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Total synthesis and structural confirmation of the marine natural product Dysinosin A: a novel inhibitor of thrombin and Factor VIIa. The structure and absolute configuration of the marine antithrombotic product dysinosin A was confirmed by total synthesis. The strategy involved disconnections to three subunits, of which two were synthesized from the readily available l-glutamic acid, d-leucine, and d-mannitol. The Grubbs olefin metathesis carbocyclization reaction was utilized to prepare two intermediates.

Only One Night (1922 film) Only One Night () is a 1922 German silent film directed by Rudolf Walther-Fein and starring Bruno Eichgrün, Joseph Römer and Olga Engl. It was one of several German silent films featuring the detective Nick Carter. Cast Bruno Eichgrün as Nick Carter Joseph Römer as Gadvan, sein Freund Olga Engl as Gräfin Erdony Robert Scholz as Stefan, ihr Sohn Ida Perry as Mila Ibranya Rudolf Hilberg as Graf Beiros Margarete Kupfer as Die alte Safi Sybill Morel as Feri, Safis Enkelin Margit Barnay as Lonya Gustav Jahrbeck as Bela - Safis Pflegesohn Paul Hardtmuth as Boka, ein alter Zigeuner Max Ruhbeck as Polizeirat Erna Böwe as Zofe Max Neumann as Kammerdiener Albert Paulig as Schnoddriger Herr References Bibliography Paolo Caneppele. Entscheidungen der Wiener Filmzensur: 1922–1925. Filmarchiv Austria, 2002. External links Category:1922 films Category:German films Category:Films of the Weimar Republic Category:German silent feature films Category:Films directed by Rudolf Walther-Fein Category:German black-and-white films Category:Nick Carter (literary character)

Australian economy and the First World War The First World War later brought about the demand for the mobilization of resources to back up the war attempt which doubtless led to the long term post-war sweetening and transmutation of the Australian Commonwealth authorities ‘s fiscal and legislative powers over the State authoritiess. Prior to the war, in the 1912-1913 fiscal twelvemonth, the States on norm raised ?43 032 445[ 1 ]Australian lbs in gross, tantamount to ?9 and 1 shilling in per capita gross[ 2 ]. Over the same period the commonwealth merely raised ?23 721 951 in gross[ 3 ], the equivalent of ?4 and 12 shillings[ 4 ]in per capita gross. From yearbook statistics it should be noted that the chief beginnings of the Commonwealth ‘s gross were imposts and excise responsibilities, and during the 1912-1913 fiscal twelvemonth these two beginnings accounted for 65.6 % ( ?15 553 034 of ?23 721 951 )[ 5 ]of commonwealth gross. Until the war the commonwealth authorities collected no federal income revenue enhancement, which was the exclusive duty of each single province. The First Word War later changed and transformed the commonwealth ‘s legislative, fiscal and funding role- yet besides its financial place and engagement in impacting domestic demand within the economic system. The oncoming of the war led the Australian authorities to reply the call to support the fatherland, the United Kingdom, with imperial enthusiasm. On the 29th October 1914[ 6 ]the War Precautions Act[ 7 ]was approved by parliament which gave significant powers to the executive in order to accomplish triumph in the war. A Trading with the Enemy act[ 8 ]came into force which practically prohibited and ceased all imports of entente state ‘s goods and forbidden Australian exports to Entente states. Federal imposts responsibilities as a consequence of the oncoming of the war had fallen by 7.3 % ( from ?13 055 925 in 1912-1913 to ?12 105 698 in 1914-1915 )[ 9 ]. The decrease in these wartime imports non merely reduced import responsibilities[ 10 ], but would hold besides adversely affected importation concerns, consumer import demand, and import derived employment. Australian soldiers being sent to the European battlegrounds needed to be provided with the weaponries, vesture, conveyance and income ; all of which would come at a great cost to the authorities and persons and concern. To finance the war the Commonwealth entered into the raid of making new commonwealth revenue enhancements ( alongside the provinces[ 11 ]) and raised a series of war loans.[ 12 ]The biggest money earners of these new Commonwealth revenue enhancements were federal income revenue enhancement ( first levied in 1915-1916 fiscal twelvemonth[ 13 ]) , decease responsibilities, amusement revenue enhancement, increased land revenue enhancements and a wartime net incomes revenue enhancement[ 14 ]. The growing in direct revenue enhancements levied on persons and concern was phenomenal. Not merely were Australians taxed straight by the provinces, but they were besides being progressively taxed by the Commonwealth to fund the war attempt. In 1912-1913 the direct revenue enhancements accounted for ?1 564 794[ 15 ]– by the clip federal income revenue enhancement was levied in 1915-1916 the direct income revenue enhancement base had grown to ?6 599 426[ 16 ], and so to ?8 916 753 in 1916-1917[ 17 ]. Over this period the direct federal income revenue enhancement base more than quadrupled, and between the 1915-1916 and 1916-1917 fiscal old ages the direct revenue enhancement base grew by 35.2 % entirely. For illustration, probate and sequence responsibilities increased well from ?39 646[ 18 ]in 1914-1915 to ?1 062 168[ 19 ]by 1916-1917. War loans were the primary agencies by which the authorities raised the necessary fundss to fund the war. Pre-war the Commonwealth had a public debt as at the 30th June 1913 of ?17 079 398, tantamount to ?3 and 11 shillings of commonwealth debt per capita[ 20 ]. With each consecutive unit of ammunition of war loans the authorities ‘s debt increased. War loans increased from ?14 471 118 in 1914-1915 to ?70 844 925 in 1916-1917[ 21 ], which had the consequence of blowing out the commonwealth ‘s debt to ?169 229 557, tantamount to ?34 and 11 shillings of commonwealth debt per capita[ 22 ]. This figure was about 1000 % higher than the pre-war figure. Public debt would increase in the station war period non merely by the Commonwealth, but besides by the provinces which led to an understanding in 1927 for the Commonwealth to take over province debts[ 23 ]. The long term impact of the war was that the Commonwealth did non resign the field of direct revenue enhancement and its economic place strengthened[ 24 ]both during the war and in the immediate station war old ages that followed[ 25 ]. The First World War besides had a profound impact on economic growing in Australia, on Australian industry and industrial construction, protection and trade. Before the eruption of the war the Australian economic system had been sing economic growing. Economically, it could be argued that the war brought more benefits to most sectors of the economic system instead than economic adversity[ 26 ]. The eruption of war had a reasonably fleet consequence on the economic system. The development of light industry and excavation accelerated due to the surcease of German imports and Western European viing imports. Australia had to bring forth points which it had non produced domestically earlier. Australia remained throughout the war a primary bring forthing and exporting state dependent upon trade good rhythms of monetary values. Prior to the war industry was made up of little scale fabrication houses.[ 27 ]But it was non the war that was entirely responsible for the greater development of secondary industry and excavation within Australia. In 1908, protection had doubled on imported manufactured goods[ 28 ]and the Customs Tariff Act of 1908 increased responsibilities on imported Fe and steel.[ 29 ]The Manufacturer ‘s Encouragement Act[ 30 ]besides provided for premiums of 12 shillings per metric ton of Australian produced Fe and steel[ 31 ]. Coupled together these policies paved the manner for turning industries, excavation and secondary industry. The war and Government prohibition of entente imports lead to the farther finds and development of sedimentations of Fe ore in NSW and South Australia.[ 32 ]The company, Broken Hill Proprietary Limited ( BHP ) had ab initio been involved in the excavation of Ag and lead, but so went into the production of Fe and steel[ 33 ], induced by premiums and protection. By 1915 a new heavy industry[ 34 ]had developed which could run into Australia ‘s wartime Fe and steel demands and besides develop into a important exportation concern for the state. By the terminal of the war about 400 merchandises were being produced in Australia which had non been produced before the war[ 35 ].By the terminal of the war entire fabrication end product increased by an astonishing 272 % from the station war period, while entire primary and agricultural green goods increased more modestly by 49.8 % . This had the consequence of increasing Australia ‘s fabrication exports ( industries grew to 6.7 % of exports at the beginning of the station war period ) as a proportion of entire exports, yet besides increasing the secondary industrial base in the long tally. Besides shortages of allied transportation, and the authorities ‘s purchase of a commercial fleet partially contributed to the development of a little ship building industry[ 36 ]. Not all of the fabrication industries which emerged were efficient[ 37 ], some were unable to vie one time the war had ended, and they sought further duty protection. However, while Australia ‘s fabrication and light industry expanded, its economic lucks continued to trust on primary merchandises and trade goods and this tendency persisted throughout the war and station war period. Rising protectionism continued from merely before the war and good into the station war period. If anything else the period is notable for the outgrowth of the mineral sector and excavation companies[ 38 ], such as BHP, which continue to play a polar function in the sector even today. The initial phases of the war brought approximately reduced economic growing, but merely in the short term. In the 1914-1915 fiscal twelvemonth, existent GDP fell by about 12 %[ 39 ]. The grounds behind such a big bead in Australian existent GDP can mostly be explained by the impact of heightened cargo and insurance charges by transporting line drives, a drouth in 1914-1915 which affected harvests such as wheat, the loss of some abroad export markets, the increasing deficit of transporting vass ( which were critical for Australia ‘s trade ) and anticipated deficits by concerns which lead to domestic monetary value rises, lower aggregative demand and accordingly higher unemployment[ 40 ]. Tasmanian and Broken Hill zinc mines which were extremely dependent on German markets were some of the first to shut and cast occupations[ 41 ], as authorities trading with the enemy acts all but rendered such contracts nothingnesss and economically debunked. As a consequence the war had a peculiar consequence on rising prices in the Australian economic system due to authorities imposed limitations on certain goods and services, and outlooks of future deficits. For illustration, profiteering by some sweeping grocers in NSW increased the monetary values of imported goods by between 7.5 % and 20 % during the month of August 1914[ 42 ]entirely. Combined with higher duty protection, war-time deficits and authorities additions in the pecuniary supply ( the authorities increased the sum of currency notes by 300 %[ 43 ]) – rising prices continued to increase. Within the first twelvemonth of the war, rising prices increased by over 11.2 %[ 44 ], and by the terminal of the war the cost of life rose by about 50 %[ 45 ], which eroded the buying power of the Australian lb and rewards fell by 8 %[ 46 ]in existent footings. Further monetary value rises, duty protection and pay rises would make an inflationary spiral that continued in the long term in the Australian economic system good into the 1920s. The loss in the buying power of existent rewards over the war clip would non be offset[ 47 ]until the twelvemonth 1922. The labour force was peculiarly impacted in a figure of ways by the war attempt. Prior to the oncoming of the war, in 1913, Australia had an unemployment rate of 5.3 %[ 48 ]. With the oncoming of war, many work forces of working age were drawn to fall in the ground forces and the war attempt. Subsequently employment and end product within the economic system were adversely affected. For illustration, the per centum of males employed in mills had fallen 4 %[ 49 ]in 1914-1915. By the terminal of 1914 unemployment reached 11 % , before diminishing to 5.5 % in 1918[ 50 ]. The logn tally impact of which would be higher unemployment in in the station war period. For illustration, in 1920 at the start of the station war period unemployment was 7.8 %[ 51 ], higher than it had been prior to the war.The lack of many work forces, coupled with the initial effects of the war on the economic system had a dual edged impact on Australian aggregative demand. In 1914 work forces earned on mean 55 shillings a hebdomad, while adult females earned A? that figure of 27 shillings per hebdomad.[ 52 ]Since work forces were higher income earners than adult females in employment, farther permutation of adult females into the work force and the absence of such a big figure of work forces systematically depressed domestic demand[ 53 ]outgo. Women progressively filled the spread in the work force ; but mostly in occupations considered to be traditional countries of adult females ‘s work – i.e. in clerical, store helper[ 54 ], instruction, fabric, vesture and footwear occupation functions. By 1918 adult females made up 37 %[ 55 ]of the work force. Some labour work stoppages occurred in protest at the lifting costs of rising prices and the eroding of workers ‘ incomes. Most perceptibly were the NSW Miner work stoppage of 1916 and the NSW Railway work stoppage of 1917[ 56 ]which brought the war attempt about to a arrest. Immigration literally dried up during this period and as such the state could no longer rely on reachings from Europe to reject local production, agricultural production and economic growing. By the station war period the consumption of in-migration was by no agencies near the degrees prior to the war. Though, in the station war period male employment growing in fabrication would retrieve and in 1919-1920 increased by 11.3 %[ 57 ]Coupled with lifting protectionism and a turning secondary industry fabrication employment would turn to 376 734 people[ 58 ], or by 13.6 % by the beginning of the station war period. The terminal of the war and station war period led to farther impacts on the labour force. Many of these working age work forces ( about 60 000[ 59 ]) ne’er returned place, and many others that did were wounded physically or mentally. The Commonwealth would be responsible for paying for developing plans, medical attention, hospitalization, pensions, tips and benefits to soldiers or their following of family. By 1935, ?238 million[ 60 ]had been spent on such strategies since the terminal of the war. For those work forces that were able to procure their old occupations, it came at the disbursal of many female employees who were pushed out of work, and so in the station war environment female unemployment rose. For those work forces who were non taken back into their old occupations, the authorities set up soldier colony strategies with the purpose of increasing pastoral and agricultural production and giving work forces the chance to ‘make a spell of it on the land[ 61 ]. ‘ These resettlement strategies ended in failure which non merely cost authorities but ex soldiers and their households ( as they were frequently given unproductive farming area ) . The war had a peculiar impact on Australia ‘s international trade, impacting both the size of its trade and its markets for trade. The first twelvemonth of the war had a subdued consequence on exports, imports and entire trade as some traditional markets in the export of minerals to Germany and Belgium disappeared. This break to merchandise was peculiarly serious[ 62 ]for Australia which relied on distant abroad export and import markets for its prosperity. Prior to the war in 1913 ( see figure 1.1[ 63 ]) , Australia exports amounted to ?78 572 000[ 64 ]and imports accounted for ?79 479 000[ 65 ]( a sum trade value of ?158 321 000 lbs, see figure 1.2 ) . In 1913 the trade balance was -?907 000 lbs[ 66 ]. By the fiscal twelvemonth 1914-1915, exports had fallen 22.9 % within a twelvemonth to ?60 593 000[ 67 ], and imports had fallen by 18.9 % to ?64 432 000[ 68 ]lbs. The trade shortage later ballooned by 423 % to -?3 839 000[ 69 ]lbs. The net consequence on the Australian economic system within the first twelvemonth of the war was down economic and GDP growing and lower international trade ( see figure 1.2 ) . As the war progressed Australian exports, peculiarly exports of primary merchandises such as ; wool, wheat, Sn, Cu and Zn, began to din. These primary and mineral merchandises were progressively demanded in the wartime production of covers, uniforms, and armaments[ 70 ]. As such trade good monetary values rose unusually – for illustration, the monetary value of wheat in London markets soared from ?31 and 8 shillings[ 71 ]in 1913, to ?72 and 10[ 72 ]shillings by 1918 ( a 232 % addition on pre-war monetary values ) . The monetary value of Sn per metric ton increased from ?206 and 5 shillings[ 73 ]in 1913 to ?329 and 11 shillings[ 74 ]by the terminal of the war in 1918 ( a 59.7 % addition ) , while the monetary value of Zn per metric ton increased by a phenomenal 338 % from ?21[ 75 ]in 1913 to ?71 18 shillings[ 76 ]in 1918. The authorities ‘s mandatory acquisition of the whole wheat and wool crops[ 77 ]assisted a coordinated and centralized export attempt. The authorities managed to procure Britain ‘s purchase of Australian wheat, wool, lead and Zn exports throughout the war old ages[ 78 ]above market monetary values. For illustration, the wool cartridge holder was brought at about 55 %[ 79 ]above pre war market values. As a consequence, these trade good monetary values and Australian exports would stay hyperbolic above pre-war degrees good into the 1920s. The state ‘s trade shortage would better, and Australia later recorded a trade excess and important betterments in the footings of trade statistic from 1915-1916 until 1920 ( see figure 1.1 ) . Australia recorded a trade excess with Britain during the war[ 80 ], and with other states such as Italy and New Zealand. Australia ‘s distribution of exports and imports with allied states did non alter well during the war ( see figures 1.3 and 1.4 ) , notably with the exclusion of greater imports and exports to Japan and the USA. The war highlighted how much Australia relied on Britain and British Empire rules for its trade wealth. The war decimated Australian exports to and imports from Western European markets. Australian imports from Germany fell 8.8 %[ 81 ]of entire imports in 1913 to a negligible statistic by 1919/1920 and 1921-1922. Australian exports to Belgium, France, and Germany wholly suffered serious diminution ( see figure 1.4 ) . For illustration, Australian exports to Germany fell from 8.8 %[ 82 ]of entire Australian exports to 1.3 %[ 83 ]by 1919/1920 and 1921-1922. Notably concerns that relied on such markets for their prosperity would hold suffered adversely. Investing was earnestly impacted by the war. The motion of capital flows had all but ceased, and Australia had to trust on raising war and peace loans peculiarly at place and in London in order to finance investing. During the war the populace sector was responsible for half the investing in the economic system[ 84 ], much of went to constructing new ports, railroads and substructure. In the long term, British investing resumed, peculiarly in the primary sector which in bend supported domestic demand. The war had some serious deductions for Australia ‘s balance of payments. With so many soldiers abroad having incomes, Australia in consequence imported huge measures of foreign goods[ 85 ], as soldiers spent their incomes in these states abroad. The current history and income, services and transportations account shortages increased markedly as a consequence, during the war period ( see figures 1.5 and 1.6 ) . The current history shortage blew out from about ?5.4 million[ 86 ]lbs in 1914 to an norm of ?32 million[ 87 ]lbs over the following five twelvemonth period. While both the income and services and transportations histories would likewise balloon. For illustration, in 1914 the balance of the income history, had more than tripled from ?7.8[ 88 ]million lbs to ?24.6 million[ 89 ]lbs in 1918. To do affairs worse the use of foreign capital in the mechanization of increasing volumes of Australian primary exports – resulted in higher cyberspace refunds to foreign entities[ 90 ]which farther worsened the current history balance. While the balance of payments figures would better in the 1920s, it highlighted merely how reliant Australia was on primary exports ( instead than higher priced industries ) and trade good monetary value rhythms.[ 91 ] Australia ‘s debt and entire liabilities exploded as a consequence of the war. By the terminal of the war entire debt had exploded to ?722 million lbs[ 92 ]in 1919, with ?225 million[ 93 ]lbs of abroad debt holding been added through the station war decennary. The debt service ratios steadily increased[ 94 ], but fortuitously Australia ‘s exchange rate was tied at par to the British lb, which made the serviceableness more manageable than if the Australian lb was set at a lower rate below the British lb. The impact of the war can be best described as holding a assorted consequence on the Australian economic system. Initially the economic system suffered due to lost export markets and the disruption of many labor inputs into national production. But with the continued war attempt, the export of agricultural and mineral trade goods at frequently fixed and inflated monetary values improved Australia ‘s trade balance, slightly broadened the industrial base, improved the strength of the minerals and agricultural sectors ( outgrowth of BHP ) and supported and negated the effects of down domestic demand. The long term impact of such a dearly-won war on the Australian economic system would be perilously high degrees of populace and entire debt which left the Australian economic system seesawing on a precipice prior to the Great Depression.

package pl.altkom.asc.lab.micronaut.poc.policy.service.api.v1.commands.createoffer.dto; import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator; import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty; import java.math.BigDecimal; import io.micronaut.core.annotation.Introspected; @Introspected public class NumericQuestionAnswer extends QuestionAnswer<BigDecimal> { @JsonCreator public NumericQuestionAnswer(@JsonProperty("questionCode") String questionCode, @JsonProperty("answer") BigDecimal answer) { super(questionCode, answer); } }

Teams on the one flight connected in Miami, and might have made the mistake there. But why a team could have done that whereever they exchanged currency when they should have remembered they were headed to Chile suggests a violation of the crucial rule to read the frakking clue completely. If this is the case, it makes me wonder about about Jeff/Jordan, they both said during BB that they were horrible at reading/listening to ALL the directions during school and in the BB comps. Cause you said you'd never let me go, and I said I can but now we knowThat it's too hard to say three words, too hard to make it workWhen there's nothing left to talk about, cause you know the flame is running outTwo hearts are left to burn... do you know, we're only left with smoke Yeah, it'll be hilarious -- for us, that is. I don't think it'll be hilarious for the team who makes the bad error. But unless it's either Dana or Adrian who makes the error, it most likely won't be a game-ending error. I'm gonna post this one here since we are pretty sure this is the first episode The teams of the CBS series "The Amazing Race 16" perform "Active Route Marker" in Valparaiso, Chile in which they must find a ladder and 2 cans of paint, then search for a picturesque house matching their particular color to paint, in order to receive their next clue. Yeah, that seems very likely, but at least we have TWO tasks after getting to the first destination city, unlike last season, when there was only one task in Japan (of course there was the starting-line elim. back then.) Logged Cause you said you'd never let me go, and I said I can but now we knowThat it's too hard to say three words, too hard to make it workWhen there's nothing left to talk about, cause you know the flame is running outTwo hearts are left to burn... do you know, we're only left with smoke I haven't seen that terminology before, but it does seem to be a general task that is not a detour, roadblock (or speedbump) which teams have to complete to receive the next clue. I agree with you, but who knows, maybe CBS did something new in this race? Logged Cause you said you'd never let me go, and I said I can but now we knowThat it's too hard to say three words, too hard to make it workWhen there's nothing left to talk about, cause you know the flame is running outTwo hearts are left to burn... do you know, we're only left with smoke Sounds like Adrian/Dana may have goofed with switching the RB person.... Logged "Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan Wonder if anyone took a ride with someone in LA? Normally they are not allowed to, but remember the tweet about the guy who wouldn't give a team a ride? Logged "Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan The penalty for using privately owned transportation is 30 minutes. I can't remember which season or leg at the moment, but I do remember Phil having to assess a penalty at the mat on a team for hitching a ride in a private vehicle. "Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Influence of cellular location of expressed antigen on the efficacy of DNA vaccination: cytotoxic T lymphocyte and antibody responses are suboptimal when antigen is cytoplasmic after intramuscular DNA immunization. We examined the role of the cellular localization of antigen on the immune response after DNA immunization of mice with three forms of ovalbumin (OVA). DNA encoding OVA which was secreted (sOVA) generated 10- to 100-fold higher IgG responses with 50-and 100-fold higher levels of IgG1 than the cytoplasmic (cOVA) or membrane bound (mOVA) forms. An IgG2a predominance was seen only in cOVA and mOVA immunized mice. Although the antibody response was CD4+ T cell dependent, the differences in the antibody response could not be compensated for by provision of excess CD4+ T cell help in TCR transgenic mice. Together with our hapten-carrier studies, this would indicate that membrane or intracellular localization limits the availability of antigen for B cell priming which affects the magnitude and form of the antibody response. Surprisingly, stronger cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses were generated for sOVA or mOVA than for cOVA via intramuscular (i.m.) injection. Since a cytoplasmic antigen should have best access to the canonical class I pathway for antigen presentation, our results indicate that priming of CTL responses after i.m. DNA immunization is probably by cross-presentation of antigen by non-transfected professional antigen-presenting cells. In contrast, intradermal immunization with cOVA produced optimal CTL responses but, as with mOVA, suboptimal antibody responses. This, together with our ex vivo RT-PCR analysis showing similar mRNA levels from all three constructs 7 days post-immunization, argues against the differential CTL response for i.m. injection to be due to dose.

This illustration I did for Warhammer: Invasion got featured in the news section of the FFG website!Here's the actual card: [link] I hope you dig it! Painted in Adobe Photoshop CS5!

Q: How can i make a .bat file which runs commands inside adb shell I want to create a .bat file in which i can use following command : adb shell uiautomator runtest StandbyCase.jar -c sprd.powertest.Standby & The second line will not work here. I have tried : adb shell uiautomator runtest StandbyCase.jar -c sprd.powertest.Standby & But in this case & will not work. It is used to keep the process running in backgound. So, i want to run adb shell first, and then uiautomator runtest StandbyCase.jar -c sprd.powertest.Standby & Can anyone suggest how can i do this ? A: Try using; adb shell "runtest StandbyCase.jar -c sprd.powertest.Standby &;uiautomator runtest StandbyCase.jar -c sprd.powertest.Standby &" in a normal batch file. This can be used for up-to 20 lines.

Opinion President Obama’s announcement that he supports gay marriage has provoked a spirited debate about whether or not African-Americans will continue to support him this November. Some black clergy have openly denounced President Obama’s position. Maryland State Delegate and Baptist minister Emmett Burns has publicly gone on record declaring that Obama will lose his re-election bid, even accusing the president of turning his back on his black constituency. On the other hand, Rev. Otis Moss, III, of Trinity Baptist Church in Chicago, the Obamas’ former church once headed by the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, wrote in an open letter in support of the president, saying, “There is no doubt people who are same-gender-loving who [sic] occupy prominent places in the body of Christ.” In the midst of this contentious debate within the black community some have either ignored or forgotten the role some openly gay Americans played in fighting for the civil rights of all Americans regardless of race or sexual orientation. Most notable among them is Bayard Rustin. A principal organizer of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Bayard Rustin, who had worked with the original March in 1941, was a constant and steady force during the influential civil rights activities of the early 20th century. He was also openly gay. Yet neither Martin Luther King, Jr. nor A. Philip Randolph, with whom he worked intimately, voiced any known concern about his sexuality. It is even been reported that until Rustin reached out to Dr. King in the early stages of the pivotal Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. King was not completely committed to nonviolent direct action. Armed men guarded his home and he, himself, reportedly owned a handgun. A veteran civil rights and human activist as well as pacifist, Rustin schooled Dr. King in the tactics of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, having studied it himself with those who worked closely with Gandhi in 1948 at a conference in India organized prior to Gandhi’s assassination. Prior to Rustin’s important role as a key adviser to Dr. King, he had worked extremely closely with A. Philip Randolph, who is credited with introducing him to Gandhi’s philosophy and its usefulness in the struggle for civil rights in the United States. Rustin was also a pivotal figure in the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the well-known peace organization, and helped guide the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In fact, he was a key organizer for the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947, which inspired the more well-known Freedom Rides of the 1960s. Rustin, who walked the walk, took part in those rides, personally challenging segregated bus transportation. Prior to that formal action, Rustin had refused to sit in segregated bus seating in 1942 and accepted a severe beating in Nashville by four cops. His refusal to resist was so extraordinary that the assistant district attorney released him uncharged. While serving a prison sentence from 1944 to 1946 for refusing the draft, he didn’t sit idly by as his time passed. Instead, he challenged segregation in prison. When a white inmate beat him severely with a mop handle for crossing the color line for one of the white-only activities, Rustin’s refusal to fight back and accept the beating so disturbed the man that he was left severely shaken by the encounter. Although he was found at fault and was placed in solitary confinement, Rustin insisted that he not be punished. This was a powerful statement to his fellow supporters also serving time. Because Rustin had been charged with a homosexual act in California in 1953, his sexuality was well-known. Some like Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. openly objected to Rustin’s homosexuality. Powell even went as far as demanding that King publicly break ties with him. Roy Wilkins of the NAACP had concerns with Rustin’s sexuality as well as his past ties to Communism. Neither man’s objections, however, kept Dr. King from accepting Rustin’s guidance. In fact, Rustin, who was New York-based, helped raise the critical funds that kept the Montgomery Bus Boycott going. Rustin was even instrumental in helping Dr. King organize SCLC and continued communicating with him until his assassination in 1968. Born in segregated West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1912, to a teenage mother whom he thought was his sister until around age 11, Rustin was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandmother’s mother had been bought out of slavery by Quakers and, as a result, his grandmother, who was a huge influence in his life, was raised in the Quaker faith, so Rustin encountered pacifism early. Well-known to the NAACP leadership, Rustin was exposed to W.E.B. DuBois and many other historic figures who stayed in their family home. His organizing skills were also undoubtedly enhanced by working with his grandfather’s catering company. A gifted singer, Rustin raised his voice often to generate funds to help advance civil rights for African-Americans and peace. He was also very much in-tune to predict that gay rights would evolve into the major issue it is now. Given his significant contributions to advancing civil rights, those who oppose the president’s commitment to civil rights for all, including gay people, might want to rethink their position. After all, without Bayard Rustin’s relentless efforts, neither of those people would have the luxury of opposing anything.

READER COMMENTS ON "VIDEO: It's All So Confusing for the Wingnutted Tea Baggers Sore-Losers, eh?..." (73 Responses so far...) COMMENT #1 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/18/2009 @ 8:37 pm PT... "Dwarfed in Size" . . . . . The Famous Beetlejuice demonstrates his version of tea bagging on a willing Jodie. Sorry no intimate graphic content here . . . COMMENT #2 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/18/2009 @ 10:09 pm PT... The sign down the page here was pretty funny too. COMMENT #3 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/18/2009 @ 10:10 pm PT... Why dont you report on the true nature and spirit of these rallies? For me, and hundreds of others in Santa Rosa, Ca, this event was non-partisan. This evet saw a majority of End, or Audit the (un)Federal Reserve signs. It was about No Taxation without Representation. Or maybe you like the War of Terror, Bank Bailouts, and warantless wiretapping? While major attrocities are happening, you are "reporting" on tea-baggers, a lame attempt at sexual humor...FOX, and MSNBC set the bait, and you bit. Instead of dividing us, why not try to unite us with the origin of these events? 1773, Boston. COMMENT #4 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/18/2009 @ 10:45 pm PT... Flo ~ Not shaving for a tea Bagging is so uncouth . . . ~ COMMENT #5 [Permalink] ... FreedomOfInformationAct said on 4/18/2009 @ 11:04 pm PT... because there are pockets of delusional riecht-wingers even in Santa Rosa. COMMENT #6 [Permalink] ... LordLeckie said on 4/18/2009 @ 11:39 pm PT... The reason Brian is that there is no spirit in these rallies, there is a hollow clank of a worn out machine trying desperately to lash out in any way at what it percieves to be democrat so as to further the other side. COMMENT #7 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/18/2009 @ 11:48 pm PT... Or because most of us are not willing to just let the country shut down over some strange ideology?. Lets see, three months for O vs thirty years of ruin? Fuckin Reagan. My knees are jerking agin. Back on topic: The Billionaires were out also. COMMENT #8 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/18/2009 @ 11:54 pm PT... I dont know folks, a Reserve Chairman is appointed for 14 years, a President for 4. And you think I will buy that this is partisan? NOPE I cant speak for the folks who follow Fox as god. But the same goes for you folks who think MSNBC, and AP are legitimate. Break your own walls down, unite, get this $%&# done. COMMENT #9 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:08 am PT... I don't think you'll see anything like this on Fox tho. COMMENT #10 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:17 am PT... And you wont see anything anywhere if you keep watching TV reports online. COMMENT #11 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:24 am PT... or I'll just keep holding my ears and saying la la la, they hurt so bad from watching TeeVee. Another bad one COMMENT #12 [Permalink] ... Lisa said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:33 am PT... Thanks for the link to the inauguration post from 2005. Eye opening. I've been politically asleep for years so when Bush's term was about to end, I decided to find out what's up. (And being unemployed gave me plenty of time to do research). I read most of those comments too. Wow. Amazing what has transpired since then. COMMENT #13 [Permalink] ... Larry Bergan said on 4/19/2009 @ 4:08 am PT... Are we winning, or what! They got the guns, but we got the numbers! Say it again! COMMENT #14 [Permalink] ... Larry Bergan said on 4/19/2009 @ 4:12 am PT... To paraphrase Jim Morrison, (which I hate to do); we got the REAL numbers. COMMENT #15 [Permalink] ... FreedomOfInformationAct said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:07 am PT... Brian, the GOP snake-oil salesman Karl Rove was quoted as having said he 'has his math', and the American voter has their math. Guess which 'math' was correct three months ago? Enough said, get over it, mclame and painlin lost, the gop lost, limpaw and insannity and oreally lost, faux spews lost, and COLEMAN LOST. Time for you to get over it and 'move on' already! COMMENT #16 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:12 am PT... Anyone look at that link on #10 yet? I'm not sure, but I think old Keefe nailed it pretty much. COMMENT #17 [Permalink] ... FreedomOfInformationAct said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:22 am PT... In October 2006, Karl Rove told NPR that "the math" which he was "entitled to" showed Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate in the upcoming congressional elections. How was this math so wrong? COMMENT #18 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:50 am PT... You lame attempt to group me with any of your "parties" is a joke. You have no idea of who I voted for, your brainwashed head thinks Im angry about Obama winning, not McCain. Did you forget there was 6 Presidential Contestants? Did you forget some of them actually wanted to end the war! You have no idea how Pyscology works, and how Fox and MSNBC are playing you all like a rope in the middle of tug-o-war! Its time YOU get over the fact that arent represented, and start doing something other than supporting Presidents that wiretap without warrants, torture, rendition programs, Bank bailouts, etc... But keep hailing your screen and Keith as God, in four years, or 8, your tug of war will simply continue.... AND NOTHING CHANGES COMMENT #19 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:51 am PT... I don't know FOIA but if he told you...see Mike Connell COMMENT #20 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:56 am PT... hmm...Why wasn't "Brain" around when Bush was shitting all over the Constitution I wonder but now shows up? COMMENT #21 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:02 am PT... "Brain" was and stil is here. So is Brian. You dont get how similar you all sound to the whakkos that believed BUSH was elected! Do you believe he was elected? I sure as hell know he was not! Two major elections were stolen from us, and you think Barack is legitamate, you think this is real? You think your vote counts? See how dividing all of you have become? COMMENT #22 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:04 am PT... Brian is disappointed in Brad's "news" story here. It is not relevant, nor a true reflection. It is simply perpetuating the left/right tug of war, while Bankers are (have) taking over. COMMENT #23 [Permalink] ... the zapkitty said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:15 am PT... Simple, our beloved corporate oligarchy, the ones behind the tea parties, is calling everyone who protested on April 15th one of 'their" teabaggers... regardless. As has been pointed out elsewhere it will happen again on July 4th. What Brian and similar disaffecteds don't understand is that they're not being given a choice in this "alliance"... if they protest on any issue that could possibly be called conservative then their numbers will be used to pad the rolls of the wingnuts. The oligarchs will see to that. COMMENT #24 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:18 am PT... Where have you been Bri? they took over during the period from 1776-1783. Jackson got em by the balls for a while (30 years, arguably), but they just came back stronger after that. It's all a joke, you see...don't you? COMMENT #25 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:26 am PT... So now this administrations intelligence agengies have you all afraid of July 4th too? Too much T.V. in your lives folks!!! COMMENT #26 [Permalink] ... Jon in Iowa (Currently in Minnesota) said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:35 am PT... I love the irony of the tea-bagging parties. It's essentially a self-imposed tax that doesn't benefit the tax-payer in any way. Some folks sure know how to protest. COMMENT #27 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 10:39 am PT... How about the Federal income tax being Direct and unaportioned? How about a Private Central Bank called the Federal Reserve taxing us with inflation? Go beyond Left and Right.. COMMENT #28 [Permalink] ... Brad Friedman said on 4/19/2009 @ 11:20 am PT... Brian - If you believe these protests were about the largely legitimate conservative concerns of the Ron Paul Libertarians, I got news for you, you allowed yourselves to be co-opted by wingnutted GOP partisans, clueless self-destructive Fox "News" stooges, and cynical manipulative corporatists. ...maybe you like the War of Terror, Bank Bailouts, and warantless wiretapping? Feel free to show us the photos and media coverage of all of those signs and protests against the "War of Terror" and warrantless wiretapping, Brian. I watched quite a bit of coverage on Fox, CNN, MSNBC and didn't happen to see any such signs of protest. As I said, even if you think that's what you were protesting, the bulk of your comrades were not, have, in fact, shown themselves to be in favor of those things over the past eight years, with no sign of changing. Otherwise, we'd have seen all sorts of signs for arresting George W. Bush for War Crimes, rather than signs claiming Obama is a "fascist". Instead of dividing us, why not try to unite us with the origin of these events? 1773, Boston. The 1773 protest was against multi-national corporatism in collusion with the British government at the time. I'd suspect that 99% of the folks at this week's protest haven't a clue about that, otherwise, they'd be yelling and screaming to end our Corporatocracy, which they were not. Though I very much appreciate your thoughts here --- and hope you'll continue to share them --- your gross generalizations against "you all" here would be far better (and more accurately) spent on the wingnut tea bagger sore loser sites, educating them on the real problems we face, because the Ron Paul ReLOVEutionaries have been overshadowed again by the sore loser opportunists who don't give a damn about the legitimate interests that you and the other Paul folks have been trying to yell and scream about for years. COMMENT #29 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 11:39 am PT... My comment #24 says awaiting murderation or something like that [ed note: I guess the spam-eating monster got a little crazy there. I don't know why it dumped you into the murderation queue, but I have fetched you back out in any case. --99] COMMENT #30 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:09 pm PT... I could send you some of my photos. You're right, "you all" is not true, nor constuctve. I do feel that FOX purposefully co-opted this just to keep a majority of people's divided. Thats my idea of physcological warfare. Anything on Fox will automatically be dismissed as ridiculous, so all they need to do is mention a populace gathering on air, and poof, its nuts! But Brad, sexual humor instead of your regular hard hitting news is just perpetuating it in my opinion. COMMENT #31 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:18 pm PT... I don't know, guys. Seems to me Brian's biggest gripe is that anyone's bothering to perpetuate the right/left/left/right antagonism that has proven such a powerful tool for the politicians felons who are ruining our country. That is a really good question, Brian. I think the reason it won't go away is because sheeple are unerringly roused by such prurient stuff, and that gets ratings on tv and radio and blogs. So. The media, MSM and independent, just don't seem to be able to resist it and get on real subjects. It drives me crazy, too. The left, "liberals" and "progressives"... whatever they call themselves... finger-pointing dirty-name-calling holier-than-thou politically-correct rubes are very plainly every bit as guilty of this crap as the un-American greed-head social Darwinist rubes on the right! And, you are so right, they don't see it. They get off on dissing the snot out of the other side just as much as the other side gets off on the same kind of action. People just can't seem to drag their brains up a level to look at it objectively --- they think their own positions are objective, don't grok that just because it seems to make sense to them doesn't mean it's objectively so. This so seriously sucks because we have to be raising our brains up at least a notch, maybe many of them, in order to solve the heinous problems facing us. Thanks for trying. COMMENT #32 [Permalink] ... blubonnet said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:23 pm PT... The irony of calling Obama a "fascist" when the last 8 years, the fusion of the defense industry with government (the main definition of fascism), with Carlyle Group (Bush family and friends) and Halliburton (Cheney family and friends) IN the White house, shows the absurdity of the Right-wing's "perspective". Actually, they, standard Roboticans, don't have any, because the GOP billionaire class keeps exploiting their ignorance, getting these "tea party" games rolling. The brilliant Jim Hightower said during the Bush years, "The corporations don't have to lobby the government, anymore, they ARE the government." THAT is the definition of fascism, that collusion. And what do ya know, along came torture, elimination of habeous corpus, illegal spying, every imaginable war crime, invasion of an innocent country, killing over a million human beings, and so much more, and they dare call Obama, a fascist. COMMENT #33 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:36 pm PT... Blubonnet There is basis for calling Obama a fascist... maybe not the basis they are thinking of, but it's getting more apparent by the day. COMMENT #34 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:40 pm PT... Well, and the right's ignorance is being exploited and the left's ignore-ance is being exploited. It boils down to the same thing. The People are being exploited, and they're busying themselves yipping about this shit. COMMENT #35 [Permalink] ... Jeannie Dean in LA-13 said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:43 pm PT... Brian, Former Ron Paul supporter (and regular Bradblog reader) here, who has been up nights worrying about the effect of these so called Tea Bag Protests on the super-saavy, bold, informed RP folks I had the pleasure to work with during the campaign. After contacting many of them, I found that most of them are not drinking the FOX FIX/ Glen Bleck retardation, thankfully, and after attending many of them wrote extensively about their gross disappointment that Fox perpetrated and promoted this National anti-Obama rally under the guise of protesting TAXES. They know that (I couldn't have put it better than Brad): "...the Ron Paul ReLOVEutionaries have been overshadowed again by the sore loser opportunists who don't give a damn about the legitimate interests that you and the other Paul folks have been trying to yell and scream about for years." Righto. As for the "taxation without representation" being their beacon call to re-enact and emulate our famous Boston uprising - Well, now we have an interesting quandry... We DO, in fact, have representation. We may not LIKE who has been chosen to represent us through the democratic process, or approve of the job they're doing. We may feel, and many of us do, that we are being UNDER-represented by these Poops, and have no voice in shaping future policy. But we are represented, nonetheless. That is, until you factor in how easy it is manipulate election results, and effectively the subsequent media coverage of them. All who follow this blog, Brian, Dem/ Independent and Conservative, are extremely well versed and super informed on this subject matter. They have taken years of their lives to grasp every hard fact, and amass the data. Lots of independent thinkers, here. If we aren't electing our elected officials, then no, we're NOT being represented. So - I suppose we DO INDEED have taxation without representation! Yet I didn't hear ANYTHING about stolen elections at any of these comical-but-creepy protests. Brad nailed it. They're USING us. COMMENT #36 [Permalink] ... karen from illinois said on 4/19/2009 @ 12:49 pm PT... brian & brad, i saw signs that said "show me the law","end the fed" on msnbc,i believe both income tax and the fed r illegal but the last leaders that tried to confront this were lincoln and kennedy(by printing us backed money instead of fed reserve notes) and we know what happened to them fox saw an opportunity to "steal" the libs numbers and present them as neo con numbers,since they cant get 30 peops to a rally not alone a couple hundred velvet revolution has a petition going telling obama to prosecute the illegal deeds of the last admins justice department...i think thats a very important place to start,as it most directly affects citizens day to day lives i like msnbc's coverage better than other msm but they too r owned by corporations and im sure racheal and keith know they can only go so far or they will end up like dan abrams did..off the air abrams asked the question we all wanted answered,why is rove above a congressional subpeona? in the mean time,jim march in pima is doing work that could actually change something as it looks like he will be able to prove they dont have as many ballots as votes reported COMMENT #37 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/19/2009 @ 2:10 pm PT... I think we should all try to become expert at identifying our own cognitive biases. I mean, since they are used against us so successfully, maybe we'd like to try to cut off that mode of access to our helplessness. COMMENT #38 [Permalink] ... blubonnet said on 4/19/2009 @ 2:15 pm PT... I'm so admiring of the knowledgable Left here on this site. Thank you. Agent 99, I agree, that Obama is not the shining light on the hill, we were expecting to clean up the rot, but instead, seems to be perpetuating it, but, I know, that McCain in office would have been more horrific. I'm still grateful Bush is gone. And now, all I can do is hope and pray that there is some bright plan, unknown yet to us, that justice will happen, though not holding my breath. Obama is brilliant, so, maybe he has a plan that is not immediately apparent now to us. Surely, other countries are getting wind of this, the actual documents, now. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised, if Obama knows, assasination is an actual possibility for him. It's not like it never happened before. The things that have occurred under the powers previously (and quite probably now) under the radar running things still looms and is holding a dark heavy cloud above him. You have to admit, that criminality is their modus operundi. COMMENT #39 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/19/2009 @ 2:51 pm PT... The 1773 protest was against multi-national corporatism in collusion with the British government at the time. I'd suspect that 99% of the folks at this week's protest haven't a clue about that, otherwise, they'd be yelling and screaming to end our Corporatocracy, which they were not. Hmmm... Sound like fascism to me . . . The drift Wilburrr... and I got was an anti Obama and fox "news" sour grapes partisan division. Furthermore ...and as "Grass roots" as a bikini waxing . . . COMMENT #40 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/19/2009 @ 2:55 pm PT... I so totally understand the urges to cut Obama slack. Because he's not * is a major incentive. Because he's intelligent is a major incentive. Because he's black is a huge incentive. I might want more than I can even bear to think about for him to do well, do the right things, be, finally, the great man we need so desperately. So I really do get it. But none of these things are good reasons to think well of his work. I'm saying it's not enough to want him to do well and so try to see a way for good motives behind things that are obviously bad. He has to actually do good things and stop actually doing bad things... and trying to get away with calling them something else. I say this stuff, not only aware that he could be assassinated if he does the right things, but angry that he won't do them anyway, like certain others have done and been murdered for, BECAUSE if he does not, he is only making matters exponentially worse for the whole world. So, heartless as it may sound, I don't care if they have guns to his daughters' heads! What are they worth compared to what is being done to harm everyone? What possible decent motive could he actually have for running for president if he hasn't already decided it is worth his life and his family's lives to make the "change" he was drilling us about for so long? This isn't trivial stuff. That oath of office isn't trivial. People treat it as if one should only be held to it if it isn't scary to keep it. COMMENT #41 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 2:58 pm PT... Change your reality. Hope is good, but it is not what is. The walls we hold up against others have to come down. Cognitive Bias is being exploited, and it is time we all take a critical look of who and what we think we represent. Thanks 99 for hearing the broad point here. COMMENT #42 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/19/2009 @ 3:24 pm PT... Some things trump politics if only momentarily . . . ...cognatively we write so our hopes don't die with US. COMMENT #43 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 4:17 pm PT... 99 #33 you got that right. here is their definition COMMENT #44 [Permalink] ... blubonnet said on 4/19/2009 @ 4:42 pm PT... Well, I want him to just do what needs to be done, but, in his position, I don't think we can imagine the threats that hang on him, and his family, and how to weigh out the directions of proper response. I agree that the MANY lives lost, are more important, especially when the future contains many more lives worthy of consideration, and if this is the way the US now operates, we, and the world, are in a terrible place, not only acknowledging the present, but also a grim future. I would like to just see if something happens, to bring justice and accountability back to our government, by possibly some strategy that is less apparent to us. What else can we do? COMMENT #45 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/19/2009 @ 4:50 pm PT... Blu, reinstate the fairness doctrine for one. There is way too much BS flying around COMMENT #46 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/19/2009 @ 4:55 pm PT... Yipes, Flo! OMG! Blubonnet, I'd like to think we could yell our heads off for Obama to stop being such a wuss, to start abiding by the Constitution, and if he's got something going we cannot see, no matter how discerning we are, then it actually helps him accomplish it. I honestly would love to see everyone who voted for him start coming untrained on him about these things, get it all the way out there in the public square, show the shits trying to hold him back that he's got the whole nation behind him. That might be the only thing that could back them off.... If we think he's being coerced, and we do, then he gets safer the louder and nastier we yell for him to get off his ass and perform on his promises. That's what I call being a true friend when the chips are all the way down. And why don't we make him earn some regard for a damn change? All he's done so far is talk pretty, and function poorly, function not that much unlike * did. Some people say we're such passive jerks because they put fluoride in our drinking water. Some say it's our tv sets hypnotizing us. Whatever it is, we better wake the hell up and get this stuff done, or the definition of altruism will turn into the definition of fascism. See Flo's link at #42 if you don't believe me. COMMENT #47 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 5:11 pm PT... Brad said: ...your gross generalizations against "you all" here would be far better (and more accurately) spent on the wingnut tea bagger sore loser The gross generelization is typed in Bold for your "news" headline, crossed out, followed by another gross generization. I admitted my mistake... COMMENT #48 [Permalink] ... Brad Friedman said on 4/19/2009 @ 6:40 pm PT... I don't consider you a wingnutted tea bagger sore loser, Brian. So no, I don't think the headline is inaccurate, whereas charging that "you all" here do this or that (fall for phony right/left, red/blue, con/lib, Fox/MSNBC paradigms, for instance) is inaccurate. The Ron Paul folks need to be going after the wingnuts (who I do not consider Ron Paul folks to be in the slightest) for their phony "protests" and co-opting of a legit movement --- whether I agree with all of it or not doesn't actually matter --- with a phony one, perhaps made more obvious than ever by the graphic Floridiot linked to above. I don't believe that anyone here --- or even at MSNBC for that matter (though I could be wrong) --- has been taking shots at tea baggers with hopes of hitting RP folks. The tea bagging sore losers are the ones who are currently keeping you guys down. Not me/us. COMMENT #49 [Permalink] ... blubonnet said on 4/19/2009 @ 7:00 pm PT... The thing is, we are not passive. We have gone out in the thousands to protest when Bush was in office, while he been turning our country into what more resembeled German in the era of Hitler. Fact is, the colluding MSM barely covered it, making the protests impotent in its declaration against whatever any one of Bush's multiple criminal operations were. Even if now that the masses GOT IT, as we could see in the latest election, the voting for change overpowering the massive attempts at thieving office, as occured previously, now our will is not exactly being considered either. You know, I'm quite sure, if the anti-democratic operations were initiated under Obama, that are being continued, from Bush, we would be screaming bloody murder as well, about, and towards Obama. Anyway, we have not been passive, but we've been shorted on coverage through the Bush years. It's amazing how when one gets your trust, you can be obligingly violated. It's like the boyfriend who says he was just making sure that the girl he was feeling up didn't have any cancerous cysts, you WANT to believe him, and there are women who would. It is true that the MSM is the biggest problem. They are owned by the defense industry. Legal accountability NEEDs to be in place to make the media do its job, especially when the outright misinformation campaigns are DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY!!! The fools are kept foolish, because of their usefulness. If the FCC were doing their job making sure truth is what we got, instead of the assuredness that nastywords or bodyparts made their way to us, life would be so much better. We can be so thankful for those like Brad here are truly major players in the process of countering the massive lying operations of the GOP. Where would we be is the MSM was all we had? I shudder to think. I think much progress is being made and will continue to be made, but we still have to fight like hell, manning our keyboards, andgrily and passionately calling the liars out, all over the web, and bring validating sources to your debates. COMMENT #50 [Permalink] ... Big Dan said on 4/19/2009 @ 7:30 pm PT... Brian, would you like to address Ron Paul and his spokesman and people, saying that their Libertarian tea party's which they started during the Bush administration, and received ZERO coverage from FOX, were co-opted by the GOP and FOX only because there's not a Republican president? http://www.dailypaul.com/node/89097 http://rawstory.com/news...a_party_cannot_0415.html COMMENT #51 [Permalink] ... Big Dan said on 4/19/2009 @ 7:39 pm PT... Also, why was the guy in the video boo'd, if they aren't partisan? COMMENT #52 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/19/2009 @ 7:40 pm PT... The 1773 protest was against multi-national corporatism in collusion with the British government at the time. I'd suspect that 99% of the folks at this week's protest haven't a clue about that, otherwise, they'd be yelling and screaming to end our Corporatocracy, which they were not. Hmmm... Sound like fascism to me . . . The drift Wilburrr... and I got was an anti Obama and fox "news" Sour Grapes(pun intended) partisan division. Furthermore ...and as "Grass roots" as a bikini waxing . . . COMMENT #53 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/19/2009 @ 7:50 pm PT... I smell a bit of a Sham going on here by capeeton screen name changer . . . COMMENT #54 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 8:30 pm PT... You know, I remember (many) a day in activism that I was called a sore loser, and I was like, no, it was a sham election. Votes were hidden, voters purged, laws broken..And there I am the other day, being called a sore loser from people who were allied with me 8 years ago. And now in Bradblog, and MSNBC, it continues....divide and conquer is the name of the game. Dr. Paul was not my pick for President, though I agee with a lot of his equations. I did vote for McKinney, and no, I will not comment on what Ron Paul says. "Jeff in Penscola" did great, I praise him, but the nature of this headline is not doing us any good. Fox did corrupt this effort, just how much and in what ways we disagree. I think it did more than you give it credit for. COMMENT #55 [Permalink] ... Brad Friedman said on 4/19/2009 @ 8:51 pm PT... Brian - It may have. But in reply to your concerns (and to a few of 99's as mentioned above), ridicule is an important tool in the arsenal of speaking the truth. It can also be very effective. (See Team Bush's use of "sore loser" in 2000 and again in 2005). For the record, I don't believe that you, Brian, are a sore loser. And if you believed I was calling you that, then I'm certainly willing to apologize. I wasn't, because I don't believe you're a "wingnut", as used to describe the "sore losers" being referenced in the headline. (And yes, I very much believe they are nothing more than sore losers, at this point. And P.S., I didn't vote for Obama either.) COMMENT #56 [Permalink] ... the zapkitty said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:06 pm PT... And while we debate the shiny object of the rather inconsequential tea parties it seems that the rethugs have smashed Florida over the head from behind and are running like hell with the 2010 elections in their pocket. Call to Stop (new) Florida Voter Disenfranchisement: Action Item at DailyKos. [ed note: Fixed yer link here, zap. --99] [2nd ed note: Okay, I went through some changes to get to that link and fix it here, and it was working just fine when I went to bed. I'm chuffed. I now officially suspect foul play at Kos, but will try again when I have some more coffee in me. --99] [3rd ed note: Nope. Just did a diary search at Kos and it ain't there. It was there last night. --99] COMMENT #57 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:15 pm PT... I'm not particularly happy bout everything Mr. B.H.O. does butt ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0jyKabLHVc Tho I applaud anyone that makes their position known and works peacefully and honestly toward their hopes . . . COMMENT #58 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:25 pm PT... Well , I thank everyonee for the dialouge. This was a great conversation. I hope we all thought for a second. Brad, I especially appreciate you taking the time to respond thoughtfully. I am touched by this subject right now, because I am fighting off allegations of me being a racist for joining in these parties. It all came together for me when I saw a critical review of Kieth Olbermans guest, Janine Gorofolo, just slam everyone there as racist, and a sore loser. In my opinion these young activists are playing right into the media's dividing arms. So, I had to comment here, thanks again for listening. COMMENT #59 [Permalink] ... Brian said on 4/19/2009 @ 9:28 pm PT... Bamboo Harvestor, your excluded from that thanks. You seem to still think this about the President for me. Check yourself. COMMENT #60 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/19/2009 @ 11:34 pm PT... "Brian" ~ Unless your a mind reader don't profess to state what I think! Cuzz ... you ain't got a Clue "..." ???????????? The nose knows ... Chief! COMMENT #61 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/20/2009 @ 4:56 am PT... Linky not there for Zaps #56 COMMENT #62 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/20/2009 @ 5:43 am PT... Had this thought this morning, from the second of the work injury I received in '02 I woke up then to find that I live in some kind of an authoritarian shit hole. I'm waiting for the Soylent Green truck to pull up at any minute to claim its prize. COMMENT #63 [Permalink] ... the zapkitty said on 4/20/2009 @ 6:07 am PT... ... Floridiot said... "Linky not there for Zaps #56" Flo, don't know what's up with that dairy, but this seems to be the bill that they were referencing: http://www.tampabay.com/...lature/article992793.ece So the question is... is there anything to it? COMMENT #64 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/20/2009 @ 6:17 am PT... OMG ZAP!, just another way to disenfranchise the old, brown, old and brown and poor. The hypocrisy reeks from that Cuban-American butthole (who was most likely put up to it by whitey) They never stop COMMENT #65 [Permalink] ... Floridiot said on 4/20/2009 @ 9:01 am PT... Zap, while I was looking for your story earlier I found this: Democrat Scott Murphy's lead in NY-20 increased by almost 100 more votes today. It now stands at 264 over Republican Jim Tedisco. (79,722 to 79,458). Tedisco's chances appear to be dimming as more ballots are counted. There still remain hundreds of challenged ballots --- mostly Murphy votes, challenged by Tedisco. COMMENT #66 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/20/2009 @ 10:17 am PT... I am heavily creeped out by the disappearance of that diary. Maybe the author just changed his mind and yanked it, or maybe it got yanked for him, whutever... that stuff just happens too often at DailyKos. It always has to be about voting problems. Someone once asked me to post a diary there for her because she didn't want to risk losing her standing by memorializing something about election fraud, even from an impeccable source, and it seems she wasn't just being paranoid. COMMENT #67 [Permalink] ... the zapkitty said on 4/20/2009 @ 2:39 pm PT... Was this page hijacked by digg? http://digg.com/d1p4Yo as per: http://firedoglake.com/2...use-or-stealing-content/ Testing. If so this comment will not appear on bradblog... COMMENT #68 [Permalink] ... the zapkitty said on 4/20/2009 @ 2:44 pm PT... Hmmm... okay, I misunderstood what Jane Hamsher meant... is a straight Iframe of Brad's page. Interesting. COMMENT #69 [Permalink] ... Agent 99 said on 4/20/2009 @ 3:53 pm PT... I think all those "aggregation" sites are as bad as the "reality" shows on tv... signs of the end times. Scary appeals to groupthink and moral decay, obviously cannibalistic capitalism, all kinds of trouble and wasted time for every bit of help they might offer pointing people toward good work, and I really hope somebody can come up with something better. Though, I keep having the feeling that we have hit the ceiling for improvement through capitalism, that any advancement of our societies and technologies will now have to come through other means. Think of how much better some things could immediately become if we just abolished money... other things would take a little longer, but I think it would be worth it anyway. COMMENT #70 [Permalink] ... Bamboo Harvester said on 4/20/2009 @ 11:02 pm PT... Wilburrr... ~ Wasn't "Joe the Plumbing" a.k.a. "Joe WeaselPecker" at one of these affairs . . . COMMENT #71 [Permalink] ... Big Dan said on 4/21/2009 @ 5:49 am PT... I went to a "tea party" in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. It was right outside my work, so on my way home, I just walked across the street to see what was going on. Off to the side, there were some young kids with Obama signs, and an older man was telling them they should get down on their knees and read the bible. Then, a 20-something year old kid began telling me how he was against Obama's bailouts. I asked him if he knew that Bush & Paulson started the bailouts, and he said that wasn't true, it wasn't "in the papers" anywhere...which it was btw...the kid appeared to be drunk to me, not that that matters. But, that's what I saw at the WB "tea party". Then some guy was speaking, and I couldn't even hear him. COMMENT #72 [Permalink] ... Big Dan said on 4/21/2009 @ 5:51 am PT... There was definitely a mood there, where you better not say anything bad about Republicans...as that video in this post shows. The "tea party's" are definitely a pro-GOP thing. COMMENT #73 [Permalink] ... Damail said on 4/22/2009 @ 9:41 pm PT...

Robert Fisk | Bush's Crumbling Authority in Iraq Wednesday, 20 August 2003 01:24 by: Anonymous Bush's Crumbling Authority in IraqNow No One is Safe By Robert Fisk The Independent Digital UK Wednesday 20 August 2003 What UN member would ever contemplate sending peace-keeping troops to Iraq now? The men who are attacking America's occupation army are ruthless, but they are not stupid. They know that President George Bush is getting desperate, that he will do anything--that he may even go to the dreaded Security Council for help--to reduce US military losses in Iraq. But yesterday's attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad has slammed shut the door to that escape route. Within hours of the explosion, we were being told that this was an attack on a "soft target", a blow against the UN itself. True, it was a "soft" target, although the machine-gun nest on the roof of the UN building might have suggested that even the international body was militarising itself. True, too, it was a shattering assault on the UN as an institution. But in reality, yesterday's attack was against the United States. For it proves that no foreign organisation--no NGO, no humanitarian organisation, no investor, no businessman--can expect to be safe under America's occupation rule. Paul Bremer, the US pro-consul, was meant to be an "anti-terrorism" expert. Yet since he arrived in Iraq, he has seen more "terrorism" than he can have dreamt of in his worst nightmares--and has been able to do nothing about it. Pipeline sabotage, electricity sabotage, water sabotage, attacks on US troops and British troops and Iraqi policemen and now the bombing of the UN. What comes next? The Americans can reconstruct the dead faces of Saddam's two sons, but they can't reconstruct Iraq. Of course, this is not the first indication that the "internationals" are in the sights of Iraq's fast-growing resistance movement. Last month, a UN employee was shot dead south of Baghdad. Two International Red Cross workers were murdered, the second of them a Sri Lankan employee killed in his clearly marked Red Cross car on Highway 8 just north of Hilla. When he was found, his blood was still pouring from the door of his vehicle. The Red Cross chief delegate, who signed out the doomed man on his mission to the south of Baghdad, is now leaving Iraq. Already, the Red Cross itself is confined to its regional offices and cannot travel across Iraq by road. An American contractor was killed in Tikrit a week ago. A British journalist was murdered in Baghdad last month. Who is safe now? Who will now feel safe at a Baghdad hotel when one of the most famous of them all--the old Canal Hotel, which housed the UN arms inspectors before the invasion--has been blown up? Will the next "spectacular" be against occupation troops? Against the occupation leadership? Against the so-called Iraqi "Interim Council"? Against journalists? The reaction to yesterday's tragedy could have been written in advance. The Americans will tell us that this proves how "desperate" Saddam's "dead-enders" have become--as if the attackers are more likely to give up as they become more successful in destroying US rule in Iraq. The truth--however many of Saddam's old regime hands are involved--is that the Iraqi resistance organisation now involves hundreds, if not thousands, of Sunni Muslims, many of them with no loyalty to the old regime. Increasingly, the Shias are becoming involved in anti-American actions. Future reaction is equally predictable. Unable to blame their daily cup of bitterness upon Saddam's former retinue, the Americans will have to conjure up foreign intervention. Saudi "terrorists", al-Qa'ida "terrorists", pro-Syrian "terrorists", pro-Iranian "terrorists"--any mysterious "terrorists" will do if their supposed existence covers up the painful reality: that our occupation has spawned a real home-grown Iraqi guerrilla army capable of humbling the greatest power on Earth. With the Americans still trying to bring other nations on board for their Iraqi adventure--even the Indians have had the good sense to decline the invitation--yesterday's bombing was therefore aimed at the jugular of any future "peace-keeping" mission. The UN flag was supposed to guarantee security. But in the past, a UN presence was always contingent upon the acquiescence of the sovereign power. With no sovereign power in existence in Iraq, the UN's legitimacy was bound to be locked on to the occupation authority. Thus could it be seen--by America's detractors--as no more than an extension of US power. President Bush was happy to show his scorn for the UN when its inspectors failed to find any weapons of mass destruction and when its Security Council would not agree to the Anglo-American invasion. Now he cannot even protect UN lives in Iraq. Does anyone want to invest in Iraq now? Does anyone want to put their money on a future "democracy" in Iraq?

