, and Michelle Emerle of Boston, Massachusetts, their husbands Mike and Gary, and his great-nieces and great-nephews: Stephen Smith, Emily Smith, Brent Emerle, and Taryn Emerle. Donations in his honor are gratefully accepted by St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, which may be made via either mail (St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, 2303 Miramar Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057, USA) or their website (https://www.stvincentmow.org/).

Kevin Eubanks (Composer/Bandleader/Music Director)

A music lover from a young age, Kevin Eubanks (1957–) followed his passion around the world, touring as a jazz musician before accepting a job in beautiful downtown Burbank. For nearly two decades, viewers watched Eubanks—first as a band member, then as the bandleader/music director—on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They also observed Eubanks’s and Leno’s easy rapport—a natural chemistry that made Eubanks’s decision to leave the program a difficult one. Amy Harrington conducted the interview on September 23, 2011, in North Hollywood, California.

US chemistry olympiad team heads to Paris

Four high school students are heading to Paris to represent the US in the 51st International Chemistry Olympiad, which will be held July 21–30. The US team was finalized at the conclusion of the Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp on June 13 at the University of Maryland, College Park. The study camp was organized by the American Chemical Society and sponsored by Chemours. The team consists of recent high school graduates Edward Jin of Arnold O. Beckman High School, Albert Liu of North Hollywood High School, and Anton Ni of University High School, all in California, and rising junior Yajvan Ravan of Churchill High School in Michigan. The first alternate is Allen Ding, a senior at Stevenson High School in Illinois. The second alternate is Yannik Singh, a senior at Carmel High School in Indiana. “When we announced the final four, I got a little emotional,” says head mentor Patrick Chan,

Start Preparing Now for MACRA Changes to Come

Start Preparing Now for MACRA Changes to Come

Commentary on "Modified Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy as a Home-Based Intervention for Children With Cerebral Palsy".

“How could I apply this information?” With 1 to 2 hours of daily restraint wear and training, the results of this study showed that children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy improved upper limb function. This home-based program offers families a viable alternative to intensive, clinic-based constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT). Parents may feel empowered that after training, they can work with their child at home to produce meaningful results, without relying on a therapist to provide hands-on intervention. The lower assessment scores recorded 1 month post-intervention suggest that continued home activities are necessary to maintain skills. Parent comments: We are encouraged by the results of this study because they may apply to our son whose limited upper limb function resulted from a stroke. Home-based CIMT could augment the therapy he receives in the clinic. It might also afford him the luxury of being relaxed and able to do it on his own time, in a familiar setting. “What should I be mindful about when applying this information?” Finding the right fit between the child, family, and home or clinic-based protocol is integral to meeting the needs of everyone involved. Subjects participated in 60% of the recommended training hours, which is 10% to 20% more than other home-based CIMT.1 The interactive video game may have improved adherence; however, it is unclear whether increased test scores resulted from the game or additional weeks of training. The article excluded details of the family training, so inexperienced clinicians who follow the protocol might implement a forced use program. Parents only logged quantitative data. Qualitative data and a quality of life measure may be appropriate to further assess home-based interventions. Reporting individual test scores beyond baseline may assist with data interpretation, given the variability in the subjects' restraint wear times. Results from a longer follow-up period would be helpful to inform third-party payers and to increase buy-in from clients and families. Parent comments: Future studies may want to consider asking each child to do therapy for the same number of hours each day and days per week. Subjects could be categorized by age and sex because both may influence results. Our son, like most children, was inconsistent with doing CIMT at home. However, we saw a marked improvement after a few days. Although it may be challenging and uncomfortable for a child to wear a constraint on his or her good arm, we recommend a strict daily routine to help with adherence. So far, we are very satisfied with our son's improved arm function, knowing that his road to full recovery is long. Laura Rabin, MA, OTR/L California Children's Services, County of Los Angeles North Hollywood, California Lisa Dittbenner, BS, OTR/L California Children's Services, County of Los Angeles El Monte, California Ana and Joey Sarreal Parents of a teenager with hemiplegia from a cerebral vascular accident Los Angeles, California

