text stringlengths 8 5.77M |
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Presently, the recognized test procedures for the determination of gonoccocal infection rely upon culture methods which are laborious, time-consuming, and in the case of asymptomatic infections present in females, the accuracy of cultural methods may be doubtful (see Pariser et al., Southern Medical Journal. Vol. 63, pages 198-201).
Typical procedures are described in the publication "Criteria and Techniques for the Diagnosis of Gonorrhea" published by the United States Public Health Service at the Venereal Disease branch in Atlanta, Georgia. Typically, in males, the presence of gonococcal infection is determined by obtaining urethral cultures which exhibit oxidase-portions colonies of gram-negative diplococci when cultured on Thayer-Martin medium (J. D. Thayer and J. E. Martin, Jr., in Public Health Rep., 79, pages 49-57). In females, gonococcal infection is diagnosed by cervical cultures on Thayer-Martin medium wherein oxidase-positive colonies of gram-negative diplococci appear. In the above culture tests, all cultures are incubated for 18 hours at 37.degree. C. with CO.sub.2 enrichment. The cultural results are frequently confirmed by sugar fermentation studies.
Other tests employed include complement fixation wherein the hemolysis of erythrocytes is monitored. This test is time consuming, the accuracy of results is questionable, and standardization of reagents is a problem. Indirect immuno fluorescence is also employed to measure the amount of gonococcal antibody in sera. However, this test requires complex and costly apparatus as well as a skilled operator.
Experimental progress was made in 1963 when Kellog et al. (J. Bacteriol., Vol. 85, pages 1274-1279) identified four clonal types of N. gonorrhoeae bacteria and demonstrated a correlation between colonial morphology and virulence with two of the four colonial types. The four types are designated as T.sub.1, T.sub.2, T.sub.3, and T.sub.4, with the clonal type one (i.e., T.sub.1) being identified as the primary virulent strain most likely to reflect the antigenic stimulation responsible for antibody production in humans. It is also known that a particular strain of N. gonorrhea designated as F62 will undergo immunochemical region with antibodies developed in response to a wide variety of other strains of N. gonorrhea. Based on this work, a number of different antigens have been derived from the F62-T.sub.1 strain. Examples of this approach are: Lee et al (Infec. Immun., Vol. 1, pages 207-208); Schmale et al. (J. Bacteriol., Vol. 99, pages 469-471); Reising et al (Appl. Microbiol., Vol. 18, pages 337-339); and Lee at al (Appl. Microbiol., Vol. 21, pages 852-853).
While much effort has been expended to develop suitable gonorrheal antigens, there still exists a need to apply previous work in a practical manner to produce an immunochemical test for gonorrhea. Specifically, a need exits to find a carrier particle which can be sensitized with a gonorrheal antigen so that the immunochemical reaction with gonorrheal antibodies can be followed visually to ascertain the presence of infection.
Schuurs (U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,555) teaches that various types of carrier particles (e.g., synthetic latexes or cholesterol crystals) can be presensitized with an inert protein and subsequently sensitized with various materials such as antigens of bacterial origin. It is also known (Reising, Appl. Microbiol., Vol. 21, pages 852-853) that cholesterol particles can be presensitized with lecithin and sensitized with gonorrheal antigen derived as an aqueous supernatant by disruption of cells of gonorrhea bacteria. However, by the resulting test, a microflocculation assay, in females diagnosed clinically and culturally to have gonorrheal infection, only 76% showed a positive microflocculation assay. In males, the correlation was only about 50%. Therefore, while immunochemical testing using some form of presensitization of carrier particles is known, the results as evidenced by the above assay technique have not been sufficiently sensitive to be used in place of the present culture techniques, or on a mass screening basis. |
Campton Hills IL Real Estate & Homes for Rent
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The average price of homes sold in Campton Hills, IL is $279,500.
Approximately 93.02% of Campton Hills homes are owned,
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Q:
Tensorflow doesn't calculate summary
I try to understand how to collect summaries for tensorboard and wrote a simple code to increment x from 1 till 5.
For some unknown reason I see variable My_x as 0 in all steps.
import tensorflow as tf
tf.reset_default_graph() # To clear the defined variables/operations
# create the scalar variable
x = tf.Variable(0, name='x')
# ____step 1:____ create the scalar summary
x_summ = tf.summary.scalar(name='My_x', tensor=x)
# accumulate all summaries
merged_summary = tf.summary.merge_all()
# create the op for initializing all variables
model = tf.global_variables_initializer()
# launch the graph in a session
with tf.Session() as session:
# ____step 2:____ creating the writer inside the session
summary_writer = tf.summary.FileWriter('output', session.graph)
for i in range(5):
#initialize variables
session.run(model)
x = x + 1
# ____step 3:____ evaluate the scalar summary
merged_summary_ans, x_summ_ans, x_ans = session.run([merged_summary, x_summ, x])
print(x_ans)
print(x_summ_ans)
print(merged_summary_ans)
# ____step 4:____ add the summary to the writer (i.e. to the event file)
summary_writer.add_summary(summary=x_summ_ans, global_step=i)
summary_writer.flush()
summary_writer.close()
print('Done with writing the scalar summary')
A:
There are two problems that I can see in your code:
1) The first is that in each loop you are re-initialising the global variables again. This is resetting x back to its original value (0).
2) Second of all when you are updating x you are overwriting the link to the variable with a TensorFlow addition operation. Your code to increase x replaces 'x' with a tf.add operation and then your summary value is no longer tracing a tf.Variable but an addition operation. If you add "print(x)" after you define it and have it run once in every loop, you will see that originally it starts out as <tf.Variable 'x:0' shape=() dtype=int32_ref> but then after seeing that "x = x+1" then print(x) becomes Tensor("add:0", shape=(), dtype=int32). Here you can see that tf.summary.scalar is only compatible with the original value and you can see why it can't be updated.
Here is code I altered to get it to work so you can see the linear of the value of x in Tensorboard.
import tensorflow as tf
tf.reset_default_graph()
x = tf.Variable(0, name='x')
x_summary = tf.summary.scalar('x_', x)
init = tf.global_variables_initializer()
with tf.Session() as session:
session.run(init)
merged_summary_op = tf.summary.merge_all()
summary_writer = tf.summary.FileWriter('output', session.graph)
for i in range(5):
print(x.eval())
summary = session.run(merged_summary_op)
summary_writer.add_summary(summary, i)
session.run(tf.assign(x, x+1))
summary_writer.flush()
summary_writer.close()
|
Q:
IIS multiple sites on same ip with different ssl
I cant seem to run multiple sites using the same IP with different ports and different ssl cert.
site a is fine but site b is returning SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN because it's returning site a's ssl cert.
This is the error I get when trying to use it on the same ports hence I use different ports for the domains
A:
Here are my thoughts:
First of all SSL certificates are most commonly issued against domain names instead of IP addresses.
In your scenario you have one IP address so only one certificate can be issued against one IP address.
Options:
Get multiple SSL certificates for your website domains assuming your websites will be hosted on different domains e.g. example1.com, example2.com
Get wild card ssl certificate and then use it for your multiple websites assuming your websites will be hosted on sub-domains e.g. site1.example.com, site2.example.com
|
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Mass Natural
"Elitist" is just about the nastiest name you can call someone, or something, in America these days, a finely-honed term of derision in the culture wars, and "elitist" has stuck to organic food in this country like balsamic vinegar to mâche. Thirty years ago the rap on organic was a little different: back then the stuff was derided as hippie food, crunchy granola and bricklike brown bread for the unshaved set (male and female division). So for organic to be tagged as elitist may count as progress. But you knew it was over for John Kerry in the farm belt when his wife, Teresa, helpfully suggested to Missouri farmers that they go organic. Eating organic has been fixed in the collective imagination as an upper-middle-class luxury, a blue-state affectation as easy to mock as Volvos or lattes. On the cultural spectrum, organic stands at the far opposite extreme from Nascar or Wal-Mart.
But all this is about to change, now that Wal-Mart itself, the nation's largest grocer, has decided to take organic food seriously. (Nascar is not quite there yet.) Beginning later this year, Wal-Mart plans to roll out a complete selection of organic foods — food certified by the U.S.D.A. to have been grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers — in its nearly 4,000 stores. Just as significant, the company says it will price all this organic food at an eye-poppingly tiny premium over its already-cheap conventional food: the organic Cocoa Puffs and Oreos will cost only 10 percent more than the conventional kind. Organic food will soon be available to the tens of millions of Americans who now cannot afford it — indeed, who have little or no idea what the term even means. Organic food, which represents merely 2.5 percent of America's half-trillion-dollar food economy, is about to go mainstream. At a stroke, the argument that it is elitist will crumble.
This is good news indeed, for the American consumer and the American land. Or perhaps I should say for some of the American land and a great deal more of the land in places like Mexico and China, for Wal-Mart is bound to hasten the globalization of organic food. (Ten percent of organic food is imported today.) Like every other commodity that global corporations lay their hands on, organic food will henceforth come from wherever in the world it can be produced most cheaply. It is about to go the way of sneakers and MP3 players, becoming yet another rootless commodity circulating in the global economy.
Oh, but wait. . .I meant to talk about all the good that will come of Wal-Mart's commitment to organic. Sorry about that. When you're talking about global capitalism, it can be hard to separate the good news from the bad. Because of its scale and efficiency and notorious ruthlessness, Wal-Mart will force down the price of organics, and that is a good thing for all the consumers who can't afford to spend more for food than they already do. Wal-Mart will also educate the millions of Americans who don't yet know exactly what organic food is or precisely how it differs from conventionally grown food.
The vast expansion of organic farmland it will take to feed Wal-Mart's new appetite is also an unambiguous good for the world's environment, since it will result in substantially less pesticide and chemical fertilizer being applied to the land — somewhere. Whatever you think about the prospect of organic Coca-Cola, when it comes, and come it surely will, tens of thousands of acres of the world's cornfields — enough to make all that organic high-fructose corn syrup — will no longer receive an annual shower of pesticides like Atrazine. O.K., you're probably registering a flicker of cognitive dissonance at the conjunction of the words "organic" and "high-fructose corn syrup," but keep your eye for a moment on that Atrazine.
Atrazine is a powerful herbicide applied to 70 percent of America's cornfields. Traces of the chemical routinely turn up in American streams and wells and even in the rain; the F.D.A. also finds residues of Atrazine in our food.
So what? Well, the chemical, which was recently banned by the European Union, is a suspected carcinogen and endocrine disruptor that has been linked to low sperm counts among farmers. A couple of years ago, a U.C. Berkeley herpetologist named Tyrone Hayes, while doing research on behalf of Syngenta, Atrazine's manufacturer, found that even at concentrations as low as 0.1 part per billion, the herbicide will chemically emasculate a male frog, causing its gonads to produce eggs — in effect, turning males into hermaphrodites. Atrazine is often present in American waterways at much higher concentrations than 0.1 part per billion. But American regulators generally won't ban a pesticide until the bodies, or cancer cases, begin to pile up — until, that is, scientists can prove the link between the suspect molecule and illness in humans or ecological catastrophe. So Atrazine is, at least in the American food system, deemed innocent until proved guilty — a standard of proof extremely difficult to achieve, since it awaits the results of chemical testing on humans that we, rightly, don't perform.
I don't know about you, but as the father of an adolescent boy, I sort of like the idea of keeping such a molecule out of my son's diet, even if the scientists and nutritionists say they still don't have proof that organic food is any safer or healthier. I also like that growing food organically doesn't pollute the rivers and water table with nitrates from synthetic fertilizer or expose farm workers to toxic pesticides. And the fact that animals raised organically don't receive antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones. Sounds like a better agriculture to me — and Wal-Mart has just put the force of its great many supermarkets behind it.
Photo
Credit
Brent Humphreys
But before you pour yourself a celebratory glass of Wal-Mart organic milk, you might want to ask a few questions about how the company plans to achieve its laudable goals. Assuming that it's possible at all, how exactly would Wal-Mart get the price of organic food down to a level just 10 percent higher than that of its everyday food? To do so would virtually guarantee that Wal-Mart's version of cheap organic food is not sustainable, at least not in any meaningful sense of that word. To index the price of organic to the price of conventional is to give up, right from the start, on the idea, once enshrined in the organic movement, that food should be priced not high or low but responsibly. As the organic movement has long maintained, cheap industrial food is cheap only because the real costs of producing it are not reflected in the price at the checkout. Rather, those costs are charged to the environment, in the form of soil depletion and pollution (industrial agriculture is now our biggest polluter); to the public purse, in the form of subsidies to conventional commodity farmers; to the public health, in the form of an epidemic of diabetes and obesity that is expected to cost the economy more than $100 billion per year; and to the welfare of the farm- and food-factory workers, not to mention the well-being of the animals we eat. As Wendell Berry once wrote, the motto of our conventional food system — at the center of which stands Wal-Mart, the biggest purveyor of cheap food in America — should be: Cheap at any price!
To say you can sell organic food for 10 percent more than you sell irresponsibly priced food suggests that you don't really get it — that you plan to bring business-as-usual principles of industrial "efficiency" and "economies of scale" to a system of food production that was supposed to mimic the logic of natural systems rather than that of the factory.
We have already seen what happens when the logic of the factory is applied to organic food production. The industrialization of organic agriculture, which Wal-Mart's involvement will only deepen, has already given us "organic feedlots" — two words that I never thought would find their way into the same clause. To supply the escalating demand for cheap organic milk, agribusiness companies are setting up 5,000-head dairies, often in the desert. These milking cows never touch a blade of grass, instead spending their days standing around a dry-lot "loafing area" munching organic grain — grain that takes a toll on both the animals' health (these ruminants evolved to eat grass, after all) and the nutritional value of their milk. But this is the sort of milk (deficient in beta-carotene and the "good fats" — like omega 3's and C.L.A. — that come from grazing cows on grass) we're going to see a lot more of in the supermarket as long as Wal-Mart determines to keep organic milk cheap.
We're also going to see more organic milk — and organic foods of all kinds — coming from places like New Zealand. The globalization of organic food is already well under way: at Whole Foods you can buy organic asparagus flown in from Argentina, raspberries from Mexico, grass-fed meat from New Zealand. In an era of energy scarcity, the purchase of such products does little to advance the ideal of sustainability that once upon a time animated the organic movement. These foods may contain no pesticides, but they are drenched in petroleum even so.
Whether produced domestically or not, organic meat will increasingly come not from mixed, polyculture farms growing a variety of species (a practice that makes it possible to recycle nutrients between plants and animals) but from ever-bigger Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFO's, which, apart from using organic feed and abjuring antibiotics, are little different from their conventional counterparts. Yes, the federal organic rules say the animals should have "access to the outdoors," but in practice this often means providing them with a tiny exercise yard or, in the case of one organic egg producer in New England, a screened-in concrete "porch" — a view of the outdoors. Herein lies one of the deeper paradoxes of practicing organic agriculture on an industrial scale: big, single-species CAFO's are even more precarious than their conventional cousins, since they can't use antibiotics to keep the thousands of animals living in close confinement indoors from becoming sick. So organic CAFO-hands (to call them farmhands seems overly generous) keep the free ranging to a minimum and then keep their fingers crossed.
Wal-Mart will buy its organic food from whichever producers can produce it most cheaply, and these will not be the sort of farmers you picture when you hear the word "organic." Big supermarkets want to do business only with big farmers growing lots of the same thing, not because big monoculture farms are any more efficient (they aren't) but because it's easier to buy all your carrots from a single megafarm than to contract with hundreds of smaller growers. The "transaction costs" are lower, even when the price and the quality are the same. This is just one of the many ways in which the logic of industrial capitalism and the logic of biology on a farm come into conflict. At least in the short run, the logic of capitalism usually prevails.
Wal-Mart's push into the organic market won't do much for small organic farmers, that seems plain enough. But it may also spell trouble for the big growers it will favor. Wal-Mart has a reputation for driving down prices by squeezing its suppliers, especially after those suppliers have invested heavily to boost production to feed the Wal-Mart maw. Having done that, the supplier will find itself at Wal-Mart's mercy when the company decides it no longer wants to pay a price that enables the farmer to make a living. When that happens, the notion of responsibly priced food will be sacrificed to the imperatives of survival, and the pressure to cut corners will become irresistible.
Up to now, the federal organic standards have provided a bulwark against that pressure. Yet with the industrialization of organic, these rules are themselves coming under mounting pressure, and forgive my skepticism, but it's hard to believe that the lobbyists from Wal-Mart are going to play a constructive role in defending those standards from efforts to weaken them. Just this past year the Organic Trade Association used lobbyists who do work for Kraft Foods to move a bill through Congress that will make it easier to include synthetic ingredients in products labeled organic.
Organic is just a word, after all, and its definition now lies in the hands of the federal government, which means it is subject to all the usual political and economic forces at play in Washington. Inevitably, the drive to produce organic food cheaply will bring pressure to further weaken the regulations, and some of K Street's finest talent will soon be on the case. A few years ago a chicken producer in Georgia named Fieldale Farms persuaded its congressman to slip a helpful provision into an appropriations bill that would allow growers of organic chicken to substitute conventional chicken feed if the price of organic feed exceeded a certain level. That certainly makes life easier for a chicken producer when the price of organic corn is north of $5 a bushel, as it is today, and conventional corn south of $2. But in what sense is a chicken fed on conventional feed still organic? In no sense but the Orwellian one: because the government says it is.
After an outcry from consumers and some wiser heads in the organic industry, this new rule was repealed. The moral of the Fieldale story is that unless consumers and well-meaning organic producers remain vigilant and steadfast, the drive to make the price of organic foods competitive with that of conventional foods will hollow out the word and kill the organic goose, just when her golden eggs are luring so many big players into the water. Let's hope Wal-Mart recognizes that the extraordinary marketing magic of the word "organic" — a power that flows directly from our dissatisfaction with the very-cheap-food economy Wal-Mart has done so much to create — is a lot like the health of an organic chicken living in close confinement with thousands of other chickens in an organic CAFO, munching organic corn: fragile.
Michael Pollan, a contributing writer for the magazine, is the author, most recently, of "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals." He also teaches journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. |
Q:
Arm Gcc Weak Alias Redefinition
I wanted to create weak alias for several functions so that I can declare it in a header file but then define it later on in different files. For some reason I still get a redefinition error from gcc.
Ideally for functions that don't have implementations I would like for it to default back on the alias.
I have tried removing alias("Default_Handler") and it seems to compile but it sort of destroys my intention for this application I am trying to write.
vector_table.h
void __attribute__((noreturn)) Default_Handler (void);
void NMI_Handler(void) __attribute__((weak, alias("Default_Handler")));
startup.c
#include "vector_table.h"
void Default_Handler(void){
for(;;);
}
void NMI_Handler(void){
for(;;);
}
arm-none-eabi-gcc -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mthumb -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard -Wall -Wno-unused -Wextra -pedantic -H -g3 -gdwarf-2 -O0 -std=c90 -ffreestanding -c startup.c
startup.c:93:6: error: redefinition of 'NMI_Handler'
void NMI_Handler(void){
^
In file included from startup.c:3:0:
vector_table.h:17:6: note: previous definition of 'NMI_Handler' was here
void NMI_Handler(void) __attribute__((weak, alias("Default_Handler")));
A:
TL;DR: Don't put __weak__ nor __alias__ in .h file. Put __weak__ and __alias__ in .c file.
Weak symbols theoretically work like this:
There is one .o file with __weak__ symbol.
There is another .o file with a normal symbol.
Linker sees both symbols and picks the non-weak symbol.
The .o object files are generated from .c files. The definition of the symbol inside .c should be weak.
Attributes applied to declaration are applied to definitions that see it. Doing __weak__ in a header in a declaration marks all definitions that see that declaration of this symbol as __weak__.
The alias works as if you would do:
static inline void NMI_Handler(void) {
Default_Handler();
}
It works as-if the same, but without the branch (and less typing). And anyway, because alias creates the symbol, it acts as a definition - it belongs in a .c file also. This is the reason you get multiple definition error - the __alias__ defines the symbol NMI_Handler and you later define void NMI_Handler(void) {} again.
What you want to do I think is this:
// vector_table.h
void __attribute__((noreturn)) Default_Handler (void);
void NMI_Handler(void);
// startup.c
void Default_Handler(void){
for(;;);
}
__attribute__((__weak__, __alias__("NMI_Handler")))
void NMI_Handler(void);
Which is the same as the example use as explained in gcc documentation about function attributes. The documentation states, that the another symbol that is aliased has to be defined in the same transaction unit (read as: in the same .c file).
Remember that declaring a symbol as weak doesn't mean that linker will peak the strong symbol - when compiling with static libraries sometimes strange thing happen. Compile with objects only or use -Wl,-start-group linker options. I think the infocenter.arm has best explanation about that.
|
Small pools of water are pooling in the area around my septic cap. There has been no rain, so I am puzzled as to what this might mean. However, the water doesn't have a septic smell to it so I don't think it's sewage. This has happened three times in 3 months, most recently twice in the last month. Does anyone know what this might indicate? The septic was just pumped a year ago and no problems were found.
The shovel will yield more information as to what is going on, generally these problems only get worse with time, and will not fix themselves. Also there is no miracle cure that you can simply pour out of a box or, bottle....
Here is a picture of a "Typical" septic system, If you are able to figure out what area of your system is leaking we may be able to come up with some additional information. |
CNN Chef, TV host, and writer Anthony Bourdain.
It’s been two years since Bourdain died by suicide.
As the host of CNN’s “Parts Unknown” and Travel Channel’s “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” Bourdain was known for his dark humour, memorable one-liners, and his lust for all things culinary.
Here are some of his most thought-provoking quotes on travel, vegetarians, life, eggs, and “meat in tube form.”
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
On June 8, chefs and fans alike are commemorating the life of TV host, writer, and chef Anthony Bourdain on the two-year anniversary of his death.
The event comes just over a year after Bourdain died by suicide at the age of 61 while filming his TV show, “Parts Unknown,” in France.
He was known for hosting the hit food travel show “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel, before moving on to “The Layover,” then “Parts Unknown” on CNN. The Renaissance man also wrote more than a dozen books on travel and food, such as “Kitchen Confidential” and “Medium Raw.”
In short, he accomplished a lot before he died, and his legions of fans are proof of it. To commemorate the chef, we took a look back at some of his wittiest and most inspiring words of wisdom, both on TV and in print. There were a lot to choose from.
Here are Bourdain’s most thought-provoking quotes, in no particular order.
Editor’s Note: Ivan De Luce contributed to an earlier version of this article.
“All my happiest moments seem to revolve around meat in tube form.”
CNN
On season two, episode four, of his travelogue “Parts Unknown,” Bourdain visited Copenhagen, Denmark. He went mainly for Danish chef René Redzepi’s world-famous restaurant, Noma, and for some New Nordic cuisine. Bourdain said this quote while sampling Danish organic hot dogs.