The present invention relates to a protective film for a polarizer, and a polarizing plate, and a visual display using the polarizing plate concerned. A polarizing plate used for displays, such as liquid crystal display, is a laminated product of a polarizer having a polarization function and a protective film for securing its durability and mechanical strength with the interposition of an adhesive. The polarization function of the polarizer is obtained by orienting a light anisotropic absorber in a transparent polymer film. For example, a PVA-based polarizer is obtained by allowing iodine or a dichromatic dye to be absorbed on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film, followed by uniaxial orientation by stretching. In such a polarizing plate, if moisture permeability of the polarizer protective film is high, dissociation of PVA or iodine ion in the polarizer can affect polarizing performance. Although triacetyl cellulose (TAC) films are generally used as polarizer protective film from the viewpoint of transparency, appearance, and easy adhesion to the polarizer, the moisture permeability thereof (about 300 g/m2/24 hours) may be insufficient to protect the polarizer in high humidity, especially as application fields of viewing displays become wider, and requirements for polarizing plates become more severe as a result. In addition, hard coat processing is commonly applied for the purpose of protecting the surface of the polarizing plate. This hard coat layer is typically formed by a method in which a curable coated film with high hardness is added on the surface of the protective film. It would be advantageous to provide a protective film with sufficient hardness to eliminate the requirement for a hard coat layer.

- (8 + -5)? 1 Suppose a - 20 = -0*k + 5*k, -5*k + 5*a = 20. Let m(h) = h + 4. Let x be m(k). Suppose x = 2*c - 2*d - 44, 6*c - 36 = 3*c - 3*d. What is the tens digit of c? 1 Let n = 39 + -28. Let p(m) = 2*m**2 + 12*m - 17. What is the units digit of p(n)? 7 Let i(m) = -2400*m - 359. What is the ten thousands digit of i(-10)? 2 Suppose 12*t = 16*t - 3412. What is the hundreds digit of t? 8 Let y be -1*1*(10 - -2). Let i(q) be the first derivative of -q**4/4 - 11*q**3/3 + 9*q**2/2 - 10*q - 8. What is the tens digit of i(y)? 2 Let i(n) = -22*n + 177 - 22*n + 63*n - 6*n. What is the tens digit of i(25)? 0 Let r(i) be the third derivative of -i**5/60 - i**4/3 + i**3/3 - 5*i**2. Let x be r(-8). Suppose 5*s - l - 38 = 4*s, -l + 85 = x*s. What is the tens digit of s? 4 Suppose -h - 135 = 311. What is the units digit of 19*h/(-10) - (-12)/20? 8 Let z = 59 - 26. Suppose -z*y + 38*y = 2895. What is the units digit of y? 9 Let q(f) = 42*f - 2. Let z be q(-2). Suppose 5*k - 9 = -24. What is the tens digit of z/(((-2)/(-6))/(k/6))? 2 Let p(k) = -k**2 + 31*k - 13. Let w be p(15). Suppose 3*q - 16 = w. What is the tens digit of q? 8 Let z = -15 + 62. Let t be -3 - (5 - 1) - -45. Let y = z + t. What is the units digit of y? 5 Let b(z) = -2*z**3 + 6*z**2 - 4. Let f be b(4). What is the units digit of (1*(12 - 5))/((-2)/f)? 6 Let a = 9 - 12. Let g be -1*4/6*a. What is the tens digit of g*(-46)/(-8)*(10 + -4)? 6 Let l(p) = 83*p - 331. What is the units digit of l(5)? 4 Let h be 238/(-22) - ((-16)/22)/(-4). Let p = -11 - h. What is the tens digit of 2/(p + 6)*114 + -2? 3 Suppose -5*v = -5*a - 99810, -39934 = -22*v + 20*v + 4*a. What is the tens digit of v? 5 Suppose -2*w = -4*w - 5*m - 77, 0 = -4*w - 3*m - 161. Let q = -23 - w. Let l = -7 + q. What is the tens digit of l? 1 Let b = -52368 + 89330. What is the units digit of b? 2 Suppose -8*m + 60 = 4*m. Suppose 8*o = 3*o - 3*s + 105, -3*o + m*s = -63. Suppose -208 = 17*a - o*a. What is the units digit of a? 2 Suppose 2*g - 5*g = 855. Let c = 321 + g. What is the units digit of c? 6 Let z = 14 - 4. Suppose 4*w - 2016 = 1312. Suppose -z*k + 2012 = w. What is the tens digit of k? 1 Let a(u) = -38*u - 263. Let y be a(18). Let p = y - -1330. What is the units digit of p? 3 Suppose -4*k + 55 - 7 = 0. Let a be ((-16)/k + 1)*-15. Suppose -y = -a*y + 116. What is the units digit of y? 9 Let b(s) = -s**2 + 20*s - 53. Suppose 0 = -5*d, 5*y + 3*d - 44 = 41. Let k be b(y). What is the hundreds digit of (-3 + 2)/((-2)/k) - -208? 2 Let f be (-4)/4 - (18/(-3) - 608). Suppose h = -2*g + f + 6, 5*g + 2437 = 4*h. What is the tens digit of h? 1 Let h(d) = -243*d + 124. Let q be h(-6). Suppose 4*a - 286 - q = 0. What is the units digit of a? 7 Suppose -2*s + 3*j + 25 = 0, -4*s + 30 = -2*s - 4*j. Let v be 4 - (7 - 2)/s. Suppose 0 = v*r - 2*i - 132, 0*r - i - 132 = -3*r. What is the units digit of r? 4 Let d(c) = -31*c**3 + 3*c**2 - 4*c - 5. Let s be d(-1). Let q = 1425 + s. What is the hundreds digit of q? 4 Suppose 0 = 92*c - 103*c + 6017. Suppose -n - 4*z - c = -4*n, 2*z + 2 = 0. What is the units digit of n? 1 What is the thousands digit of ((-95020)/(-11) - -2) + (-11)/((-121)/(-2))? 8 Let h(d) = -24*d + 74. Let j be h(3). Suppose 2*o + 3*n - 1593 - 304 = 0, -3*o + 2852 = -j*n. What is the tens digit of o? 5 Suppose 2*w + j + 14756 = 92245, -3*j + 116241 = 3*w. What is the thousands digit of w? 8 What is the tens digit of (60/(-110)*-11)/((-4)/(-862))? 9 Let f = 1704 + 1811. Let t = -2335 + f. What is the hundreds digit of t? 1 Let m be (32/12 - 3)/((-1)/33). Suppose 14 = -4*y + m*y. Suppose y*k = 5*f - 130 - 34, 2*k = -4. What is the units digit of f? 2 Suppose 0 = -7*a - 6*a + 2314. Suppose 0 = -4*h + s + 176 - 28, -5*h + a = -3*s. What is the tens digit of h? 3 Let w = -2687 - -14289. What is the ten thousands digit of w? 1 Let z(i) = 22*i + 96. Let a be z(10). What is the hundreds digit of (a - 59)*(4 - -1 - -2)? 7 Let v(z) = -2*z**2 - 3*z + 2. Let n be v(-4). Let l(h) = -21*h - 177. Let t be l(-10). Let b = n + t. What is the tens digit of b? 1 What is the hundreds digit of 36/24*-4 - (-11025 - 2)? 0 Suppose -15*c + 14*c - 2*t = 0, -5*t - 4 = 2*c. Let i(n) = 2*n**3 - 9*n**2 + 39*n + 19. What is the hundreds digit of i(c)? 7 Let d = 20918 + -14704. What is the hundreds digit of d? 2 Let s = 19472 - 7451. What is the units digit of s? 1 Suppose -4*z + 36 = 4*w, -3*z + 5*z + 3*w - 23 = 0. What is the hundreds digit of z/18 + -2 + 6560/45? 1 Suppose w - 2*r = 9692 - 2985, -26828 = -4*w - 4*r. What is the units digit of w? 7 Suppose -63603 = -7*g + 6*g + 17828. What is the hundreds digit of g? 4 Suppose 5*t - 35 = 0, -5*y - 4*t = -120594 + 42251. What is the units digit of y? 3 Let t be (2*6/(-3))/((-2)/4). Let k(n) = 3*n**2 + 11*n - 44. What is the units digit of k(t)? 6 Suppose 15 = -6*f + 5*f. Let q(j) = j**3 + 19*j**2 + 4*j + 15. What is the hundreds digit of q(f)? 8 Let o be (1026/(-135))/((-2)/80). Suppose r + 5 - o = 0. What is the tens digit of r? 9 Suppose 2*h = -5*a + 23236, 17*h + 58144 = 22*h - a. What is the ten thousands digit of h? 1 Let q(v) = -450*v + 956. What is the thousands digit of q(-43)? 0 Let p = 10169 - -66962. What is the ten thousands digit of p? 7 Let z(t) = 24*t + 8. Suppose -20 = -a - 4*a. Let g be (-1)/(a/18 - (-76)/(-180)). What is the tens digit of z(g)? 2 Suppose 40*r + 22 = 222. Suppose 0 = 4*n + r*t - 188, -3*n = 5*t - 9*t - 141. What is the tens digit of n? 4 Suppose 18*i - 780 = 22*i. What is the units digit of -15*(1/3)/1 - i? 0 Let o be ((-52)/39)/((-2)/123 + 0). Let t = 202 - o. Suppose 8*w = 4*w + t. What is the tens digit of w? 3 Let h = -151 - -204. What is the units digit of 14*h - (-12 - -12)? 2 Let d(y) = y**2 - 39*y + 27. Let p be d(-27). Let h = p - 772. What is the thousands digit of h? 1 Let h be 22/(6/84*-2). Let z = h + 336. What is the tens digit of z? 8 Let q be (0 + 0)/(-5 + (-7 - -10)). What is the hundreds digit of 1*(q + -9) + 1266? 2 Let h = 22765 - 1873. What is the hundreds digit of h? 8 Let w = -660 - -2421. Let h = w + -865. What is the units digit of h? 6 Suppose d - 4*n = -n + 2640, 2*n - 2620 = -d. Let c be (d/(-24))/((-6)/4). Let h = c - 12. What is the units digit of h? 1 Let p(h) = -h**3 - 42*h**2 - 78*h + 81. Let o be p(-40). What is the units digit of 3 + o - (3 - (-554)/(-2))? 8 Let r(w) = 167*w + 18. Let y(v) = 2*v + 3. Let j(i) = r(i) + 6*y(i). What is the thousands digit of j(7)? 1 Let t be 7/(-7) - 1 - -4. What is the units digit of (4/4 - 0)/(t/288)? 4 Let t(l) = 204*l**2 + 27*l + 192. What is the units digit of t(-8)? 2 Suppose -12*w + 270 = -17*w. Let c be ((-190)/(-15))/(4/w). Let k = 294 + c. What is the tens digit of k? 2 Suppose -6*f = -791 - 2341. Let l = f - 354. What is the hundreds digit of l? 1 Suppose 0 = -188*i + 171*i + 931719. What is the hundreds digit of i? 8 Let r = 111 + -64. Let s = 49 - r. Suppose -5*z + s*z + 48 = 0. What is the tens digit of z? 1 Suppose 0 = 2*r + 3*j - 7194, -2*r + 3*j + 7180 = -j. Suppose -30*n + 24*n + r = 0. What is the tens digit of n? 9 Suppose -21*v = -675078 + 213141. What is the hundreds digit of v? 9 Let f be ((-6)/(-15))/(20/150). Suppose -6*p + 12 = -3*p, -f*o + 2*p + 1609 = 0. What is the tens digit of o? 3 Suppose 0 = 15*q - 6*q. Suppose -2*g - 2 + 4 = q, -444 = -3*p + 3*g. What is the tens digit of p? 4 Let g = -164 - 649. Let j = g + 1551. What is the tens digit of j? 3 Let u = 183 - -6939. What is the thousands digit of u? 7 Suppose -672 = -0*y + 3*y + 3*r, 4*y + 906 = r. Let s = -134 - y. What is the units digit of s? 2 Suppose 36*t - 7*t + 3741 = 0. Suppose -804 = -6*x + 732. Let c = t + x. What is the hundreds digit of c? 1 Suppose 0 = 2*k + y - 2, -4*k + 8*y = 7*y + 2. Suppose k = -6*f + 2350 + 986. What is the tens digit of f? 5 Let r be 2/(-8) - 1826/(-8). Let h = 233 - 109. Let n = r - h. What is the tens digit of n? 0 Let a = 40604 + -24287. What is the thousands digit of a? 6 Suppose -4*r + 25 = -27. What is the thousands digit of (-8031)/(-7) - (r - (-979)/(-77))? 1 Suppose -4*x - 2*i + 6 = 0, 4*x - 7*i = -8*i + 7. Suppose -2*c + 837 = -5*r, -5*c - 2*r = x*r - 2142. What is the tens digit of c? 2 Let p = 7824 - 3583. What is the units digit of p? 1 Let y be (-2 - (-4 + 1))/(-1). Let

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[Prevention of deep vein thrombosis in internal medicine]. 14 prospective, randomized trials dealing with non-operated patients were analyzed. In all of them the presence of deep vein thrombosis was measured by the radioactive iodine fibrinogen uptake test. Various prophylactic regimens were tested. 13 studies concern patients after myocardial infarction and one a cerebral hemorrhage patient. Only 2 trials confirm the value of oral couramin administration for the reduction of deep vein thrombosis after myocardial infarction. Two studies show that prophylactic anticoagulation with a full dose of heparin reduces the incidence of deep vein thrombosis after myocardial infarction. In 3 studies, again after myocardial infarction, a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of deep vein thrombosis is found when small doses of heparin are given. In 1 study investigating a few patients no effect could be shown. Low doses of heparin reduce the incidence of deep vein thrombosis after acute cerebral hemorrhage. Early mobilization has reduced the incidence of deep vein thrombosis in 21 patients after myocardial infarction, as compared to 8 patients treated with bed rest. Heavy smokers suffering myocardial infarction show a statistically significant lower incidence of deep vein thrombosis than non-smokers, as 3 papers confirm.

--- external help file: PoshSSH.dll-Help.xml online version: https://github.com/darkoperator/Posh-SSH/tree/master/docs schema: 2.0.0 --- # New-SFTPSession ## SYNOPSIS Creates an SSH Session against a SSH Server ## SYNTAX ### NoKey (Default) ``` New-SFTPSession [-ComputerName] <String[]> [-Credential] <PSCredential> [-Port <Int32>] [-ProxyServer <String>] [-ProxyPort <Int32>] [-ProxyCredential <PSCredential>] [-ProxyType <String>] [-ConnectionTimeout <Int32>] [-OperationTimeout <Int32>] [-KeepAliveInterval <Int32>] [-AcceptKey] [-Force] [-ErrorOnUntrusted] ``` ### Key ``` New-SFTPSession [-ComputerName] <String[]> [-Credential] <PSCredential> [-Port <Int32>] [-ProxyServer <String>] [-ProxyPort <Int32>] [-ProxyCredential <PSCredential>] [-ProxyType <String>] [-KeyFile <String>] [-ConnectionTimeout <Int32>] [-OperationTimeout <Int32>] [-KeepAliveInterval <Int32>] [-AcceptKey] [-Force] [-ErrorOnUntrusted] ``` ### KeyString ``` New-SFTPSession [-ComputerName] <String[]> [-Credential] <PSCredential> [-Port <Int32>] [-ProxyServer <String>] [-ProxyPort <Int32>] [-ProxyCredential <PSCredential>] [-ProxyType <String>] [-KeyString <String[]>] [-ConnectionTimeout <Int32>] [-OperationTimeout <Int32>] [-KeepAliveInterval <Int32>] [-AcceptKey] [-Force] [-ErrorOnUntrusted] ``` ## DESCRIPTION Creates an SFTP Session against a remote server. The command supports creating connection thru a Proxy and allows for authentication to the server using username and password. If a key file is specified the command will use the password in the credentials parameter as the paraphrase of the key. ## EXAMPLES ### -------------- Example 1 -------------- ``` PS C:\> New-SFTPSession -ComputerName 192.168.1.155 -Credential (Get-Credential) -Verbose ``` Create a new SFTP Session to a remote hosts using credentials. ## PARAMETERS ### -ComputerName FQDN or IP Address of host to establish a SFTP Session. ```yaml Type: String[] Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: HostName, Computer, IPAddress, Host Required: True Position: 0 Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -Credential SSH Credentials to use for connecting to a server. If a key file is used the password field is used for the Key passphrase. ```yaml Type: PSCredential Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: True Position: 1 Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -Port SSH TCP Port number to use for the SFTP connection. ```yaml Type: Int32 Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -ProxyServer Proxy server name or IP Address to use for connection. ```yaml Type: String Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -ProxyPort Port to connect to on proxy server to route connection. ```yaml Type: Int32 Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -ProxyCredential PowerShell Credential Object with the credentials for use to connect to proxy server if required. ```yaml Type: PSCredential Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -ProxyType Type of Proxy being used (HTTP, Socks4 or Socks5). ```yaml Type: String Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -ConnectionTimeout @{Text=} ```yaml Type: Int32 Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -OperationTimeout @{Text=} ```yaml Type: Int32 Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -KeepAliveInterval Keep Alive interval in seconds for a connection. ```yaml Type: Int32 Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -AcceptKey Automatically accepts a new SSH fingerprint for a host ```yaml Type: SwitchParameter Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: False Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -Force Do not perform any host key validation of the host. ```yaml Type: SwitchParameter Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: False Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -ErrorOnUntrusted Throw a terminating error if the host key is not a trusted one. ```yaml Type: SwitchParameter Parameter Sets: (All) Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: False Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -KeyFile OpenSSH format SSH private key file. ```yaml Type: String Parameter Sets: Key Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: False ``` ### -KeyString OpenSSH key in a string array to be used for authentication. ```yaml Type: String[] Parameter Sets: KeyString Aliases: Required: False Position: Named Default value: None Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName) Accept wildcard characters: True ``` ## INPUTS ### System.String[] ### System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ### System.Int32 ### System.String ### System.Boolean ## OUTPUTS ## NOTES ## RELATED LINKS

The Clinical Ethics Consultant: What Role is There for Religious Beliefs? Religions often operate as comprehensive worldviews, attempting to answer the deepest existential questions that human beings can ask: Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going after I die? How should I live? Often ethical systems are embedded and justified within these broader narratives. Inevitably, the clinical ethics consultant will encounter and engage with religiously based ethical systems. In this issue, the authors reflect seriously and deeply on the implications of such engagement.

Q: Analytic continuation definition I've seen that analytic continuation is defined as: Let $f_1,f_2$ be analytic functions on $D_1,D_2$, respectively. If $D_1\cap D_2\neq \emptyset$ and $f_1(z)=f_2(z)$ for all $z\in D_1\cap D_2$, then $f_2$ is analytic continuation for $f_1$ to $D_2$ and vice versa. How come there are no restrictions for $D_1\cap D_2$? If we take $f_1(x)=0$ and $f_2(x)=x$ and $D_1=(-1,0]$ and $D_2=[0,1)$, then the previous definition would suggest that $f_2$ is analytic continuation for $f_1$ to $D_2$, which is not true. Shouldn't there be restriction for $D_1\cap D_2$ be an open set? Is the previous definition incorrect or am I simply missing something? Example of an analytic continuation definition - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/AnalyticContinuation.html A: Typically it is phrased to require $D_1, D_2$ to be connected open sets. In the link you provide, this is implicit in calling $D_1, D_2$ domains. Then the intersection is also open, avoiding the problem you describe.

Wilbourn is charged with fatally shooting Bolton shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2015, in the 4800 block of Summerlane in the area of Cottonwood and South Perkins. Jury selection was expected to end on Monday, but by late afternoon, it was not clear if the pool would be whittled down to size by Tuesday. "In the death penalty case there's going to be jurors who believe they cannot impose the death penalty. By the same token, there's jurors who believe a person convicted of first-degree murder should always get the death penalty," defense attorney Juni Ganguli said. "And so the law is that jurors must be able to follow the law, which includes imposition of the death penalty. But they must also be able to consider mitigation. It's not mandatory that Tremaine gets the death penalty." Late last year, attorneys asked the court to no longer require Wilbourn to wear stun cuff while in court, but they were unsuccessful. Buy Photo October 29 2018 - Tremaine Wilbourn is seen inside of Judge Lee Coffee's courtroom as jury selection begins for his upcoming trial. Wilbourn is charged with fatally shooting Memphis police officer Sean Bolton shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2015, in the 4800 block of Summerlane in the area of Cottonwood and South Perkins.(Photo: Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal) Wilbourn has been charged with having drugs in jail and will wear a shock device around his waist during the trial, Ganguli said. "I don't think it's necessary and we asked for the court not to do it, but for courtroom security purposes, it's going to happen," he said. Wilbourn is now somber, his attorneys said. "This is a very serious matter, obviously. And we've spent quite a bit of time with him over the last week talking to him. But he is obviously taking this very seriously and he is somber," said defense lawyer Laurie Hall. On Monday, some of those potential jurors were released based on answers in a juror questionnaire about the death penalty. Others were dismissed after Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee clarified the legal mandates on a death penalty ruling or what he called "first-degree murder plus something else." The "something else" are the mitigating circumstances that will be presented during the trial, Coffee said. Bolton, 33, according to police reports, pulled in front of a red 2002 Mercedes-Benz that had stopped on the side of the street, got out of his cruiser and approached the car. Wilbourn, a passenger in the Mercedes, got out of the vehicle and the men began to struggle. Sean Bolton(Photo: MPD) Police said Wilbourn pulled out a gun and fired on Bolton at close range. An autopsy report stated Bolton was hit eight times. The report said Bolton was struck in the face, the right forearm, the right hip, the back of the right leg, the right torso, twice in the back of the left thigh and the right hand, with fatal shots to his abdomen. Those shots pierced Bolton’s liver, small intestine, small bowel, ascending colon and a major blood vessel, the report stated. Later, officers found drug paraphernalia as well as 1.7 grams of marijuana in the Mercedes. A man from the neighborhood picked up Bolton’s police radio and called dispatchers for help. Bolton was rushed to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition, where the autopsy report shows doctors spent an hour trying to revive him, but could not. At the time of the shooting Wilbourn, 32, was out on supervised release from federal court for a 121-month sentence for bank robbery. He turned himself in on Aug. 3, 2015, to U.S. Marshals. While in custody on first-degree murder charges, Wilbourn was charged with inciting to riot, resisting detention, drug charges and bringing in contraband. Wilbourn pleaded guilty in April 2017 to a carjacking on the same day as the officer's shooting. He pleaded guilty to taking a 2002 Honda Accord, brandishing a gun during the carjacking and being a felon in possession of 9mm ammunition. Dispatchers received an alert about the carjacking after Bolton was shot. Wilbourn was sentenced to 28 years in prison by federal Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, who said during his hearing that he had a criminal history that went back to childhood and that he had been placed in protective custody several times.

African clawed frogs used to be the best human pregnancy tests in the world. Doctors would inject a woman's urine into the back of a female frog; if positive, the frog would lay eggs. Frog or "Hogben" tests were commonplace from the 1940s through the early 1960s. The animal's popularity led to both a scientific revolution and possibly a global ecological crisis. Pregnancy tests today are as simple as peeing on a toothbrush-size stick and waiting a few minutes. Chemicals in the sticks can detect a key pregnancy hormone: human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Back in 1920s and 30s, however, the best available test for hCG was much slower, less accurate — and pretty gruesome. Called the Aschheim-Zondek or "A-Z" test, it required injecting several female mice, rats, or rabbits with a woman's urine, waiting a few days, killing the rodents, and then examining their ovaries for any enlargement spurred by the hormone. By 1935, an English lab was performing 6,000 A-Z tests a year. But a new pregnancy test was actively being discovered at the same time, and it wound up reigning for more than two decades. The "Hogben test" got its start in 1930, when British biologist Lancelot Hogben began looking into what he called a godsend for hormone research: The African clawed frog, or Xenopus laevis. Frogs: The first reliable and reusable pregnancy test Dave Mosher/Business Insider While teaching in South Africa, Hogben learned that Xenopus frogs were sensitive to hormone changes. Specifically, Hogben noted that injecting a healthy frog with pituitary extracts from another could trigger ovulation within a matter of hours, according to a historical review published by scientists John B. Gurdon and Nick Hopwood in the International Journal of Developmental Biology. Other researchers caught wind of Hogben's research and figured out that Xenopus frogs might serve as a simple pregnancy test. The race to master it was on. So in 1937, Hogben and animal geneticist Francis Albert Eley Crew imported 1,500 Xenopus frogs to the UK from South Africa. Within two years their team figured out how to raise the frogs in labs (the test's biggest initial challenge), and make the "Hogben test" something easy for doctors to order. "You used take a woman's urine, inject it into the back of the frog, and if the frog laid eggs 12 hours to 24 hours later, you knew the woman was pregnant," Marko Horb, who directs the NIH-funded National Xenopus Resource in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, told Business Insider. He added that the frogs were "basically the precursor to the pee-on-a-stick" home pregnancy test. Marko Horb, a senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, inside the National Xenopus Resource center. Dave Mosher/Business Insider The frogs made great pregnancy tests for a few reasons. First, they required only one injection of a woman's urine in one animal, whereas the A-Z test required two injections a day for three days in up to five rodents, according to Gurdon and Hopwood. Second, a female Xenopus frog would simply lay a bunch of eggs within hours of being exposed to hCG — the animal didn't need to be sacrificed, and in fact could be reused again and again. Xenopus frogs were also less expensive to raise and easier to maintain than rodents, and the test seemed to be nearly 100% accurate. This clip from a video by Jesse Olszynko-Gryn, a science historian at the University of Cambridge, shows what a "positive" test result would have looked like: An unfertilized female frog laying a bunch of eggs. Women at the time couldn't just walk into a pharmacy and buy the frog test; they had to go through a doctor, who would then order it from a lab, Olszynko-Gryn said. Crew's facility at the Edinburgh Institute, for example, performed tens of thousands of Xenopus pregnancy tests for clinicians over more than two decades — until a simpler, animal-free, cell-based pregnancy test came along in the 1960s. (The chemical variety hit the market in the 1970s.) A model organism A Xenopus frog in an aquarium. Dave Mosher/Business Insider Although the Hogben test eventually became obsolete, the work of Hogben, Crew, and others helped establish Xenopus frogs as a model organism for scientific experiments and spread the animals to the US research community. Today, Horb and others at the National Xenopus Resource manage, create, and supply some 100 different genetically-altered and mutated lines of frogs for researchers around the world. Altogether, they care for a total of more than 7,000 frogs of two Xenopus species. Aquariums inside the National Xenopus Resource center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Dave Mosher/Business Insider Horb said scientists use the frogs to study everything from developmental biology to heart disease, and are even working on new frog-based tests for harder-to-diagnose conditions like polycystic kidney disease. "Someone who wants to create a chemical screen for polycystic kidney disease could actually use it on the tadpoles," he said. "You have a huge number of offspring that you could work on." The frogs' popularity may not have been all good news, however. Researchers now suspect Xenopus frogs quietly carry an amphibian fungal disease called chytridiomycosis, which has wiped out hundreds of species around the world. According to Nature, the spread may have started when the Xenopus pregnancy test became obsolete — and hospitals released the non-native animals into the wild. Horb, however, notes this link "is not proven" and recent studies have in fact cast doubt on the conclusion. The frogs have also thrown many local aquatic ecosystems off-balance with their ravenous appetite. "When they were released in the US, they took over lakes and ponds," Horb said, adding that they're omnivorous. "They'll eat everything." This story was updated to note recent research on how Xenopus is not definitively linked to the spread of chytridiomycosis among amphibians.

Tackling the challenges of aging with expert solutions. $50,000 Health’s Angels grant goes to AGE Health’s Angels is a St. David’s Community Health Foundation service group created to support nonprofit organizations assisting older adults and their caregivers.Austin Groups for the Elderly (AGE) will be able to significantly expand its Durable Medical Equipment Program thanks to a $50,000 grant from Health’s Angels. The grant will help AGE recruit donations of gently used medical equipment needed by older adults, such as wheelchairs, walkers, shower benches and canes. AGE then gives the equipment to people who need them free of charge. These simple items can be life-enhancing and help older adults live more safely in their homes. Members of Health’s Angels selected AGE after hearing presentations from three grant finalists at their spring luncheon at Shoreline Grill on April 1. Health’s Angels is a volunteer group dedicated to serving the aging community and the agencies that serve them.

Krauthammer Urges Kerry to Quit Over 'Apartheid' Statement Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer has called for Secretary of State John Kerry to resign following his "pernicious" remarks that Israel could become an "apartheid state" if there is no peace deal with its Palestinian neighbors. The syndicated columnist said that comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians with the now-defunct racist apartheid system in South Africa was "truly appalling and hurtful," and he has backed Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz by urging Kerry to quit. "It’s beyond nonsense," Krauthammer told Fox News. "It’s pernicious and extremely harmful. What the Secretary of State of the United States has succeeded in doing in what he thought was a private comment is to echo and therefore to legitimize the worst of the libelous [claims] against the Jewish state. "If there is one minority in the Middle East that enjoys the rule of law and protection and democracy, it is Arabs in Israel. One out of every five Israelis is a Palestinian, overwhelmingly they are Muslim. "There are Arabs in the government, in the Supreme Court, in all walks of life in the universities. There is actually affirmative action if you are a Palestinian in the universities. "And to compare that in any way with the systematic discrimination against black Africans in South Africa is truly appalling and hurtful. I think Cruz is right. This is beyond something requiring an apology. I think this is a resigning-type statement." The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, who writes for The Washington Post and appears regularly on Fox News as a contributor, added, "This is an injury to an ally that will echo, because it will be repeated. "People will say, 'I’m not saying this, it is the Secretary of State of the United States.' It’s untrue, it’s pernicious, and it’s truly something that demands at the very least an immediate apology." Kerry made his controversial "apartheid state" comments during a closed door meeting of the Trilateral Commission on April 25. He apologized late Monday, lashing out against "partisan political" attacks against him, even as he conceded "apartheid" is "a word best left out of the debate here at home."

Photo: Ian Gavan/Getty Images The travails of the certainly cursed project Jane Got A Gun are the stuff of Hollywood legend by now. Except unlike the tales from a production disaster like The Misfits, there’s no great movie to show for it (yet). As you’ll remember, a slew of leading actors came and left, including Jude Law, Michael Fassbender, and Bradley Cooper. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay was paid $750,000 to rework the script and direct, but on the day shooting was set to start, she was nowhere to be found. Now she and the film’s producers will get a chance to hash things out in a courtroom. The producers filed a lawsuit against Ramsay in federal court in New Mexico this week, alleging that she “was repeatedly under the influence of alcohol, was abusive to members of the cast and crew and was generally disruptive.” They’re asking that she pay back her salary, along with punitive damages for fraud and breach of contract. As for the film, Ewan McGregor has taken over the role formerly held by Fassbender, Law, and Cooper, and Gavin O’Connor has stepped in to direct. It’d be nice to say Natalie Portman’s western is back on track but you really never know with this one.

Wear your' heart on your sleeve... The bass drum thumps, the guitar screeches, Max starts to scream and underneath all that is me, bass in hand, rhythm coursing through my body The tips of all my fingers sting as the new strings bite into them, it’s at least forty degrees in here so my sweat has softened the callouses on my fingers.The song lurches to a stop and the crowd cheers.“This one’s a little bullet for my valentine cover.” Max announces to the crowd, I take advantage of the twelve bars rest i have and drink two litres of water, I put the second bottle down just as the first chorus is about to come in, I launch in and attack the crowd with my bass noise, tonight it’s turned up so loud it is moving people’s clothes, I step up to the Mic for the second verse, I look into the crowd and she’s standing there, new boyfriend wrapped around her shoulders, the guy is at least eighteen, at least I was her fucking age, I realize what I’m about to sing and smirk.Once more you tell those lies to me; Why can’t you just be straight up with honesty?When you say those things in my ear, Why do you always tell me what you wanna hear? Oh yeah Max growls in a slowly building loudness My smile grows bigger, I look her in the eyes and sing the next part. I fill the words with the heartbreak I felt and maybe she’ll realize i wasn’t fucking blind, I knew all along, since you first laid eyes on him, it didn’t help you constantly compared me to him and brought him up in conversation at any chance you got.Wear your heart on your sleeve, make things hard to believe, I’m not feeling this situationRun away try to find that safe place you can hideIt’s the best place to be when you’re feeling like… She is outraged, I wish she knew that i had known since the first time she had seen the guy that she had a thing for him, I wish she had looked across to see my heart snap in two.

For my wishlist for the Uncon NSS, please see http://www.amazon.co.uk/wishlist/ZDB1SMSSTZD8 and please ignore all he psychology books - I just use it to remind myself of stuff I need to get, too. I help maintain two Official BookCrossing Zones in Ipswich. One is located upstairs in CoffeeLink on Neptune Quay and the other upstairs in Caffe Nero in the town centre. Donations of books are always welcome. Bookcrossers from the area also meet up at CoffeeLink on the second Saturday of each month between 12 and 1.30 - please drop me a line if you'd like to come along and/or join the announcements list here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/suffolkbookcrossingmeets/ In Ingeborg Bachman's 'Malina', the main protagonist says, at one point: 'Reading is the one passion that can replace all others. I do not consume drugs, I consume books.' While this is not a very elegant translation, it describes fairly well how I feel about books, and reading, and giving other people the chance to be taken in and away by books as much as I am, and always will be. Being a bookworm has ultimately resulted in me becoming an eloquent, occasionally incontinently articulate smartass, which found its logical conclusion in getting a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology - if you are interested in logic, reasoning or evolutionary psychology, please drop me a PM. My name, 'Semioticghost', is based on a concept taken from a short story by William Gibson, who is one of my all-time favourite sci-fi writers. The story is called 'The Gernsback Continuum' and is published in a collection titled 'Burning Chrome'. I also happen to be rather interested in semiotics [...]

Photodex ProShow Gold 5.0.3222 Full Patch is an software that allows us to create a slideshow with lots of photo, video, and add a song in the slideshow. Photodex ProShow Gold 5.0.3222 Full Patch provides a variety of attractive transition effects that we can use to beautify the slidshow that we will create. Activation Photodex ProShow Gold 5.0.3222 Using Patch: Install Photodex ProShow Gold 5.0.3222 Extract the patch file, disable antivirus before you use. Copy the patch file to the folder where you install Photodex ProShow Gold 5.0.322. For example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Photodex\ProShow Gold".

INTRODUCTION ============ Allergic rhinitis (AR) is an inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa, induced by an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated reaction in allergen-sensitized subjects. AR is characterized by sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion and nasal pruritus, which are often accompanied by ocular pruritus, redness and/or lacrimation in 60%-70% of patients.[@B1],[@B2] Although not life threatening, the symptoms of AR are frequently bothersome, adversely affect work and quality of life, and impose a significant burden on both the individual and society.[@B1]-[@B4] Symptoms can lead to both physical and mental complications, with sleep-disordered breathing in childhood and adolescence being associated with decreased learning performance and increased behavior and attention disorders.[@B5]-[@B9] Moreover, AR is commonly comorbid with asthma, suggesting that these conditions are closely related and has led to the concept of \'one airway, one disease\'.[@B10] Indeed, studies have suggested that \~20%-50% of patients with allergic rhinitis have clinical asthma, whereas \>80% of patients with allergic asthma having concomitant rhinitis symptoms.[@B11]-[@B13] Epidemiological studies have revealed that the prevalence of AR has increased progressively in more-developed countries, and currently affects up to 40% of the population worldwide;[@B14],[@B15] with 23%-30% of the population affected in Europe[@B16],[@B17] and 12%-30% of individuals affected in the United States.[@B18] Although the prevalence and possible factors responsible for the etiology of AR have been well documented in many developed countries, there is comparatively little information available in developing countries.[@B19] In this regard, the People\'s Republic of China is one of the largest countries in the world with a population of around 1.3 billion citizens and rapidly expanding industrialization. It is divided into 34 administrative divisions, including 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, and 2 Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macao). Moreover, it is traditionally divided into seven divisions, including North, Northeast, East, South, Northwest, Central and Southwest China, which cover an area of around 9.6 million square kilometers-approximately the size of Europe-and lies within several climate zones. The present article reviews the prevalence, incidence of comorbid allergic diseases, and trends and patterns of sensitizing allergens of AR in adults and children in China. The process of selecting articles to include in the present review was based on review of pre-existing published studies. A literature search was conducted in February 2013 for all relevant articles using PubMed. Citations for articles reporting the prevalence of AR in China were identified using *allergic rhinitis* as the primary search terms in association with *China*, *prevalence/incidence*, *comorbid allergic disease*, *asthma*, and *sensitizing allergens*, as the secondary search terms. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis in adults ============================================= Few studies have reported the prevalence of AR in adults in China ([Figure](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). One nationwide population-based study assessed self-reported AR using validated questionnaire-based telephone interviews in over 38,000 subjects in 11 major cities across China from September 2004 to May 2005.[@B20] The authors demonstrated that age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of AR was highly variable, ranging from 8.7% in Beijing to 24.1% in Urumqi. The prevalences of AR in the other regions investigated were 11.2%, 16.1%, 14.1%, 8.9%, 13.3%, 13.6%, 15.7%, 19.3%, and 9.1% in Changchun, Changsha, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan and Xi\'An, respectively. Importantly, this study further showed that, of the subjects with self-reported AR, 74.4% were diagnosed as intermittent AR patients and the remaining 25.6% as persistent AR patients based on the new Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) classification.[@B21] More recently, Shen and colleagues[@B22] investigated the epidemiological features of self-reported AR in 4 major cities (Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanning and Urumqi) in western China employing a cross-sectional, population-based study using a validated questionnaire and multistage, stratified cluster sampling from January to December 2008. The overall prevalence of AR was found to be 34.3%, with prevalence rates of 34.3% in Chengdu, 32.3% in Chongqing, 30.3% in Nanning, and 37.9% in Urumqi. Similarly, in more recent studies, Wang and colleagues investigated the prevalence of AR in several regions of northern China (rural areas of Qingxian, Hebei; coastal fishing village of Bohai Bay, Huanghua; area of Wuling Mountain, Chengde; urban areas of Tianjin) and reported that the overall prevalence of AR was \~9.2%.[@B23],[@B24] The authors further demonstrated that the risk of AR was associated with occupation, with farmers having a 2.32-fold increased risk.[@B23] Comparison of AR prevalence in villagers in Hebei Province versus city dwellers in Tianjin indicated that although the prevalence rates (9.2% and 9.0%, respectively) were not significantly different, the prevalence of allergens in the two areas were significantly different.[@B25] The incidence of AR caused by dog epithelium was higher in Hebei than Tianjin, whereas the reverse was the case for dust-mite-induced AR. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis in children =============================================== Compared to adults, more data are available from studies investigating the prevalence of AR in children in China ([Figure](#F1){ref-type="fig"}), the majority of which have investigated the prevalence of AR in combination with asthma and eczema using the standardized and appropriately translated versions of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) protocols.[@B10],[@B26],[@B27] Despite being approximately similar in size and having a population twice as large as Europe, only 2 centers in China have reported the prevalence of AR and/or asthma/eczema in children aged 6-7 years according to the ISAAC protocol, compared with 29 centers in Europe. Likewise, the prevalence of AR and or asthma/eczema in children aged 13-14 have been investigated in only 3 centers in China, compared with 46 centers in Europe.[@B28] In an early, non-ISAAC design study, Leung and colleagues investigated the effects of allergen sensitization and a family history of atopy on asthma and allergic disease in 12-18 years old Chinese schoolchildren from San Bu in southern China and Hong Kong.[@B29] The authors reported that the occurrence rates of rhinitis symptoms within the past 12 months in San Bu and Hong Kong were 3.7% and 29.8%, respectively, while the rates of atopy confirmed by skin prick tests (SPT) were 49% and 57.7%, respectively, in the 2 regions.[@B29] Similarly, 2 earlier ISAAC Phase I studies investigating 6-7 years old primary school children in Beijing (n=2,978), Urumqi (n=2,840) and Hong Kong (n=3,618) reported 12 month prevalence rates for nasal symptoms of 30.0%, 31.1%, and 35.1%, respectively.[@B30],[@B31] Wong et al.[@B32] recruited schoolchildren aged 9-11 years from Hong Kong (n=3,110), Beijing (n=4,227) and Guangzhou (n=3,565) for studies using the ISAAC Phase II protocol, and reported that the prevalence rate of current rhinoconjunctivitis was significantly higher in Hong Kong (15%) than in Beijing (6.7%) or Guangzhou (7.4%). The atopy rate was also higher in Hong Kong (41.2%) than in Beijing (23.9%) or Guangzhou (30.8%). In a more recent study, schoolchildren aged 13-14 years from urban Beijing (n=3,531) and rural areas around Beijing (n=3,546) were assessed using the ISAAC Phase III protocol.[@B34] The incidence rates of current symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis and atopy were significantly higher in urban children (10.3%. and 37%, respectively) compared with rural children (3.3% and 11%, respectively; *P*\<0.0001 for both comparisons).[@B33] Similarly, Chiang and colleagues[@B34] investigated the prevalence of AR in 10-15 years old schoolchildren in central Taiwan using the ISAAC Phase III study protocol. These authors reported the overall cumulative and 12 month prevalence of AR to be even higher in this cohort, at 43.0%. Moreover, the authors concluded that boys had significantly higher prevalences of wheezing and rhinitis than girls, and that younger children tended to have a higher prevalence of the disorders than older children.[@B34] This observation confirmed the age- and gender-dependent differences in AR prevalence shown by Kao and colleagues[@B35] in an earlier non-ISAAC designed study employing a one-stage stratified cluster random sampling technique. These authors investigated the prevalence of AR in 2 groups of school children in Taiwan and demonstrated that children aged 6-8 years had significantly higher prevalence rates of diagnosed AR than those aged 13-15 (29.8 vs. 18.3%), and the 6-8-year-old male group had significantly higher proportions of AR symptoms than females of similar age.[@B36] Likewise, one recent non-ISAAC questionnaire-based study has reported the prevalence rate of AR in children aged 9 to 10 years in Shihezi city of Xinjiang province located in Northwest China to be 12.56%.[@B36] Moreover, the authors showed that 56% of children with AR had intermittent AR, and the remaining 44% had persistent AR with mostly mild symptoms based on the ARIA classification.[@B21] Several studies have investigated the prevalence of AR in pre-school children aged 6 years and less.[@B37],[@B38] In one recent study, Zhang and colleagues[@B37] surveyed 4,075 children aged 3 to 5 years in urban and suburban areas of Beijing; the adjusted prevalence rate of 19.5% for clinical AR was significantly higher in children from urban areas, compared to 10.8% (*P*\<0.01) in children from suburban areas. Moreover, 67.1% of the children with AR were found to be suffering from intermittent AR, and 32.9% from persistent AR, according to the ARIA classification;[@B21] with 41.5% of the patients showing moderate/severe symptoms.[@B37] In another recent study, Kong and colleagues[@B38] surveyed 1,211 children aged 3-6 years from 16 kindergartens in Wuhan using author-generated questionnaires followed up by telephone interviews and skin prick testing. The authors reported the adjusted current prevalence of AR to be 10.8% using the diagnostic criteria based on the presence of nasal symptoms and positive skin prick test (SPT). Moreover, the prevalence of AR was higher in males than females (13.0 vs. 7.7%; *P*\<0.05) and the percentage of children sensitive to both inhalant and food allergens was 27.4%.[@B38] One study investigated the relativity of AR rhinitis and recurring respiratory infection in preschool children in Shenzhen, Guangdong province in southern China. They demonstrated that, while the prevalence rates of AR and recurring respiratory infection were 20.1% and 13.7%, respectively, the prevalence rate of 18.0% for AR combined with recurring respiratory infection was significantly higher than the prevalence rate of 7.8% (*P*\<0.05) for cases with non-AR combined recurring respiratory infection.[@B39] To date, only one nationwide survey of the prevalence of AR in children in China has been reported.[@B40] A total of 23,791 children aged 6-13 years in 8 metropolitan capital cities (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi\'an, Wuhan, Harbin, Chengdu, Hohhot and Urumqi) of provinces in 4 regions were surveyed during November and December 2005, using a cluster-stratified sampling method. Three key questions from the standard ISAAC questionnaire were used to examine the prevalence of current allergic rhinitis and allow for comparison with results in the literature. The study demonstrated that the mean prevalence of childhood AR in the 8 cities was 9.8%, and ranged from 3.9% in Xi\'an to 16.8% in Guangzhou, with males showing a higher AR prevalence than females in all cities. Moreover, the prevalence of childhood allergies was associated with factors related to lifestyle, mental health and socio-economic status, which were distributed unevenly across cities and disproportionately affected the local prevalence.[@B40] A smaller cross-sectional survey by Zhao and colleagues[@B41] investigated the self-reported prevalence of childhood AR in three major cities in China (Beijing, Chongqing, and Guangzhou) using the ISAAC questionnaire. A total of 24,290 children aged 0-14 years were interviewed using a multi-stage sampling method; the self-reported prevalences of AR were 14.46%, 20.42%, and 7.83% in Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou, respectively. Furthermore, the prevalence of AR was lower in children younger than 2 years and significantly higher in males than females in each city.[@B41] The prevalence of allergic rhinitis and comorbid allergic diseases ================================================================== Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the cutaneous precursor of an evolving systemic disorder, the \"atopic march\", which progresses from AD to AR and asthma.[@B42],[@B43] There is a close relationship between AR and asthma, which has led to the concept of \"the united airway\"/\"one-airway, one disease\",[@B10] with evidence suggesting that AR is an independent risk factor for the development of asthma.[@B21],[@B44] Using a 2-stage, clustered, stratified random sample study design, Zhang and colleagues[@B38] surveyed 4,075 children aged 3, 4, and 5 years in urban and suburban areas in Beijing and estimated that 13.3% and 18.1% of children with clinical AR also suffered from physician-diagnosed comorbid asthma and eczema, respectively. Furthermore, there was a close association between AR and asthma in children with a history of asthma (*P*\<0.01, OR=4.88) or eczema (*P*\<0.01, OR=1.49), suggesting that both asthma and eczema were likely to be significant concomitant risk factors for AR.[@B37] Another recent random, multi-stage, cluster sampling study by Wang and colleagues[@B23] analyzed the correlation between AR and bronchial asthma or AD in a cohort of 1,524 individuals from several regions of northern China. This study reported that in patients with AR, the prevalences of bronchial asthma and AD were significantly higher, at 30.9% and 29.5%, respectively, compared with those of bronchial asthma and AD of 2.9% and 3.7% (*P*\<0.01 for both), respectively, in subjects without AR. Additionally, the risk of subjects with asthma suffering from AR was 8.619-fold higher than that of subjects without bronchial asthma, whereas the risk of subjects with AD suffering from AR was 1.817-fold higher than that of subjects without AD.[@B23] Yin and colleagues[@B45] investigated the relationship between AR and allergic asthma in 1,120 patients with autumnal pollinosis in Beijing, and reported that 1,096 (97.9%) patients had AR, whereas only 10 (0.9%) had allergic asthma. Furthermore, of the 1,096 patients with AR, 585 (53.4%) suffered from seasonal asthma, suggesting that the prevalence of autumnal comorbid asthma and AR in Beijing may be relatively high. In contrast, a study of 2,205 elementary school children with AR in Xinjiang province in northwest China reported that of the 277 (12.56%) children found to be suffering from AR, 15 (5.4%) were also suffering from comorbid bronchial asthma.[@B36] Trends in the prevalence of allergic rhinitis ============================================= The worldwide incidence and prevalence of AR have been increasing over the last 3 decades[@B28],[@B46]-[@B49] in almost all westernized countries. A recent study by de Marco and colleagues[@B50] of the trends in the prevalence of asthma and AR in Italy between 1991 and 2010 reported that the prevalence of AR has increased continuously in Italy during this time, affecting more than one in 4 young adults by the end of 2010. Several studies have documented the trends in AR prevalence in China. Studies in adults have demonstrated that the prevalence of AR in Nanjing and Urumqi have increased from 13.3% and 24.1% in 2004-2005[@B20] and to 30.3% and 37.9% in 2008,[@B22] respectively, indicative of a dramatic increase in AR in Chinese adults. Similarly, ISAAC studies have indicated that the prevalence of physician-diagnosed hay fever and AR in Chinese school children aged 13-14 years increased significantly from 2.9% and 17.4% (noted in a Phase I study conducted in 1994-1995) and from 4.1% and 22.7%, respectively (noted in a Phase III study conducted in 2001) (both *P*\<0.05).[@B51] Likewise, an epidemiological survey of school children aged 6-7 years in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2001 reported that the prevalences of life-time rhinitis (42.4% vs. 38.9%, *P*\<0.01), current rhinitis (37.4% vs. 35.1%, *P*\<0.03), and current rhinoconjunctivitis (17.2 vs. 13.6%, *P*\<0.01) have increased significantly over time.[@B31] Similarly, 3 large sample epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of AR in schoolchildren in Taichung, central Taiwan, conducted in 1987, 1994, and 2002 have shown a progressive increase in the prevalence of AR from 5.1% in 1987, to 12.46% in 1987, and finally 27.59% in 2002.[@B52] Pattern of sensitization to inhaled allergens in allergic rhinitis ================================================================== Several studies have investigated the prevalence and type of inhaled sensitizing allergens involved in the manifestation of AR in various cities and regions in China ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}), the majority of which were performed in a single city. Dust mites were reported as the most common allergen in many regions, whereas Chenopodium and Lupulus (instead of dust mites) were the main aeroallergens in northwestern China. Compared with adults, studies of the sensitizing inhaled allergens in children with AR suggested that a wider spectrum and *Alternaria tenuis* as well as mixed fungi were more common in children than adults. A representative study by Yang and colleagues[@B53] investigated the patterns of sensitization to the main inhaled allergens in AR patients nationwide. A total of 10,030 patients with AR were divided into eight groups according to gender and age, and the distributions of sensitizing allergens were analyzed using SPTs. The 4 most common allergens in male patients with AR were *Dermatophagoides farina* (*Der f*),→ *Dermatophagoides ptoronyssinus* (*Der p*) mugwort and *Blaterlia Germanica*, while *Der f*, *Der p*, mugwort and *Chenopodium album* were the most common in female patients. In all groups, the majority of patients were sensitized to 2 relevant allergens, followed by polysensitization to 3 positive allergens and a single positive allergen. Furthermore, the top 4 allergens in 3-17-year-old males sensitized to a single allergen were *Der f*, *Der p*, *Alternaria tenuis* and mugwort. In all other age groups, the most common positive allergens were *Der f*, *Der p*, mugwort and *Blaterlia Germanica*. In contrast, the top 4 positive allergens in the 3-17-year-old female group sensitized to a single allergen were *Der f*, *Der p*, mugwort and *Alternaria tenuis*, in the 18-39-year-old group were *Der f*, *Der p*, mugwort and Dandelion, in the 40-59-year-old group were *Der f*, *Der p* mugwort and mixed tree 1, and in the ≥60-year-old group were *Der f*, *Der p*, mixed animal hair and mugwort. Additionally, in 3-17-year-old patients sensitized to 2 allergens, the most common allergen combination was *Der f* and *Der p*, while in patients polysensitized to 3 positive allergens, the most common allergen combination was *Der f*, *Der p* and *Blaterlia Germanica*, followed by *Der f*, *Der p* and mixed animal hair. While data from several other studies conducted in different regions in China have also shown *Der f* and *Der p* to be the most common sensitizing allergens in adult patients with AR in those areas,[@B54]-[@B60] other authors have reported discrepant findings. A study investigating sensitization to inhaled allergens in AR patients in Xinjiang, Northwest China, demonstrated that Chenopodium and Lupulus (the main aeroallergens in the area) were the primary sensitizing agents for AR, whereas the prevalence of AR due to dust mites, fungus and canine epidermis was relatively low.[@B61] A population-based study examining the relationship between asthma, AR and skin test reactivity to aeroallergens in over 10,000 subjects in Anqing (a predominantly rural province in China) has reported that sensitization to silk was important in the etiology of AR. While sensitization to perennial aeroallergens was associated with asthma among families of asthmatic subjects, sensitization to silk was the strongest predictor of rhinitis in this population.[@B62] Interestingly, one study reported that the prevalence of positive cockroach SPT was higher in southern than northern China, in adults than children, and in males than females.[@B63] Moreover, a cross-sectional study of the association between asthma and rhinitis severity and degree of specific allergic sensitization to common aeroallergens in AR patients in 24 centers (covering mid-temperate, warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical zones) across China reported that while moderate-severe intermittent rhinitis was significantly associated with the skin wheal size and the level of sIgE to *Artemisia vulgaris* and *Ambrosia artemisifolia*, moderate-severe asthma was significantly associated with increasing wheal size and the sIgE response to *Der p* and *Der f*.[@B64] A survey of 3-5-year-old preschool children with AR in urban and suburban areas of Beijing revealed that the most common inhalant allergens were *Alternaria tenuis*, followed by *Der f* (39.4%), and *Der p* (38.6%).[@B37] Similarly, another study of 1-3-year-old children with AR in Beijing reported that the most common inhaled sensitizing aeroallergens in these children were mixed fungal (50.0%), followed by dust mite (21.0%) and mugwort (12.5%).[@B65] However, 2 studies conducted respectively in Changsha[@B66] and Wuhan,[@B38] cities in central China, reported that the most common sensitizing allergens in children with AR were house dust mites, thus presenting an allergen spectrum in accordance with that of adults. Similarly, a study by Han and colleagues[@B36] in 9-10-year-old AR children in Shihezi, Xinjiang province in Northwest China, reported mugwort and house dust mite allergens to be the most common sensitizing agents for AR. Recently, pollen-related AR has attracted more attention in China, as pollen was the most commonly reported allergen (47.8%) in a study by Zhang and colleagues.[@B20] A study conducted between November 2003 to October 2004 to investigate the general and seasonal distribution of airborne pollen and its relationship with pollinosis in 16 areas in 12 cities in Hubei province, central China,[@B67] identified 61 pollen genera within the 257,520 collected pollen samples. The peak airborne pollen distribution occurred in 2 seasons each year; spring (March and April) and autumn (August to October), and pollinosis corresponded to the peak pollen distribution. Similarly another study of airborne pollens performed in Beijing indicated that the summer-autumn pollen concentration peaked from August 20 to September 15, with the major pollens being *Artemisia L*, *Chenopodium album* and *Humulus scandens*.[@B68] Moreover, there was a significant correlation between specific pollen concentration and the number of patients sensitized to that pollen, as well as between pollen concentration and the onset of symptoms during the summer-autumn pollen season.[@B68] Influence of air pollution on the prevalence of allergic rhinitis in China ========================================================================== There is accumulating evidence that both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in the etiology of AR, and that even small increases in the daily concentrations of air pollutants can cause adverse health effects.[@B69] Recent studies have shown an association between high levels of air pollution and an increased risk of allergic sensitization and prevalence of rhinitis.[@B70],[@B71] The increase in atmospheric pollutant (NO~2~, SO~2~, PM~10~, etc.) levels could explain the current increase in the prevalence of AR.[@B72]-[@B74] China is undergoing urbanization and westernization at an unprecedented rate, and the rapid increase in motor vehicle ownership and use has been accompanied by a concomitant increase in traffic-related air pollution, which poses an increasingly serious threat to health in urban areas of China. This is exemplified by a recent ecological study, which investigated the impact of traffic control measures and weather conditions on air quality and asthma morbidity over a period of 41 days during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.[@B75] The study demonstrated that compared with the pre-Olympic baseline, the Games were associated with a significant reduction in asthma visits (RR 0.58, 95% CI: 0.52-0.65), thus providing support for the concept that reduction of air pollution by reducing motor vehicle traffic could lead to improved health. The effects of traffic-related particulate air pollutants on AR prevalence have been investigated by several studies. Zhang and colleagues[@B76] assessed the potential effects of PM~10~, SO~2~ and NO~2~ on outpatient visits caused by AR in Beijing during the period 2009-2010, and found strong associations between the daily concentration of the 3 air pollutants and the daily number of outpatients for AR.[@B76] Similarly, another cross-sectional, population-based study conducted in 11 major cities in China reported that the adjusted self-reported prevalence of AR was positively correlated with the concentration of SO~2~, but not with other air pollution factors, including NO~2~ and PM~10~ or any meteorological factors, including annual average temperature, annual average relative humidity, annual hours of sunshine and annual precipitation.[@B20] Likewise, studies of the relationship between traffic-related air pollution and AR in Taiwanese schoolchildren have shown associations between the prevalence of AR and levels of SO~2~, NOx, O~3~, and PM~10~.[@B77],[@B78] Moreover, a study conducted to determine the relationship between air pollution and the prevalence of allergic diseases in the city of Taichung and the rural town of Chu-Shan in Taiwan revealed that the prevalence AR is higher in Taichung than Chu-Shan, suggestive of a potential adverse health-related effect of higher levels of air pollutants in the urban location.[@B79] In contrast to traffic-related air pollutants, a study of the correlation between the incidence of Asian dust storms in Taipei, Taiwan (1997-2001), and the daily clinic visits for AR showed that although the effects of dust storms on clinic visits for AR were prominent 2 days after the event (19%), this association was not statistically significant.[@B80] Limitations of the epidemiology of allergic rhinitis in China ============================================================= Although many studies have investigated the prevalence of AR in children and adults in China, the majority included disease in children and demonstrated obvious regional differences. Those results suggest that industrialization as the gross output value of industry of the most developed cities such as Beijing and Shanghai is much higher than that of the least developed cities. However, we did not identify a strong correlation between the prevalence of AR and major socioeconomic indicators, which may be due to the limitations of the published studies. A major limitation of these studies is that it is difficult to compare the prevalence of AR between populations since uniform methods were not used. In this sense, it is likely that the marked variation in the prevalence of AR and the comorbid allergic diseases documented in these studies was due at least in part to differences in the instruments employed to assess prevalence. Additionally, many studies evaluated the prevalence of AR based only on questionnaire surveys, telephone interviews and self-reported symptoms. In this regard, it is possible that patients with non-AR, such as vasomotor rhinitis, eosinophilic nonallergic rhinitis and infectious rhinitis caused by viruses, were included in this data, leading to an artificially higher prevalence, particularly in the absence of allergen-test related data. Moreover, for the majority of studies based on questionnaire surveys only, there may be an overestimation of up to 50% in the prevalence of AR. Indeed, a recent study by Zhang and colleagues[@B37] demonstrated that the prevalence of AR assessed using only epidemiological criteria was 3.2 folds greater (48 vs. 14.9%) than that assessed using diagnostic criteria, such as a combination of a typical history of AR symptoms and allergy tests (e.g. SPT). In contrast, one study reported that the prevalence of AR was underestimated on the basis of a lower number of patients being treated for AR, primarily because a majority of patients with mild symptoms did not feel the need to see a physician and did not attend the clinic.[@B81] This study emphasizes the importance of improving utilization of resident health services and related medical education. Zhang and colleagues[@B82] investigated the understanding among otolaryngologists of the perspectives on the diagnosis and management of AR in major cities in China, and reported that the majority of the otolaryngologists (61%±29%) diagnosed AR based on medical history and nasal examination, while only one third (35%±28%) used SPT or specific IgE serum tests. These findings suggest that the diagnosis and management of AR in China is sub-optimal and that otolaryngologists require continuous education in aspects of the diagnosis and management of AR.[@B82] CONCLUSIONS =========== This study has reviewed the data of published surveys of the prevalence of AR and the risk and associated factors in several regions of China. Despite the greater land area and population compared to many western countries, little information is available on the epidemiology of AR in China. Available data indicate that although there are variations in the prevalence of AR among regions, the prevalence of AR has generally increased in both adults and children over the last 2 decades. This is in agreement with the trends noted for AR prevalence in other developing countries. While differences in the type, amount and length of exposure to naturally occurring biological sensitizers among regions may explain the differences in the prevalence of AR, it is likely that a \"western\" type lifestyle in combination with industrialization and a substantial rise in levels of fossil fuel-derived air pollutants has contributed to the increased prevalence of AR in many areas of China. As a developing country, gaps with regard to the socioeconomic level and the degree of technological development remain between China and the more developed westernized countries, which can lead to difficulties in performing epidemiological studies of AR. Moreover, surveying techniques are not standardized, which makes it difficult to directly compare the epidemiology of AR among areas, sub-populations and age groups in China. Thus, future studies of the epidemiology of AR in children and adults in China should be performed at the national level, with a clinical diagnosis of AR confirmed by allergen-related examinations and employing a standardized methodology. This work was supported by grants from National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (81025007), National Natural Science Foundation of China (30973282 and 81100706), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7131006), the Special Fund of Sanitation Elite Reconstruction of Beijing (2009-2-007), Ministry of Health Foundation (201202005), Beijing Science and Technology program (Z111107055311040, KZ201110025027 and Z121107009212032) and Beijing Nova Program (2010B022) to LZ and YZ. There are no financial or other issues that might lead to conflict of interest. {#F1} ###### Reprehensive studies documenting spectrum of inhaled allergens of AR in China. 