"A Landmark for Sun Valley": Wat Thai of Los Angeles and Thai American Suburban Culture in 1980s San Fernando Valley

IN THE CRISP EARLY MORNING HOURS of Saturday, April 17, 1982, Thais from across Southern California arrived at Wat Thai of Los Angeles—the first and largest Thai Theravada Buddhist temple in the United States—in preparation for the start of a much-anticipated weekend festival to celebrate the Thai New Year. The temple filled with chatter and laughter as volunteers bustled to build a performance stage, set up an amplifier system, and fold out chairs on the main lawn. Food vendors, almost all Thai women, placed portable stovetops, griddles, deep fryers, steamers, and makeshift barbecues under tented booths along the inside perimeter of the rear parking lot. By afternoon, Wat Thai was packed with hundreds of visitors enjoying live music, shopping for lampshade hats and handcrafted trinkets, and eating grilled meat on sticks and bowls of noodles. The sights, sounds, and smells were reminiscent of weekend bazaars in Bangkok, only the temple was nestled on the corner of a residential neighborhood in the suburban San Fernando Valley, just one block west of the Hollywood Freeway. One local writer even observed that the scene looked “as if it had been plucked from Bangkok and set down by accident in North Hollywood.” This article explores Thai American suburban culture in Los Angeles’s east San Fernando Valley in the 1980s. It asks: What was the Thai American suburban ideal? What factors shaped its formation? And how and why did it dovetail with or disrupt dominant notions of suburbia? Tens of thousands of Thais across Los Angeles used Wat Thai as a public space to engage in cultural practices like weekend festivals. Thai American cultural practices at Wat Thai embodied a vibrant public suburban culture that valued an inclusive and collective use of space. This Thai American suburban ideal fostered the development of social capital, community-building, and a public sociability that crossed ethnic, citizenship, class, and religious lines. I argue that this was vital not just for Thai American suburban culture, but

Dancing Into Diversity: A Curriculum for Self-Discovery, Empathy, and Creative Leadership

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe author would like to acknowledge the phenomenal work of Linda Rose-Winters, Director of Diversity Programs at Oakwood School. Her tireless dedication to promoting equity and inclusion inspired much of the research in this article. Also, the author would like to thank Dr. Richard Brunner, Director of Choral Activities at Oakwood School, for his editing expertise. The author’s colleague, Nathan Clum, who teaches English and creative writing at Oakwood School in North Hollywood, wrote the writing component of Exercises 2 through 4.

Acrylic nail curing UV lamps: High-intensity exposure warrants further research of skin cancer risk

Acrylic nail curing UV lamps: High-intensity exposure warrants further research of skin cancer risk

Krumpin’ In North Hollywood

This article examines the cultural politics and labor of the 818 Session, a krump and street dancing collective that appropriates and repurposes a North Hollywood parking lot for dance sessions on Wednesday nights. In the face of the general culture of spatial domination and regulation in Los Angeles, most especially regarding the experiences of youth of color, the 818 Session promotes a culture of dance and play that collectively reshapes their environment and challenges much of what constitutes public space in Los Angeles. Here, in an empty Ralphs grocery store parking lot late-at-night, krump dancers interact with space, identifying interstices to produce racial and spatial formations anew.