“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.”
Johnny Nunez/WireImage
In his first book, “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain opened up about one of his favourite pastimes, exploring the world, revealing how it likely changed him as a person.
“People who order their meat well-done perform a valuable service for those of us in the business who are cost-conscious: they pay for the privilege of eating our garbage.”
Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images
In his early days as a literary personality, Bourdain wrote an article on the truth about New York restaurants, which appeared in an April 1999 issue of The New Yorker.
One of his secrets was that the culinary connoisseurs who prefer their steak well-done get a cut destined for the back-alley dumpster. Chefs have the choice of giving the least appetizing steaks to their floor staff, throwing them out, or giving them to taste-blind customers. If the chef is feeling generous, he tells his staff, “save for well-done.”
“You can dress brunch up with all the focaccia, smoked salmon, and caviar in the world, but it’s still breakfast.”
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
In the same article, which is filled with one-liners, Bourdain takes down the Brunch crowd. Back in 1999, Brunch wasn’t nearly as popular as it is two decades on, but Bourdain could already smell the hollandaise – a sauce he called an overpriced “cliché.”
“Even more despised than the Brunch People are the vegetarians. Serious cooks regard these members of the dining public—and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans—as enemies of everything that’s good and decent in the human spirit. To live life without veal or chicken stock, fish cheeks, sausages, cheese, or organ meats is treasonous.”
Fairfax Media/Getty Images
Bourdain doesn’t mince words when it comes to vegetarians. His philosophy was all about eating anything and everything, as long as it was good. As he notes in the article’s intro, “Good food, good eating, is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay.”
“It’s punishing. The sort of frenzied compression of time needed to take the tour, to see the sights, keeps you in a bubble that prevents you from having magic happen to you. Nothing unexpected or wonderful is likely to happen if you have an itinerary in Paris filled with the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.”
CNN
Bourdain was not a fan of speed-tourism, of trying to cram in as many sights and cities as a one-week vacation would allow. In an interview with Money, Bourdain said he liked to take his sight-seeing slowly, one city at a time.
“It’s those little human moments that are the ones that stick with you forever, the random acts of kindness.”
CNN Anthony Bourdain shares a meal in the Greek Isles episode of the seventh season of ‘Parts Unknown.’
In the same interview, Bourdain explained how he liked to go about choosing a dish in a new locale. During his first trip to Tokyo, for example, he found a tiny eatery full of locals, pointed to a bowl of noodles at the table next to his, and asked for it. Instead of planning his vacations, he experienced them.
“You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.”
Ecco
In his 2010 book “Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook,” Bourdain described his love of cheese. It’s not surprising that one of his TV shows, “The Layover,” visited a Seattle cheese shop. Its owner, Laurel Miller, was touched by Bourdain’s kind words about her city. He even took a photo with her.
“If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food. It’s a plus for everybody.”
Rich Fury/AP Anthony Bourdain speaks at SXSW in 2016.
One of Bourdain’s most important life lessons, after the importance of dairy products, was the importance of travel. He became a symbol and role model for any food-lover with the urge to see the world.
“I’m not afraid to look like a big, hairy, smelly, foreign devil in Tokyo, though I do my best not to, I really do.”
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images
In an interview with Powell’s in 2006, Bourdain commented that he looked slightly out of place on the streets of Tokyo, but he never felt that way. He also talked about eating cobra hearts, not ordering fish on Mondays, and that he never thought “Kitchen Confidential,” would be a hit.
“Assume the worst. About everybody. But don’t let this poisoned outlook affect your job performance. Let it all roll off your back. Ignore it. Be amused by what you see and suspect. Just because someone you work with is a miserable, treacherous, self-serving, capricious, and corrupt arsehole shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying their company, working with them, or finding them entertaining.”
Getty Images/Larry French
Bourdain was undeniably cynical, but with lines like these, taken from his 2000 book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” he relished the cynicism.
“Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
CNN Anthony Bourdain during filming of the Manila episode of the seventh season of ‘Parts Unknown.’
In another line from “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain lays out his life philosophy in as few words as possible.
“If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel — as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them — wherever you go.”
CNN Anthony Bourdain during filming of the Montana episode of the seventh season of ‘Parts Unknown.’
In another quote from his book “Medium Raw,” Bourdain implores every young person to open their minds and travel the world.
“The way you make an omelet reveals your character.”
Netflix/No Reservations
In an interview with Playboy, as cited by NBC, Bourdain used the omelet as a metaphor for caring. “Learn how to cook a f—— omelet … I mean, what nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast? You look good doing it, and it’s a nice thing to do for somebody you just had sex with. I think it’s good for the world. It’s a good thing all around. It’s easy … the way you make an omelet reveals your character.”
“When dealing with complex transportation issues, the best thing to do is pull up with a cold beer and let somebody else figure it out.”
New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images
In season one, episode seven, the Peru episode of “Parts Unknown,” Bourdain offered some words of wisdom when the TV crew’s boats were too small for an overflowing river during the rainy season. Despite the specific circumstances, his advice may come in handy during any stressful situation.
“Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.”
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
In one of his more serious lines from “Medium Raw,” Bourdain told his readers in words what he’d been showing them on TV for years.
“I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.”
Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images
Bourdain laid out his approach to travelling in “Kitchen Confidential.” For him, the joy in navigating a new city came in the form of unplanned adventures, not a set checklist of sites to be seen.
“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realise the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realise how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough — to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realising how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”
Paulo Fridman/Getty Images
In the Machu Picchu episode of “No Reservations,” Bourdain spoke about his image as an all-knowing culture guru – and that he wasn’t that way at all. He didn’t always find the best noodle stand in Vietnam, or the best pasta restaurant in Italy. But his curiosity and willingness to try new things, and to understand others, is what made him much wiser than perhaps he ever knew.
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{
"author": {
"name": "Mikeal Rogers",
"email": "mikeal.rogers@gmail.com",
"url": "http://www.futurealoof.com"
},
"name": "aws-sign2",
"description": "AWS signing. Originally pulled from LearnBoost/knox, maintained as vendor in request, now a standalone module.",
"version": "0.6.0",
"repository": {
"url": "git+https://github.com/mikeal/aws-sign.git"
},
"license": "Apache-2.0",
"main": "index.js",
"dependencies": {},
"devDependencies": {},
"optionalDependencies": {},
"engines": {
"node": "*"
},
"gitHead": "8554bdb41268fa295eb1ee300f4adaa9f7f07fec",
"bugs": {
"url": "https://github.com/mikeal/aws-sign/issues"
},
"homepage": "https://github.com/mikeal/aws-sign#readme",
"_id": "aws-sign2@0.6.0",
"scripts": {},
"_shasum": "14342dd38dbcc94d0e5b87d763cd63612c0e794f",
"_from": "aws-sign2@>=0.6.0-0 <0.7.0-0",
"_npmVersion": "2.14.4",
"_nodeVersion": "4.1.2",
"_npmUser": {
"name": "mikeal",
"email": "mikeal.rogers@gmail.com"
},
"maintainers": [
{
"name": "mikeal",
"email": "mikeal.rogers@gmail.com"
}
],
"dist": {
"shasum": "14342dd38dbcc94d0e5b87d763cd63612c0e794f",
"tarball": "http://registry.npmjs.org/aws-sign2/-/aws-sign2-0.6.0.tgz"
},
"directories": {},
"_resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/aws-sign2/-/aws-sign2-0.6.0.tgz",
"readme": "ERROR: No README data found!"
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|
/* Copyright (c) 2002-2012 Croteam Ltd.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. */
202
%{
#include "StdH.h"
%}
class CMarker: CEntity {
name "Marker";
thumbnail "Thumbnails\\Marker.tbn";
features "HasName", "HasTarget", "IsTargetable";
properties:
1 CTString m_strName "Name" 'N' = "Marker",
3 CTString m_strDescription = "",
2 CEntityPointer m_penTarget "Target" 'T' COLOR(C_dGREEN|0xFF),
components:
1 model MODEL_MARKER "Models\\Editor\\Axis.mdl",
2 texture TEXTURE_MARKER "Models\\Editor\\Vector.tex"
functions:
const CTString &GetDescription(void) const
{
((CTString&)m_strDescription).PrintF("-><none>");
if (m_penTarget!=NULL) {
((CTString&)m_strDescription).PrintF("->%s", m_penTarget->GetName());
}
return m_strDescription;
}
/* Check if entity is moved on a route set up by its targets. */
BOOL MovesByTargetedRoute(CTString &strTargetProperty) const {
strTargetProperty = "Target";
return TRUE;
};
/* Check if entity can drop marker for making linked route. */
BOOL DropsMarker(CTFileName &fnmMarkerClass, CTString &strTargetProperty) const {
fnmMarkerClass = CTFILENAME("Classes\\Marker.ecl");
strTargetProperty = "Target";
return TRUE;
}
// this is MARKER !!!!
virtual BOOL IsMarker(void) const
{
return TRUE;
}
// returns bytes of memory used by this object
SLONG GetUsedMemory(void)
{
// initial
SLONG slUsedMemory = sizeof(CMarker) - sizeof(CEntity) + CEntity::GetUsedMemory();
// add some more
slUsedMemory += m_strName.Length();
slUsedMemory += m_strDescription.Length();
return slUsedMemory;
}
procedures:
Main()
{
InitAsEditorModel();
SetPhysicsFlags(EPF_MODEL_IMMATERIAL);
SetCollisionFlags(ECF_IMMATERIAL);
// set appearance
SetModel(MODEL_MARKER);
SetModelMainTexture(TEXTURE_MARKER);
return;
}
};
|
What to do when you have more expenses than income
Today’s column continues our series of up-to-date tips and reports, which will help a family prepare a reasonable, affordable financial plan with a goal of achieving financial freedom.
In the last two columns we discussed creating a family budget, tracking income and expenses, in order to take control of your money. If your budget shows that you have more expenses than income, it is easy to feel that you’re not in control. But if that situation occurs, there are ways to get out of trouble. What’s important to remember is that everyone has different priorities. You have to make the decisions that are right for you.
Generally speaking, it is probably most important to pay your necessary household expenses, such as rent or mortgage, utilities, and food, first. You need to pay your rent or mortgage to ensure that you do not get evicted or have your property foreclosed on. Think about the health and safety of your family when making these decisions.
Many utility companies, such as the telephone, electric and gas companies, have programs to lower your bill if you qualify. Contact your utility company to see what programs it offers if you think you need assistance.
If you can pay your monthly household expenses but are having trouble paying all of your loans, there are options for you to consider:
Paying off the loan with the highest interest rate first to save on interest payments.
Talking to your creditor. Your creditor may be willing to reduce your payments or change the terms to accommodate your situation. Some creditors might offer extensions, accept smaller payments over a longer period of time, or accept partial payments.
Getting credit counseling. A nonprofit organization that provides free credit counseling services can work with you to address your financial problems. A reputable credit counseling organization can advise you on managing your money and debts, help you develop a budget, and offer free financial education classes. Counselors discuss your entire financial situation with you and help you develop a personalized plan that will help you resolve your money problems. An initial counseling session typically lasts an hour, with an offer of follow-up sessions.
Enrolling in a debt management plan (DMP). DMPs are not for everyone. You should sign up for a DMP only after a certified credit counselor has thoroughly reviewed your financial situation and has offered customized advice on managing your money.
Declaring bankruptcy. This is a last resort. Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding that adjusts the debts of individuals who cannot meet their credit obligations. Although bankruptcy eliminates most debts, certain back taxes, child support, alimony, and student loans must still be paid. With a bankruptcy proceeding on your credit report, you may pay higher credit rates and receive less favorable terms on loans in the future. Bankruptcy might also make it difficult to get a mortgage, open a bank account, or buy life insurance, because creditors can run a credit check to determine your history of past financial commitments. The law requires you to get credit counseling before you can file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy stays on your credit record for 10 years.
Not having enough money to cover all your expenses can be stressful and overwhelming. It’s important to remember that there are solutions. The sooner you address financial worries, the more in control you will be. For example, if your expenses have gone up because your monthly rent has increased, first time home purchase with down payment assistance might be an option. Whatever your situation, consider possible solutions and reach out to reputable agencies that will work with you.
For more information, visit us on the web at www.nhsfl.org or stop by at 1600 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S., St. Petersburg.
NHS is a 501(c) 3 non-profit HUD-certified housing counseling organization. All services are provided free of charge. Partners include the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HomeFree USA, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Florida Hardest-Hit Fund, Pinellas County Community Development and the City of St. Petersburg. The source for this article was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Money Smart program. |
Q:
Taking screenshot of UIView which having subview with CATransform3DMakeRotation
I am trying to generate screenshot of UIView which having subview with CATransform3DMakeRotation. Screenshot is generated but it doesn't contain Rotation.
Is it possible to achieve this?
Actual View:
ScreenShot Image
Using following call to Flip the view horizontally...
currentView.layer.transform = CATransform3DConcat(currentView.layer.transform,CATransform3DMakeRotation(M_PI, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0f));
Code for taking screen shot
+ (UIImage *) imageWithView:(UIView *)view
{
CGSize screenDimensions = view.bounds.size;
// Create a graphics context with the target size
// (last parameter takes scale into account)
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(screenDimensions, NO, 0);
// Render the view to a new context
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
[view.layer renderInContext:context];
UIImage *img = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return img;
}
A:
The "renderInContext" only works for Affine transform. So convert the 3D transform into affine transform like this
currentView.layer.affineTransform = CATransform3DGetAffineTransform(CATransform3DConcat(currentView.layer.transform,CATransform3DMakeRotation(M_PI, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0f)));
|
London venture capital firm MMC Ventures has conducted a damning survey which revealed that 40% of “AI” firms in Europe don’t use AI at all, and are simply using the term to capitalize on the hype associated with the term. MMC examined 2,830 self-described AI startups throughout 13 EU countries. The VC firm found that 40% don’t use AI technology in a way material to their business, generally without even investing in artificial intelligence/machine learning technology at all.
“In 40% of cases we could find no mention of evidence of AI. […] companies that people assume and think are AI companies are probably not.”
Hype Around AI
One such firm attempted to defend its actions by stating it was using investor funds to “gather data and knowledge to enable the implementation of AI.”
In other words, “we haven’t done anything in AI, but we might.”
The bizarre and seemingly-widespread practice is easily explained. According to the MMC study, AI firms receive between 15% to 50% more funding than other firms. This creates a very clear incentive for the companies to convince investors that their business is, in some way, connected to the emerging technology.
AI firms often have higher overhead due to the cost of highly-specialized AI engineers, although it’s undeniable that there is also an allure around what is perceived as a new and exciting field. This, too, is behind the increase in available funding.
MMC head of research David Kelnar stated that while in some cases, the AI classification may come from third-party websites, the firms are likely aware of the classification and actively choosing to do nothing about it.
It’s also likely that many firms are taking active measures from the beginning to deceive investors in what could be perceived as a fraudulent manner.
“I think in most cases [startups] will aware of how they’re being classified.”
Bare Minimum AI
The study also found that many of the firms using AI in connection to their business are often pursuing use cases with limited viability with 26 percent of companies developing chatbots and 21 percent pursuing fraud-detection solutions.
While it could be that the companies are earnest in their efforts, the success and potential of these two use cases is notoriously difficult to measure. AI fraud detection may not be cost-effective in the long run for major companies. While AI chatbots are useful for automation, they are frequently cited as a user-experience pain point, i.e., people find them annoying.
Rise and Fall of the Industry
After an initial craze in the early 1990s, the AI “bubble” burst, leading to a negative stigma in the eyes of investors. The concept was there, but researchers and developers simply didn’t have the kind of processing power at their disposal that we do today, and it would be decades before the technology would emerge from the labs to be the golden child of the VC world once more.
There was an interim phase in which the term “Machine Learning” or “Deep Learning” became a more popular way to describe the same kind of technology AI researchers were working on. While the fields are not synonymous, they became so for a brief period, with many arguing that firms were attempting to rebrand themselves and put distance between ML and the then-stigmatized field of AI. AI, for many years, was viewed by investors as something of a failure which had accomplished very little for the huge amount of funding it had consumed.
Those days are over, and the AI hype is back in full swing. Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Artificial Intelligence are all viewed as promising, trending fields of research that have huge near-term potential and enterprise-grade use cases.
Parallels to Blockchain Hype
To anyone within the blockchain space, this is all too familiar.
After the ICO bubble collapsed last year, many other types of rebranded crowdfunding models have arisen in an effort to raise funds without the negative ICO stigma. IICOs, STOs, SAFTs – while some are useful, others sound like more of the same. A survey last year showed that a massive 81% of all ICOs were scams, CCN.com reported.
However, the true parallels lie in companies cashing in on the hype itself. Blockchain, like AI, is a promising, groundbreaking technology that is still poorly understood by the public, and even by many investors and business executives. Companies have added the word “blockchain” to their name and seen stock skyrocket overnight.
https://twitter.com/HDRetrovision/status/984123630857654272
While the underlying technology in both fields is undeniably sound, the bad practice of businesses cashing in on the hype could be doing serious damage.
In a world where reputation is everything, a large minority of so-called AI firms could end up negatively impacting the future fundraising potential of genuine, horizontal-focused firms. It’s possible that the news of the MMC report will even have an effect on AI stock in general over the coming days. |
Many Americans first became aware of U.S. military operations in Africa in October 2017, after the Islamic State ambushed American troops near Tongo Tongo, Niger, killing four U.S. soldiers and wounding two others.
Just after the attack, U.S. Africa Command said U.S. troops were providing “advice and assistance” to local counterparts. Later, it would become clear that those troops — the 11-man Operational Detachment-Alpha Team 3212 — were working out of the town of Oullam with a larger Nigerian force under the umbrella of Operation Juniper Shield, a wide-ranging counterterrorism effort in northwest Africa.
Until poor weather prevented it, that team was supposed to lend support to another group of American commandos who were trying to kill or capture Islamic State leader Doundoun Cheffou as part of Obsidian Nomad II.
Juniper Shield and Obsidian Nomad II were not isolated efforts but part of a panoply of named military operations and activities U.S. forces have been conducting from dozens of bases across the northern tier of Africa. Many of these operations are taking place in countries that the U.S. government does not recognize as combat zones, but in which U.S. troops are nonetheless fighting and, in several cases, taking casualties.
Between 2013 and 2017, U.S. special operations forces saw combat in at least 13 African countries, according to retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, who served at U.S. Africa Command from 2013 to 2015 and then headed Special Operations Command Africa until 2017. Those countries, according to Bolduc, are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Tunisia. He added that U.S. troops have been killed or wounded in action in at least six of them: Kenya, Libya, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Tunisia.
Yahoo News has put together a list of three dozen such operations across the continent.
Story continues
The code-named operations cover a variety of different military missions, ranging from psychological operations to counterterrorism. Eight of the named activities, including Obsidian Nomad, are so-called 127e programs, named for the budgetary authority that allows U.S. special operations forces to use certain host-nation military units as surrogates in counterterrorism missions.
Used extensively across Africa, 127e programs can be run either by Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the secretive organization that controls the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, the Army’s Delta Force and other special mission units, or by “theater special operations forces.” These programs are “specifically designed for us to work with our host nation partners to develop small — anywhere between 80 and 120 personnel — counterterrorism forces that we’re partnered with,” said Bolduc. “They are specially selected partner-nation forces that go through extensive training, with the same equipment we have, to specifically go after counterterrorism targets, especially high-value targets.”
Using documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, interviews, published reports and a Defense Department list of named U.S. military operations that leaked online, Yahoo News put together the following list of 36 operations and activities that are (or were until recently) ongoing in Africa.
Where possible, Yahoo News has also listed the bases that support these operations, relying mostly on information sheets about those locations obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Yahoo News does not claim that this list is comprehensive.
While the Defense Department has acknowledged the names, locations and purposes of some of these operations, others are far lower-profile. Almost all are unknown to the general public:
ARMADA SWEEP: A U.S. Navy electronic surveillance effort conducted from ships off the coast of East Africa, Armada Sweep supports the U.S. drone war in the region.
Bases used: Unknown
ECHO CASEMATE: This operation covers a series of activities in the Central African Republic. It began in 2013 as a support mission for French and African forces deployed to the troubled Central African Republic for peacekeeping purposes and continued as an advise-and-assist mission to those African peacekeeping forces. However, U.S. forces neither accompanied their partners in the field nor formally trained them. The operation also covered the introduction of contractors and Marines to secure the U.S. Embassy in Bangui and the deployment of a small U.S. special operations contingent to assist the U.S. ambassador in missions to counter the Lord’s Resistance Army. In the first days of the operation, the U.S. military airlifted hundreds of Burundian troops, tons of equipment and more than a dozen military vehicles into the Central African Republic, according to Africom. The U.S. military continued transporting French forces in and out of the Central African Republic, and the mission was still underway in early 2018.
Base used: Abeche, Chad
EXILE HUNTER: One of a family of similarly named counterterrorism efforts that U.S. special operations forces have conducted in East Africa. Exile Hunter was a 127e program in which elite U.S. troops trained and equipped an Ethiopian force for counterterrorism missions in Somalia. Bolduc says he shut it down in 2016 because the Ethiopian government was uncomfortable about the force not falling under its command. However, a February 2018 Defense Department list of named operations suggests it had been resurrected.
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti
JUKEBOX LOTUS: Operation Jukebox Lotus began as the crisis response to the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, but continued until at least 2018. It gives Africa Command broad authority to conduct a variety of operations in Libya as required and is specific to neither special operations nor counterterrorism.
Bases used: Faya Largeau and N’Djamena, Chad; Air Base 201, Agadez, Niger
JUNCTION RAIN: A maritime security effort in the Gulf of Guinea involving African and U.S. Coast Guard boarding teams operating from U.S. Navy ships or those of African forces. In 2016, the hybrid teams conducted 32 boardings, resulting in $1.2 million in fines levied for more than 50 maritime violations, as well as the recovery of a diesel fuel tanker that had been seized by pirates. Last year, operations with the Senegalese and Cabo Verdean navies resulted in at least 40 boardings — mostly of fishing vessels — and $75,000 in fines handed down for two fishing violations.
Base used: Dakar, Senegal
JUNCTION SERPENT: A surveillance effort in Libya that, as part of the 2016 campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State positions in the Libyan city of Sirte, gave Joint Special Operations Command specific authorities to coordinate assets in order to develop targeting information for the campaign
Bases used: Unknown
JUNIPER MICRON: In 2013, after France launched a military intervention against Islamists in Mali code-named Operation Serval, the U.S. began Operation Juniper Micron, which involved airlifting French soldiers and supplies into that former French colony, flying refueling missions in support of French airpower, and assisting allied African forces. Juniper Micron was ongoing as of October 2018, with plans for it to continue in the future.