About Me I received my MA in philosophy of science many years ago and currently reviving my academic interests. I hope to stimulate individuals in the realms of science, philosophy and the arts...to provide as much free information as possible. Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Lick 'em and stick 'em...some postal history "The Story of the First Postage Stamp" July 19th, 2013 Smithsonian.com “Philately” (get your mind out of the gutter) is the proper term for the studying of stamps and stamp collecting. It was coined in 1865 by Georges Herpin, who very well may have been the first stamp collector, from the Ancient Greek ???? (philo), meaning “love of” and ??????? (ateli-a), meaning “without tax.” Of course, because the ancient Greeks didn’t have postage stamps, there was no proper Greek word for the idea. But, as we shall see, the term is actually a reference to the earliest days of paid postage. Postage can reveal more than the history of a letter, it can reveal the history of a nation. As noted by the National Postal Museum, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, “every stamp tells a story”—and, I might add, it sometimes tells how the story should be told (fat Elvis or skinny Elvis?). The forthcoming book A History of Britain in Thirty-Six Postage Stamps by Chris West tells the story of the stamp. And of Britain. West is himself a philatelist (seriously stop snickering) who inherited a collection from his uncle that included a “Penny Black”—the first postage stamp issued in Britain and, more importantly, the first postage stamp issued anywhere. The Penny Black bears the image of Queen Victoria, but the first British postal service did not originate in Victorian England. In 1680 an entrepreneur by the name of William Dockwra started a public service that guaranteed the quick delivery of a letter anywhere in London. His system was quickly nationalized with Dockwra in charge. It was far from a perfect system, burdened with seemingly erroneous charges and tariffs that made it unreasonably expensive to send a letter. Worse still, recipients were expected to pay. As you might imagine, this presented some problems—either people weren’t home or flat-out refused to pay. Not to mention the blatant corruption. The system just didn’t work, but it remained in place for far too long. About 50 years later, an ambitious polymath named Rowland Hill thought he could do better. Hill ran a progressive school, for which he also designed a central heating system, a swimming pool and an observatory. Hill’s skills weren’t just architectural and pedagogical, he was also an accomplished painter, inventor and essayist. In one of his most famous pamphlets, Post Office Reform, its Importance and Practicability, Hill argued for abolishing the postal tariffs and replacing them with a single national rate of one penny, which would be paid by the sender. When the post office ignored Hill’s ideas, he self-published his essay and it quickly gained ground among the public. Hill was then summoned by Postmaster General Lord Lichfield to discuss postal reform and, during their subsequent meeting, the two men conceived of an adhesive label that could be applied to envelopes to indicate payment. Though it had gained momentum with the public who longed for an affordable way to connect with distant friends and family, officials still were’t convinced, calling it “extraordinary” (in a bad way) and “preposterous,” and probably saying things like “crikey!” and “I say!” and “what hufflepuffery!” and other such exclamations popular among the blustery Victorian bureaucrat set. Thankfully, Hill was far from alone in his passion for reform. He eventually earned enough support from other like-minded individuals, like Henry Cole, founding director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as larger, powerful organizations, to convince Parliament to implement his system. In 1839, Hill held a competition to design all the necessary postal paraphernalia. The winning stamp entry depicting the young Queen’s profile came from one William Wyon, who based the design on a medal he created to celebrate her first visit to London earlier that year. Hill worked with artist Henry Corbould to refine the portrait and develop the stamp’s intricate background pattern. After deciding to produce the stamps through line engraving, engravers George Rushall and Charles and Frederick Heath prepared the design for printing. The “penny black” stamp went on sale May 1, 1840. It was an immediate hit. Suddenly, the country seemed a lot smaller. Over the next year, 70 million letters were sent. Two years later, the number had more than tripled. Other countries soon followed suit. The Penny Black’s design was so well received, it remained in use for forty years, though, as the National Postal Museum notes, “it underwent color changes (1841), adopted perforations (1848), and acquired check letters in all four corners (1858)…and most of those designs were retained for Victoria’s successor, Edward VII, (1901) with his profile being substituted.” The National Postal Museum also shares some insight into why we put stamps on the upper right corner of envelopes. The answer is refreshingly utilitarian: the location of the stamp was decided because over 80 percent of London’s male population was right-handed and it was believed this would help expedite the postmarking/cancellation process. “Stamps can be a good way of establishing a ‘national brand,’” says West. Indeed, a nation’s stamps express the identity and the ambitions of a country. Few countries understood this better than Czechoslovakia, whose government hired noted artist and graphic designer Alphonse Mucha to design its stamps—as well as its money, and almost every other official piece of paper—when the country gained its independence after World War I. West cites other examples, noting how Germany, after World War II, focused on the country’s positive contribution to European culture, while modern America illustrates its history, diversity and individual achievement with its numerous stamps celebrating famous artists and innovators. A History of Britain in Thirty-Six Postage Stamps lives up to its title. Though stamps may be the subject of the book, its content is full of insight into the full history of the British Empire, from Queen Victoria to Kate Middleton. Through West’s book, we get fascinating stories and anecdotes about wars, celebrations, the mercurial fortunes of Britain’s royalty, the rise and fall of its empire and, of course, design. All told a penny at a time. No comments: Poet colleague Annus mirabilis-1905 March is a time of transition winter and spring commence their struggle between moments of ice and mud a robin appears heralding the inevitable life stumbling from its slumber it was in such a period of change in 1905 that the House of Physics would see its Newtonian axioms of an ordered universe collapse into a new frontier where the divisions of time and space matter and energy were to blend as rain and wind in a storm that broke loose within the mind of Albert Einstein where Brownian motion danced seen and unseen, a random walk that became his papers marching through science reshaping the very fabric of the universe we have come to know we all share a common ancestor a star long lost in the eons of memory and yet in that commonality nature demands a permutation a perchance genetic roll of the dice which births a new vision lifting us temporarily from the mystery exposing some of the roots to our existence only to raise a plethora of more questions as did the papers of Einstein in 1905

I’ve written before about the scourge of turkeys that are terrorizing the greater Boston area. One thing I’ve noticed is that the turkeys have gone missing this year. Apparently, one such turkey named “Sully” (by turkey-loving sympathizers) that established an enclave in South Boston is nowhere to be found:

Foucault Pendulum is evidence the earth is rotating. They are latitude dependent, which is only possible on a round earth. The sun does not appear to get smaller as it gets further away. Only possible if it's a great distance away. Foucault pendulum is in no way evidence the earth is rotating. It's a suspended bob that moves, an unexplained phenomenon. But it moves in a predictable pattern, which is based off of latitude. quite easy to explain. I saw one in France. Quote The suns behavior is also a mystery, as are it's origins, true size and distance. No, it is no mystery at all. Quite explainable. I see your best rebuttal is "It's unexplained" I expected more. It moves in a predictable pattern, ok that's fine. But that doesn't prove the earth is a ball and rotating. Also yes the sun's behavior is unexplained, you can't tell me how the sun got there, why it moves the way it does, how large it is, why it appears to be the same size as the moon, why it's gravity doesn't suck us in, and many more. I'm going to bed right now but will be back after work tomorrow but I will leave you with this. If the earth is spinning at over 1000 miles an hour and we can't feel it because we are spinning with it, how exactly can the foucault pendulum defy this property and remain still while the earth supposedly spins underneath, have you really given this any critical thought, or are you just parroting what other's have told you? Foucault Pendulum is evidence the earth is rotating. They are latitude dependent, which is only possible on a round earth. The sun does not appear to get smaller as it gets further away. Only possible if it's a great distance away. Foucault pendulum is in no way evidence the earth is rotating. It's a suspended bob that moves, an unexplained phenomenon. But it moves in a predictable pattern, which is based off of latitude. quite easy to explain. I saw one in France. Quote The suns behavior is also a mystery, as are it's origins, true size and distance. No, it is no mystery at all. Quite explainable. I see your best rebuttal is "It's unexplained" I expected more. It moves in a predictable pattern, ok that's fine. But that doesn't prove the earth is a ball and rotating. You are still forgetting they are predictable based on latitude. where omega is angular speed and phi is latitude. Quote Also yes the sun's behavior is unexplained, you can't tell me how the sun got there, why it moves the way it does, how large it is, why it appears to be the same size as the moon, why it's gravity doesn't suck us in, and many more. It got there because the earth formed around it. It moves the way it because because the earth is in an non circular orbit around it.The sun has a circumference of 4.379x106km. It is a coincidence that the sun and moon appear the same size. We are in orbit around the sun, out velocity keeps us from falling in. All explainable. If the earth is spinning at over 1000 miles an hour and we can't feel it because we are spinning with it, how exactly can the foucault pendulum defy this property and remain still while the earth supposedly spins underneath, have you really given this any critical thought, or are you just parroting what other's have told you? The pendulum does spin with the earth, it just doesn't twist with the earth. There is no force acting on it to change it's swinging direction. Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I have been reading these forums for some time, been reading both sides of the arguments. I have yet to see any proof of a globe earth. I will debate anyone here bring it on. Ok, let's keep it simple. 1. The higher you climb the further you can see. This is not possible on a flat earth2. The horizon on a clear day is a sharp line, not a hazy blur. On a flat earth the horizon is the vanishing point of visibility.3. Stars in the Southern Hemisphere rotate clockwise about the South Celestial pole, In the North stars rotate anti clockwise about the North Celestial pole, two poles = globe.4. The South Pole is a place you can visit. Not some forbidden land with an ice wall, there is no edge.5. From the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice to the winter solstice there is 24 hour daylight inside the Antarctic Circle.6 Distances in the Southern Hemisphere match exactly what you expect on a globe, there is no flat earth map to explain this.7. Satellites are in orbit, and can be proven to be exactly where they are supposed to be. GPS, Satellite TV, Satellite phones etc. all work as expected.8. The South magnetic pole is a point at S 63 30, E 138, which explains magnetic inclination, a flat earth with South Magnetic pole underneath would have vertical inclination.9. Differential levels can measure the earth's curvature directly and accurately. 10. Geodetic surveys routinely correct for C+R, curvature and refraction, it's standard surveying practice. Here is a picture of Earth taken on a mission that would require well over 1,000,000 conspirators to fake: On top of that, the Moon is always seen from the same perspective reguardless of where you are on the Earth.Sigma Octantus (the south star) is always south of the observer and only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.The Sun sets and at the same time we have time zones, so you can't see the Sun at night but someone on another continent can see it.I can see the International Space Station flying overhead and it looks like the station when I look at it with a telescope.Check my forum signature for more. Here is a picture of Earth taken on a mission that would require well over 1,000,000 conspirators to fake: On top of that, the Moon is always seen from the same perspective reguardless of where you are on the Earth.Sigma Octantus (the south star) is always south of the observer and only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.The Sun sets and at the same time we have time zones, so you can't see the Sun at night but someone on another continent can see it.I can see the International Space Station flying overhead and it looks like the station when I look at it with a telescope.Check my forum signature for more. I actually haven't seen a single flat Earth proof. That picture is a joke. North Africa and Arabia are near the north pole? Really? They are quite warm you know. Here is a picture of Earth taken on a mission that would require well over 1,000,000 conspirators to fake: On top of that, the Moon is always seen from the same perspective reguardless of where you are on the Earth.Sigma Octantus (the south star) is always south of the observer and only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.The Sun sets and at the same time we have time zones, so you can't see the Sun at night but someone on another continent can see it.I can see the International Space Station flying overhead and it looks like the station when I look at it with a telescope.Check my forum signature for more. I actually haven't seen a single flat Earth proof. That picture is a joke. North Africa and Arabia are near the north pole? Really? They are quite warm you know. I have been reading these forums for some time, been reading both sides of the arguments. I have yet to see any proof of a globe earth. I will debate anyone here bring it on. Ok, let's keep it simple. 1. The higher you climb the further you can see. This is not possible on a flat earth2. The horizon on a clear day is a sharp line, not a hazy blur. On a flat earth the horizon is the vanishing point of visibility.3. Stars in the Southern Hemisphere rotate clockwise about the South Celestial pole, In the North stars rotate anti clockwise about the North Celestial pole, two poles = globe.4. The South Pole is a place you can visit. Not some forbidden land with an ice wall, there is no edge.5. From the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice to the winter solstice there is 24 hour daylight inside the Antarctic Circle.6 Distances in the Southern Hemisphere match exactly what you expect on a globe, there is no flat earth map to explain this.7. Satellites are in orbit, and can be proven to be exactly where they are supposed to be. GPS, Satellite TV, Satellite phones etc. all work as expected.8. The South magnetic pole is a point at S 63 30, E 138, which explains magnetic inclination, a flat earth with South Magnetic pole underneath would have vertical inclination.9. Differential levels can measure the earth's curvature directly and accurately. 10. Geodetic surveys routinely correct for C+R, curvature and refraction, it's standard surveying practice. That should be enough to get you started. And the killer, no one has ever shown ANY evidence of a flat earth. 1)probably other explanation aside from round earth because you climb higher you still don't see the curve.2)don't know what the difference.3)could be 10000 explanations aside from round earth.4)the south pole could be a place this has nothing to do with round earth.5)there are controversies about it.6)No they are not you haven't proved it aside from the conspiracy.7)This is what we call "the conspiracy".8)other explanations can be found you just have to search for them.9)don't know what you mean.10)Conspiracy. The fact that you can calculate and travel the shortest distance between two locationscalculated with great circle formula (shortest line connecting the two points across a sphere).It works on the same land mass too. If you want to fall off the edge of the Earth where should you head for?If the answer is the old South Pole around the whole disc of an Earth,that messes up our representation of geographic land mass severely,and can easily be locally checked across relatively short distances. Here is a picture of Earth taken on a mission that would require well over 1,000,000 conspirators to fake: On top of that, the Moon is always seen from the same perspective reguardless of where you are on the Earth.Sigma Octantus (the south star) is always south of the observer and only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.The Sun sets and at the same time we have time zones, so you can't see the Sun at night but someone on another continent can see it.I can see the International Space Station flying overhead and it looks like the station when I look at it with a telescope.Check my forum signature for more. I actually haven't seen a single flat Earth proof. That picture is a joke. North Africa and Arabia are near the north pole? Really? They are quite warm you know. Pictures taken from space of the earth depend on which angle from which they were taken. Your assumption that North Africa and Arabia are near the North Pole indicates that you are either ignorant of this or just don't understand . If you have a globe and a camera handy, try taking a few pictures from different angles and see if you don't get the same results as in the picture. In short there is an almost infinite proof of a globe earth. And there is absolutely no proof that there is a flat earth. Period. « Last Edit: June 16, 2015, 11:52:34 AM by Googleotomy » Logged Stick close , very close , to your P.C.and never go to seaAnd you all may be Rulers of The Flat Earth Society Look out your window , see what you shall seeAnd you all may be Rulers of The Flat Earth Society Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. Logged "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. If we look at it completely zeteticly, without any bias, we still come to the same conclusion. My experience teaches me that the bigger the vehicle, the less motion is felt. When you are on a bike, you feel lots of motion. In a car, you feel motion, but less. On a plane, you feel very little motion except when accelerating. On a large cruise ship, you feel no motion at all. Earth is billions and billions of times bigger than a cruise ship, so logically you wouldn't feel any motion. That's me being as open-minded as possible. Logged Quote from: Excelsior John [USA TODAY and NPR] are probaley just a bunch of flippin wite sapremist websites you RASCIST Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. If we look at it completely zeteticly, without any bias, we still come to the same conclusion. My experience teaches me that the bigger the vehicle, the less motion is felt. When you are on a bike, you feel lots of motion. In a car, you feel motion, but less. On a plane, you feel very little motion except when accelerating. On a large cruise ship, you feel no motion at all. Earth is billions and billions of times bigger than a cruise ship, so logically you wouldn't feel any motion. That's me being as open-minded as possible. Just go out side and start running for a while, then suddenly stop. If the Earth is spinning over !/4 mps and you suddenly stop and the Earth keeps on spinning, you have to agree the Earth's momentium should at least knock you off balance. You can't see that? Remember, we are talking over 1/4 MPS. That is faster then any drag racer by a long run. Logged "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. Relative velocity.The Earth is at a constant velocity, so anything a human does on it is relative. The velocity of the Earth can be completely discarded for any calculations done on the surface because of this. Why don't you think relative velocity exists? I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. Relative velocity.The Earth is at a constant velocity, so anything a human does on it is relative. The velocity of the Earth can be completely discarded for any calculations done on the surface because of this. Why don't you think relative velocity exists? I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. Reletive velocity does exist. It is not relative to this situation. I'm talking about the force of momentium. If a person is running on a merry-go-round, that is spinning in the direction it is spinning, then that person suddenly stops I'm sure they would feel a large sudden change of momentium. If it wasn't spinning I think they would feel a very small change of momentium.I'm being as logical as I can be. Logged "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. If we look at it completely zeteticly, without any bias, we still come to the same conclusion. My experience teaches me that the bigger the vehicle, the less motion is felt. When you are on a bike, you feel lots of motion. In a car, you feel motion, but less. On a plane, you feel very little motion except when accelerating. On a large cruise ship, you feel no motion at all. Earth is billions and billions of times bigger than a cruise ship, so logically you wouldn't feel any motion. That's me being as open-minded as possible. Just go out side and start running for a while, then suddenly stop. If the Earth is spinning over !/4 mps and you suddenly stop and the Earth keeps on spinning, you have to agree the Earth's momentium should at least knock you off balance. You can't see that? Remember, we are talking over 1/4 MPS. That is faster then any drag racer by a long run. Yeah, if you're running and suddenly come to a stop, the Earth's angular momentum will change very slightly, but not nearly enough for you or anyone else to notice - maybe one part in several million billion gazillion, depending on how fast you were running and how much you weigh. However, if someone else is running in the opposite direction and suddenly stops at the same time, your teeny tiny effects will oppose each other, so there would be even less change; on average, with everyone running around in all directions, it probably nets about zero; it certainly does average out to zero over time. Your own momentum may cause you to fall over if you come to a stop fast enough, but that momentum gets returned to the Earth (from whence it initially came) whether your Keds come to a screeching halt with you still upright or if you do a face plant. Logged "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan I have been reading these forums for some time, been reading both sides of the arguments. I have yet to see any proof of a globe earth. I will debate anyone here bring it on. There is an entire branch of earth science called geodesy that is dedicated to the study of the size and shape of the earth. Not only does this involve measuring the roundness of the earth, it also involves measuring just how far out of perfectly round the earth is. Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. If we look at it completely zeteticly, without any bias, we still come to the same conclusion. My experience teaches me that the bigger the vehicle, the less motion is felt. When you are on a bike, you feel lots of motion. In a car, you feel motion, but less. On a plane, you feel very little motion except when accelerating. On a large cruise ship, you feel no motion at all. Earth is billions and billions of times bigger than a cruise ship, so logically you wouldn't feel any motion. That's me being as open-minded as possible. Just go out side and start running for a while, then suddenly stop. If the Earth is spinning over !/4 mps and you suddenly stop and the Earth keeps on spinning, you have to agree the Earth's momentium should at least knock you off balance. You can't see that? Remember, we are talking over 1/4 MPS. That is faster then any drag racer by a long run. Yeah, if you're running and suddenly come to a stop, the Earth's angular momentum will change very slightly, but not nearly enough for you or anyone else to notice - maybe one part in several million billion gazillion, depending on how fast you were running and how much you weigh. However, if someone else is running in the opposite direction and suddenly stops at the same time, your teeny tiny effects will oppose each other, so there would be even less change; on average, with everyone running around in all directions, it probably nets about zero; it certainly does average out to zero over time. Your own momentum may cause you to fall over if you come to a stop fast enough, but that momentum gets returned to the Earth (from whence it initially came) whether your Keds come to a screeching halt with you still upright or if you do a face plant. That all sounds good,but you are forgetting about speed. I don't care if you are on a big ball or the Earth. If you are spinning 464 meters per second and you suddenly stop, you will fall down. As you know this does not happen. Logged "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell Ok, the 1000 mph BS again. I gave everyone the calculations on how much force would be felt from the centripetal force of that turn. It makes one rotation every 24 hours. The force felt by the rotation of the Earth does have a very small effect on the pendulum. This small force causes it to change its swing ever so slightly from its original path. That 1000 mph when you are talking about something the size of the Earth will not exert much force on the things riding on it. So a rebuttal of it's unexplained is not only incorrect, but rather lazy. I understand that if we are running along on Earth as it is spinning at 464 meters per second we wouldn't feel it until our bodies actually sense acceleration or change in speed. Well, if we suddenly sped up or down or comply stopped in our tracts we should feel something. With the Earth spinning at over 1/4 mile per second we might even fall down. Needless to say, I've never felt a thing. Now, if you look at this logically, which I believe you are a very logical person, can you not see any logic in my thought on this issue. I don't want you to dictate what you've read or been taught, just a straight honest answer using your logical mind. If we look at it completely zeteticly, without any bias, we still come to the same conclusion. My experience teaches me that the bigger the vehicle, the less motion is felt. When you are on a bike, you feel lots of motion. In a car, you feel motion, but less. On a plane, you feel very little motion except when accelerating. On a large cruise ship, you feel no motion at all. Earth is billions and billions of times bigger than a cruise ship, so logically you wouldn't feel any motion. That's me being as open-minded as possible. Just go out side and start running for a while, then suddenly stop. If the Earth is spinning over !/4 mps and you suddenly stop and the Earth keeps on spinning, you have to agree the Earth's momentium should at least knock you off balance. You can't see that? Remember, we are talking over 1/4 MPS. That is faster then any drag racer by a long run. Yeah, if you're running and suddenly come to a stop, the Earth's angular momentum will change very slightly, but not nearly enough for you or anyone else to notice - maybe one part in several million billion gazillion, depending on how fast you were running and how much you weigh. However, if someone else is running in the opposite direction and suddenly stops at the same time, your teeny tiny effects will oppose each other, so there would be even less change; on average, with everyone running around in all directions, it probably nets about zero; it certainly does average out to zero over time. Your own momentum may cause you to fall over if you come to a stop fast enough, but that momentum gets returned to the Earth (from whence it initially came) whether your Keds come to a screeching halt with you still upright or if you do a face plant. That all sounds good,but you are forgetting about speed. I don't care if you are on a big ball or the Earth. If you are spinning 464 meters per second and you suddenly stop, you will fall down. As you know this does not happen. Heck, you're forgetting about the orbital speed of the Earth around the Sun, too! That's what, about 30 km/sec!?! Can't forget that can we? Actually, yes, we can, because neither of these matter. Say you're an Olympic sprinter and can run the 100m in 10 seconds. You're at the Equator and start sprinting due east. Your speed relative to the surface (10 m/sec) coupled with the tangential speed of the ground due to the rotation of the Earth of 464 m/sec means you're now zipping along at a whole 474 m/sec wrt the center of the Earth instead of 464. Wow! Come to an abrupt halt (wrt the surface), and you're back down to 464 m/sec. You slowed from 10 m/sec to zero with respect to the stuff around you? What's the big deal? Logged "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan Ok, lets try another way of thinking about it. If you were on a train traveling at speed, doesn't really matter what it is. You run forward with the train and stop, do you expect to feel all the momentum of that train on you at that instant? No you would fly across the railcar. If the train itself suddenly stopped though you would feel it. Your motion relative to the train's motion would mean nothing as long as the train is in a constant motion with no acceleration or deceleration.Also, understand that the 1000 mph figure is relative to the size of the Earth. With a 24000 mile circumference, 1000 mph means one rotation per day. Scale that down a bit for understand and see if you think something turning at 1 revolution per day would impart enough force on you that could be felt as you ride it? I thought I had covered this quite well in a couple of threads already. I guess using math to explain something is rather incomprehensible to some here. Foucault Pendulum is evidence the earth is rotating. They are latitude dependent, which is only possible on a round earth. The sun does not appear to get smaller as it gets further away. Only possible if it's a great distance away. Foucault pendulum is in no way evidence the earth is rotating. It's a suspended bob that moves, an unexplained phenomenon. But it moves in a predictable pattern, which is based off of latitude. quite easy to explain. I saw one in France. Quote The suns behavior is also a mystery, as are it's origins, true size and distance. No, it is no mystery at all. Quite explainable. I see your best rebuttal is "It's unexplained" I expected more. It moves in a predictable pattern, ok that's fine. But that doesn't prove the earth is a ball and rotating. You are still forgetting they are predictable based on latitude. where omega is angular speed and phi is latitude. They made an observation which is repeatable, once again does not prove the earth is a spinning ball, just means people can repeat based on observation. Quote Also yes the sun's behavior is unexplained, you can't tell me how the sun got there, why it moves the way it does, how large it is, why it appears to be the same size as the moon, why it's gravity doesn't suck us in, and many more. It got there because the earth formed around it. Once again, a theory with no proof.It moves the way it because because the earth is in an non circular orbit around it.The sun has a circumference of 4.379x106km. No proof that the sun is that big.It is a coincidence that the sun and moon appear the same size. We are in orbit around the sun, out velocity keeps us from falling in. Ah yes the magical gravity and velocity that somehow keeps everything just in perfect order. Seems a bit convineint to me. I choose not to blindly believe what other's tell me and you call me stupid for it. Do you not see the irony here?All explainable. ...I don't accept this as proof of anything. It can easily be faked.If the earth is spinning at over 1000 miles an hour and we can't feel it because we are spinning with it, how exactly can the foucault pendulum defy this property and remain still while the earth supposedly spins underneath, have you really given this any critical thought, or are you just parroting what other's have told you? The pendulum does spin with the earth, it just doesn't twist with the earth. There is no force acting on it to change it's swinging direction. According to what I have read the earth supposedly spins underneath the pendulum. So if the earth is spinning at 1000 mph, shouldn't the pendulum be spinning that fast? Quote Use your brain and think for once. I suggest you do the same.You don't use your brain, you repeat what others have said. The funny thing is you think you are smart for doing so. Ok, lets try another way of thinking about it. If you were on a train traveling at speed, doesn't really matter what it is. You run forward with the train and stop, do you expect to feel all the momentum of that train on you at that instant? No you would fly across the railcar. If the train itself suddenly stopped though you would feel it. Your motion relative to the train's motion would mean nothing as long as the train is in a constant motion with no acceleration or deceleration.Also, understand that the 1000 mph figure is relative to the size of the Earth. With a 24000 mile circumference, 1000 mph means one rotation per day. Scale that down a bit for understand and see if you think something turning at 1 revolution per day would impart enough force on you that could be felt as you ride it? I thought I had covered this quite well in a couple of threads already. I guess using math to explain something is rather incomprehensible to some here. I respect what you say, but when you say, "Scale that down a bit for understand and see if you think something turning at 1 revolution per day would impart enough force on you that could be felt as you ride it?" You have to know that anything going .288 miles per second is going to be felt if an abrupt change occurs. Everyone simply looks at 1 revolution a day because most have never been .288 miles per second, including me. If the Earth did spin at 1000 MPH, I doubt the atmosphere would still be there and we would be sucked into space, if it is a vacuum. Logged "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell

photo: Desaparecidos at Webster Hall in 2013 (more by Tracy Allison) Conor Oberst reformed his punk band Desaparecidos back in 2012, and two new 7"s came not long after. Now they've announced that they'll release a new full length, the followup to their sole album -- 2002's Read Music/Speak Spanish on Saddle Creek -- and to release it they've signed to Epitaph, currently making them labelmates with Converge, Rancid, Joyce Manor, Pianos Become the Teeth and more. Stay tuned for more info on that. Desaparecidos recently announced dates surrounding their Coachella performances, which include shows with Built to Spill, Brand New, Joyce Manor and Touche Amore. Since then, they were also announced for Forecastle Festival. Conor also has international solo shows coming up with Felice Brothers and will be in NYC for Governors Ball. All dates are listed, with a stream of Desaparecidos' 2013 single, below... --- Desaparecidos -- 2015 Tour Dates April 08 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium* April 10 Manga, UT - The Great Sinclair* April 12 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival April 13 Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy # April 15 Los Angeles, CA - The Shrine*^ April 16 San Francisco, CA - The Regency Ballroom # April 19 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Jul 17-19 Louisville, KY - Forecastle Festival * - w/ Brand New ^ - w/ Built to Spill # - w/ Touche Amore and Joyce Manor -- Conor Oberst -- 2015 Tour Dates 01/30 Mexico City Plaza Condesa 02/25 Brisbane The Triffid 02/26 Melbourne The Corner Hotel 02/28 Melbourne Melbourne Zoo 03/02 Auckland Powerstation 03/04 Sydney Metro Theatre 03/05 Thirroul Anitas 03/06 Sydney Taronga Zoo 03/07 - 03/09 Meredith, VIC Golden Plains Festival 06/05 - 06/07 Randall's Island, NY Governors Ball

Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:55:14 -0500 From: [email protected] Subject: JOSEF'S FORGE - 2 Copyright 2006 by Carl Mason with Ed Collins All rights reserved. Other than downloading one copy for strictly personal enjoyment, no part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for reviews, without the written permission of the authors. However based on real events and places, "Josef's Forge" is strictly fictional. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. As in real life, however, the sexual themes unfold gradually. If you would like to read other Mason-Collins stories, please turn to the listing at the end of this chapter. Comments on all stories are appreciated and may be addressed to the authors at [email protected]. This story contains descriptions of sexual contact between males, both adults and teenagers. As such, it is homoerotic fiction designed for the personal enjoyment of legal, hopefully mature, adults. If you are not of legal age to read such material, if those in power and/or those whom you trust treat it as illegal, or if it would create unresolvable moral dilemmas in your life, please leave. Finally, remember that maturity generally demands that anything other than safe sex is sheer insanity! CHAPTER 2 (Revisiting Chapter 1) On a sunny day that Heinz (their resident expert on such matters) swore was in early April, the boys sat around after their exercise session, swatting at the mosquitoes that were just beginning to be noticeable. God, they were big enough to pick up a Volkswagen...maybe even the Field Marshall's Mercedes...and fly off with it and could they ever bite! Loudspeakers suddenly blared, announcing that in 15 minutes they would leave for their permanent camp. As they stood in lines before the camp gate - probably an hour later - Josef noticed that barely 2000 of the 5000 men who had marched into the camp in early February were departing. He shook his head in sorrow. Several hours later, their ranks swollen by another column, they again stood in line at a temporary dock on the Volga. It appeared that they would board several barges pushed by a heavy tug that were similar to those Josef had seen carrying grain on the Spree River in Berlin. Suddenly, he felt an arm around his shoulders. A low voice growled in his ear, "You did it, boss. You did it! We're all alive! Every man in the squad owes you his life." It was the great homophobe, Thomas. (Continuing Our Story - Upriver ) The barge trip up the Volga - and its great tributary, the Kama, that drained much of the western Urals region - provided some relief from the absolute horrors of preceding months. Needless to say, it was in no way a vacation river cruise, but at least SOME Soviet planning had taken place. For instance, food - however inadequate - was available. Further, the young Red Army guards were a welcome relief after the brutal NKVD guards at the holding camp. The boys could even leave the hold occasionally, go up on deck, and enjoy the spring air and the scenery. As the terror receded, albeit temporarily, their strict focus on survival softened. Josef's men - other than Thomas who, in all fairness, continued to mellow - began to show rough, teenaged male affection for the youngster who had brought them through the proverbial Valley of the Shadow of Death. There was even a bit more. One night, for instance, well after they had bedded down on the steel floor of the hold, Heinz turned over to face Josef who had been tossing and turning next to him. Slowly, very tentatively, the young lad rubbed his roughly shaven head over his hero's chest. Josef could see the red hairs in the faint light of a bulb at the far end of the hold. Josef brought his hand up and softly rubbed the boy's cropped skull. When Heinz gave a little moan of pleasure, he allowed himself to run his hand over the youth's thin body...his shoulders, his back, and what little was left of his rump. Heinz's body quivered as he thrust twice into Josef's thigh and, with a quiet grunt, came. Josef kissed him softly on the side of his forehead and hugged him affectionately. Indeed, he might have gone a bit further had it not been for Gerd's coughing and turning over in his sleep to face them. For all of that, Josef was conscious of the fact that his emotions were beginning to unfreeze. Excitement mingled with fear. It was only when Josef lay back that he realized that he had also cum. So they would follow him to Hell and back, would they? God, he loved these guys...every one. He'd not let them be destroyed by this horror. HE WOULD NOT! GOD BEING HIS WITNESS, HE WOULD NOT! Late in the afternoon of another of many days, the convoy tied up for the night in a cove that lay just off the main channel. The tugboat captain wanted to enter the Kama in full daylight, for it could be tricky given the number of barges he was pushing upstream against a heavy current. In fractured Russian, Josef asked whether they might bathe. The chief guard wasn't too enthused by the idea, but the barge captain didn't see what the problem was as long as the groups were small and they were guarded. (As on any vessel in the world - unless a secret police officer was on board - the Captain's word was pretty much law.) In the late afternoon sun, about two dozen boys and men frolicked in the cold water at one time. When it came their turn, Josef shouted from the water - again, in his "best" Russian - that the off-duty Red Army guards should come in. Somewhat to his surprise, the chief guard shrugged his shoulders and waved them towards the water. Josef felt a stirring that he hadn't felt for months as he watched the cute young Russian boys strip and dive in. "God, they're so beautiful!" he thought. "They don't even look as if they've been in battle yet." Not long before they would have been called out to give other POWs a chance, one of the guards got a cramp and, with a loud cry, went under. Thomas, who came from a coastal town up near the Danish border and had evidently swum competitively in the Hitler Youth, was able to get him over to the side of the barge where his buddies managed to lift him aboard. Nothing much was said at the time, but the young guard came up to Thomas later on, thanked him, and asked if he and his friends would like some help with their Russian. As he was the first to admit, he and his buddies weren't teachers, but they would be happy to help as best they could. The offer was gratefully accepted. Not surprisingly, the boys enjoyed sharing a couple of bottles of beer even more than the Russian instruction! When their chief plunked a piece of chocolate down on the table at which they were sitting, the day was complete - even though the few nibbles each received raised hell with their insides! On the way out of the room, one of the guards and Josef made eye contact. It's amazing how many hidden nooks and crannies there are on any boat! They finally found an empty storage locker. The kid - very young and as nervous as a cat - tried his damndest to remain the perfect picture of "The Soviet Warrior." Imperiously, he ordered Josef to kneel before him and open his trousers. Josef wasn't complaining! The large handful he extracted was enticing enough under any circumstances! The boy's dark red glans was already swollen and dripping precum. A touch of the tongue here...a little swirl there...a few taps on the frenulum... WOW! He exploded like one of those damned Soviet Katushka rockets - maybe a whole BATTERY of them! Josef expected to be returned immediately to the hold...but no. The boy knelt down in front of him and looked deeply into his eyes. "Droog [friend]?" he murmured. "Da [yes]," Josef answered breathlessly. The young German didn't last a second longer than had the young Russian! When Josef returned to a darkened hold, Thomas silently moved over to give him room to burrow down onto the crowded steel deck. When he had situated himself, Thomas raised up, slugged him on the upper arm, snorted, turned over, and went to sleep! Snickering and quietly giggling for a good half hour as he tried his best to get comfortable and relax, Josef's eyes didn't really close until a new day was dawning. (Siberska Street) The trip up the wide Kama was a delight. ("Oh, for a different time and situation!" the boys thought.) Russia's fourth longest river, it drains a wide area of the western side of Urals before flowing into the Volga south of the city of Kazan'. Founded in 1723 by Peter the Great, Perm', their destination, was an important river city surrounded by beautiful pine forests. It was also a major industrial city - the foremost center of Soviet artillery production, though it also produced aircraft engines and a host of other products for the "Great Patriotic War" (as World War II was known in the Soviet Empire). Finally, it was also one of the Soviet Union's vital centers of research and development. As their barges passed the factory district, the German lads could see that the whole area was a beehive of activity. Indeed, the immense factories - manned by women and children in the main - were active 24 hours a day during those times. The port area seemed crowded with boats and ships of every description. One of the guards told Josef that children from Leningrad had been evacuated here before the city had been completely blockaded. At the docks, the barges' human cargo was unloaded and control turned over to NKVD (Interior Ministry) guards. There was little doubt that they were of a different ilk than the young Army troops who had accompanied them upriver. Quickly establishing ironhanded control, they formed them into long columns and marched the more than 4500 POWs on a broad avenue through the city. Josef was able to decipher the occasional street sign that, in Cyrillic letters, read "Siberska" [Siberian] Street." Despite himself, he shivered. Suffering in the moist warmth to which they were unaccustomed after being on the river for days, they trudged along towards the traditional eastern entrance to the city, "The Siberian Gate," as it had been known for centuries. Occasionally, an old woman...sometimes a young child...would come out from the lines of spectators and offer them water - though they were generally shooed away by the guards. Yes, there was a derisive shout here and there, but, by and large, the people of Perm' seemed to look upon them with...what was it...pity? Did they know something about where they were going? That night they were camped in a damp, open field well outside town that was surrounded by rather scraggly pines. Their thin soup and small pieces of khleb [the dark, moist bread mentioned in Chapter 1] were made available, and small fires allowed. They could not, however, move around beyond their immediate areas. Four POWs were shot "trying to escape." (Crossing into Asia) The low line of dark hills rose immediately before them, blocking their path. The guards kept them moving, but neither the grade nor the pace was at all impossible. Slowly, they found themselves climbing through valleys that were heavily forested - conifers in the main, though there was also birch, popular, aspen, and willow. In the lower elevations, the soil looked deep and rich with countless streams and lakes. Small villages that appeared to be reasonably well off dotted the Urals' western slopes. Josef noticed that not a man between 17 and 60 was to be seen. At a lunch breather - a bit of bread and fresh water - one of the older prisoners told them that the Urals were a true mountain range only at the northern and southern ends. Caused eons ago by a continent consisting chiefly of Siberia crashing into a supercontinent that contained most of the rest of the Earth's landmass, most of the range had eroded into little more than zones of rocky plateaus - the "Stone Wall," as the Russians called it - between Europe and Asia. This relatively low, "middle" section had long been Russia's highway to the East. Traversing the something less than 200 miles between Perm' and Sverdlovsk would take nearly seven days on foot rather than a long day by rail - but the rail line was so crowded with troops and war materiel that it simply wasn't available. When they stopped for the first night, Josef noticed that the guards were drinking heavily and warned the boys to lie low. Just as well... A pretty village girl almost got Thomas killed! Having followed the column from her village, she managed to approach the encampment through the woods and catch Thomas's eye as they sat around after supper. He willingly followed her around back of a granite outcropping at the edge of the forest. When a guard came around for an unannounced count, he noticed that Thomas was absent. Josef called out loudly that the lad had diarrhea and couldn't make it to the shit pit. Hence, he had headed in back of the nearby ledge. As the guard moved quickly in that direction, automatic rifle at ready, Thomas appeared, hurriedly buttoning up his pants. The guard smashed him with the butt of his rifle and ordered him back to the others. Thomas was the recipient of more attention from his comrades that evening than he probably wanted. It got so that he jumped whenever one of them approached, for it meant a heavy blow to the upper arm, a smirk, and a lewd comment...or two. Even Josef joined in, receiving a scowl...and, then, a wide grin...for his troubles! The girl did tell Thomas that it was almost time for ticks to appear in the forest, insects whose bites could be serious. From then on, the boys checked their skin frequently - though the problem did not become widespread until they reached their final destination deep in the taiga. "Taiga" is the Russian word for forest and is the largest life zone in the world, stretching over Eurasia and North America. The taiga is located near the top of the world, just below the tundra life zone. The taiga doesn't have as many plant and animal species as the tropical or the deciduous forest zones to the south, but it does have billions of insects in the summertime. Birds migrate there every year to nest and feed. The average temperature is below freezing for six months out of the year. The winter temperature range is -54 to -1 degrees C (-65 to 30 deg. F). The temperature in the summer gets as low as -7 deg. C (20 deg. F). The high in summer can be 21 deg. C (70 deg. F). The summers are mostly warm, rainy and humid. They are also very short with about 50 to 100 frost-free days. The total precipitation in a year is 30-85 cm (12-33 in) . The forms the precipitation comes in are rain, snow and dew. Most of the precipitation in the taiga falls as rain in the summer. The main seasons in the taiga are winter and summer. The spring and autumn are so short, you hardly know they exist. It is either hot and humid or very cold in the taiga. The heavy drinking continued, and the brutality of the guards increased. On another night, for instance, one of the guards told a story in fractured German about survivors from an earlier age - akin to our "Abominable Snowmen" - that lurked in these forests. Hearing screams during the night, they awakened to find a horribly mangled prisoner lying not far from the shit pit. His body looked as if it had been ripped apart by great claws; his head and genitals were missing. "Could the story be true?" several of the boys asked, their faces pale, their teeth chattering. "Oh," replied Josef, "I guess it could, but my money would be on a different kind of monster that we've seen around." He laid down the law: Everyone did his business before bedding down for the night. In an absolute emergency, you woke up a buddy who accompanied you. You took care of it - quickly and quietly - in the immediate area. "Just cover it up with a little dirt," he advised. As was the case with most Germans, the boys had a deep and abiding love for nature. Had the circumstances been different, they would have thoroughly enjoyed their mountain adventure. For instance, the area was teeming with wildlife. During the first three days, for instance, they saw elk, deer, and a variety of forest birds, including an enormous owl. Heinz swore that he had spotted a boar and wolves. At one point, the long column ground to a halt as guards began screaming that they had just seen "Tri Medvedya!" [three bears]. (Josef smirked to himself.) They wanted to take off immediately and bag them - but the head guard quickly quashed that idea! Reaching the low summit, they immediately began the much steeper descent. The guards were in an increasingly foul mood, pushing the men along, shooting several POWs who were falling behind. Further, it was suddenly colder as they passed into Siberia where winds off water had much less effect on the climate than in Europe. (The Arctic oceans weren't of much help; the Pacific was simply too far away.) Ahead of them stretched the great West Siberian plain, one of the largest areas of flat land in the world, an area containing vast reserves of softwood timber and minerals, an area whose flat, poorly drained lowlands were dotted with marshes, swamps, and peat bogs. The weather was as foul as the guards' tempers. Cold rain poured down endlessly. It was as if they had reentered earliest spring. There were even snow showers, and they shivered as they hadn't since March in the holding camp. Needless to say, they were relieved as they came off the lower reaches of the Urals and immediately approached a great industrial city. Its furnaces belching endless clouds of pollutants into the air, Sverdlovsk [today known as Ekaterinburg, its pre-Bolshevik name] was a major stop on the Trans-Siberian Railroad that spanned over 5700 miles (and 8 time zones) from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast. It was here that prison cars would take them deeper into the Siberian wilderness. (To Be Continued) DATES OF LAST POSTING IN NIFTY Archived in Gay/Historical Unless Otherwise Noted OUT OF THE RUBBLE (32 Chapters): 10-22-04. CASTLE MARGARETHEN (9 Cs): 12-24-04. THE PRIEST & THE PAUPER (12 Cs): 3-10-05. HIGH PLAINS DOCTOR (12 Cs): 4-25-05. FOR GOD AND COUNTRY (9 Cs): 6-13-05. HOBO TEEN (12 Cs): 8-23-06. YOUNG JEREMY TAYLOR (9 Cs): 9-25-06 (posted in Sci-Fi/Fantasy). STREETS OF NEW YORK (10 Cs): 12-06-06. JOSEF'S FORGE (10 Cs): Posting.

Caption: "Illinois Central Entrance to the Heart of Chicago; Soldier Field, Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium in the foreground". From text: "Central Station, on the Boulevard System, has an incomparable... Caption: "Plan to straighten South Branch of Chicago River." From text: "By straightening the river, as the city council has very recently proposed to do, the land lying between Clark Street and the present... Caption: "Views from the Court House dome in 1858 Randolph and Clark Streets By Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society". View is looking north-northeast. The Sherman House hotel appears in foreground;... Caption: "The Chicago River formerly emptied into Lake Michigan, but with the digging of the drainage canal, the current was reversed and the waters now find their way into the Mississippi, much to the... Caption: "City Hall and Cook County Court House The administrative offices of the city of Chicago and the court-rooms and offices of Cook County, Illinois, are in this massive building which occupies the... From text: "On the opposite page is a fine representation in half-tone of the new County Building and City Hall, as the conjoined, magnificent structure will appear when the city half of it shall have... Caption: "Haymarket Square is noted the world over as the scene of the anarchistic outrage on the night of May 4, 1886, when a bomb was hurled into the midst of a number of policemen who were attempting... Caption: "The Art Building of the famous World's Fair of 1893, is the only one of the white structures preserved in Jackson Park. It had its beginnings as a permanent institution from the contributions... Caption: "Free Bathing Pool[.] One of the most beneficent of Chicago's charities is the public bathing system, a comparatively recent institution. The baths are spacious and well-equipped and the best... Caption: "ackson Park--The German Building (Refectory) and the Beach." The German Building was erected for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and was one of the few structures to remain behind and became... Caption: "Clarendon Beach. Tens of thousands in the water at Clarendon Beach, 1916: 23,000 bathers have visited this single beach in one day. What better argument could possibly be had for the 'Reclamation...

Q: Cannot use __file__ when running startup file in IDLE's normal mode I've written a little batch file (Windows 8.1) to start my script directly in IDLE: START "" pythonw.exe "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python36-32\Lib\idlelib\idle.py" -r my_script.py The script contains the line my_dir = os.path.split(__file__)[0] which produces a name error Exception in Tkinter callback Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python36-32\lib\tkinter\__init__.py", line 1699, in __call__ return self.func(*args) File "my_script.py", line 245, in out_file_dia my_dir = os.path.split(__file__)[0] NameError: name '__file__' is not defined If I open IDLE first and then start the script, it works fine. Why is __file__ not defined in this situation? A: In interactive mode, the input 'file' is the stream of statements entered by the user, so __file__ is left unset. If there is a PYTHONSTARTUP file, __file__ is set to that filename while the file is run, then unset before the first >>> prompt. Currently, IDLE does not do this when running user code in a separate process, which is now the normal mode. I opened https://bugs.python.org/issue32984 to fix this. I will try to remember to report here when it is. When IDLE is started with -n, to use the old deprecated mode in which user code is executed in the IDLE GUI process, startup files and interactive input see __file__ set to an idlelib file. Both are wrong but will not be fixed. EDIT: PR-5981, which works for me on Windows, modifies pyshell.execfile to begin as follows: def execfile(self, filename, source=None): # currently line 633 "Execute an existing file" if source is None: with tokenize.open(filename) as fp: source = fp.read() if use_subprocess: source = (f"__file__ = r'''{os.path.abspath(filename)}'''\n" + source + "\ndel __file__") The last 3 lines are new. uwain12345, adding them should solve your problem. If not, I would like to know. EDIT 2: tweek replacement code to allow for ' in startup file name. Note: f strings are new in 3.6. For older Pythons, replace the source line with filename = os.path.abspath(filename) source = ("__file__ = r'''{}'''\n".format(filename)

Story highlights The International Court of Justice ruled Monday that Japan can no longer continue its annual whale hunt, rejecting the country's argument that it was for scientific purposes. "Japan shall revoke any extant authorization, permit or license granted in relation to JARPA II, and refrain from granting any further permits in pursuance of that program," the court said, referring to the research program. The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Japan's fleet carries out an annual whale hunt despite a worldwide moratorium, taking advantage of a loophole in the law that permits the killing of the mammals for scientific research. Whale meat is commonly available for consumption in Japan. Japanese fishermen hose down a Baird's Beaked whale at Wada Port on June 21, 2007 in Chiba, Japan. Each year, environmental groups such as Sea Shepherd pursue the Japanese hunters in an attempt to disrupt the whaling. The resulting confrontations have led to collisions of ships and the detention of activists. The Australian government challenged the Japanese whaling program in the International Court of Justice, leading to Monday's ruling.

Liscooly railway station Liscooly railway station served the village of Liscooly in County Donegal, Ireland. The station opened on 7 September 1863 on the Finn Valley Railway line from Strabane to Stranorlar. It closed on 1 January 1960. Routes References Category:Disused railway stations in County Donegal Category:Railway stations opened in 1863 Category:Railway stations closed in 1960

An international conference on Calcium and Cell Function will be held July 5-10, 1998, at Cooper Mountain Resort, Colorado. This conference will be held under the auspices of the Federation of the American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB). The conference will focus on the biochemistry, molecular biology, structure/function, and physiology of calcium as an informational ion that affects virtually every primary biological activity. Our overall goal is to bring together a diverse group of scientists working on all phases of calcium and its role in cell function. Efforts were made to include women speakers; currently 10 out of 36 speakers are women. Several junior (i.e. untenured) investigators are also on the speaker list, and additional time will be set aside for short talks based on the best posters submitted. The format of this conference will be similar to that of previous FASEB Summer Research Conferences. The topics to be covered will be: calcium influx mechanisms and the internal stores, molecular biology of calcium sensing, and roles of calcium in protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, exo/endocytosis, gene expression, neuronal function, genetically tractable nonvertebrate systems, and pharmaceutical screening and clinical pathology. This in the major long-standing conference in North America that focuses entirely on calcium and covers the spectrum of calcium research rather than a single subdiscipline. Particular effort has been made to minimize overlap in topics and speakers with other calcium-related meetings such as the Gordon Conference on Calcium Signaling and the 1998 Society of General Physiologists meeting on Local Calcium Signaling; the present meeting places less emphasis on the description and mechanism of generation of calcium signals and much more emphasis on the consequences of such signals for cell biology, pathology, and therapy. The sessions on genetically tractable models and pharmaceutical screening are particularly unusual and timely because calcium indicators can now be introduced into cells and transgenic organisms by molecular genetic means alone, and because calcium effects have recently become the basis for several fast-growing biotechnology applications and companies. This conference is always oversubscribed and has received high ratings from previous participants.

NORTH SHORE 08/09 Can you believe it’s that time of year again? Dudes are dialing their quivers. The sand’s getting pushed off the reef and the stage is being cleared for the greatest show in surf. Yup. The North Shore is happening already, and our boy Daniel Russo is just getting started. Check his warm-up batch from the most photographed stretch of sand on Earth – these all went down in the last few days.

Metabolic syndrome, a combination of symptoms including high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, is a contributing factor to cardiovascular illness and can be potentially fatal. According to the original NHANES report, metabolic syndrome continues to be a pervasive problem in the U.S. However, according to the analysis conducted by the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, recently published by the American Journal of Medicine, reveals individuals who consume cannabis — even in a smokable form — are approximately 50 percent less likely to have metabolic syndrome than those who have never used cannabis. This may seem ironic as historically, the popular narrative is to portray cannabis users as lazy, munchie-obsessed slackers, who lead a sedentary lifestyle, leading many to assume that cannabis users would be more inclined to acquire metabolic syndrome. However, research suggests just the opposite. What reverses insulin resistance? Cannabis. It turns out that the cannabinoid system is intimately involved in sugar and energy utilization. – Julie Holland, MD To read this article in its entirety and learn more of the key findings from the original National Health and Nutrition Examination Study and the findings from the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine’s analysis of the study, read my article, “Cannabis Lower Blood Pressure and Diabetes Risk” on Cashinbis.com” Jeremy Kossen is an entrepreneur and startup advisor. Passionate on a diverse cross-section of topics, he podcasts and contributes to various print and media publications across tech, psychology and legal cannabis/medical marijuana. Follow him on Twitter @jeremykossen.

Q: Storing Objects into a Class & Retrieving upon Request I seriously need help with my project. I am trying to store specific jobs into a Class, which then displays in a List Box. When selecting the List Box, I want the rest of the information to be displayed into a Text Box. I can add Jobs into the List Box, and the Report button sorts the Job by Earliest to Latest. I just CANNOT seem to code the Display Button to retrieve the rest of the information. http://i.stack.imgur.com/0eV5j.png What am I doing wrong? My Code: Public Class Form1 Dim jobList As List(Of UserInformation) = New List(Of UserInformation) Dim j As UserInformation = New UserInformation() Private Sub btnReport_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnReport.Click Dim p As UserInformation = New UserInformation() Dim qty As Integer = jobList.Count - 1 Dim name(qty) As String Dim deadline(qty) As Date Dim i As Integer = 0 'fill the array For i = 0 To qty p = jobList(i) name(i) = p.Name deadline(i) = p.Deadline Next 'sort the array Dim done As Boolean = False While done = False done = True For i = 0 To qty - 1 Dim tempName As String Dim tempDate As Date If deadline(i) > deadline(i + 1) Then tempName = name(i) tempDate = deadline(i) name(i) = name(i + 1) deadline(i) = deadline(i + 1) name(i + 1) = tempName deadline(i + 1) = tempDate done = False End If Next End While lsbReport.Items.Clear() lblListbox.Text = "List in date order" For i = 0 To name.Length - 1 Dim str As String str = name(i) + ", " str += deadline(i).ToString + "." lsbReport.Items.Add(str) Next End Sub Private Sub updateListBox() lsbReport.Items.Clear() lblListbox.Text = "All people in the List" For Each person As UserInformation In jobList Dim str As String str = person.Name + ", " str += person.Deadline.ToString + "." lsbReport.Items.Add(str) Next End Sub Private Sub btnAdd_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnAdd.Click Dim p As UserInformation = New UserInformation() p.Name = firstNameText.Text p.Deadline = lastNameText.Value jobList.Add(p) updateListBox() End Sub Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnDisplay.Click Dim job_info As UserInformation = CType(lsbReport.SelectedItem(), UserInformation) txtReport.Text = "Job Title: " & job_info.Name() & Environment.NewLine txtReport.Text &="Job DeadLine: " & job_info.Deadline & Environment.NewLine txtReport.Text &="Job Description" & job_info.Description End Sub End Class Public Class UserInformation Public job_deadline As Date Public job_name As String Public job_description As String Public Property Name() As String Get Return job_name End Get Set(ByVal value As String) job_name = value End Set End Property Public Property Deadline() As String Get Return job_deadline End Get Set(ByVal value As String) job_deadline = value End Set End Property Public Property Description() As String Get Return job_description End Get Set(ByVal value As String) job_description = value End Set End Property End Class A: The bottom line is that you stored string values to the LBs: str = person.Name & ", " & person.Deadline.ToString lsbReport.Items.Add(str) So, that is what you get back making it difficult to connect the string created with the object it represents. Listboxes and comboboxes can store objects as well as strings. Simple Demo: Public Class Employee Public Property ID As Integer ' a db ID maybe Public Property Name As String Public Property Department As String Public Property HireDate As Date Public Overrides Function ToString As String Return Name ' text to show in controls ' in a more realistic class it might be: ' Return String.Format("{0}, {1} ({2})", LastName, ' FirstName, BadgeNumber) ' e.g. "Whitman, Ziggy (123450)" End Function End Class Friend EmpList As New List(of Employee) ' if needed storing an object to a listbox is simple: Dim newEmp As Employee newEmp.Name = "Ziggy" ' set props as needed myLB.Items.Add(newEmp) ' add to a ListBox directly. Once you have a class for these things, you have many options. You can store them to a List(Of T) which can be used with a List or ComboBox: Private EmpList As New List(Of Employee) ... EmpList.Add(newEmp) ' adding to a list is same as a ListBox ' add from List to a control: myLB.Items.AddRange(Emps.ToArray) myLB.SelectedItem will now be an Employee object, which should make displaying details elsewhere simple. To make it even more efficent, you can use the list as a DataSource so you dont have to add references to the listbox: myLB.DataSource = EmpList myLB.DisplayMember = "Name" ' the property to display myLB.ValueMember = "Id" ' what to use for SelectedValue