Successful treatment of an MTBE-impacted aquifer using a bioreactor self-colonized by native aquifer bacteria

A field-scale fixed bed bioreactor was used to successfully treat an MTBE-contaminated aquifer in North Hollywood, CA without requiring inoculation with introduced bacteria. Native bacteria from the MTBE-impacted aquifer rapidly colonized the bioreactor, entering the bioreactor in the contaminated groundwater pumped from the site, and biodegraded MTBE with greater than 99% removal efficiency. DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene identified MTBE-degrading bacteria Methylibium petroleiphilum in the bioreactor. Quantitative PCR showed M. petroleiphilum enriched by three orders of magnitude in the bioreactor above densities pre-existing in the groundwater. Because treatment was carried out by indigenous rather than introduced organisms, regulatory approval was obtained for implementation of a full-scale bioreactor to continue treatment of the aquifer. In addition, after confirmation of MTBE removal in the bioreactor to below maximum contaminant limit levels (MCL; MTBE=5μgL(-1)), treated water was approved for reinjection back into the aquifer rather than requiring discharge to a water treatment system. This is the first treatment system in California to be approved for reinjection of biologically treated effluent into a drinking water aquifer. This study demonstrated the potential for using native microbial communities already present in the aquifer as an inoculum for ex-situ bioreactors, circumventing the need to establish non-native, non-acclimated and potentially costly inoculants. Understanding and harnessing the metabolic potential of native organisms circumvents some of the issues associated with introducing non-native organisms into drinking water aquifers, and can provide a low-cost and efficient remediation technology that can streamline future bioremediation approval processes.

<i>Titus Redux</i>, and: <i>Hamlet, Prince of Darkness</i>, and: <i>Pulp Shakespeare</i> (review)

Reviewed by: Titus Redux, and: Hamlet, Prince of Darkness, and: Pulp Shakespeare Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. Titus ReduxPresented by the New American Theatre and Not Man Apart-Physical Theatre Ensemble at Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, California, as part of the Radar L.A. Festival. June 16-19, 2011. Conceived, choreographed and directed by John Farmanesh-Bocca. Set by Jeffrey Eisenmann. Costumes by Allison Leach. Effects by Jason Collins. Lighting by Jessica Kohn. Sound by John Farmanesh-Bocca and Adam Phalen. With Jack Stehlin (Titus Andronicus), Belinda Strong (Tamora), Jennifer Landon (Lavinia), Dash Peppin (Demetrius), Vincent Cardinale (Chiron), Nicholas Hormann (Marcus Andronicus), John F. Bocca (Aaron), and Deus Xavier (Soldier). Hamlet, Prince of DarknessPresented by Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group at Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre, North Hollywood, California. May 20-June 24, 2011. Directed by Denise Devin. Costumes by Jeri Batzdorff. With Robert Walters (Hamlet), Amy Bartlett (Horatio, Rosencrantz), Jim Cox (Claudius), Frank Leone (Polonius), Melissa Okey (Gertrude), Clare Wess Yauss (Ophelia), Patrick O'Neill (Laertes), Rebecca Silberman (Bernardo, Guidenstern, Fortinbras), Evan Boelsen (Ghost, Player King, Grave Robber), and Irene Conde (Marcellus, Voltemand, Player Queen, Satan, Osric). Pulp ShakespearePresented by Her Majesty's Secret Players at the Theatre Asylum, Los Angeles, California. June 11-28, October 14-November 13, 2011, and ongoing. Directed by Jordan Monsell. Costumes by Kelly Bailey. Lighting by Aaron Lyons. Sounds by Brian Weiss. Fights by Aaron Lyons. With Dan White (Julius Winfield), Aaron Lyons (Vincent de la Vega), Nathaniel Freeman (Lord Marcellus Washburn), Sierra Fisk (Lady Mia Washburn), Christian Levatino (Sir "Butch" Coolidge), Brian Weiss (PumpkinPie), Liza deWeerd (Meadsweet), Justine Woodford (Fabianne), et al.. [End Page 207] As with any major metropolitan area, Los Angeles sees a good deal of summer Shakespeare. In 2011 alone, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Hamlet, Love's Labors Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, and King Learwere among the two dozen straightforward presentations. Los Angeles also features many adaptations, often infused with the local culture (in our case, Hollywood), and the film and television influence could be seen clearly in several Shakespeare offshoots: besides the three reviewed here, there was As You Like It: The Musical!and the Troubadour Theatre Company's remounting of Fleetwood Macbeth, a blend of the Shakespearean tragedy and the eponymous band. The latter was an inspired bit of silliness that saw Macbeth sing "World Turning" during the banquet scene, "You Can Go Your Own Way" as a duet with Macduff during the final duel, and a remorseful yet wistful "Landslide" to close the show. The Royal Shakespeare Company this was not. Clearly alluding to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Titus Reduxpresented General Andronicus, returned from active duty in the empire's service and now "retired like an old tank." This adaptation reduced the scope of Shakespeare's play down to a single family's experience of posttraumatic stress syndrome. Throughout much of the play it was ambiguous whether the events were actually taking place or whether they were the imaginings of a soldier who has seen too much combat and whose government and family no longer values him. Titus's brother Marcus was presented as a conservative senator still in government service (a commercial for his re-election, ending with "I'm Marcus Andronicus, and I approve this message" ran several times during the show). As the family sat down to dinner, Titus cleared the plates and encouraged his sons Demetrius and Chiron to engage in bare-knuckle boxing on the dinner table. Tamora was presented as a Washington/military housewife, seething with anger at the death of her and Titus's eldest son in combat and at her husband's prolonged absence at war. Lavinia, their daughter doted on her father, and resented her mother during his long absence and the family collapsed into violence against one another. Aaron the Moor became a Muslim-American neighbor who may or may not be a terrorist and who may or may not be having an affair with Tamora. Titus repeatedly flashed back to moments of combat and, after leading his family in an extended dance number with American flags and patriotic...