Bases used: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Istres-Le Tube Air Base, France; Bamako and Gao, Mali; Air Base 201 (Agadez), Arlit, Dirkou, Madama and Niamey, Niger; Dakar, Senegal
JUNIPER NIMBUS: Juniper Nimbus is a long-running operation aimed at supporting the Nigerian military campaign against Boko Haram.
Bases used: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; N’Djamena, Chad; Arlit, Dirkou and Madama, Niger
JUNIPER SHIELD: The umbrella operation for the mission that resulted in the deadly ambush in Niger, Juniper Shield is the United States’ centerpiece counterterrorism effort in northwest Africa and covers 11 nations: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. Under Juniper Shield, U.S. teams rotate in every six months to train, advise, assist and accompany local partner forces to conduct operations against terrorist groups, including ISIS-West Africa, Boko Haram and al Qaida and its affiliates.
Bases used: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Garoua and Maroua, Cameroon; Bangui, Central African Republic; Faya Largeau and N’Djamena, Chad; Bamako and Gao, Mali; Nema and Ouassa, Mauritania; Air Base 201 (Agadez), Arlit, Diffa, Dirkou, Madama and Niamey, Niger; Dakar, Senegal
JUPITER GARRET: A JSOC operation aimed at high-value targets in Somalia, Jupiter Garret first came to light in a 2012 Washington Post article. It was ongoing as of February 2018
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier and Chebelley, Djibouti; Laikipia, Manda Bay and Wajir, Kenya; Baidoa, Baledogle, Bosasso, Galcayo, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia
JUSTIFIED SEAMOUNT: Another counter-piracy effort in the waters off East Africa
Bases used: Chebelley, Djibouti; Laikipia, Mombasa and Wajir, Kenya; Victoria, Seychelles; Baidoa, Baledogle, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia
KODIAK HUNTER: A 127e program in which U.S. special operators trained and equipped a Kenyan force to conduct counterterrorism missions in Somalia
Base used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Manda Bay, Kenya
MONGOOSE HUNTER: A 127e program in which U.S. special operations forces trained and equipped a Somali force for counterterrorism missions against al-Shabab
Base used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Baledogle, Somalia
NEW NORMAL: An Africa-wide crisis response capability established by the U.S. military after the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Libreville, Gabon; Accra, Ghana; Dakar, Senegal; Entebbe, Uganda
NIMBLE SHIELD: A low-profile effort targeting Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa
Bases used: Douala, Garoua and Maroua, Cameroon; Bangui, Central African Republic; N’Djamena, Chad; Diffa, Dirkou, Madama and Niamey, Niger
OAKEN SONNET I-III: A series of three contingency operations in South Sudan. Oaken Sonnet I was the difficult 2013 rescue of U.S. personnel from that country at the beginning of its civil war. Oaken Sonnet II took place in 2014 and Oaken Sonnet III in 2016.
Base used: Juba, South Sudan
OAKEN STEEL: The reinforcement of the U.S. Embassy in Juba, South Sudan, to protect State Department personnel during a conflict between rival factions in that country’s civil war, Operation Oaken Steel, which ran from July 12, 2016, to Jan. 26, 2017, saw U.S. forces deploy to Uganda to provide for rapid crisis response during the unrest.
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Moron Air Base, Spain; Entebbe, Uganda
OBJECTIVE VOICE: In 2010, the first head of Africa Command, Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Operation Objective Voice was an “information operations effort to counter violent extremism by leveraging media capabilities in ways that encourage the public to repudiate extremist ideologies.” Coordinated with other government agencies, this propaganda effort included “youth peace games” in Mali, a film project in northern Nigeria, and, according to his successor, Army Gen. Carter Ham, a “variety of messaging platforms, such as the African Web Initiative, to challenge the views of terrorist groups.” Objective Voice continues today.
Bases used: Garoua and Maroua, Cameroon; Bangui, Central African Republic; Abeche, Faya Largeau and N’Djamena, Chad; Bamako and Gao, Mali; Nema and Ouassa, Mauritania; Air Base 201 (Agadez), Arlit and Madama, Niger; Dakar, Senegal; Entebbe, Uganda
OBLIQUE PILLAR: A program to provide private contractor helicopter support to Navy SEAL-advised units of the Somali National Army fighting al-Shabab in Somalia. The operation was in existence as of February 2018.
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Mombasa and Wajir, Kenya; Baidoa, Baledogle, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia; Entebbe, Uganda.
OBSERVANT COMPASS: An operation to capture or kill Joseph Kony and eradicate his Lord’s Resistance Army, a militia that has committed atrocities since the 1980s. In 2017, with around $780 million spent on the operation, and Kony still in the field, the United States wound down Observant Compass and shifted its forces elsewhere. But the operation didn’t completely disband, according to the Defense Department. “U.S. military forces supporting Operation Observant Compass transitioned to broader scope security and stability activities that continue the success of our African partners,” Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr. Candice Tresch told Yahoo News.
Bases used: Obo, Central African Republic; Abeche, Chad; Dungu, Democratic Republic of Congo; Juba and Nzara, South Sudan; Entebbe, Uganda
OBSIDIAN LOTUS: A 127e activity concentrated on Libya, in which U.S. commandos trained and equipped Libyan special operations forces battalions. One of those units ended up under the control of renegade warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar, according to Bolduc.
Bases used: Unknown
OBSIDIAN MOSAIC: A 127e counterterrorism effort focused on Mali.
Bases used: Unknown.
OBSIDIAN NOMAD I and II: Two 127e counterterrorism programs in Niger: Obsidian Nomad I in Diffa and Obsidian Nomad II in Arlit. The operational name emerged in the wake of the October 2017 ambush in Niger that killed four U.S. soldiers.
Bases used: Arlit and Diffa, Niger
OCTAVE ANCHOR: A psychological operation focused on Somalia
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Mogadishu, Somalia
OCTAVE SHIELD: An Africa Command psychological operation focused on Somalia, carried out under the aegis of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, based at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier and Chebelley, Djibouti; Laikipia, Manda Bay, Mombasa and Wajir, Kenya; Victoria, Seychelles; Baidoa, Baledogle, Bosasso, Galcayo, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia; Entebbe, Uganda.
OCTAVE SOUNDSTAGE: A JSOC psychological operation focused on Somalia.
Bases used: Unknown
OCTAVE STINGRAY: A JSOC psychological operation focused on Somalia
Base used: Mogadishu, Somalia
OCTAVE SUMMIT: A JSOC psychological operation focused on Somalia
Base used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti
ODYSSEY LIGHTNING: The campaign of special operations-directed airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Sirte, Libya, between August and December 2016
Base used: Naval Air Station, Sigonella, Italy
ODYSSEY RESOLVE: Another component of the 2016 special operations campaign of air strikes against the Islamic State in the Libyan city of Sirte, Operation Odyssey Resolve consists of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights. It was ongoing as of February 2018.
Bases used: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Faya Largeau, Chad; Benina and Misrata, Libya; Bamako and Gao, Mali; Nema and Ouassa, Mauritania; Arlit and Niamey, Niger; Dakar, Senegal; Bizerte, Tunisia; Entebbe, Uganda
PALADIN HUNTER: A 127e counterterrorism program in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia.
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; Bosasso and Galcayo, Somalia
RAINMAKER: A highly sensitive classified signals intelligence effort
Bases used: Chebelley, Djibouti; Baidoa, Baledogle, Kismayo and Mogadishu, Somalia
ULTIMATE HUNTER: A 127e counterterrorism program using a U.S.-trained, equipped and directed Ugandan force in Somalia.
Bases used: Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
*Information on which operations the following bases support was partially redacted: Douala, Garoua and Maroua (all Cameroon); N’Djamena, Chad; Bangui, Central African Republic; Diffa, Dirkou, Madama and Niamey (all Niger). The list of operations supported by Tobruk and Tripoli (both Libya) was fully redacted. Other data were likely withheld completely.
_____
Read more from Yahoo News: |
Court Tosses Voter Suit Over New School District
(CN) – The 10th Circuit dismissed a challenge to a Utah law barring outsiders from voting in an election that reduced the size of their existing school district. Utah’s so-called “detachment law” advances a legitimate state interest by “promoting local control of public school districts by extending the franchise only to those voters who will reside in the new district,” Judge Timothy Tymkovich wrote.
In 2007, several cities within the Jordan School District — then one of the 40 largest districts in the country — agreed to detach from the district. Only residents in the proposed new district could vote in the election. Shortly before the election, several voters who lived within the Jordan School District, but outside the proposed new district, claimed their exclusion from voting violating the Constitution’s equal protection principles. In dismissing the lawsuit, the district court said the law passes muster because it advances legitimate state policies. The Denver-based federal appeals court agreed. “The detaching cities provide a litany of justifications for the law, including, among many others, supporting the creation of community-based school districts, encouraging the creation of smaller school districts more responsive to the needs of students and parents, and promoting the localized use of tax revenues so that taxes collected within a local area are used for education in the same area,” Judge Tymkovich wrote. “These justifications attest to the statute’s constitutionality.” The detaching cities were Cottonwood Heights, Sandy City, Draper City, Midvale City and Alta, which was not a party to the lawsuit. |
Q:
Cannot edit Top Navigation menu (not listed in Categories section)
I have been asked to look after and do some work on this site:
http://tapesonline.co.nz/
It's mostly straightforward so far except:
I cannot find where to edit the top navigation menu.
The existing top menu pages are NOT listed in the 'Manage Categories' section of the admin panel, so I'm not sure where to change them in the
navigation menu.
I need to edit the Contact content page but it is not listed in the pages section.
I have searched google to no avail.
Please steer me in the correct direction.
Any help appreciated!
Thank you!
A:
That topmenu doesn't appear to use Magento's renderer at first glance. It looks more like a static html template, probably located somewhere in app/design/frontend/yourpackage/yourtheme/template/page (wild guess) or somewhere similar.
Grep for unique identifiers (i.e. class/content) that might live in a template/block - you should find it pretty easily that way. Alternatively/additionally you can enable template path and block hints as outlined here
|
Cal Poly administration has proposed an increase in incoming out-of-state students’ fees to fund a grant to help incoming low-income California students.
The Cal Poly Opportunity Grant (CPOG) will help pay Cal Poly fees for incoming California-resident students who meet specific low-income qualifications.
To accumulate the money needed to sustain this grant, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong proposed the Cal Poly Opportunity Fee (CPOF) to be applied to incoming out-of-state students.
The fee would begin as $2,010 per year for out-of-state students, either starting their freshman year or transferring to Cal Poly in Fall 2018. The fee would then increase by that amount for each new year. Freshmen starting in Fall 2019 would pay $4,020 per year and freshmen starting in 2020 would pay $6,030 per year. Students starting in 2021 and beyond would pay $8,040 per year.
In its first year in effect, the grant will only apply to low-income students in the College of Engineering. Armstrong said he hopes all majors will be included in the grant by 2023, depending on the amount of money the university obtains for the grant.
The grant will be available to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, but will not be open to low-income out-of-state students.
The grant and fee have not been formally approved yet. Beginning this month, the proposition will be scrutinized by the Campus Fee Advisory Committee and will be presented to Associated Students, Inc. prior to a final decision, estimated to be made by mid-March.
Prior to the decision, the grant and the fee will undergo levels of examination and debate, just as the health fee did Fall 2017. Students and community members are encouraged to speak up and attend open forums to discuss the proposition. Students will also be able to give feedback through their Cal Poly Portal.
“Our students are amazing and you are [going to] look at this and tear it apart, but we are open to any idea,” Armstrong said.
In a press release, Armstrong said the grant will help the school “work towards its goal of increasing diversity on campus and enhancing the quality of education and career readiness for all Cal Poly students.”
The university is also planning to enroll a more diverse student body on campus by focusing on the demographics of California.
“Diversity, which [is] linked to low-income student participation at Cal Poly, is incredibly important for the future and our sustainability. We have looked at many, many different ways to do this; this is the best mechanism that our collected minds could produce at this point,” Armstrong said.
According to Armstrong, 50 percent of the money raised from the fee will fund the CPOG and 25 percent will fund support services for low-income first-generation students. The remaining 25 percent will go to Cal Poly for pending budget conditions, but over time may be used for additional CPOG or support services funds.
Students will be qualified for the grant based on their Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
EFC is a number based on a federal formula that calculates a family’s ability to assist a student’s education and how much financial aid the student will receive. The formula takes into account income, assets and benefits.
CPOG, when first put into effect, will apply to students who fall under the lowest EFC intake. Depending on funds, Armstrong plans for the grant to apply to all California resident students with a $4,000 or less EFC as soon as possible. |
Saturday, November 19, 2011
XIII collector’s edition has been a dream for those who live in Sri Lanka. If you call Lion comics office they’ll ask to send demand draft and if u try to get a demand draft from bank they’ll say NO as Sri Lankan government have strict rules to avoid money flowing out of the country. Yeap, true if you go with documents they’ll give you demand draft but for buying a comics book where on earth we can get documents??
I really wish Lion comics will setup an online portal with credit-card or PayPal payment method. Both sides can benefit from this method as we can avoid any dealer fee!
Recently Vimalaharan commented on one of my posts about the availability of the book in Colombo. I checked it myself and came home with jackpot :). Thanks Vimalaharan.
Those who are willing to buy the XIII book in Colombo, Sri Lanka can buy it from the fruit shop next to Kathiresan kovil, Bambalapittiya (Colombo-4). Book is priced around 700 LKR. Currently they don’t have any book with them but you can place an order via them. Also they have few collection of old Lion and Muthu comics which worth a look. Alternatively you can reach them for inquiries via phone at +94-11-2590346
Good luck comics addict. See you all soon in another post. I'm busy right now with the book lol :P
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Without any doubt, Android is catching up fast and one of the most popular Mobile OS in current world. As a comics addicts we all are trying to read comics in Mobile phones. Some won’t like it, some won’t mind reading in a small screen.
If you are someone worried about the size of the screen then you must try Android Tablets. Tablets usually come with larger screen and very much similar size to our LION or Muthu comics (10.1 inches).
Here I’m going to give you step by step guide to read Comics in Android Mobile.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
I always whine about the availability of the comics books in Colombo. Now in shops like Cargills and Vijitha Yapa you can find good number of comics. But for a long time we didn’t get Lion, Muthu comics to Sri Lankan market.
I used to call book shops in Colombo and continuously asked about the availability of the Comics books, but always bad luck followed me.
If you are someone from Colombo or any part of Sri Lanka, complaining about the availability of Tamil comics books (mostly Muthu/Lion) then I gotta happy news for you.
See the images below.
The Books Available @ shop
The Books I Bought.
Poobalasingam book depot imported good number of books. See the pics. I read about it in Lion/Muthu Comics FB group. Went there and got the lottery. Each book costs 75 LKR (around 0.75 USD), but it is a good deal.
Friday, April 23, 2010
I happened to watch a Tamil movie “GOA” recently. I really liked the movie but most of my friends end up blaming the movie for bringing up the GAY concept into the movie. Probably our society and people are not ready to see through such issues. Personally I can’t stand to see couple of guys romancing but I won’t bother to disturb them too. As I remember even Indian High Court ruled few months back favor to Gay marriages.
Why am I talking too much about Gays now?? Well, the answer is, the popular comics Archie has introduced a gay character into their comics. I’m not a great fan of these comics but happened to read few comics some years back.
The character, a blond newbie named Kevin Keller, will debut in No. 202 of Veronica Comics. In the initial story line, titled "Isn't It Bromantic?," Veronica is stymied when her womanly wiles hold no sway with Kevin, who has more in common with fellow foodie Jughead.
Let’s just wait and see the reception for these comics. I hope there won’t be any local politician jumping in and making big fuzz about these comics. After all, anything can happen in country where I live. “Sri Lanka”
Friday, March 19, 2010
Vodafone has launched a mobile comic service by the name of Chhota Comics. Users will have access to popular comic strips as well as full series such as Vodafone has launched a mobile comic service by the name of Chhota Comics.
The next question comes to us is about the prices. It’s told that 2 INR for comic strip and 15INR for full comics book. In order to increase the user experience these comics will have features such as pan, zoom.
Kumar Ramanathan, chief marketing officer, Vodafone Essar, said in a statement, “Last year we launched Amar Chitra Katha on Vodafone, which became very popular with our customers. With the launch of Chhota Comics service, we aim to further enhance our customers’ experience by providing them with advanced features and more comic categories.”
Already rediff.com announced such similar service where users can get diamond comics on their mobiles also in the other hand Disney is making deals with Airtel so even Airtel users can reach out comics very soon.
To download the Comic books on your mobile, you need to send code of book with space Comics name to 111 (toll-free no.)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Asterix is one of the most known Franco Belgian comic character. This comic is translated into more than 170 languages around the world. For those who don’t know Asterix (I don’t think there are any) “He's the short, blonde, moustached Gallic warrior who keeps Gaul safe from the ravages of the Roman Empire.”
First published in his 'Pilote' magazine on October 29, 1959.by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. After Goscinny's death, Uderzo has been writing as well as illustrating the stories of Asterix and Obelix,
Most important news is our beloved hero Asterix and his loyal friends turn 50 this week.
There have also been a number of games based on the characters, and even a theme park near Paris. Situated approximately 35 km north of Paris and 32km from Disneyland Resort Paris, Parc Astérix opened in Plailly in the département of Oise, in 1989.
To date, 325 million copies of the 33 Asterix books have been sold around the world making co-creators Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo France's bestselling authors abroad. As part of its 50th anniversary there will be a series of exhibitions and special events as well as a new album of stories. On 29 October, there will be a series of street events with actors dressed as Asterix characters to "invade Lutece” (the Roman name for Paris).
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I don’t want to write a lengthy post on this event as enormous amount of conversation is happening around the web today.
When I heard this news last week, I just ignored it and didn’t really expect it. But it is real and true. The most expensive comics industry deal is unfolded before our eyes. Check the official news release from Marvel and Disney.
I don’t know how it’s going to affect the future of Spider man and Wolverine but I hate to see Donald and Mickey Mouse playing with Wolverine. Also there are so many Marvel characters are in Universal studio’s theme park, will Disney make fuzz over those?? Let the time to answer that question too.
About The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, interactive media and consumer products. Disney is a Dow 30 company with revenues of nearly $38 billion in its most recent fiscal year.
About Marvel Entertainment, Inc.Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation) and publishing (via Marvel Comics). |
Heat-induced transcription from RNA polymerases II and III and HSF binding activity are co-ordinately regulated by the products of the heat shock genes.
Heat shock leads to co-ordinate increases in transcription of a family of heat shock genes, including the mouse hsp70.1 and B2 genes. Activation of the heat shock transcription factor (HSF) by heat shock stimulates transcription of the murine hsp70.1 gene (by RNA polymerase II). B2 genes are short, repetitive sequences whose transcription (by RNA polymerase III) are also increased after heat shock. We have studied whether heat-induced transcription is auto-regulated by the products of the heat shock genes. The results indicate: (1) after an initial heat shock, transcription of the heat shock genes by RNA polymerases II and III becomes desensitized to further heat shock, and the heat-induced DNA binding activity of the HSF is lost, (2) if accumulation of heat shock gene products is inhibited, the desensitizing effect of a prior heat shock is removed, and (3) transcription of the hsp70.1 and B2 genes apparently involves different mechanisms, with hsp70.1 employing the HSF and the B2 gene using a separate, heat-activated transcriptional mechanism. However, the level of transcription from the hsp70.1 and B2 genes and the stability of their respective RNAs are co-ordinately regulated by the level of heat shock protein in the cell. The data indicate that auto-regulation of the level of mouse heat shock gene products is mediated by RNA polymerase II transcripts but that the regulatory mechanism can control transcription from RNA polymerase III genes as well. |
Q:
Many error signs when running ggplot in render plot (shiny in general)
Took very basic shiny scripts and were able to play around the generic data sets. When I tried to put in my own and run ggplot, I've come across several errors. Most recent is what appears in my main panel of shiny app and console in Rstudio
...
"ggplot2 doesn't know how to deal with data of class reactive"
...
In general, I stripped down my ggplot to the most basic elements and still not sure from where ggplot is calling data while in shiny. I am guessing the reactive function, but honestly, I am lost.
Below are scripts
_____ui.R________
shinyUI(pageWithSidebar(
headerPanel('Mock Risk Scorecard'),
sidebarPanel(
selectInput('xcol', 'X Axis', names(RandomRiskCard)),
selectInput('ycol', 'Y Axis', names(RandomRiskCard),
selected=names(RandomRiskCard)[[2]]),
min = 1, max = 9),
mainPanel(
plotOutput('plot1')
)
)
)
_____server.R____
palette(c("#E41A1C", "#377EB8"))
shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
# Combine the selected variables into a new data frame
selectedData <- reactive({
RandomRiskCard[, c(RandomRiskCard$xcol, RandomRiskCard$ycol)]
})
output$plot1 <- renderPlot({
p <- ggplot(selectedData, aes(x = RandomRiskCard$xcol, y = RandomRiskCard$ycol))
p <- p + geom_point()
})
})
I also loaded up my data and Run Shiny in different script windows as follow
install.packages("shiny")
library(shiny)
library(ggplot2)
runApp("U:/App-1")
as well as
RandomRiskCard = read.csv("U:/App-1/RandomRiskCard.csv")
I am eventually hoping to incorporate factor function and annotate with colors like I had done with my original ggplot. If it wasn't already obvious I am a newbie at this, but shiny has me completely twisted.
A:
Reactive expressions should be called in the same way as parameter-less functions, with following parentheses: ggplot(selectedData(),...
xcol and ycol should be obtained via input:
p <- ggplot(selectedData(), aes(x = input$xcol, y = input$ycol)) in output$plot, and
RandomRiskCard[, c(input$xcol, input$ycol)] in selectedData
|
{
"__comment": "Generated by generateResources.py function: blockstate",
"forge_marker": 1,
"defaults": {
"model": "button",
"textures": {
"texture": "tfc:blocks/stonetypes/raw/rocksalt",
"particle": "tfc:blocks/stonetypes/raw/rocksalt"
}
},
"variants": {
"normal": [
{}
],
"powered": {
"false": {},
"true": {
"model": "button_pressed"
}
},
"facing": {
"up": {},
"down": {
"x": 180
},
"east": {
"x": 90,
"y": 90
},
"west": {
"x": 90,
"y": 270
},
"south": {
"x": 90,
"y": 180
},
"north": {
"x": 90
}
},
"inventory": [
{
"model": "button_inventory"
}
]
}
} |
So who doesn’t love pizza? *crickets**crickets*
Exactly my point :)
I put together a list of 20 totally drool-worthy vegan pizza recipes that could even get all the meat eaters you know on their knees begging for more! It’s a tough task but completely doable. Thanks to the creativity and genius recipe IQ levels of some of my favorite vegan food bloggers this list was fairly easy to put together.