Far from Heaven Far from Heaven is a 2002 American period melodrama film written and directed by Todd Haynes, and starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, and Patricia Clarkson. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Moore won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and cinematographer Edward Lachman won a prize for Outstanding Individual Contribution. The film tells the story of Cathy Whitaker, a 1950s housewife, living in wealthy suburban Connecticut as she sees her seemingly perfect life begin to fall apart. Haynes pays homage to the films of Douglas Sirk (especially 1955's All That Heaven Allows and 1959's Imitation of Life), and explores race, gender roles, sexual orientation, and class in the context of 1950s America. Plot In 1957 suburban Connecticut, Cathy Whitaker appears to be the perfect wife, mother, and homemaker. Cathy is married to Frank, a successful executive at Magnatech, a company selling television advertising. One evening, Cathy receives a phone call from the local police who are holding her husband. He says it's all a mix up, but they won't let him leave alone. Frank has in fact been exploring the underground world of gay bars in Hartford, Connecticut. One day, Cathy spies an unknown black man walking through her yard. He turns out to be Raymond Deagan, the son of Cathy's late gardener. Frank often finds himself forced to stay late at the office, swamped with work. One night when Frank is working late, Cathy decides to bring his dinner to him at the office. She walks in on him passionately kissing another man. Frank confesses to having had "problems" as a young man and agrees to sign up for conversion therapy. However, his relationship with Cathy is irreparably strained, and he turns to alcohol. Cathy runs into Raymond at a local art show and initiates a discussion with him about modern painting, to the consternation of a few onlookers. One night, after a party, Frank attempts to make love to Cathy. He is unable to become aroused and strikes Cathy when she tries to console him. Cathy decides to spend a day with Raymond. They go to a bar in the black neighborhood in which she is the only white person present. Raymond toasts her with a drink, saying, "Here's to being the only one." They are seen together by one of Cathy's neighbors, who immediately tells everyone. The town is soon ablaze with gossip about the two of them. This becomes evident when Cathy attends a ballet performance by her young daughter, and the mothers of the other girls prevent them from socializing with Cathy's daughter. Cathy's husband is also furious. Cathy goes to find Raymond to tell them that their friendship isn't "plausible". Over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Cathy goes on a vacation with her husband to Miami to take their minds off of things. At the hotel, Frank has another sexual encounter with a young man. Back in Hartford, three white boys taunt and assault Raymond's daughter, Sarah. Frank tells Cathy that he has found a man who loves him and wants to be with him and seeks a divorce from Cathy. When Cathy eventually finds out that the victim of the attack was Raymond's daughter, Sarah, she goes to the Deagan home to find them packing up in preparation to move to Baltimore. Ever since the incident, he has been getting rocks thrown in his windows, as the African American community is not taking the mixing well. At one point when he addresses her as "Mrs. Whitaker", she begs him to call her Cathy. She suggests they can be together now that she is to be single. Raymond declines, saying, "I've learned my lesson about mixing the two worlds." Ultimately, Cathy goes to the train station to see Raymond off and say her silent goodbye to him, waving to him as the train moves out of the station. Cast Julianne Moore as Cathleen "Cathy" Whitaker Dennis Quaid as Frank Whitaker Dennis Haysbert as Raymond Deagan Patricia Clarkson as Eleanor Fine Viola Davis as Sybil James Rebhorn as Dr. Bowman Michael Gaston as Stan Fine Celia Weston as Mona Lauder Barbara Garrick as Doreen Bette Henritze as Mrs. Leacock June Squibb as Elderly Woman Ryan Ward as David Whitaker Lindsay Andretta as Janice Whitaker Jordan Puryear as Sarah Deagan J.B. Adams as Morris Farnsworth Olivia Birkelund as Nancy Haynes wrote the script envisioning Moore and James Gandolfini as Cathy and Frank, respectively. While Moore joined the project immediately, Gandolfini was unavailable due to The Sopranos. Haynes' next choice, Russell Crowe, believed that the role was too small, and Jeff Bridges wanted too much money. Themes and analysis Far From Heaven focuses on several controversial issues of the mid-twentieth century, including racism, miscegenation, as well as views on homosexuality, and the stigma of escapism during that time period, presenting these issues through the mise-en-scène and cinematographic conventions of a 1950s style melodrama. Utilizing the nostalgic mechanisms of a polished, period melodrama, Far From Heaven challenges the typical sanguine nature of the genre in an effort to highlight the central conflicts of its main characters, Cathy and Frank Whitaker, while also simultaneously shattering the wholesome image of American life during this time period, which is typically romanticized in American culture. Todd Haynes, the director of Far From Heaven, employs these tactics and others such as lighting and music to highlight these pivotal developments, and to further not only the plot of the story, but to create a sensory experience for the audience that lulls them into what appears to portray an idealized version of 1950s suburban American family life, but proves to be far from it. Miscegenation and racism Throughout Far From Heaven, one of the central conflicts faced by the main protagonist Cathy Whitaker comes from her attraction towards Raymond Deagan, the son of her recently deceased gardener, and how it develops in the face of her estrangement from her husband, Frank Whitaker, as he deals with his developing homosexual tendencies. Set in the fall of 1957 in Hartford, Connecticut, the racial tensions emblematic of the era are reflected right away in the first scene Raymond makes an appearance, tending to his father's former duties as the Whitaker's gardener. While Cathy is being interviewed for a society circular in her living room, she notices Raymond mulling around in her yard, and immediately becomes frightened, uneasy by the prospect of an unfamiliar colored man. While her interviewer Mrs. Leacock suggests calling the police, Cathy walks outside to confront him and learns the circumstances of the situation and how he came to be there, apologizing for her assumptions and demonstrating her capacity to see beyond his race and show sympathy for his recent father's passing. This is an action that is observed closely by Mrs. Leacock through the window, and ultimately makes its way into her article profiling Cathy and her "kindness to negroes". Presenting this particular issue so early on in the film, there is a clear contrast drawn between Hartford's suburban idyllic autumnal setting, and the reality of the social order that dominates everyday life of the Whitakers and the people in their lives. As Frank's difficulties continue to develop, Cathy finds great solace in befriending Raymond and ultimately comes to develop feelings for him as a result. These feelings, however, prove to be a huge social taboo in this time period, and are met with anger and prejudice in affluent New England. With the developing historical events of the Little Rock Crisis serving as the contextual backdrop to the struggle of Far From Heaven, it is in this struggle that one of the central themes of the film comes to the forefront, and is continually reintroduced through segregational policies of the era. Over the course of the film, we observe not only Cathy and Raymond's interactions being highly scrutinized by the different members of their own respective communities, but also examples of Jim Crow practices that are commonplace during this era, such as being unable to sit next to each other at a local lunch counter. Frank and Cathy's vacation to Miami exemplifies this when a young African-American boy jumps into the hotel pool where Cathy and Frank are vacationing. Not only is the boy swiftly removed from the pool, but the white guests who were swimming at the time rapidly exit the pool area in disgust, mortified that the water and surrounding area had been shared, and therefore tainted by someone of color. Rebecca Sherr writes in her essay, (Not) queering "white vision" in Far from Heaven and Transamerica,"Implicitly, this scenario illustrates white Americans' fear of black bodies, bodies that for whites symbolize "contamination"; and "contamination" in turn signifies the underlying fear of miscegenation. The camera moves between Cathy's point-of-view looking out at the pool, and then the camera turns and focuses directly on Cathy so that she becomes the object of the gaze. Her eyes remain half-hidden behind sunglasses, which act as shield and mirror. As the unfolding action is miniaturized and reflected—indeed, doubled—on Cathy’s lenses, the message is that this drama turns back on Cathy, illustrating in a rather didactic manner the futility of her desire for Raymond, a black man. The emphasis on parenting here, with a black father and white mother "saving" and disciplining their respective children, further emphasizes the undercurrent of segregation as policing the boundaries of racial reproduction." Homosexuality and escapism Frank Whitaker's tribulations with his sexuality is no doubt one of the more pivotal thematic story elements within Far From Heaven, as it sets in motion a series of events in the film that ultimately culminate in not only the estrangement of his wife, but the inevitable failure of his marriage. Characterized as the reliable husband, the successful hardworking businessman, the charming spouse, and the devoted father, he is idealized in a way that assigns him so many demanding roles, it is almost as if he is driven to pursue his homosexual tendencies as a means to escape his taxing everyday life, releasing his burden and frustration. We witness this early on in the film in his office job at Magnatech, with lunch meetings and dinner meetings piling up his schedule as portfolio season is well underway and his New York office continues to push up deadlines. Much like Cathy, Frank too falls short of his highly exalted reputation, and as he is exploring Hartford one evening, avoiding returning home by taking in a movie, he soon finds himself walking the streets, delving further into the seedy underbelly of Hartford nightlife where he hopes to find what he is looking for. It is when he notices what appear to be two gay men walking into a basement bar that he finally acts on his impulses and begins the slippery slope of self gratification that ultimately comes to dominate his lifestyle. It is through these humble beginnings that we come to explore with Frank the subversive and hushed nature of the gay community as he begins to act on his desires. Mitra Moin writes in her essay, Far From Heaven and Carol: Channeling 1950s Melodrama,"The 1950s is a time of constraining expectations; everyone is expected to lead perfect suburban lives, and those that deviate are socially condemned. Haynes sets this up in Far From Heaven, where Cathy appears to have a model life: two children, a successful husband, and a suburban home. She is a typical housewife, admired by others: "Women just like yourself, with families and homes to keep up." This is dismantled in the premise, when Cathy receives a call from the police station regarding her husband. Beauty and perfection, here, are forms of oppression. The props are also important to observe as symbols of the 1950s: The television manifests the suburban prosperity that characterizes the time period. Cathy must adhere to the narrow and confining gender roles of the 1950s, just as Frank must suppress his homosexual desires. These characters, disillusioned in their seemingly flawless worlds, ultimately find these symbols as oppressive."Likewise with Cathy, who finds an escape through her relationship with Raymond, we begin to see her act on her impulses as well, taking us further into the bigoted, prejudiced nature of upper class Hartford society. When Cathy is discovered crying in her yard by Raymond, in the aftermath of Eleanor observing the physical abuse Frank has inflicted upon her, their relationship becomes even closer, and so he extends to her an invitation for a day in the country in an effort to take her mind off her worries, which she ultimately accepts graciously. This invitation, however, sets in motion a series of events that culminates in a romantic evening between the two, which is inadvertently observed by Mona Lauder, a woman whose gossip is notorious for spreading like wildfire. It is through her prejudiced tittle-tattle that Cathy soon finds herself not only with her reputation besmirched, but even her friends and loved ones disgusted with her behavior; in a way, however, that mirrors Frank's experiences. With Frank revealing his affair to Cathy, effectively ending their marriage, Cathy shares in a similar experience when she reveals her attraction for Raymond to Eleanor, and is summarily rejected, just as she had rejected Frank, mirroring these experiences and exposing the subtle dichotomy between their respective vices. Rebecca Sherr also notes from her essay,"The "mirroring" technique occurs several times and is a visual clue as to the parallels the film draws between interracial romance and homosexuality. [...] The two instances of "coming out" in Far from Heaven produce different narrative trajectories, and the mediating factor of racial difference accounts for these divergent outcomes. This difference in outcome is based in the notion of visibility—racial difference cannot usually be hidden. The film communicates that heterosexual, interracial desire could, in a sense, be seen as even more "queer" than homosexuality, at least in the context of queerness as visible deviance."Although Cathy finds herself isolated in the end of the film, a divorcée fallen from grace who now devotes her life to her children and her volunteer work for organizations such as the NAACP, she still, however, possesses feelings for Raymond that while are now held back, dominate the subtext of the ending of the film without ever needing either character to utter a single word in their silent tear wrenching farewell. Todd McGowen observes of both Cathy and Frank in Relocating Our Enjoyment of the 1950s: The Politics of Fantasy in Far From Heaven, "The point here is not that they enjoy in spite of the widespread disapproval; it is instead that this disapproval enables and fuels their enjoyment. Their time together has the significance it does precisely because the social prohibition does not permit it." Mise-en-scène and cinematography According to the DVD director's commentary, Far from Heaven is made in the style of many 1950s films, notably those of Douglas Sirk. Haynes created color palettes for every scene in the film, and was careful and particular in his choices. Haynes emphasizes experience with color in such scenes as one in which Cathy, Eleanor, and their friends are all dressed in reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and greens. Haynes also plays with the color green, using it to light forbidden and mysterious scenes. He employs this effect both in the scene in which Frank visits a gay bar and when Cathy goes to the restaurant in a predominantly black neighborhood. Blue is also a prominent color depicting Frank and Cathy's failing marriage, as highlighted in both the beginning of the film as Cathy receives a phone call for Hartford police concerning Frank and his "loitering", and as tensions rise to a boiling point when Frank makes his first visit to a psychiatrist to try and curb his homosexual tendencies. It is in the moment where the only profanity in the entire film is used by Frank towards Cathy, further demonstrating the cold and bitterness Frank harbors towards her, perfectly in sync with the color palette that envelops them during this scene. Scott Higgins writes in his work, Orange and Blue, Desire and Loss: The Colour Score in Far From Heaven,"Generally, we can isolate two strategies of colour design in Far from Heaven. On one hand, Haynes makes straightforward and adroit use of classical convention in a fairly subtle and un-ironic way. On the other hand, moments of strong stylisation reveal a self-consciousness of form that announces its artifice. The film's articulation of an autumnal orange motif exemplifies how Haynes reawakens dormant Hollywood conventions in a rather delicate expressive manner. The more overt manipulation of coloured lighting, however, offers a test case. Red and green lighting broadcasts its artifice and its reference to Sirk, activating an awareness of form that Haynes nonetheless manages to align with our sympathy for his characters. In his extensive use of blue light, though, Haynes exploits conventional motivations and the melodrama's generic tendency towards stylisation to exact a sincere and direct affective charge from colour temperature, in much the way filmmakers had done between the late 1930s and 1960s. His project of self-conscious reference may, in fact, open room for Haynes to renew the classical convention in an emotionally direct way. It is this play between citation and invocation of colour scoring that makes Far From Heaven so compelling."Haynes also uses shots and angles that would have been standard in Sirk's films and era. Cinematographer Edward Lachman created the 1950s "look" with the same type of lighting techniques and lighting equipment (incandescent), and employs lens filters that would have been used in a 1950s-era melodrama. The script employs over-the-top, melodramatic dialogue, and Elmer Bernstein's score is reminiscent of those he had composed 40 and 50 years earlier. The sound, done by Kelley Baker, also uses a lot of foley to make more prominent the sound of rustling clothes and loud footsteps, a sound technique that was used more in 1950s-era film. In the commentary, Haynes notes that he was also influenced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. As in Fassbinder's film, in Far from Heaven Haynes portrays feelings of alienation and awkwardness. For example, instead of cutting to the next scene, Haynes sometimes lingers on a character for a few seconds longer than comfortable to the viewer, the same technique used by Fassbinder. Another feature is when Cathy drives her car through town. Rather than filming inside the car as it actually moves, the car is filmed still with artificial backgrounds seen through the windows, reminiscent of older films. On the DVD commentary, Haynes states that one of these scenes re-uses the artificial background first used in a scene from All That Heaven Allows. Reception Far from Heaven has received high acclaim from critics since its release. It holds an 88% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 219 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The critical consensus states: "An exquisitely designed and performed melodrama, Far From Heaven earns its viewers' tears with sincerity and intelligence." The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Julianne Moore), Best Original Screenplay (Todd Haynes), Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman), and Best Original Score (Elmer Bernstein). At the Venice Film Festival, the film was nominated for the Golden Lion, while Moore won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and Lachman won a prize for Outstanding Individual Contribution. As an example of the film's favorable reception among critics, Cole Smithey wrote that the "contrast of gritty dramatic material against an idealized — read fascistic — social atmosphere, makes for an enthralling movie experience". Jonathan Rosenbaum named the film a masterpiece, and considers it a companion of Haynes' Safe (1995) in its use of "the same talented actress to explore suburban alienation in comparably gargantuan consumerist surroundings". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?, a website which gathers various critics' polls, finds Far from Heaven to be the 56th most acclaimed film of the 21st century. In August of that same year, BBC Magazine conducted a poll on the 21st century's 100 greatest films so far, with Far from Heaven ranking at number 86. In 2019, The Guardian ranked the film 13th in its Best Films of the 21st Century list. Awards and honors The film did extraordinarily well in the Village Voices Film Critics' Poll of 2002, where Far from Heaven won for best picture, Moore for best lead performance and Haynes for best director and best original screenplay. Lachman's work in Far from Heaven also won best cinematography by a wide margin while Quaid, Clarkson, and Haysbert were all recognized for their supporting performances, placing second, fourth and ninth, respectively. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated Soundtrack Far from Heaven was the last film scored by Elmer Bernstein. The album's runtime is 42 minutes and 53 seconds. "Autumn in Connecticut" – 3:08 "Mother Love" – 0:42 "Evening Rest" – 1:52 "Walking Through Town" – 1:49 "Proof" – 1:01 "The F Word" – 1:11 "Party" – 0:55 "Hit" – 2:42 "Crying" – 1:11 "Turning Point" – 4:46 "Cathy and Raymond Dance" – 2:02 "Disapproval" – 1:00 "Walk Away" – 2:34 "Orlando" – 0:56 "Back to Basics" – 1:47 "Stones" – 1:44 "Revelation and Decision" – 4:21 "Remembrance" – 1:56 "More Pain" – 4:04 "Transition" – 0:55 "Beginnings" – 2:17 Musical adaptation Theatrical songwriting team Scott Frankel and Michael Korie worked with Richard Greenberg on an Off Broadway-bound musical adaptation. The musical opened at Playwrights Horizons in Spring of 2013. Kelli O'Hara starred in the central role. See also Queer Cinema Douglas Sirk References External links Category:2002 films Category:2000s drama films Category:2000s LGBT-related films Category:American films Category:American drama films Category:American independent films Category:American LGBT-related films Category:English-language films Category:Films about dysfunctional families Category:Films about racism Category:Films about suburbia Category:Films set in 1957 Category:Films set in Connecticut Category:Films shot in New Jersey Category:Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Category:Films directed by Todd Haynes Category:Films produced by Christine Vachon Category:Focus Features films Category:Killer Films films Category:Vulcan Productions films Category:Independent Spirit Award for Best Film winners Category:Films about prejudice

Many professionals in their work environments must either put up or take down their hair depending on certain situations. Such situations may include putting their hair up for meetings, quality control in manufacturing, food service, and patient assistance as well as others. Other situations may call for professionals to put their hair down such as when they are alone in their own office or attending a formal professional event. Professionals may wear a number of different hair retention devices to put up their hair that include but are not limited to, hair bands, hair clips, hair elastic bands, or any other hair retention devices. In further situations, professionals may need to put up or take down their hair in a spur of a moment. In foreseeing such situations, professionals may sometimes have their hair down and wear hair retention devices including hair elastic bands around their wrists such that the hair band is handy or easily within reach to quickly put up their hair in case such a situation arises. However, wearing a hair band in plain view on a person's wrist may be unprofessional in certain work environments. Further, some bracelets or other devices may be able to secure a hair band and hide it from view but when the need to access the hair band quickly, in the spur of the moment, accessing the hair band may take an inconveniently long time from such bracelets. Accordingly, there is a need for systems, methods, and devices for securing a hair retention device hidden from view using a bracelet but is still easily and quickly accessible to a professional when moving from one work environment to another. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

The UK already has the largest market for ultra-low emission vehicles in the EU, and the fourth largest in the world and today’s pledge reaffirms our commitment to ensuring almost every car and van is a zero emission vehicle by 2050. Electric cars are greener and cheaper to run and we are making them more affordable, spending more than £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to support the uptake and manufacturing of ultra-low emission vehicles here in the UK. By leading international efforts on this issue, we are playing our part in helping achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions of more than 1 billion tonnes per year across the world by 2050. The ZEV Alliance formed in September this year with the ambition to increase the global uptake of greener vehicles through international co-operation. As well as the UK, members include: Germany, the Netherlands and Norway in Europe California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont in the United States

The demise of the hospital. We observe a mounting strain between the consumer's demand for increasing amounts of health care, and a network of hospital services that becomes increasingly difficult to maintain. Can adjustments be initiated short of crisis to break the present cycle and prevent the derailment of the entire clinical system?

That gives me a chance to share this scientific paper with a critical reader or two. I don't want to say what I think about it because I don't want to affect your reading of it. Here it is. Abstract: This paper presents evidence of the disruption of a transition from fossil fuels to nuclear power, and finds the benefits forgone as a consequence are substantial. Learning rates are presented for nuclear power in seven countries, comprising 58% of all power reactors ever built globally. Learning rates and deployment rates changed in the late-1960s and 1970s from rapidly falling costs and accelerating deployment to rapidly rising costs and stalled deployment. Historical nuclear global capacity, electricity generation and overnight construction costs are compared with the counterfactual that pre-disruption learning and deployment rates had continued to 2015. Had the early rates continued, nuclear power could now be around 10% of its current cost. The additional nuclear power could have substituted for 69,000–186,000 TWh of coal and gas generation, thereby avoiding up to 9.5 million deaths and 174 Gt CO2 emissions. In 2015 alone, nuclear power could have replaced up to 100% of coal-generated and 76% of gas-generated electricity, thereby avoiding up to 540,000 deaths and 11 Gt CO2. Rapid progress was achieved in the past and could be again, with appropriate policies. Research is needed to identify impediments to progress, and policy is needed to remove them. I just thought I'd bump this up to remind everyone about it. My immediate response was to....to....to.....crush it like the cockroach of an article that it really is but then I didn't want to defame cockroaches......also.....I didn't want to have all the fun and thought I would wait and give someone else first crack at it. I'll just comment on the first sentence for now: This paper presents evidence of the disruption of a transition from fossil fuels to nuclear power, and finds the benefits forgone as a consequence are substantial. As people became informed about the possible dangers of nuclear power plants as they were designed and constructed at that time they began requiring safer designs and installations. You can call this a "disruption" when it might also be characterized as being "society becoming aware of the possible dangers of nuclear power and demanding better safeguards". The sentence then goes on to mention the "benefits forgone" because of society becoming aware of the possible dangers of nuclear power....although they don't frame it that way. This abstract doesn't talk about the "disruption" being caused by the need for safety and if they did talk about it then they might have mentioned about how one of the "benefits" which were foregone because of this "disruption" might include hundreds of fukushimas....thousands of corroding tanks (perhaps millions) sitting all around the world containing some of the nastiest substances known to man just waiting to bleed out into the ground, rivers, lakes, oceans all around the world (there is still not a cost allowable method for containing the waste in a manner acceptable to the safety conscious)......high level nearly bomb grade fissionable material attracting terrorists around the world... More could be said about the rest of the article....I have only commented on the first sentence. chownah 18 years ago I made one of the most important decisions of my life and entered a local Cambodian Buddhist Temple as a temple boy and, for only 3 weeks, an actual Therevada Buddhist monk. I am not a scholar, great meditator, or authority on Buddhism, but Buddhism is something I love from the Bottom of my heart. It has taught me sobriety, morality, peace, and very importantly that my suffering is optional, and doesn't have to run my life. I hope to give back what little I can to the Buddhist community, sincerely former monk John It appears they are planning on splitting the batteries up into several banks. They are not going dedicate the entire installation to one purpose. They probably won't do that. With state of the art controls and metering they will just inject what is needed into the grid and monitor it. I'm told that separating banks used for different purposes is the way it's normally done. That's a battery technology issue. It has to do with usage and re-charging regimes to maximize the life of the batteries. (I know that is the case for lead-acid batteries) A important question is whether Li-on batteries are the smart, wise, and cost effective battery technology to use for that application. I suspect there are better ones for this type of fixed plant. Li-on is compact and light weight which makes it good for portable devices and vehicles. There are serious questions about how much lithium is available world wide if countries replace half their gas auto fleet with electric. Serious people in the solar business think the Tesla power bricks are a bit of a stunt. For a home one can put together conventional deep cycle lead-acid batteries purchased from local sources for quite a bit less than the equivalent in Tesla power bricks. A key metric for all storage technologies is number of GWh (watt-hours) they can store over their lifetime divided by the tons of carbon released (the cost in carbon emissions) to go from raw materials in the ground to a finished, working battery bank. Plus the carbon emission of operating and maintaining the batteries. My info is a couple of years old but pumped hydro was the clear winner on costs and emissions. Lead-acid and the newer generation of immersed plate batteries (like lead-acid but with milder liquids) come in second and third. This battery has shown without doubt that all of those overblown concerns about the stability of the grid with the use of solar/wind have been laid to rest. I don't know that "overblown concerns" you are thinking of and what mix of solar/wind and dispatchable power you are speaking of. . . . The system is not stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without sufficient stored power or other means to stabilize it. And even then it's not stable 24/7. REVISED: With systems like the Tesla bank the grid would not be stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without additional similar stabilization plants or other forms of short term stabilization. Even then it's not able to meet demand 24/7 without sufficient backup generation or storage that could supply the grid for several days. Solar/wind plus a lot more electrical storage plus enough dispatchable generation to cover demands on it's own without help from solar/wind -- those three factors would be one combination that would work. If you disagree then explain your solution. Last edited by Leeuwenhoek2 on Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total. It appears they are planning on splitting the batteries up into several banks. They are not going dedicate the entire installation to one purpose. They probably won't do that. With state of the art controls and metering they will just inject what is needed into the grid and monitor it. I'm told that separating banks used for different purposes is the way it's normally done. That's a battery technology issue. It has to do with usage and re-charging regimes to maximize the life of the batteries. (I know that is the case for lead-acid batteries) A important question is whether Li-on batteries are the smart, wise, and cost effective battery technology to use for that application. I suspect there are better ones for this type of fixed plant. Li-on is compact and light weight which makes it good for portable devices and vehicles. There are serious questions about how much lithium is available world wide if countries replace half their gas auto fleet with electric. Serious people in the solar business think the Tesla power bricks are a bit of a stunt. For a home one can put together conventional deep cycle lead-acid batteries purchased from local sources for quite a bit less than the equivalent in Tesla power bricks. A key metric for all storage technologies is number of GWh (watt-hours) they can store over their lifetime divided by the tons of carbon released (the cost in carbon emissions) to go from raw materials in the ground to a finished, working battery bank. Plus the carbon emission of operating and maintaining the batteries. My info is a couple of years old but pumped hydro was the clear winner on costs and emissions. Lead-acid and the newer generation of immersed plate batteries (like lead-acid but with milder liquids) come in second and third. This battery has shown without doubt that all of those overblown concerns about the stability of the grid with the use of solar/wind have been laid to rest. I don't know that "overblown concerns" you are thinking of and what mix of solar/wind and dispatchable power you are speaking of. The system is not stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without sufficient stored power or other means to stabilize it. And even then it's not stable 24/7. Solar/wind plus a lot more electrical storage plus enough dispatchable generation to cover demands on it's own without help from solar/wind -- those three factors would be one combination that would work. If you disagree then explain your solution. Leeuwenhoek2, you have far too many vague, irrelevant and out-of-date statements here - and just plain old guesses - to be taken seriously (I have given in to temptation and helpfully bolded a lot of them), and far too few references. If you want to add to our knowledge rather than subtracting from it, I think you should do some research. Serious people in the solar business think the Tesla power bricks are a bit of a stunt. For a home one can put together conventional deep cycle lead-acid batteries purchased from local sources for quite a bit less than the equivalent in Tesla power bricks. Great! I guess then that the lead acid battery industry must be booming beyond belief.....is it? chownah The system is not stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without sufficient stored power or other means to stabilize it. And even then it's not stable 24/7. This is absolutely preposterous.....wind/solar with enough storage will be stable 24/365. If you disagree then please bring the facts of why....where is the instability going to come into this scenario?.....presently the best system for stabilizing a grid is large lithium ion battery installations like the Tesla Neoen. It stabilizes a grid better than any previous technology ever operated on the grid I think.....I would love to get some information showing that I am wrong as I am always eager to learn more about this stuff and I always recognize that what I have learned might be wrong. chownah Leeuwenhoek2, you have far too many vague, irrelevant and out-of-date statements here - and just plain old guesses - to be taken seriously (I have given in to temptation and helpfully bolded a lot of them), and far too few references. If you want to add to our knowledge rather than subtracting from it, I think you should do some research. I hope the serious reader appreciates that there is research behind my recent posts. I am no dabbler. Just a few years ago I lived off-grid with a renewable electric power system I put together and maintained myself. I've put in the time reading technical literature and technical blogs. Furthermore it's quite unreasonable to ask for references on everything from an unpaid writer. Especially so when the complaining parties do little to no research or citation themselves. ----------------------------------------------- On a personal note, it looks to me like I'm doing most of the 'heavy lifting' here. I wouldn't 'waste' my time here except to get some feedback (including from 'deniers') with the knowledge that the work may get picked up and used by others. There is, in my opinion, a serious problem of 'over the top' assertions and proclamation by Buddhist leaders and Buddhist activist or campaigner groups. Tragic because their statements are neither necessary for the goal, ethical or contribute to wise understanding. Instead they tend to increased polarization, to scandal and perhaps understandable denunciation. It's ironic that Kim Ohara's responses to Leeuwenhoek2 posts are rarely supported by evidence or research; gives little evidence of 'want[ing] to add to our knowledge rather than subtracting from it'; and does little evident work but complains when others don't do more. Kim, it seems is blind to the internal contradictions and behavior. I fail to see the compassion in that. <Corrected text> Kim if you really 'want to add to our knowledge rather than subtracting from it' then stop this trolling like behavior and do what you demand from others. Last edited by Leeuwenhoek2 on Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:58 pm, edited 2 times in total. ...wind/solar with enough storage will be stable 24/365. If you disagree then please bring the facts of why....where is the instability going to come into this scenario?.....presently the best system for stabilizing a grid is large lithium ion battery installations like the Tesla Neoen. It stabilizes a grid better than any previous technology ever operated on the grid I think.....I would love to get some information showing that I am wrong as I am always eager to learn more about this stuff and I always recognize that what I have learned might be wrong. ** "I would love to get some information showing that I am wrong as I am always eager to learn more about this stuff ". Me too. I'm frustrated at how hard it is to find. It's partly due I'm lead to believe because there are a number of unknowns including technology not proven at scale. People have told me that they like the way I put together diverse information in useful ways so I thought I'd try on this topic. With enough storage I can power anything forever. It always been known that we can go %100 solar/wind with enough raw materials and money. See previous post -- there are trade-off's between the carbon emissions, other environmental impacts, availability of raw materials and costs of such large scale solar/wind which makes nuclear power look much more attractive in the next 50 years. That is why a majority of climate scientists (says James Hansen), general scientists (AAAS poll) and nuclear scientists and engineers favor some level of nuclear power in the mix. Your other questions have been addressed in recent posts. Short term stabilization, which is what the articles seem to indicate is the goal, obviously requires much smaller batteries than long term support of large loads for hours or days. The challenges increase sometimes dramatically with higher and higher levels of solar/wind. The same for replacing larger amounts of fossil powered generation with stored electricity. Currently there are inflection points reported at about %20 penetration and again at about %40 - %45. The use of inverters or other electronic means of high precision stabilization seems to be a key factor for high precision stabilization. How valuable that extra precision is to the grid? I don't know. Another is the instantaneous and sustained availability of power. With spinning generators (spinning reserves) the inertia of the rotors act as a flywheel. This is one way the system stabilizes itself without solar or wind. But there can be a gap between the time the flywheel starts to slow down and additional driving power (water, steam, diesel motor) can compensate. Again, with lower levels of solar/wind (less than %20) the existing systems are said to be able to work. Filling in that gap is where some kind of battery systems shine. On the other hand ... Extra flywheels, capacitors/ultra-capacitors, solar or wind banks held in reserve for that purpose or batteries all could provide the extra instantaneous power. DC booster motors on the generators could take power from batteries or solar/wind bank reserves to fill in the lag if needed. With conventional generators a % of max power (capacity) is held in reserve for providing stabilization and "load following". Finely tuned modern systems run at about %92 of capacity. I don't know how much additional reserve capacity generators have to hold back in order to stabilize solar/wind power which doesn't supply its own stabilization. That is one of those pieces of data that are hard to find. But the generators complain that they are paid by how many gross MWh they produce, not how much stabilization they provide. So the payment incentives need to be changed. -------------------------------- ** "Presently the best system for stabilizing a grid is large lithium ion battery installations." It works -- but is a li-on battery required to make it "the best"? Two different questions. When second best is also good enough then do you use cost and other impacts to decide? I'm saying that what is "best" remains to be seen -- I don't know of a good study that has looked at lithium ion battery vs. other battery technology vs. ultra-capacitors. It works -- but is it the "best"? Best based on what qualities? A previous post reported on the installation in California that provided high quality stabilization using only solar panels. The system is not stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without sufficient stored power or other means to stabilize it. And even then it's not stable 24/7. This is absolutely preposterous.. Read the quote again. I think we are saying the same thing in different ways. Having looked back at the exchange between us on this issue I can see a few places where our thinking may have diverged. I won't belabor the point by trying to track them down and bring them up for discussion. What I am saying is that I interpreted what you say here to mean that even with sufficient stored power or other means to stabilize it that the grid would not be stable 24/7.....in other words I took this to mean that you are saying it is impossible to stabilize the grid 24/7 with storage.....i.e. what does "And even then it's not stable 24/7." mean? chownah The system is not stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without sufficient stored power or other means to stabilize it.. And even then it's not stable 24/7. Solar/wind plus a lot more electrical storage plus enough dispatchable generation to cover demands on it's own without help from solar/wind -- those three factors would be one combination that would work. If you disagree then explain your solution. OK. Point taken. On it's own the first paragraph is wrong. The next paragraph corrects it. I should have written: With systems like the Tesla bank the grid would not be stable with higher penetration levels of solar/wind without additional similar stabilization plants or other forms of short term stabilization. Even then it's not able to meet demand 24/7 without sufficient backup generation or storage that could supply the grid for several days. Does that correct the problem? In the first sentence I was thinking in terms of systems like the Tesla project recently installed in Australia. The available information indicated it was mostly dedicated for short term stabilization. There is, in my opinion, a serious problem of 'over the top' assertions and proclamation by Buddhist leaders and Buddhist activist or campaigner groups. Tragic because their statements are neither necessary for the goal, ethical or contribute to wise understanding. Instead they tend to increased polarization, to scandal and perhaps understandable denunciation. Can you give some examples? It's ironic that Kim Ohara opinions are rarely supported by evidence or research; gives little evidence of 'want[ing] to add to our knowledge rather than subtracting from it'; and does little evident work but complains when others don't do more. Kim, it seems is blind to the internal contradictions and behavior. I fail to see the compassion in that. Kim if you really 'want to add to our knowledge rather than subtracting from it' then stop this trolling like behavior and do what you demand from others. as well as rude. I already do, most of the time. Pick any one page of this thread, or any one page on the "Climate change recent data" thread, and see how many contain no references. If you can find a page on which I post multiple times but don't provide multiple links, show us - and I will duly apologise. If you can't find such a page, I will expect an apology from you. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, plans to award contracts in December for the construction of its first nuclear-power plants, according to a government official involved with the project. ... The kingdom has received requests from five bidders from China, France, the U.S., South Korea and Russia to perform the engineering, procurement and construction work on two nuclear reactors... Saudi Arabia is seeking to diversify its economy and lessen its dependence on oil sales for most of its official revenue. As part of these reforms, the country wants to meet a larger share of its energy needs from renewables such as solar power and from nuclear plants. Its neighbor the United Arab Emirates plans this year to complete the first of four reactors. https://phys.org/news/2017-02-sodium-ion-batteries.html wrote:Lithium-ion batteries have become essential in everyday technology. But these power sources can explode under certain circumstances and are not ideal for grid-scale energy storage. Sodium-ion batteries are potentially a safer and less expensive alternative, but current versions don't last long enough yet for practical use. The capacity factor is the average power generated, divided by the rated peak power. is also known as the load factor. To calculate the average power generated, just divide the total electricity generated, by the number of hours. If we could do what economists do, and just assume that all other things are equal, then yes, a higher capacity factor is better than a lower one – but all other things vary in important ways, so that would be a useless assumption. For any given decent wind site, the developer could choose turbines that would give a capacity factor of 1%, or a capacity factor of 80%, or anything in between. It’s an economic decision. ... a developer could choose a turbine with very long blades, and very low rated electronics, so it would generate its peak rated power pretty much any time when there was more than a breeze, and that would result in a capacity factor at a typical onshore wind site of about 80%, but it would deliver much much less electricity almost all the time. A developer could choose a turbine that gave them an 80% capacity factor, and they might save a bit of money on buying the turbine and contracting the grid connection, but the reduction in energy generated would be far greater, so the return on investment would be much worse. The very high capacity factor would be a bad business decision, for the developer and for the energy system as a whole. So maximising the capacity factor would be a bad decision: it would be almost all the same costs, but with a lot less energy generated. The maximum possible power at any one moment will be determined by the wind speed, but the actual power generated can be anywhere between zero and that value, and it can be rapidly varied up and down within that range, to provide frequency-control and other balancing services to the grid (this has been referred to in the scientific literature as synthetic inertia, and some grid controllers are already harnessing these services, allowing wind turbines to increase grid stability). Wind Power Could Blow Past Hydro’s Capacity Factor by 2020 Measure decrease when dispatchable sources are used more for peaking power and/or stabilization Capacity factor is the ratio of a generator’s annual power production to the power it could have produced if it ran at 100 percent rated capacity 24/7. The capacity factor for conventional dam-based hydroelectricity is lower -- in the 40 percent range -- owing to its use as flexible, load-following supply. Despite the continuing shuttering of coal capacity, hydro’s capacity factor has been slowly declining ... barring another wind drought ... these tools could help America’s wind industry surpass the capacity factor of hydroelectricity, in asymbolic passing of the baton for the 21st century. There has been some interest in this thread about the neoen-tesla battery in south australia and here is the first article which I have seen which explains a bit of the technical side of what that battery is doing for the grid but yet in a mostly understandable way: ...for the partial retraction, which may be the nearest approach to an apology that I see. This response to you won't be supported by evidence or research, either. If you post anything which is so unfocused that it's not really right or wrong, it doesn't deserve a referenced response and won't get one from me. Look again at our interactions and you may see that pattern. The central fact that will drive the energy industry worldwide in 2018, profoundly affecting businesses, consumers and policymakers, is that “clean energy” is now “cheap energy.” Fossil fuel extraction is expensive. It is giving way to cheaper, more flexible technologies, primarily renewables like wind and solar, and electric vehicles. These shifts will change investment decisions, business models, household usage, employment patterns and politics. ... Coal is facing a market buzz saw Coal demand for power generation will continue its long decline and bleak outlook. Globally, long term trends, driven by economics, climate and environmental policy, are moving away from coal. Expect to see more cancellations of proposed new plants around the world and more retirements of existing plants. In the U.S., the coal industry’s public relations efforts won’t overcome the sector’s weak fundamentals, characterized by more coal-fired power plant retirements, low energy prices and unstable export opportunities. ... The oil industry is In decline Oil prices have been on the rise over the past two years, moving from a low of $28 per barrel to over $60 per barrel, after the biggest crash in oil prices in decades. But even as the overall U.S. stock market soared in 2017, the energy sector faltered, competing with telecommunications for the worst stock performance in the S&P 500. ... Even if oil prices continue to rise in 2018, they will not rise sufficiently to cover the overall costs of oil and gas companies or state-run organizations. Natural gas assets will continue to be plagued by high demand and a business structure inadequate to the tasks of maintaining sustainable profit levels. How publicly traded companies will cope with diminishing profits and how political leaders in oil producing countries will manage the challenge to their political legitimacy will be important to watch. Consumer nations now have options other than to accept the economy-destroying effects of rising oil prices, and their responses may surprise the oil producers. In sum, the pace of change in every sector will only increase as prices for clean energy decline. Attempts to hold back the tide of transition will inevitably fail. Nucelar power doesn't even get a mention. I think its window of opportunity slammed shut when the price of solar and wind dropped far enough to be competitive with fossil fuels. At that point, nuclear had no advantages over any other technology - it was neither cleaner than solar and wind, cheaper than fossil fuels, nor quicker to build than either of them. And of course its waste disposal problem remained unsolved. There has been some interest in this thread about the neoen-tesla battery in south australia and here is the first article which I have seen which explains a bit of the technical side of what that battery is doing for the grid but yet in a mostly understandable way: Chownah - what parts were hard to understand? Crikes -- how do you ask a question like that without it reading, in the back of my mind, as a sharky, rhetorical statement with a disingenuous question mark at the end? The article confirmed a number of points I made earlier. Undesirable events on the power grid cause supply and demand so go out of balanced causing the frequency and voltage of the power system to moves away from the normal operating range. Contingency services essentially stabilise the system when something unexpected occurs. ... The tripping (isolation from the grid) of [a] large generator is one example. This is usually done by rapidly increasing or decreasing output from a generator (or battery in this case), or rapidly reducing or increasing load. This response is triggered at the power station by the change in frequency. Here is my interpretation of the next paragraph. The contingency services ensure that the system is brought back into balance. To do this, generators have some of their capacity reserved for providing contingency services. This essentially means that a proportion of a generator or storage capacity is set aside, and available to respond if the frequency changes. FCAS = Frequency Control Ancillary Services To do this, generators (or loads) have some of their capacity "enabled" in the [Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) FCAS market. This essentially means that a proportion of its capacity is set aside, and available to respond if the frequency changes. Providers get paid for for the amount of megawatts they have enabled in the FCAS market. The battery stores excess power from a nearby wind farm when demand allows it. The battery is rated to "power up to 30,000 homes, though only for short periods — meaning that the battery must still be supported by traditional power plants in the event of a long outage." (LA Times). There are eight different Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets in the National Electricity Market (NEM). There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that most people rarely if ever hear about. And there quite a bit of 'acronym soup' too. FYI: Because of how AC electricity is generated by the spinning coils in a conventional generator frequency and voltage are co-dependent. The frequency of the alternating current (AC) comes from how fast the generator is moving/spinning. A sudden heavy load (demand) slows down the generator -- this causes both the AC frequency and the voltage to drop. Everything here is interrelated. Total power created by the generator depends on voltage. Watts (electrical power) = volts X amps. The devices called inverters used by solar farms, battery banks (wind farms too probably) regulate voltage and frequency separately. Inverters use banks of high power electronic components. A percentage of the power is lost in the conversion process -- the best ratings I've seen claimed on smaller inverters is a loss of about %8. Hype?? I'm thinking that a editor, not the author, wrote the title -- that happens a lot. Because the article doesn't say that or even say what the "expectations" were. This is mostly fairly mature technology. The questions had to do with cost and 'scaling' problems-- problems which sometimes crop up when things are done at a large scale. A big thing I'm going to watch for is how long the batteries last. That has been a disappointment in previous installations. Various companies have invested a lot in continuing R&D on software and control systems that carefully manage the recharging and discharging (rate of use) of batteries. Problem: Refugee camp. Lots of people, all arrived recently and most arrived destitute, no infrastructure. What to do for electricity? Solution: cheap, quick, and can largely be build by unskilled labour. Problem: Refugee camp. Lots of people, all arrived recently and most arrived destitute, no infrastructure. What to do for electricity? Solution: cheap, quick, and can largely be build by unskilled labour.

Q: Removing stand-alone numbers from string in Python There are a lot of similar questions, but I have not found a solution for my problem. I have a data frame with the following structure/form: col_1 0 BULKA TARTA 500G KAJO 1 1 CUKIER KRYSZTAL 1KG KSC 4 2 KASZA JĘCZMIENNA 4*100G 2 0.92 3 LEWIATAN MAKARON WSTĄŻKA 1 0.89 However, I want to achieve the effect: col_1 0 BULKA TARTA 500G KAJO 1 CUKIER KRYSZTAL 1KG KSC 2 KASZA JĘCZMIENNA 4*100G 3 LEWIATAN MAKARON WSTĄŻKA So I want to remove the independent natural and decimal numbers, but leave the numbers in the string with the letters. I tried to use df.col_1.str.isdigit().replace([True, False],[np.nan, df.col_1]) , but it only works on comparing the entire cell whether it is a number or not. You have some ideas how to do it? Or maybe it would be good to break the column with spaces and then compare? A: We could create a function that tries to convert to float. If it fails we return True (not_float) import pandas as pd df = pd.DataFrame({"col_1" : ["BULKA TARTA 500G KAJO 1", "CUKIER KRYSZTAL 1KG KSC 4", "KASZA JĘCZMIENNA 4*100G 2 0.92", "LEWIATAN MAKARON WSTĄŻKA 1 0.89"]}) def is_not_float(string): try: float(string) return False except ValueError: # String is not a number return True df["col_1"] = df["col_1"].apply(lambda x: [i for i in x.split(" ") if is_not_float(i)]) df Or following the example of my fellow SO:ers. However this would treat 130. as a number. df["col_1"] = (df["col_1"].apply( lambda x: [i for i in x.split(" ") if not i.replace(".","").isnumeric()])) Returns col_1 0 [BULKA, TARTA, 500G, KAJO] 1 [CUKIER, KRYSZTAL, 1KG, KSC] 2 [KASZA, JĘCZMIENNA, 4*100G] 3 [LEWIATAN, MAKARON, WSTĄŻKA]