The Malcontent (review)

Reviewed by: The Malcontent Andrew Fleck The Malcontent Presented by The Antaeus Company at Deaf West Theatre, North Hollywood, California. April 28-June 19, 2011. Directed by Elizabeth Swain. Scenic Design by Tom Buderwitz. Costume Design by A. Jeffrey Schoenberg. Lighting Design by Elizabeth Harper. Composer Peter Bayne. Properties Design by Heather Ho. Stage Manager Ritchard Druther. Dramaturg Christopher Breyer. Choreographer Heather Allyn. With John Achorn (Bilioso), John Allee (Ferrardo), Mark Doerr (Pietro), Bo Foxworth (Altofront), Joe Holt (Celso), Alex Knox (Ferneze), Adrian LaTourelle (Mendoza), Lynn Milgrim (Maquerelle), Christopher Parsons (Equato), Marisol Ramirez (Bianca), Devon Sorvari (Maria), Jason Thomas (Prepasso), Abby Wilde (Emilia), Jules Willcox (Aurelia). John Marston's bitter satire of courtly corruption has enjoyed a renaissance in the last decade. In addition to an RSC production in 2002, the play has recently been performed in Washington, DC and Staunton, VA. Now the play has come to the West Coast of North America, in the intimate setting of the Deaf West Theatre in North Hollywood, courtesy of [End Page 414] Elizabeth Swain's championing of the play for the Antaeus Company. It was a real treat to see this gem of a production, staged to take advantage of the confines of a small space. The Anteus production did not make use of an elaborate set. Two wooden walls joined at the back of the stage, as if a box had been turned forty-five degrees from the audience. A small balcony in the back corner served as Altofront's chamber and as Maria's prison. Characters entered and exited through two open doorways in the wooden walls, or downstage right. Four seats stage right and stage left allowed for some privileged audience members to sit in on-stage boxes and suffer some of Malevole's taunts. Other than one odd instance of the lights coming down and a spotlight for Altofront's soliloquy after the intermission, there were not many effects of light or sound in this staging. This small space was occasionally a bit crowded—particularly in the opening and closing scenes at court, or as actors had to brush past each other in exits and entrances—and one might have expected some comment on the claustrophobia of the courtly setting. Nevertheless, these close quarters did offer several excellent opportunities to reach beyond the stage to the spectators and draw them in. One of the pleasures of seeing a rarely-performed piece of early modern drama is the chance to come to a new understanding of the play. The famously barbed comments with which Malevole introduces the other characters of Pietro's court take on a greater liveliness when the characters parade downstage center in a small theatre. However, in the case of the Antaeus Malcontent, it was refreshing to realize how much of the play belongs not to the caustic Malevole but to the smoothly manipulative Mendoza. This production was double-cast, with one cast performing some nights, another performing at other times, and a mixing of casts on still other nights, allowing for different actors to play together throughout the run. On the night I saw the production, Bo Foxworth's excellent Altofront/Malevole had a strong rival in Adrian LaTourelle's scheming Mendoza. Throughout the first half of the play, Mendoza appeared to have mastered the art of cunning manipulation. Delivering his first soliloquy while lounging on the steps of the seating area and cooing to the women in attendance, LaTourelle's charm could overcome the misogynistic content of Mendoza's lines and win the audience's interest if not its sympathy. Altofront's stepping out of his disguise—both by removing his wig and tattered garments and by returning his voice to its normal register—late in the play's first half also highlighted the fact that the first audience of Marston's play, presumably lacking the extensive program notes provided for a modern audience, might have been genuinely [End Page 415] Click for larger view View full resolution Bo Foxworth as Altofront in The Antaeus Company's 2011 production of The Malcontent, directed by Elizabeth Swain. Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Wade. Click for larger view View full resolution John Allee as Ferrardo and...