You might think that this is ridiculous. There is no way a die-heart meat eater would go for any of these. Well let’s test it out.
So your Grandma loves bacon? No biggie. Got Granny covered!
Your cousin twice removed can’t live without mozzarella? Easy peasy.
Your half brother’s evil twin’s mother in-law’s lover needs pepperoni to be happy? I’m pretty sure he can do without but if really necessary, there is a vegan pepperoni pizza below too ;)
However, these aren’t all about making meaty or cheesy pizzas vegan. It’s definitely not to fool anyone into thinking that what they are eating is real bacon. It’s really just to show the incredible power and versatility that plants have.
I think it’s also important to point out that healthy, plant-based pizzas can be more delicious than those found at your typical greasy pizza parlor. I think most people who easily dismiss veganism forget that vegetables or other plants have the ability to make your food infinitely more flavorful without having to add a ridiculous amount of salt, sugar, and flavor enhancing additives.
Take your time going through this list. Find your favorites, bookmark them, and make them for your friends and family. I think it’s about time we redefine what society thinks pizza should taste and look like.
1.) Mediterranean Pumpkin Pizza from Michelle at Healthier Steps *Gluten-free
2.) Beetroot Pizza w/ Caramelized Onions from Lenia and Dimitra at The Veggie Sisters
3.) Vegan “Pepperoni” Pizza from Florian at Contentedness Cooking *Gluten-free
4.) Vegan Whole Wheat Roasted Veggie and Tempeh Pizza from Bianca at Elephantastic Vegan
5.) The Ultimate Mexican Pizza from Anjali at Vegetarian Gastronomy *Gluten-free
6.) Mini Cauliflower Pizza from Evi at Green Evi
7.) Tempeh “Bacon” and Smoked Garlic Pizza from Sara at The Green Genie
8.) Mushroom and Leek Flatbread Pizza from Alison at Food by Mars *Gluten-free
9.) Roasted Garlic and Portobello Mushroom Pizza from Mel at The Virtual Vegan
10.) Coconut Garlic White Pizza from Yours truly ;)
11.) Vegan Summer Flatbread Pizza from Linda at Veganosity
12.) Grilled Vegan Margherita Pizza from Rebecca at Strength and Sunshine
13.) Pesto Cashew Ricotta Pizza from Kathy at Healthy Happy Life
14.) Antipasto Pizza from Ginny at Vegan in the Freezer
15.) Spicy Chipotle Vegan Pizza from moi ;)
16.) Mexican Style Baby Shiitake Mushroom Pizza from Ginny at Vegan in the Freezer
17.) Garlic Alfredo Pizza from Brandi at The Vegan 8 *Gluten-free
18.) Thai Chickpea and Veggie Pizza from Sophia at Veggie Don’t Bite
19.) Caramelized Onion, Shaved Butternut and “Goat Cheese” Pizza from Ricki at rickiheller.com *Gluten-free
20.) Vegan Pizza Margherita from Amrita at Crazy Vegan Kitchen
Phew! You made it through all of them without drowning in a pool of your own drool. Now that’s a real accomplishment!
Want to browse through some other great creations? Check out these :) |
Convicted Al Qaeda supporter Jose Padilla received a new prison sentence on Tuesday, adding four years to his existing 17-year sentence in response to a federal appeals court ruling that his initial sentence was too lenient.
Mr. Padilla was convicted in 2007 of involvement in a terror conspiracy and has been serving his sentence in a solitary confinement cell at the US government’s supermax prison in Florence, Colo.
His case has attracted international attention because prior to entering the criminal justice system, Padilla was designated an enemy combatant and held incommunicado without charge at a naval prison in Charleston, S.C.
During his three years and eight months in military detention, Padilla was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and prolonged isolation that mental health experts said may have caused permanent psychological injury.
Padilla’s mother and brother both expressed concern during Tuesday’s hearing that he may never recover.
“His mind is not there. Jose’s mind is gone,” Estela Lebron, Padilla’s mother, told US District Judge Marcia Cooke. “I don’t know if it is going to come back.”
In a tearful statement to the court, Padilla’s brother, Tomas Texidor, said the military detention and interrogation, and his continued incarceration in a solitary confinement cell in federal prison, was taking a heavy toll on Padilla’s mental health.
“I pray that when he gets out [of prison] he will be able to function again ... use his mind,” he said.
Mr. Texidor added: “I can’t believe this is happening in this country.”
During the hearing, Padilla sat passively at the defense table, his eyes aimed straight ahead, blinking excessively. He wore a tan prison-issue shirt and slip-on shoes (without laces). Throughout the hearing, he was restrained in leg irons and wrist cuffs attached to a belly chain.
The hearing was necessary because after Padilla’s initial sentencing in January 2008, federal prosecutors objected to Padilla’s 17-year prison term. They had asked the judge to sentence him to life in prison.
The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 in September 2011 that Padilla’s sentence did not adequately reflect his criminal history and that the judge was wrong to reduce his sentence to compensate for the years he was held by the military for interrogation.
In preparation for the resentencing, Federal Public Defender Michael Caruso subpoenaed Defense Department officials to obtain documents related to Padilla’s treatment while in military custody. Judge Cooke approved the subpoena requiring the government to release the information.
After providing the records to Mr. Caruso, prosecutors agreed not to seek a sentence for Padilla greater than 30 years. In exchange, Caruso agreed not to use any of the discovered material in the sentencing hearing.
That agreement meant that Cooke was likely to sentence Padilla within a range of 21 to 30 years under federal sentencing guidelines.
It was clear from the judge’s comments and demeanor during the hearing that she felt her original 17-year sentence was fully justified. But it was also clear that she felt constrained in her options.
In setting the new sentence at 21 years, Cooke said she was concerned about the problem of US citizens being recruited and used in conflicts abroad.
Her comment came as the US government is scrambling to identify Americans who may be returning from the Middle East to target the United States after fighting with the Islamic State, a militant group, in Syria and Iraq.
The judge noted that in Padilla’s case, he had been recruited in the US by two individuals, both of whom received shorter prison terms than him.
Caruso argued that the two other co-defendants were significantly more culpable than Padilla, who in the late 1990s was newly converted to Islam with a seventh-grade education and no sophisticated understanding of international politics.
Prosecutors disagreed. “What makes Padilla more culpable is that he was willing to get the training to kill innocent civilians,” Assistant US Attorney Ricardo Del Toro told the judge.
Padilla and the two other men were convicted in 2007 following a five-month trial in federal court. Prosecutors said the three were part of a North American support cell that provided money, equipment, and recruits to Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups overseas.
Prosecutors alleged that Padilla attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan after joining a conspiracy in the US to “murder, kidnap, and maim” persons overseas.
Padilla was also charged with conspiring to provide material support and actually providing material support to a terrorist organization, knowing that the support would be used in a terrorist plot to murder, kidnap, and maim individuals overseas.
The jury convicted Padilla of all three charges.
The essence of the government’s case against Padilla was that he attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and that the act of accepting that training demonstrated Padilla’s intent to engage in terrorist acts.
Caruso said the camp in Afghanistan provided basic military training. But he added: “There is no evidence that Jose received terrorist training.”
The public defender said that young, naive Muslims are recruited from the US and elsewhere with a sales pitch that they will be fighting to defend helpless Muslim women and civilians from atrocities, such as those that Russian forces committed in Chechnya. They are told it is a religious duty to provide such a defense.
Padilla’s name first appeared in the news in 2002 when US officials accused him of plotting a dirty-bomb attack on a US city. After officials made that claim, then-President George W. Bush declared Padilla an enemy combatant and ordered him held for interrogation at the naval brig in Charleston.
The move was controversial. As a US citizen arrested on American soil, Padilla was supposedly entitled to the protections of the US Constitution. The administration disagreed.
Various aspects of the case have been litigated at all levels of the federal court system. When Padilla’s case finally reached the US Supreme Court, the government moved Padilla to the criminal justice system and put him on trial in Miami.
The action mooted the pending Supreme Court case and shielded the government from judicial oversight of Padilla’s treatment in military detention.
Despite the widely publicized charges used to justify Padilla’s military detention, the US government has never produced evidence of an actual dirty-bomb plot.
Government officials made 88 recordings of Padilla’s interrogations. But, according to court documents, the DVD recording of Padilla’s final interrogation was somehow “lost.”
In her comments to the judge, Padilla’s mother said he is not an evil person and that he is not a terrorist.
“Before they destroyed those tapes, he told me what they did to him,” Ms. Lebron said. “They tortured him.”
At one point in the hearing, Cooke expressed concern that critics might view a sentence on the low end of the guidelines as “a pass” for Padilla.
Caruso disagreed. He said his client would be serving 21 years in a solitary confinement cell. “I don’t consider that a pass,” he said.
Padilla, the public defender added, has already been largely destroyed. “I have seen the slow, slow destruction of this man since he’s been in civilian court,” Caruso said.
In his argument, Caruso mentioned the case of Ali Saleh al-Marri, who was also designated an enemy combatant and held for interrogation at the Charleston brig.
Unlike Padilla, there is direct evidence that Mr. Marri was involved with Al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
At Mr. Mohammed’s direction, Marri came to the US and set to work identifying potential terror targets. There is also evidence that Marri was in contact with Mustafa al-Hawsawi, an alleged moneyman in the 9/11 attacks.
Marri was held for six years in military detention and interrogated. At one point during the harshest treatment, he smeared the inside walls of his cell with his own excrement.
Unlike Padilla, Marri eventually entered a plea agreement with the US government and was promised no more than a 15-year sentence. The judge, taking into consideration Marri’s treatment in the brig, cut the sentence to eight years.
The government did not appeal that reduction. As a result, Marri is expected to walk out of prison on Jan. 18, 2015 – in four months. |
Why Styrofoam (Expanded Polystyrene) Should Be Banned Everywhere In The World
By Jeff Lewis
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam, is a petroleum-based non-biodegradable foam, which the EPA and International Agency for Research on Cancer consider styrene a “possible human carcinogen” and “that such materials can have serious impacts upon human health, wildlife, and aquatic environment, and the economy.”
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam is sensitive to sunlight in a process called photodegradation, or “breakdown by light.” Over months, continual exposure to sunlight affects the outer layer of the plastic, discoloring it and turning it into a powdery substance. Because of this action, thin styrofoam packaging can break down in a few years. Inside a landfill and shielded from light, however, no such breakdown takes place.
It remains on this earth forever as a piece of toxic trash to humans, to wildlife and marine life, food supply, and our environment while costing taxpayers millions in clean up and mitigation costs. While EPS is technically “recyclable” there is, to date, no meaningful recycling of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam due to high food contamination rates and a very weak market to clean, handle and process the material.
I’ve analyzed and categorized the following report of the environmental impacts, public health issues, economic strains and costs from current laws (State, County, and City) pertaining to the negative effects of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam. The irrefutable evidence and research has been mounting over decades from various federal agencies, city staff reports, state staff reports, environmental clubs, and nonprofits.
Table of Contents (Issues):
A. Public Health
B. Wildlife and Marine Life Health
C. Nearly Un-Recyclable
D. Polluted Environment, Beaches, Oceans, and Waterways
E. Financial Burden on Local Government and Taxpayers
F. Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam Alternatives
A. Public Health
Albany, California (Ordinance 08–02):
“Styrene, a component of polystyrene, is a known hazardous substance that medical evidence and the Food and Drug Administration suggests leaches from polystyrene containers into food and drink.”
“Styrene is a suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin which potentially threatens human health.”
“The general public is not typically warned of any potential hazard, particularly in the immigrant and non-English-speaking community.”
“Due to the physical properties of polystyrene, the EPA states “that such materials can also have serious impacts on human health, wildlife, the aquatic environment and the economy.”
Berkeley, California (Ordinance 5888-NS):
“It is in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of all who live, work, and do business in the City that the amount of litter on the public streets, parks, public places, and open spaces be reduced.”
“Evidence indicates that all blowing agents currently used or proposed in connection with the manufacture of polystyrene foam pose dangers to the environment. Beyond the generally acknowledged dangers of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to the ozone layer, which are addressed in another City of Berkeley ordinance, other blowing agents also create dangers. For example, the blowing agent pentane creates hazardous earth-level smog and has already been restricted in some regions for air quality reasons.”
Abington, Massachusetts:
“Styrene exposure can occur through smoking, inhalation of indoor air, and ingestion of food.”
“In a study concerning the migration of styrene in polystyrene cups to hot drinks, it was determined the concentration of styrene monomer found in the drinks was above the Environmental Protection Agency recommended levels, including the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) standard.”
Amherst, Massachusetts (Article 9):
“Expanded Polystyrene food containers are not recyclable, nor are they biodegradable. Once buried in our landfills, they will persist for centuries.”
“Eliminated of Expanded Polystyrene food containers is in the best interest of the health and welfare of Town inhabitants.”
Calabasas, California (Ordinance 2007–233):
“It is in the best interest of health, safety, and welfare of all who live, work and do business in the City that, to the extent feasible, the amount of litter on the public streets, parks, public places, and open spaces to be reduced and that litter which does reach the natural environment be biodegradable.”
Cambridge, Massachusetts (Ordinance 1374):
“Polystyrene is a type of plastic that includes Styrofoam and is expensive to recycle and is not biodegradable, and has been shown to leach harmful chemicals into food and beverages.”
Clean Water Action California:
“EPS is made using the monomer, Styrene, a lab animal carcinogen and a possible human carcinogen and neurotoxin. Styrene can migrate from polystyrene containers into food and beverages when heated, or in contact with fatty or acidic foods.”
“Styrene residues are found in 100% of all samples of human fat tissue.”
“Styrene exposure increases the risk of leukemia and lymphoma and is a neurotoxin.”
“Workers in polystyrene products manufacturing are exposed to many harmful chemicals, including Styrene, Toluene, Xylene, Acetone, Methyl Chloride, and Methyl Ketone.”
“Occupational exposure to Styrene increases risk of lymphoma, leukemia, lung tumors, pancreatic cancer, urinary bladder cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer.”
“High rates of neurotoxicological effects have been reported in workers, including slowed reaction time, effects on balance and spatial orientation, hearing problems, concentration problems, and decreased color discrimination. Some studies also show significant decrease in sperm count and increased sperm abnormality.”
Environmental Protection Agency:
“Acute exposure to styrene in humans results in respiratory effects, such as mucous membrane irritation, eye irritation, and gastrointestinal effects.”
“Chronic exposure to styrene in humans results in effects on the CNS, with symptoms such as headache, fatigue, weakness, depression, CNS dysfunction (reaction time, memory, visuomotor speed and accuracy, intellectual function), and hearing loss, peripheral neuropathy, minor effects on some kidney enzyme functions and on the blood.”
“Animal studies have reported effects on the CNS, liver, kidney, and eye and nasal irritation from inhalation exposure to styrene.”
“Liver, blood, kidney, and stomach effects have been observed in animals following chronic oral exposure.”
“Lung tumors have been observed in the offspring of orally exposed mice.”
“Animal cancer studies have produced variable results and provide limited evidence for carcinogenicity.”
“Styrene oxide is a reactive metabolite of styrene and shows positive carcinogenic results in oral exposure bioassays. Styrene oxide has been detected in workers exposed to styrene. IARC has classified this metabolite as a Group 2A, probable human carcinogen.”
“Styrofoam production as the 5th largest creator of toxic waste in the United States.”
Gloucester, Massachusetts:
“Polystyrene manufacture, use, and disposal requires substantial energy consumption and contributes to greenhouse gases and other adverse environmental effects.”
Manhattan Beach, California (Ordinance 13–0009 & 14–0003):
“Polystyrene has been shown to pose human health impacts to workers and consumers and these impacts can be mitigated by reducing its use.”
Millbrae, California (Ordinance 717):
“Restricting the use of polystyrene foam and solid disposable food service ware products and replacing non-biodegradable, non-compostable, non-reusable, or non-recyclable food service ware with biodegradable, compostable, reusable, or recyclable food service ware products in Millbrae will further protect the public health and safety of the residents of Millbrae, the natural environment, waterways and wildlife and would advance the City’s goal of developing a sustainable City.”
Newport Beach, California (Ordinance 2008–17):
“Due to the physical properties of polystyrene, the EPA states ‘that such materials can also have serious impacts on human health, wildlife, the aquatic environment, and the economy.’”
Pinole, California (Ordinance 2018–01):
“The use of polystyrene products by food services providers and the sale of polystyrene products in the City is detrimental to public health and welfare.”
Oakland, California (Ordinance 12747):
“Styrene is a suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin which potentially threatens human health.”
Rahway, New Jersey (Ordinance O-53–96):
“It is in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of all of the citizens of the City of Rahway who live, work or do business in the City that the amount of nonrecyclable, nondegradable packaging be reduced, and that the amount of litter on the public streets, parks and open spaces be reduced.”
San Clemente, California (Ordinance 1533):
“A deterioration in the quality of the City’s ocean waters and beaches threatens the public health, safety, and welfare and negatively affects tourism and the local economy which depends on tourist trade.”
San Francisco, California (Ordinance 140–16):
“Styrene has been linked to cancer as well as reproductive and developmental disorders by the National Research Council, and that styrene leaches from polystyrene into food and drink.”
“Styrene is also a chemical known by the State of California to cause cancer, and is included as a listed chemical under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65) by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.”
Santa Cruz County, California (Ordinance 5122):
“Styrene is a suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin, which potentially threatens human health.”
“The general public, especially the non-English speaking community, is not typically warned of any potential hazard from styrene.”
Seattle, Washington (Ordinance 122751):
“It is in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people that regulations prohibit the use of certain expanded polystyrene food service products and disposable food service ware to reduce the cost of solid waste disposal by the City and to protect the environment.”
Scotts Valley, California (Ordinance 182):
“Prohibiting the use of polystyrene foam take-out food packaging and replacing it with biodegradable, compostable or recyclable food service products will further protect local waterways, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, City residents and visitors, and will support the City’s goal of reducing waste and litter for a cleaner environment for generations to come.”
Solana Beach, California (Ordinance 466):
“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 13th Report on Carcinogens concludes that styrene “is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
Takoma Park, Maryland (Ordinance 2014–62):
“Polystyrene (resin code #6, commonly known as Styrofoam), often are used in the manufacturer of food service ware, is made from styrene, a known neurotoxicant that has been found to be reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
The Sierra Club:
“Polystyrene resin usually contains a small percentage of residual styrene. Styrene leaching increases with temperature and with certain foods (alcohol, oils or fat).”
“Polystyrene is made from non-renewable fossil fuels (oil and natural gas). The cost of natural gas, is relatively lower cost because of hydrofracking, which causes many environmental and health problems.”
Westfield, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Styrene exposure can occur through smoking, inhalation of indoor air, and ingestion of food.”
“The amount of styrene monomer migration from polystyrene into hot drinks was dependent on the temperature and fat content of the drinks.”
“exposure to styrene vapor can cause irritations of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin, as well as toxic effects on the liver, and can act as a depressant on the central nervous system that also causes neurological impairment.”
“Potential effects of styrene exposure during its production can cause eye and mucosal irritations and gastrointestinal issues. Possible effects on the central nervous system include headache, weakness, fatigue, depression, general dysfunction hearing loss and peripheral neuropathy.”
“Workers with high exposure to styrene showed increased cancer of the lymph hematopoietic system and possibly related mortality, as well as increased levels of DNA adducts and genetic damage to lymphocytes.”
“Occupational studies concerning styrene have shown risks for workers for lymph hematopoietic cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, and genetic damage in the white blood cells, or lymphocytes, as well as increased risks for pancreatic and esophageal cancers.”
“Styrene has caused lung tumors in mice.”
“Benzene, a component of polystyrene is a known carcinogen and enters the body through the respiratory system and skin contact.”
B. Wildlife and Marine Life Health
Alameda, California (Ordinance 2977):
“It enters the marine and natural environment and is damaging to the environment and marine wildlife.”
Albany, California (Ordinance 08–02):
“Polystyrene foam is notorious as a pollutant that breaks down into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife thus harming or killing them.”
Aliso Viejo, California (Ordinance 2004–060):
“Expanded Polystyrene waste poses a risk to the fragile ecological balance, since marine and land wildlife often perish as a result of ingesting Expanded Polystyrene products.This risk can occur over and over again since Expanded Polystyrene remains in the ecosystem for a very long time.”
Andover, Massachusetts (Article 56):
“Polystyrene is a common environmental pollutant that fragments into smaller pieces that harm or kill marine life and wildlife when they ingest them.”
Arroyo Grande, California (Ordinance 676):
“Marine animals and birds often confused expanded polystyrene with pieces of food, and when ingested, it can impact their digestive tracts, often leading to death.”
Berkeley, California (Ordinance 5888-NS):
“It enters the marine and natural environment and is ingested by aquatic wildlife, frequently causing death. There is resultant damage to the ecological balance.”
Brisbane, California (Ordinance 590):
“Polystyrene containers can adversely affect marine life if they find their way into waterways and water bodies. In comparison, reusable, recyclable, and/or compostable food service ware reduces litter and conserves natural resources.”
Brunswick, Maine (Ordinance 3–21–16):
“Polystyrene foam is a common pollutant that fragments into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife, thus harming or killing them.”
Clean Water Action California:
“Plastics, including EPS, photodegrade. That is, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces and marine animals easily mistake polystyrene for food.”
Dana Point, California (Ordinance 12–03):
“EPS debris poses a risk to the fragile ecological balance because wildlife often confuse EPS debris for a source of food, and the ingestion of EPS can result in reduced appetite and nutrient absorption and death by starvation.”
Davis, California (Ordinance 2501):
“Polystyrene foam is a light weight material that can be blown by the wind out of garbage cans and landfills into storm drains and waterways, creating litter, polluting the water, and potentially causing harm to wildlife who mistakenly eat the material.”
Encinitas, California (Ordinance 2016–12):
“The availability of this material as litter has been known to cause birds fish and marine animals to starve as a result of eating the foam which does not break down in their digestive tracts.”
Gloucester, Massachusetts:
“Polystyrene is a common environmental pollutant that fragments into smaller pieces that harm or kill marine life and wildlife when they ingest them.”
Grover Beach, California (Ordinance 18–01):
“Marine animals and birds ofter confused Expanded Polystyrene with pieces of food and, when ingested, it can impact their digestive tracts, often leading to death.”
Laguna Beach, California (Ordinance 1480):
“Marine animals and birds often confuse Expanded Polystyrene foam material for a source of food and ingestion of Expanded Polystyrene often results in reduced appetite and nutrient absorption and possible death by starvation of birds and marine animals.”
Laguna Woods, California (Ordinance 12–06):
“Animals and birds often confuse polystyrene foam for a source of food and its ingestion can result in reduced appeared and nutrient absorption and possible death by starvation.”