Background {#Sec1} ========== Mathematical models are commonly used to understand and study biological systems that are complex to replicate and describe in individual laboratory or field studies. Models facilitate testing hypotheses that may be difficult or unethical to test in vivo, identification of critical parameters within a system, and they guide hypothesis generation and experimental design. Different types of mathematical models have improved our understanding of important issues in veterinary medicine, including infectious disease management \[[@CR1]--[@CR4]\], drug pharmacokinetics \[[@CR5]--[@CR8]\], and antimicrobial resistance \[[@CR9]--[@CR12]\]. With the rise in computing power, models have evolved to be more complex, detailed, and data-intensive. Simple susceptible-infectious-recovered models \[[@CR12], [@CR13]\] have given way to meta-population models \[[@CR1], [@CR4], [@CR9]\] and now agent-based models \[[@CR2], [@CR14], [@CR15]\], in which individuals (animals, bacteria, etc.) are modeled with unique characteristics and behaviors \[[@CR16]\]. However, each layer of complexity adds additional sources of uncertainty to the model outputs, particularly when parameter values are from varied sources or unavailable and when the modeler must make assumptions about model structure and parameter values. A robust sensitivity analysis defends a mathematical model against the adverse effects of excessive uncertainty. In short, sensitivity analysis attempts to identify how input parameter natural variation and/or uncertainty affects model output \[[@CR17], [@CR18]\]. A modeler can use sensitivity analysis to achieve many goals, including elimination of uninfluential parameters (simplification), model structure and code validation, improved understanding of the modelled system, and prioritization of the most influential parameters \[[@CR17], [@CR18]\]. The first sensitivity analysis techniques developed compared changes in one input parameter at a time to changes in the model output and hence were termed 'local' or 'one-at-a-time' approaches. The local parameter influence can be evaluated directly via partial derivatives \[[@CR18]\] or statistically with a correlation coefficient \[[@CR19]\]. In contrast, 'global' sensitivity analysis considers the entire domain for all input parameters and assess how changes in each input affect the model output after accounting for the effects of the other inputs \[[@CR18]\]. Correlation coefficients and regression models (regressing model output on inputs) are commonly used for global sensitivity analysis, including decomposition of output variance and Taguchi designs \[[@CR17], [@CR18], [@CR20]\]. Regression approaches are employed in sensitivity analyses because the regression coefficients can be used to rank model input parameters in their effect on the outputs \[[@CR18]\]; such regression models may be viewed as meta-models used for investigating statistical associations between the output and parameter values in mathematical models \[[@CR17], [@CR18]\]. These techniques rely upon the modeler defining a numerical model output of interest and choosing a single time-point value of the output variable as the dependent variable (e.g., maximum or minimum value). Importantly, standard sensitivity analysis methods do not account for different output behaviors produced by one model and in some instances the behavior is of greater interest than a single time-point output value \[[@CR20]\]. Behavior pattern sensitivity analysis has been proposed as an alternative and complement to standard sensitivity analysis when a model produces more than one mode of output behavior \[[@CR20]\] because the behavior mode can confound associations between model parameters and outputs. We use the terms "behavior" and "behavior mode" to describe the model output pattern when the output is plotted over simulation time. Examples of behavior modes include, but are not limited to, oscillations, exponential decay, logarithmic growth, or sigmoid growth. Hekimoğlu et al. suggest a framework, similar to the first five steps of Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, for conducting and interpreting behavior pattern global sensitivity analysis on system dynamics models \[[@CR20]\]. Behaviors are identified, characterized, and then regression models with standardized input parameter values are built to determine the association between input parameters and behavior pattern measures (Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) \[[@CR20]\]. Such analysis can be useful for other model types that produce more than one behavior pattern or for situations where the output behavior matters more to the modeler than a single output value.Fig. 1Behavioral sensitivity analysis process. The outputs of Monte Carlo simulations of mathematical models are classified into behavior pattern modes and pattern measures are defined for each of the modes. Standardized input parameter values from Monte Carlo simulations are used to build regression models for each pattern measure from each of the behavior pattern modes. Smoothing spline curves are fit to the simulation outputs if necessary to eliminate noise and enable calculation of the behavior pattern measures. Variable selection and model fit evaluation methods are used to find each best-fit regression model. Validity of assumptions for the best-fit regression model is evaluated; dependent (simulation outputs) and independent (parameters) variable transformations or other appropriate approaches such as time-dependent coefficients are used to meet the regression model assumptions if necessary. To obtain a most parsimonious regression model, parameters with relatively small coefficients in the best-fit model are eliminated, starting with the smallest, if there is no substantial change in model fit or the other parameter coefficients. Validity of assumptions is re-evaluated for the most parsimonious regression model Here we apply behavior pattern sensitivity analysis for the first time to a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and bacterial ecology model of antimicrobial resistance in enteric bacteria in a beef steer during and after oral chlortetracycline administration. In 2011, the last time the U.S. national beef herd was surveyed about antimicrobial use, 71.7% of feedlots used chlortetracycline with 18.4% of all cattle receiving chlortetracycline in their feed during the feedlot period \[[@CR21]\]. Most feedlots use chlortetracycline for disease prevention and control rather than disease treatment \[[@CR21]\]. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently prohibited in-feed use of medically important antimicrobials for growth promotion, such use for disease prevention, control and treatment is still permitted under the oversight of a veterinarian \[[@CR22]\]. It is unclear whether this change will increase the use of chlortetracycline due to increased disease or decrease its use because of veterinarian oversight. Target pharmacologic models (empirical or physiologically based), with appropriate sensitivity analyses, can help create judicious antimicrobial-use policies by predicting antimicrobial concentrations in body compartments, such as the intestine, and evaluating alternative dosage regimens \[[@CR7]\]. We build upon the original behavior pattern sensitivity analysis framework \[[@CR20]\]. First, we incorporate principles and methods of model selection and model fit comparisons in order to improve parameter prioritization. By identifying which parameters contribute the most to model behavior variability, research efforts can be directed to produce data to reduce uncertainty in the values of those parameters. Next, we suggest techniques to address statistical assumption violations, including Cox proportional hazard models as an alternative to linear regression when linear regression assumptions are not met. Finally, we recommend building parsimonious models by removing parameters with small coefficients from the regression models in order to improve interpretability without sacrificing model fit. Using the example model of resistant enteric bacteria, we demonstrate how behavior pattern sensitivity analysis can be used for parameter prioritization and improved understanding of the modelled system. Results {#Sec2} ======= The proportion of resistant enteric bacteria during and after chlortetracycline administration fits into one of three defined behaviors in all 1000 simulations: increasing, decreasing, or peaked. Sixty-seven simulations had increasing behavior of the proportion of resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* over time, 311 simulations had decreasing behavior, and 622 simulations had peaked behavior (an increase in proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration followed by a decrease). We identified 3 behavior pattern measures that characterized these behaviors: equilibrium points, inflection points, and maximum points. These pattern measures were calculated in absolute terms (the proportion resistant at the time of occurrence) and in relative terms, in which the starting proportion resistant (Day 2) was subtracted from the proportion resistant at the time of occurrence. Specifically, increasing behavior was defined by absolute and relative equilibriums; decreasing behavior was defined by inflection points, and relative and maximum equilibriums; and peaked behavior was defined by absolute and relative maximum and equilibrium points. However, not every simulation achieved each behavior pattern measure during the simulated time period (90 days). The proportion resistant achieved equilibrium in only 36% of increasing behavior simulations by Day 90. Equilibrium was reached by 38% of decreasing behavior simulations and only 24% of peaked behavior simulations after chlortetracycline administration ended and before Day 90. Inflection points occurred during chlortetracycline administration in 65% of decreasing behavior simulations. For each behavior pattern measure and behavior mode, only simulations that had the behavior pattern measure were included in the linear regression models (i.e. missing data was removed pairwise). A maximum proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration could be calculated for all peaked behavior simulations. In 80% of such simulations, the maximum occurred at the last time step during chlortetracycline administration because the removal of chlortetracycline inevitably caused a decline in proportion resistant for this behavior mode. The results from the final regression models for absolute and relative equilibrium levels of the proportion of resistant enteric bacteria are presented in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. Five input parameters predominated in these models: *p*~*r*~ (proportion of resistance among bacteria flowing into the large intestine); *start*~*r*~ (Day 0 proportion of resistant bacteria in the large intestine), *λ*~*in*~ (rate of bacteria flowing into the large intestine, proportional to the total bacteria population size), *λ*~*out*~ (rate of bacteria flowing out of the large intestine, proportional to the total bacteria population size), *α* (fitness cost of resistance for the intermediate and resistant bacteria). The parameter *p*~*r*~ consistently had the largest coefficient in the regression models, indicating that a one standard deviation change in *p*~*r*~ had the largest effect on the equilibrium proportion resistant in the large intestine. The parameter *start*~*r*~ was significant in the relative equilibrium models only and it opposed the effect of *p*~*r*~. In general, the reduced regression models had improved fit (smaller AIC and BIC) over the full models (full models included all 26 input parameters of the mathematical model as independent variables), except for the regression models for the increasing behavior mode. The final reduced regression models for all the equilibrium pattern measures and all three behavior modes had high explanatory power (*R*^*2*^ ≥ 0.98). Residual plots from the absolute and relative equilibrium level models are shown in Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}: the models of absolute equilibrium level met the assumption of homoscedasticity of residuals, while the relative equilibrium level models for decreasing and peaked behavior violated that assumption.Table 1Linear regression models for proportion-resistant absolute and relative equilibrium levels of the three behavior modesBehavior ModeBehavior Pattern MeasureMost Parsimonious ModelFull ModelStandardized Input Parameters\ Coefficient (Standard Error)Fit StatisticsFit Statistics*p* ~*r*~*start* ~*r*~*λ* ~*in*~*λ* ~*out*~*α*AICBICAdj. *R*^*2*^AICBICAdj. *R*^*2*^IncreasingEquilibrium Level0.101 (0.0006)0.005 (0.0007)−0.004 (0.0007)− 203−197.999− 363\*− 335\*1\*IncreasingRelative Equilibrium Level0.069 (0.002)−0.068 (0.002)− 147−142.986− 239\*−211\*0.999\*DecreasingEquilibrium Level0.097 (0.0001)0.001 (0.0002)−0.001 (0.0001)−0.001 (0.0001)− 1321− 13050.999− 1309− 12310.999DecreasingRelative Equilibrium Level0.065 (0.0004)−0.063 (0.0004)0.013 (0.0008)− 971− 9570.997− 960− 8820.997PeakedEquilibrium Level ^A^0.121 (0.0001)0.003 (0.0002)−0.001 (0.0001)−0.002 (0.0001)− 2040− 20200.999− 2030− 19360.999PeakedRelative Equilibrium Level ^B^0.081 (0.0005)−0.081 (0.0005)−0.007 (0.0007)− 1566− 15490.994− 1562− 14680.995The example mathematical model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline. A separate linear regression model was built for each behavior pattern measure of each behavior mode. The behavior pattern measure was the dependent variable in the linear regression models. Equilibrium was reached by 36% of increasing behavior simulations, 38% of decreasing behavior simulations and 24% of peaked behavior simulations after chlortetracycline administration ended and before the end of the simulation period. Simulations that did not reach equilibrium were excluded from these models. Coefficients and standard errors are listed for the standardized parameters that were included in each most parsimonious linear regression model. Full model refers to a linear regression model including all the parameters listed in Table [6](#Tab6){ref-type="table"} as independent variables. Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and adjusted *R*^*2*^ are given for the most parsimonious and the full model. \*Full model excludes log~10~(*β*~*ir*~), log~10~(*β*~*sr*~), *γ*~*s*~ and *MIC*~*i*~ to prevent overfitting. ^A^Peaked equilibrium level has 3 outliers removed (from reduced model and from full model). ^B^Peaked relative equilibrium level has one outlier removed (from reduced model and from full model)Fig. 2Standardized residuals of the proportion-resistant equilibrium level linear regression models for the three behavior modes. The three behaviors of the resistant bacteria in the example mathematical model were: (**a**, **b**) increasing, (**c**, **d**) decreasing, and (**e**, **f**) increasing during antimicrobial therapy and decreasing after therapy ceases (peaked). Separate linear regression models were built for each of the absolute (**a**, **c**, **e**) and relative (**b**, **d**, **f**) equilibrium levels in each behavior mode and are described in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. The relative equilibrium level (**b**, **d**, **f**) is the proportion of resistance at the equilibrium point minus the starting proportion of resistance. The fitted values of the equilibrium level outcome are shown on the x-axis and the standardized residual values are shown on y-axis A greater number of parameters were consequential in the final regression models for equilibrium time, compared to the equilibrium level models (Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}). In addition, the parameters that were significant and consequential to model fit were different in each of the behavior modes, with the exception of *p*~*r*~ and *start*~*r*~ which were in the equilibrium time models for all three behavior modes. The coefficients for these and other parameters had similar absolute values, indicating that the parameters had approximately equal contributions to explaining variation in equilibrium time in all three behavior modes. In contrast, in the equilibrium level models, *p*~*r*~ often had a coefficient that was 5 to 100 times larger than other parameter coefficients (Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}). The equilibrium time models had lower explanatory power than the equilibrium level models (*R*^*2*^ \< 0.74) (Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"} vs. Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}).Table 2Linear regression models for time to proportion-resistant equilibrium of the three behavior modesBehavior ModeBehavior Pattern MeasureMost Parsimonious ModelFull ModelStandardized Input Parameters\ Coefficient (Standard Error)Fit StatisticsFit Statistics*p* ~*r*~*start* ~*r*~*λ* ~*in*~*λ* ~*out*~*δMIC* ~*s*~*H* ~*i*~*V* ~*LI*~*η* ~*LI*~*γ* ~*LI*~AICBICAdj *R*^*2*^AICBICAdj *R*^*2*^IncreasingEquilibrium time1868 (347)− 883 (313)− 1085 (352)− 1526 (352)− 884 (321)− 1141 (292)4274370.733436\*464\*−0.706\*DecreasingEquilibrium Time*p* ~*r*~− 1527 (514)1233 (207)− 3488 (396)− 750 (175)− 1107 (180)− 664 (179)214121720.561214922260.583*p* ~*r*~ ^2^805 (408)*p* ~*r*~ ^3^552 (331)*p* ~*r*~ ^4^− 410 (156)PeakedEquilibrium Time810 (175)− 667 (174)− 1807 (279)660 (139)− 781 (123)− 1393 (154)− 842 (145)− 628 (146)381238460.423382439180.436The example mathematical model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline. A separate linear regression model was built for each behavior pattern measure of each behavior mode. The behavior pattern measure was the dependent variable in the linear regression models. Equilibrium was reached by 36% of increasing behavior simulations, 38% of decreasing behavior simulations and 24% of peaked behavior simulations after chlortetracycline administration ended and before the end of the simulation period. Simulations that did not reach equilibrium were excluded from these models. Coefficients and standard errors are listed for the standardized parameters that were included in each most parsimonious linear regression model. Full model refers to a linear regression model including all the parameters listed in Table [6](#Tab6){ref-type="table"} as independent variables. Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and adjusted *R*^*2*^ are given for the most parsimonious and the full model. \*Excludes log~10~(*β*~*ir*~), log~10~(*β*~*sr*~), *γ*~*s*~ and *MIC*~*i*~ to prevent overfitting Inflection points only occurred in the decreasing behavior mode and they occurred during chlortetracycline administration (between Day 2 and Day 30). Parameters related to the bacterial population dynamics and chlortetracycline pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics all made significant contributions to predicting the proportion of resistance at the inflection point (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). In contrast, only parameters of the bacterial population dynamics were significantly associated with the proportion of resistance at equilibrium points. Consistent with the equilibrium level models, *p*~*r*~ had the largest coefficient in the inflection level model (Tables [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"} and [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). The pharmacokinetic parameters *δ* (chlortetracycline abiotic degradation rate), *V*~*LI*~ (volume of large intestine), and *η*~*LI*~ (fraction of chlortetracycline adsorbed to digesta) all had small to moderate negative coefficients. Polynomial terms of *MIC*~*s*~ (susceptible *E. coli* MIC) were added to improve the linearity between *MIC*~*s*~ and inflection proportion of resistance (Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). The addition of polynomial terms resulted in a minor improvement in model fit compared to a model without polynomial terms (R^2^ = 0.885, AIC = − 800, BIC = − 767 with polynomial terms compared to R^2^ = 0.864, AIC = − 767, BIC = − 741 without). The final inflection level model explained a large amount of variation in the proportion of resistant *E. coli* at the inflection point (*R*^*2*^ = 0.885).Table 3Linear regression models for proportion-resistant inflection and maximum levels of decreasing and peaked behaviors, respectivelyBehavior ModeBehavior Pattern MeasureMost Parsimonious ModelFull ModelStandardized Input Parameters\ Coefficient (Standard Error)Fit StatisticsFit Statistics*p* ~*r*~*start* ~*r*~*λ* ~*in*~*λ* ~*out*~log~10~*(β*~*sr*~*)MIC* ~*s*~*δV* ~*LI*~*η* ~*LI*~AICBICAdj. *R*^*2*^AICBICAdj. *R*^*2*^DecreasingInflection Level0.091 (0.002)−0.031 (0.003)*MIC* ~*s*~−0.007 (0.005)−0.02 (0.004)− 0.011 (0.002)− 0.011 (0.002)−800−7670.885− 758−6640.869*MIC* ~*s*~ ^*2*^0.008 (0.003)*MIC* ~*s*~ ^*3*^−0.006 (0.002)PeakedMax Level0.086 (0.003)0.022 (0.003)−0.036 (0.003)0.02 (0.002)0.009 (0.002)*MIC* ~*s*~−0.081 (0.003)−0.021 (0.002)− 0.022 (0.002)−0.018 (0.002)− 1706− 16530.807− 1597−14680.775*MIC* ~*s*~ ^*2*^0.032 (0.003)PeakedRelative Max Level0.06 (0.003)−0.07 (0.003)−0.043 (0.003)0.02 (0.003)−0.02 (0.003)−0.068 (0.003)− 0.022 (0.003)−0.021 (0.003)− 1685− 16410.734− 1709− 15850.752The example mathematical model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline. A separate linear regression model was built for each behavior pattern measure of each behavior mode. The behavior pattern measure was the dependent variable in the linear regression models. Inflection points occurred during chlortetracycline administration in 65% of decreasing behavior simulations. Simulations that did not have an inflection point were excluded from the inflection level model. A maximum proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration could be calculated for all peaked behavior simulations. Coefficients and standard errors are listed for the standardized parameters that were included in each most parsimonious linear regression model. Full model refers to a linear regression model including all the parameters listed in Table [6](#Tab6){ref-type="table"} as independent variables. Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and adjusted *R*^*2*^ are given for the most parsimonious and the full modelFig. 3Partial regression plots from the proportion-resistant inflection level linear regression models in decreasing behavior simulations. The example mathematical model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline. **a** is a partial regression plot for a regression model that contains no polynomial terms and shows the effect of *MIC*~*s*~ on the inflection level of resistance after accounting for all other variables in the model. **b**-**d** are partial regression plots for a regression model that contains polynomial terms of *MIC*~*s*~ and show the effects of (**b**) *MIC*~*s*~, (**c**) *MIC*~*s*~^*2*^, and (**d**) *MIC*~*s*~^*3*^ after accounting for all other variables in the polynomial model The linear regression model for the inflection time in decreasing behavior simulations violated the assumption of normally distributed residuals but the residual distribution was significantly improved by modeling inflection time to the fourth power (Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Only three parameters had a substantial impact on the inflection time: *p*~*r*~, *start*~*r*~, and *MIC*~*s*~. The proportion of resistance in inflowing bacteria (*p*~*r*~) and the starting proportion of resistance (*start*~*r*~) had approximately equal but opposing effects (Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). A higher inflowing proportion of resistance shortened the time to the inflection point whereas a higher starting level of resistance increased the time to the inflection point. A higher chlortetracycline MIC for the susceptible bacteria also increased the time to the inflection point. The reduction from 26 to three parameters did not significantly affect the model fit, although the full and reduced models both had low explanatory power (*R*^*2*^ = 0.3 for the reduced model).Fig. 4Quantile-quantile plots for the decreasing behavior inflection time and inflection time to the fourth power. Residuals from a linear regression model with (**a**) inflection time as the output and (**b**) inflection time to the fourth power as the output are plotted on the y-axis. The theoretical quantiles of a normal distribution are plotted on the x-axis. The solid red line passes through the quartile-pairs and the dotted red lines encompass a 95% confidence interval for the theoretical normal distributionTable 4Linear regression models for proportion-resistant inflection and maximum times of decreasing and peaked behaviors, respectivelyBehavior ModeBehavior Pattern MeasureMost Parsimonious ModelFull ModelStandardized Input Parameters\ Coefficient (Standard Error)Fit StatisticsFit Statistics*p* ~*r*~*p* ~*i*~*start* ~*r*~*start* ~*i*~*λ* ~*out*~*MIC* ~*s*~*η* ~*LI*~AICBICAdj. *R*^*2*^AICBICAdj. *R*^*2*^DecreasingInflection Time^4^−3.2e14 (4.5e13)3.4e14 (4.6e13)2.2e14 (4e13)14,37314,3890.30114,36714,4600.387PeakedMax Time310.43 (31.71)−226.84 (30.33)− 282.98 (31.6)115.5 (30.3)− 102.45 (30.31)270.5 (31.02)61.23 (30.63)10,01410,0540.348985399820.512The example mathematical model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline. A separate linear regression model was built for each behavior pattern measure of each behavior mode. The behavior pattern measure was the dependent variable in the linear regression models. Inflection points occurred during chlortetracycline administration in 65% of decreasing behavior simulations. Simulations that did not have an inflection point were excluded from the inflection level model. A maximum proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration could be calculated for all peaked behavior simulations. Coefficients and standard errors are listed for the standardized parameters that were included in each most parsimonious linear regression model. For the inflection time model, the dependent variable was inflection time raised to the fourth power. Full model refers to a linear regression model including all the parameters listed in Table [6](#Tab6){ref-type="table"} as independent variables. Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and adjusted *R*^*2*^ are given for the most parsimonious and the full model Similar to the inflection level model for the decreasing behavior, the maximum level models for the peaked behavior incorporated parameters for the pharmacokinetics of chlortetracycline, *E. coli* population, and the pharmacodynamics (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). In addition, the fit also improved from the full to the reduced model for absolute inflection level and the absolute maximum level. All the parameters from the absolute inflection level model were also included in the absolute and relative maximum level models and the coefficients had similar magnitude and direction (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). The maximum level models also included effects for the starting proportion of resistance, outflow rate of bacteria, and one plasmid transfer term (absolute maximum level model only). The starting level of resistance had opposite effects on the absolute and relative maximum levels of resistance. An increase in the starting level of resistance had a positive association with the absolute maximum level of resistance but a negative association with the relative maximum level of resistance, reflecting the calculation of the relative level as the absolute minus the starting level. The time of the maximum proportion resistant in peaked behavior simulations exhibited large violations of linear model assumptions (Fig. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}) and therefore should not be interpreted. This occurred because 80% of the simulations had a maximum proportion resistant at the last time-point of chlortetracycline administration, indicating that they had not reached an absolute maximum but instead had a local maximum due to the abrupt change in chlortetracycline input. Therefore, a Cox proportional hazard model was fit for the time of maximum resistance ('time to' the 'event' of maximum resistance). A non-censoring model was developed that considered all simulations to have reached a maximum, i.e. considering as the event a local or absolute maximum. In a second censored model, only reaching an absolute maximum was considered as the event; those simulations that had increasing resistance at the end of chlortetracycline administration and may have reached an absolute maximum at a later time-point were censored. The parameters retained in the best, most-parsimonious non-censored and censored models were the same, with moderate changes in parameter coefficients but no change in coefficient signs between the two models. However, several parameters in the best model (censored) violated the proportional hazard assumption: the proportion of resistant inflowing bacteria, the proportion of intermediate inflowing bacteria, the starting proportion of resistance, the inflow rate of bacteria, and the MIC of susceptible bacteria. The right-censored model was used to address the proportional hazards violation. A continuous time-dependent coefficient function could not be identified for these five parameters, therefore a step-function was used to create proportional hazards \[[@CR23]\]. The range of maximum times was divided into equal thirds: Day 10 to Day 16.6, Day 16.7 to Day 23.3, and Day 23.4 to Day 30. A right-censored Cox proportional model was then fit with this step function for the five non-proportional hazard parameters. The resulting model coefficients are presented in Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}.Fig. 5Standardized residuals of the time of maximum proportion resistant regression model for the peaked behavior. The fitted values of the time of maximum outcome are shown on the x-axis and the standardized residual values are shown on y-axisTable 5Cox proportional hazard model for time of maximum proportion resistant of the peaked behavior modeStandardized Input ParameterTime StrataCoefficientExponentiated CoefficientStandard Error*p* ~*r*~1−2.1330.1180.332−1.2740.2800.303−1.1990.3020.166*p* ~*i*~12.1568.6390.31121.7485.7450.30530.6911.9960.136*start* ~*r*~11.9456.9960.32121.2493.4850.29131.2993.6660.164*start* ~*i*~−0.8560.4250.110*λ* ~*in*~10.8102.2480.2452\*0.1641.1790.25031.0382.8220.143*λ* ~*out*~0.5811.7870.099log~10~(*β*~*sr*~)0.2061.2280.098MIC~s~1−8.9130.00011.4742−3.6310.0260.7633−0.8240.4390.159*δ*−0.3430.7100.131*V* ~*LI*~−0.4810.6180.113*η* ~*LI*~−0.3840.6810.096The example mathematical model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline. The Cox model presented here uses right-censored data. In 80% of peaked behavior simulations the maximum proportion resistant occurred at the last time step of chlortetracycline administration and these simulations were considered to not have a maximum event occur in the Cox model (right-censored). Coefficients, exponentiated coefficients, and standard errors are listed for the standardized parameters that were included in the most parsimonious model. Time stratification, which allows the effect of a parameter to vary as a step-function between time strata, was used to meet the assumption of proportional hazards for *p*~*r*~, *p*~*i*~, *start*~*r*~, *λ*~*in*~, and *MIC*~*s*~. The maximum times were divided into three time strata: (1) Day 10 to Day 16.6, (2) Day 16.7 to Day 23.3, and (3) Day 23.4 to Day 30. Coefficients for these five parameters were constant within a time stratum and different between time strata. Parameters that do not have time strata listed met the proportional hazard assumption without stratification and have just one coefficient, constant across time. For this model, Cox and Snell's *R*^*2*^ was 0.248 (maximum possible 0.584). \**P* \> 0.05 With the step function, all parameters met the assumption for proportional hazards. All three pharmacokinetic parameters (chlortetracycline abiotic degradation rate, large intestine volume, and adsorption of chlortetracycline to digesta) included in the maximum time Cox model had negative coefficients, indicating that an increase in those parameters is associated with a decrease in the hazard of reaching a maximum resistant proportion. For example, the hazard decreases by 29% when the degradation rate (*δ*) increases by one standard deviation. A decrease in hazard corresponds to a lower probability of reaching a maximum and hence a greater time to maximum. On the other hand, an increase in hazard corresponds to a greater probability of reaching maximum and a shorter time to maximum. An increase in the pharmacodynamic parameter *MIC*~*s*~ is also associated with a decrease in hazard but this association changes over the time strata. The *MIC*~*s*~ has a larger impact on hazard early in the chlortetracycline administration period, compared to later in the time period. This change over time was also true for *p*~*r*~, although it had a more modest impact on the hazard of reaching maximum. An increase in *p*~*i*~ and *start*~*r*~ both had a positive association with the hazard and a stronger effect at the beginning of the time period. Increases in both *λ*~*in*~ and *λ*~*out*~ also had positive associations with the hazard and the coefficient for *λ*~*in*~ changed over time. Discussion {#Sec3} ========== Behavior pattern sensitivity analysis can be useful for models that have multiple output behaviors because it includes separate behavior pattern measures and statistical analyses for each output behavior mode. In general, output behavior modes can be simple or complex, few or numerous \[[@CR20]\]. Correctly classifying the behavior mode of each simulation is important to the validity of the analysis and misclassification could bias the regression models. At best, if the different behavior modes have similar associations with the same input parameters (as in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}), then there may be little to no discernable impact of behavior misclassification. However, if the different behavior modes are associated with different input parameters or have opposite associations with the same parameters (as in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}), then behavior misclassification can lead to bias towards the null and the effect of input parameters may be missed. Since the three behavior modes in the example mathematical model could be distinguished based on three timepoints (Day 2, Day 30, Day 90) and all simulations could be classified as one of the three behaviors, there was likely little to no misclassification in the example sensitivity analysis. By applying model selection methods (e.g., stepwise variable selection) and model fit measures (*R*^*2*^, BIC, AIC) to behavior pattern sensitivity analysis we have demonstrated how a large number of model input parameters can be efficiently prioritized. Appropriate parameter prioritization helps to focus research efforts on parameters that have the largest impact on the model output. Even though many parameters were statistically significant after the initial regression model selection, parameters that do not explain a large amount of variability in the outcome are likely not useful in manipulating real-world systems. By using standardized parameter values, the absolute values of the regression coefficients can be used to prioritize parameters for each behavior mode and behavior pattern measure \[[@CR20]\]. Creating a parsimonious model by removing parameters with small coefficients (\< 0.005 in the "level" models, \< 240 in the "time" models), without sacrificing model fit or affecting other parameter coefficients, facilitates interpretation of sensitivity analyses. This is similar to the motivation behind LASSO regression, which produces more interpretable linear models by constraining the sum of the coefficients \[[@CR24]\]. Large associations between input parameters and behavior pattern measures can indicate that the parameters may have important roles in the biological system and are leverage points for manipulating the system \[[@CR2], [@CR20]\]. On the other hand, caution should be exercised because a large association could be due to inaccuracies in model structure or substantial uncertainty in the parameter estimate \[[@CR17], [@CR18]\]. In some modeling situations, sensitivity analyses are useful for identifying uninfluential parameters so they can be fixed at a best-estimate value to reduce model complexity \[[@CR17]\]. Since we sought to build the smallest possible linear regression models without sacrificing model fit, we cannot directly evaluate which parameters had the smallest impact on the behavior pattern measures. When using regression modeling for behavior pattern sensitivity analysis, this goal is best achieved by examining the full regression models \[[@CR20]\]. In our example, behavior pattern sensitivity analysis of a mathematical model of enteric antimicrobial resistance in beef cattle fed chlortetracycline, parsimonious regression model selection identified parameters that had a significant and substantial effect on the proportion of resistant bacteria during and after chlortetracycline administration. Some parameters (*p*~*r*~, *start*~*r*~, *λ*~*in*~, *λ*~*out*~, *MIC*~*s*~, *δ*, *V*~*LI*~, *η*~*LI*~) were associated with several or all the resistant proportion behavior pattern measures and are therefore considered to have great importance in the model of antimicrobial resistance. Most of these parameters were also previously identified via Spearman correlation as associated with the average proportion of enteric resistance during chlortetracycline administration, across all simulations and behaviors \[[@CR11]\]. The proportion of inflowing resistance (*p*~*r*~) consistently had a coefficient five to ten times larger than other parameters when predicting the level of enteric resistance (Tables [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}, [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). Therefore, this variable could be useful as an intervention to alter the level of enteric resistance. Many parameters have similarly large coefficients in the equilibrium time models (Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}) and inflection time model (Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters had a significant impact on the level of resistance during (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}) but not after (Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}) chlortetracycline administration. Therefore, depending on the outcome and time of interest in the modelled system, it may or may not be worthwhile to expend effort to reduce the uncertainty in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters. The behavior pattern sensitivity analysis also identified parameters (*α*, *γ*~*LI*~, log~10~(*βsr*), *H*~*i*~) that were associated with only one or a few behavior pattern measures and were not identified as significant in the previous sensitivity analysis for the average resistant proportion during chlortetracycline administration \[[@CR11]\]. These variables could be ranked as 'second-tier' importance during parameter prioritization. In many practical modeling problems, it is important to have a detailed sensitivity analysis to translate model findings to real-world applications. For example, all three behavior modes had the proportion resistant at equilibrium affected by the same input parameters with similar coefficients (Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}). Therefore, we can be confident that changes to those input parameters in the real-world will have consistent effects, despite individual variation in enteric resistance behavior. If the level of resistance after chlortetracycline treatment matters to beef producers and public health officials, then they can focus on changing the variables with the strongest, consistent associations with the equilibrium level of resistance. Diet changes could be used to reduce the proportion of inflowing resistant bacteria (*p*~*r*~) and the rate of the inflow (*λ*~*in*~) and thereby reduce the equilibrium level of resistant enteric bacteria. For example, added probiotics \[[@CR25], [@CR26]\] and silage-based diets \[[@CR27]\] have been evaluated for such purposes. However, such an intervention may have complex effects on the level of enteric resistance during chlortetracycline treatment, when *p*~*r*~ has a positive association with resistance levels but *λ*~*in*~ has a negative association (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). The effect of a diet change on the time required to reach the post-chlortetracycline equilibrium (effectively a resistance-based withdrawal period) may differ by the underlying behavior of enteric bacteria in individual animals (Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}). We used polynomial terms to address non-linear relationships between model input parameters and the behavior pattern measures, although polynomial terms can be difficult to interpret. For example, in the maximum proportion resistant linear regression model for the peaked behavior, the coefficient of *MIC*~*s*~ is negative and the coefficient of *MIC*~*s*~^*2*^ is positive. The combined effect is negative when *MIC*~*s*~ is between 0 and 2.5 standard deviations above its mean and positive when *MIC*~*s*~ is below its mean or greater than 2.5 standard deviations above its mean. We suggest plotting the polynomial equations to aid in interpretation; then the combined effect of the linear and polynomial terms at a given input parameter value can be compared relative to other input parameter coefficients in the linear regression model. Although using polynomials can correct violations of linear model assumptions, they may not substantially increase the model fit and therefore may not be worth the complexity of interpretation. We did not pursue interactions between input parameters because they can be difficult to interpret, particularly 3^rd^ order and higher interactions. However, input parameters may interact in some model structures and therefore interactions may need to be included in regression models for the sensitivity analysis. In their behavior pattern sensitivity analysis framework, Hekimoğlu et al. \[[@CR20]\] do not address censored data, although censoring can occur in mathematical models when an event does not occur during the simulated time period. In our example model, some simulations did not reach an equilibrium point in the simulated time period, although all simulations tended towards an equilibrium and would presumably reach an equilibrium if the simulation time was extended. There are three potential solutions to this problem: (1) extend the simulation time until all simulations have the required event, (2) remove missing data pairwise, or (3) use statistical methods for censored data in the sensitivity analysis. Solution (1) may not reflect the reality of animal production systems. Animals are sent to slaughter at predetermined times and cannot necessarily be held at farms until their gut microbiota have equilibrized following removal of antimicrobial therapy. In addition, there are practical and legal limitations on how long antimicrobials can be fed to production animals \[[@CR28]\], so the chlortetracycline administration time cannot be extended until all simulated animals reach an equilibrium or maximum during the drug administration. In most of linear regression models presented, we used strategy (2), but for the time to maximum in peaked behavior simulations we applied strategy (3) because the linear regression model severely violated the assumption of normally distributed residuals. We used survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard model) to account for 'censored' simulations---those that did not reach a maximum proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration but rather had a recorded maximum at the last time-point of the administration. Although Cox proportional hazard models have fewer assumptions than linear regression models, the example model data violated the important assumption of proportional hazards, which was addressed by using a step-function (time dependent coefficients) within a right-censored model. The most parsimonious Cox model (Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}) contained more input parameters than the most parsimonious linear regression model for the time to maximum (Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}); the Cox model identified all the parameters in the linear regression model (Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}) plus four additional parameters (Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}), supporting its suitability for the purpose. Conclusions {#Sec4} =========== Behavior pattern sensitivity analysis is a flexible method that can be applied to models of bacterial antimicrobial resistance, including antimicrobial pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and bacterial population dynamics models. It provides a detailed sensitivity analysis for each model output behavior and highlights similarities and differences in parameter importance among the behaviors. By using stepwise and best subsets model selection techniques, we have expanded the procedures for behavior pattern sensitivity analysis to efficiently identify the parameters that have the strongest association with each behavior pattern measure. We suggest techniques for addressing violations of linear regression models, including transformations of dependent and independent variables and alternative models (Cox proportional hazard models), thus expanding the techniques for behavior pattern sensitivity analysis. Finally, in the example model of enteric antimicrobial resistance in beef cattle administered an oral antimicrobial, we demonstrate that behavior pattern sensitivity analysis identifies important parameters that could be altered to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Methods {#Sec5} ======= Example mathematical model {#Sec6} -------------------------- The mathematical model we use as an example has previously been described in detail \[[@CR11]\] and is represented schematically in Fig. [6](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}. In short, the model combines a pharmacokinetic stock-flow model of chlortetracycline in the beef cattle gastrointestinal tract \[[@CR5]\] with a population dynamics model of resistant and susceptible enteric *Escherichia coli* and a pharmacodynamic (sigmoid *E*~*max*~) equation of the antimicrobial effect on the bacteria. For the application of behavior pattern sensitivity analysis we focused on one chlortetracycline indication and dosage: control of bacterial pneumonia in beef steers with chlortetracycline dosed at 350 mg/steer per day for 28 days. This dosage was chosen because disease prevention is the most common use of in-feed chlortetracycline in feedlot beef cattle \[[@CR21]\]. The model reflected chlortetracycline flows between gastrointestinal, plasma, and tissue compartments and abiotic degradation. Within the large intestine, active chlortetracycline inhibited the growth of *E. coli* depending on their susceptibility; susceptible *E. coli* had slower growth in the presence of sub-inhibitory chlortetracycline concentrations than resistant *E. coli*. The model also reflected that resistance genes could be horizontally transferred between resistant, intermediate, and susceptible *E. coli*, and the bacterial population could be replenished by ingested *E. coli*. Twenty-nine input parameters were assigned distributions based on published literature (Table [6](#Tab6){ref-type="table"}), including parameters for chlortetracycline pharmacokinetics, chlortetracycline pharmacodynamics against *E. coli*, and *E. coli* ecology. Monte Carlo simulations (*n* = 1000) of the model were completed by randomly drawing values from the parameter distributions for each simulation \[[@CR11]\]; the random values were recorded as a realization of each input parameter random variable. The model was simulated with a 0.1 h time-step for a total of 90 days: a two day burn-in period, 28 days of chlortetracycline administration, and an additional 60 days of follow-up after stopping chlortetracycline. The model output was the proportion of chlortetracycline-resistant *E. coli* out of total enteric *E. coli* over time. The model was built and simulated in MatLab ® R2016b (MathWorks, Natick, MA, U.S.).Fig. 6Schematic of the example mathematical model of tetracycline-resistant *Escherichia coli* in beef cattle administered oral chlortetracycline. Pharmacokinetic parameters related to the distribution of chlortetracycline throughout the gastrointestinal tract and excretion via urine and bile are presented in red. The black parameters are pharmacokinetic constants and were not varied during simulations: absorption rates from the small intestine (*k*~*a*~), excretion rates (*k*~*e*~) and distribution to (*k*~*pt*~) and from (*k*~*tp*~) tissues. Pharmacodynamic parameters related to the effect of the large intestine chlortetracycline concentration on enteric *E. coli* are given in blue. Parameters related to the bacterial population dynamics are given in green. The definition and distribution of each parameter are presented in Table [6](#Tab6){ref-type="table"}Table 6Parameters, and their distributions, of the example mathematical modelParameterDistributionDefinitionCTC pharmacokinetics *δ*Beta (0.54, 37.4)CTC abiotic degradation rate *γ*~*s*~Uniform (0.0535, 0.0895)CTC flow rate from stomachs to small intestine *γ*~*upper_si*~Uniform (0.250, 0.416)CTC flow rate through the upper 1/3 small intestine *γ*~*rest_si*~Uniform (0.100, 0.166)CTC flow rate through the lower 2/3 small intestine *γ*~*LI*~Uniform (0.100, 0.166)CTC flow rate through large intestine *E*~*b*~Uniform (0.39, 0.64)Fraction CTC eliminated via bile *η*~*LI*~Uniform (0.69, 0.89)Fraction CTC adsorbed to digesta in the large intestine *V*~*LI*~Uniform (6, 22)Large intestine contents volumeCTC pharmacodynamics *H*~*s*~Uniform (1.62, 2.23)Hill coefficient for susceptible bacteria *H*~*i*~Uniform (5.71, 9.53)Hill coefficient for intermediate bacteria *H*~*r*~Uniform (6.42, 10)Hill coefficient for resistant bacteria *MIC*~*s*~Uniform (0, 4)Anaerobic MIC for susceptible bacteria *MIC*~*i*~Uniform (2.7, 16)Anaerobic MIC for intermediate bacteria *MIC*~*r*~Uniform (14.7, 128)Anaerobic MIC for resistant bacteriaBacterial population dynamics in the large intestine *r*Uniform (0.05, 0.5)Bacterial growth rate in the large intestine *α*Uniform (0, 0.03)Fitness cost for intermediate and resistant bacteria log~10~(*N*~*max*~)Weibull (14.03, 20.32) − 7.59Large intestine carrying capacity for the bacteria *N*~*start*~Uniform (0.1, 0.9) \* *N*~*max*~Starting bacterial population size log~10~(*β*~*jk*~)Gamma (94.17,0.16) − 22.57transposon transfer rate between /transposon transfer rate between *E. coli* subpopulations *λ*~*in*~Uniform (0.001, 0.01)Bacterial in-flow rate to the large intestine *λ*~*out*~Uniform (0.01, 0.02)Bacterial out-flow rate from the large intestine *p*~*i*~Uniform (0.02, 0.15)Proportion intermediate in in-flowing bacteria *p*~*r*~Uniform (0.16, 0.61)Proportion resistant in in-flowing bacteria *p*~*s*~1- *p*~*i*~ - *p*~*r*~Proportion susceptible in in-flowing bacteria *start*~*j*~Same as *p*~*j*~Starting proportions of resistant (*start*~*r*~), intermediate (*start*~*i*~), and susceptible (*start*~*s*~) bacteria in the large intestineThe model was for the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in a beef steer during and after administration of oral chlortetracycline, and has been previously published (see text). The parameter symbols, definitions, and distributions are given here. Chlortetracycline (CTC) Behavior pattern sensitivity analysis framework {#Sec7} ----------------------------------------------- The general process for behavior patterns sensitivity analysis is detailed in Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"} and described below. We followed the framework laid out by Hekimoğlu et al. \[[@CR20]\] for a behavior pattern sensitivity analysis on system dynamics models:Run Monte Carlo simulations with predetermined parameter distributionsIdentify and separate different output behavior modesDefine and compute output behavior pattern measures for every behavior modePerform regression analyses with output behavior pattern measures as dependent variables and standardized input parameter values as independent variables Behavior mode identification and separation {#Sec8} ------------------------------------------- After running 1000 Monte Carlo simulations, we examined the model output behaviors by plotting the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric bacteria over time. We visually examined all 1000 simulations by plotting the outputs of 100 simulations at a time and noting behavior trends. Three distinct behaviors were identified and confirmed by examining the proportion of resistance over time from a subset of simulations (Fig. [7](#Fig7){ref-type="fig"}): (1) an increase in the proportion of resistant *E. coli* across the entire 90 days, (2) a decrease in the proportion resistant across the entire 90 days, and (3) an increase in the proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration followed by a decrease after stopping chlortetracycline. These behavior modes were formally defined by comparing the proportion resistant at the start of chlortetracycline administration (Day 2), at the end of administration (Day 30), and at the end of the simulation period (Day 90). Increasing behavior was defined as the proportion resistant at Day 2 \< Day 30 \< Day 90. Decreasing behavior was defined as the proportion resistant at Day 2 \> Day 30 \> Day 90. The third behavior was termed "peaked" and was defined as the proportion resistant at Day 2 \< Day 30 \> Day 90.Fig. 7Examples of the behaviors of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* in beef cattle administered oral chlortetracycline. The day of the simulation is shown on the x-axis and the proportion of tetracycline-resistant enteric *Escherichia coli* is shown on the y-axis. The red shaded box is the period of chlortetracycline administration from Day 2 to Day 30. The solid line is an example of the increasing behavior, with the proportion of resistance at Day 2 \< Day 30 \< Day 90. The dashed line is an example of the decreasing behavior, with the proportion of resistance at Day 2 \> Day 30 \> Day 90. The dotted line is an example of the peaked behavior, with the proportion of resistance at Day 2 \< Day 30 \> Day 90 Behavior pattern measures {#Sec9} ------------------------- Behavior pattern measures become the dependent variables in the regression analyses, with a separate regression model for each behavior pattern measure from each behavior mode. Hekimoğlu et al. suggest that the modeler should identify a set of behavior pattern measures that completely characterize each behavior mode. Suggested pattern measures included the output levels and timing of the equilibriums, inflection points, tipping points (peaks), as well as the oscillation periods and oscillation amplitude slopes \[[@CR20]\]. The three behaviors observed in our model were characterized by the output equilibrium level, time to equilibrium, the output inflection point level, inflection point time, the output maximum level, and time of maximum. Maximums were found for the peaked behavior simulations by using the *max* MatLab function during the period of chlortetracycline administration (Day 2 to Day 30). We searched for equilibriums after ending chlortetracycline (\> Day 30) and for inflection points during chlortetracycline administration (Day 2 to Day 30). Equilibriums and inflection points can be calculated based on the first and second derivatives of a curve, respectively. However, the proportion of resistant *E. coli* contained too much noise to calculate informative derivatives or gradients because chlortetracycline was fed in 12 h intervals, which created small oscillations in the *E. coli* proportions. Therefore, we first fit a smoothing spline curve with the least-squares method (using the *spaps* MatLab function) to each simulation's output with a tolerance of 0.01, such that the spline was within 0.01 of the simulated proportion resistant at each time-point. The spline fit was verified visually by plotting the spline and the model output (proportion resistant over time) for a subset of the 1000 simulations. Nineteen of the 1000 simulations could not be fit with a spline and therefore equilibriums and inflection points could not be found for those simulations. An equilibrium point was defined as the first time-point where the absolute value of the spline's first derivative was \< 1 × 10^− 9^ and remained \< 1 × 10^− 9^ ten time-steps (1 h total) later. This equilibrium cut-off value had to be sufficiently small to correctly identify equilibriums in simulations that had relatively small changes in proportion resistant over time (hence consistently small derivatives), but still demonstrated clear behavioral patterns. For example, one simulation with increasing behavior may have a 20 percentage point change in proportion resistant from Day 2 to Day 90 while another simulation may have only a 5 percentage point change from Day 2 to Day 90. The equilibrium cut-off value was chosen by examining a subset of simulations visually and assessing the derivative value at the approximate visual equilibrium. The inflection point in a simulation was found by searching for the first pair of consecutive time points where the spline's second derivative changed from positive to negative or vice versa. The first time-point of the pair was taken as the time of the inflection point. The starting proportion resistant (Day 2) was subtracted from the maximum levels and equilibrium levels in order to investigate relative maximum levels and relative equilibrium levels. Linear regression model building and selection {#Sec10} ---------------------------------------------- Three of the parameters (*N*~*start*~, *p*~*s*~, *start*~*s*~) were collinear with other parameters (Pearson correlation coefficient \> 0.9) and therefore excluded from the regression models. *N*~*start*~ was a function of *N*~*max*~ so *N*~*start*~ was excluded and *N*~*max*~ was included in the regression models. The incoming proportion of antimicrobial-susceptible *E. coli* (*p*~*s*~) was a function of the incoming proportions of intermediate and resistant bacteria, since all three proportions must sum to 1. Similarly, the starting proportion susceptible (*start*~*s*~) was a function of the starting proportions of intermediate and resistant. Therefore *p*~*s*~ and *start*~*s*~ were also excluded from the regression models. Within each behavior mode, the input parameter values (*x*~*ik*~) were standardized for each of the remaining 26 parameters, *k*, to make them dimensionless and facilitate regression coefficient comparisons \[[@CR20], [@CR29]\], as follows:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ {\tilde{x}}_{ik}=\frac{x_{ik}-{\overline{x}}_k}{\sigma_{x_k}}\kern0.6em {\displaystyle \begin{array}{l}{\tilde{x}}_{ik}=\mathrm{standard}\mathrm{ized}\ \mathrm{value}\ \mathrm{of}\ \mathrm{parameter}\ k\ \mathrm{for}\ \mathrm{simulation}\ i\\ {}{x}_{ik}=\mathrm{non}\hbox{-} \mathrm{standardized}\ \mathrm{value}\ \mathrm{of}\ \mathrm{parameter}\ k\ \mathrm{for}\ \mathrm{simulation}\ i\\ {}{\overline{x}}_k=\mathrm{mean}\ \mathrm{of}\ \mathrm{parameter}\ k\ \mathrm{across}\ \mathrm{all}\ \mathrm{simulations}\\ {}{\sigma}_{x_k}=\mathrm{standard}\ \mathrm{deviation}\ \mathrm{of}\ \mathrm{parameter}\ k\ \mathrm{across}\ \mathrm{all}\ \mathrm{simulations}\end{array}} $$\end{document}$$ Linear regression models were built using R 3.4.3 software \[[@CR30]\] with the RStudio 1.0.136 (RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA, U.S.) user interface. Each pattern measure for each individual behavior mode was modeled separately as the dependent variable, resulting in 14 regression models. All input parameters (except for the three excluded for collinearity) were eligible to be independent variables. Thus the full regression models contained 26 input parameters as independent variables. Reduced models were built using two model selection techniques to obtain a best-fit, most parsimonious model. First, the models were fit with the 'forward,' 'backward,' and 'both' (stepwise) variable selection procedures (*step*, package *stats*) using the AIC (Akaike Information Criteria) as the fit criteria during the selection process. The reduced models suggested by the three variable selection routines were compared. Second, the best model subsets of up to 10 variables were identified using *regsubsets* (package *leaps*), which compares models of the same size with several selection criteria \[[@CR31]\]. The models suggested by the variable selection routines and the best subsets were compared using BIC (Schwarz's Bayesian Information Criteria), AIC, and adjusted *R*^*2*^. Of the models with similarly small BIC and AIC, and large adjusted *R*^*2*^, the most parsimonious model was selected as the best-fit model and was tested for model assumption validity. Linear regression models must meet six assumptions in order to make valid predictions:Observations are independentResiduals follow a Normal distribution with a mean of zeroLinear relationship between dependent and independent variablesHomoscedasticity of residualsMinimal or no multicollinearity of independent variablesOutlier observations do not drive the parameter estimates and predictions We assessed whether each of the 14 best-fit regression models met these assumptions by examining the QQ plots, partial regression plots, standardized residuals versus fitted dependent-variable values, standardized residual histograms, Cook's D plots, and calculating variance inflation factors. Violations of assumptions were addressed by transforming independent and dependent variables and excluding outlier output values when possible. Transformations included using polynomial terms for both independent and dependent variables in order to meet the assumption (3) of a linear relationship between dependent and independent variables. Input parameters were not re-standardized after transformations. In cases of large assumption violations, alternative regression models (e.g. Cox proportional hazard models) were considered for the behavior pattern measures. We then further simplified each of the 14 best-fit models when possible by eliminating independent variables with small coefficients (\< 0.005 for "level" models and \< 240 for "time" models) as long as the model fit was not significantly altered (\< 10% increase in BIC, \< 2 percentage point decrease in adjusted *R*^*2*^, and no substantial change in residual plots) and coefficients of other parameters were generally unchanged (\< 20% change). If removing a parameter did alter the model fit or other parameter coefficients, it was returned to the model. This process resulted in a best-fit, most-parsimonious model, which was again confirmed to meet linear regression assumptions. Cox proportional hazard model building and selection {#Sec11} ---------------------------------------------------- Survival analysis was considered as an alternative model to linear regression for the 'time to' pattern measures (e.g. time to maximum proportion resistant). Survival analysis handles censored data, which can occur if a behavior pattern measure (i.e. 'event') does not occur before the end of the simulated time period. Behavior pattern measures can be considered right-censored if the 'event' could occur if the simulated process time or overall simulated time was extended. For example, some peaked-behavior simulations did not reach an absolute maximum proportion resistant during chlortetracycline administration (i.e. the proportion was still increasing when chlortetracycline administration stopped). Although these simulations did reach a local maximum at the end of chlortetracycline administration, if chlortetracycline administration was simulated for a longer time, those simulations may have reached an absolute maximum. Hence this pattern measure can be considered right-censored; specifically, it has end-of-study censoring. Cox proportional hazard models \[[@CR32]\] were built (*coxph*, package *survival*) for the 'time to' pattern measures with the occurrence of a behavior pattern measure (e.g. maximum, equilibrium) as the 'event' and the time of the occurrence as the 'event time.' Both right-censored (absolute maximum is considered the event, which was not reached in some of the simulations that are then considered censored) and non-censored (local maximum is considered the event, which is reached in all the simulations and in some of those it is reached at the last time of chlortetracycline administration) Cox models were built. The standardized input parameters of the mathematical model were independent predictors. Stepwise selection based on the AIC was used to select the best-fit, most parsimonious right-censored and non-censored models. The best-fit model between the right-censored or non-censored was chosen based on the AIC and BIC, and for that model the assumption of proportional hazards was validated by testing for no interaction between Schoenfeld residuals and time (*cox.zph*, package *survival*) \[[@CR33], [@CR34]\]. Violations of the proportional hazard assumption were addressed by using a time-dependent coefficient for the violating parameter (i.e. specifying an interaction between time and the parameter that allows the coefficient to change continuously over time) or by stratifying the simulated time period into strata and making the parameter coefficient a step-function of the time strata (i.e. the coefficient is a constant value within each time stratum) \[[@CR34], [@CR35]\]. AIC : Akaike Information Criteria BIC : Schwarz\'s Bayesian Information Criteria CTC : Chlortetracycline MIC : Minimum inhibitory concentration Not applicable. Funding {#FPar1} ======= This project was supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2016--68003-24607 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. CC was supported by the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health of the National Institutions of Health under award number T32ODO011000. VV was supported by Kansas Bioscience Authority via their funding for the Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine at Kansas State University. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institutes of Health, Kansas Bioscience Authority, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Availability of data and materials {#FPar2} ================================== The data used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. CC developed the example model, performed the behavior pattern sensitivity analysis, and drafted this manuscript. VV developed the example model, suggested methods for the sensitivity analysis, evaluated the behavior pattern sensitivity analysis results, and revised this manuscript. YG contributed to the example model development, suggested methods for the sensitivity analysis, evaluated the behavior pattern sensitivity analysis results, and revised this manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Ethics approval and consent to participate {#FPar3} ========================================== Not applicable. Consent for publication {#FPar4} ======================= Not applicable. Competing interests {#FPar5} =================== The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Publisher's Note {#FPar6} ================ Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

If you are looking for ready-made presentations and ideas for talks, http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FUDCon will help you. Please follow the links to the individual FUDCons to download slides, wherever availabe. I will gladly go over your slides when you have a draft ready. Simply contact me off-list. Cheers, a

Q: Can I link a static library built with the v120_xp toolset into an EXE/DLL built with the v120 toolset in VS2013? I am working with a large codebase that contains four sets of native C++ VS2013 projects. I'll call these sets A, B, C, and D. Projects in sets A and B generate C++ static libraries (.lib). Projects in sets C and D generate DLLs and executables. Projects in set C link only to static libraries in set A, while projects in set D link to static libraries from both set A and set B: C (.dll, .exe) ----> A (.lib) ^ | | D (.dll, .exe) -----> B (.lib) I have the following requirements: Those DLLs and EXEs that are generated by projects in set C must run on Windows XP as well as on Windows 7; Those DLLs and EXEs that are generated by projects in set D, on the other hand, do not need to run on Windows XP. What I would like to do is to build the projects in sets A and C with the v120_xp platform toolset, and those in sets B and D with the v120 platform toolset: (WinXP, Win7) C [v120_xp] ----> A [v120_xp] ^ | | D [v120] -----> B [v120] (Win7 only) I believe this should not be a problem for projects in set C, but I'm concerned with projects in set D. I tried doing the above for a few small projects and it all seems to work correctly, but is this guaranteed to be safe in the general case? My research: Point 2) in this question asks pretty much the same thing I'm asking, but for VS2012. It did not receive an answer. This answer (again, for VS2012) mentions that: Long story short, mixing modules that were built with a mix of v110 and v110_xp toolsets is not a problem. This other answer to the same question, on the other hand, says: Mixing v110_xp executables and v110 libraries is officially unsupported. A: I don't really see how this question covers new territory. Everything that Steve-o quoted that Microsoft Support told him is accurate. His conclusion is not, you can certainly call Microsoft Support about it and ask for help. It is a waste of money, they'll unequivocally tell you that you must select the v120_xp toolset. It is really rather straight-forward, if you want the executable to run on XP then using the v120_xp toolset is a hard requirement. If you don't then it doesn't matter. The only setting that really matters is the linker's /subsystem option. Starting with VS2012, the toolset sets this so that your executable contains 6.0 as the required subsystem. The Windows generation that started with Vista. And using v120_xp changes this setting, using the legacy value of 4.0. The generation that started with NT 4.0. XP is generation 5.0, it will refuse to run a program that has the subsystem set to 6.0 The value does matter, somewhat, the operating system looks at it and decides which appcompat shims to turn on. With the subsystem set to 4.0 in the header, Windows assumes that you wrote your code without consideration for Aero. Several appcompat shims are dedicated to turning on lies that make your program believe it still runs on the classic user interface. The fat window borders are a significant appcompat problem, the CreateWindowEx() call takes the outer window size but many programs really care about the size of the client area. What you ought be worried about is having multiple versions of the CRT running inside your process. Rather bad things tend to happen when modules don't use the same version. Like a function in a DLL that returns a standard C++ library class object like std::string. That invokes failure when the client code doesn't use the same allocator as the DLL does, it cannot reliably destroy the object. Or worse, if it uses a legacy version of the C++ library with an std::string object that has a completely different layout. The changes in C++11 in particular make that a common mishap. That is not something you have to worry about in your case. The v120 and v120_xp toolsets use the exact same CRT version, msvcr120.dll and msvcp120.dll when you build with /MD (as you should). That CRT can run on XP as well as later Windows versions, it dynamically binds to winapi functions that may not be available, using GetProcAddress(). This isn't anything new, previous CRT versions already did this for winapi functions like FlsAlloc(), there's just more of it. Additions relate to support for threading and locale.

K.Flay is gearing up to release her new EP, What If It Is, next week, and today, she premieres her latest single "Rawks." Set to a hypnotic backdrop, the 28-year-old rapper rattles off a chilling narrative that highlights her creative streak, as well as a bit of paranoia from the Midwest transplant. "Baby's got a nose bleed, talking to a lead pipe/Strangers think they know me, photos of my best side/Fit into my old jeans, haven't eaten in like/Three days, you say I'm looking sick, well shit you dead right." It's an eerie jaunt that gets better with each listen. K.Flay's What If It Is will be released on August 6 through RCA. She's planning on hitting the road afterward, joining electro-pop Swedish duo Icona Pop on their North American tour starting August 12. Full details on the tour and tickets can be found here. RELATED: Listen: K. Flay f/ Danny Brown "Hail Mary"

Wireless at the Library This article talks about Seattle being the most literate US city. In part this is because of their excellent libraries. I’ve lived in cities with great libraries and some with pitiful libraries. We are blessed here in Grand Rapids with an excellent library system. How about any of the rest of you? Good libraries in your town, or not so good?

// Copyright 2005 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved. #include "rdb_protocol/geo/s2/s2regioncoverer.h" #include <pthread.h> #include <algorithm> #include <functional> #include <unordered_set> #include <queue> #include <vector> #include "rdb_protocol/geo/s2/base/logging.h" #include "rdb_protocol/geo/s2/s2.h" #include "rdb_protocol/geo/s2/s2cap.h" #include "rdb_protocol/geo/s2/s2cellid.h" #include "rdb_protocol/geo/s2/s2cellunion.h" namespace geo { using std::min; using std::max; using std::swap; using std::reverse; using std::less; using std::unordered_set; using std::priority_queue; using std::vector; // Define storage for header file constants (the values are not needed here). int const S2RegionCoverer::kDefaultMaxCells; // We define our own own comparison function on QueueEntries in order to // make the results deterministic. Using the default less<QueueEntry>, // entries of equal priority would be sorted according to the memory address // of the candidate. struct S2RegionCoverer::CompareQueueEntries : public less<QueueEntry> { bool operator()(QueueEntry const& x, QueueEntry const& y) { return x.first < y.first; } }; static S2Cell face_cells[6]; void Init() { for (int face = 0; face < 6; ++face) { face_cells[face] = S2Cell::FromFacePosLevel(face, 0, 0); } } static pthread_once_t init_once = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT; inline static void MaybeInit() { pthread_once(&init_once, Init); } S2RegionCoverer::S2RegionCoverer() : min_level_(0), max_level_(S2CellId::kMaxLevel), level_mod_(1), max_cells_(kDefaultMaxCells), region_(NULL), result_(new vector<S2CellId>), pq_(new CandidateQueue) { // Initialize the constants MaybeInit(); } S2RegionCoverer::~S2RegionCoverer() { // Need to declare explicitly because of scoped pointers. } void S2RegionCoverer::set_min_level(int _min_level) { DCHECK_GE(_min_level, 0); DCHECK_LE(_min_level, S2CellId::kMaxLevel); min_level_ = max(0, min(S2CellId::kMaxLevel, _min_level)); } void S2RegionCoverer::set_max_level(int _max_level) { DCHECK_GE(_max_level, 0); DCHECK_LE(_max_level, S2CellId::kMaxLevel); max_level_ = max(0, min(S2CellId::kMaxLevel, _max_level)); } void S2RegionCoverer::set_level_mod(int _level_mod) { DCHECK_GE(_level_mod, 1); DCHECK_LE(_level_mod, 3); level_mod_ = max(1, min(3, _level_mod)); } void S2RegionCoverer::set_max_cells(int _max_cells) { max_cells_ = _max_cells; } S2RegionCoverer::Candidate* S2RegionCoverer::NewCandidate(S2Cell const& cell) { if (!region_->MayIntersect(cell)) return NULL; bool is_terminal = false; if (cell.level() >= min_level_) { if (interior_covering_) { if (region_->Contains(cell)) { is_terminal = true; } else if (cell.level() + level_mod_ > max_level_) { return NULL; } } else { if (cell.level() + level_mod_ > max_level_ || region_->Contains(cell)) { is_terminal = true; } } } Candidate* candidate = new Candidate(); candidate->cell = cell; candidate->is_terminal = is_terminal; if (!is_terminal) { candidate->children.reserve(1 << max_children_shift()); } ++candidates_created_counter_; return candidate; } void S2RegionCoverer::DeleteCandidate(Candidate* candidate, bool delete_children) { if (delete_children) { for (size_t i = 0; i < candidate->children.size(); ++i) DeleteCandidate(candidate->children[i], true); } delete candidate; } int S2RegionCoverer::ExpandChildren(Candidate* candidate, S2Cell const& cell, int num_levels) { num_levels--; S2Cell child_cells[4]; cell.Subdivide(child_cells); int num_terminals = 0; for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i) { if (num_levels > 0) { if (region_->MayIntersect(child_cells[i])) { num_terminals += ExpandChildren(candidate, child_cells[i], num_levels); } continue; } Candidate* child = NewCandidate(child_cells[i]); if (child) { candidate->children.push_back(child); if (child->is_terminal) ++num_terminals; } } return num_terminals; } void S2RegionCoverer::AddCandidate(Candidate* candidate) { if (candidate == NULL) return; if (candidate->is_terminal) { result_->push_back(candidate->cell.id()); DeleteCandidate(candidate, true); return; } DCHECK(candidate->children.empty()); // Expand one level at a time until we hit min_level_ to ensure that // we don't skip over it. int num_levels = (candidate->cell.level() < min_level_) ? 1 : level_mod_; int num_terminals = ExpandChildren(candidate, candidate->cell, num_levels); if (candidate->children.empty()) { DeleteCandidate(candidate, false); } else if (!interior_covering_ && num_terminals == 1 << max_children_shift() && candidate->cell.level() >= min_level_) { // Optimization: add the parent cell rather than all of its children. // We can't do this for interior coverings, since the children just // intersect the region, but may not be contained by it - we need to // subdivide them further. candidate->is_terminal = true; AddCandidate(candidate); } else { // We negate the priority so that smaller absolute priorities are returned // first. The heuristic is designed to refine the largest cells first, // since those are where we have the largest potential gain. Among cells // at the same level, we prefer the cells with the smallest number of // intersecting children. Finally, we prefer cells that have the smallest // number of children that cannot be refined any further. int priority = -((((candidate->cell.level() << max_children_shift()) + candidate->children.size()) << max_children_shift()) + num_terminals); pq_->push(make_pair(priority, candidate)); VLOG(2) << "Push: " << candidate->cell.id() << " (" << priority << ") "; } } void S2RegionCoverer::GetInitialCandidates() { // Optimization: if at least 4 cells are desired (the normal case), // start with a 4-cell covering of the region's bounding cap. This // lets us skip quite a few levels of refinement when the region to // be covered is relatively small. if (max_cells() >= 4) { // Find the maximum level such that the bounding cap contains at most one // cell vertex at that level. S2Cap cap = region_->GetCapBound(); int level = min(S2::kMinWidth.GetMaxLevel(2 * cap.angle().radians()), min(max_level(), S2CellId::kMaxLevel - 1)); if (level_mod() > 1 && level > min_level()) { level -= (level - min_level()) % level_mod(); } // We don't bother trying to optimize the level == 0 case, since more than // four face cells may be required. if (level > 0) { // Find the leaf cell containing the cap axis, and determine which // subcell of the parent cell contains it. vector<S2CellId> base; base.reserve(4); S2CellId id = S2CellId::FromPoint(cap.axis()); id.AppendVertexNeighbors(level, &base); for (size_t i = 0; i < base.size(); ++i) { AddCandidate(NewCandidate(S2Cell(base[i]))); } return; } } // Default: start with all six cube faces. for (int face = 0; face < 6; ++face) { AddCandidate(NewCandidate(face_cells[face])); } } void S2RegionCoverer::GetCoveringInternal(S2Region const& region) { // Strategy: Start with the 6 faces of the cube. Discard any // that do not intersect the shape. Then repeatedly choose the // largest cell that intersects the shape and subdivide it. // // result_ contains the cells that will be part of the output, while pq_ // contains cells that we may still subdivide further. Cells that are // entirely contained within the region are immediately added to the output, // while cells that do not intersect the region are immediately discarded. // Therefore pq_ only contains cells that partially intersect the region. // Candidates are prioritized first according to cell size (larger cells // first), then by the number of intersecting children they have (fewest // children first), and then by the number of fully contained children // (fewest children first). DCHECK(pq_->empty()); DCHECK(result_->empty()); region_ = &region; candidates_created_counter_ = 0; GetInitialCandidates(); while (!pq_->empty() && (!interior_covering_ || result_->size() < static_cast<size_t>(max_cells_))) { Candidate* candidate = pq_->top().second; pq_->pop(); VLOG(2) << "Pop: " << candidate->cell.id(); if (candidate->cell.level() < min_level_ || candidate->children.size() == 1 || result_->size() + (interior_covering_ ? 0 : pq_->size()) + candidate->children.size() <= static_cast<size_t>(max_cells_)) { // Expand this candidate into its children. for (size_t i = 0; i < candidate->children.size(); ++i) { AddCandidate(candidate->children[i]); } DeleteCandidate(candidate, false); } else if (interior_covering_) { DeleteCandidate(candidate, true); } else { candidate->is_terminal = true; AddCandidate(candidate); } } VLOG(2) << "Created " << result_->size() << " cells, " << candidates_created_counter_ << " candidates created, " << pq_->size() << " left"; while (!pq_->empty()) { DeleteCandidate(pq_->top().second, true); pq_->pop(); } region_ = NULL; } void S2RegionCoverer::GetCovering(S2Region const& region, vector<S2CellId>* covering) { // Rather than just returning the raw list of cell ids generated by // GetCoveringInternal(), we construct a cell union and then denormalize it. // This has the effect of replacing four child cells with their parent // whenever this does not violate the covering parameters specified // (min_level, level_mod, etc). This strategy significantly reduces the // number of cells returned in many cases, and it is cheap compared to // computing the covering in the first place. S2CellUnion tmp; GetCellUnion(region, &tmp); tmp.Denormalize(min_level(), level_mod(), covering); } void S2RegionCoverer::GetInteriorCovering(S2Region const& region, vector<S2CellId>* interior) { S2CellUnion tmp; GetInteriorCellUnion(region, &tmp); tmp.Denormalize(min_level(), level_mod(), interior); } void S2RegionCoverer::GetCellUnion(S2Region const& region, S2CellUnion* covering) { interior_covering_ = false; GetCoveringInternal(region); covering->InitSwap(result_.get()); } void S2RegionCoverer::GetInteriorCellUnion(S2Region const& region, S2CellUnion* interior) { interior_covering_ = true; GetCoveringInternal(region); interior->InitSwap(result_.get()); } void S2RegionCoverer::FloodFill( S2Region const& region, S2CellId const& start, vector<S2CellId>* output) { unordered_set<S2CellId, std::hash<S2CellId> > all; vector<S2CellId> frontier; output->clear(); all.insert(start); frontier.push_back(start); while (!frontier.empty()) { S2CellId id = frontier.back(); frontier.pop_back(); if (!region.MayIntersect(S2Cell(id))) continue; output->push_back(id); S2CellId neighbors[4]; id.GetEdgeNeighbors(neighbors); for (int edge = 0; edge < 4; ++edge) { S2CellId nbr = neighbors[edge]; if (all.insert(nbr).second) { frontier.push_back(nbr); } } } } void S2RegionCoverer::GetSimpleCovering( S2Region const& region, S2Point const& start, int level, vector<S2CellId>* output) { return FloodFill(region, S2CellId::FromPoint(start).parent(level), output); } } // namespace geo

# relationship-performance-test-app This README outlines the details of collaborating on this Ember application. A short introduction of this app could easily go here. ## Prerequisites You will need the following things properly installed on your computer. - [Git](https://git-scm.com/) - [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) (with npm) - [Ember CLI](https://ember-cli.com/) - [Google Chrome](https://google.com/chrome/) ## Installation - `git clone <repository-url>` this repository - `cd relationship-performance-test-app` - `npm install` ## Running / Development - `ember serve` - Visit your app at [http://localhost:4200](http://localhost:4200). - Visit your tests at [http://localhost:4200/tests](http://localhost:4200/tests). ### Code Generators Make use of the many generators for code, try `ember help generate` for more details ### Running Tests - `ember test` - `ember test --server` ### Linting - `npm run lint:hbs` - `npm run lint:js` - `npm run lint:js -- --fix` ### Building - `ember build` (development) - `ember build --environment production` (production) ### Deploying Specify what it takes to deploy your app. ## Further Reading / Useful Links - [ember.js](https://emberjs.com/) - [ember-cli](https://ember-cli.com/) - Development Browser Extensions - [ember inspector for chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ember-inspector/bmdblncegkenkacieihfhpjfppoconhi) - [ember inspector for firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ember-inspector/)

Q: Date Calculation based on reference column in sql Its little critical.... may anyone share your expertise. DDL:- CREATE TABLE mytable ( SUPERID INT, DATE_RECORDED DATETIME2, SUPPLIER_SKU VARCHAR (50), PRICEINCVAT DECIMAL (14,4), [DESC] VARCHAR (100), FROM_DATE DATETIME2, ACTIVE BIT ) INSERT mytable SELECT 1000001, '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000', '0 986 490 640', '29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000',0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000', '2347402', '32.6900', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000', 0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000', 'FDB779', '30.9200', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000',0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000', 'GDB1577', '29.3600', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000',0UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000', '0 986 490 640', '29.5400','CAPACITOR','2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000' ,1UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000', '2347402', '32.6900', 'CAPACITOR', '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000',1UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000', 'FDB779', '30.1800', 'CAPACITOR', '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000',1UNION ALL SELECT 1000001, '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000', 'GDB1577','29.3600', 'CAPACITOR', '2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000',1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000017, '2015-12-18 06:47:00.0000000', 'GDB1496', '29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 06:47:00.0000000', 0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000017, '2016-03-03 02:24:00.0000000', 'GDB1496', '29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2016-03-03 02:24:00.0000000', 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '3/8/2016 11:04:00 PM', 'FDB1751', '29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '3/2/2016 11:04:00 PM', 1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '12/12/2015 7:12:00 AM', 'FDB1751', '29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '12/18/2015 7:12:00 AM', 0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000','0 986 494 096','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000',0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000', '0 986 494 096','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000',1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000', '16531','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000',1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000','2393501','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR','2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000',0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000', '2393501','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR','2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000',1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000','FDB1751','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR','2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000',0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000','FDB1751','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR','2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000',1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000','GDB1625','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000',0 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000','GDB1625','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR','2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000',1 UNION ALL SELECT 1000653, '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000','LP1925','29.5400', 'CAPACITOR', '2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000',1 i am trying to calculate value for TO_DATE which will be 1 sec less than highest date available in a FROM_DATE in group of SUPERID order by FROM_DATE. where ACTIVE COLUMN value would be 0. but where ACTIVE column = 1 , then it would be default (9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000) Expected Output: SUPERID DATE_RECORDED SUPPLIER_SKU PRICEINCVAT DESC FROM_DATE TO_DATE ACTIVE 1000001 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 0 986 490 640 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 2016-03-03 02:21:59.0000000 0 1000001 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 2347402 32.6900 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 2016-03-03 02:21:59.0000000 0 1000001 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 FDB779 30.9200 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 2016-03-03 02:21:59.0000000 0 1000001 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 GDB1577 29.3600 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 06:45:00.0000000 2016-03-03 02:21:59.0000000 0 1000001 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 0 986 490 640 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000001 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 2347402 32.6900 CAPACITOR 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000001 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 FDB779 30.1800 CAPACITOR 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000001 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 GDB1577 29.3600 CAPACITOR 2016-03-03 02:22:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000017 2015-12-18 06:47:00.0000000 GDB1496 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 06:47:00.0000000 2016-03-03 02:23:59.0000000 0 1000017 2016-03-03 02:24:00.0000000 GDB1496 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-03 02:24:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2015-12-12 07:12:00.0000000 FDB1751 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 0 1000653 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 0 986 494 096 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 0 1000653 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 2393501 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 0 1000653 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 FDB1751 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 0 1000653 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 GDB1625 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 0 1000653 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 LP1925 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2015-12-18 07:12:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 GDB1625 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 FDB1751 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 2393501 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 0 986 494 096 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 16531 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 1000653 2016-03-08 23:04:00.0000000 FDB1751 29.5400 CAPACITOR 2016-03-02 23:04:00.0000000 9999-12-31 00:00:00.0000000 1 Code i tried but not giving correct result: ;WITH cte AS ( SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY SUPERID ORDER BY FROM_DATE) as RN FROM mytable m ) SELECT c.SUPERID, c.DATE_RECORDED, c.SUPPLIER_SKU, c.PRICEINCVAT, c.[DESC], c.FROM_DATE, CASE WHEN c.ACTIVE = 0 THEN DATEADD(second, -1, c2.FROM_DATE) ELSE '9999-12-31' END as TO_DATE, c.ACTIVE FROM cte c LEFT JOIN cte c2 ON c.SUPERID = c2.SUPERID AND c.RN = c2.RN - 1 May someone please share if it is possible in SQL. Thanks A: You should be able to use OUTER APPLY to get the MAX(FROM_DATE) - 1 second. SELECT SUPERID, DATE_RECORDED, SUPPLIER_SKU, PRICEINCVAT, [DESC], FROM_DATE, CASE WHEN ACTIVE = 1 THEN '9999-12-31' ELSE TO_DATE END AS TO_DATE, ACTIVE FROM mytable mt OUTER APPLY ( SELECT MAX(DATEADD(second, -1, FROM_DATE)) TO_DATE FROM mytable mt2 WHERE mt2.SUPERID = mt.SUPERID AND mt2.SUPPLIER_SKU = mt.SUPPLIER_SKU AND mt2.From_DATE > mt.From_DATE ) oa

Q: Changing Android minSDKVersion from 9 to 10 breaks program Getting a weird problem trying to set up my AndroidManifest. I have been developing my app with the 2.3.3 SDK (API Level 10) but I realized that my minSDKVersion was set to 9 in the manifest the whole time. However, when I change the API level to 10 to get ready for release, my program seems to lose the ability to fetch data from websites (I'm using a SAX XML Parser) and the ability to write cache files. I have checked the google API differences spec, and I don't think I'm using anything that is deprecated. Any ideas? ===LOGCAT OUTPUT=== http://pastebin.com/T3DgAuSA I made sure to give it internet permissions as well: <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> A: Stack trace suggests that you are trying to make Http request in UI thread(eg. UrlConectioin in onCreate() method). Android doesn't allow synchronous HTTP request. You should put all your http requests in AsyncTask. It looks like this restriction was introduced in Api 10. Look at this similar question.

RIS T1 - Application of an EMCCD Camera for Calibration of Hard X-Ray Telescopes A1 - Vogel,Julia K. A1 - Pivovaroff,M. J. A1 - Nagarkar,V. V. A1 - Kudrolli,H. A1 - Kruse Madsen,Kristin A1 - Koglin,J. E. A1 - Christensen,F. E. A1 - Brejnholt,N. F. AU - Vogel,Julia K. AU - Pivovaroff,M. J. AU - Nagarkar,V. V. AU - Kudrolli,H. AU - Kruse Madsen,Kristin AU - Koglin,J. E. AU - Christensen,F. E. AU - Brejnholt,N. F. PB - IEEE PY - 2012 Y1 - 2012 N2 - Recent technological innovations now make it feasible to construct hard x-ray telescopes for space-based astronomical missions. Focusing optics are capable of improving the sensitivity in the energy range above 10 keV by orders of magnitude compared to previously used instruments. The last decade has seen focusing optics developed for balloon experiments [1] and they will soon be implemented in approved space missions such as the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) [2] and ASTRO-H [3]. The full characterization of x-ray optics for astrophysical and solar imaging missions, including measurement of the point spread function (PSF) as well as scattering and reflectivity properties of substrate coatings, requires a very high spatial resolution, high sensitivity, photon counting and energy discriminating, large area detector. Novel back-thinned Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Devices (EMCCDs) [4] are highly suitable detectors for ground-based calibrations. Their chip can be optically coupled to a microcolumnar CsI(Tl) scintillator [5] via a fiberoptic taper. Not only does this device exhibit low noise and high spatial resolution inherent to CCDs, but the EMCCD is also able to handle high frame rates due to its controllable internal gain. Additionally, thick CsI(Tl) yields high detection efficiency for x-rays [6]. This type of detector has already proven to be a unique device very suitable for calibrations in astrophysics: such a camera was used to support the characterization of the performance for all NuSTAR optics [7]-[9]. Further optimization will enable similar cameras to be improved and used to calibrate x-ray telescopes for future space missions. In this paper, we discuss the advantages of using an EMCCD to calibrate hard x-ray optics. We will illustrate the promising features of this detector solution using examples of data obtained during the ground calibration of the NuSTAR telescopes performed at Columbia University during 2010/2011. Finally, we give an outlook on ongoing development and optimizations, such as the use of single photon counting mode to enhance spectral resolution. AB - Recent technological innovations now make it feasible to construct hard x-ray telescopes for space-based astronomical missions. Focusing optics are capable of improving the sensitivity in the energy range above 10 keV by orders of magnitude compared to previously used instruments. The last decade has seen focusing optics developed for balloon experiments [1] and they will soon be implemented in approved space missions such as the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) [2] and ASTRO-H [3]. The full characterization of x-ray optics for astrophysical and solar imaging missions, including measurement of the point spread function (PSF) as well as scattering and reflectivity properties of substrate coatings, requires a very high spatial resolution, high sensitivity, photon counting and energy discriminating, large area detector. Novel back-thinned Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Devices (EMCCDs) [4] are highly suitable detectors for ground-based calibrations. Their chip can be optically coupled to a microcolumnar CsI(Tl) scintillator [5] via a fiberoptic taper. Not only does this device exhibit low noise and high spatial resolution inherent to CCDs, but the EMCCD is also able to handle high frame rates due to its controllable internal gain. Additionally, thick CsI(Tl) yields high detection efficiency for x-rays [6]. This type of detector has already proven to be a unique device very suitable for calibrations in astrophysics: such a camera was used to support the characterization of the performance for all NuSTAR optics [7]-[9]. Further optimization will enable similar cameras to be improved and used to calibrate x-ray telescopes for future space missions. In this paper, we discuss the advantages of using an EMCCD to calibrate hard x-ray optics. We will illustrate the promising features of this detector solution using examples of data obtained during the ground calibration of the NuSTAR telescopes performed at Columbia University during 2010/2011. Finally, we give an outlook on ongoing development and optimizations, such as the use of single photon counting mode to enhance spectral resolution.

412 Pa. Superior Ct. 425 (1992) 603 A.2d 654 DeEtte ENGLE v. Terry D. ENGLE v. Russell ENGLE, Appellant. Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Argued December 12, 1991. Filed February 26, 1992. *427 David S. Pollock, Pittsburgh, for appellant. Henry A. Hudson, Jr., Greensburg, for DeEtte Engle, appellee. *428 Before ROWLEY, President Judge, and KELLY and CERCONE, JJ. CERCONE, Judge: This is a certified appeal from an interlocutory order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, dismissing appellant Russell Engle's preliminary objections as to personal jurisdiction and ordering his joinder as an additional party defendant.[1] For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the order of the trial court and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. The present case originated as a complaint for divorce filed by appellee, DeEtte Engle, against Terry Engle, the defendant in the case below (hereinafter "Engle"). Appellee and Engle were married in Chicago, Illinois, in 1979. In the spring of 1981, they moved to Georgia where Engle worked for the Phoenix Group Company, a Georgia general partnership (Phoenix Group). Engle's employment with Phoenix Group terminated about four months later. About the same time, Engle executed an "Agreement for Sale of Partnership Interest" (termination agreement) with Phoenix Group.[2] In the termination agreement, Engle agreed to terminate his partnership interest in Phoenix Group for an amount not to exceed one hundred sixty-nine thousand, six hundred and seven dollars ($169,607.00). The termination agreement stated that "[Engle] is entitled, upon the sale or refinancing of various apartment projects, to an interest in the net proceeds after sale or refinancing, hereinafter called `residual proceeds'...."[3] *429 The Engles moved to Pennsylvania in 1985. In September, 1986, Terry Engle telephoned his brother, the appellant herein, at his residence in Michigan. In the course of their conversation, Engle stated that his business was experiencing financial difficulties. In order to raise money, Engle offered to assign his interest in the residual proceeds promised in the termination agreement. Appellant offered to pay Engle twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) in exchange for the assignment. In the next month, appellant and Engle engaged in one or two telephone conversations concerning the transaction. Engle forwarded an assignment agreement to Phoenix Group in their Florida office seeking their consent.[4] The agreement contained the following clause which allowed for future cancellation of the assignment: "This Assignment of residual proceeds is to remain in effect until cancelled by RUSSELL E. ENGLE and TERRY ENGLE by mailing such cancellation notice by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, to the PHOENIX GROUP COMPANY." On October 14, 1986, Lester N. Garripee, a senior partner with Phoenix Group, consented to Terry Engle's assignment. Phoenix Group forwarded the agreement to appellant, who signed the agreement, and mailed copies to "everybody else so everybody got a copy." N.T. 11/9/90 at 46. Finally, appellant sent Engle a check for twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) by either mail or Federal Express. The Engle's separated in October, 1987, and in February, 1988, appellee filed for divorce in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County. In the meantime, appellant received forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000.00) in residual proceeds from the sale of a property listed on the termination agreement. Appellee subsequently filed a petition to set aside the 1986 assignment, and to join appellant as an additional defendant in the divorce proceeding. Appellant filed preliminary objections challenging the lower court's *430 jurisdiction which the trial court overruled. This timely appeal followed. When sustaining a preliminary objection would result in dismissal of an action, the objection should be sustained only in cases which are free from doubt. Barber v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., 317 Pa.Super. 285, 302-03, 464 A.2d 323, 332 (1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1205, 104 S.Ct. 2387, 81 L.Ed.2d 346 (1984). In deciding whether to sustain or deny preliminary objections as to jurisdiction, the court must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Kenneth H. Oaks, Ltd. v. Josephson, 390 Pa.Super. 103, 105, 568 A.2d 215, 216 (1989). After reviewing the evidence in the present case in such a light, we cannot conclude that the evidence supports the lower court's denial of appellant's preliminary objections. A court may exercise in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident if (1) jurisdiction is conferred by the state long-arm statute; and (2) the exercise of jurisdiction under the statute meets the constitutional standards of due process. Hewitt v. Eichelman's Subaru, Inc., 341 Pa.Super. 589, 592, 492 A.2d 23, 24 (1985). Under Pennsylvania's long-arm statute,[5] "[j]urisdiction of the Pennsylvania courts may be exercised with respect to all persons, including corporations, `to the fullest extent allowed under the Constitution of the United States.' 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5322(b)" Eastern Continuous Forms v. Island Business Forms, 355 Pa.Super. 352, 354, 513 A.2d 466, 467 (1986) (quoting Slota v. Moorings, Ltd., 343 Pa.Super. 96, 101, 494 A.2d 1, 3 (1985)). Therefore, our controlling consideration is whether subjecting the nonresident appellant to suit in Pennsylvania would deprive appellant of his constitutional right to due process. Hewitt v. Eichelman's Subaru, Inc., supra, 341 Pa.Super. at 592, 492 A.2d at 24; Temtex Products, Inc. v. Kramer, 330 Pa.Super. 183, 194, 479 A.2d 500, 505-06 (1984); Koenig v. International Brotherhood of Boiler-makers, 284 Pa.Super. 558, 567, 426 A.2d 635, 640 (1980). *431 The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution allows personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant where the defendant has "certain minimum contacts ... such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463 [61 S.Ct. 339, 342, 85 L.Ed. 278 (1940)]." Eastern Continuous Forms, 355 Pa.Super. at 355, 513 A.2d at 467 (quoting Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 787, 104 S.Ct. 1482, 1486, 79 L.Ed.2d 804 (1945) in turn quoting International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945)). Specifically, this court must analyze whether appellant's conduct and connection with Pennsylvania are such that he should reasonably anticipate being "haled" into court here. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). "[I]t is essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant purposely avails [himself] of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws." Barber v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., supra, 317 Pa.Super. at 293, 464 A.2d at 327-28 (quoting Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958)).[6] It is well-settled that even a single act may support jurisdiction, "so long as it creates a `substantial connection' with the forum, provided the nature, quality and *432 circumstances of the act's commission create more than a mere attenuated affiliation with the forum." C.J. Betters v. Mid South Aviation, 407 Pa.Super. 511, 518, 595 A.2d 1264, 1267 (1991). However, a party's contract with an out-of-state individual cannot alone establish sufficient contacts with the forum state. Kenneth H. Oaks, Ltd. v. Josephson, supra, 390 Pa.Super. at 106, 568 A.2d at 217. In addressing the jurisdictional dilemma created by interstate contractual obligations, the United States Supreme Court has held that "parties who `reach out beyond one state and create continuing relationships and obligations with citizens of another state' are subject to regulation and sanctions in the other state for the consequences of their activities." Id., 390 Pa.Superior Ct. at 106, 568 A.2d at 217 (quoting Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 473, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2182, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985)). The court must evaluate the party's "negotiations prior to the contract, its contemplated future consequences, the terms of the contract and the parties' actual course of dealing in determining whether the defendant `purposefully avail[ed] [himself] of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State.'" Burger King Corp., supra, 471 U.S. at 474-75, 105 S.Ct. at 2183 (quoting Hanson v. Denckla, supra, 357 U.S. at 253, 78 S.Ct. at 1240 Once minimum contacts with the forum state are established, those contacts may be considered in light of other factors to determine whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction will comport with fair play and substantial justice. Kenneth H. Oaks, Ltd. v. Josephson, supra, 390 Pa.Super. at 106, 568 A.2d at 217. Under Kenneth H. Oaks, Ltd. v. Josephson, supra, we must view the facts of the present case in the light most favorable to appellee. Our scrupulous review of the record discloses that appellant, a Michigan resident, conducted contract negotiations which solely consisted of two or three telephone conversations with Engle in Pennsylvania. The "asset" of the transaction, a future right to "residual proceeds" from the sale of out-of-state real properties, was *433 sold two years prior to the commencement of the divorce action. Keeping in mind our standard of review, Barber v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., supra, we conclude that the question of Pennsylvania's in personam jurisdiction over appellant is free from doubt. Appellant's contacts with Pennsylvania, two or three isolated telephone conversations with defendant in Pennsylvania, his purchase of defendant's right to residual proceeds from the sale of out-of-state real property, and the transfer of payment, do not establish sufficient contact and connection with Pennsylvania that appellant could reasonably anticipate being brought into court here. See World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, supra, 444 U.S. at 297, 100 S.Ct. at 567 ("defendant's conduct and connection with the forum state must be such that he should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there"). Appellant did not enter into protracted negotiations for defendant's asset, nor did he create a continuing relationship or obligation with defendant, or any other resident of Pennsylvania. See Kenneth H. Oaks, Ltd. v. Josephson, supra, 390 Pa.Super. at 106, 568 A.2d at 217 (court must look to negotiations prior to contract, the contract's contemplated future consequences, terms of contract, and course of dealing in determining whether defendant purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum). Notwithstanding the cancellation provision in the assignment agreement, appellant was under no further obligation to defendant after payment. For the foregoing reasons, an attempt to subject appellant to in personam jurisdiction in the Pennsylvania courts would offend both the Pennsylvania long-arm statute and procedural due process. Because the trial court does not have in personam jurisdiction over appellant, he must be dismissed as a litigant. The order of the trial court dated May 15, 1991 is vacated, and appellant is dismissed. The case is remanded to the trial court; jurisdiction is relinquished. NOTES [1] After denying the preliminary objections, the trial court certified, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P., Rule 311(b)(2), 42 Pa.C.S.A., that a substantial issue of jurisdiction was presented. Therefore, the matter is properly before us for resolution at this time. [2] It is not clear from the record how or when Engle acquired a partnership interest in Phoenix Group Company. [3] The Agreement for Sale of Partnership Interest lists nine properties located in the following states: Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Georgia. [4] Under the partnership agreement, Engle cannot assign his right without the prior written consent of the Phoenix Group Company. [5] 42 Pa.C.S.A. 5322. [6] Pennsylvania has adopted a more flexible, minimum contacts analysis of jurisdictional due process. Previously, the analysis had been performed by applying the three part test first announced in Proctor & Schwartz, Inc. v. Cleveland Lumber Co., 228 Pa.Super. 12, 19, 323 A.2d 11, 15 (1974). Under this analysis, the defendant must have purposefully availed himself of the privilege of acting within the forum state, thus invoking the state's benefits and protections. Next, the cause of action must have arisen from the defendant's activities within the state. Finally, the defendant must have had a substantial enough connection with the forum state to make the exercise of jurisdiction reasonable. Id. Now, however, Pennsylvania courts are following the dictates of the United States Supreme Court that in personam jurisdiction may not turn on the application of a mechanical test. See Burger King v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 478, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2185, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985).