Ni Hua-Ching’s Americanization of the “Eternal Breath of Dao”

177 Ni Hua-Ching’s Americanization of the “Eternal Breath of Dao” MARK JOHNSON1 Being one of the first Westerners initiated by Daoist master Ni Hua‑ Ching 倪化清 in Taiwan in the winter of 1975, and having spent another eight years with him in this country, I was an intrinsic witness to the Americanization of his particular lineage as it evolved in the USA. Be‑ cause our training in Taiwan was rather orthodox, Master Ni never in‑ tended to simply “transplant” his sect into U.S. soil, but rather thought of it as being a “skin graft” onto the tree of Daoism already growing here. Still, the skin graft was fast and came with continuous changes in content and teaching style. The most active center of Daoism in the U.S. in the early 1970s was the Taoist Sanctuary in Los Angeles. I joined them in 1972 and trained there until the winter of 1974. Eastern philosophy and religion were not new to me, for I had lived in an Advaita Vedanta Ashram in Florida from 1962 to 1970 and afterwards spent a year sitting with Suzuki Rishi in his Zen Center in Tassajara. Only later did I realize that my training at those centers and especially at the Taoist Sanctuary, were in stark con‑ trast to my later, more intense and formal training in Taiwan. Our daily regimen in Taiwan continued for a short time in the U.S., but within months, things started to change. 1 This article is based on a longer and more detailed presentation found in my new book, Life Is Divine Play (Amazon ‑ iUniverse Publisher 2009). 178 / Journal of Daoist Studies 3 (2010) The Taoist Sanctuary The Sanctuary was housed in a rented section of a Protestant church in North Hollywood. No one actually lived there, and the various Daoist groups would come and go during the week with very little contact. There was no daily routine, nor did we adhere to any common standards or sets of shared values. We all called ourselves Daoists, but in fact our taiji quan faction thought the gongfu students were uncivilized brutes and they thought the taiji guys were wimps. Somehow we kept from strangling each other, and over time, we learned mutual respect. Khigh Dhiegh (Ph.D in psychology) was the principal instructor at the Sanctuary. He was considered a major Yijing (Book of Changes) scholar and had written an impressive book titled The Eleventh Wing: An Exposition of the Dynamics of I Ching for Now (1972). He made his living as an actor, staring as Wo Fat in the “Hawaii Five O” series. He often char‑ acterized himself as an actor taking on the role of Yijing scholar. Another actor, Chao Li Chi, taught classical Chinese as we translated the Daode jing in its transmitted form and in the newly discovered manuscripts. In addition, there were June Yu’er who taught taiji quan in the lineage of Master Guo from San Francisco, and Share K. Lew who instructed in martial arts. The entire set‑up was quite chaotic and we were an unruly bunch. I enjoyed every minute of it and it wasn’t until I decided to go to Taiwan to study acupuncture that I discovered the more formal and dis‑ ciplined aspects of Daoism. Training in Taiwan In late 1974, I went to Kaohsiung in Taiwan with a couple from the Tao‑ ist sanctuary. They had been studying with an herbal master from there for years and invited anyone from the Sanctuary to join them. I was bored with my life as a graphic designer and was interested in becoming an herbalist or acupuncturist so I went with them. After a few weeks of playing “catch up,” I decided that I needed a teacher of my own. After a series of incredible synchronicities, I stumbled upon Master Ni, then known as a medical practitioner and author of books on Daoism under the name of Ni Ching‑Huh 倪清和. He agreed that if we helped him translate the sacred scriptures of his lineage, he would teach us acupunc‑ Johnson, “Ni Hua‑Ching’s Americanization” / 179 ture. So we did. We worked on the project ten hours...