Manhattan Beach, California (Ordinance 13–0009 & 14–0003):
“Polystyrene breaks down in the marine environment into smaller pieces, which negatively impacts water quality and harms marine wildlife that often mistake pieces of polystyrene for food.”
Miami Beach, Florida (Ordinance 2014–3884):
“Expanded Polystyrene is a common pollutant, which fragments into smaller non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife, thus harming or killing them.”
Millbrae, California (Ordinance 717):
“Polystyrene foam is a common pollutant that fragments into smaller, non- biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife thus harming or killing them.”
Milpitas, California (Ordinance 293):
“Plastic debris and, in particular, expanded polystyrene foam (“EPS”) is a distinctive litter concern because it is lightweight, floats, breaks down into small pieces, and readily travels from land to inland waterways and out to the ocean where it can be mistaken for food by birds and other marine wildlife.”
Morro Bay, California (Ordinance 600):
“Marine animals and birds often confuse expanded polystyrene with pieces of food, and when ingested, it can impact their digestive tracts, often leading to death.”
Newport Beach, California (Ordinance 2008–17):
“Marine animals and birds often confuse EPS for a source of food and the ingestion of EPS often results in reduced appetite and nutrient absorption and possible death by starvation of birds and marine animals.”
Oakland, California (Ordinance 12747):
“Polystyrene foam is notorious as a pollutant that breaks down into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife thus harming or killing them.”
San Clemente, California (Ordinance 1533):
“Marine animals and birds may confuse EPS for a source of food and the ingestion of EPS can result in reduced appetite and nutrient absorption and possible death by starvation of birds and marine animals.”
Santa Clara County, California (Ordinance 517.80):
“Polystyrene foam fragments into smaller pieces that are ingested by aquatic life and other wildlife.”
Santa Cruz County, California (Ordinance 5122):
“The County of Santa Cruz is situated at the edge of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Marine animals and birds often confuse polystyrene foam pieces as a food source, which when ingested, can impact the digestive track which often leads to death.”
San Francisco, California (Ordinance 140–16):
“Polystyrene foam is a notorious pollutant that breaks down into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are often mistaken for fish eggs by seabirds and other marine life.”
Santa Monica, California (Ordinance 2216):
“Marine animals and birds often confuse EPS for a source of food and ingestion of EPS often results in reduced appetite and nutrient absorption and possible death by starvation of birds and marine animals.”
Satellite Beach, Florida (Ordinance 1129):
“Expanded Polystyrene is a common pollutant, which fragments into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife, thus harming or killing them.”
Scotts Valley, California (Ordinance 182):
“Marine animals and birds often confuse polystyrene foam with pieces of food, and when ingested, it can impact their digestive tracts, often leading to death.”
Solana Beach, California (Ordinance 466):
“The plastic breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces that can enter the food chain by animals believing the pieces are food.”
South Portland, Maine (Ordinance 4–15/16):
“Polystyrene foam is a common pollutant that fragments into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife thus harming or killing them.”
The Sierra Club:
“The foam form in particular is often mistaken as food by both domesticated and wild animals. Birds may also use foam for nesting material. Untold numbers of animals die per year by ingesting polystyrene and other plastic items.”
“Although they do fragment through mechanical action and photodegradation in the presence of light, these processes are slow taking an estimated 200+ years to complete. When a polystyrene item kills an animal, the item may go on to kill again.”
Westford, Massachusetts (Article 20):
“Styrene can leach from polystyrene containers into food an beverages. It has become a major component of plastic debris in the ocean and animals often mistake if for food. It is also hazardous to marine life, transferring toxic chemicals to the food chain.”
C. Nearly Un-Recyclable
Abington, Massachusetts:
“Polystyrene is not recycled because it is not economic to wash, degrease, transport, and store in order to recycle.”
Albany, California (Ordinance 08–02):
“There continues to be no meaningful recycling of polystyrene foam food service ware and biodegradable or compostable food service ware is an affordable, safe, more ecologically sound alternative.”
Aliso Viejo, California (Ordinance 2004–060):
“There is currently no meaningful recycling of food service Expanded Polystyrene products, due in part to contamination from food residue.”
Andover, Massachusetts (Article 56):
“Polystyrene is not biodegradable or compostable, and is generally not recyclable.”
Arroyo Grande, California (Ordinance 676):
“Items made from Expanded Polystyrene are not biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable locally.”
Berkeley, California (Ordinance 5888-NS):
“Solid waste that is non-degradable or non-recyclable poses an acute problem for any environmentally and financially responsible program of solid waste management. Such waste covers the City’s streets, parks, public places, and open spaces.”
Brunswick, Maine (Ordinance 3–21–16):
“There is no economically feasible means of recycling polystyrene foam locally.”
Calabasas, California (Ordinance 2007–233):
“Non-biodegradable and non-recyclable materials pose a challenge to any environmentally and financially responsible solid waste management program. Discarded food packaging constitutes a significant and growing portion of the City’s waste stream.”
Clean Water Action California:
“EPS food packaging is typically not ‘clean’ enough to be recycled.”
“EPS has a very low recycling rate. According to a 2004 study by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, of the 377,580 tons of polystyrene produced in the state, only 0.8% is recycled. Of that, only 0.2% (310 tons) of polystyrene food service packaging is recycled.”
Culver City, California (Ordinance 2017–008):
“The plastic recycling symbol for polystyrene is #6 and is not recyclable in Culver City.”
Dana Point, California (Ordinance 12–03):
“There is no meaningful way to recycle EPS products used for food service ware.”
Davis, California (Ordinance 2501):
“Polystyrene foam food serving ware is not locally recyclable but has comparable and easily accessible recyclable and composting alternatives.”
El Cerrito, California (Ordinance 2013–04):
“EPS food ware is commonly used by food providers in the City of El Cerrito, and has limited recycling potential.”
Gloucester, Massachusetts:
“Polystyrene is not biodegradable or compostable, and is generally not recyclable.”
Grover Beach, California (Ordinance 18–01):
“Items made from Expanded Polystyrene are not biodegradable, compostable, or recycle locally.”
Laguna Woods, California (Ordinance 12–06):
“There is no meaningful recycling of polystyrene foam products used for food service ware.”
Lenox, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Polystyrene is not biodegradable or compostable, and cannot be practically recycled.”
“Some of the waste generated in Lenox ends up in landfills in other communities, with the potential for Polystyrene to litter the surrounding areas.
Manhattan Beach, California (Ordinance 13–0009 & 14–0003):
“Education about the reduction of food-spoils polystyrene food service ware, which can be difficult to clean and recycle, may advance waste stream reduction and recycling efforts and reduce the presences of this non-biodegradable material in landfills.”
Miami Beach, Florida (Ordinance 2014–3884):
“Expanded Polystyrene, a petroleum by-product commonly known as Styrofoam is neither readily recyclable nor biodegradable and takes hundreds of thousands of years to degrade in the environment.”
Millbrae, California (Ordinance 717):
“There continues to be no substantial recycling of Polystyrene food service ware.”
Monterey, California (Ordinance 3426):
“Polystyrene foam means and includes expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is not collected for recycling in the Central Coast region because it is not economically viable.”
“Food service-ware made from polystyrene foam is not biodegradable, returnable, or practically recyclable.”
“It is not economically feasible at this time to recycle polystyrene foam in or near the City of Monterey.”
Montgomery County, Maryland (Local Law 41–14):
“Expanded polystyrene (PS) #6 products are not recyclable in Montgomery County, Maryland.”
Morro Bay, California (Ordinance 600):
“Expanded polystyrene is not recycled at the Cold Canyon Landfill and there are no current plans to recycle it, and regulating the use of expanded polystyrene products will, therefore, maximize the operating life of the landfills.”
Oakland, California (Ordinance 12747):
“There continues to be no meaningful recycling of polystyrene foam food service ware and biodegradable or compostable food service ware is an affordable, safe, more ecologically sound alternative.”
Rahway, New Jersey (Ordinance O-53–96):
“The use of polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride for food packaging is problematical because neither of these plastics are readily recyclable; that their abundant commercial use in lieu of other plastics such as polyethylene or polypropylene unnecessarily complicates the chemical composition of the municipal waste and subtracts from the possible emergence of viable plastic recycling programs.”
Salinas, California (Ordinance 2519):
“It is not economically feasible at this time to recycle polystyrene foam in or near the City of Salinas.”
“Polystyrene foam means and includes expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is not collected for recycling in the Central Coast region because it is not economically viable.”
San Clemente, California (Ordinance 1533):
“There is no meaningful recycling of EPS food service products used for food service ware.”
San Francisco, California (Ordinance 140–16):
“An estimated 1% of all polystyrene foam is recycled in California because of food contamination and the material’s bulky, easily airborne characteristics, given it is 95% air.”
“Recycled polystyrene has very little market value and can only be used to make a small range of products, most of which cannot be recycled themselves.”
“Polystyrene foam packaging and food service ware cannot be recycled through San Francisco’s recycling (blue bin) collection program and is otherwise difficult or impossible to recycle, and is not compostable. Compostable or recyclable disposable packaging and food service ware are an affordable, safe, more ecologically sound alternative.”
San Mateo County, California (Ordinance 04542):
“Polystyrene, often referred to by the trademark Styrofoam, has also become a problematic environmental pollutant given its non-biodegradable, and nearly non-reusable nature.”
Santa Clara County, California (Ordinance 517.80):
“There continues to be no substantial local recycling of polystyrene food service ware.”
Santa Cruz County, California (Ordinance 5122):
“It is not economically feasible to recycle most polystyrene in Santa Cruz County. Eliminating the use of polystyrene foam and other noncompostable and nomecyclable items will maximize the operating life of our landfills and will lessen the economic and environmental costs of waste management for businesses and citizens of Santa Cruz County.”
Santa Monica, California (Ordinance 2216):
“Recycling of EPS products is not currently economically viable.”
Satellite Beach, Florida (Ordinance 1129):
“Expanded Polystyrene, a petroleum by-product commonly known as Styrofoam, is neither readily recyclable nor biodegradable.”
Scotts Valley, California (Ordinance 182):
“It is not economically feasible at this time, to recycle polystyrene foam in Santa Cruz County.”
Solana Beach, California (Ordinance 466):
“There are few facilities in the Sate of California that recycle polystyrene and they are able to do so only if there is a demand and the product is wiped clean of all food debris.”
South Portland, Maine (Ordinance 4–15/16):
“There is no economically feasible means of recycling Polystyrene foam locally.”
Takoma Park, Maryland (Ordinance 2014–62):
“Items comprised of polystyrene are not recyclable.”
The Sierra Club:
“The rigid form even when collected curbside is never recycled. But even if the recycling rate were significantly increased, the end result would still have an unacceptably large negative impact.”
Westfield, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Less than 35% of fast food restaurants’ waste does not end up in landfills.”
“Polystyrene is not recycled because it is not economic to wash, degrease, transport, and store in order to recycle.”
Westford, Massachusetts (Article 20):
“Expanded Polystyrene containers are not part of the Town’s regular recycling program.”
D. Polluted Environment, Beaches, Oceans, and Waterways
Alameda, California (Ordinance 2977):
“The City Council finds that polystyrene foam food service ware constitutes a significant adverse environmental impact.”
“It enters the marine and natural environment and is damaging to the environment and marine wildlife.”
Albany, California (Ordinance 08–02):
“Disposable food service ware constitutes a large portion of the litter in Albany’s streets, parks and public places.”
“In the product manufacturing process as well as the use and disposal of the products, the energy consumption, greenhouse gas effect, and total environmental effect, polystyrene’s environmental impacts were second highest, behind aluminum, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.”
“Polystyrene foam is a common environmental pollutant as well as a non- biodegradable substance used as food service ware by food vendors operating in the City of Albany.”
Aliso Viejo, California (Ordinance 2004–060):
“Expanded Polystyrene, a petroleum based product that is frequently used for food service purposes, enters the various water bodies from both direct as well as indirect sources (such as storm conveyance systems), and contributes to the degradation of the overall quality of streams, ocean waters and adjacent beach areas.”
“Expanded Polystyrene does not effectively biodegrade (decay into constituent substance) in the environment, but merely breaks down into smaller particles, that litter the City’s streets, parks, public places, and open spaces and eventually is carried to the area’s beaches and ocean.”
“Expanded Polystyrene food service products, by their nature, have a useful life that can measured in minutes or hours, yet the material takes up valuable space in landfills for an indefinitely long period of time.”
Andover, Massachusetts (Article 56):
“Polystyrene is made from fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource.”
“Polystyrene manufacture, use, and disposal requires substantial energy consumption and contributes to greenhouse gases and other adverse environmental effects.”
Arroyo Grande, California (Ordinance 676):
“Expanded Polystyrene breaks into small pieces and because it is lightweight, may be picked up by the wind even when it has been disposed of properly.”
“Expanded Polystyrene as litter is highly durable and is present in many public places, streets and roads, waterways and storm drains which may ultimately float, or be blown, into the Pacific Ocean.”
“Regulating the use of Expanded Polystyrene products within the City will help protect the City’s natural environment from contamination and degradation.”
“According to the California Department of Transportation, expanded polystyrene products (“EPS”) comprises approximately 15% of storm drain litter and is the second most common form of beach debris in California. Also, plastic products, including expanded polystyrene, make up 80–90% of floating marine debris.”
Belmont, California (Ordinance 1065):
“Polystyrene, often referred to by the trademark Styrofoam, has also become a problematic environmental pollutant given it’s nonbiodegradable, and nearly non-reusable nature.”
“The City Council of the City of Belmont finds that polystyrene-based, single-use food service ware constitutes a substantial portion of the litter within the City of Belmont.”
Berkeley, California (Ordinance 5888-NS):
“Products which are degradable or recyclable offer environmentally sound alternatives or non- degradable and non-recyclable products currently used. By decaying into their constituent substances, degradable products, compared to their non-degradable equivalents, are less of a danger to the natural environment, and less of a permanent blight on the urban landscape.”
“Polystyrene foam is a petroleum processing by-product. Oil is a non-renewable resource, which can only be obtained by increasingly hazardous methods such as off-shore drilling, which poses significant dangers to the environment.”
“Takeout food packaging constitutes the single greatest source of litter in Berkeley and is a significant contributor to the total amount of waste entering the City’s waste stream.”
Brisbane, California (Ordinance 590):
“Polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam, is a petroleum-based lightweight plastic material commonly used as food service ware by retail food service and had become a problematic environmental pollutant, given its non-biodegradable and nearly non-reusable nature.”
Brunswick, Maine (Ordinance 3–21–16):
“Disposable food containers made from Polystyrene foam constitute a portion of the litter in Brunswick’s streets, parks and public places that increases town maintenance costs.”
Calabasas, California (Ordinance 2007–233):
“Discarded packaging from foods, beverages and other products constitutes a significant and growing portion of Calabasas’s waste stream.”
“Plastic pollution had proliferated such that there are six times as many bits of plastic waste in the surface layer of the Pacific Ocean as marine life.”
“Plastic waste originating from the United States has been found at Midway Atoll in the far reaches of the Pacific, and every cubic yard of sediment in California’s costal creeks and streams contains one-half pound of plastic waste.”
California Integrated Waste Management Board:
“In the product manufacturing process as well as the use and disposal of the products, the energy consumption, greenhouse gas effect, and total environmental effect, polystyrene’s environmental impacts were second highest, behind aluminum.”
Clean Water Action California:
“The lifetime of plastics in the marine environment is unknown. Some researchers feel that the composition of conventional petroleum-based plastics as durable polymers means they will degrade to increasingly smaller sizes but never disappear.”
“Roughly 80 percent of marine debris originates from land-based sources. Plastics comprise 90 percent of floating marine debris.”
“A study of beach debris at 43 sites along the Orange County coast found EPS was the second most abundant form of beach debris.”
“Styrene can be found in air, water, and soil after release from the manufacture, use, and disposal of styrene-based products.”
Culver City, California (Ordinance 2017–008):
“Ballona Creek, a focal point of the community, flows through Culver City as an open channel which drains stormwater and urban runoff within the 130-square-mile Ballona Creek Watershed to the Pacific Ocean. Trash and other hazards, such as Styrofoam containers and cups, have entered Ballona Creek, breaking down into dangerously small particles, which pollutes the water that flows directly to the Pacific Ocean.”
Dana Point, California (Ordinance 12–03):
“Expandable Polystyrene (EPS), a petroleum based product that is frequently used for food services purposes, enters various water bodies from both direct and indirect sources (such as storm drains), and negatively impacts the overall quality of ocean waters and adjacent beach areas.”
“Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of EPS debris in the environment, including storm drains, ocean waters and on beaches.”
“EPS products contribute to urban blight as litter, because, even when they have been disposed of properly, EPS products easily break down into smaller pieces, which are so light that they float in water and get carried by the wind.”
“EPS food service products, by their nature, have a useful life that can be measured in minutes or hours, yet these products take several decades to hundreds of years to biodegrade.”
Davis, California (Ordinance 2501):
“Polystyrene foam is a light weight material that can be blown by the wind out of garbage cans and landfills into storm drains and waterways, creating litter, polluting the water, and potentially causing harm to wildlife who mistakenly eat the material.”
“The use of polystyrene foam has negative environmental impacts including: litter, solid waste generation, and effects on wildlife.”
El Cerrito, California (Ordinance 2013–04):
“Littering EPS food ware can result in blocked storm drains, fouled waterways, and increased marine debris.”
Ellen MacArthur Foundation:
“An increasing rate of plastics entering the oceans and predicts that, without significant action to reduce that flow, by 2050 there will be by weight more plastic in the oceans of the world than fish. According to the report, most of these plastics come from packaging, including food and beverage containers, and much of these plastics are made from polystyrene foam.”
Encinitas, California (Ordinance 2016–12):
“The manufacture and use of polystyrene foam is contributing to the degradation of our environment, a consequence which was neither foreseen or predicted with the introduction of this material.”
“The primary negative attribute of polystyrene foam is that it is non-biodegradable and persists in the environment for decades. Thus, the polystyrene foam litter seen today will still be around several years from now, accumulating rather than biodegrading.”
Fairfax, California (Ordinance 623):
“Polystyrene is a prime contributing factor to the enormous debris patch in the Central Pacific Ocean commonly known as the Pacific Gyre.”
Grover Beach, California (Ordinance 18–01):
“According to the California Department of Transportation, Expanded Polystyrene products (“EPS”) comprises approximately 15% of storm drain litter and is the second most common form of beach debris in California. Also, plastic products, including Expanded Polystyrene, make up 80–90% of floating marine debris.”
“Expanded Polystyrene breaks into small pieces and because it is lightweight, may be picked up by the wind even when it has been disposed of properly.”
“Expanded Polystyrene as litter is highly durable and is present in many public roads, waterways and storm drains which may ultimately float, or be blown, into the Pacific Ocean.”
“Regulating the use of Expanded Polystyrene products within the City will help protect the City’s natural environment from contamination and degradation.”
Laguna Beach, California (Ordinance 1480):
“Expanded Polystyrene foam is a common environmental pollutant as well as a non-biodegradable substance that is commonly used as food service ware by food vendors operating in the City of Laguna Beach.”
“Expanded Polystyrene foam material easily breaks into smaller pieces and is so light that it floats in water and is easily carried by the wind, even when it has been disposed of properly.”
Laguna Woods, California (Ordinance 12–06):
“Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of Polystyrene foam product debris in the environment, including storm drains.”
“Polystyrene foam — both extended (EPS) and extruded (XPS) — products are not biodegradable and as a result persist in the environment for hundreds of years.”
“Polystyrene foam breaks down into smaller pieces that migrate onto public property and into the City’s storm drain system, even when disposed of properly.”
Lenox, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Polystyrene is made from non-renewable fossil fuels, and Polystyrene manufacture, use, and disposal requires substantial energy consumption and contributes to greenhouse gases and other adverse environmental effects.”
Manhattan Beach, California (Ordinance 13–0009 & 14–0003):
“Polystyrene, a lightweight petroleum-based plastic material, is commonly littered or blown out of trash receptacles and migrates to the storm drain system and eventually to the ocean and beaches.”
“Littered polystyrene, especially expanded foam, is difficult to clean up and may cumulatively result in increased litter.”
“Reduction of polystyrene in the environment will advance compliance with Federal, State and City clean water mandates, including compliance with the Total Maximum Daily Loads and other requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.”
Morro Bay, California (Ordinance 600):
“According to the California Department of Transportation, expanded polystyrene comprises approximately 15% of storm drain litter and is the second most common form of beach debris in California, and plastic products, including expanded polystyrene, make up 80 -90% of floating marine debris.”
“The City is situated adjacent to the Pacific Ocean and during regular beach clean-ups, expanded polystyrene products are found and discarded.”
“Items made from expanded polystyrene are not biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable locally and expanded polystyrene as litter is high durable.”
“Expanded polystyrene breaks into small, lightweight pieces that may be picked up by the wind even when it has been disposed of property, and flow or be flown into creeks and the Pacific Ocean, contributing to water quality and habitat protection concerns.”
“Regulating the use of expanded polystyrene products within the City will help protect the City’s natural environment from contamination and degradation.”
“Expanded polystyrene is manufactured from petroleum, a non — renewable resources.”
New York City, New York:
“Styrofoam (polystyrene) is not biodegradable and takes an estimated 500 years to break down when discarded in landfills.”
Miami Beach, Florida (Ordinance 2014–3884):
“Expanded Polystyrene, a petroleum by-product commonly known as Styrofoam is neither readily recyclable nor biodegradable and takes hundreds of thousands of years to degrade in the environment.”
“Disposable food service articles constitute a portion of the litter in the City of Miami Beach’s streets, parks, public places, and waterways.”
Milpitas, California (Ordinance 293):
“The Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies (BASMAA) found in its May 2014 study San Francisco Bay Area Stormwater Trash Generation Rates that EPS disposable food service ware compromised 6% of the volume of trash observed in storm drains.”
Monterey, California (Ordinance 3426):
“Polystyrene is a plastic resin that is used to make up a wide range of consumer goods and packaging, and in its “foamed” or “expanded” state is frequently used to produce takeout containers for food. However, unlike many other types of packaging, littered polystyrene foam remains permanently in the environment where it breaks into tiny pieces that disperse widely.”
“The City of Monterey has seen first-hand the impact of polystyrene foam plastic lifter in our storm drains, in our fields, on our roadways and highways, in our rivers, in the ocean and on our beaches. Banning polystyrene foam take-out packaging locally will help to address marine pollution by requiring the use of environmentally preferable alternatives while helping to educate business owners and citizens on the positive impact their packaging choices can make.”
“Polystyrene foam breaks into smaller pieces and, because it is lightweight, may be picked up by the wind even when it has been placed in a waste receptacle.”