Identification of alternate transcripts of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in the mouse retina. Nitric oxide (NO) is a major signaling molecule in the retina and CNS, with physiological roles in every cell type in the retina. Previous work shows that neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) is an important source of NO in the vertebrate retina. There are distinct, active alternative transcripts of nNOS observed in many tissues, including testes and brain, that may differ in both localization and enzyme kinetics. The present study characterized nNOS and the NO production from nNOS in the mouse retina in terms of its alternate transcripts, namely, nNOS alpha, nNOS beta, and nNOS gamma. We examined both basal and light-stimulated NO production as imaged using the NO-sensitive dye 4-amino-5-methylamino-2',7'-difluorofluorescein diacetate-FM (DAF-FM), and we compared the NO production with the immunocytochemical localization of nNOS using antisera that recognize nNOS alpha/beta or nNOS alpha/beta/gamma. Western blots suggested the presence of NOS alpha/gamma protein in retina, but not nNOS beta, and we confirmed this at the message level by using a combination of RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR. Our findings indicated that the primary source of NO in the mammalian retina is nNOS alpha and that nNOS gamma may contribute to NO production as well.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and an interface method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mobile terminal and an interface method thereof for connecting external devices, such as an adapter, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable, a docking station, an accessory, and the like, to the mobile terminal. 2. Description of the Related Art A mobile terminal may be a smart phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a video game machine, a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) receiver, a Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) Audio Layer-3 (MP3) player, a camera, and the like. The mobile terminal needs a charging connector for charging a battery. Furthermore, the mobile terminal may include a connector for exchanging data with the external device. In addition, the mobile terminal may include various connectors according to a type thereof. In recent years, there is a need for extension of an interface in the mobile terminal. For example, the mobile terminal needs to include a low voltage charging connector and a high voltage charging connector in consideration of a charging time and capacity of a battery. Furthermore, the mobile terminal needs to include various types of connectors, such as an audio input/output connector and a video input/output connector. With regard to an extension request, if the mobile terminal includes various types of connectors, an external appearance thereof may look poor. Furthermore, there is much limitation to design the size and thickness. Therefore, a need exists for a mobile terminal for implementing various interfaces by one connector and a method thereof.

Q: Button reveal when hovering over image I am new to css and am trying to implement a functionality on my image which is - when someone hovers over the image with the mouse a 'Read More' button will be revealed. Here is the code I have so far - HTML- <div class="container"> <img src="./images/pairingo.png"> <div class="button"><a href="#">READ MORE</a></div> </div> CSS- .container{ position: relative; margin-top: 20px; } .container .button { position: absolute; top: 50%; left: 50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -ms-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); background-color: #555; opacity: 0; font-size: 16px; padding: 12px 24px; border-radius: 5px; transition: opacity .5s; } img{ width:40%; height:40% } img:hover .button{ opacity:1; } This doesnot seem to work. Maybe I am doing something wrong on the hover part? Any help will be appreciated thanks. A: You need to add hover css to .container class. Because img is child of .container class and .button is not child of img. Try this. .container{ position: relative; margin-top: 20px; width: 300px; height: 300px; } .container .button { position: absolute; top: 50%; left: 50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -ms-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); background-color: #555; opacity: 0; font-size: 16px; padding: 12px 24px; border-radius: 5px; transition: opacity .5s; } img{ width:100%; } .container:hover .button{ opacity:1; } <div class="container"> <img src="https://placehold.it/300x300/ccc/666?text=" class="img-responsive" alt=""> <div class="button"><a href="#">READ MORE</a></div> </div>

In a week’s time the wide range of what was once considered routine GOP bigotry was on full display. Dave Agema, a former West Michigan state representative, and Republican National Committeeman called gays “filthy homosexuals." Next, Alaska Rep. Don Young blurted out the epitaph “wetbacks” in discussing the immigration issue. Then 23 members of the so-called White Student Union attended the Conservative Political Action Conference where its leader tacitly endorsed segregation and even slavery. In times past, the silence from the GOP officials and rank and file would have been deafening. It would have reconfirmed the standard knock against the GOP as a party of Kooks, cranks misanthropes, and, of course, bigots. But in each of the three cases, there was an outcry from local GOP officials, bloggers, and GOP campus groups. They publicly denounced the bigotry, and in the case of Young, House Speaker John Boehner, Arizona and Texas Senators John McCain, and John Cornyn, and Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus blasted Young’s remarks. At first glance, this seems a signal that the GOP recognizes that it’s widely considered the party of bigotry, and that it’s willing to do something about it. But the sea change may be much less than meets the eye. Many top GOP officials are still mute on its party’s bigots. The official record still stands that no top GOP official aggressively and consistently denounces the bigoted remarks or acts by a GOP operative, representative, or senator. The RNC in its near 100 page blueprint for reaching out to minorities, gays and young people did raise faint hope that the GOP may indeed have finally woke up that America is changing, and it can’t win national offices anymore solely with conservative white male Heartland and Deep South voters, or through the use of the crude race baiting. But this hope ignores the GOP’s horrible history of dealing with its blatant bigots and bigotry. The pattern was on ugly display in 2002 when then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott touched off a furor seemingly touting the one time pro-segregation battles fought by South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond. It took nearly a week for then President George W. Bush to make a stumbling, tepid disavowal of Lott. In the next decade, a legion of Republican state and local officials, conservative talk show jocks and even some Republican bigwigs made foot-in-mouth racist cracks that invariably got them in hot water. Their response when called on the carpet was always the same: They make a duck and dodge denial, claim that they were misquoted or issue a weak, half-hearted apology. Each time, the response from top Republicans was either silence, or if the firestorm was great enough, to give the offender a much-delayed mild verbal hand slap. Lott was dumped from his Senate Majority Leader post, but soon got a top post back as Senate Minority Whip after a kind of, sort of mea culpa. The bigger dilemma for the GOP when the bigots of their party pop off is that they remain prisoners of their party's racist past. It’s a past in which Republican presidents set the tone with their own verbal race bashing. President Eisenhower never got out of the Old South habit of calling blacks "nigras." In an infamous and well-documented outburst at a White House dinner party in 1954, Ike winked, nodded and whispered to Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren that he understood why white Southerners wouldn't want to "see their sweet little girls required to sit in school alongside some big black buck." President Nixon routinely peppered his talks with his confidants with derogatory quips about blacks. He enshrined in popular language racially tinged code words such as, "law and order, "permissive society," "welfare cheats," "crime in the streets," "subculture of violence," "subculture of poverty," "culturally deprived" and "lack of family values." And President Reagan once told a black reporter how he would treat black leaders, saying, "I said to hell with 'em." In 1988, President Bush, Sr. made escaped black convict Willie Horton the poster boy for black crime and violence and turned the presidential campaign against his Democrat opponent, Michael Dukakis into a rout. He branded a bill by Senator Ted Kennedy to make it easier to bring employment discrimination suits a "quotas bill" and vetoed it. The sentiment that underlay the casual, and sometimes blatant, racist trash talk of top Republicans, even Republican presidents, inevitably percolated down to the troops. If GOP minor players feel that they can say whatever they want about blacks, Latinos, gays and women and get away with it, it's because other Republicans have done the same, and there were no real consequences for their vile remarks. There are many Republicans who don't utter racist or homophobic epithets, use code speak, or publicly denigrate minorities, gays and women. Yet Colin Powell recently took much heat from many Republicans when he called the GOP racist. This still makes it a good bet that the next public official or personality hammered for a bigoted outburst will be a Republican. It's also an equally good bet that few top Republicans will immediately rush to condemn their GOP compatriot for it.

SAVE VISUAL EFFECTS Sunday, November 27, 2005 Using a moving camera when filming live action for Visual Effects.Locked off camera, Post Moves, Motion Control, 2D Motion Tracking, 3D Match Moving and Face Markers are all covered in this podcast relative to live action photography.Approx 25 minutes. Transcript Today I'll be discussing the moving camera. Locked OffThe simplest type of camera move is no move or the locked off shot. The camera is placed on a tripod or dolly and isn't moved. This makes it easier to add visual effects later or to do multiple elements of the same setup. Examples of this could include adding a matte painted house to the top of a hill. If you wanted to create a shot where part of the actor is removed later – such as a leg as in Forest Gump or most of the body as in the invisible man you would shoot the shot two times. Once with the actor and another time with no actors. This shot with out the actors is called a clean plate and is pretty common for many visual effects. Because the camera doesn't move you have identical images – one with the actor and one without. In post production if we remove part of the image of the actor the clean version gives the image without the actor. Special rigs are removed the same way. This same process is easily used for creating twins from one actor. Shoot the scene once with the actor on the left side and then shoot the same thing with the actor on the right side. Because these shots don't change position you can do a simple split down the middle of the scene. Normally the camera operator is making slight pan and tilt adjustments while sitting on the dolly and the asst cameraman is making slight focus and exposure adjustments. To obtain the best quality of clean plate get everyone away from the camera, off the dolly and avoid changing the settings, even to do slates. The size and position in frame will be different if anything changes, including the exposure. You can spend time fixing this in post but it's better if you can avoid the problem. Even though a locked off camera makes it easier to accomplish visual effects it may not fit with the look of the rest of the film or the requirements of the shot. Post MoveDoing a move on an image in post is sometimes called Pan and Scan. This also can refer to transferring a widescreen film to full frame video. The scene is photographed normally and then in the composite stage the image is enlarged and a synthetic move is added by moving the image digitally. It's also possible to do this type of move with some scanners for better quality. The problem here is the loss of resolution from enlarging the image. If your end production is video then it's possible to scan the film at a higher resolution. In the past another way around the resolution problem was to shoot on VistaVision or 65mm cameras. VistaVision a format which shoots with special cameras that run 35mm motion picture film sideways, much like a still film camera. This larger film size allowed for blowing up without as much quality loss in the days of optical printing. Large formats were also common when doing any effects heavy productions in the days of optical compositing. 2001 A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters and Blade Runner are some of the films that used 65mm. Star Wars and most ILM films used VistaVision for effects until the last few years If the live action element only makes up a portion of the frame then a post move doesn't cause a quality loss. An example of this is starting on a scene which is all live action and then pulling back to reveal a large matte painting extension to the scene. In the old days a motion controlled camera might be used to film a physical matte painting on glass. A rear-projector would be one method of adding the live action with the same move. With the advent of digital matte painting the matte painter creates the painting at a higher resolution. If the original live action scan is 2000 pixels across, the matte painting might be done at 4000 pixels across if the final scene was going to show twice as wide. I'll discuss 2D match-moving later in this podcast, which is a form of post move on an element. One of the problems with post moves is the very limited 2D or two-dimensional appearance of the moves. There's no perspective change or feeling of depth. To obtain true 3D camera moves of the original live action there are a couple of processes. Motion ControlOne way to deal with this is using motion control. Motion control is used frequently with shooting miniatures and models but here I'll focus on live action use. Normally the camera is mounted on a pan and tilt mechanism known as a camera head. The operator has a hand wheel for pan and one for tilt. For motion control you have a special head and usually a special dolly where all of these motions are controlled by motors. In some cases the operator moves this just like a regular head and a computer records the positions by using position encoders. In other systems the operator uses a joystick or a remote camera head that is designed to just record his hand moves. In this case the remote head looks like a camera head but it's just a box with the hand wheels. Note that non-recording remote camera heads are also with live action frequently when the operator can't be at the camera itself. The camera is on a boom arm or other remote system where the operator watches a video monitor and remotely controls the camera. With true motion control once a camera move has been programmed the move may be repeated over and over again exactly in sync with the camera. The repeatability means you can shoot the same actor walking through the scene multiple times with a complex camera move. This would be done to create twins using one actor during a camera move. Motion control also allows you to film moving clean plates so you have many of the same benefits as a locked off camera such as rig or actor removal. Since the move is recorded you can also take this data and use it later in a motion control system for models or convert the data and use it in the computer for adding CG elements. Motion control can also be used to shoot secondary elements such as bluescreens people or objects that exactly match a previous live action plate. In this case the data for the move comes from the original motion control shoot or from a process called match moving, which I'll be covering shortly. The downside of motion control is the requirement for a special system that has to be setup and be programmed. Most directors hate it because of the extra time and process. I recommend it only when you really have to get repeatable motion on the set or location. I'll cover more details of motion control in a future podcast. MatchMovingThe other option when a moving camera is required is to do matchmoving in postproduction. This is now one of the most common techniques that came about with the advent of the computer. The simplest technique is shot with just a pan and tilt that requires another images to be added later in the composite. As an example if we pan and tilt an outdoor scene and wish to put the image of a flying saucer hovering we could matchmove a point near the horizon or infinity like a distant mountain or building. This is done after the film images have been scanned into the computer. These days' most professional compositing programs allow you to specify an area in the moving footage that you want to track. Frame by frame the computer compares the image in this area and tries to find the best fit around where it was last. We call this 2D tracking since it's only calculated in 2 dimensions x and y. Once this is done the image of the flying saucer is composited over the background and the motion of the background is applied to it. Now you have a scene with a pan and tilt of a cityscape and a flying saucer that hovers over a building no mater what move you make. This creates the illusion it was there the time of photography. If you have 2 distant points that you can track then it's possible for the computer to calculate the rotation and size so you can not only pan and tilt but roll the camera and even do some basic dolly or zoom moves. I suggest distant points to track so you can obtain a more accurate motion track without having to worry about parallax or perspective. You typically also want to track a point in the scene close to where you want to place the additional image. Make sure you always have at least one or 2 points in the scene to track during the entire scene. If you're doing a big pan move make sure there's another suitable point that you can switch the motion tracking to during the shot. Ideally these would be close to the same distance away from camera. Even though this is a 2D track it's possible to obtain 3D pan and tilt information. By knowing the lens used to photograph the scene the computer can calculate and output a 3D camera file that can then be used in 3D program for the 3D camera to pan and tilt. This renders an object that matches the move exactly. Another variation on the 2D tracker is a 4-corner track. If you have a billboard in a moving shot and want to replace it with a different image you could track each corner of billboard on the computer and tell it to apply the move to each corresponding corner of the new image. This will distort the new image to fit it in the billboard even if the original scene is moving. 3D matchmovingThe next level of match moving is 3D match moving.When shooting a scene measurements are taken of any landmarks in the scene (windows, doors, tables, that sort of thing) and in some cases special markers are placed in the scene. Later after the film has been scanned into the computer a person called a matchmover will build a rough replica of the set or location in the computer. The virtual camera, which is a simulated camera in the computer graphics program, is now animated to match the move of the film camera that filmed the live action scene. Originally this was done as a manual process of lining up the CG set with the image from the film. Now much of it is done using special 3D motion tracking software. Note that some measurements such as the focal length of the lens may be a bit different than marked. If it's labeled as a 50mm lens it could in fact be a 48mm or a 55mm lens. As such you may need to make some adjustments manually to get the final matchmove perfect. Also be sure to check any automated 3D matchmoves since it's possible to fool the computer. Now that we have a CG camera that matches we can now place a CG object such as a box on the match move floor and it will look like it was on the floor in the original photography. It still has to be lit and composited into the scene but it stays locked with the correct position and perspective in the scene even if the camera operator is moving a hand held camera around the imaginary object. If a CG creature will be walking on rough terrain hopefully the matchmover has been able to recreate that so the animator can always keep the creature on the ground. This terrain shape is likewise used to cast CG shadows onto. The matchmover has also included any large objects such as tables and trees so the animator can avoid those when moving his creature. If the actor in the scene is interacting with the creature then the matchmover moves a CG pawn that represents the actor. In some cases the matchmover has to do a very tight match of the arms and legs of the actor so the animator can time and match the creature to the actor. Even though I'm using the term creature this could be any 3D object or effect such as CG sparks. So now that we have the basic of the matchmove process down lets take a look at how that works when we shoot. If you're going to be using 2D tracking then survey the scene and make sure you have some definable points. Any place of sharp contrast or a spot. The corner of a building against the sky provides a clearly defined area that is fixed. The edge of a tree blowing in the wind is not a good point since it's changing. The edge of a building isn't a good point because it needs to be one specific and unique point. These same requirements apply to four-corner tracking. If you're replacing the image of an old TV you may find that the TV screen is rounded and almost blends into the frame of the TV. In this case you may want to put fluorescent dots from the office supply store on the corners of the area you want to track. You'll need to paint or composite out the dots in the final scene. If tracking points don't exist in the scene and you need them then you have to create them. If you're shooting an actor in front of a blue screen to create a distant vista in post production then place markers on or in front of the bluescreen. These may be 2 to 6 inch plus marks made out of tape or plastic. If it's a cloth screen material you can put Velcro on the back of the plastic markers. If you can't touch the screen use c-stands to hold them but note that there will be more removal work to do in post. It's important for any markers to be solidly locked down so don't suspend with them with thin wires. You want the markers to be visible on the final film scans but not too large or you'll be doing a lot of extra paint out. Same with the number of markers. You want to always have 2 or 3 markers visible even when you pan and tilt the camera. If you plan to pan the camera 180 degrees hen you'll need a number of markers around the camera. The actors or props may obscure some of the markers. If you're doing a full day of shooting in front of the bluescreen then it's best to just setup a grid pattern of the plus marks. Note that if the depth of field makes the markers way out of focus or if there are no markers visible in the shot it becomes a matter of experimenting in post to create a move on the background that seems to work with the foreground. This can be very time consuming and frustrating especially if your actor is jumping or moving. If you're doing 3D motion tracking you always want to have at least 3 trackers visible. As always the matchmover will be recording the lens and tilt information from the camera, possibly with the help of the coordinator and certainly with the help of the camera assistant. If you're shooting on a set the matchmover should be getting measurements of anything with straight lines that are clearly defined such as the tabletop or windows. With this information they can build a rough CG version of the set. Set drawings are seldom used to build the CG matchmove version from since there may have been adjustments and changes made to the real set that aren't reflected in the blueprints. You want to make sure to build the CG world to what's actually captured on film, not on what was planned. To help with this work the matchmover usually shoot stills and especially Polaroid's where they can mark the actual dimensions on the image. These and the notes will be used months from now when the visual effects are being started. In some cases stereo images are taken or multiple cameras are used to help document the relationship of the objects in the set. For organic sets such as caves or outdoors in natural landscape small ball markers are typically used. It's important for these markers show up so they are usually ping-pong balls or tennis balls painted a fluorescent color. Bright LEDs can also be placed in ping-pong balls. This is especially useful in darker sets or night shoots. At times a box frame of known size is filmed in the scene as well to provide a defined object and perspective check. If the scene is supposed to be a close-up of a creature but there is no fixed object in frame then vertical rods may be used that hold a marker in place. As always there should be at least 3 markers. If it's a large exterior scene on uneven ground a grid of markers may be set down or at least measured. Now the animator will be able to match the creature feet directly to the real ground. On DragonHeart and most of the shows afterward when filming in a large natural setting we used a surveyors transit system connected to a powerbook or a handheld computer that records the true position in 3D space of xy and z. The matchmover back at the studio creates a 3D ball in the computer matching those coordinates. In the past the computer camera would be moved manually to match the position. Now there are special 3D tracking programs that can do this automatically. Face MarkersSometimes we're required to create CG prosthetics. This is done for shots that can't be done as normal makeup work since it's going to change during the shot or it requires removal of sections of the real actor. This is the case with the jaw extensions in Van Helsing and the facial electronics in something like the latest Terminator movie. Small colored dots from an office supply store can be applied to a face or arm. It's also possible for the makeup person to apply makeup marks. In these cases it's important to know where to place the dots to get the best match. Because of muscle changes you typically want some on the cheekbones or area that won't change as much in addition to the edge of the imaginary prosthetic. The animator, model maker and/or matchmover will then have to change to shape and position of the CG prosthetic to match frame by frame. Note that matchmoving doesn't solve the problem of repeating live action camera moves such as required for twin shots and doesn't provide us with a clean plate. It is possible to take the match move data and convert it into a move for a motion control systems later when you're shooting live action or miniature elements. If you need a clean plate (for paint restoring) then the operator tries to repeat his same movement as accurately as he can without the actors and then the compositor will have to massage it in post to try to make it work. Low BudgetMost beginning filmmakers want to make as complex scene as possible but it's important to keep it simple and to learn the basics of the craft before overwhelming yourself. As mentioned before the simplest process is the locked off camera. Attach you camera to a solid tripod and film your different elements, including your clean plate as needed, without touching the camera or tripod. This allows you to focus on the art of compositing without getting tied up in the difficulties of match moving. If you're creating CG elements measure the set or area and try to create a replica of this. Use real units of measure in your computer graphics program. Measure your camera as well. This would include the height from the ground and the distance from camera. Technically you want the nodal point of the lens but middle of lens or film plane is usually accurate enough to start with. You also want to record the tilt of the camera. You can use an inclinometer to measure this tilt. You can find these on the internet or at larger hardware stores. You don't need the fancy, all digital versions. A simple type based on a bubble level is fine. These are 3 or 6 inch vertical disks with a flat bottom. A needle always points up to provide a readout the number of degrees of tilt, Place it on something level to the film plane, such as the tripod head plate. If you can find one of these or they're too expensive then get a simple 6 inch protractor. Tie a knot in the end of a one-foot piece of string. Thread this through the hole in the protractor from the back. Tie a weight such as a large nut or bolt to the other end. Place the protractor upside down with the straight edge of the protractor resting against the straight edge of the tripod head. Read the degrees where the string passes the protractor. You may find in your CG program that you have to add or subtract 90 degrees from this number or you may have to negate the number. There's no absolute position for pan so we don't bother to measure it. Place your CG camera at this point and use the set you built be your guide to where to place the CG creature or object. You also want to be able to cast shadows from your creature onto this ground plane and any large objects such as tables. Once you've done these types of shots then you can experiment with 2D motion tracking and 3D matchmoving. Start the 3D matchmoving by using just pan and tilt when shooting. 5 comments: thank you but i wish you could made a video tutorial it would be better:)really iam wondering that i made a face tracking but its not stuck to my face..i guess there is a problem about parallax and compositing settings..anyway i hope it helps me also:) Recent Comments Current state of VFX life To get up to speed on what's happening to visual effects artists and workers around the world and their troubles: Life After PI documents one of the many closing of a visual effects company. This is on Rhythm and Hues which worked on Life of Pi and went bankrupt a few weeks before receiving an Academy award. Life After Pi

Are patient-held vaccination records associated with improved vaccination coverage rates? The goal was to determine whether patient-held vaccination records improve vaccination rates. The public-use files of the 2004-2006 National Immunization Survey, a national, validated survey of households with children 19 to 35 months of age, were used. The main outcome was up-to-date (UTD) vaccination status (4 diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis/diphtheria-tetanus vaccine, 3 poliovirus vaccine, 1 measles vaccine, 3 Haemophilus influenza type B vaccine, and 3 hepatitis B vaccine doses), and the main predictor was the use of a vaccination record. Control variables were race/ethnicity, maternal education, poverty status, language, number of children in the home, state of residence, and number of health care providers. Overall, 80.8% of children were UTD, and 40.8% of children had vaccination records. Children with vaccination records were more likely to be UTD (83.9% vs 78.6%; P < .0001). The largest effects associated with vaccination records were seen for children with multiple providers, comparing with and without a vaccination record (82.8% vs 71.9%; P < .0001), those with low maternal education, (81.6% vs 72.9%; P < .0001), and those with > or =4 children in the household, (76% vs 69.6%; P < .004). Logistic regression predicting UTD status and controlling for race/ethnicity, maternal education, poverty level, language, number of children in the home, and number of vaccine providers revealed the vaccination record to be associated with a 62% increase in the odds of UTD status (odds ratio: 1.62 [95% confidence interval: 1.49-1.77]). Use of patient-held vaccination records is an easily implemented strategy that is associated with increased immunization rates. A greater effect was seen in groups at risk for underimmunization. Methods to incorporate and to ensure effective use of these records should be implemented.

Ethics: Origin and Development Ethics: Origin and Development is a book by Peter Kropotkin, published posthumously in 1921. It continues the argument of Mutual Aid, that sociable morality is essential to human survival. It was translated into English by Louis S. Friedland and Joseph R. Piroshnikoff in 1924. Further reading Category:1921 non-fiction books Category:Works by Peter Kropotkin Category:Philosophy books Category:Books published posthumously

[A rapid model of risk assessment of the biomechanical overload to the whole skeletal system]. A tool easy to apply is presented that can be used in ergonomic analysis of 1st level to identify the risk factors of biomechanical overload of the skeletal structures. The model is an evolution of a previous proposal, published in 2001, which was aimed at evaluation of the only upper arms: the present model also permits the evaluation of the spine (cervical and torso-lumbar tract) and of the inferior arms. A red flag judgement criterion has been maintained and, if an item is marked, there is the possibility to recognise the cause of the ergonomic criticality and to plan the correction according to a scale of ergonomic priority. The aim of this communication is to stimulate a wide participation in the project to develop a model for the risk assessment of biomechanical overload to the whole skeletal system.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // This file is the adaptation for Interprocess of boost/shared_ptr.hpp // // (C) Copyright Greg Colvin and Beman Dawes 1998, 1999. // (C) Copyright Peter Dimov 2001, 2002, 2003 // (C) Copyright Ion Gaztanaga 2006-2011. // Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. // (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at // http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) // // See http://www.boost.org/libs/interprocess for documentation. // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// #ifndef BOOST_INTERPROCESS_SHARED_PTR_HPP_INCLUDED #define BOOST_INTERPROCESS_SHARED_PTR_HPP_INCLUDED #include <boost/interprocess/detail/config_begin.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/detail/workaround.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/detail/utilities.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/detail/cast_tags.hpp> #include <boost/assert.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/smart_ptr/detail/shared_count.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/detail/mpl.hpp> #include <boost/move/move.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/detail/type_traits.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/allocators/allocator.hpp> #include <boost/interprocess/smart_ptr/deleter.hpp> #include <boost/static_assert.hpp> #include <boost/intrusive/pointer_traits.hpp> #include <algorithm> // for std::swap #include <functional> // for std::less #include <typeinfo> // for std::bad_cast #include <iosfwd> // for std::basic_ostream //!\file //!Describes the smart pointer shared_ptr namespace boost{ namespace interprocess{ template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> class weak_ptr; template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> class enable_shared_from_this; namespace ipcdetail{ template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> inline void sp_enable_shared_from_this (shared_count<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & pn ,enable_shared_from_this<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> *pe ,T *ptr) { (void)ptr; if(pe != 0){ pe->_internal_weak_this._internal_assign(pn); } } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> inline void sp_enable_shared_from_this(shared_count<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const &, ...) {} } // namespace ipcdetail //!shared_ptr stores a pointer to a dynamically allocated object. //!The object pointed to is guaranteed to be deleted when the last shared_ptr pointing to //!it is destroyed or reset. //! //!shared_ptr is parameterized on //!T (the type of the object pointed to), VoidAllocator (the void allocator to be used //!to allocate the auxiliary data) and Deleter (the deleter whose //!operator() will be used to delete the object. //! //!The internal pointer will be of the same pointer type as typename //!VoidAllocator::pointer type (that is, if typename VoidAllocator::pointer is //!offset_ptr<void>, the internal pointer will be offset_ptr<T>). //! //!Because the implementation uses reference counting, cycles of shared_ptr //!instances will not be reclaimed. For example, if main() holds a //!shared_ptr to A, which directly or indirectly holds a shared_ptr back //!to A, A's use count will be 2. Destruction of the original shared_ptr //!will leave A dangling with a use count of 1. //!Use weak_ptr to "break cycles." template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> class shared_ptr { /// @cond private: typedef shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> this_type; /// @endcond public: typedef T element_type; typedef T value_type; typedef typename boost::intrusive:: pointer_traits<typename VoidAllocator::pointer>::template rebind_pointer<T>::type pointer; typedef typename ipcdetail::add_reference <value_type>::type reference; typedef typename ipcdetail::add_reference <const value_type>::type const_reference; typedef typename boost::intrusive:: pointer_traits<typename VoidAllocator::pointer>::template rebind_pointer<const Deleter>::type const_deleter_pointer; typedef typename boost::intrusive:: pointer_traits<typename VoidAllocator::pointer>::template rebind_pointer<const VoidAllocator>::type const_allocator_pointer; BOOST_COPYABLE_AND_MOVABLE(shared_ptr) public: //!Constructs an empty shared_ptr. //!Use_count() == 0 && get()== 0. shared_ptr() : m_pn() // never throws {} //!Constructs a shared_ptr that owns the pointer p. Auxiliary data will be allocated //!with a copy of a and the object will be deleted with a copy of d. //!Requirements: Deleter and A's copy constructor must not throw. explicit shared_ptr(const pointer&p, const VoidAllocator &a = VoidAllocator(), const Deleter &d = Deleter()) : m_pn(p, a, d) { //Check that the pointer passed is of the same type that //the pointer the allocator defines or it's a raw pointer typedef typename boost::intrusive:: pointer_traits<pointer>::template rebind_pointer<T>::type ParameterPointer; BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT((ipcdetail::is_same<pointer, ParameterPointer>::value) || (ipcdetail::is_pointer<pointer>::value)); ipcdetail::sp_enable_shared_from_this<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter>( m_pn, ipcdetail::to_raw_pointer(p), ipcdetail::to_raw_pointer(p) ); } //!Constructs a shared_ptr that shares ownership with r and stores p. //!Postconditions: get() == p && use_count() == r.use_count(). //!Throws: nothing. shared_ptr(const shared_ptr &other, const pointer &p) : m_pn(other.m_pn, p) {} //!If r is empty, constructs an empty shared_ptr. Otherwise, constructs //!a shared_ptr that shares ownership with r. Never throws. template<class Y> shared_ptr(shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r) : m_pn(r.m_pn) // never throws {} //!Constructs a shared_ptr that shares ownership with r and stores //!a copy of the pointer stored in r. template<class Y> explicit shared_ptr(weak_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r) : m_pn(r.m_pn) // may throw {} //!Move-Constructs a shared_ptr that takes ownership of other resource and //!other is put in default-constructed state. //!Throws: nothing. explicit shared_ptr(BOOST_RV_REF(shared_ptr) other) : m_pn() { this->swap(other); } /// @cond template<class Y> shared_ptr(shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r, ipcdetail::static_cast_tag) : m_pn( pointer(static_cast<T*>(ipcdetail::to_raw_pointer(r.m_pn.to_raw_pointer()))) , r.m_pn) {} template<class Y> shared_ptr(shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r, ipcdetail::const_cast_tag) : m_pn( pointer(const_cast<T*>(ipcdetail::to_raw_pointer(r.m_pn.to_raw_pointer()))) , r.m_pn) {} template<class Y> shared_ptr(shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r, ipcdetail::dynamic_cast_tag) : m_pn( pointer(dynamic_cast<T*>(ipcdetail::to_raw_pointer(r.m_pn.to_raw_pointer()))) , r.m_pn) { if(!m_pn.to_raw_pointer()){ // need to allocate new counter -- the cast failed m_pn = ipcdetail::shared_count<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter>(); } } /// @endcond //!Equivalent to shared_ptr(r).swap(*this). //!Never throws template<class Y> shared_ptr & operator=(shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r) { m_pn = r.m_pn; // shared_count::op= doesn't throw return *this; } //!Equivalent to shared_ptr(r).swap(*this). //!Never throws shared_ptr & operator=(BOOST_COPY_ASSIGN_REF(shared_ptr) r) { m_pn = r.m_pn; // shared_count::op= doesn't throw return *this; } //!Move-assignment. Equivalent to shared_ptr(other).swap(*this). //!Never throws shared_ptr & operator=(BOOST_RV_REF(shared_ptr) other) // never throws { this_type(other).swap(*this); return *this; } //!This is equivalent to: //!this_type().swap(*this); void reset() { this_type().swap(*this); } //!This is equivalent to: //!this_type(p, a, d).swap(*this); template<class Pointer> void reset(const Pointer &p, const VoidAllocator &a = VoidAllocator(), const Deleter &d = Deleter()) { //Check that the pointer passed is of the same type that //the pointer the allocator defines or it's a raw pointer typedef typename boost::intrusive:: pointer_traits<Pointer>::template rebind_pointer<T>::type ParameterPointer; BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT((ipcdetail::is_same<pointer, ParameterPointer>::value) || (ipcdetail::is_pointer<Pointer>::value)); this_type(p, a, d).swap(*this); } template<class Y> void reset(shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r, const pointer &p) { this_type(r, p).swap(*this); } //!Returns a reference to the //!pointed type reference operator* () const // never throws { BOOST_ASSERT(m_pn.to_raw_pointer() != 0); return *m_pn.to_raw_pointer(); } //!Returns the pointer pointing //!to the owned object pointer operator-> () const // never throws { BOOST_ASSERT(m_pn.to_raw_pointer() != 0); return m_pn.to_raw_pointer(); } //!Returns the pointer pointing //!to the owned object pointer get() const // never throws { return m_pn.to_raw_pointer(); } /// @cond // implicit conversion to "bool" void unspecified_bool_type_func() const {} typedef void (this_type::*unspecified_bool_type)() const; operator unspecified_bool_type() const // never throws { return !m_pn.to_raw_pointer() ? 0 : &this_type::unspecified_bool_type_func; } /// @endcond //!Not operator. //!Returns true if this->get() != 0, false otherwise bool operator! () const // never throws { return !m_pn.to_raw_pointer(); } //!Returns use_count() == 1. //!unique() might be faster than use_count() bool unique() const // never throws { return m_pn.unique(); } //!Returns the number of shared_ptr objects, *this included, //!that share ownership with *this, or an unspecified nonnegative //!value when *this is empty. //!use_count() is not necessarily efficient. Use only for //!debugging and testing purposes, not for production code. long use_count() const // never throws { return m_pn.use_count(); } //!Exchanges the contents of the two //!smart pointers. void swap(shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> & other) // never throws { m_pn.swap(other.m_pn); } /// @cond template<class T2, class A2, class Deleter2> bool _internal_less(shared_ptr<T2, A2, Deleter2> const & rhs) const { return m_pn < rhs.m_pn; } const_deleter_pointer get_deleter() const { return m_pn.get_deleter(); } // const_allocator_pointer get_allocator() const // { return m_pn.get_allocator(); } private: template<class T2, class A2, class Deleter2> friend class shared_ptr; template<class T2, class A2, class Deleter2> friend class weak_ptr; ipcdetail::shared_count<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> m_pn; // reference counter /// @endcond }; // shared_ptr template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter, class U, class VoidAllocator2, class Deleter2> inline bool operator==(shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & a, shared_ptr<U, VoidAllocator2, Deleter2> const & b) { return a.get() == b.get(); } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter, class U, class VoidAllocator2, class Deleter2> inline bool operator!=(shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & a, shared_ptr<U, VoidAllocator2, Deleter2> const & b) { return a.get() != b.get(); } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter, class U, class VoidAllocator2, class Deleter2> inline bool operator<(shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & a, shared_ptr<U, VoidAllocator2, Deleter2> const & b) { return a._internal_less(b); } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> inline void swap(shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> & a, shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> & b) { a.swap(b); } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter, class U> inline shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> static_pointer_cast(shared_ptr<U, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r) { return shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter>(r, ipcdetail::static_cast_tag()); } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter, class U> inline shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const_pointer_cast(shared_ptr<U, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r) { return shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter>(r, ipcdetail::const_cast_tag()); } template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter, class U> inline shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> dynamic_pointer_cast(shared_ptr<U, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & r) { return shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter>(r, ipcdetail::dynamic_cast_tag()); } // to_raw_pointer() enables boost::mem_fn to recognize shared_ptr template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> inline T * to_raw_pointer(shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & p) { return p.get(); } // operator<< template<class E, class T, class Y, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> inline std::basic_ostream<E, T> & operator<< (std::basic_ostream<E, T> & os, shared_ptr<Y, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & p) { os << p.get(); return os; } //!Returns the type of a shared pointer //!of type T with the allocator boost::interprocess::allocator allocator //!and boost::interprocess::deleter deleter //!that can be constructed in the given managed segment type. template<class T, class ManagedMemory> struct managed_shared_ptr { typedef typename ManagedMemory::template allocator<void>::type void_allocator; typedef typename ManagedMemory::template deleter<T>::type deleter; typedef shared_ptr< T, void_allocator, deleter> type; }; //!Returns an instance of a shared pointer constructed //!with the default allocator and deleter from a pointer //!of type T that has been allocated in the passed managed segment template<class T, class ManagedMemory> inline typename managed_shared_ptr<T, ManagedMemory>::type make_managed_shared_ptr(T *constructed_object, ManagedMemory &managed_memory) { return typename managed_shared_ptr<T, ManagedMemory>::type ( constructed_object , managed_memory.template get_allocator<void>() , managed_memory.template get_deleter<T>() ); } //!Returns an instance of a shared pointer constructed //!with the default allocator and deleter from a pointer //!of type T that has been allocated in the passed managed segment. //!Does not throw, return null shared pointer in error. template<class T, class ManagedMemory> inline typename managed_shared_ptr<T, ManagedMemory>::type make_managed_shared_ptr(T *constructed_object, ManagedMemory &managed_memory, std::nothrow_t) { try{ return typename managed_shared_ptr<T, ManagedMemory>::type ( constructed_object , managed_memory.template get_allocator<void>() , managed_memory.template get_deleter<T>() ); } catch(...){ return typename managed_shared_ptr<T, ManagedMemory>::type(); } } } // namespace interprocess /// @cond #if defined(_MSC_VER) && (_MSC_VER < 1400) // to_raw_pointer() enables boost::mem_fn to recognize shared_ptr template<class T, class VoidAllocator, class Deleter> inline T * to_raw_pointer(boost::interprocess::shared_ptr<T, VoidAllocator, Deleter> const & p) { return p.get(); } #endif /// @endcond } // namespace boost #include <boost/interprocess/detail/config_end.hpp> #endif // #ifndef BOOST_INTERPROCESS_SHARED_PTR_HPP_INCLUDED

Consider that Paul, the inspired author of most of the epistles, having seen the glorified Body of Christ, knowing what end Christ’s body finally meets, and presumably knowing about what language Christ uses about his body throughout the Gospels, uses this specific metaphor: the Church is the Body of Christ. When Paul was made blind, what truth did he see? What truth did he say, unknowing but inspired? What could such a metaphor really mean? If it is true, and if it is scriptural, and if it is inspired — full of the Spirit — surely it has at least a divine meaning and purpose. It must speak to some deeper principle. Catholics may point out that Christ will not die, now that the Resurrection shows He triumphs over death. Similarly, the Body of Christ will, in some visible way on this earth, live right up until the end times. Catholics also may explain this as affirming the four marks of the Church. Like Christ’s body, Catholicism is one, a matter disputed principally by log-eyed men. She is holy, for the Church Triumphant is in heaven and the Church Suffering is headed there, however the visible Church Militant fails us. She is Catholic, which is a word that means simply universal. That the Church is apostolic is simply a way of saying her authority goes back to the apostles, which is important not because of the apostles but because of Christ. There is a real historical claim backing each of these up, putting aside doctrine and scripture, claims which have no analogue among apostasists. I am curious what apostasists make of this passage on their own, not just what other verses they go to to defend against this interpretation. All I can think of is what apostasists cannot say. At the core of many heresies [1], if not the spark or the first impulse, there is some understandable, and sometimes laudable, wish. Though all heresies distort some truth at the cost of others, some simplify the truth while others exaggerate a truth. What man tired of mystery isn’t tempted to want a simpler truth better understood, and what man enamored with a point of truth is not tempted to ignore other truths for the sake of his beloved? Righteousness brings conviction, which can be a good, so long as it is applied evenly; no man with in the cancer of self-righteousness convicts oneself. Today, simplification of divine truth is sometimes called modernism. Laughingly so, it must be hoped — accommodationists, seeking to smooth out the hard teachings of the church with a wink or a shrug, have haunted the Church in every age [2], right back to the Arians[3]. Because these Sadducees let fashion or politeness trump truth for the sake of peace, they forget the truth which sustains them; therefore, this sect dies and is forgotten [4]. More sympathetic by far, and more dangerous, is the love of truth. It is not for the hatred of the Church or Christ or the truth that a really dangerous heresy arises, but by obsession with a truth at the cost of others. Not only this, but often it is the same love of truth and hatred of scandal which causes the most lingering schisms from the Church. Take these three: In the early Church was Donatism, in the Middle Ages were the reformers, and in this age exists some forms of traditionalism [5]. Near the shore of a storm-rocked sea, breaking foam crashing against a cliff, a lighthouse may guide the way. It is a kind of pun, and a kind of parable, to say the Church is such a lighthouse: Christ, who is the light, built His house so that we may know the Way toward Him. I have a difficult time believing that the one, narrow Way would make so many local ways, springing up and falling down through the centuries as they do. “If some small mistake were made in doctrine, huge blunders might be made in human happiness.” — G. K. Chesterton If there is one peril — Christians, you know there is ultimately one peril, which is Hell — there must be only one lighthouse. There cannot be a cloud of lighthouses. There must also be a clear idea about what that lighthouse means, where the rocks are in relation. This not just a matter of life and death but a matter of eternal life and eternal death, to borrow a turn of phrase. If there is no clear relation, we are be better off with a lifetime’s intuition, “as infants, tossed about by the waves.” But if Protestantism is true, there are two reasonable possibilities: First, there is not now, and will never again be until the Second Coming, a single lighthouse. This is intolerable, if indeed this is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. Moreover, if Truth so poorly sustains we are less subject to God than to some terrible Demiurge. Hardly Christian; safely discarded. Second, the true light, the Holy Spirit, we must pursue, and in the fire of pursuit are made saints. But this is also hardly Christian. Assuming your copy of Miracles lacks Chapter 11, I’m happy to explain. If men pursue God, who therefore changes, this stands not just opposite to the sense of Jewish revelation but contrary to it. New Atheists invoke the curious case of Hypatia in their mythology of the Christian mob, seeking to undermine the Christian claim of imitating Christ. Though New Atheists abandon good sense along the way, they certainly have the right sense. While Christianity rarely resembles a mob as much as the New Atheism, Christian mobs are always worse. As Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem, all Christians must lament the watering down of Christianity. Only the repentant return from Babylon, and rarely if ever have all returned. Let us remember: In the atheist age of Dawkins, there is no common ground among men opposed to God but a single cri de coeur — or is it cri du jour? — for it is a fist in flickering torchlight, raised alone against the Manor and, often, manners. As a whole, New Atheism is led not so much by figureheads but by acclamation, by which their Adams ascend and fall. They are not a community but for one purpose. If some elements dispute this characterization as odious dictionary atheism, it stands that some dispute it and some defend it. The New Atheism is self-devouring in many senses. If I particularize the New Atheists, do not confuse this with condemning them more than anyone else. Such as it is in the eternal human story, found among pagans of every stripe. Larger devours smaller, shouts drown out saner voices. With no cause but one, such men band together only as barbarians against the eternal city — long enough to divide the spoils, but not so long as to linger together when back home. But Christians — Christians are not made for division. Read the rest of this entry » St. Thomas More’s career does not reveal a nice man, or so YouTube Atheists have revealed many times. Were this true, I could not be more surprised if they said St. Augustine had been licentious. (Arguments focusing on the bad behavior of Christians typically miss the point on several levels.) I don't think this hangs in the papal apartment. Putting aside ad hominem, for that is thankfully not quite universal among the anti-Christian and sadly not exclusive to them, I find two major objections: Bad behavior is not forgotten evidence, but the first evidence, datum numero uno, Exhibit A. Behavior at-large ignores the question of admiration, i.e.: Which Christians admire which Christians and why? Our first objection is somewhat rote, however solidly true, so let’s focus on the second: Just as admiration for St. Thomas More is not from More’s jerkishness but his martyrdom and the events which led to it, St. Thomas Aquinas is not admired for his grand size but for his grander synthesis, and G.K. Chesterton is not admired for his pre-Hitler opinions on the Jews but for the joy and common sense which infused everything else he wrote, including his post-Hitler opinions on the Jews. To wit, which Christians admire the Westboro Baptists? I suppose Westboro Baptists do, but who else? Can we really say that they, if admired by any other Christians, are admired from Christian principles? Read the rest of this entry » Too many of us postmoderns wield words like a fly swatter, in fits haphazard and careful with terms. Definition, best a scalpel for discerning truth, is instead wielded as a sword, and poorly — imagine a stubborn 6-year-old boy with a pocketknife. For example, take Ephesians 5. Say some: Please. Male or female, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, all have some cross, in imitation of Christ. Do we imitate Him further? For reference, refer to the two verses from Ephesians every postmodern knows of: Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord. … and … Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it. Why are men not required to submit? (Why does outrage so often approach glee?) From here we usually see an emotional appeal: Toss Ephesians so to toss Paul so to toss the New Testament so to toss the Bible and finally be rid of Christianity. If we love our brother, we should not let him wave his hand so furiously. His wrist will hurt. We might begin by mentioning the preceding verse — Be subject one to another, in the fear of Christ. — but suppose we forgot this. From just these two verses, and the smattering of Christian teaching everyone knows, we can easily appeal to truth. Read the rest of this entry » Place yourself in the shoes of a pagan who knows little about Christianity, but who has taken the first step of accepting that Christ has authority and Christ is God. Our convert also knows about sin, and has the sense he is missing something. To wit, he’s sick and he knows it. Some particular man may find walking around his fellows while sick helps. Perhaps the fresh air, or the camaraderie, rejuvenates him. As if living a virtuous life were not already difficult enough we have to discern it, too. But this takes too low a view of his illness, which is always terminal. It undermines the clear objection that some sick man be dissuaded of his diagnosis by meeting our wanderer, and vice versa; we also forget the effort may kill him. This also ignores our others, so ill that a brisk walk would always kill them. Hospitals, with doctors and nurses and somewhat controlled conditions, make natural sense. I write this because Christianity presents, broadly, two choices: Merchant square, or Hospital for sinners. If you make the case that God wants the merchant square model, you have a unique argument to hawk. It takes no originality to describe the ascent to truth as climbing a mountain. Christians should take pains to add an emphasis: We do this by only by the grace of God. Whoever we credit, rightly or wrongly, one feature of an ascent to truth is that as we near the peak it becomes clear we are not headed exactly where we thought we would be. Our chosen path turns too rocky; this land is too real. Central to mystery is knowledge before us, but still even more some great knowledge beyond. Discerned as it is by mortal reason, it must occur to us that this summit of small, striking truths can hardly be the Summit of All Truth; this even though the view is nothing we would have thought of; this even though it is eerily as our clearest, sharpest dreams. From higher yet come the subtle hints of the great tapestry which is Creation, and in the thick air up here we see that we are caught on its messy side. From this height there is just the hint, just glimpse enough, of a greater pattern than we can ever know here. We can almost see something just beyond the cusp of the horizon, and only in the corner of our eye does the sun show his face. Leaning forward, outward, past the bay below us, we sometimes see as in a sharp focus that all things, and not only all things we see, point in no uncertain direction. To what? — but at that point the horizon impedes us. Suppose you want to prepare to come into the house of a man you’ve adored from afar, a man who all your life you’ve believed to enjoy bird hunting and collecting postage stamps. Because you know you will meet him someday, you want to know as much about what he likes. These are his defining characteristics, after all — from what could you better discern truths about his character? St. Francis preached for birds, because nobody else was around. Even better, with effort and a fair amount of luck, you find the perfect gift — a sheet of rare 9-cent stamps showing mid-Atlantic waterfowl migration. Having deduced something about his sense of humor, you think he’d especially appreciate the printer’s error. How else would he see the Canadian Goose fly north for the winter? Here’s the trouble: You flavor who he is based on baggage you don’t realize you have. You miss the otherwise obvious clues that show he is instead a fan of the NES game Duck Hunt and rubber line date stamps. When you meet and this folly is revealed, our gracious host accepts your present and loves you all the more for your effort, but it’s still a major missed opportunity. Knowing you as he does, his relationship with you could not be better; your relationship with him must basically start from scratch. His use of Forever postage snaps into focus, and it dawns on you when an orange gun makes sense. There are a few atheist personalities I admire with splagchnizomai, and because of their love for truth. Doctrinally, we know atheists can have truth because God is good and without God exists nothing and nobody, and this parallels the notion introduced to me by annotations in The Divine Comedy that every vice is a twisted virtue. Lewis confirms this, most notably in Out of the Silent Planet, where “evil” has no closer analogue in the Martian language than “bent.” Truth is always the priority. I repeat myself: it is a plain fact that there is truth everywhere. Indeed, it is so plain that we need not resort to religious reasoning to make heads or tails of it, though I did take that liberty. Starting from the premise that no man is wholly without virtue or truth, here are at least a few admirable trends in what so many atheists call simply, “the movement.” Fidelity to truth. Rejection of Christianity may often be the first religious experience an atheist has, if from a place of reverence for truth. If from a place of mockery and iconoclasm for the sake of iconoclasm, however, it is a hollow movement. Believing firmly that belief matters. Fr. Robert Barron pointed out the now-obvious observation that atheists care about religion as much as the deeply devout. They are very vocal. In an age when the Gospel is stifled by pseudo-evangelical compromises and platitudes and doing your own thing, atheism rings like a clear bell in a foggy swamp, to borrow a phrase. The Spark: Pop apologists do not always take sufficient care in addressing actual claims. This distortion provokes the scandal of denying any truth in either claim, as too many find a third and worst path, that of apathy — why worry about truth if there are such vile arguments over it? ... Continue reading →

West Ham United vs Leicester City: Premier League prediction, team live stream, TV channel and match highlights West Ham United vs Leicester City | Premier League | 3:00pm Saturday 20th April | London Stadium Premier League – Follow the Football match between West Ham United vs Leicester City with SPORT2S. Saints boss Hughes has found his position any beneath scrutiny once Premier League action resumed with a 3-2 defeat at Fulham on Saturday, going away them within the relegation zone. – West Ham vs Leicester City – Leicester ar while not Harry Maguire, Rachid Ghezzal and James Maddison for his or her rearranged water buffalo Cup fourth-round tie against Southampton. Defender Maguire (knee) and midfielder Ghezzal (leg) ar each harmed, whereas Maddison is suspended once being sent-off against metropolis on Saturday. Ryan Bertrand could come back for Saints once serving a one-match ban. However, forwards Danny Ings (thigh) and Shane Long (ankle) ar each injury doubts. West Ham United vs Leicester City Preview: How to Watch, Kick-Off Time, Team News and More West Ham United host Leicester City within the Premier League Clash at week34. a tie that was deferred within the wake of the tragic whirlybird crash outside the King Power sports stadium. – West Ham vs Leicester City- Southampton are trying to place themselves on the front foot once more after they trip the King Power sports stadium for weekday night’s tie. That was deferred following the death of Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in an exceedingly whirlybird crash. Hughes believes his players need to target the sport in hand, given the circumstances of the rearranged fixture. The fixture had originally been scheduled for weekday, 30 October, however was deferred once the whirlybird crash outside King Power sports stadium. That killed Foxes owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and 4 others. The winners can host Manchester town within the quarter-finals on weekday, eighteen Dec. Team News Leicester have a bunch of injuries and suspensions to take care of once Spanish midfielder Vicente Iborra picked up a knock at the weekend and was forced off throughout the 1-1 draw away at metropolis. Throughout an equivalent fixture, James Maddison was given his walking orders for 2 yellow cards, that means he are inaccessible for Tuesday’s match.

SIGN UP FOR BREAKING NEWS Get local stories sent straight to your inbox as news breaks. Submit Privacy Notice EXCLUSIVE: Inside look at Bentonville Medical Marijuana Dispensary Plans Share Shares Copy Link Copy Hide Transcript Show Transcript MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS EXPECTED TO BECOME AVAILABLE FOR PATEINTS TO BUY IN JUST THREE WEEKS. TWO DISPENSARIES IN HOT SPRINGS WILL BEGIN SELLING PRODUCTS LIKE THESE TO PATIENTS ON MAY 12, BUT IT COULD BE ANOTHER 2 OR THREE MONTHS BEFORE THIS DISPENSARY IN BENTONVILLE IS UP AND RUNNING. TONIGHT WE'RE TAKING AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT THE PLANS FOR THE RELEAF CENTER IN BENTONVILLE. NATS WITH HAMMERS SWINGING, THE BIG RED GALLERY ON MCNELLY ROAD WILL SOON BE TRANSFORMED INTO THIS STATE OF THE ART DISPENSARY. "We really want to establish with our approach of what we're going to do here. It's not just about coming in to get medical marijuana. It's about understanding what you're suffering from and how this may be a better option and alternative method to provide some relief for you." THE RELEAF CENTER IS ONE OF FOUR MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES APPROVED FOR BUSINESS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. THEY PLAN TO OPEN THEIR DOORS IN MID JUNE. "To make sure we have product secured, knowing that BOLD is going to have their first harvest in the next week or so, we're looking to finalize our purchase order to have our inventory ready." ARKANSAS LAW ALLOWS DISPENSARIES TO GROW UP TO 200 PLANTS - 50 FLOWERS AND 150 IMMATURE BUDS. THE RELEAF CENTER WILL HAVE A GREENHOUSE ON SITE. WHILE MANY IN THE AREA ARE WAITING FOR THE CHANCE TO BUY MEDICAL MARIJUANA, SHANSKY SAYS MORE HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY. "We had 250 applications submitted for that one position, like one position. To the point where like we had to close the portal because it was just unbelievable." BUTTED "like just the amount of support we're getting at this point, clearly there are a lot of people that want to be apart of this and that's exciting." IT'S BEEN MORE THAN TWO YEARS SINCE VOTERS APPROVED MEDICAL MARIJUANA. THEY VOTED YES - IN NOVEMBER OF 2016. THE FIRST PRODUCT BEGAN GROWING IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR... ONE OF THE FIVE CULTIVATION CENTERS IS IN OUR AREA - IN CARROLL COUNTY. PATIENTS WHO WERE APPROVED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE GOT THEIR "ID CARDS" IN FEBRUARY... THAT WILL LET THEM PURCHASE THE PRODUCT - WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE. ACROSS THE BORDER IN OKLAHOMA - VOTERS APPROVED MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN THE SUMMER OF 2018. IT BECAME AVAILABLE JUST MONTHS LATER. SINCE THEN - TAX OFFICIALS HAVE SAID SALES IN THE STATE HAVE TOPPED 12 MILLION DOLLARS.