Dialogue and Solidarity in a Time of Globalization

Forty-two years ago, standing at the base of the Statue of Liberty, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, ushering in sweeping changes in the immigration policy of the United States. Johnson wanted to sign the act into law in sight of Ellis Island as a dramatic gesture. However, with no little irony, more of America's new immigrants came through Los Angeles International Airport than past Lady Liberty in New York's harbor. The Immigration and Naturalization Act, conceived during the Kennedy administration and passed by Congress during the Johnson era, ended the old quota system that had restricted immigration from Asia since 1924. The act also had the effect of reversing the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The effects of this legislation in the Los Angeles region have been dramatic. Hsi Lai Temple, to say nothing of the Chinese community it serves, was made possible by the 1965 act. The same can be said of Wat Thai Temple in the North Hollywood neighborhood, which serves Buddhists from Thailand and their U.S.-born children. The 1965 act, however, does not account for Nishi and Higashi Hongan-ji temples in Little Tokyo. These temples have been part of the cultural fabric of Los Angeles for more than one hundred years. Diana Eck, of Harvard University's Pluralism Project, has remarked on numerous occasions that Los Angeles is the most complex Buddhist city in the world. Bangkok and Kyoto may be great Buddhist cities, but they cannot boast of the sheer diversity of Buddhist lineages that have come to Los Angeles to establish the sangha, preach the dharma, and serve the people. After 1965, immigrants came to Los Angeles not only from Taiwan and Thailand, but also from Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Korea, and they brought their Buddhist faith with them. After 1965, Christians came to Los Angeles as wellnot so much from Ireland and Italy, but from the Philippines, Korea, Eritrea,

Seismic evaluation and upgrading of chevron braced frames

Abstract Many Chevron type “ordinary” steel concentric braced frame (OCBF) structures have suffered extensive damage in recent earthquakes which raises concerns about their performance in future earthquakes. A building in the North Hollywood area, which suffered major damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, was selected for detailed study. Response spectrum, nonlinear static (pushover), and nonlinear dynamic (time history) analyses for a ground motion recorded at a nearby site compared well with the observed damage. The state-of-health of the damaged structure was assessed to determine the need and extent of repair. The seismic performance of non-ductile CBFs can be improved by delaying the fracture of braces, e.g., in the case of the tubular braces by filling with plain concrete. Changing the bracing configuration from chevron to 2-story X configuration can avoid the instability and plastic hinging of floor beams. Further improvement can be achieved by redesigning the brace and floor beams to a weak brace and strong beam system, as in Special CBFs. This full upgrading to SCBFs results in excellent hysteretic response and, with inelastic actions confined to ductile braces, exhibits reasonable distribution of damage over the height of the building.

Fitting and benchmarking of dosimetry data for new brachytherapy sources.