“A prevalence of polystyrene foam packaging, which is highly durable and persists longer than any other type of refuse, litters parks and public places, streets and roads, waterways, storm drains and beaches. This litter ultimately floats, or is blown into the Monterey Bay.”
Newport Beach, California (Ordinance 2008–17):
“Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is not biodegradable and as a result persists in the environment for hundreds and possibly thousands of years”
“EPS material easily breaks down into smaller pieces and is so light that it floats in the water and is easily carried by the wind, even when it has been disposed of properly.”
“Numerous studies have document the prevalence of EPS debris in the environment, including storm drains and on beaches.
Ojai, California (Ordinance 837):
“Polystyrene-based, single use food service ware and products constitute a substation portion of litter within the City of Ojai.”
Pinole, California (Ordinance 2018–01):
“Products made from polystyrene, commonly known by the trademarked name of Styrofoam, are a major source of trash and litter in the City, its waterways and storm drains, and the San Francisco Bay.”
“Trash and litter for polystyrene products affects the City’s parks, streets, creeks, and waterfront’s beauty and recreation activities, impacting the quality of life for residents.”
Rahway, New Jersey (Ordinance O-53–96):
“Evidence available to the Municipal Council indicates that discarded packaging, especially take-out food service packaging, constitutes the single greatest category of waste within the waste stream of the City of Rahway, the single greatest source of litter within the City of Rahway.”
“Single use nonrecyclable, nondegradable packaging and plastic containers are considered to be a fundamental cause of problems associated with municipal waste disposal and litter.”
“The economic and environmental problems associated with nondegradable substances mixed with degradable substances in the waste stream are so severe that a program to modify the composition of the solid waste in the waste stream thereby reducing the environmental hazards and toxicity associated with solid waste incineration, and encouraging the composting of putrescible biodegradable wastes and encouraging other forms of recycling of solid waste substances is hereby determined to be the policy of the City of Rahway.”
“The widespread use of plastics, especially polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, pose a threat to the environment by posing unnecessary taking of landfill space, and/or when incinerated, by the possible introduction of toxic by-products into the atmosphere.”
Salinas, California (Ordinance 2519):
“A prevalence of polystyrene foam packaging, which is highly durable and which persists longer than nay other type fo refuse, litters parks and public places, streets and roads, waterways, and stormdrains. This litter ultimately floats or is blown into the Salinas River and the Monterey Bay.”
“Laws, policies, and regulations pertaining to disposable food service wares are a vital component in the City of Salina’s efforts to reduce the amount of disposed waste.”
“The City of Salinas has seen first-hand the impact of polystyrene foam plastic litter in the City’s storm drains, agricultural fields, roadways and highways, and in the Salinas River.”
San Clemente, California (Ordinance 1533):
“Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) debris in the environment, including in storm drains and on beaches.”
“EPS material easily breaks down into smaller pieces and is so light that it floats in water and is easily carried by the wind, even when it has been disposed of properly.”
San Francisco, California (Ordinance 140–16):
“Disposable food service ware and packaging foam constitute a significant source of litter on San Francisco’s street, parks, and public places, and the costs of managing this litter is substantial.”
“The Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association and Caltrans found that between 8 to 15% of plastics in San Francisco storm drains are polystyrene foam.”
“The San Francisco Estuary Institute found that 8% of the micro-plastics entering San Francisco Bay from wastewater treatment facilities are polystyrene foam.”
San Mateo County, California (Ordinance 04542):
“Polystyrene-based, single-use food service ware constitutes a substantial portion of the litter within the County of San Mateo.”
Santa Clara County, California (Ordinance 517.80):
“There is a prevalence of polystyrene foam packing littering City/County parks and public places, streets and roads, waterways, storm drains and wetlands.”
Santa Cruz County, California (Ordinance 5122):
“Products made from expanded polystyrene foam (commonly called styrofoam) are not biodegradable, returnable or recyclable.”
“Polystyrene foam easily breaks up into smaller pieces and because it is lightweight, is carried by the wind even when it has been disposed of properly.”
“As litter, polystyrene foam is highly durable, persisting and detracting from the appearance of an area longer than any other type of litter. There is a prevalence of polystyrene foam debris littering our parks and public places, streets and roads, waterways, storm drains and beaches. This litter ultimately floats, or is blown, into the Monterey Bay.”
“Discarded polystyrene constitutes a significant portion of the County of Santa Cruz waste stream.”
“Laws, policies and regulations pertaining to this material, which is difficult to recycle, have become a vital component in the efforts to reduce the amount disposed waste.”
“According to local environmental organizations, despite the passage of the County’s Environmentally Acceptable Packaging Materials Ordinance in 2008, polystyrene foam is still one of the most abundant types of litter found during beach cleanups.”
Santa Monica, California (Ordinance 2216):
“EPS is not biodegradable and as a result persists in the environment for hundreds and possibly thousands of years.”
“EPS material easily breaks down into smaller pieces and is so light that if floats in water and is easily carried by the wind, even when it has been disposed of properly.”
Satellite Beach, Florida (Ordinance 1129):
“Expanded Polystyrene materials, especially as they related to food service articles, constitute a statistically significant portion of the litter in the City’s streets, parks, public places, and waterways.”
Scotts Valley, California (Ordinance 182):
“Discarded food and beverage packaging constitutes a significant and growing portion of the City’s waste stream.”
“Eliminating all non-biodegradable, non-returnable, and non-recyclable food packaging material from all establishments within the City of Scotts Valley will protect the City’s environment from contamination and degradation.”
“As litter, polystyrene foam is highly durable, persisting longer than any other type of litter. There is a prevalence of polystyrene foam packaging littering City parks and public places, streets and roads, storm drains and waterways. This litter ultimately floats, or is blown, into local creeks and into the Monterey Bay. This litter creates a financial cost to City residents and an environmental cost to natural resources.”
Seattle, Washington (Ordinance 122751):
“SPU has completed the first of those studies, finding that the production, use and disposal of expanded polystyrene food service products and disposable food service ware have significant adverse impacts on the environment and that compostable or recyclable alternative products are available.”
Solana Beach, California (Ordinance 466):
“Plastic products photodegrade, which means they break up into smaller pieces when exposed to sunlight, and these smaller pieces persist in the marine environment for hundreds of years.”
“Plastics also leech chemicals wherever they end up, including solids and into the water.”
“Approximately 80% of all refuse that ends up in the oceans come from land.”
“Refuse found and collected along San Diego County coasts is primarily comprised of plastics. San Diego Coastkeeper reports that in 2014, 46% of debris collected was plastic. Many of the plastics collected were pieces less than one inch in diameter, and much of it was non-recyclable expanded polystyrene foam.”
“Polystyrene is particularly harmful to the environment because it is frequently used for single-use purposes. A website by Californians Against Waste estimates that 377,579 tons of expanded polystyrene are produced in California and that 154,808 tons of that type of polystyrene are made specifically for food service packaging that ends up in the landfill. Either these products are immediately disposed of after a single use, or they are dispersed into the environment either intentionally or accidentally from being blown by the wind or falling out of trash receptacles, for example.”
South Portland, Maine (Ordinance 4–15/16):
“Disposable food containers made from polystyrene foam constitute a portion of the litter in City streets, parks, and public places that is highly durable, buoyant, and non-biodegradable and, therefore, persists and detracts from the appearance of the area longer than many other types of litter.”
The Sierra Club:
“Polystyrene foam easily breaks down into small pieces that can escape from the garbage truck, landfill, boat, and average consumer’s hands — and are then carried into lakes and waterways, and eventually into the ocean.”
“When polystyrene items finally do break down, they do not dissolve into benign substances: they just fracture into smaller and smaller bits called microplastics. These small particles present the greatest long-term danger, as these particles displace food supplies in the world’s oceans. Once microplastics enter our oceans, they will stay there virtually forever, because they persist and their removal is not possible.”
“Polystyrene is made from non-renewable fossil fuels (oil and natural gas). The cost of natural gas, is relatively lower cost because of hydrofracking, which causes many environmental and health problems.”
United Nations:
“From a 2006 study, it’s estimated that in this region there are 46,000 floating pieces of plastic for every square mile of ocean and the trash now circulates to a depth of 30 meters.”
Westfield, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Polystyrene is a harm to the environment. It makes up a considerable amount of debris in cities, and is harmful to the marine wildlife that it often arrives in.”
“The environmental impacts of polystyrene rank second behind aluminum for total environmental impacts especially in energy consumption and greenhouse gas effects.”
“Over 80% of plastic pollution to the ocean comes from urban litter such as polystyrene.”
“Polystyrene is not biodegradable and does not easily deteriorate in landfills, taking up more space than paper.”
Westford, Massachusetts (Article 20):
“Styrofoam is the brand name for polystyrene (Dow Chemical Co.), a synthetic plastic that biodegrades so slowly (hundreds of years) it is considered to be non-biodegradable.”
E. Financial Burden on Local Government and Taxpayers
Abington, Massachusetts:
“Programs to recycle polystyrene are expensive, costing thousands of dollars per ton and litter clean-up costs billions.”
Alameda, California (Ordinance 2977):
“It clogs storm drains, arch culverts, and catch basins thereby significantly increasing time and expense to public works maintenance crews during a storm event.”
Albany, California (Ordinance 08–02):
“A number of Albany businesses engage in organics recycling and it has been demonstrated that the use of biodegradable or compostable food service ware can reduce waste disposal costs when the products are taken to composting facilities as part of an organics recycling program rather than disposed in a landfill.”
Aliso Viejo, California (Ordinance 2004–060):
“A deterioration in the quality of the City’s open spaces, parks, streets, and waterways can negatively affect tourism, property values, and the local economy which depends on tourist trade.”
Amherst, Massachusetts (Article 9):
“Expanded Polystyrene food containers form a significant portion of the solid waste stream going into our landfills. Local landfills are funning out of room; our future solid waste may have to be transported hundreds of miles to a landfill at a considerable cost.”
Andover, Massachusetts (Article 56):
“Disposable food service ware constitutes a portion of the litter in Andover’s streets, parks and public places, which increases Andover’s costs.”
Arroyo Grande, California (Ordinance 676):
“Take-out food packaging that is biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable is the most responsible and sustainable choice for the City’s tourist economy, its citizenry and its environment. When products are recycled, natural resources are spared, less energy is used for the production of new products, and landfill space is preserved.”
“Regulating the use of Expanded Polystyrene products will maximize the operating life of landfills.”
Berkeley, California (Ordinance 5888-NS):
“Recycling of products reduces costly waste of natural resources and energy used in production of new products as well as costly disposal of waste in landfills.”
“The City of Berkeley has the duty to responsibly dispose of its solid waste, yet existing landfill sites are rapidly approaching capacity, and additional sites are increasingly unavailable.”
Brunswick, Maine (Ordinance 3–21–16):
“Disposable food containers made from Polystyrene foam constitute a portion of the litter in Brunswick’s streets, parks and public places that increases town maintenance costs.”
Calabasas, California (Ordinance 2007–233):
“Discarded packaging from foods, beverages and other products constitutes a significant and growing portion of Calabasas’s waste stream.”
“Existing landfill sites are rapidly approaching capacity, and additionally sites are increasingly unavailable.”
“Use and recycling of those alternative products saves the cost of disposing of waste in landfills and the energy and other resources used in production of new products.”
California Costal Commission:
“A 2012 study determined that 90 west coast communities spend a total of more than $520,000,000 each year to combat litter.”
Clean Water Action California:
“Caltrans spends approximately $60 million a year to remove litter and debris from roadsides and highways.”
“The County of Los Angeles (L.A.) spends $18 million annually on litter cleanup and education.”
“Some coastal communities spend considerable funds on beach cleaning. For example, L.A. County collects over 4,000 tons of trash annually on its beaches. In 1994, it cost the County over $4 million to clean 31 miles of beaches.”
“Since 2001, Southern California cities have spent in excess of $1.7 billion cleaning trash out of storm drain systems leading to the L.A. River and Ballona Creek in order to comply with stormwater regulations.”
Dana Point, California (Ordinance 12–03):
“The litter problem resulting from expandable polystyrene (EPS) products is becoming increasingly difficult to manage and has costly negative implications for tourism, wildlife, aesthetics, and most recently, public storm drain systems.”
“A deterioration in the quality of the City’s ocean waters and beaches threatens the public health, safety and welfare and negatively affects tourism and the local economy which depends on tourist trade.”
El Cerrito, California (Ordinance 2013–04):
“Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) disposable food ware has been associated with considerable environmental impacts, including being a problematic component of litter, which is unsightly and costly to clean up.”
Gloucester, Massachusetts:
“Disposable food service ware constitutes a portion of litter in Gloucester’s streets, parks and public places, which increases City’s costs.”
Grover Beach, California (Ordinance 18–01):
“Take-out food packaging that is biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable is the most responsible and sustainable choice for the City’s tourist economy, it’s citizenry and its environment. When products are recycled, natural resources are spared, less energy is used for the production of productions, and the landfill space is preserved.”
“Regulating the use of Expanded Polystyrene products will maximize the operating life of landfills.”
Laguna Woods, California (Ordinance 12–06):
“Polystyrene foam breaks down into smaller pieces that migrate onto public property and into the City’s storm drain system, even when disposed of properly; and result in increased costs to maintain public parks and streets.”
Lenox, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Disposable Food Containers constitute a portion of the litter in Lenox’s streets, parks, and public places, thereby adversely affecting the attractiveness of the town and the enjoyment of residents and visitors, and requires time, effort, and expense to clean up.”
“Tourism is vital to Lenox’s economy and an increasing number of municipalities whose residents recreate in the Berkshires because of its natural beauty and pristine environmental image have acted to reduce the use of Polystyrene in Disposable Food Containers.”
Millbrae, California (Ordinance 717):
“Disposable food service ware constitutes a portion of the litter in Millbrae’s streets, parks and public places which increases City costs.”
Pinole, California (Ordinance 2018–01):
“Polystyrene food service containers easily break into smaller pieces, creating trash and litter that is harder to collect and remove.”
San Clemente, California (Ordinance 1533):
“A deterioration in the quality of the City’s ocean waters and beaches threatens the public health, safety, and welfare and negatively affects tourism and the local economy which depends on tourist trade.”
Santa Cruz County, California (Ordinance 5122):
“This litter exists at a financial cost to residents and an environmental cost to our natural resources.”
New York City, New York:
“New York City discards approximately 20,000 tons of Styrofoam annually, including an estimated 150 million styrofoam meal trays in the NYC school system alone. Phasing out 20,000 tons of styrofoam from the municipal waste stream would save taxpayers an estimated $1.9 million each year based on current rates.”
Newport Beach, California (Ordinance 2008–17):
“Due to the physical properties of polystyrene, the EPA states ‘that such materials can also have serious impacts on human health, wildlife, the aquatic environment, and the economy.’”
Oakland, California (Ordinance 12747):
“Disposable food service ware constitutes a large portion of the Utter in Oakland’s estuary, streets, parks and public places and the cost of managing this litter is high and rising.”
Rahway, New Jersey (Ordinance O-53–96):
“Solid waste management within the City of Rahway is a fundamental concern of the Municipal Council due to the limited landfill space available, rising costs of waste disposal, and impacts on the environment.”
Salinas, California (Ordinance 2519):
“Solid waste that is non-degradable or non-recyclable poses and acute problem for any environmentally and financially responsible solid waste management program.”
Santa Monica, California (Ordinance 2216):
“Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of EPS debris in the environment, including in storm drains and on beaches, causing Santa Monica’s residents to pay thousands of dollars in clean-up costs.”
Santa Clara County, California (Ordinance 517.80):
“Management of this litter places a financial burden on the City/County.”
Scotts Valley, California (Ordinance 182):
“Eliminating the use of polystyrene foam and other non-compostable, non-biodegradable, and non-recyclable food packaging items will maximize the operating life of landfills and will lessen the economic and environmental costs of managing waste.”
“When products are recycled, natural resources are spared, less energy is used for the production of new products, and premium landfill space is preserved.”
“As litter, polystyrene foam is highly durable, persisting longer than any other type of litter. There is a prevalence of polystyrene foam packaging littering City parks and public places, streets and roads, storm drains and waterways. This litter ultimately floats, or is blown, into local creeks and into the Monterey Bay. This litter creates a financial cost to City residents and an environmental cost to natural resources.”
Seattle, Washington (Ordinance 122751):
“Costs associated with the use and disposal of expanded polystyrene food service products and disposable food service ware in Seattle creates burdens on the City’s solid waste disposal system.”
South Portland, Maine (Ordinance 4–15/16):
“Disposable food containers made from polystyrene foam constitute a portion of the litter in Portland’s streets, parks and public places that increases city maintenance costs.”
United Nations:
“A 2014 study with conservative estimates of the overall financial damage of plastics to marine ecosystems is standing at US $13 billion each year. However, it notes that marine pollution is the largest downstream cost, and that the figure of US $13 billion is likely a significant underestimate.”
Westfield, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Programs to recycle polystyrene are expensive, costing thousands of dollars per ton and litter clean-up costs billions.”
F. Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam Alternatives
Albany, California (Ordinance 08–02):
“Effective ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts of throwaway food service ware include reusing food service ware and using compostable and biodegradable take-out materials made from renewable resources such as paper, corn starch and sugarcane.”
“Affordable biodegradable or compostable food service ware products are increasingly available for several food service applications such as cold cups, plates and hinge containers and these products are more ecologically sound than polystyrene foam materials and can be turned into a compost product.”
“The natural compost product from these biodegradable or compostable materials is used as fertilizer for farms and gardens, thereby moving towards a healthier zero waste system.”
“Due to these concerns nearly 100 cities have banned polystyrene foam food service ware including several California cities, and many local businesses and several national corporations have successfully replaced polystyrene foam and other non-biodegradable food service ware with affordable, safe, biodegradable products.”
Aliso Viejo, California (Ordinance 2004–060):
“Alternative products, which are biodegradable, reusable and/or recyclable are readily available at a reasonable cost.”
Amherst, Massachusetts (Article 9):
“Approximately 60% of Amherst food establishments have already stopped using Expanded Polystyrene food containers.”
“University of Massachusetts/Amherst College, and Hampshire College food services have eliminated single-use Expanded Polystyrene food containers in their dinning halls.”
“Appropriate alternative products are readily available from the vendors used by local food establishments; cooperative bulk buying arrangements are possible.”
Andover, Massachusetts (Article 56):
“Affordable and effective ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts of polystyrene products through the use of reusable, recyclable, biodegradable and/or compostable materials are available for most retail applications.”
“Over 100 municipalities throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia have banned polystyrene food service ware, including Amherst, Brookline, Great Barrington, Somerville, and South Hadley in Massachusetts, as well as: Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; Miami Beach, FL; Albany, NY; New York, NY; Portland, OR; and Seattle, WA.”
Belmont, California (Ordinance 1065):
“The City Council of the City of Belmont finds that effective ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts of disposable food service ware include reusing or recycling food service ware and using compostable materials made from renewable resources such as paper, cardboard, corn starch, potato starch, and/or sugarcane.
“There are similarly-priced alternatives — Many restaurants use non-foam containers and have doing so for a long time. Since the 47 California jurisdictions have already implemented bans on EPS, there are many businesses that have made the switch. They can find comparably priced and even cheaper alternatives.”
Berkeley, California (Ordinance 5888-NS):
“Alternative products which are degradable or recyclable pose far less overall hazards than continued and expanded reliance on oil-based products.”
Brunswick, Maine (Ordinance 3–21–16):
“The Town’s goal is to replace polystyrene foam food containers with reusable, recyclable or compostable alternatives; and such alternatives are readily available.”
Calabasas, California (Ordinance 2007–233):
“Replacing non-bio-degradable food packing with biodegradable packing will further protect the public health and safety of the residents, the City’s natural environment, creeks and wildlife.”
“Biodegradable and recyclable products offer environmentally sound alternatives to products currently used. Biodegradable products decay, causing less harm to the environment and the landscape of the City than products now in use.”
“Use and recycling of those alternative products saves the cost of disposing of waste in landfills and the energy and other resources used in production of new products.”
“Bioplastics are commercially available and scientific studies show that these materials biodegrade both in compost and in the natural environment and return their base constituents to the food chain, such materials can be composted even if contaminated with food waste, and sugar cane stock (also known as bagasse) is suitable for hot foods and beverages”
Clean Water Action California:
“The City of Millbrae Chamber of Commerce surveyed their members when the city was considering a ban. They decided that they would support the ban and make it a publicity opportunity- several restaurants joined the Green Business program and transitioned earlier than the ban. They were happy with the PR they received from being early adopters.”
Dana Point, California (Ordinance 12–03):
“There are alternatives to EPS products used for food service ware.”
Davis, California (Ordinance 2501):
“Polystyrene foam food serving ware is not locally recyclable but has comparable and easily accessible recyclable and composting alternatives.”
El Cerrito, California (Ordinance 2013–04):
“Many businesses in Bay Area cities engage in organics recycling and have demonstrated that the use of compostable food ware can reduce disposal costs when the products are taken to composting facilities as part of an organics recycling program rather than disposed in a landfill.”
“Compostable food ware products such as cups, plates, bowls and hinged containers are available in local stores, are increasingly available in the food service market.”
Encinitas, California (Ordinance 2016–12):
“There are alternative products available that are less detrimental to the environment than polystyrene.”
Fairfax, California (Ordinance 623):
“There are commercially available products and packaging that can replace polystyrene without economic loss to local merchants.”
Gloucester, Massachusetts:
“Affordable and effective ways o reduce the negative environmental impacts of polystyrene products through the use of reusable, recyclable, biodegradable and/or compostable materials are available for most retail applications.”
Laguna Beach, California (Ordinance 1480):
“There are several alternatives to expanded polystyrene food service containers available from existing food packaging suppliers.”
Laguna Woods, California (Ordinance 12–06):
“There are alternatives to polystyrene foam single-use food service ware readily available.”
Lenox, Massachusetts Board of Health:
“Affordable and effective ways exist to reduce the negative impacts of Polystyrene products through the use of safer, Moree sustainable, and environmentally friendly materials.”
Millbrae, California (Ordinance 717):
“Affordable compostable food service ware products are increasingly becoming available for most food service applications such as cups, plates, and hinged containers and these products are more ecologically sound than polystyrene materials and can be turned into a compost product.”
“Due to these concerns, cities began banning polystyrene foam food service ware including several California cities such as Berkeley (1990), Oakland (2007), and San Francisco (2007) where local businesses and several national corporations have successfully replaced it and other non-biodegradable food service ware with affordable, safe, biodegradable products.”
Milpitas, California (Ordinance 293):
“The Santa Clara Valley Runoff Pollution Prevention Program found in its September 2016 study Storm Drain Trash Monitoring and Characterization Project — Technical Report that ‘…there was a 74% decrease in the volume of EPS food service ware observed in the 53 sites in common between this Project and the BASMAA Trash Generation Rates Study (BASMAA 2014). This large decrease coincides with ordinances that have been adopted throughout most of the Santa Clara Valley.’”