As cutting-edge technologies such as AI & IoT come into their own around the world, the opportunities for Smart City and FinTech developments in an African context has started to become apparent. How can Artificial Intelligence, 5G, and even African broadcasting fill the continent’s skills gap and drive the burgeoning digital economy? Join the discussion and debate with the thought-leaders spearheading disruptive innovation on the African continent at the AfricaCom Digital Week (https://goo.gl/3YyT9W), taking place online between the 10-14 September 2018. The AfricaCom Digital Week (https://goo.gl/3YyT9W) is free-to-attend series of live webinars, exclusive downloadable resources and discussion forums, focused on the technologies shaping the African tech and telecoms space, right now. You can find out more and register free for the largest online event dedicated to the African digital revolution here: https://goo.gl/3YyT9W If you’re serious about how disruptive innovation is the key to bridging Africa’s digital divide and skills gap, and building our digital economy, take part in the discussion by signing up here: https://goo.gl/3YyT9W

## Codeforces - 1117A. Best Subsegment(最大平均字段) #### [题目链接](https://codeforces.com/problemset/problem/1117/A) >https://codeforces.com/problemset/problem/1117/A #### 题目 给你`n`，以及`n`个数，要你求最大的平均段(即下面的数学表达式)，如果平均数相同，求最长的`R - L + 1`。  ### 解析 关键的地方在于: * 我们要维护数组的一个最大值`max`； * 平均值最大肯定就是这个最大值。 * 然后在最大值的基础上去找可不可以有更长的长度`res`。 代码: ```java import java.io.*; import java.util.*; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner in = new Scanner(new BufferedInputStream(System.in)); PrintStream out = System.out; int n = in.nextInt(); int num, len = 0, res = 0, max = Integer.MIN_VALUE; for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){ num = in.nextInt(); if(num > max){ max = num; res = 1; // find a new len = 1; }else if(num == max) len++; else len = 0; res = Math.max(res, len); } out.println(res); } } ```

1. Introduction {#sec1-ijerph-16-00114} =============== At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a new type of urban form, the mega city-region, first anticipated by Gottmann \[[@B1-ijerph-16-00114]\] emerged across the globe \[[@B2-ijerph-16-00114]\]. As globalization intensifies, these city-regions come to pose many challenging problems to policy-makers and researchers. Urban land, including both soil and groundwater, is often contaminated due to historical industrial operations, heavy traffic activities, as well as urban runoff carrying a variety of anthropogenic pollutants \[[@B3-ijerph-16-00114],[@B4-ijerph-16-00114],[@B5-ijerph-16-00114]\]. The mega city-region is a complex system which involves social, economic, political and ecological sub-systems, and every sub-system forms an inalienable organism with internal interconnection and mutual restriction as well as external inflows. The development of a mega city-region will be affected if any component in it changes. For instance, increased population will exert a huge impact on land and water resources. Due to large population density and large-scale human activities, the ecosystem is fragile and unstable. Compared with natural ecosystem, the resource utilization efficiency is much lower in urban system, and material recycling is linear instead of being close. A great amount of material and energy is exported into the environment in the form of waste, resulting in extensive environmental pollution \[[@B6-ijerph-16-00114],[@B7-ijerph-16-00114]\]. As one of the major mega city-regions in China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region has experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization since the reform opening in 1978. It has long been sensitive to profound conflict between socioeconomic development and environmental pollution in the process of achieving sustainable development. From 1980 to 2015, the urbanization rate increased from 38.86% to 62.5%, and GDP increased from 458.7 to 68,905.2 billion Yuan \[[@B8-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Accompanying rapid economic growth was a serious water shortage and air pollution and both of these aroused nationwide concerns. Su et al. \[[@B9-ijerph-16-00114]\] argue that the mega-region policy achieves the economic goal, but fails to achieve the goals of environmental protection, and social equity in China. In order to understand the impacts of urbanization on eco-environment, developing a conceptual framework has become increasingly important. Understanding how social and ecological systems interact with each other is essential for sustainable development. Over the last several decades, theories such as social-ecological systems (SES), urban metabolism, ecological-economics (EE) and models such as system dynamics model (SD) which analyze complex urban and ecological systems have emerged to help us understand the mechanism between urban development and eco-environment system, and to simulate the environmental consequences by different policy, which will help in prioritizing the policies. There has been a wealth of empirical research that apply these theories/models \[[@B10-ijerph-16-00114],[@B11-ijerph-16-00114],[@B12-ijerph-16-00114],[@B13-ijerph-16-00114],[@B14-ijerph-16-00114],[@B15-ijerph-16-00114],[@B16-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Nevertheless, in rapidly urbanizing regions, how to establish an integrated model which addresses the interaction among the components of urbanization and eco-environment has been fairly scarce due to the complexity of interactions among various system components, and the external influence under the backdrop of globalization makes the situation more complicated. In this research, we propose a framework of a regional sustainable development assessment method which integrate interaction among external inflows, internal urban system and eco-environment, taking the BTH region as an example. The significance of this conceptual framework lies in that it can provide guidance to identify the impacts of external forces and urban development on eco-environment by integrating the internal and external factors. Moreover, a systematic scientific platform for quantitative research of urbanization and eco-environment interaction can be established for simulation and multi-scene analysis in policy-making. The characteristics of this framework is that it addresses the complex dynamics of urbanization and eco-environment in rapid developing regions, avoiding oversimplifying either the ecological or the urban domain, and focuses on interactions that drive the development of the coupled system over time. This paper is organized as follows: firstly, it examines the interaction between urbanization and the eco-environment system and reviews existing frameworks for analyzing urban and eco-environment systems. Moreover, it summarizes the frequently used indicators in urban and ecological systems. In the following section, taking the BTH region as a case, we design a conceptual framework which identifies the challenges facing this region, divides the urbanization and eco-environment systems into six sub-systems and analyzes the correlations between the six sub-systems and external inflow at the cross-scales: global, regional and city. It then proposes the simulation models to examine the interrelations among the internal subsystems, and synthesizes the complex components of mega city-regions in databases to predict the potential impact of globalization, mega project, national policies and urban development on eco-environment. 1.1. Urbanization, Globalization and Their Impacts on Eco-Environment {#sec1dot1-ijerph-16-00114} --------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the past century, the world's urban population increased from about 200 million in 1900 to 4.22 billion in 2018. In 2008, the global urban population exceeded the rural population and over 56.8 percent of people across the globe were living in urban areas in 2018 \[[@B17-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Urbanization creates many human-dominated landscapes and 24% of earth's terrestrial experienced decline in ecosystem function and productivity, due to the transformation of land for human activities \[[@B18-ijerph-16-00114],[@B19-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Over the past one hundred years, ecosystem processes changed more rapidly than at any time in the human history \[[@B20-ijerph-16-00114]\]. The literature of ecological and environmental science before the 1990s viewed the urbanization process merely as environmental ills that caused degradation of ecosystem services. The first negative we see in urbanization is how it affects biodiversity \[[@B21-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Over the past century, the species extinct at the speed of 1000 times of historical rate. Secondly, urbanization has increased the concentration of pollution and changed the climate condition. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 32% since 1750, approximately 60% of that increase has taken place since 1959, primarily due to the combustion of production activities and land use changes during the global high-speed urbanization stage \[[@B20-ijerph-16-00114],[@B22-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Thirdly, urbanization has caused more serious natural disaster losses. The frequency and impact of floods and fires has increased dramatically over the past half century. Last but not least, urbanization changes hydrologic systems, making them more unstable \[[@B23-ijerph-16-00114],[@B24-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Urban construction significantly increases impervious area, and the impact seen includes much more flooding and peak flow volumes, increased sediment loadings, loss of aquatic/riparian habitat, changes in stream physical characteristics, decreased base flow and increased stream temperature \[[@B25-ijerph-16-00114]\], environmental pollution from a river had caused the contamination of soil, groundwater, and air as well \[[@B26-ijerph-16-00114],[@B27-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Although urbanization has had a negative impact on the ecological system, some findings since 2000 suggest that urbanization is not always associated with environmental degradation. Bettencourt \[[@B4-ijerph-16-00114]\] argues that with economic development, urbanization raises environmental awareness, protection and quality. In large urban agglomerations, solutions for sustainable development are more accessible through new technological tools and novel institutional arrangements. Empirical research indicates that social factors such as economic stimulus, population control, governance and regulation in the urbanization process may contribute to an improved environment \[[@B28-ijerph-16-00114],[@B29-ijerph-16-00114],[@B30-ijerph-16-00114],[@B31-ijerph-16-00114]\]. In developed areas, governments encourage producers to clean their own waste or seek alternative production processes to reduce emissions \[[@B20-ijerph-16-00114]\], in developing countries, there is already an intention to actively repair environmental pollution \[[@B32-ijerph-16-00114]\].This complex relationship between environment and economic development is called the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis: environmental performance tends to get worse as modern economy grows until average income reaches a certain point \[[@B29-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Although there is continued debate on Kuznets curve, evidence confirms that some environmental health indicators, such as water and air pollution, manifests an inverted U-shaped curve \[[@B33-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Since the 21st century, globalization has started to exert dramatic impacts on urbanization and ecosystem at a global scale. The impact of globalization on mega city-regions has been two-fold, resulting in positives and negatives. On the one hand, globalization has promoted the rational allocation of markets and the large-scale transfer of rural labour force to urban areas, and speeded up the urbanization process. Moreover, globalization has promoted global environmental governance and has helped extend the idea of sustainable development and the circular economy \[[@B34-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Moreover, globalization has brought about the sharing of innovative technologies and management tools to provide solutions for governance in developing countries \[[@B35-ijerph-16-00114]\]. On the other hand, globalization attaches the blindness of capitalist production and the global expansion of capital \[[@B36-ijerph-16-00114]\], which directly brings about deterioration in human development. In general, the unbalanced development of the global economy has aggravated the deterioration of the ecological environment \[[@B37-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Generally speaking, a consensus on the relationship among urbanization, globalization and eco-environment system has not been achieved, varying from country to country, from region to region. The integrated quantitative measurement of this link has been proved to be a very difficult task. 1.2. Existing Frameworks of Analyzing Urbanization and Eco-Environment Systems {#sec1dot2-ijerph-16-00114} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Over the last several decades, the complexity of interactions between urbanization and eco-environment has attracted wide concern and research from various perspectives have emerged ([Table 1](#ijerph-16-00114-t001){ref-type="table"}). They can be summarized as the following three types according to different focuses and perspectives. 1.3. The City as a Special Type of Ecosystem and Its Demand for Ecological Services {#sec1dot3-ijerph-16-00114} ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the perspective of an ecosystem, urban ecological studies focus on biodiversity, urban metabolism, and ecosystem services ranging from small towns to major metropolitan regions \[[@B44-ijerph-16-00114]\] and they view the urban ecological system as a part of the entire ecosystem and emphasize the impact of urban development on the ecological system. However, the interaction between the urban and ecological system is not their focus. "Urban metabolism" is a typical model which views the city as an ecological system and is defined as 'the sum total interaction of the technical and socio-economic processes that occur in cities, resulting in growth, production of energy, and elimination of waste' \[[@B45-ijerph-16-00114]\]. It includes production, transformation, consumption and exchange of materials, resources, energy and services between a city and its external environment. The concept of an urban metabolic process is frequently used to measure urban or regional socio-economic metabolism \[[@B16-ijerph-16-00114]\], and it provides a holistic perspective to encompass all activities in a city. The analysis of urban metabolic processes in China reveals imbalance between urban and ecological system, such as resource and energy shortages, eco-environmental degradation, falling quality of life in the course of urban and regional development \[[@B6-ijerph-16-00114]\]. The focuses of urban metabolism research are the stocks and flows of different kinds of ecosystem, energy, or biophysical elements; however, they do not discuss people-oriented goals \[[@B46-ijerph-16-00114]\]. MEA \[[@B20-ijerph-16-00114]\] addresses people-oriented goals while analyzing the function of the ecological system and defines ecosystem services as 'the benefits people obtain from ecosystems,' including (1) 'provisioning services' such as food and water; (2) 'regulating services', for example, standard of air and water, regulation of climate, floods, diseases, hazards, and noise); (3) 'cultural services', including recreational, spiritual, religious benefits; and (4) 'supporting services' such as soil formation, primary production, and nutrient cycling. They are mainly concerned with urban demand as an ecosystem, focusing on the impact of urbanization on ecosystem services \[[@B47-ijerph-16-00114]\]. 1.4. Frameworks for Analyzing the Complex and Coupled Urban and Ecological System {#sec1dot4-ijerph-16-00114} --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently, more and more scholars have realized the coupled relationship between urban and ecological systems. They have come to adopt transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to analyze interactions and mechanisms of the coupled systems. Representative theoretical frameworks include ecological-economics, socio-ecological system and human-environment systems. 1.5. Ecological-Economics (EE) {#sec1dot5-ijerph-16-00114} ------------------------------ In the 1980s, ecological economics emerged as a modern discipline, and it focuses on the interdependence and coevolution of economy growth and natural ecosystems at temporal and spatial dimensions \[[@B48-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Faber \[[@B49-ijerph-16-00114]\] defines the focus of ecological economics as nature, justice, and time. While analyzing and evaluating ecological economics, intergenerational equity, irreversibility of environmental change, and uncertainty of long-term outcomes are usually used as criteria. Different from mainstream economic approaches such as cost-benefit analysis, ecological economist Costanza \[[@B13-ijerph-16-00114]\] proposes four basic types of capital assets: (1) built or manufactured capital; (2) human capital; (3) social capital; and (4) natural capital. He argues that the scale and distribution of the urban component should be determined by social decisions reflecting ecological limits, the distribution and resource allocation system must sufficiently recognize the value of social and natural capital. While the analytical framework of EE has become more popular, there are also critiques which regard EE as being unable to address the underlying problems with mainstream economics \[[@B50-ijerph-16-00114]\]. 1.6. Socio-Ecological System (SES) {#sec1dot6-ijerph-16-00114} ---------------------------------- Until the past few decades, the interaction between social and natural sciences was scarce in dealing with social and ecological systems. Since the 1960s the concept of socio-ecological systems has been used to emphasize the integration of human and nature, and SES argues that social and ecological systems are linked through feedback mechanisms, which display both resilience and complexity \[[@B51-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Ostrom \[[@B52-ijerph-16-00114]\] initially put forward a multilevel, nested framework to analyze the SES, which contains four core subsystems: resource systems, resource units, governance systems, and users. Recently, many research studies have applied the SES framework in the integration of resource allocation, environment, pollution, users, social organizations and government regulation \[[@B53-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Initiated from the coupling relationship between climate change and human activities, much research focuses on incorporating human and natural components simultaneously \[[@B54-ijerph-16-00114]\], as well as human-nature interactions and population-resource system management \[[@B55-ijerph-16-00114]\]. While SES is a fast-growing interdisciplinary field, it is complex and adaptive and requires continuous testing, learning, knowledge development and understanding while dealing with change and uncertainty \[[@B56-ijerph-16-00114]\]. 1.7. Driving Forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) {#sec1dot7-ijerph-16-00114} -------------------------------------------------------------- The DPSIR framework started in the late 1970s. DPSIR provides a framework for describing the interactions between humans and the environment, and it is a tool that integrates the environmental and socio-economic impacts for detail analysis. According to the DPSIR framework, social and economic developments and natural conditions exert pressure on the environment, leading to the changes of the environmental state. DPSIR is meaningful for policy design in order to better understand the issues of environment at multiple levels and spatial scales, and it establishes indicators of environment in relation to human activities. Nevertheless, DPSIR also suffers from some drawbacks such as simplicity and linearity which can weaken the reliability of analysis \[[@B41-ijerph-16-00114]\]. 1.8. City as a Nexus System under Governance {#sec1dot8-ijerph-16-00114} -------------------------------------------- Looking inside the urban system, we find that governance and innovation may exert significant impact upon the urban and ecological system. Jacobs \[[@B42-ijerph-16-00114]\] incorporates ideas from different theories, such as world/global city, urban growth regime, agglomeration, and nested city theories, and puts forward the city nexus concept. He argues that a combination of politico-governmental (State), market-economic (Market), civil-societal (Societal), and geographic-natural (Geo-spatial) activities have jointly shaped economic and spatial outcomes in mega city-regions. Comprehensive policy could lead to sustainable urban development and enhance financial benefits by creating favorable conditions. The constant flow of new capital investment, firms, and people generally lead to political fragmentation, income inequality, and geographic dispersion \[[@B42-ijerph-16-00114],[@B57-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Lizarralde et al. \[[@B58-ijerph-16-00114]\] also highlighted the importance of policy-making agendas in enhancing urban planning sustainability and resilience. Moreover, cities are considered the centers of innovation and can advance sustainable management and spatial development strategies \[[@B59-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Rotmans et al. \[[@B60-ijerph-16-00114]\] address the necessity to develop an integrated governance system that can capture the nexus of the environmental, socio-cultural and economic factors that shape the development of creative and sustainable cities. Smart systems can reduce vulnerability, and it is imperative for cities to be resilient if they can be considered smart. Resilience shares much with other key contemporary urban goals such as sustainability, governance and economic development \[[@B30-ijerph-16-00114],[@B31-ijerph-16-00114],[@B61-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Additionally, Kattel et al. \[[@B14-ijerph-16-00114]\] propose an Ecology-Environment and Human Health-Urban design management framework for effective urban planning and social harmony in order to better understand the complementary roles of ecological system in urban development and the functioning of ecosystems and ecological resilience in a complex human-dominated landscape. In general, while analyzing the complex and coupled urban and ecological systems, scholars from different fields have put forward various models/theoretical frameworks to explore the impact of urban development on the ecological system and their interactions ([Figure 1](#ijerph-16-00114-f001){ref-type="fig"}). Based on these frameworks, there has been rich empirical research conducted in developed countries or city-regions. Nevertheless, an integrated and holistic research on the relationship between urbanization and eco-environment in rapid urbanizing regions is fairly scarce, and this is attributed to the dynamic and complex nature of these areas. In reality, there have been external and internal factors which exert dramatic influences on the development of these regions, and the contradiction between urban and ecological systems is more prominent and the demand for system coordination is more pressing compared with developed regions. These regions are more likely to be affected by the external environment, such as globalization, labour migration and national investment ([Figure 2](#ijerph-16-00114-f002){ref-type="fig"}). Meanwhile, the internal interaction among demographic, social, economic, and governance can exert influence on eco-environment to a large extent. Considering the variety and characteristics of rapidly growing regions, it is imperative to develop a conceptual framework suitable for evaluating, analyzing, and predicting potential interactions between urbanization and eco-environment systems from both internal and external perspectives. 2. Indicators Applied in Analysis of Integrated Urbanization and Eco-Environment Systems {#sec2-ijerph-16-00114} ======================================================================================== The selection of indicators plays an essential role in developing the framework of urbanization and eco-environment systems. In order to understand which indicators have been frequently used in the systems, we conducted extensive literature review on existing research; moreover, we examine the indicators developed by international organizations such as the UN and the World Bank. We then categorized these indicators into ten major categories in a combined database to identify the most frequently used indicators. Based on relevant literature, we select indicators based upon the following criteria:(1)High-level relevance with urban-ecology, sustainability, urbanization and eco-cities;(2)High-level relevance with mechanism or driving force of urbanization and eco-environment;(3)Evaluations conducted at the metropolitan/regional level;(4)Clarity of indicator definitions;(5)Clarity of indicator selection criteria and methodology. Next, we went through international and local indicator systems. In 2015, The United Nations approved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With 17 goals, 169 targets, and over 200 indicators, the SDG covers three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental dimensions and their institutional/governance aspects, and addresses some systemic barriers of sustainable development. Likewise, in the 2017 edition of the World Development Indicators \[[@B62-ijerph-16-00114]\] proposed by the World Bank, cross-country comparable data was compiled. The database covers six main sections (world view, poverty and prosperity, people, environment, economy, state and market, global links) and contains more than 1400 time series indicators for 217 economies and more than 40 country groups. The International Organization for Standardization proposed ISO-37120 "Sustainable Development of Communities Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life", which considers telecommunication and innovation, transportation and urban planning as key factors in sustainable development along with the others mentioned above. In 2014, the Japanese government put forward the "Future City" model for sustainable cities with superior environmental technologies, core infrastructure and resilience \[[@B63-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Moreover, some indicators have been proposed for specific habitats and environments. Upon reviewing international standards, the following categories of the indicator systems can be identified:Indicator systems that comprehensively measure social, ecological, economic, political, and cultural systems and are internationally applicable: SDG \[[@B17-ijerph-16-00114]\], WDI \[[@B62-ijerph-16-00114]\].Indicator systems that comprehensively measure social-ecological systems and are nationally or locally applicable: Japan Future City Initiatives 2011, etc. \[[@B63-ijerph-16-00114]\].Indicator systems focused on a specific habitat or environment in the urban context: urban forest ESG indicator \[[@B64-ijerph-16-00114]\], urban landscape, etc.Indicator systems focused on relationship or flows between economy and ecologyIndicator systems focused on a certain function of economy to society: natural services. These indicators are mostly rooted in the global and national level, and stem from various purposes. It is necessary to screen the relevant systems for regional and urban development. Based on the results of literature and international standards review, we record the frequencies of indicators ([Figure 3](#ijerph-16-00114-f003){ref-type="fig"}). After summarizing the frequently used indicators, we divide urbanization system into six categories: demographic, society, economy, infrastructure, governance and innovation, and eco-environment, which is classified into water, territorial, air, energy/resources and creature. 3. A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Urbanization and Eco-Environment Systems in Mega-City Region: An Example of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region {#sec3-ijerph-16-00114} ==================================================================================================================================================== With reference to the above-mentioned framework, we diagnose the problems and challenges facing mega city-regions of China and propose a five-step conceptual framework to guide the analysis of complex and coupled urbanization and eco-environment systems in mega city-regions. Since this conceptual framework is problem and objectives-oriented, the first step is to identify the major place-specific problems and challenges to be diagnosed. This step should involve relevant stakeholders, in particular, various levels of governments, institutions, firms, and local residents in the Chinese context, which can help to diagnose problems precisely and initiate a process of co-design efforts \[[@B65-ijerph-16-00114]\]. The second step is to put the mega city-region into a global context and analyze the potential positive/negative impacts of globalization on the urbanization and eco-environment system of mega city-regions. Step 3 devolves the urbanization and eco-environment system of mega city-regions into six sub-systems: demographic, society, economic, environmental, governance, and transport systems, and their inter-dependency is also analyzed. Based on data availability, Step 4 further defines the variables in each sub-system. With the input of these variables, Step 5 suggests a simulation model to examine the impacts of urbanization on the eco-environment system. 3.1. Step 1: Diagnose Problems and Challenges Facing Mega City-Regions {#sec3dot1-ijerph-16-00114} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Located in central China ([Figure 4](#ijerph-16-00114-f004){ref-type="fig"}), the BTH region is one of the three most developed urban agglomerations in the country. It covers a land area of 218,000 km^2^ and the population reached 110 million in 2014. Since the opening reform, the BTH region has experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization. In 2015, the BTH region created 10.2% of the national GDP with its 2.25% of the national land area and 8.1% of the national population \[[@B66-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Meanwhile, 7.72% of waste water, 9.35% of waste gas emission and 14.74% of industrial solid waste came from the BTH region in 2012 \[[@B67-ijerph-16-00114]\]. This region has long faced increasingly serious resource and environmental problems, in particular, air pollution and water resource shortage and an enlarging regional disparity in social-economic development. The annual water supply of the BTH region was 2.78 billion m^3^ in 2014, and the water resource per capita is only 1/9 of the national average and around 70% of the water came from underground exploitation \[[@B68-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Chen et al. \[[@B69-ijerph-16-00114]\] find that land subsided with a rate greater than 100 mm/year in the eastern part of Beijing from 2003 to 2011.The air quality of the BTH region has long been a worldwide concern. In 2015, the days of severe pollution reached 154. According to research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at least 25% of industrial pollution is contributed to smog in Beijing and the source of air pollution in Beijing was mostly from the outside surrounding provinces, especially Hebei, where the manufacturing industry such as steel production takes a dominant share of the economy \[[@B67-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Limited land resources is another factor constraining the development of the BTH region. From 2004 to 2013, the built-up area increased 10.5% in Beijing, 49.4% in Tianjin, and 43.1% in Hebei \[[@B54-ijerph-16-00114]\], leading to a significant loss of farmland. Regional disparity has long been a barrier for sustainable development in the BTH region. Compared with Beijing and Tianjin, Hebei is considerably disadvantaged in social and economic development ([Table 2](#ijerph-16-00114-t002){ref-type="table"}). In 2015, the urbanization rate of Beijing and Tianjin reached above 80% but that of Hebei was only 51.33% in 2015. The GDP per capita of both Beijing and Tianjin exceeded 100,000 yuan in 2015, while that of Hebei was only 40% of that in Beijing and Tianjin. Likewise, the disposable incomes of households in Beijing and Tianjin were much higher than that of Hebei. In terms of educational and medical services, Beijing stands out in the BTH region. Compared with Beijing and Tianjin, the secondary industry took a dominant share in the industrial structure of Hebei, among which the iron and steel industry was the pillar industry. Hebei has long been the top iron and steel producer in China, accounting for 23% of all iron and steel produced in the country \[[@B70-ijerph-16-00114]\], and it has been regarded as one of major reasons for heavy smog in the BTH region. In general, rapid urbanization and industrialization have made the ecological environment of BTH increasingly fragile. Rapid population growth and reliance on the manufacturing industry have been two key factors for threatening the conservation of the environment \[[@B54-ijerph-16-00114],[@B67-ijerph-16-00114]\]. 3.2. Step 2: Defining the External Inflow into Mega City-Regions {#sec3dot2-ijerph-16-00114} ---------------------------------------------------------------- As above-mentioned, the globalization has significant influences on society, environment, government governance and innovation, and it reconfigures the economic structure, social structure and spatial layout of key node cities in the world. Positive effects of globalization on the BTH Region are revealed at the following four aspects: (1) Import trade and export remarkably raises the urbanization level \[[@B71-ijerph-16-00114]\]; (2) The global market links facilitate the upgrading of the service industry (especially finance, logistics and productive service industry) and promotes the formation of the BTH Free Trade Zone, culture and creativity parks and other special legal, social and cultural spaces, such as the Tianjin Free Trade Zone and the 798 Arts Zone; (3) Industrial upgrading caused by the information industry redistributes the spatial layout of population and a headquarters economy gives impetus to talent gathering while industrial suburbanization helps population decentralization become a reality; (4) Spatial integration of BTH region is promoted in terms of population distribution, regional traffic, portal functions, ecological environment and other aspects \[[@B72-ijerph-16-00114]\]. The negative environmental effects of globalization are also seen in the BTH region. According to the research of Zhao \[[@B73-ijerph-16-00114]\] on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and environmental quality in the BTH region from 1995 to 2013, depending on the industry types, the FDI in Beijing reduced regional environmental pollution, the FDI in Tianjin aggravated environmental pollution, while the FDI in Hebei had no obvious impact on environmental quality. With the upgrading of the industrial structure, the interaction between urbanization and the eco-environment in the BTH region begins to follow the Kuznets Curve \[[@B74-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Under the backdrop of globalization, the external influences of mega city-regions are diversified. Some researches suggests that labour mobility, market environment and foreign investments are related to the globalization \[[@B75-ijerph-16-00114]\] Global cities need a variety of cultural and recreational facilities for social networks, which greatly promote the large shopping center, tourism, sports facilities and social infrastructure to support the consumer-oriented mega-project. Mega projects often become engines of urban or regional development and promote the formation of new industrial space, urban development and spatial restructuring \[[@B76-ijerph-16-00114]\], attracting a large amount of labor migration. In China, national policy has significant impacts on urbanization and eco-environment of mega city-regions. On the one hand, the national policy changes overall market environment, which has important influence on the investment outside the region. On the other hand, national policies such as household registration policy, employment policy and mid-term and long-term national strategy dramatically affect migration, investment direction \[[@B77-ijerph-16-00114]\] and human health \[[@B78-ijerph-16-00114]\]. At the same time, global climate change as an external factor, such as carbon dioxide agglomeration and climate warming \[[@B79-ijerph-16-00114]\], which means additional heat resources, with a positive effect on agricultural production season \[[@B80-ijerph-16-00114]\]. 3.3. Step 3: Defining System Boundaries, Subsystems and Variables {#sec3dot3-ijerph-16-00114} ----------------------------------------------------------------- One way of understanding a complex system is to deconstruct it into components and define their boundaries. Given the complexity of the problem, we have to take cross-scale factors into consideration. For instance, at the global scale, FDI and trade of import and export can contribute to economic growth, generating increasing demand on land, water use and pollution risks. While at the local scale, population and economic growth, and investment in infrastructure will inevitably result in the increasing demand on water, land and energy use, and governance can aggravate or alleviate these influences. In this research, we divide the "Urbanization and Eco-environment system" into six types of subsystems, illustrated in [Figure 5](#ijerph-16-00114-f005){ref-type="fig"}. The "Urbanization and Eco-environment system" refers to a complex and dynamic system coupled by urbanization components of demographic, society, economy, infrastructure, governance and innovation, and eco-environment components of water, territorial, air, energy and creature in the context of rapid urbanization. (1) The demographic subsystem includes variables such as urban and rural population size, population density, population growth rate, immigration and emigration rate and urbanization rate; (2) In the society subsystem, variables such as employment/ unemployment, basic social security coverage rate, life expectancy, investment in public health care and education are identified; (3) The economy subsystem includes variables of foreign investment, total value of import and export trade, GDP, GDP per capita, investment in fixed assets and output values of primary industry, secondary industry and tertiary industry; (4) The infrastructure subsystem includes variables of highway mileage, traffic volume of various traffic systems, infrastructure coverage, mobile phone and network coverage; (5) The governance and innovation subsystem includes variables of government revenue and expenditure, environmental management capacity and investment in scientific and technological innovation; The eco-environment system includes variables of energy and resources, land use, biological environment, water environment and atmospheric environment. In addition, under the external influence of market environment, foreign investment labor support and climate change, the actual use of foreign capital, foreign direct investment, total import and export trade, population immigration/emigration rate, greenhouse gas concentration, agricultural production and average temperatures will be taken into index system ([Table 3](#ijerph-16-00114-t003){ref-type="table"}). 3.4. Step 4: Defining the Interdependency of Components {#sec3dot4-ijerph-16-00114} ------------------------------------------------------- The above-mentioned six subsystems and external influence factors connect to form an integrated "Urbanization and Eco-environment system." In this model, there is a dynamic feedback relationship among different subsystems intermingled with external factors. In the context of globalization, the economy subsystem has significant influence on the employment/unemployment rate, government revenue and expenditure, innovation in science and technology, and population immigration and emigration. Various industries produce pollutants with a negative impact on environment. In the demographic subsystem, urban population size can not only affect economic scales, pollutants and traffic volume, but also generate higher demands on social security. In the infrastructure subsystem, pollution caused by transportation has an adverse influence on the atmospheric environment. In the governance and innovation subsystem, government expenditures play a dominant role in economy, ecological, society subsystem and infrastructure subsystems. While in ecological subsystem, policies of land and energy afford various opportunities for economic development. Within a subsystem, there are a variety of causal feedback relationships among variables ([Figure 6](#ijerph-16-00114-f006){ref-type="fig"}). Based on the feedback loop among the variables, causal relationships can be described as follows: (1) in the demographic subsystem, urban and rural population size is a key variable. Future population growth can be calculated according to the urbanization rate and population growth rate. After the urbanization level rises to some extent, the immigration and emigration rate of population declines and the urban population ceases growing; (2) In the society subsystem, an increasing investment in education can raise the employment rate, an increasing investment in public health care and expansion of basic social security coverage can extend life expectancy; (3) In the economy subsystem, FDI, total value of import and export trade, and investment in fixed assets not only influence output values of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, but also contribute to changes in GDP and per capita GDP; (4) In the infrastructure subsystem, increasing infrastructure coverage can raise traffic volume and network coverage; (5) In the governance and innovation subsystem, government revenue and expenditures can exert direct or indirect impact on innovation in science and technology. In the eco-environment system, among land use factors, city growth not only gives rise to changes in various types of land use, but also leads to changes in biodiversity. Among water environment factors, all kinds of water use variables affect the sewage treatment variable resulting in water pollution. Among atmospheric environmental factors, various pollutant emission variables lead to changes in air quality. In order to examine correlations among variables, we select one/two variables in each subsystem to conduct a bivariate analysis to test the interdependency between urbanization and eco-environment. We use population size, investment in education and health care, GDP, FDI, highway mileage, number of patents applied/granted, government revenue/expenditure, built-up area as surrogates of the demographic, social, economy, infrastructure and governance, and eco-environment subsystems and apply the panel data of the BTH region from 2000 to 2015. [Table 4](#ijerph-16-00114-t004){ref-type="table"} reveals the results of the bivariate analysis, and all variables are significantly positively correlated. Moreover, the urbanization and eco-environment system is a multi-level open and dynamic system, the internal development, external influence and eco-environment are interrelated, and mutually restrained. The complex relationships between them have both positive and negative influence on urban and eco-systems, and their coordination is a prerequisite for urban sustainable development. In order to identify the strength of coordination between the internal development level, external influence and eco-environment, the coupling coordination degree model in physics science was used in this paper. It could be used to characterize the degree of coordination between two or more systems \[[@B81-ijerph-16-00114]\], the calculation method could be seen in Equation (1):$$C = 3 \times \left\{ \frac{I_{i} \times Env_{i} \times E_{i}}{\left\lbrack {I_{i} + Env_{i} + E_{i}} \right\rbrack^{3}} \right\}^{\frac{1}{3}}$$ $$T = 0.3I_{i} + 0.4Env_{i} + 0.3E_{i}$$ $$D = \sqrt{C \times T}$$ $$D = \sqrt{3 \times \left\{ \frac{I_{i} \times Env_{i} \times E_{i}}{\left\lbrack {I_{i} + Env_{i} + E_{i}} \right\rbrack^{3}} \right\}^{\frac{1}{3}} \times \left( {0.3I_{i} + 0.4Env_{i} + 0.3E_{i}} \right)}$$ where *i* is the spatial area; *I~i~* is the internal development score of *i* region, *Env~i~* is the eco-environment score of *i* region, and *E~i~* is the external influence score of *i* region, all of them are evaluated with the weighted sum method by using normalized indicators mentioned above. D indicates the degree of coupling. D can be divided into four intervals: (1) D \< 0.3, unbalanced development; (2) 0.3 \< D \< 0.6, barely balanced development; (3) 0.6 \< D \< 0.8, favourably balanced development; (4) D \> 0.8 the, superiorly balanced \[[@B81-ijerph-16-00114],[@B82-ijerph-16-00114],[@B83-ijerph-16-00114]\]. [Figure 7](#ijerph-16-00114-f007){ref-type="fig"} reveals the result of coupling degree in BTH and Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, respectively. As illustrated, the degree of coupling coordination (D) increased from seriously unbalanced development to barely balanced and then superiorly balanced development in BTH region in 2015, although there were some fluctuations. For Beijing, D kept growing and reached at superiorly balanced development in 2015; for Tianjin, a downturn of the eco-environment subsystem occurred in 2012, resulting in the decrease of coupling coordination degree; for Hebei, the degree of coupling coordination continued growing and the whole system reached a status of favourably balanced development after 2012. 3.5. Step 5: Run the Simulation Model to Assess and Predict the Impact of Urbanization on Eco-Environment {#sec3dot5-ijerph-16-00114} --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While analyzing the complicated and interactive relationship between multiple components, models such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and System Dynamics (SD) have been adopted \[[@B72-ijerph-16-00114],[@B84-ijerph-16-00114]\]. In the case of BTH region, we take System Dynamics (SD) model as an example to evaluate interactions between urbanization and eco-environment. SD is an approach to understanding nonlinear behavior of complex systems over time, and a computer-aided approach to policy analysis and design. SD begins with defining problems dynamically, proceeds to steps for building confidence in the model and its policy implications. The basis of SD model is that there are many circular, interlocking, and sometimes time-delayed relationships among the components of urbanization and eco-environment system, which shape the behaviors of individual components. SD has been widely applied in many areas, and it is particularly helpful in research of interdependent population, economic, and ecological systems. Based on the above-mentioned interdependency evaluation among different subsystems and variables, a stock-flow diagram can be drawn, and then the SD model is constructed according to the characteristics and laws of subsystems ([Figure 8](#ijerph-16-00114-f008){ref-type="fig"}). After the model is completed, it can be a systematic scientific platform for quantitative research of urbanization and eco-environment interaction. The platform can serve the following functions: (1) A basic simulation function: quantitative simulation of urbanization and eco-environment interaction in the dynamic urbanization process, which can reveal the evolution of the mechanism and laws between them; (2) An early warning function: the signal model can be used to alert for possible problems during the urbanization process and analyze problems; (3) A multi-scene analysis function: a number of scenarios can be designed in the process of long-term urbanization and ecological environment simulation, in order to help governments with their decision making process, for example, the impact of fertility and economic policies on energy use, the impact of transportation policies on pollutant emissions can be predicted \[[@B72-ijerph-16-00114]\]; (4) An external interface function: supporting the latest external data and allowing experts, researchers, and the public to use the model remotely to help in decision making. 4. Conclusions {#sec4-ijerph-16-00114} ============== Rapid urbanization is a global phenomenon that has caused significant changes in many ecosystems, and generated ecological risks \[[@B47-ijerph-16-00114]\]. Untangling the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment is complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach. Spatially, urbanization has heterogeneous impacts on ecosystems due to the disparity of urban expansion and population mobility in different places. In China, the rapid industrialization and urbanization process has resulted in dramatic urban growth and pollution, and growing demand for resources, increasingly challenging the long term sustainability of city-regions \[[@B85-ijerph-16-00114]\]. By taking the BTH region as an example, this research proposes a preliminary framework of analyzing mega city-regions through integrating the internal urbanization, external influence and eco-environment. The objective is to show how we can use this framework to systematically consider different components affecting eco-environment, and understand possible causal relationships, and potential outcomes of government policies and their consequence. This conceptual framework can serve as a reference and guidance for policy-making in mega city-regions. It can provide a preliminary guide to the development of new approaches to understand and diagnose the casual relationship between urban policies and ecological consequences, and synthesize the complex components of mega city-regions in databases, and predict the potential impact of urban policies on the ecological system. Therefore, the proposed framework can contribute to possible solutions of sustainability problems of mega city-regions in a rapidly urbanizing context. Further empirical research applying this framework in different spatial scales is needed to test and optimize this model. L.T. and Y.Z. developed the original idea and contributed to the conceptual framework; L.T. wrote the paper; G.X. and C.F. were responsible for data collection, process and analysis; C.G. and Y.Z. provided improving suggestions. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. This research is under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41590844) and National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFD1100105). The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results. {#ijerph-16-00114-f001} {#ijerph-16-00114-f002} {#ijerph-16-00114-f003} {#ijerph-16-00114-f004} {#ijerph-16-00114-f005} ![Internal correlation and external inflows of Urbanization and Eco-environment subsystems. Source: Edited according to Wang et al. \[[@B74-ijerph-16-00114]\].](ijerph-16-00114-g006){#ijerph-16-00114-f006} {#ijerph-16-00114-f007} {#ijerph-16-00114-f008} ijerph-16-00114-t001_Table 1 ###### Existing frameworks of analysing urban and ecological systems. Theory Components Purpose References Application ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- City as a special type of ecosystem Urban biodiversity & ecosystem forests, grasslands, and wetlands Assess the effect of urbanization on ecological system Hamer & McDonnell, 2008; Wei et al., 2014 \[[@B10-ijerph-16-00114],[@B38-ijerph-16-00114]\] Urban forest and landscape management Urban metabolism production, transformation, consumption and exchange of materials, resources, energy and services Measure urban or regional socio-economic metabolism Barles, 2010 \[[@B16-ijerph-16-00114]\] Material and energy cycle assessment; Environmental footprint analysis Ecosystem services provisioning services; regulating services; cultural services; supporting services Provide ecological, environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits for mankind Jones et al., 2013 \[[@B39-ijerph-16-00114]\] Ecosystem service markets planning; Assessment of urbanization impacts City as a coupled system Ecological Economics Four-Capital Framework Balanced Eco-system of (1) built or manufactured capital; (2) human capital; (3) social capital and natural capital Vemuri, 2006 \[[@B40-ijerph-16-00114]\] Urban and regional planning approach Ultimate ends---Intermediate means---Ultimate means Create an overarching goal with clear metrics of progress toward sustainable development Costanza & Kubiszewski, 2016; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2014) \[[@B13-ijerph-16-00114],[@B17-ijerph-16-00114]\] Sustainable wellbeing model and measurement SES Four core subsystems: resource systems, resource units, governance systems, and users Organize different concepts and languages to describe and explain complex social-ecological systems (SESs) Ostrom (2007, 2009); Grimm et al., 2008 \[[@B11-ijerph-16-00114],[@B12-ijerph-16-00114],[@B18-ijerph-16-00114]\] Urban environmental stewardship; Urban-ecological network structure; Analysis of dynamics within urban SES DPSIR Driver, pressure, state, impact, response Develop an improved understanding of, indicators for, and appropriate responses to impact of human activities on the environment Manap, 2012 \[[@B41-ijerph-16-00114]\] Capture socioeconomic influential factors; Integration of ecosystem services and human well-being; DPSIR indicator system City as a nexus system Nexus Model State, Market, Societal, and Geospatial Bridging the State, Market, Societal, and Geospatial contexts Jacobs, 2013 \[[@B42-ijerph-16-00114]\] Complex urban-ecological system analysis; Governance promotion Smart city domains Natural resources and energy, Transport and mobility, Buildings, Government, Economy and people Nexus for sustainable development with daily life of human beings Neirotti et al., 2014 \[[@B43-ijerph-16-00114]\] Smart cities Designing, planning, and management; urban community transition; Innovation and governance promotion E-LAUD framework Ecology---Environment & Human Health-Urban design management Better understanding the complementary roles of ecological system in urban development and the functioning of ecosystems and ecological resilience in a complex human-dominated landscape Kattel, 2013 \[[@B14-ijerph-16-00114]\] Ecology-Environment and Human Health-Urban design management ijerph-16-00114-t002_Table 2 ###### Social-economic development of BTH. (BHT: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei.). Region Beijing Tianjin Hebei ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- -------------- ---------------- ---------------- Population (million persons) 15.3 19.62 21.71 10.43 12.99 15.47 68.51 71.94 74.25 Urbanization rate 83.6% 86.0% 86.5% 75.1% 79.6% 82.6% 37.7% 44.5% 51.3% GDP (billion yuan) 696.95 1411.36 2301.46 390.56 922.45 1653.82 1001.21 2039.43 2980.61 GDP per capita (yuan) 45,993 73,856 106,497 37,796 72,994 107,995 14,659 28,668 40,255 Industrial structure (Primary industry: secondary industry: tertiary industry) (%) 1.2:28.9:69.9 0.8:23.6:75.6 0.6:19.7:79.7 2.9:54.7:42.4 1.6:52.5:45.9 1.3:46.6:52.1 14:52.7:33.3 12.6:52.5:34.9 11.5:48.3:40.2 Annual disposable income of urban households (yuan) 17,563.0 29,073.0 52,859.0 12,638.6 24,292.6 34,101.0 9107.1 16,263.4 26,152.2 Annual disposable income of rural households (yuan) 7860 13,262 20,569 7202 11,801 18,482 3481.6 5958 11,050.5 Number of primary school students per teacher 10.3 13.2 14.3 13.0 13.6 15.0 15.6 16.0 18.6 Medical beds of per 1000 population 6.65 6.83 7.76 3.98 3.76 4.12 2.37 3.47 4.61 ijerph-16-00114-t003_Table 3 ###### Urbanization, eco-environment subsystems and variables. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subsystem/Inflows Indicator ---------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- ------------------------------- Internal variables Urbanization Demographic Urban/rural population population growth rate population density Society Employment/unemployment rate Life expectancy per capita Basic social security coverage Investment in education Investment in public health care Economy GDP GDP of primary, second and tertiary industry Urbanization Rate Infrastructure Highway mileageInfrastructure coverage Mobile phone/Network coverage Traffic volume of different transportation systems Governance/Innovation Investment in science and technology innovation Government revenue/expenditure Eco-environment Air Sulphur Emissions Nitride emission PM~2-5~/PM~10~ content Creature Species diversity/number of endangered species Territorial Area of construction land Grassland/woodland/arable land (coverage) Energy/Resources Renewable energy consumptionEnergy (per unit) consumption Water Living water consumption Industrial water consumption Agricultural water consumption Sewage treatment External flow Globalization\ Actual use of foreign capital Mega Project\ National Policy\ Climate Change Foreign direct investment Total import and export trade Population immigration/emigration rate Agricultural production Average temperatures Greenhouse gas concentration Subsystem/inflows Indicator Internal variables Urbanization Demographic Urban /rural population population growth rate population density Society Employment/unemployment rate Life expectancy per capita Basic social security coverage Investment in education Investment in public health care Economy GDP GDP of primary, second and tertiary industry Urbanization Rate Infrastructure Highway mileage\ Infrastructure coverage Mobile phone/Network coverage Traffic volume of different transportation systems Governance/Innovation Investment in science and technology innovation Government revenue/expenditure Eco-environment Air Sulphur Emissions Nitride emission PM2-5/PM10 content Creature Species diversity/number of endangered species Territorial Area of construction land Grassland/woodland/arable land (coverage) Energy/Resources Renewable energy consumption\ Energy (per unit) consumption Water Living water consumption Industrial water consumption Agricultural water consumption Sewage treatment External flow Globalization\ Actual use of foreign capital Mega Project\ National Policy\ Climate Change Foreign direct investment Total import and export trade Population immigration/emigration rate Agricultural production Average temperatures Greenhouse gas concentration -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ijerph-16-00114-t004_Table 4 ###### Correlation test of urbanization and eco-environment indicators of BTH in 2000--2015. X~1~ X~2~ X~3~ X~4~ X~5~ X~6~ X~7~ X~8~ X~9~ X~10~ X~11~ ------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------- X~1~ 1 X~2~ 0.896 \*\* 1 X~3~ 0.851 \*\* 0.984 \*\* 1 X~4~ 0.901 \*\* 0.997 \*\* 0.990 \*\* 1 X~5~ 0.860 \*\* 0.987 \*\* 0.997 \*\* 0.993 \*\* 1 X~6~ 0.846 \*\* 0.978 \*\* 0.998 \*\* 0.985 \*\* 0.996 \*\* 1 X~7~ 0.876 \*\* 0.993 \*\* 0.996 \*\* 0.996 \*\* 0.996 \*\* 0.992 \*\* 1 X~8~ 0.903 \*\* 0.997 \*\* 0.988 \*\* 0.997 \*\* 0.989 \*\* 0.985 \*\* 0.994 \*\* 1 X~9~ 0.812 \*\* 0.946 \*\* 0.985 \*\* 0.962 \*\* 0.981 \*\* 0.990 \*\* 0.973 \*\* 0.957 \*\* 1 X~10~ 0.779 \*\* 0.930 \*\* 0.977 \*\* 0.944 \*\* 0.969 \*\* 0.985 \*\* 0.959 \*\* 0.943 \*\* 0.995 \*\* 1 X~11~ 0.823 \*\* 0.929 \*\* 0.962 \*\* 0.943 \*\* 0.993 \*\* 0.976 \*\* 0.958 \*\* 0.937 \*\* 0.993 \*\* 0.848 \*\* 1 Note: X~1~ = Built-up Area; X~2~ = Population; X~3~ = Expenditure of Education & Medical and Health Care; X~4~ = GDP; X~5~ = Government Revenue; X~6~ = Government Expenditure; X~7~ = FDI; X~8~ = Highway Mileage; X~9~ = Number of patents applied; X~10~ = Number of patents granted; X~11~ = Actual use of foreign capital. \*\* Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Insurers say the state did not budget enough money this year to cover the added costs. The health insurers say the deficits are the result of an expensive new hepatitis C drug and a surge of nearly 190,000 new members — many with serious medical issues — assigned to the companies by MassHealth, the state Medicaid program. Buckling from more than $140 million in losses since the start of the year, companies that insure Medicaid patients are pressing the Patrick administration to increase payments they receive from the state for serving low-income residents. “It’s had a destabilizing effect,” said Susan Coakley, interim chief executive of Boston Medical Center’s Health Net, the largest of the Medicaid managed care insurers that provide coverage to low-income residents under contracts with the state. “The program is in flux and in disarray.” State health officials, who have been discussing the problem with the Medicaid insurers, say their data analysis does not corroborate all of the insurers’ claims. But they are expected this week to propose higher reimbursement rates to the insurers for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 that will reflect updated data on medical and drug costs. Deborah C. Enos, Neighborhood Health Plan president, whose organization accounted for more than half of the losses incurred by the Medicaid plans, said insurers believe the state understands the severity of the financial burden. “There is a recognition that something has happened that was different than anticipated,” she said. There’s no indication the problems affecting insurers have compromised the health of patients. While thousands have been assigned new insurance coverage, most have kept their doctors, said Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, executive director of the Massachusetts nonprofit Health Care for All, which assists low-income residents. “The marketplace feels very volatile, but the experience of patients and consumers and their access to care have been pretty seamless,” Whitcomb Slemmer said. MassHealth provides Medicaid insurance, partly funded by the federal government, to more than 1 million low-income Massachusetts residents. The state agency insures some of those people directly, but about three-quarters are served by a half-dozen private Medicaid insurers. Insurance companies expected the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi — with a cure rate exceeding 90 percent — would go on the market this year. They also knew doctors would prescribe it for the disproportionate number of Medicaid patients with the liver-ravaging virus. But insurers say they were blindsided by the $1,000-a-pill price set by drug maker Gilead Sciences, which adds up to about $84,000 per patient for a full course of treatment. Similarly, the health plans anticipated an influx of new members this year because of an expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. The law increased reimbursements to the state, making more residents eligible for government insurance. It also required Massachusetts to discontinue some subsidized health insurance, start new programs, and reassign tens of thousand of people to different coverage. Much of the reshuffling was supposed to have been done through the updated Massachusetts Health Connector website. But when the site did not work, MassHealth officials had to assign members without the planned electronic interface to new federal eligibility guidelines. According to insurers, that has resulted in more patients with costly medical problems going to private companies while a higher number of healthier patients have been assigned to a temporary fee-for-service Medicaid program run by the state. “Because the website was broken, the rest of the system got turned on its head,” said Christopher “Kit” Gorton, president of Network Health, a Medford-based Medicaid insurer owned by Tufts Health Plan that lost $16 million in the first half of the year. By far, the biggest six-month operating loss — $99 million — was reported by Neighborhood Health Plan, a Boston-based Medicaid insurer acquired in 2012 by Partners HealthCare System, the state’s largest hospital and physicians network. Neighborhood Health officials said they were swamped with 60,600 new members between January and June — far more than they counted on — with many filing medical claims far beyond reimbursement rates they received from the state. Neighborhood Health said the new members increased its medical costs by about $28 million in the most recent quarter. The insurer set up a reserve to cover another $26 million in projected losses in the current quarter. Neighborhood Health attributed $10 million in costs to Sovaldi claims, and another $4 million to the state website problems in the three months ending June 30. The added expenses caused parent Partners, which operates Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals, to show an operating deficit for the April-to-June period. State officials said they are not convinced Partners’ analysis of the costs is accurate. “We have been engaged with Partners’ Neighborhood Health Plan in a review of the issues raised by their organization and, thus far, have not been able to corroborate what they have identified as the cause of the questions they are facing,” said Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. “We remain committed to continuing the conversation on this issue and will work with [Neighborhood Health] and the other managed care organizations to find solutions, where necessary.” Losses are mounting at other Medicaid insurers as well. Health Net, a statewide Medicaid insurer owned by Boston Medical Center, posted $27 million in losses for the first six months of 2014. The much smaller Health New England in Springfield, owned by Baystate Health, registered a loss of $500,000. All blame underfunding from MassHealth. “The state changed the Medicaid rating categories and expanded the eligibility,” said Thomas Ebert, chief medical officer of Health New England. “Their actuaries did as well as they could to try to determine what the eligibility was going to be, but they were off the mark.” Each of the Medicaid insurers tells a different story about what accounted for its financial loss. While the largest part of the Neighborhood Health deficit was blamed on a surge in high-cost members, Network Health cited Sovaldi. Both were factors for Health Net and Health New England, with Health Net officials saying about half of its additional costs came from Sovaldi and half from new members. And though Neighborhood Health and Network Health both say they received far more new members than expected, Health Net reported fewer new members. All of the Medicaid plans say their new members have had more medical needs than anticipated. They include many older patients, people with behavioral health issues, and pregnant women, they said. Insurance executives were hesitant to predict how their appeals for more state money will be resolved, but they say underfunding by MassHealth threatens their long-term finances. More from today's paper “The state is under a lot of pressure from a lot of people,” Ebert said. “But they have to understand the impact of these issues on the plans. And we have to hope for the best.” Robert Weisman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeRobW.

Russian forces attack Pussy Riot members 0:28 Cossack militia men have attacked the Pussy Riot punk group with horsewhips while they protested in Sochi. Sky News 20 Feb 2014 News COSSACK militia have attacked the Pussy Riot punk group with horsewhips as the group tried to perform under a sign advertising the Sochi Olympics. Six group members — five women and one man — donned their signature ski masks and were pulling out a guitar and microphone as at least 10 Cossacks and other security officials moved in. One Cossack appeared to use pepper spray, another whipped several group members while others ripped off their masks and threw the guitar in a garbage can. Whipped ... Members of the punk group Pussy Riot, including Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in the blue balaclava and Maria Alekhina in the pink balaclava, are attacked by Cossack militia in Sochi, RussiaSource: AP Police arrived and questioned witnesses, but no one was arrested. The Cossacks violently pulled masks from women’s heads, beating group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova with a whip as she lay on the ground. The incident lasted less than three minutes and one Pussy Riot member, a man wearing a bright yellow tank top, was left with blood on his face, saying he had been pushed to the ground. Public whipping ... a Cossack militiaman attacks Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and a photographer. Attacked ... A Russian security officer attacks Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and a photographer as she and fellow members of the punk group Pussy Riot, including Maria Alekhina, left, stage a protest performance in Sochi.Source: AP Pussy Riot, a performance-art collective involving a loose membership of feminists who edit their actions into music videos, has become an international flashpoint for those who contend Putin’s government has exceeded its authority, particularly restricting human and gay rights. The group gained international attention in 2012 after barging into Moscow’s main cathedral and performing a ``punk prayer’’ in which they entreated the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Putin, who was on the verge of returning to the Russian presidency for a third term. Brawl ... A member of the punk group Pussy Riot lies on the ground as the group are attacked by Cossack militia in Sochi, Russia.Source: AP Two members of the group, Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, were sentenced to two years in prison, but were released in December under an amnesty bill seen as a Kremlin effort to assuage critics before the Olympics. On Tuesday, two members of the group were briefly detained in Sochi, but not arrested. The group has called for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics and has insisted that any world leader coming to Sochi would be giving tacit approval of Putin’s heavy-handed policies. The Cossacks have been used since last year as an auxiliary police force to patrol the streets in the Krasnodar province, which includes the Winter Olympic host city. Patrol leader Igor Gulichev compared his forces to the Texas Rangers, an elite law-enforcement body that has power throughout that state. Undercover ... Wearing masks members of Russian punk group Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (L) and Maria Alyokhina (R) speak to journalists while leaving the police station of Adler, near Sochi.Source: AFP Cossacks trace their history in Russia back to the 15th century. Serving in the czarist cavalry, they spearheaded imperial Russia’s expansion and were often used as border guards. Under communism, they virtually disappeared, but have since resurfaced, particularly in the south The group had gathered in a downtown Sochi restaurant, about 30km from where the Winter Olympics are being held. They ran out of the restaurant wearing brightly coloured clothes and ski masks and were set upon by about a dozen Cossacks, who are used by police authorities to patrol the streets. The group tried to start performing, but a Cossack smashed their guitar. The incident lasted less than five minutes and one Pussy Riot member, a man, was left with blood on his face, saying he was pushed to the ground. Police arrived and questioned witnesses. No one was arrested. A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites.

Banksia Peninsula Banksia Peninsula is a peninsula in Victoria. It is located at , about 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Bairnsdale on the northern side of the Gippsland Lakes. A long, narrow, sandy peninsula, it is the site of Duck Arm, a popular recreational bay with around thirty houses and a number of school camps. The name refers to the plant genus Banksia, which grows in the area. References Category:Peninsulas of Victoria (Australia)

Detroit's decline helps inspire Yang $3 trillion-a-year jobs plan Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang has established a unique following of loyal fans in Michigan after his firsthand experience with Detroit's decline inspired him to craft a trillion-dollar proposal to help deal with the loss of jobs to automation. Yang’s sometimes nerdy persona and a self-deprecating sense of humor have taken the Asian American candidate farther than expected in a party caught in a tug-of-war between liberals and far-left progressives. He is hoping for a better performance in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses but not winning any delegates. The New York native's signature proposal, called the "Freedom Dividend," is built on the premise that automation is destroying more and more jobs every year, and the federal government should provide American adults with a "universal basic income" to compensate. Yang has outlined a $1,000 a month program for every American over the age of 18 years to help them transition and adapt to an economy demanding innovation and entrepreneurship. The hedge fund Bridgewater Associates estimates the cost of the proposal at $3.8 trillion a year — similar to conservative projected cost of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All proposal. Automation, not immigration, is responsible for taking jobs, he said during the July 31 debate in Detroit. “If you go to a factory here in Michigan, you will not find wall-to-wall immigrants, you will find wall to wall robots and machines...," Yang said. "Immigrants are being scapegoated.” Although Yang has low polling numbers, Lansing-based Democratic political consultant TJ Bucholz said he hopes the 45-year-old candidate stays in the race as long as possible because he is the only minority left in the field. “He’s kind of the only voice left who has that unique experience of living in America as a minority,” Bucholz said. “That’s an important lens for the Democratic Party to have.” His followers refer to themselves as part of the “Yang Gang,” with some wearing blue hats with the acronym MATH for “Make America Think Harder.” Yang’s journey to the national scene included stops in Detroit. The city played a starring role in his entrepreneurship program, Venture for America, and Yang took the stage at Wayne State University in 2013 alongside then-Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson to explain those efforts. He’s retained a following in the state among Detroit entrepreneurs, including leaders at Detroit Bikes and Quicken Loans. “Obviously, it seemed like a real long shot,” said Zak Pashak, Detroit Bikes owner and a friend of Yang’s. “But at the same time, when I saw him on TV, I thought this could work.” Yang in Detroit A former corporate lawyer and entrepreneur, Yang’s relationship with Detroit jump-started after 2010 when he brought his nonprofit Venture for America to Detroit and other struggling cities. The program brought entrepreneurs to the cities to shadow other self-starters and explore initiatives of their own in those locations. It earned Yang the titles of Champion of Change in 2012 and the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship in 2015 from the Obama administration. Yang, whose work in Detroit included partnerships with Quicken Loans, arrived in Detroit in 2010 “as the city was descending into bankruptcy,” he wrote in a 2018 blog post. “The streets were so empty that it was positively eerie — I felt like running red lights everywhere I went,” Yang wrote. “The closed storefronts were everywhere. It felt as much like a zombie movie set as it did a major American city.” Yang praised the city’s comeback but also noted “stubborn truths,” such as a declining population, abandoned buildings, blight and racial inequality, that left an “indelible impact” on his vision of how to rebuild an economy. They factored into his campaign policy that argues for a “rewrite” of economic rules as retail, manufacturing and truck driving jobs disappear and are replaced by automation. The campaign continues to engage with Michigan voters through volunteers, Yang's national press secretary S.Y. Lee said. "In Michigan, we already have over dozens of volunteer leaders who help organize and coordinate supporter activities in the state, putting our campaign in a position of strength and advantage on March 10," Lee said. The entrepreneur’s love for Detroit is genuine, Pashak said. The Detroit Bikes owner first met Yang through a donation to Ventures for America and became friends with his family. He watched fellows from the program work at startups throughout Detroit. Fellows within the program “gravitated” toward Yang based on qualities that he appears to still display on the campaign trail, Pashak said. “He’s a very honest person,” Pashak said. “He’s very sincere and he’s got a great sense of humor. I think those are showing themselves on the campaign trail.” Yang gang Yang has fulfilled a unique role in the Democratic debates. While agreeing with progressive goals, he will sometimes reject other candidates' ideas as unworkable. This quality was on display during the July 31 debate in Detroit, where candidates like Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee declared climate change a threat to the United States and vowed to eliminate emissions. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "We’re going to tax the hell out of the wealthy" to fight warming temperatures. Yang cautioned the proposals wouldn't likely achieve their intended result. "One of the things is we're responsible for 15% of emissions and we act like we're responsible for 100%," he said in the Fox Theatre. "Even if we are going to cut emissions dramatically, the Earth is still going to get warmer." During the mid-October debate in Ohio, Yang played the spoiler role when asked about wealth tax plans by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. "A wealth tax makes a lot of sense in principle," he said in Westerville, Ohio. "The problem is that it's been tried in Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden and all of those countries ended up repealing it, because it had massive implementation problems and did not generate the revenue that they'd projected." "If we can't learn from the failed experiences of other countries, what can we learn from?" he asked. The idea of automation replacing lower-skilled jobs — from hand weavers to switchboard operators to auto assembly line workers — isn't new, and neither is the idea of a universal basic income, said Charles Ballard, a Michigan State University economics professor. In 1969, Republican former President Richard Nixon proposed a similar minimum income for poorer families but it stalled in Congress. Yang's proposal likely would meet the same fate if he were elected but that doesn't mean it's not worth the discussion, Ballard said. Automation is only one contributor "hollowing out" the American middle class, along with lower minimum wage, less progressive taxation and less union activity, Ballard said. "I still think it's an idea that we really ought to consider seriously in tandem with all of the other things we support," he said. Yang's energy and plan for universal basic income attracted University of Michigan senior Justin Zhao. A New York City native, Zhao is majoring in computer science and minoring in entrepreneurship and is part of the Ann Arbor Yang Gang. The country is miles behind where it should be on technology and Yang is the only candidate attempting to address the “fundamental change” automation has brought to the economy through his Freedom Dividend, he said. Zhao said he voted for Sanders in the 2016 Michigan primary and Hillary Clinton in the general election because he is “pro-civilization." But this time around, Yang appears to be the only solutions-oriented candidate addressing the 21st-century threat of automation, he said. “He’s really good at diagnosing the problems and coming up with solutions and explaining with numbers,” Zhao said. “He’s also just a nice and personable guy. He’s funny. He doesn’t take himself too seriously…He’s bringing in people that normally are not that excited about politics.” For Teresa Mills, Yang appears to be the only candidate with a "footing in reality." Mills, a 59-year-old Big Rapids resident, spent a large chunk of her career in utilities before working with young people to encourage entrepreneurial endeavors through programs like the Maker Faire and 4-H. Through those programs she learned of Venture for America. Yang's ideas should be in the policy agenda of the eventual Democratic nominee, she said. "I appreciate Bernie. I appreciate Joe Biden. But progress is a reality for us," Mills said. "We can’t just have the same politicians doing the same things and expecting different results.” [email protected] Andrew Yang State: New York Age: 45 Claims to fame: He proposed a "Freedom Dividend," or universal basic income plan, to give $1,000 per month to every American adult to guard against large job losses from automation. It would be funded in part by taxes on firms benefiting the most from automation. Biggest weaknesses: He has no political experience and doesn't have an obvious constituency within the party. Detroit debate moment: "We already automated away millions of manufacturing jobs and chances are your job could be next. If you don't believe me, just ask an auto worker here in Detroit," Yang said. Candidate visits to Michigan: Nov. 12, 2018; May 4 and July 31, 2019, in Detroit

Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2012 18:33:28 -0800 (PST) From: robert barhorst Subject: Sailor Cock Pt 2 This is fictional and in no way am I promoting the sexual behavior between adults and children. The Sailor pt 2 Franks Turn Now that I had found my calling as they say and working at dad's bar I had plenty of cock to satisfy my cravings not to mention unlimited amount of sailor who didn't care who got them off as long as they got off. Two weeks had gone by and they man who popped my cherry and opened my flood gates to the gay world still hadn't returned, every night I hoped and prayed he would walk through the door and we would have some more fun but no, he never yet returned. Well being a horny kid I decided to have fun while I waited for his return and started to suck off sailors in the bathroom and even let some of them fuck me. I still had to stay on the down low when dad was behind the bar, he kept an eye on me to make sure none of the sailors hit me or try anything. So I would have to sneak into the bathroom if I had already cleaned it, to suck some cock or take out the trash several times a night to get fucked in the alley. For two months things went great, dad didn't catch on to what I was doing during the week and frank didn't care all that much. Life took a turn for the worse in franks life, his wife of twenty years died of cancer and he was in a deep depression. Dad gave him some time off and help take care of his lawn plus do other errans and odd jobs for him, but as word got around the ships about the me and my talent for sucking cock and my tight ass business picked up more and we were getting packed almost every night. Dad called frank and begged him to come back to work and told him how business was going crazy and he needed him bad. Frank came back to work and dad was able to get some rest. As for me there was no rest, like the old saying goes no rest for the wicked. I was sucking so much cock and getting fucked that most of the time I would have been better to stay in the bathroom naked, it would had made life easier for me that was for sure. I was sucking cocks left and right sometimes I would even be doing groups of sailors in the bathroom 4 at a time. I didn't mind it, but something told me I would be caught sooner or later and I didn't want that to happen especially by my dad. Then one Saturday night I had just gotten back into the bar when frank told me it was time to close. I looked at the clock and we still had an hour to go, I looked at frank and he said close the doors and lock up. I did as I was told as luck would have it we didn't have any customers at the time. I locked the doors and turned off the bar sign and started to turn the chairs up on the table then I heard frank call me into the back. Now frank was about the same age as my dad 45, 6foot tall and a burly man. Now everyone who looked at frank said they would never want to get in a fight with him, he looked like the kind of man who had been in a lot of fights in his life and won most of them. He wasn't handsome but not bad looking. He had black hair with grey mixed in it and weighted about 230 lbs and was in shape, no gym body but he was no fat guy either, he had muscles and everyone knew it. Frank use to work on the docks and could carry barrels of beer like they were paper. He had married his high school sweetheart but never had any kids. I always wondered about that but never asked. But found out after his wife died that she had been pregnant once and the doctor messed up her insides delivering the baby and she couldn't get pregnant again, and the baby didn't survive. But frank loved his wife and they stayed together and from what I understood they had sex all the time, which probably explains why frank was so hairy to say the least. I called him chewy after the star-wars character he was that hairy, but he didn't mind and he would always call me 3cpo just to remind me that I'm shorter than him. I walked into the back and there stood frank his shirt off and standing by a keg of beer. I didn't know what was going on and I thought he was going to fuck me there and then but he looked at me and told me to hold the door open while he grabbed a new keg for the front of the bar. I did and he walked pass me carrying it on his shoulder like it was a bag of trash. Once up front frank hooked up the beer and bleed the line. I stood there in aahh of his muscles, frank told me to get down and move a couple of things under the bar and I did as I was told but when I started to get up that is when it happened. Frank held down my head and was pulling down the back of my pants. I didn't wear underwear anymore because they just got in the way, and frank had my bare ass right in front of him. I started to yell for him to stop but before I could finish my first word I heard him telling me to shut up if I was going to give it to every sailor in the 5th fleet he was going to get his rocks off in me too. And he did, before he had finished his sentence his cock was buried in my ass and he was fucking me like the whore I had become. I was glad that I had just been fucked in the alley and my ass still had some cum in it to lube me because franks cock wasn't small to say the least. I could feel his huge cock slamming into my hole and I started to scream it was so big and he was so rough but he just kept slamming every inch into my ass. There I was with my head banging against the underside of the bar as frank fucked me. I begged for him to stop but he wouldn't then I asked that he at least let me straighten up so my head wasn't hitting the bar and he did let me straighten up and his arms were around my chest just to make sure I didn't try to get away. I could smell his brute after shave, as he bent forward to tell me what a nice ass I had and how he was going to fuck me every night after we closed. I found myself enjoying frank fucking me and was begging him to go faster and deeper and he did, but then just before he was about to cum he pulled out of me and turned me around pushing me down and shoved his cock in my mouth. I tasted the cum on his cock from what was left in me by the other sailors and then frank slide his cock all the way down my throat and shot his load in me. I started to gag on it but swallowed as fast as I could. Once we were done frank picked me up and told me to keep my mouth shut and life would go on as usual. And he was right by time I was 15 I must have sucked off the whole fifth fleet and most of the marines and was started on the air force now. We were one of the busses bars in town now. Business was so good dad was ordering booze two to three times a week. And complaining about how the cost of booze was raising everytime he ordered more. I was taking business math in school and was passing with A's, so I told dad to let me start ordering the booze and see what I could do about cutting the cost. Most of the dealers didn't like dealing with a kid as they put it but once I used my skills on them we were getting our booze at half the cost, liquor dealer loved my ass, beer dealer always needed a good blowjob and their delivery drivers would slip us extras for my talented tongue or butt. They got the tip they wanted and we got extra it was a fair trade as I saw it. Frank got laid every weekend and the customers kept pouring in and I was satisfied sexually. The only nights we had any trouble was Friday and Saturdays do to all the crowds and so we needed to have the cops there more and the military police, but they started to complain about they couldn't do their regular rounds and also take care of our troubles, that was until they found out about the extra benefits that came with our bar, then they were glad to be there all the time also. Dad had to hire more bar tenders to help with all the customer's which made it harder for me to play around and with all the customer's I was having trouble finding time to do my job. Frank saw what was going on and we sat down after closing Saturday night and talked about the problem. I didn't know what to do or how to handle the situation. But frank had an idea that would take care of it all. I was going to be turning 18 in two months and graduating from high school at the same time, so he decide I should work at the bar full time and my dad who had found a new girlfriend and wanted to retire should let me take over. I decided that one big party would take care of all these things at once and we planned it out. Notices were sent out and signs were posted I was to have my graduation/birthday party at the bar on Saturday night from 4 to 6, dad's retirement party was from 6:30 till 9:30 and then the new ownership party was from 9:30 till 1am. It all worked out. If you like this story so far let me know and I will give you the next story (Sailor pt 3 Party whore)

Calcutta, April 11: Financial institutions (FIs) have raised their stake in Kesoram Industries, the flagship company of the Basant Kumar Birla group, to 24.86 per cent. For the first time, the FIs will hold more than the promoters' stake of 23.53 per cent. The increase in the FI stake was triggered by market purchases in the January-March quarter, which saw their holding go up 8.06 percentage points from 16.8 per cent earlier. Observers say the increase is an indication of the confidence they have in the present promoters and the existing management. The stake buildup creates a strong bulwark to head off corporate predators who have sniffed around the company in the past. It may be recalled that a non-resident investment cartel led by Dubai-based Shiv Kumar had made an abortive takeover attempt in early 2001. Genesis International, a boutique investment outfit owned by Kumar, had snapped up 12 per cent in the company. Kesoram warded off that threat and the promoters resorted to an equity buyback to fortify their holdings in the company. Corporate predators will be deterred by the formidable 48.39 per cent stakeholding that the promoters and the FIs now jointly have in the company. Kumar had mounted his abortive bid four years ago at a time when raiders launched hostile bids for Bombay Dyeing, Gesco Corporation and VST Industries. A top Kesoram official said the increase in FI stake was a vote of confidence in the promoter and management. 'The institutions were always supportive of us. They have full confidence in the way the company is run,' the official told The Telegraph. Industry observers said FIs historically have backed the management in any hostile bid. 'Their principle has been not to destabilise the management if it is performing well,' they added. Kesoram is a diversified company with business interests in tyre, cement, rayon, chemicals and spun pipes. It was a major beneficiary in the recent budget, which gave away sops to tyre firms. The company's cement division, which accounts for 38 per cent of its turnover, is also expected to do well this quarter due to improved price realisation. Kesoram suffered a loss of Rs 4.97 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2004 compared with a profit of Rs 10.49 crore in the year-ago period. In 2003-04, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 62.9 crore on net sales of Rs 1,302.8 crore.