New source designs of encapsulated low-energy gamma emitting nuclides for permanent implants require dosimetric analysis and calibration standardization. The dosimetry measurements can be incorporated into a treatment planning system by fitting the data. The use of a fitting function whose behavior at range limits mimics the physical phenomena, using as few parameters as possible, eliminates noisy outliers and lends credence to calculations beyond the measured range. Clinical implementation of the new sources also requires benchmarking against existing sources, where the current clinical experience lies. We present an analysis of measured dosimetry data for three brachytherapy sources recently available from North American Scientific, Inc. (North Hollywood, CA): 103Pd source model MED3633 ("PdGold"), 125I source models MED3631-A/M ("IoGold-AM") and MED3631-A/S ("IoGold-AS"). Using the formalism of the Interstitial Collaborative Working Group (ICWG) the radial dose function, g(r), the anisotropy function, F(r, theta), and the anisotropy factor, phi an(r), were previously evaluated from measurements of each source design. In this report we use fitting functions whose forms are chosen to approach reasonable values at data limits. These forms are quite similar to those used in a previous analysis of TG43 Iodine and palladium compendium data. Fitting parameter results for each function are provided for each brachytherapy source model. Fit-data discrepancies are smaller than measurement uncertainties, meaning that incorporation into treatment planning systems will not introduce significant errors in clinical use. Current clinical experience is based on the Theragenics (Norcross, GA) 103Pd seed ("PdThera"), and the Nycomed-Amersham (Arlington Heights, IL) 125I seed models 6711 ("6711") and 6702 ("6702"). The new sources are benchmarked against these seeds.

Decline of bacterial isolation in infectious diarrhea in los angeles — the impact of intensive health code enforcement on the food vendors

Community acquired bacterial diarrhea is a significant cause of morbidity. Each year, diarrhea outbreaks are common due to contaminated food and drinks from food vendors, such as restaurants, etc. LA County has developed a rating system after onsite inspection and scoring by health inspectors. To ensure compliance, disciplinary actions in the form of publishing the facility's name and rating in the media, as well as closing facilities have been taken. This enforcement of the health code for public protection seems well conceived but data demonstrating effectiveness are lacking. METHODS. Diarrheal specimens are submitted to one central facility (Southern California Permanente Regional Laboratory in North Hollywood, Cal from the regional hospitals and clinics of Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Fecal analysis data, in terms of culture positivity or negativity, bacterial identification and month of the year were acquired for 1997,1998 and 1999. The LA County program was instituted in 1998. Data from these years were compared for differences. RESULTS I.The total number of diarrheal specimens studied in each year were as follows 34,167 in 1997,35,309 in 1998 and 28,937 in 1999 (until Oct.99) 2.A significant decline in the positive stool culture rate was noted from 1997 to 1998/99. The decline was generally evenly distributed among the different medical centers. CONCLUSION: These data show a statistically significant decline in the rate of bacterial isolation in infectious diarrhea in Los Angeles. No other major changes in the public health system such as, changes in public water treatment/supply or in the food processing industry were made during this period. This temporal association of the decline in positive stool culture rates with the enforcement of public health code in Los Angeles suggests that it may be the impact of this program.

The North Hollywood Project, Los Angeles

The North Hollywood Project is a 10 km twin tunnel extension to the Los Angeles Metro Red Line valued at US$1·3 billion. The extension includes three stations constructed by cut and cover methods, together with the rail track, the necessary support systems, and rolling stock. This paper covers the main civil engineering construction of the project. The construction of the cut and cover stations is described. A number of interesting features of the tunnel construction are described, including the boring of the main running tunnels using tunnel boring machines (TBMs), the construction of a special seismic section of oversize tunnel through a major fault using shotcrete lining, track level rooms, starter tunnels and cross passages between running tunnels. An important emphasis of the paper is on the rock tunnels driven by the TBMs. The difficulties caused by severe geological conditions include dealing with water at high pressure and fissure grouting to reduce water inflow through the permanent lining. Both the temporary and the permanent tunnel lining are described.