Morro Bay, California (Ordinance 600):
“Take-out food packaging that is biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable is the most responsible and sustainable choice for the City’s tourist economy, its citizenry and its environment and when those products are recycled, natural resources are spared and less energy is used for the production of new products.”
Newport Beach, California (Ordinance 2008–17):
“There are several alternatives to EPS disposable food service ware available in Newport Beach from existing packaging suppliers.”
Oakland, California (Ordinance 12747):
“Affordable biodegradable or compostable food service ware products are increasingly available for several food service applications such as cold cups, plates and hinge containers and these products are more ecologically sound than polystyrene foam materials and can be turned into a compost product.”
“The Oakland Coliseum has successfully replaced its cups with biodegradable corn starch cups and has shown an overall cost savings due to organics recycling.”
“Over 155 businesses in Oakland engage in organics recycling and it has been demonstrated that the use of biodegradable or compostable food service ware can reduce waste disposal costs when the products are taken to composting facilities as part of an organics recycling program rather than disposed in a landfill.”
“The natural compost product from these biodegradable or compostable materials is used as fertilizer for farms and gardens, thereby moving towards a healthier zero waste system.”
Ojai, California (Ordinance 837):
“Effective ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts of disposable food service ware include reusing or recycling food service ware and using compostable materials made from renewable resources such as paper, cardboard, corn starch, potato starch, and sugarcane.”
Pinole, California (Ordinance 2018–01):
“There are many widely available alternatives to polystyrene products, such as products made from paper, corn waste, and recyclable plastic.”
Rahway, New Jersey (Ordinance O-53–96):
“There are reality available plastic and/or paper product substitutes for most of the polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride retail food packaging now being used in the City of Rahway, the use of which alternatives, would be environmentally and economically advantageous to the citizens of the City of Rahway.”
San Clemente, California (Ordinance 1533):
“There are alternative to EPS disposable food service ware available in San Clemente from existing packaging suppliers.”
San Francisco, California (Ordinance 140–16):
“The City of San Francisco has had over 3,000 businesses come into compliance with the ban and none have filed any notices of financial hardship which is an option under the city’s ordinance.”
San Mateo County, California (Ordinance 04542):
“Effective ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts of disposable food service ware include reusing or recycling food service ware and using compostable materials made from renewable resources such as paper, cardboard, corn starch, potato starch, and/or sugarcane.”
Santa Clara County, California (Ordinance 517.80):
“Local business and several national corporations have successfully replaced polystyrene and other non-biodegradable food service ware with affordable products.”
“Affordable compostable food service ware products are becoming increasingly available for most food service applications such as cups, plates, and hinged containers and these products can be turned into a compost product.”
Santa Cruz County, California (Ordinance 5122):
“At the present time, over 50 businesses in the County of Santa Cruz engage in organics recycling, and it has been demonstrated that the use of biodegradable or compostable food service ware can reduce waste disposal costs when the products are taken to composting facilities as par of an organics recycling program rather than disposed in a landfill. Compost produced from biodegradable products can be used as a soil amendment for farms, landscaping and gardens thereby moving towards a healthier zero waste system.”
“Biodegradable/compostable and recyclable take-out food packaging such as cups, plates, hinge containers, cutlery and straws are made from organic materials such as paper, sugarcane stalk, com waste and potato starch. These products are available locally and are competitively priced.”
“Alternative products exist for almost all uses of polystyrene foam.”
Santa Monica, California (Ordinance 2216):
“There are several alternatives to EPS disposable food service containers available in Santa Monica from existing food packaging suppliers.”
Scotts Valley, California (Ordinance 182):
“Take-out food packaging that is biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable is the most responsible and sustainable choice for the City’s economy, its citizenry and its environment.”
“When biodegradable products are turned into compost they can reduce water use and lessen the need for fertilizer.”
“biodegradable take-out packaging such as cups, plates, and clamshell containers are now made from paper, sugarcane stalk, corn bi-products, and potato starch. As these products degrade, they pose less of a danger to the environment and are not a permanent blight on the landscape. These products are available locally.”
South Portland, Maine (Ordinance 4–15/16):
“Such alternatives are readily available.”
Takoma Park, Maryland (Ordinance 2014–62):
“Non-polystyrene food-service ware and packaging is affordable and available, as is compostable food-service ware, although reuse of durable food-service ware is a preferable alternative to disposable, recycling, and composting.”
The Sierra Club:
“Polystyrene is cheaper than some alternatives. However, the environmental expense of polystyrene far exceeds the cost restaurants and grocery stores are currently paying to provide them. There is no need for this because there are many alternatives that are readily available.”
Westford, Massachusetts (Article 20): |
Mossgreen / Collectors’ Cars & Automobilia – Featuring the Ferguson Collection of Motorsport Posters - 10/12/2017 / Motoring Memorabilia / Lot 85
SANDOWN: Two posters advertising the Marlboro Sandown 250 including: 1974, 74cm x 48cm; together with Round 3 of the Australian Touring Car Championship, 75cm x 49.5cm; each featuring the HDT Marlboro Toranas. |
In many technical fields, resources are shared by more than one units or devices. To give some examples, in a master slave configuration a plurality of masters may share a common slave, a plurality of units may share a common bus, a plurality of processors may share a common memory or pieces of information such as data packets may be transferred over a common data channel. When more than one unit requests to get access to the shared resource at the same time, a conflict exists between the units requesting access since at a given time only one of the units can get access while the other has to be prevented from accessing.
To address this problem, arbitration is used. Arbitration is a process, where a unit is given priority over another unit (or a plurality of other units). Many arbitration techniques with different degrees of fairness for the requesters and different degrees of complexity are known. Arbitration may take for example into account the number of previous requests by a given unit or the identity of the unit (i.e. the identity of the port. Furthermore, fair arbitration techniques may take into consideration that requesters are handled fair and one requester is for example not blocked by another requester. Fair arbitration techniques include for example round robin arbitration (RR), weighted round robin (WRR) or deficit round robin (DRR). |
Q:
Completeness from an example
I have a set $X = \{1,2,3\}$ and a binary relation $B = \{(1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(2,3),(3,1)\}$.
I am trying to understand if this relation is complete.
The completeness definition I am using is if for each $x,y$ in $X$, either $xBy$ or $yBx$.
At first I thought $B$ was complete but both $(2,2)$ and $(3,3)$ are not in $B$.
In the definition, if I set $x=2,y=2$ then I think we should have $(2,2)$ in $B$.
On the other hand, it seems meaningless to me because isn't $2B2$ related with reflexivity? So for completeness do we actually need $(2,2) \in B$?
A:
Yes, the relation $B$ over $X$ is not complete since $3 \in X$ but $(3,3) \notin B$.
The variables $x$ and $y$ in the completeness definition "$\forall x,y \in X, xBy \lor yBx$" are treated as placeholders and thus are not necessarily distinct. In fact, completeness implies reflexivity when you let $y = x$ in the definition.
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INTRODUCTION
============
Lymphedema remains a poorly understood disease process that develops after a disruption of the microvascular filtration of the lymphatic drainage system after surgery or radiation. Unfortunately, limited treatment options exist and are based primarily on nonsurgical options including massage therapy, compression garments, and weight loss.^[@R1]^ Recent advances in microsurgical instruments and techniques have evolved into a new subspecialty of supermicrosurgery with the introduction of lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA),^[@R2]--[@R5]^ in which lymphatic channels \<800 microns in diameter are anastomosed to local venules, redirecting the accumulated lymph into the venous system. This concept was first described in the 1960s^[@R6],[@R7]^ and has demonstrated success in limb volume reduction, particularly in earlier stage lymphedema (stage 1--2).^[@R3],[@R8]^ There may also be a reduced risk of extremity lymphedema-associated cellulitis.^[@R2]^ In this article, we describe the technical modifications adapted based on our LVA experience. This discussion will focus on the approach to LVA patient selection used at our institution and technical modifications that improve the ease and efficiency of the procedure.
Patient Selection
-----------------
Patient selection is key to the success of LVA. Patients are selected who have clinical stage 1 or 2 lymphedema using the International Society for Lymphology classification.^[@R9]^ Patients who have been compliant with nonoperative measures and do not demonstrate considerable improvement in symptoms and quality of life should be considered for surgery. Proximal lymphedema can also improve after LVA performed in the distal extremity. If there is little improvement proximally, it is possible to use liposuction as an adjunct.
Once the decision is made to proceed with LVA, patient selection is based on the presence of appropriate lymphatic ducts, which can be mapped either in the clinic or the operating room. Once appropriate lymphatic ducts are identified, a general anesthetic is administered and the LVA procedure is performed. When no appropriate lymphatic ducts are identified, the procedure is aborted. Preoperatively, the patient must be prepared for the risk of terminating the procedure at this juncture. Among patients with stage 1 or 2 lymphedema, we have found that about 10% do not have appropriate lymphatic channels to proceed with an LVA procedure.
Lymphatic mapping is performed with intradermal injection of 0.1--0.2 mL of indocyanine green (ICG) using a 27-g needle on a tuberculin syringe dorsally over each webspace. Mapping on the dorsum of the hand or foot before exploration is preferred:(1) Target vessels (veins and lymphatic ducts) are more abundant distally; (2) there is minimal subcutaneous fat in the hand or foot. Lymphatic ducts are imaged using the fluorescence imagine system (SPY) imaging system or another ICG device a few seconds after ICG injection. Rather than waiting for 5 minutes, we have found visualization of the functional lymphatic ducts in a more reliable way immediately postinjection, and this avoids a haze that obscures visualization.
Selection of appropriate lymphatic ducts is based on (1) the presence of dynamic lymphatic flow and (2) distal--proximal directionality of flow. Dynamic flow is indicated when channels illuminate immediately with SPY imaging. Milking these vessels should demonstrate dynamic flow (channel emptying and filling) and flow directionality (**see video, Supplemental Digital Content 1**, which displays an SPY video of lymphatic duct dynamic filling with ICG, <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A447>). If stasis occurs (e.g., no dynamic filling, **see video, Supplemental Digital Content 2**, which displays an SPY video of dermal stasis with ICG, <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A448>), it is not an adequate duct to use for LVA. The location of appropriate lymphatic channels should guide incision location (**see figure, Supplemental Digital Content 3**, which displays an incision location relative to lymphatic duct in upper extremity, <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A449>).
{#V1}
{#V2}
After lymphatic mapping, we proceed with intradermal injection of lymphazurin blue (0.1 mL) dorsally at each webspace. When there are abundant lymphatic ducts, these can be sometimes grossly visualized (Fig. [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). Throughout the procedure, lymphazurin blue can be reinjected if the tissues in the operative field are not stained. This should be performed approximately 2--3 cm distal to the operative site using 0.1 mL.
{#F1}
LVA Technique
-------------
Rather than injection with lidocaine with epinephrine for local hemostasis, we prefer to use a tourniquet device (200 mm Hg) following extremity elevation. We have found that epinephrine injected locally causes vasoconstriction of veins making them more difficult to identify. Using a tourniquet maintains some blood within the venous system while minimizing hemorrhage that can obscure the lymphatics. In our experience, tourniquet use has not lead to any exacerbation of extremity lymphedema.
Under microscope magnification, the skin is incised and flaps are carefully elevated in the subdermal plane. Veins and lymphazurin blue--filled lymphatic ducts are identified (Fig. [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). If multiple lymphatic ducts are identified, multiple individual LVAs are performed within the same incision. Typically 2--3 anastomoses are performed for each region (e.g., hand or forearm). Veins are easily identified within the site of dissection and selected based on appropriate size match. Lymphatic ducts are clipped and transected proximally to give adequate length. The veins are clamped and cut distally (**see figure, Supplemental Digital Content 4**, which displays a proximally clipped and transected lymphatic ducts to allow adequate length, <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A450>).
{#F2}
The tourniquet is let down after anastomosis to verify dynamic flow and ensure hemostasis. Supermicrosurgical instruments are necessary for performing the anastomosis. For an end-to-end anastomosis, the 2 vessels are approximated with a double-approximating clamp (BV1) and floated open with heparinized saline. A small piece of 6-0 monofilament suture can be used to stent the lymphatic ducts to prevent back-walling or one arm of the supermicrosurgery forceps (see figure, **Supplemental Digital Content 5**, which displays a stenting lymphatic ducts with monofilament suture (A) or one arm of supermicrosurgery forceps (B), <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A451>). The anastomosis is performed using a shortened 11-0 nylon suture, and typically 4--6 sutures are necessary (Fig. [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). A successful anastomosis is evident by flow of blue-stained lymph into the vein (**see figure, Supplemental Digital Content 6**, which displays a lymphazurin blue flowing across LVA, <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A452>).
{#F3}
Size mismatch is often present between the lymph duct and the vein. The vein diameter can be reduced with a microclip or the smaller lymphatic duct can be intussuscepted into the vein. Multiple end-to-side anastomoses can be done into 1 vein (**see figure, Supplemental Digital Content 7**, which displays end-to-side LVA anastomoses, <http://links.lww.com/PRSGO/A453>); however, end-to-end anastomosis is technically less demanding. If there are no lymphatic ducts present within the incision, but there is blue-stained lymphatic tissue with obvious ducts that are too small to perform an anastomosis, the lymphatic tissue with multiple small channels can be intussuscepted into the vein. With any intussusception, typically the channel or the lymph tissue is placed within the venule for approximately 2 mm and secured with two 11-0 sutures. When only lymph tissue is present, it is identified by blue staining, indicating multiple smaller channels and transection of the tissue creates an accumulation of lymphatic fluid.
The tourniquet is inflated for 1-hour intervals, and multiple anastomoses are performed during these intervals. One hour of tourniquet inflation is followed by 15 minutes of deflation. Upon completion of the case, the extremity is wrapped with a compressive wrap with the extremity extended. Postoperatively, the patient refrains from the preoperative lymphedema regimen (e.g., no compression garments) until 4 weeks postoperatively.
CONCLUSIONS
===========
Despite the high incidence of both upper and lower extremity lymphedema, few centers currently offer these novel microsurgical techniques that have shown promise for symptomatic relief in these patients. We hope that by sharing these technical pearls, more microsurgeons will consider adding this procedure to their toolbox and increase access for these patients.
Supplementary Material
======================
**Disclosure:** The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article. The Article Processing Charge was paid for by the authors.
Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Clickable URL citations appear in the text.
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STEP 1
Complete the on-line questionnaire and return to AJA Registrars or
request an information pack from your local office, which will include
the questionnaire for the required service. Complete this questionnaire
and return to AJA Registrars who will review the information provided
and prepare and issue a Proposal of Cost (Quotation) for a three-year
Cycle.
Please Note that all accredited audits are conducted in two stages
and that in some cases both of these audits will need to be conducted at
your premises
STEP 2
On acceptance of the quotation, submit the signed and dated
Application (which is the final page of the Proposal of Costs) to
confirm your intent to utilise the services of AJA Registrars. A
confirmation of receipt and invoice for the first year’s fees will be
posted to you by return.
STEP 3
On receipt of a signed Application, a Lead Auditor will be allocated
to conduct your audits. He/she will contact you to agree a provisional
schedule for the visits, explain the registration process and answer any
questions you may have.
STEP 4
Once your company’s Procedures and Manuals and other system
documentation are complete, these will be reviewed against the
requirements of the relevant standard. It may be necessary to carry out
this review on-site supported by a limited audit to validate the
effectiveness of the documentation prior to the registration audit. This
is referred to as a Stage 1 Audit. Most potential problems can be
identified during the Stage 1 Audit and these can be eliminated by you
prior to the formal registration/compliance audit. You will be presented
with a formal report of the findings from this audit.
STEP 5
On completion of the Stage 1 audit the Lead Auditor will discuss and
mutually confirm the registration audit date. This will take account of
any time needed to make any adjustments to the documented system
resulting from any deficiencies identified during the document review.
STEP 6
The main registration audit will commence with an opening meeting.
During this meeting the methodology and conduct of the audit will be
explained. The itinerary will also be confirmed and an opportunity given
for any questions you may have regarding the audit. Who attends the
opening meeting is a matter for the client but it is recommended as a
minimum the key management personnel responsible for the implementation
of the system are in attendance.
STEP 7
The registration audit will consist of sampling of objective evidence
(records) observation of working processes and discussion with
personnel at all levels of your company’s organisation. For audits over
several days a brief outline of the progress of the audit will be given
at the close of each day.
STEP 8
Should the Lead Auditor decide at any time during the audit that
there is a complete breakdown of the system against the requirements of
the standard, a meeting will be called with senior management to advise
you of the Team’s findings and agree with you a course of action. It is
worth noting however that this is a rare occurrence.
STEP 9
On completion of the main registration audit (Stage 2), a closing
meeting will be convened to provide an overview of the audit and detail
the audit findings and recommendations. Any deficiencies identified
which affect your compliance with the standard or can impair your
ability to provide your customers with a quality product/service will be
documented within a Corrective Action Request (CAR). Where these
deficiencies are minor in nature, the CAR will be designated as a minor.
Where major deficiencies are noted then the CARs will be designated as
major. In both cases a written indication of the action to be taken to
address the deficiency before the certificate can be issued must be
provided to AJA Registrars. In the case of Major CARs you will be
required to submit documented evidence that action has been taken to
address the problem and in certain circumstances a return visit may be
required to visually check that corrective measures have been
implemented. In addition, at this meeting you will be advised of the
surveillance routine operated by AJA Registrars.
STEP 10
It is general policy of AJA Registrars to produce a written report on
site at the time of the main registration audit (where this not
possible, a written report shall be prepared within 10 working days of
the registration audit). This report will be submitted to AJA Registrars
for review by the appropriate Certification Manager on behalf of the
Independent Governing Council of AJA Registrars, whose role it is to
ensure that AJA Registrars are impartial and fair in its dealings with
its customers. The Governing Council reviews reports retrospectively.
CERTIFICATE ISSUE
Once the report has been successfully reviewed a Registration
Certificate and Registration Schedule will be issued, usually within 15
working days of completion of the audit.
SURVEILLANCE
Quotations will be provided on the basis of a 12 monthly or 6 monthly
surveillance visit routine following the main registration audit. The
12 monthly routine is preferred by most of AJA Registrar clients.
However the option exists for 6 monthly surveillance routines (for those
who prefer more frequent visit programmes) and a quotation can be
provided accordingly upon request. Should clients fail to effectively
maintain their management system on a 12 monthly visit programme or
during the main registration audit it is evident that there were
sufficient concerns to indicate that more regular visits would be more
appropriate, then AJA Registrars would retain the right to impose 6
monthly surveillance visits until confidence is restored.
MECHANISM OF APPEAL and COMPLAINTS HANDLING
Mechanism Appeals and Complaints Handling can be seen in the Code of Practice
CODE OF PRACTICE
Additional rules and conditions are contained in AJA’s Code of
Practice (CoP). The current Code of Practice will be issued along with
your Proposal/Application. It is important that you read this carefully.
AJA Registrar’s Codes of Practice can be viewed on line by clicking on the link here
IMPARTIALITY
AJA Registrar’s Impartiality Policy
Statement can be viewed on line by clicking on the link here |
The villain will learn nothing, but the hero starts the interesting process of introspection. Tonight we got both in rich quantities.
“Bachman’s Earning’s Over-Ride,” the eighth installment of the 3rd Silicon Valley season, is touching and well written. The only thing more satisfying than watching a character you hate get publicly shamed is watching a character you love experience the same. The villain will learn nothing, but the hero starts the interesting process of introspection; tonight we got both in rich quantities. With the recent focus on structured plotting and commitment to character development, this season of Silicon Valley is poised to conclude on a high note.We last left Erlich Bachman in dire financial straits, entering a closed-door meeting with Raviga investment head, Laurie Bream. Though the details of the meeting were not explained, the viewer was left to assume that Bachman had negotiated a deal to sell his Pied Piper shares at a significant loss in order to to cover the debts from Bachmanity Insanity, his foolhardy million-dollar luau on Alcatraz Island. Unfortunately for Bachman, the devil was in the details.As Pied Piper’s consumer-facing app becomes the Valley’s hottest new commodity, receiving tons of downloads and positive reviews in its first week, Bachman and Richard Hendricks undertake an exhausting and seemingly endless media blitz in support of the company. Ill fit for any kind of celebrity or media appearance, Richard quickly tires of the process. As Bachman looks for a way to tell Richard that he has fully divested from Pied Piper, Richard tries to pressure Bachman into stepping forward as the company’s face. Eventually Monica gives Bachman an ultimatum: she will tell Richard in 24 hours if he doesn’t.
Bachman sets up a breakfast with Richard to reveal his situation, but too late. Potential PR directors start balking at job offers from Pied Piper, saying they’re worried about rumors of a large percentage of the company changing hands. Pied Piper’s perceived value is now in jeopardy due to Bachman’s indiscretions. Despite his loyal championing of Pied Piper in the press, Richard is incensed. He advises he will keep Bachman’s situation a secret as long as possible, but once the news trickles out, he’ll have to issue a press release to reassure potential investors and employees that nothing shady is happening with the company. Believing that tech blogger C.J. Cantwell already has the scoop, Bachman agrees to a tell-all interview, detailing how he was forced to sell his shares in a company valued at $50 million (and climbing) in order to cover debts from an elaborate party.But the inside info she actually had was that Pied Piper had commissioned the making of incredibly ugly promotional jackets. Jared took it upon himself to produce a hideous Pied Piper “tunic.” In an attempt to find new and fresh ways to humiliate Dinesh, Gilfoyle wears the terrible garment in public and loudly associates himself with Dinesh. As it turns out, no level of gaucheness in fashion can deter those who are naturally drawn to the bandwagon of a trendy startup. The tunic is a success, and Gilfoyle wastes no time relishing the celebrity that the jacket (and job) bring him, shunning Dinesh in the process.Meanwhile, at Hooli, Gavin Belson’s second attempt to beat Pied Piper to market fails. Despite clever overtures to his company’s board, Gavin is removed as CEO. Feeling humiliated to have been marginalized in the way he has marginalized so many subordinates before him, Gavin arranges to fly his plane to Jackson Hole for a vacation. While awaiting departure at a private airfield, Gavin runs into Jack Barker, Pied Piper’s CEO from earlier this season, also about to board his own personal plane. The two commiserate with each other in the most shallow way, disingenuously looking for an hour to spend together, and eventually realizing that they have the same destination and travel times. When Jack suggests they play chess during the flight, it seems like he’s about to suggest they share a plane. In a beautifully crafted moment that subverts the thematic build of the scene, he gives Gavin his Hooli user name so they can play chess remotely over wi-fi. Of course these millionaires aren’t going to take the same plane; how déclassé.While it’s wonderful to delight in Gavin’s fall from power, Bachman’s thrashing in the court of public opinion is what drives the episode forward. His repeated claim that being broke is “humiliating” becomes his anthem, and at first seems like a rehashing of the entitlement that was soundly fleshed out last week. It’s not until Richard has a chance encounter with Russ Hanneman, Pied Piper’s angel investor from last season, that Bachman’s financial situation becomes clear. Bachman tried to sell half of his shares at a discounted total of $5 million to Russ. When Laurie Bream learned of this deal, she used her board majority power to squelch it. She then had Bachman total all of his debts and forced him to sell all of his stock back to Raviga for that precise total. Bachman hasn’t just divested early from Pied Piper, he’s destitute. He has made no money off of his incubation, and he’s no longer on the board. Bachman’s humiliation is laid bare.