Q: GulpJS: Perform string functions on SVG file contents I have an illustrator file I'm regularly updating, that's then processed and distributed to /public/ though a Gulp task. However, Illustrator appends _[0-9]+_ to some key tag IDs, and I want to perform something like .pipe(thisSVGFile.contents().replace('/_[0-9]+_/',"")) whenever Gulp Watch comes across a change. How can I achieve this without producing my own Gulp plugin? A: gulp-replace supports regular expressions. var replace = require('gulp-replace'); gulp.task('replace', function () { return gulp.src('./public/file.svg') .pipe(replace(/_[0-9]+_/g, '')) .pipe(gulp.dest('public')); });

Concomitant activation of the PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 signalling is involved in cyclic compressive force-induced IL-6 secretion in MLO-Y4 cells. IL-6 has a dual role in bone remodelling. The ERK1/2 pathway partially upregulated IL-6 secretion in osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cells exposed to CCF. We have now investigated the possible role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signalling pathway in the CCF-induced IL-6 expression. MLO-Y4 cells were treated with CCF 2,000 µstrain, 2 Hz, or 10, 30 min, 1, 3 and 6 h. IL-6 expression, Akt and ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt phosphorylation were determined by RT-PCR, ELISA and Western blotting. Inhibition of PI3K/Akt with LY294002 or ERK1/2 with PD98059 significantly attenuated IL-6 upregulation, and IL-6 expression was abolished by inhibiting both pathways. Inhibition of one pathway downregulated the other's phosphorylation level. In conclusion, concomitant activation of PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathways mediated IL-6 expression in MLO-Y4 cells under CCF.

Inyoitidae Inyoitidae is an extinct family of cephalopods belonging to the Ammonite order Ceratitida and superfamily Noritaceae. References The Paleobiology Database Category:Noritaceae Category:Ceratitida families

Sports A general view of Elland Road Stadium which will host England and Costa Rica on Thursday night. The Manchester United forward's effort set the Three Lions on their way to victory in their final warm-up match prior to the World Cup , with Danny Welbeck sealing the result with a second-half header. Manchester United have confirmed on their official website that midfielder Fred will be at Old Trafford next season. Fred continued to bag silverwares after leaving Brazil to join Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. "He is excited to start but now is the time to think about the World Cup". However, FIFA extended the punishment to a worldwide ban in 2016 which ruled him out for four months. When you're down like this versus a team like this, there's no good feeling". I don't feel good - how I feel right now. The Cavaliers may be in a dark place. The Warriors may have Andre Iguodala back for the first time in the series. "That was fantastic what he did out there tonight", Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. After squandering two break-point chances, Zverev made amends in the Russian's following service game in the second set to take command but Khachanov hit back on his fifth break point when the German served for the second set to secure the break back. Khan allegedly lost Rs 2.80 crore in betting to Jalan and was not paying the amount, following which the bookie had threatened the actor, police had said . According to reports , after being summoned by the police Khan was confronted with call recordings and photographs during the questioning. Read Also: IPL betting cartel busted in Indore Arbaaz's name came to the fore during the investigation of bookie Sonu Jalan . They were able to take the Cavs to a Game 7 without a pure shooting isolation point guard, and lacking a true wing scorer with the ability to drive. I always leave everything on the court, every game. After watching that first game when Gordon Hayward went down and having Kyrie Irving being the leader of this squad. If the refs left well enough alone then Cleveland has the ball up two with a chance to kill 24 seconds, score, and make it a two-possession game with twelve or so seconds to go. "I don't know what was going through J.R.'s head". Yet the game's not won by just offensive rebounds. The series will remain in Oakland for Game 2 on Sunday night. Argentina had to wait until the 58 minute to score their second through Messi and he completed his hattrick when he scored his third of the game in the 66th minute. "To be honest, we already know how to play against Croatia , but of course I will not tell you. That's where it all stems from, but at no time did the thought or any doubts cross my mind". Now that Fabinho has dotted the i's and crossed the t's on his Liverpool contract, what can we expect of him in the Premier League? "This is something that I always wanted - this is a giant of a team", said Fabinho. His role in that side was to play the part of the interceptor in front of the back four, snuffing out attacking moves through strong positional play and winning back the ball. The Rockets were understandably emotional after losing just one game shy of the NBA Finals , with Trevor Ariza , Clint Capela and P.J. Tucker in tears. They also turn their attention to offseason plans, potential moves and tough looming decision for the front office down the line. This is the fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals where James' team is considered an underdog, but the odds makers have less faith than ever. Game 1 is Thursday in Oakland at 6 p.m. Golden State are the overwhelming favourites to defend their crown and make it a third win over Cleveland in four years. "At the end of the day, the game is won in between the lines, and we have an opportunity to play for a championship", he said after Sunday's 87-79 victory over Boston. The Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder is part of Tite's Brazil squad for the tournament in Russian Federation next month, though first the Selecao will take on Croatia at Anfield on June 3. Shakhtar want to cash in on the talented midfielder and United will be happy to have him. "It's an honour to be on the radar of great European coaches". But Scotland global Robertson insists the responsibilty will be shared by the whole team. Meanwhile, an online petition, started in Britain, calling for Real Madrid player Sergio Ramos to be punished for "intentionally" injuring Liverpool star Mo Salah had received more than 150,000 signature by Sunday night. The riches of the Premier League , which will be at least £160m, are theirs to savour, and their concerns over keeping this side together next season will have been washed away, at least temporarily, by the champagne that flowed last night. As I mentioned before, turnovers determine a lot of games for the Warriors and this series has been no different. If Iguodala is absent, the Warriors are likely to start Kevon Looney at center while sliding Draymond Green to power forward as they did in Game 4. James played all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his career and is already at 100 for the year with at least four more to come. To put it in perspective of just how ridiculously good James is, on Sunday he snapped a streak of either scoring 40 points or posting a triple double in seven consecutive elimination games. Giving it his all". Oh, and he played 46 minutes and only had three turnovers. "He delivered. He carried us home as usual". The Celtics are now a ideal 10-0 at home and just 1-6 on the road. Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Boston 31 (Horford 9), Cleveland 44 (James 11). Everyone had an opinion on what James will do next and that discussion filled the sports talk radio airwaves, bars and barber shops. Beijing said on Tuesday it believed the United States and Venezuela should resolve their differences via talks, while Moscow said it would not comply with the sanctions . Most analysts say that Venezuela's economic troubles that have caused food and medicine shortages are the result of falling oil prices and the government's economic mismanagement. Paul, who was not available for comment on Thursday, missed 24 games this season with a variety of injuries, including a hamstring. The Rockets faithful would have been very anxious after the Warriors blew them out by 41 points in Game 3 , but they've reeled off two impressive wins on the back of some stellar defense and are now just one win away from an NBA Finals berth. LeBron James produced another epic playoff performance Friday as the Cleveland Cavaliers stayed alive in the National Basketball Association playoffs with a 109-99 victory over the Boston Celtics . Seventeen of those points came in the second quarter, when he made his first three 3-pointers of the game and attempted his first six free throws. The Cavaliers also lost Kevin Love midway through the quarter after a scary collision with Boston's Jayson Tatum .

Author Topic: Understanding rear shock setup (Read 885 times) It's interesting how assumptions get made about what one understands and how one applies information. As it turns out, when I replaced my OEM shocks with Hagons, I really didn't have a complete understanding of what I was doing and why - I knew that the ride was harsh and uncomfortable, and I followed advice to try to improve things. After a bit of back and forth, Dave Quinn recommended 18kg springs. I installed them, but I didn't really think the ride was that much improved. This last month, I tried 16kg springs, and as much as I wished for it, I couldn't honestly say I'd improved things much. Now, he's trying to help me get it sorted. He suggested I slide what he calls the "over-stroke rubber bump stops" down to the tops of the damper bodies, to see how much travel I'm using. I didn't even notice those things were there until I changed the springs! Anyway, I have the 16's at the softest preload setting, and I slid the bump stops down, and I rode to work - mostly little rattly bumps which try to shake your fillings loose, but a couple proper frost heaves which made me, and my back, take real notice. When I got to work, I found the stops hard up against the top of the shaft. This means that the shocks are bottoming out... which is what I figure we don't want. On my ride home, I pushed the stops back down, and rode just a quarter mile of the little rattly bumps, and I stopped to look at the shocks again, and found the stops less than an inch from the top. So to me, it seems as if those 16 springs with soft preload aren't cutting it - I'm talking here about just me and a fairly lightweight backpack, no bags or other cargo. So now I'm thinking about the 18's again - when I went through the motions of changing those springs, the stops were at the top of the travel, so I assumed that I didn't have a useful indicator there, but Dave says that when he builds shocks, he ships them with the bump stops pressed down against the shock body. He also says, if the buffers were at the tops of the shocks when I removed the 18kg springs, it suggests I was bottoming with them as well. So in theory, the cause of at least some of my discomfort could be that I've never had stiff enough rear springs. Now I'm not a heavy guy - does it seem likely that at 170 pounds locked and loaded I should be bottoming out 18kg springs? Anyway, I'm going to reinstall the 18's, drop the stops and ride a bit to see what happens. I did take a couple of longer rides last year with some luggage, without changing preload settings, which could have made the difference and bottomed out the 18's. It could be that they're perfect for me after all, travel-wise... but that means that I've still got a rough-and-tumble ride. Only my sprung solo seat has made things bearable thus far. I think part of the issue is related to the limited suspension travel that is typical in these bikes. There isn't enough room to for the suspension to move up and down in a cushiony way. It has to do everything in just a few inches of travel. Not much spare room for "floating" on a soft spring.The purpose of the Hagons is for more suspension control and handling in sporting scenarios. They really are not for luxury car type riding, and I don't think it will be easy to find any Bullet shocks that will be like that. Not enough travel available.. I'm learning a lot which is probably very obvious to you experienced guys... Dave Quinn has been very helpful with this. Some of his input: Quote You are correct, bottoming out is bad for the longevity of the shocks. Therefore, on the face of it, the springs are too soft- at least for the preload setting they are in at the time of your test. In order to get the best ride possible with progressive springs such as Hagon use, it is best not to have to preload the spring. This effectively coil binds the softest windings, which take away the suppleness of the spring. If the same adjustment was made on a single rate spring it would effectively increase the entire springs load bearing ability. So ideally you would be best off with a spring you did not need to adjust at all until you add weight (passenger/luggage or both). The ideal situation is to end up with the buffer at or near the top of the stroke but not flattened- ie using as much of the stroke of the shock as possible without bottoming. So I put the 18's back on, and at the softest pre-load setting, the worst bumps did bottom the shock out... but they're pretty bad frost heaves. The smaller washboard stuff pushes the bump stop to within about 1/2 an inch of bottoming out. And it's still a pretty "shocking", uncomfortable ride... basically unacceptable without my sprung solo seat. I'm riding the factory bench/log while I sort this out... What are we talking about here as far as bottoming out goes - should it never happen? Or are we in the ballpark if it happens once every few hundred miles when the roads are particularly bad? If it bottoms out the suspension, that is particularly jarring to the frame and to you. It would best be avoided, if possible. What I do, and used to be common riding practice in the old days of short travel suspensions, was to just stand up on the pegs when we were able to see a big bump coming up. This evens out the weight load on front and rear, and keeps your butt out of the seat when the impact happens. All the old bikes were like this in the good old days. We managed to survive it okay.The bike isn't supposed to feel like riding on a cloud. You should feel feedback from the road and suspension. If it bottoms out the suspension, that is particularly jarring to the frame and to you. It would best be avoided, if possible. What I do, and used to be common riding practice in the old days of short travel suspensions, was to just stand up on the pegs when we were able to see a big bump coming up. This evens out the weight load on front and rear, and keeps your butt out of the seat when the impact happens. All the old bikes were like this in the good old days. We managed to survive it okay.The bike isn't supposed to feel like riding on a cloud. You should feel feedback from the road and suspension. That method is still taught here in Australia, even just a few inches of your seat helps stop you getting thrown up and potentianlly making a mistake.Mind you our roads are a lot worse compaired to America, our A roads look like your B roads and our B roads and half offroad! A simple thing you can do is lower the rear tire air pressure. Use common sense when setting it, not so low the tire deforms and squirms all over the road!. Used this on an old sportster with short travel stiff shocks and it improved the comfort a bit. Go down in small increments and test. Ive also found a good way to avoid heavy front end shock when on a dirt road at 20mph and no way to avoid that pothole is to stand up and bounce down, then lift up on the bars as you hit it. So instead of slamming into it you sorta skip over it, the rear end still copes it but no front jarring. Going to suggest lowering the tire pressure. I dropped mine to 18F and 24R and the ride was greatly improved over the 24/28 I'd been running. It was even comfortable! I still get a bottoming smack now and then, but overall the ride was greatly improved.Changing the fork sludge to oil made it complete! I weigh about what you do.Bare I also installed hagons in an attempt to smooth the ride on my g5.With no spring seat I would get a lot of jarring sacks right up my spine.The most relief was found in dropping the rear tire to 24psi and the front tire to 18 psi.Anyone have a shock with a longer stroke?

Porteus New features which should be implemented in Porteus; suggestions are welcome. All questions or problems with testing releases (alpha, beta, or rc) should go in their relevant thread here, rather than the Bug Reports section. The main use cases for updating to v1.6+ is support for TrueCrypt containers. This allows secure file sharing with Windows, instead on leaving plain files on the FAT32 USB drive. Also, the current cryptsetup in initrd does not support aes-xts-plainsave.dat files. (Or, at least, it complained and skipped such a save.dat. Had to use my cell phone to take a video to see what happened :-)) Also, the cryptsetup on the desktop is at v1.4.3, the latest release is v1.6.6 (released a few days ago, 2014-08-16), and v1.6.0 was released over a year and half ago (2013-01-14).

Molecular and clinical heterogeneity in pyruvate kinase deficiency in India. We studied the PK-LR gene in 10 unrelated Indian patients with congenital haemolytic anemia associated with erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency. The patients had a variable presentation ranging from a very mild compensated hemolysis to severe anemia. Nine different mutations were detected among the 20 mutated alleles identified: one deletion (c.1042-1044del) p.Lys348del and eight single-nucleotide (nt) substitutions resulting in amino acid exchanges c.397A>G (p.Asn133Asp), c.992A>G (p.Asp331Gly), c.1072G>A (p.Gly358Arg), c.1076G>A (p.Arg359His), c.1219G>A (p.Glu407Lys), c.1241C>T (p.Pro414Leu), c.1436G>A (p.Arg479His) and c.1529G>A (p.Arg510Gln) were identified. Although all the exons, the flanking regions and the promoter region were sequenced in all cases, we failed to detect the second expected mutation in two subjects. Two mutations [c.397A>G; c.1241C>T] were novel. These novel missense mutations involved highly conserved amino acids. Two mutations were identified for the first time in the homozygous state globally (c1042-1044del; c.1072G>A) and two other mutations were identified for the first time in our population (c.1076G>A; c.1529G>A). This study along with our earlier report suggests that the most frequent mutations in India would appear to be c.1436G>A (18.33%), followed by c.992A>G (11.66%) and c.1456C>T (11.66%). Structural implications of amino acid substitutions were correlated with the clinical phenotypes seen.

Characterization of anatomically compliant linear cardiac lesions created by the CARDIMA radiofrequency surgical ablation system. This study investigated anatomical cardiac linear lesion characteristics created by the CARDIMA RF surgical ablation system. We developed an in vitro porcine cardiac model that simulates cardiac tissue during an on-pump open chest procedure. We used the INTELLITEMP energy management device to deliver RF energy to an 8 electrode, 8 thermocouple deflectable linear surgical probe, to form curvilinear and linear lesions on porcine myocardium. Ablations were at two target temperatures (70 degrees C and 80 degrees C) and durations (60 sec. and 90 sec.). The results show that this system is capable of forming clinically relevant deep and contiguous lesions of desired length.

As a tyrant whose subjects would rather face hordes of flesh-eating zombies than live under him, Negan finds it necessary to take one particular step with each new subject. He disarms them. As longtime fans of AMC long-running smash hit “The Walking Dead” know, the show isn’t so much about zombies as it is about how the living interact with each other as they attempt to survive and deal with the chaos of their world, a world that once looked like ours. My wife and I have followed Rick Grimes and his band of survivors through thick and thin. It’s always fascinating to explore with the writers of the show how people, particularly strangers, interact with each other in the absence of law and order, steady employment, stability, security, even the knowledge of what one is going to eat the next day. Certainly, as one of the season promo posters eloquently stated, in such a world one would find it necessary to “fight the dead” but “fear the living.” Of course, while such an apocalyptic scenario would likely never occur in real life (Chinese electromagnetic pulse or financial collapse? Maybe. Zombies? Not so much), one of the appeals to watching this genre is the thrill of suspending our disbelief and placing ourselves in the characters’ shoes. What would we do? In a similar situation, would we be as brave, as unwavering, as strong as the particular character we identify with? We get the luxury of dancing around the edges of what such fear would be like, without actually experiencing it for ourselves. But what about when that manufactured fear punches just a little too close to home? We All Face Tyranny In Some Form That brings us to the latest mid-season cliffhanger, as Grimes and company face their biggest challenge so far. It’s not the dead, but Negan and his band of Saviors, hell-bent on conquering the world in the name of finding Negan as much, as he puts it, “sh-t” as one human being could possibly own, or something. Without giving away any major spoilers, Negan is a typical tyrant, but devoid of pomp, circumstance, or the trappings of “officiality.” As such, his brand of tyranny is raw and unencumbered by any checks, balances, or pretenses of civilization. In his apocalyptic world, he is a leather jacket and T-shirt-wearing Stalin, Hitler, and Mao, wielding a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat just in case you manage to forget he could beat your brains out anytime he takes a notion. He has goons, not armies, but he conquers all the same. The people he subjugates pay him in scavenged goods, not taxes, but it’s still theft because what he does with his loot does nothing to better the lives of the subjects forced to pay it, save keep them alive to serve him. Negan promises to restore “order” to an unraveled world, but at what cost? So, as his influence finally reaches the world Grimes previously led, something has to give. Presently, thanks to a military “conquest” of sorts, Negan’s Saviors have the upper hand, and Rick’s band find themselves virtual slaves on the land they once owned and worked freely. As a tyrant whose subjects would mostly rather face hordes of flesh-eating zombies than live under him, Negan finds it necessary to take one particular, logical step with each new person he conquers. He disarms them. Disarmament Is Always Scary As Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Carl, and the rest are forced to gather the weapons they’ve used thus far to protect themselves at great cost from both the living and the dead, then turn those weapons in to Negan’s tyrannical Saviors, the fear, at least for me, became just a bit more real. After all, isn’t peasant disarmament what tyrants have always done throughout history? I’m not likely to face any zombies (other than drug-addled ones who may try to block my street to “protest” something or other), but the threat of disarmament is always quite real, and quite scary. The right to self-defense is God-given, natural, visceral, and as entwined with our humanity as breathing, eating, sleeping, or even love itself. So naturally, in their never-ending quest for power and dominance, liberals and would-be tyrants find it necessary upon seizing power to remove the right of their subjects to defend themselves and others. After all, why would individuals matter when the state is supreme? Really, shouldn’t we worry less about our own pathetic lives and get busy finding the state more “sh-t?” Even gun registration played into “The Walking Dead” account of Negan’s gun confiscation— seriously, are these writers National Rifle Association members or what? But it’s true to life: any attempt at gun control, from registration to outright bans, is always at its core aimed ultimately at weakening and eventually eliminating the right to self-defense. Consider England, where strict gun control has existed for decades and where laws make it virtually impossible to legally defend oneself with deadly or even reasonable force. Those of us who just want to be left alone and live our lives in peace free from the constraints of an overreaching government breathed a sigh of relief on November 8. Whatever our reservations about President Trump, for at least four years would-be federal tyrants are unlikely to seek to disarm the populace while leaving themselves armed to the teeth. And who knows, we may even get to keep more of our own “sh-t.”

Quacking Death If a skeptic is presented with an astounding alternative paradigm idea, they very often will invoke Occam’s Razor as a means of countering it. Occam’s Razor might best be summarised as ‘the simplest explanation is often the best’. So, if you are trying to say that the reason an apple falls on your head is because the ghost of Isaac Newton threw it at you, the skeptic might say that Occam’s Razor would argue for gravity being the actual cause. Occam’s Razor isn’t a law (plenty of complicated things can also be the cause of things), simply a handy rule of thumb for considering the obvious hypotheses before ‘looking outside the box’. We could, therefore, be a little confused by how the skeptic might approach the subject of Near Death Experiences (NDEs). In the NDE, a person close to death quite often will experience the seeming separation from their own body – looking down on it from the ceiling…disembodied as it were. Then they feel like they are travelling through a tunnel, and moving towards a brilliant light composed of – as best they can put into words – love and knowledge. Often they may see dead relatives and friends, and experience this light as a ‘being’. Some equate it to Jesus, Allah or other ‘god’, but most seem to take it as it is. In the presence of this being they are shown their life, in full three-dimensions, in totality – paradoxically in the blink of an eye – with identification of moments in their life where they may have impacted on others both positively and negatively. It doesn’t seem as this is a moment of ‘judging’, more a moment of learning. Then at some point they either ask to be sent back, or conversely are told to go back because of unfinished business. There is usually no recollection of their return…they simply wake up again. When NDEs are recounted, the individual has a difficult time relating the story because so much of it was ‘other-worldly’. Over and over again, the theme is that this experience cannot be put into words, that what we hear is simply the best approximation in physical terms – this is called the ‘ineffability’ of the experience. Here’s an excerpt as an example: Even now when I try to describe something so beautiful I am mute with awe. There are no words in any language to describe such grandeur. Even the great literary works by men and women fortunate enough to have experienced this blissful state only paint a shadow of its glory No matter how many times that the phenomenology of the NDE is explained, it has far less impact than actually reading the experiencer accounts. Not that the scientist would accept that as proof of another realm. But there are other things that give pause: I mentioned in an essay on Graham Hancock’s website (“The Mysteries”) how a vision of a ‘city of knowledge’, made of what appeared to be transparent gold, has been experienced multiple times. When the separation from the body occurs, it seems to be more than a simple hallucination. There have been some tales where the experiencer was able to give details of the scene even though being clinically dead. Even how the person saw themselves gives a hint that it is something worth investigating: Boy, I sure didn’t realize that I looked like that! You know, I’m only used to seeing myself in pictures or from the front in a mirror, and both of those look flat. But all of a sudden there I – or my body – was, and I could see it…it took me a few moments to recognize myself. It’s a strange hallucination when the individual doesn’t recognize themself… Experiencers believe that the message from ‘beyond’ is to show love for others and increase knowledge. Experiencers report increased ‘psi’ abilities upon return to the world. There are numerous other things worth investigating – at the start of the experience there is a sound – described alternately as a buzzing, ringing or rushing – which leads to the next state. This sound is also found in OBEs, in ritual magick, and in the astonishing DMT trip…what Terence McKenna describes as the tearing of the membrane of reality. In the NDE state, vision is said to extend whereever the mind can imagine, talking and hearing is done through the mind and not the mouth, and complete knowledge is available while in that ‘dimension’. However, the scientific view on NDEs is that they are caused by either: Drug hallucinations (though not all NDEs occur with drugs). Sensory deprivation (which does not preclude travelling to another ‘realm’, in fact sensory deprivation is a well known method of reaching altered states). Cerebral anoxia – oxygen shortage (the symptoms are not at all like the NDE). Religious expectations (some NDEs occur to atheists and those not expecting death, and a lot of the ‘religious expectation’ is nothing like what happens in an NDE). Depersonalisation – the mind panics with fear of death and separates itself from the body (in fact, the effects of the NDE are almost completely opposite those of depersonalisation). Denial of death – the mind trying to make things ‘easier on itself’ (there are numerous occasions where the experiencer panics at the OBE element and returns to the body). To be sure, there are good points to be made in each of the above. However, none adequately explain all NDEs. So by Occam’s Razor, what are we to make of an experience in which we almost die, feel a separation from the body, meet dead relatives and undergo a life review with a being of light? I would posit that the simplest explanation is that when we die we travel to another ‘realm’/’dimension’ and are met by a higher being. The only reason this is not accepted is because we have no proof of an afterlife – not because it is a complex theory which disregards simpler theories. The scientific/physicalist theories mentioned above are not simpler…none fit the experience and not all experiences can be explained by one – they are contrived to provide a reductionist explanation for a mystery. That is not to say that the matter is decided – as I said there is still no proof. But until we do find more clues and evidence, then by Occam’s Razor the survivalist interpretation of the NDE is completely valid, and serious research should be conducted into providing more context and data. Unfortunately, the converse is true – NDE research is still considered fringe. Why? Greg Taylor, owner/editor of ‘The Daily Grail‘, is currently researching the mystery of whether consciousness survives the body. He welcomes enquiries from publishers, magazine editors, and literary agents who are interested in his work

Start Wizard101 from your desktop (on Mac from the "Applications" folder) and log in with your email address and your password. Create your own wizard and play the tutorial. Now you can continue your adventure. Have fun! How can I chat in Wizard101? To ensure a safe virtual world experience, Wizard101 offers three different communication options: Menu chat: you can use predetermined phrases to talk to other players here. This option is available to everyone. Text chat: you can type phrases to talk to other players from your friend list, your group or your environment here. Words that are NOT in the Wizard101 dictionary will be displayed as '...'. True Friends Chat: players with no access to text chat may still exchange a True Friend code with friends they know in real life. A True Friend is a player that you know from the real world and with whom you have exchanged a True Friend Code. How do I restore mana & health? Collect red and blue wisp-like floating orbs on your path, which can help you regain mana or health. I have received some treasure cards, how do I use them? First you have to be sure that you take them from your spellbook and put them in your deck. However, those treasure cards won't be drawn normally during combat, instead you have to drop a card from your hand (by right clicking on it whilst in combat) and then click 'Draw' to draw a new treasure card. How to get Training Points Up to level 20 you will receive one training point every 4 levels. After level 20, you will receive one training point every 5 levels. You can also receive training points by completing certain quests. These training points can be used to learn spells from outside your school of focus. How do I deposit Crowns into my account? Log on to our Website and click on 'Buy Crowns' in the account management panel. A window will open. Follow the instructions. If you cannot see the Crowns in your account after the transaction, please re-log into your game account. What can I do with my Crowns and how does the Crown Shop work? Crowns enable you to buy exclusive items, card sets and mounts. You can get access to the Crown Shop in the game via the SHOP symbol. You can also swap Crowns for club time. How do I become a member of the Wizard Club? You can find out all important information here. To select one of the offers, you have to log in on the website with your user account first. What are Realms? Wizard101 is divided into several Realms. All Realms are identical and contain all Wizard101 worlds. You can switch back and forth between populated and less populated Realms, as long as you are not in a duel. Simply press the Esc key on your keyboard, the tab on the far right is your Realms tab. Now you can select which Realm and in which area you wish to play in. If you wish to meet a friend in the game, you have to be on the same Realm to find each other! Why switch Realms? If your realm gets too full for you, simply look for one that has less players on it. If you are looking for players to go on adventures with, you may wish to switch to a realm with a higher population. My game is running too slowly, what can I do to fix this? The first thing you should try is turning off your Quest Helper. You can do this by pressing CTRL + 'T' on your keyboard. If that doesn't help, try going into your options menu during game play and changing the resolution, graphic detail and turning the full screen option off. What are True Friends? True Friend codes allow you to chat with people you know in real life. You can talk to them via text chat, even if you are normally only allowed to use menu chat. And this is how it works: Click the "True Friend" button in the Friends Panel. A new window will open containing a code. Enter the code and pass it on to your friend. Your friend now also presses the True Friend button and enters the code. Then they press the "Check Code" button. If the code is entered correctly, you will immediately become True Friends. Please note that a True Friend code is valid for 2 days only. So player 2 must receive and activate the code within 48 hours. Will my Wizard be deleted if I stop playing? No! Even if you can't play for a while, your wizard will be safely stored at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. This also counts if you have uninstalled Wizard101. Please note: If you reinstall the game again, your wizard may be wearing his/her starter outfit. You can verify that your wizard is still wearing the clothing you left them with by checking it in your backpack. It just takes a little time for your computer to download all the game information. If you are logged off in a subscription area and your subscription expires, you will be returned to Ravenwood Commons after the next login. From there you can continue your adventures in the Free to Play areas of Wizard101. How do I delete my wizard? If you want to delete one of your wizard characters, you can do it over the character selection. Select a wizard and click on "Delete". Now enter ABRACADABRA to confirm that it is not a mistake. If you deleted a wizard by accident, please contact our Support. How can I delete my user account? To delete your user account, please click on the corresponding link in your account management panel and then click on the "Delete account" button in the pop up window.

Blog Stats The Situation of Sight Simon Crompton had a splendid article, titled “Don’t Believe Your Eyes,” in The Times Online last month. The article summarizes the recent research on illusions, with particular focus on the remarkable work of Dr. Beau Lotto. We excerpt portions of Crompton’s article below. * * * Optical illusions are like magic, thrilling us because of their capacity to reveal the fallibility of our senses. But there’s more to them than that, according to Dr Beau Lotto, a neuroscientist who is wowing the scientific world with work that crosses the boundaries of art, neurology, natural history and philosophy. What they reveal, he says, is that the whole world is the creation of our brain. What we see, what we hear, feel and what we think we know is not a photographic reflection of the world, but an instantaneous unthinking calculation as to what is the most useful way of seeing the world. It’s a best guess based on the past experience of the individual, a long evolutionary past that has shaped the structure of our brains. The world is literally shaped by our pasts. Dr Lotto, 40, an American who is a reader in neuroscience at University College London, has set out to prove it in stunning visual illusions, sculptures and installations . . . . He explains his complex ideas from the starting point of visual illusions, which far from revealing how fragile our senses are show how remarkably robust they are at providinga picture of the world that serves a purpose to us. For centuries, artists and scientists have noted that a grey dot looks lighter against a dark background than the same grey dot against a light background. In the same way, colours appear different according to what colour they are next to. Why? The conventional belief was that it was because of some way the brain and eye is intrinsically wired. But Dr Lotto believes this is wrong. He says it’s a learnt response; in other words, we see the world not as it is but as it is useful to us. His optical illusions seek to demonstrate this by proving that there are all sorts of ways you can make same-coloured areas look different, not just what colour they’re against. You can produce similar effects with the way we perceive shade and form too. His illusions throw in a whole range of visual clues that prompt the brain to draw conclusions about the objects we encounter on the basis of past experience. . . . What is happening is that our brain is taking into account all the visual clues it has learned over a lifetime. . . . “Context is everything, because our brains have evolved to constantly re-define normality,” says Dr Lotto. “What we see is defined by our own experiences of the past, but also by what the human race has experienced through its history. The structure of the brain is a reflection of that history.” What Lotto means by this is illustrated by the fact that different cultures and communities have different viewpoints of the world, conditioned over generations, an area that neuroscientists are just beginning to unpick. For example, Japanese people have a famous inability to distinguish between the “R” and the “L” sound. This arises because in Japanese the sounds are totally interchangeable. “Differentiating between them has never been useful, so the brain has never learnt to do it. It’s not just that Japanese people find it hard to tell the difference. They literally cannot hear the difference.” Dr Lotto is convinced that his experiments are grounding more and more hypotheses in hard science. “Yes, my work is idea-driven,” he says. “But lots of research, such as MRI brain scanning, is technique-driven. I don’t believe you can understand the brain by taking it out of its natural environment and looking at it in a laboratory. You have to look at what it evolved to do, and look at it in relationship to its ecology.” * * * To read the entire article, click here. Visit lottolab.org for amazing illusions from Beau Lotto. For more Situationist posts on illusions, click here.

(module HDSP-7401 (layer F.Cu) (tedit 5A9EC768) (descr "One digit 7 segment yellow, https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/AV02-2553EN") (tags "One digit 7 segment yellow") (fp_text reference REF** (at 2.54 -2.159) (layer F.SilkS) (effects (font (size 1 1) (thickness 0.15))) ) (fp_text value HDSP-7401 (at 2.54 12.7) (layer F.Fab) (effects (font (size 1 1) (thickness 0.15))) ) (fp_line (start -1.5 -1.5) (end 6.6 -1.5) (layer F.CrtYd) (width 0.05)) (fp_line (start -1.5 11.7) (end -1.5 -1.5) (layer F.CrtYd) (width 0.05)) (fp_line (start 6.6 11.7) (end -1.5 11.7) (layer F.CrtYd) (width 0.05)) (fp_line (start 6.6 -1.5) (end 6.6 11.7) (layer F.CrtYd) (width 0.05)) (fp_line (start -0.1 -1.1) (end 6.2 -1.1) (layer F.Fab) (width 0.1)) (fp_line (start -1.1 -0.1) (end -0.1 -1.1) (layer F.Fab) (width 0.1)) (fp_line (start -1.1 11.3) (end -1.1 -0.1) (layer F.Fab) (width 0.1)) (fp_line (start 6.2 11.3) (end -1.1 11.3) (layer F.Fab) (width 0.1)) (fp_line (start 6.2 -1.1) (end 6.2 11.3) (layer F.Fab) (width 0.1)) (fp_line (start 6.35 11.43) (end 6.35 -1.27) (layer F.SilkS) (width 0.15)) (fp_line (start -1.27 11.43) (end 6.35 11.43) (layer F.SilkS) (width 0.15)) (fp_line (start -1.27 -1.27) (end -1.27 11.43) (layer F.SilkS) (width 0.15)) (fp_line (start 6.35 -1.27) (end -1.27 -1.27) (layer F.SilkS) (width 0.15)) (fp_text user %R (at 2.573 5.08) (layer F.Fab) (effects (font (size 1 1) (thickness 0.15))) ) (fp_line (start -1.63 0) (end -1.63 -1.63) (layer F.SilkS) (width 0.12)) (fp_line (start -1.63 -1.63) (end 0 -1.63) (layer F.SilkS) (width 0.12)) (pad 1 thru_hole rect (at 0 0) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 2 thru_hole circle (at 0 2.54) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 3 thru_hole circle (at 0 5.08) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 4 thru_hole circle (at 0 7.62) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 5 thru_hole circle (at 0 10.16) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 6 thru_hole circle (at 5.08 10.16) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 7 thru_hole circle (at 5.08 7.62) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 8 thru_hole circle (at 5.08 5.08) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 9 thru_hole circle (at 5.08 2.54) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (pad 10 thru_hole circle (at 5.08 0) (size 1.6 1.6) (drill 0.8) (layers *.Cu *.Mask)) (model ${KISYS3DMOD}/Display_7Segment.3dshapes/HDSP-7401.wrl (at (xyz 0 0 0)) (scale (xyz 1 1 1)) (rotate (xyz 0 0 0)) ) )

Hybognathus Hybognathus is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. Its members are collectively known as the silvery minnows. Species Hybognathus amarus (Girard, 1856) (Rio Grande silvery minnow) Hybognathus argyritis Girard, 1856 (Western silvery minnow) Hybognathus hankinsoni C. L. Hubbs, 1929 (Brassy minnow) Hybognathus hayi D. S. Jordan, 1885 (Cypress minnow) Hybognathus nuchalis Agassiz, 1855 (Mississippi silvery minnow) Hybognathus placitus Girard, 1856 (Plains minnow) Hybognathus regius Girard, 1856 (Eastern silvery minnow) References Category:Hybognathus Category:Fish of North America Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

/* This file is part of Ext JS 4 Copyright (c) 2011 Sencha Inc Contact: http://www.sencha.com/contact GNU General Public License Usage This file may be used under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3.0 as published by the Free Software Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE included in the packaging of this file. Please review the following information to ensure the GNU General Public License version 3.0 requirements will be met: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. If you are unsure which license is appropriate for your use, please contact the sales department at http://www.sencha.com/contact. */ Ext.require(['Ext.data.*', 'Ext.grid.*']); Ext.onReady(function() { // wrapped in closure to prevent global vars. Ext.define('Restaurant', { extend: 'Ext.data.Model', fields: ['name', 'cuisine'] }); var Restaurants = Ext.create('Ext.data.Store', { storeId: 'restaraunts', model: 'Restaurant', sorters: ['cuisine','name'], groupField: 'cuisine', data: [{ name: 'Cheesecake Factory', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'University Cafe', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Slider Bar', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Shokolaat', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Gordon Biersch', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Crepevine', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Creamery', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Old Pro', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'Nola\'s', cuisine: 'Cajun' },{ name: 'House of Bagels', cuisine: 'Bagels' },{ name: 'The Prolific Oven', cuisine: 'Sandwiches' },{ name: 'La Strada', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Buca di Beppo', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Pasta?', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Madame Tam', cuisine: 'Asian' },{ name: 'Sprout Cafe', cuisine: 'Salad' },{ name: 'Pluto\'s', cuisine: 'Salad' },{ name: 'Junoon', cuisine: 'Indian' },{ name: 'Bistro Maxine', cuisine: 'French' },{ name: 'Three Seasons', cuisine: 'Vietnamese' },{ name: 'Sancho\'s Taquira', cuisine: 'Mexican' },{ name: 'Reposado', cuisine: 'Mexican' },{ name: 'Siam Royal', cuisine: 'Thai' },{ name: 'Krung Siam', cuisine: 'Thai' },{ name: 'Thaiphoon', cuisine: 'Thai' },{ name: 'Tamarine', cuisine: 'Vietnamese' },{ name: 'Joya', cuisine: 'Tapas' },{ name: 'Jing Jing', cuisine: 'Chinese' },{ name: 'Patxi\'s Pizza', cuisine: 'Pizza' },{ name: 'Evvia Estiatorio', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'Cafe 220', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'Cafe Renaissance', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'Kan Zeman', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'Gyros-Gyros', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'Mango Caribbean Cafe', cuisine: 'Caribbean' },{ name: 'Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant &amp; Bar', cuisine: 'Caribbean' },{ name: 'Rose &amp; Crown', cuisine: 'English' },{ name: 'Baklava', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'Mandarin Gourmet', cuisine: 'Chinese' },{ name: 'Bangkok Cuisine', cuisine: 'Thai' },{ name: 'Darbar Indian Cuisine', cuisine: 'Indian' },{ name: 'Mantra', cuisine: 'Indian' },{ name: 'Janta', cuisine: 'Indian' },{ name: 'Hyderabad House', cuisine: 'Indian' },{ name: 'Starbucks', cuisine: 'Coffee' },{ name: 'Peet\'s Coffee', cuisine: 'Coffee' },{ name: 'Coupa Cafe', cuisine: 'Coffee' },{ name: 'Lytton Coffee Company', cuisine: 'Coffee' },{ name: 'Il Fornaio', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Lavanda', cuisine: 'Mediterranean' },{ name: 'MacArthur Park', cuisine: 'American' },{ name: 'St Michael\'s Alley', cuisine: 'Californian' },{ name: 'Cafe Renzo', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Osteria', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Vero', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Cafe Renzo', cuisine: 'Italian' },{ name: 'Miyake', cuisine: 'Sushi' },{ name: 'Sushi Tomo', cuisine: 'Sushi' },{ name: 'Kanpai', cuisine: 'Sushi' },{ name: 'Pizza My Heart', cuisine: 'Pizza' },{ name: 'New York Pizza', cuisine: 'Pizza' },{ name: 'California Pizza Kitchen', cuisine: 'Pizza' },{ name: 'Round Table', cuisine: 'Pizza' },{ name: 'Loving Hut', cuisine: 'Vegan' },{ name: 'Garden Fresh', cuisine: 'Vegan' },{ name: 'Cafe Epi', cuisine: 'French' },{ name: 'Tai Pan', cuisine: 'Chinese' }] }); var groupingFeature = Ext.create('Ext.grid.feature.Grouping',{ groupHeaderTpl: 'Cuisine: {name} ({rows.length} Item{[values.rows.length > 1 ? "s" : ""]})' }); var grid = Ext.create('Ext.grid.Panel', { renderTo: Ext.getBody(), collapsible: true, iconCls: 'icon-grid', frame: true, store: Restaurants, width: 600, height: 400, title: 'Restaurants', features: [groupingFeature], columns: [{ text: 'Name', flex: 1, dataIndex: 'name' },{ text: 'Cuisine', flex: 1, dataIndex: 'cuisine' }], fbar : ['->', { text:'Clear Grouping', iconCls: 'icon-clear-group', handler : function(){ groupingFeature.disable(); } }] }); });

Q: Magento - how to add new product status I'm trying to make new product statuses but i can't figure out how to do it and all the stuff set on the web is not consistent or simply talks about order status which i don't want to change. A: What is your motivation to have new product statuses? I think it's little bit risky to change this part of app. I suggest you to add new attribute and use this one instead system product's attribute 'status', this attribute tells to system if product is enabled or disabled. I guess there is nothing between :)

The social network in marijuana-using groups. Three ongoing marijuana-using groups were studied in their natural environments. Group characteristics and the relationship of each member to individuals within the group were assessed, in addition to the members' primary social roles outside the group. The relationship of sociometric data to user characteristics was determined. The social and drug histories of the three groups were highly similar. Despite high levels of drug use, the most frequent reason for group participation was friendship, and diverse social activities occurred in the group. Social resources outside the group were minimal, whereas enduring, positive relationships characterized each group. Popularity was related to frequency of group participation, but not to extent of drug use. The function of marijuana-using groups in fulfilling interpersonal needs is discussed.

ABOUT RYAN FRIEDLINGHAUS ABOUT RYAN FRIEDLINGHAUS Nickname: Shady. Born: Los Angeles, grew up in Las Vegas. Family: Engaged to Meagan Elliott; children Ryan Jr., 10; Dylan, 3. Home: Corona, Calif. Hobbies: Hanging out with family. He takes them to Disneyland about once a week. Favorite TV shows: American Chopper, CSI. Favorite car: 1950 Mercury. Fastest ever gone in a car: About 200 mph in a Porsche Carrera GT and Ferrari Enzo in Dubai. Tattoo on knuckles: SELF MADE. CORONA, Calif. — Spend a little time around West Coast Customs and you'll learn the price of fame. Insane deadlines. Routine 60-hour workweeks. A demanding, want-it-now celebrity clientele. And a self-described micromanager CEO who doesn't mince words — including expletives. "It's a lot of pressure," says Ishmael Jimenez, 36, an upholstery expert and one of the handful of managers who work for CEO Ryan Friedlinghaus. "I can make no excuses, because West Coast Customs has a worldwide reputation." PHOTOS: West Coast Customs' crew at work CORPORATE PULSE: Executive Suite index That reputation is borne of an automotive customization business that gained national fame thanks to its outrageous hip-hop designs and appearance on the MTV show Pimp My Ride. For four seasons of that show, West Coast Customs transformed broken-down jalopies into outrageous, urban-oriented rides with wild paint jobs, humongous chrome wheels and ground-pounding stereos. Friedlinghaus, probably the most heavily tattooed CEO in America, says he yanked the shop's participation because he thought Pimp was too gimmicky with its ugly duckling-to-swan format. Nowadays, he's more stoked about his latest ventures and another TV series that the staff did for cable channel TLC. He says that show Street Customs, now out of production, was a more realistic portrayal of how a custom car shop really operates. The crew does things that would make most car owners wince. Like sawing the roof off a Land Rover to install smoked glass or turning the off-road luxury vehicle into a two-door, instead of four-door model. Those tasks, along with fancy paint, wheels and all the glitz, were accomplished in about a month. At any given moment, the shop is working on about 20 vehicles. Recent jobs have included cutting the roof off NBA star Shaquille O'Neal's $145,000 Mercedes-Benz S600 to make it a convertible. The artists and technicians also are adding speakers, paint and goodies to skier Bodie Miller's 1992 GMC Typhoon SUV. These vehicles share garage space with a Dodge Nitro SUV, Ford F-250 pickup and a vintage 1950 Mercury, among others. Each is getting its own unique makeover. Creativity on the clock It's not all about the flash. Digital clocks hanging above the garage floor tick off the seconds until each project is due to be turned back to its owner as a sparkling show car. The business makes deadlines. "I just get it done. My word is everything," Friedlinghaus says. The busy garage is only the most visible element of Friedlinghaus' burgeoning automotive business that now includes: •International. The first franchised West Coast Customs shop opened six months ago in Dubai. The deal came after West Coast received a commission to convert a Hummer as a birthday gift for a sheik's 14-year-old daughter, he says. Now similar arrangements are in the works in Russia, Japan, Germany and Malaysia. The shop has gained worldwide exposure from syndicated episodes of the original Pimp shows. •Merchandise. West Coast has its own co-branded stereo systems, wheels, paint and leather kits. It already has an extensive line of T-shirts and other apparel with its distinctive graffiti-like designs. Next will be its own shop-inspired clothing line called Wrench, due to go on sale later this year. The company also is developing a line of automotive graphics that can be wrapped onto any car. •Live shows. Friedlinghaus is trying to develop a newfangled community car show near his factory in Corona, east of Los Angeles, later this year. It would include car-themed family entertainment, not just rows of tricked-out cars on display, he says. Among other things, his crew would rebuild a car on stage — then give it away. West Coast Custom's crew already gives demonstrations of their customizing techniques at industry trade shows. "We have grown up," Friedlinghaus says. "We're doing real stuff." West Coast employs 35 at a $4 million plant decorated with graffiti art and at a design shop nearby across the train tracks in Corona. Most of West Coast Customs' jobs are $25,000 to $50,000 conversions, though some are far more complicated, and costly. Lately, the company has specialized in building entirely new chassis for vintage muscle cars. For instance, West Coast attached the body of a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle sedan to the guts of a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette, creating the "Corvelle." The goal is a vintage look with modern-day reliability and performance. Friedlinghaus says revenue at the privately held company now exceeds $10 million a year. Not bad considering that the company started only 11 years ago with a $5,000 loan from Friedlinghaus' grandfather. A false start in 'the OC' Friedlinghaus, 32, grew up in Las Vegas, as the family renegade who developed an early appreciation for baggy low-riding pants, hip-hop music and tinkering with cars. He says his straight-laced father used to tell him, "You're never going to get anywhere wearing your pants like that, listening to that kind of music and driving those stupid cars." When the family moved to the affluent south Orange County, Calif., enclave of Laguna Niguel, Friedlinghaus opened West Coast Customs as his first car business in 1997. But it didn't click. His clientele was "a bunch of spoiled rotten kids who didn't know what they wanted," he says. Then, he says, they would send their raving parents to the shop to protest how much they had spent on their cars. Instead, Friedlinghaus followed the advice of a friend. He moved the business to Compton, a hardscrabble, inner-city community. Though Compton isn't many miles from Laguna Niguel, culturally and economically it is a world apart. Big break from a big client It's there, Friedlinghaus says, that he got his first big break. O'Neal, then the star center of the Los Angeles Lakers, heard about his ability to soup up cars. Shaq handed over his Lincoln Navigator to Friedlinghaus to install a new suspension. Now, "I've built him 38 cars," says Friedlinghaus, including the latest Mercedes and an International truck that he's converting into the "Dunktruck," a promotion vehicle for O'Neal's sneaker line. O'Neal, in comments relayed by spokesman Todd Brooks, says he's not sure how many vehicles that West Coast Customs has done for him, but it's "probably enough that we should be partners." Friedlinghaus is someone who "understands what I like, and he always delivers on what he says. He has earned my trust," O'Neal says. "Ryan always outdoes himself. That's why I had him do my Dunktruck. … There's more pressure for Ryan on this one." West Coast has done promotional vehicles for other businesses. One was for Rockstar Energy Drink, which commissioned a truck and recreational vehicle. "It was a natural fit," says Mike Kelso, Rockstar's marketing director. "They get where Rockstar is coming from." After a succession of moves around urban L.A., Friedlinghaus brought West Coast back out to the suburbs, moving the company nearly two years ago to its factory a few minutes' drive from his house. His Pimp My Ride days, which ended in 2004, brought him enough fame that he says he is still recognized in public. Thanks to worldwide syndication, he says he was once chased by fans through an airport in Germany. The Pimp show continued after West Coast Customs ended its involvement, utilizing a new shop in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. West Coast soldiered on, business as tough as ever. "It's stressful," says Sean Mahaney, the metal fabrication chief, because of the compressed schedule for finishing vehicles. The hip clientele "want what's cool right now." Then there is Friedlinghaus, who lords over every project. "He's his own worst critic, and he's your critic, too," says Scott Voinovich, 35, the general manager. The stressful milieu made for "good TV," says Street Customs executive producer, Craig Piligian. "Ryan has his own special brand of building cars. He's the best at it." Enlarge By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY Ryan Friedlinghaus gained fame on MTV's Pimp My Ride. Now he stars in Street Customs on TLC. Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.

Rated: Professors • 95ReviewsSummary: One of Ron and Hermione's infamous arguments in Gryffindor Tower gets slightly out-of-hand, leading to complication, confusion, and an unexpected apology. But conquering their feelings becomes only the first in a series of battles the two must face. This is an unofficial site and is not supported or recognized by any of the publishers of the Harry Potter books. The author J.K. Rowling created this world and owns all the names and characters in it; this is a humble fan site run by teenagers who are scared of lawyers and don't wish to break any laws. E-mail us at mnffstaff3 at gmail dot com if you have any questions or concerns.

Evidence that intramolecular interactions are involved in masking the activation domain of transcriptional activator Leu3p. The Leu3 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae regulates the expression of genes involved in branched chain amino acid biosynthesis and in ammonia assimilation. It is modulated by alpha-isopropylmalate, an intermediate in leucine biosynthesis. In the presence of alpha-isopropylmalate, Leu3p is a transcriptional activator. In the absence of the signal molecule, the activation domain is masked, and Leu3p acts as a repressor. The recent discovery that Leu3p retains its regulatory properties when expressed in mammalian cells (Guo, H., and Kohlhaw, G. B. (1996) FEBS Lett. 390, 191-195) suggests that masking and unmasking of the activation domain occur without the participation of auxiliary proteins. Here we present experimental support for this notion and address the mechanism of masking. We show that modulation of Leu3p is exceedingly sensitive to mutations in the activation domain. An activation domain double mutant (D872N/D874N; designated Leu3-dd) was constructed that has the characteristics of a permanently masked activator. Using separately expressed segments containing either the DNA binding domain-middle region or the activation domain of wild type Leu3p (or Leu3-dd) in a modified yeast two-hybrid system, we provide direct evidence for alpha-isopropylmalate-dependent interaction between these segments. Finally, we use the phenotype of Leu3-dd-containing cells (slow growth in the absence of added leucine) to select for suppressor mutations that map to the middle region of Leu3-dd. The properties of nine such suppressors further support the idea that masking is an intramolecular process and suggest a means for mapping the surface involved in masking.

Many students of Latin and Greek often wonder what is the best way to improve their reading skills in the classical languages. The answer, of course, is, “read a lot of Latin and Greek!” But there are a few methods I’ve picked up over the years, which I often encourage students to adopt. This article deals with one of them, and discusses why it works. I learned this method from Fr. Reginaldus Foster, the famous papal Latinist who ran a legendary summer Latin program in Rome that taught students to speak Latin while visiting ancient ruins in beautiful Italian locales. He mentioned in passing that he had learned it as a boy from his teachers, and it involved keeping a vocabulary list, which you constantly review. Reginaldus advised to use a legal pad, as they are a bit longer, and can accommodate a few more words per page. As you read a Latin or Greek text, when you come across a particular word you don’t know, write the word down on the left hand side of the page. Make sure you write the word as it would occur in the dictionary. In other words, if it’s a noun, write the nominative, genitive, and the gender, e.g. vir, viri (m.). If it’s a verb, write all the principle parts, habeo, habere, habui, habitum. On the other side of the page near the right margin, write the definition of the word. Leave the middle space between the two words blank. Every time you come across a word you don’t know, add it to the list. When you come to the end of the first page, flip to the next one, and keep going. Now that you have this list, use it! Devote a set period of time everyday to the memorization of the new vocabulary you’ve come across. Cover the right side of the paper with your hand so that the Latin and Greek words are hidden. Look at the English to prompt yourself, and say the entire Latin Greek forms out loud. Repeat all of the essential lexicographical information out loud as well, including the part of speech, the stem, the gender, the principle parts, etc. If there are words you don’t know, lift up your hand and look at the definition. You can also put a small dot next to any definition to help focus your attention on the words you don’t know. Repeat this until you can confidently produce all the Latin or Greek words on the right hand side of the page, with all their forms, out loud. Do this every day for the entire legal pad. Low-tech, but effective. (source) As you keep reading, your legal pad will fill up with words. It’s important to keep the task of memorization reasonable, and Reginaldus had a trick for this, too. When you’ve filled 7 pages on the legal pad, and are ready to start the eighth page, tear the 1st page off, and throw it away. Never allow more than 7 pages of vocabulary to accumulate. There may be some words on the page you throw away that you still don’t quite remember perfectly. That’s OK. You can’t get yourself in the situation of hoarding vocabulary words, because then the essential daily task of memorizing becomes too time-consuming and overwhelming. It needs to stay manageable so that it is doable. Since you’ve been reviewing every day, you will have seen the words on the first page 7 times by the time it’s time to get rid of it. By tearing it off, you may be letting go some of the words you haven’t fully memorized yet. Don’t worry, if they are frequent, important words, they will come up again in your reading and go back onto the pad. If they aren’t, you’ll only see them rarely and you don’t need to worry about them too much. There are several reasons why this method is particularly effective. The first is that it works with words that you’ve seen in context. It is much easier for us to remember things that we’ve seen in context, rather than things that are randomly presented on their own. In psychology, this is called “context dependent memory.” If you need proof of this, just think of a time that you’ve lost your car keys, and retraced your steps to remember where you put them. This context of your experience reading will make your self-generated vocabulary list a much more powerful tool than a frequency lists or list of 500 most common verbs without any context or lived experience connected to them. You don’t need to worry about memorizing low-frequency words, either. Since you’re reading real Latin, the most frequent words will naturally occur as you read. Sure, you may end up memorizing some infrequent words, but even that can end up having unexpected benefits. Many infrequent Latin and Greek words are related conceptually or linguistically to more common words. For example, the Latin word conficio is the 641st most common word in Latin occurring to Logeion (the University of Chicago’s excellent online Latin and Greek dictionary). But it’s related to facio, the 29th most common word in Latin. Other times, an uncommon Latin word has a common borrowing or choice derivative in English or the romance language. Carpo is the 1830th most common word in Latin, but it helps you understand the common English borrowing carpe diem, and the two-dollar English derivative “carping.” There are many other examples of this, and it makes it worthwhile to memorize almost any Latin word you come across. Another interesting thing to note about this method is that it’s entirely analogue. It requires you to write things out by hand on physical paper. I am convinced that when it comes to memorization, writing things out is much more beneficial than using digital tools like Quizlet. There are a few reasons for this. The most important has to do with muscle memory. When you write longhand, you are making a physical movement with your hand to form each letter. Each letter is like a tiny painting, produced by a flourish of your wrist and fingers. The words that you write bear your personal style; no two people’s handwriting is the same. This muscle memory, and the personal, artistic relationship you have with each word when you write it out supports your mental connection to the word and makes it easier to memorize. And then, of course, there is the danger of distraction when using digital tools. When it’s just you and a pad a paper, there’s no possibility of a tappable smartphone notification distracting you from your task. There’s also less of a chance of that own curiosity, triggered by some random association, will send you down an internet rabbit hole of Wikipedia or worse. The word “method,” μέθοδος in Greek, derives from the word οδός “road.” It means “a path or approach for attaining something.” In order for this method to work, you must try to walk the road every day. There is a koan, or Zen Buddhist riddle, that runs, “There is a road, but no one walks on it.” Understanding the difficulty and the essential importance of building a daily practice of reading is the key to making this method work. Regardless of your methodological approach, learning to read Latin, Greek, or any language for that matter, should be approached like meditation or prayer. The greatest progress will come from consistent, daily practice, and the result will be greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, you will make more progress from 15 minutes of reading a day than you will from one hour every four days. The challenge, as the riddle points out, is walking the path. For those who are lucky enough to be full-time students, the path is easier to stay on, for a time. Those who try to learn Latin or Greek in their spare time face greater obstacles. But even on those who enjoy the most otium, life’s distractions and necessities constantly bear down. Doing anything other than eating, sleeping, and breathing for 15 minutes a day for any extended period of time can prove to be very challenging. However, building a habit and sticking to it, can be wonderfully rewarding in its own right, and the goal of communing with ancient voices, which applying one’s focused attention to learning Latin and Greek confers, is one worth walking towards.

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