This is important because it intrinsically changes the dynamic between Bachman and Richard. Upon finding out about the sale from Russ, Richard takes pity on Bachman. He offers him the position of PR director, restoring some (though not as many) options to his possession. He also asserts himself over Bachman for the first time in the series. Acting as a responsible CEO, Richard declares that the PR director has a defined set of responsibilities and forces Bachman to undertake them. He does so humbly and it is incredibly satisfying to watch.“Bachman’s Earning’s Over-Ride” was written by Carrie Kemper, younger sister of actress Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). She took great care in the way she wrote financial and social devastation for the most fun character on the show. Her years at Late Night with David Letterman and as a writer for The Office shine through in every moment. With the Pied Piper dynamic fully reset, success imminent, and characters forced to rebuild, the show is in a great position going into the final two episodes of the season. It’s also a great way to start setting up season four. I only wish we’d gotten here sooner.
Louis is a Chicago-trained writer and comedian with beautiful hair, a pretty good face, and an abundance of modesty. With 10 years in technology and 15 in writing and producing comedy, his work can be read on www.cagematch.org, www.mcsweeneys.net, and numerous dismayed Facebook users’ walls (before being hastily deleted). He currently lives with his similarly gay boyfriend in the dystopian hellscape of Silicon Valley. |
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Q:
What are the dangers of not gracefully shutting down mysql server
What are the dangers of not shutting down a windows MySql server gracefully (i.e. hitting the reset switch on the server as apposed to shutting the OS down) ?
A:
It's possible that a transaction may be partially committed leading to unresolvable corruption on reboot. This is especially the case if you use MyISAM tables - InnoDB tables have a double write buffer which is a form of Write Ahead Log (WAL).
A good discussion of the concepts is available here and here. Note that from the Percona article we have "the changes made by transactions will occur in volatile memory and later be flushed to disk". Switch off the machine and your RAM evaporates.
Note that despite these elaborate precautions and systems, many questions here concern MySQL corruption (even with InnoDB engine tables) which shows that no system is perfect. The "horse's mouth" guide to InnoDB (i.e. Oracle/MySQL's own technical article on the issue) is available here.
This corruption can lead to the need for a restore from backup which means that data changed/inserted between then and the power interruption is lost. It's not a good idea on production servers and is the reason that we have UPSs (Uninterruptable Power Supply) on them.
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Glioblastoma is the most frequent primary brain tumor in adults and a highly lethal malignancy with a median survival of about 15 months. The aggressive invasion of the surrounding normal brain makes complete surgical resection impossible, increases the resistance to radiation and chemotherapy, and virtually assures tumor recurrence. Thus, there is a significant unmet clinical need to develop innovative approaches to target the invasive tumor cells for improved treatment of this disease. Expression of TROY, a member of the TNFR family, increases with increasing glial tumor grade and inversely correlates with patient survival. Increased expression of TROY stimulates glioblastoma cell invasion in vitro and in vivo and increases resistance to temozolomide and radiation treatment. Conversely, silencing TROY expression inhibits glioblastoma cell invasion, increases sensitivity to temozolomide, and prolongs survival in an intracranial xenograft model. Preliminary studies identified that TROY forms a novel signaling complex with EGFR and modulates EGFR survival signaling. TROY expression significantly increases the capacity of EGF to stimulate glioblastoma cell invasion while knockdown of TROY expression by shRNA or by the repurposed small molecule propentofylline blocked EGF stimulation of glioma cell migration suggesting that the TROY-EGFR complex represents an unappreciated therapeutic target to inhibit glioma invasion and decrease therapeutic resistance. Although the mechanistic basis of signaling from this novel complex on glioblastoma cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and resistance remain largely undefined, initial studies indicate that TROY signals through PDZ-RhoGEF, a guanine exchange factor that regulates the Rho GTPases RhoA and RhoC, linking TROY to cytoskeletal organization and cell motility. Knockdown of PDZ-RhoGEF significantly inhibits TROY and EGF stimulated invasion positioning PDZ-RhoGEF as a potential important effector of the TROY-EGFR complex. The overall objective of the current proposal is to determine the mechanistic basis of the interaction between TROY and EGFR and define the functional role of this unique signaling complex in glioblastoma cell invasion, survival, and therapeutic resistance. Our rationale in this proposal is that defining the mechanistic basis of TROY signaling in glioblastoma holds potential to identify candidate targets to decrease the therapeutic resistance of invasive glioblastoma cells. We hypothesize that the TROY-EGFR signaling complex enhances malignant glioblastoma cell invasion and survival. Aim 1 seeks to define the mechanistic basis of the interaction of TROY with EGFR, the specificity of the interaction, and determine its effect on glioblastoma cell invasion and resistance. Aim 2 will investigate the role of PDZ-RhoGEF as a critical effector for TROY-EGFR signaling. Aim 3 will assess the effect of inhibition of TROY expression and signaling on survival in glioblastoma xenografts as a component of combinatorial therapy. The results may provide new insights into overcoming the therapeutic resistance of glioblastoma and the identification of novel targets for improved clinical outcomes. |
Black Rubric
The term Black Rubric is the popular name for the declaration found at the end of the "Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper" in the Prayer Book of the Church of England (BCP) which explains why the communicants should kneel and excludes possible misunderstandings of this action. The term dates from the 19th century when the medieval custom of printing the rubrics in red was followed in editions of the BCP and the declaration was printed in black; but the declaration itself was composed in 1552.
History of the declaration
In September 1552, after Parliament had approved the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI, John Knox and others argued before the Privy Council that the Holy Communion should be received sitting; but were refuted by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. As a result of this clash, the council acted on its own authority and ordered the inclusion of the declaration in the new prayer book. The first copies had already been printed so it had to be pasted into them as a correction slip. It explained that kneeling was an expression of "humble and grateful acknowledging of the benefits of Christ, given unto the worthy receiver" and did not imply any adoration of the bread and wine or of the real and essential presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood. Historians have asked about whose victory the Black Rubric represents. Whilst Diarmaid MacCulloch has argued that it was a victory for Cranmer, Isabel Davis, who has made a study based on multiple examples, has made the case that it was a victory for no one and that its interpolation physically, as it printed matter, disrupted Cranmer's prayer book and the project of uniformity.
The "rubric" was omitted from the Elizabethan prayer-book of 1559, probably as part of the Queen's policy to retain the support of moderate traditionalists (she believed in the Real Presence without a definition of it; and, had she got her way, the celebration of the Prayer Book Communion would looked like a Mass), but possibly also on the technical grounds that the reversal of her Catholic predecessor's repeal of Edward VI's Protestant legislation revived the 1552 BCP as approved by Parliament and not as published. This omission was one of the cherished grievances of the Puritans and in the Savoy Conference of 1661 the Presbyterians demanded its restoration; but the twelve bishops who took part were not willing to grant it. However, the revision of the prayer-book in 1661/2 involved all the bishops, representatives of the clergy and both Houses of Parliament. At a late stage in the proceedings, the "rubric" was rewritten and condensed with its language updated and a possibly significant verbal modification, the words "real and essential" in 1552 being changed to "Corporal". In this new form, it became part of the book as finally approved. and therefore forms part of the doctrinal standards of the Church of England (Canon A5), but it has never been included in the alternative forms of worship (such as Common Worship) authorised or allowed by Canons B1, B2 and B4.
It is debatable whether the verbal change "corporal" in place of "real and essential" implied some type of recognition of the "real presence" or simply updated the terminology because the original phrase was now out of date. Frere says it does but Griffith Thomas says the opposite.. The answer can be found in the text itself: Christ's Presence is real and essential after the manner of a sacrament, but not in the flesh as in his "natural body".The removal of the rubric by Elizabeth halted any movement towards a more radical Calvinistic position in favor of "fudging and fumbling" (playing a course between radical Protestantism and Catholicism and stressing the continuity of the Church "no break with the Popish past"), Christopher Haigh, op. cit., p. 242. Such a definition seems to be related to Aquinas' argument that the Body of Christ in the Sacrament is not to be understood as the same as a body in space (like ours) and the it is not to be understood "materialiter" (physically) or "localiter" (as trapped in a place).
Text
In the 1552 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, the Black Rubric was written as follows (italics added for emphasis):
The 1662 version was slightly altered as follows (italics added for emphasis):
Whereas it is ordained in this Office for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, that the Communicants should receive the same kneeling; (which order is well meant, for a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy Receivers, and for the avoiding of such profanation and disorder in the holy Communion, as might otherwise ensue;) yet, lest the same kneeling should by any persons, either out of ignorance and infirmity, or out of malice and obstinacy, be misconstrued and depraved: It is hereby declared, That thereby no adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto the Sacramental Bread or Wine there bodily received, or unto any Corporal Presence of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood. For the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural substances, and therefore may not be adored; (for that were Idolatry, to be abhorred of all faithful Christians;) and the natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not here; it being against the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more places than one.
References
Bibliography
Brian Douglas, A Companion to Anglican Eucharistic Theology, Volume 1, Leiden: Brill, 2012
External links
"Black Rubric", Anglican Eucharistic Theology website.
Category:Book of Common Prayer
Category:Anglican Eucharistic theology
Category:English Reformation
Category:Savoy Conference
Category:17th-century documents |
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You shouldn't pay less than euro450-500 for a cavalier as any good breeder doesn;t charge less than that; unfortunately many backyard breeders and brokers (sellers of puppy farm puppies) also charge that much, typically in small ads or the Buy&Sell (definitely don't buy a dog from the Buy&Sell).
There are some cavaliers listed free to good homes there at the moment -- normally I would call and try to get them into rescue but I don;t have the time to do that right now before I go away for three weeks. You can also fill out a rehoming contract and I can add you to my list for adults coming into rescue; this requires a homecheck and a rehoming fee to cover any medical costs (typically a vet check, perhaps vax and neuter, which are costs you'd have anyway).
This is a breed with a lot of health issues and the chance of having them is greatly increased by getting dogs bred by backyard breeders (people who just breed their own dog with no regard to matching pedigrees properly to breed around serious health issues) and puppy farms of which there are many in Ireland. A lot of them are out west, so be very, very careful buying a dog.
The best thing to do is contact the breed club (I provide a link in the Breed rescue listings or see ikc.ie under the 'buying a dog' heading I think) and ask them for their puppy listings. They can tell you which breeders have litters. Always ask to see at least the mother, & go to the breeder's house -- if they offer to bring a pup to you it is almost certainly a puppy farm puppy being sold by a broker. Though these dogs may cost slightly less up front (usually they are the SAME asd a good breeder's pups) they will likely cost quite a bit in the longer run due to health care expenses.
I strongly recommend getting pet insurance thru Allianz as it is not very costly and most cavaliers will eventually be dealing with heart problems as they age.
Thanks for the information you gave me. I have been looking in the buy and sell and there are a few advertised . I think there are at least 2 adults advertised for free there and loads of puppies for sale. I DONT KNOW IF AN ADULT WOULD BE OK WITH KIDS IN THE HOUSE , WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND . I WOULD LOVE TO RESCUE AN ADULT AND GIVE IT A GOOD HOME . A FRIEND OF MINE GOT A LOVELY PUP A WEEK AGO BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FELLA. IT MADE ME EVEN MORE DETERMINED TO GET ONE WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT .
I definitely would not even consider getting a puppy from the Buy&Sell for the reasons noted -- the chances of early onset mitral valve disease (see the Health Issues FAQ) are very high for such dogs and life expectancy can be only around 6-8 years. Whereas good breeders tend to opt for longlived dogs with heart-healthy lines and this can push MVD onset back into normal timeframes (though kost cavaliers will ultimately get it). Also cavaliers can have other health issues and the chances of all of them are hugely increased when you get puppies from people who have no idea what they are doing when breeding. So many wonderful breeders have had their health overall seriously damaged by backyard breeders and puppy farms -- poodles, cairn terriers, dalmations, boxers, labs and of course cavaliers, to name a few.
An adult can often be a better option than a puppy, especially with younger kids. Cav puppies are very small and basically, you will have your hands totally full from the first two months --they are hard work, just like a human baby, and can't be left alone initially for longer than maybe two hours. Housetraining takes up to a year, and goes faster if you can work at it full time. So that's something to think about. When I got my second dog Leo, I got a 10 month old as I couldn't bear the thought of going through all that work again, though puppies ARE very cute! But if you have really young kids, a puppy can be an overwhelming additional responsibility and I really recommend an older dog.
Most cavaliers love children. If you call some of the free ads, ask them if the dog has been around kids. Go and visit the dog to see it in its home environment. I am happy to give advice and depending on where you are, suggest palces to go to do some dog training if you want.
BTW the reason many of those free ads say 'not suitable for breeding' is that puppy farmers regularly pretend to be a family seeking a new dog to get such dogs for breeding stock -- presumably the family has neutered the dog they are offering. It is a horrific industry (as a glance at my puppy farm section will show; I have an example of the kind of situation these Irish dogs typically live in and it is terrible). IF you call any of those ads let me know what they say. If they will hold onto the dog I can help them rehome at the end of the month but I won;t have time to do this until the end of Spetember.
Karlin, you mentioned that EUR 450-500 was average for a puppy cav and we paid the upper end of that for ours and touch wood (and obviously with lots of love and caring) he's been in perfect health (8 months now) and we have all his papers+ vaccination confirms + have been in contact with the breeder since to ensure that his parents + siblings are also ok etc.
I know someone else that got a cav a couple of months after us from a breeder and we were told that it cost them EUR 300 ??????
I didn't think that could be right and with reading postings on here it seems as if 1) they were just lying/joking or 2) they got it from a puppy farm/disreputable breeder.
For the puppy's sake I hope it's the former !!
Am I worrying too much?? |
Eric Turkewitz
Are Electronic Health Records Coming Soon?
Often, medical malpractice occurs for the simplest of reasons: One health care practitioner did not effectively communicate a problem to another. And often, this is simply because of sloppy record keeping or illegible handwriting.
So it is worthy to note from this AP story last week, that the era of electronic medical records may well be here (keep reading)
Comments
Among the hospitals that call me in to prevent medication errors (by
giving handwriting classes to the doctors), a fairly high percentage
claim to have "computerized everything" 1 or 2 or 5 or more years ago
… yet they still have handwriting problems, because of a crucial 1% to 5% of handwritten documentation that just won't go away.
Doctors in "totally computerized" hospitals still scribble Post-Its to
slap onto the walls of the nurse's station, still scrawl notes on the
cuffs of their scrubs during impromptu elevator/corridor conferences
with colleagues … and, most of all, doctors with computer systems
often have the ward clerks operate the computers, use the Net, or
whatever: working, of course, from the doctors' illegible handwriting.
Bad doctor handwriting, incorrectly deciphered by ward clerks using the computer for any purpose, thereby enters the computerized medical record.
And what happens when disasters knock out a hospital's network? More than one hospital, during Hurricane Katrina, lost its generator, its electric power — and therefore its computer system — for the duration.
Even the computer-savviest staffers in the disaster zone had to use pens. Let's hope they wrote legibly. |
Orbital Sciences to Stop Using Suspect Russian Rocket Engine After Explosion - ykl
http://www.space.com/27669-orbital-sciences-rocket-explosion-soviet-engines.html
======
ykl
The obvious question in my mind (and the reason I submitted this) is whether
or not SpaceX is one of the companies Orbital is in talks with to provide
launch capability in the meantime. Does anyone know if the Falcon 9 is
theoretically capable of boosting a Cygnus vehicle to the ISS's orbit?
Edit: just looked at the numbers. The Cygnus is significantly smaller in
volume and mass than the Dragon, so I assume now that the answer is "yes, a
Falcon 9 could launch a Cygnus"
|
If you don’t know the 2048 puzzle yet, you should. But be careful, it’s time consuming. I won’t go on the whole clone history of the game, but will just say that if you want to play it on the Web, play to the Gabriel Cirulli 2048. The author said it wont make an official iOS/Android app, so… let’s give Kivy a try 🙂
Only 2 hours of coding where needed for the first published version of the game. Then i learned on the Google Play Game services APIs for integrating a leaderboard and achievements. And after a couple of hours during the night, what i can say is: Be patient! Even if you follow the documentation carefully, you need to wait few hours before your app_id works on their server, even in test mode. There never warn us about it.
When the setup is done and it start working, it is easy to login:
PythonActivity = autoclass('org.renpy.android.PythonActivity') GameHelper = autoclass('com.google.example.games.basegameutils.GameHelper') gh_instance = GameHelper(PythonActivity.mActivity, GameHelper.CLIENT_ALL) gh_instance_listener = GameHelperListener() gh_instance.setup(gh_instance_listener) gh_instance.onStart(PythonActivity.mActivity) android.activity.unbind(on_activity_result=_on_activity_result) android.activity.bind(on_activity_result=_on_activity_result)
That’s how you can unlock achievement:
# uid is the Google UID for the achievement you want if gh_instance.isSignedIn(): Games.Achievements.unlock(gh_instance.getApiClient(), uid)
And put the user score on the leaderboard:
# uid is the Google UID for the leaderboard you've created. # You can have multiple leaderboard. if gh_instance.isSignedIn(): Games.Leaderboards.submitScore(gh_instance.getApiClient(), uid, score)
There is a little more code around that, but globally, using the new Play Games services APIs is now easy. I hope this little piece of code will help peoples to integrate it into their app. Somebody need to start a Python library for managing Google Play API and Game Center for iOS.
Have a look at the source code for an example of the integration with the Play Games services APIs 🙂
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Biochemical, pathological, and skeletal improvement of mucopolysaccharidosis VI after gene transfer to liver but not to muscle.
Mucopolysaccharidosis VI (MPS VI) is caused by deficient activity of arylsulfatase B (ARSB), resulting in intralysosomal storage of dermatan sulfate (DS) and multisystem disease without central nervous system involvement. After gene transfer, muscle or liver can theoretically be converted into factories for systemic ARSB secretion, leading to uptake by non-transduced cells. We have injected newborn MPS VI rats and cats with adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors expressing ARSB under the control of liver-specific, muscle-specific, or universally active promoters. After systemic or intramuscular (IM) administration of AAV, therapeutic levels of circulating ARSB are achieved, resulting in skeletal improvements and significant decrease in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) storage, inflammation and apoptosis (despite a neutralizing immune response to ARSB in MPS VI rats). In addition, we have observed wide-spread dissemination of vector after IM AAV administration. This results in secretion of therapeutic levels of ARSB when the universally active cytomegalovirus (CMV) but not the muscle-specific muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter is used, suggesting that transduction of extramuscular sites rather than enzyme secretion from muscle occurs after muscle ARSB gene transfer. We conclude that AAV-mediated expression of ARSB from liver represents a feasible therapeutic strategy for MPS VI, potentially avoiding multiple infusions of costly recombinant enzyme associated with enzyme replacement therapy. |
Health care administrators don't take vital stats, diagnose diseases or do surgeries. But they're just as important to patient well-being as any nurse or doctor. Health care managers with a master's degree are in an even better position to help patients. Administrators with advanced education can lead hospitals, private practices, nursing homes or insurance companies. As leaders in any health-related clinic or company, administrators set policies, raise funds and guarantee quality of care. In short, they keep the health care system humming.
Hospitals
With a master’s degree, you’re on track for a position in mid-level or executive hospital management. You could lead a department, with duties such as planning budgets, evaluating staff, writing policies and overseeing quality and patient services. Or, you could serve as director of marketing, public relations or fund-raising and development. At a large hospital, expect to start with one department and work your way up to high-level positions such as chief executive. A smaller hospital setting entails more responsibilities. You could act as liaison between governing boards and staffs, attend fund-raisers and conventions and stay on top of advances in medical equipment and treatments.
Private Practice
Doctors’ offices need administrators with an advanced degree to supervise the practice. As a clinic manager, you’ll study patient systems, such as scheduling protocols, to boost operating efficiencies and improve patient satisfaction. You might also monitor the practice for potential medical risks and develop plans to cut those potential problems. Plus, private practices operate under laws and regulations that differ from those that govern hospitals and other providers, and it’s the manager’s job to understand and implement those standards. Other duties include management of finances, human resources and information technology.
Nursing Homes
Many nursing home administrators get their start as registered nurses, but they add a master’s in health care administration to manage a home. Like other administrators, nursing-home managers supervise personnel, handle financial matters and determine quality of care. But they deal with those responsibilities with an eye on the aging process and its inherent conditions. What’s more, they need to know the ins and outs of billing for government-paid services, because almost all of their patients are on federal insurance programs. It’s also their job to take care of licensure, certification and accreditation reports. In addition to a master’s degree, nursing-home administrators often earn a certificate in home management.
Insurance Companies
Insurance carriers start master’s graduates in mid-level management, in jobs such as director of marketing and sales or in department management. At the senior level, administrators can become CEOs, chief operating officers or chief financial officers. Or, they can lead contract management and negotiations, managed care or regional clinical services. To make it to the C-suite, you’ll likely need at least 10 years of experience in addition to a master’s. Insurance carriers also look for administrators with a financial background, communications skills, analytical skills and team-building skills.
Other Employers
You could opt for a career in unconventional workplaces. Government agencies need health care administrators with advanced degrees to help educate providers in rules and regulations, or to coordinate public health departments. Hospices hire them as organizations managers. Other employers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical equipment manufacturers and substance abuse treatment centers. |
#!/usr/bin/env python
# Copyright 2014 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
# found in the LICENSE file.
# Modified from go/env.py in Chromium infrastructure's repository to patch out
# everything but the core toolchain.
#
# https://chromium.googlesource.com/infra/infra/
"""Can be used to point environment variable to hermetic Go toolset.
Usage (on linux and mac):
$ eval `./env.py`
$ go version
Or it can be used to wrap a command:
$ ./env.py go version
"""
assert __name__ == '__main__'
import imp
import os
import subprocess
import sys
# Do not want to mess with sys.path, load the module directly.
bootstrap = imp.load_source(
'bootstrap', os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'bootstrap.py'))
old = os.environ.copy()
new = bootstrap.prepare_go_environ()
if len(sys.argv) == 1:
for key, value in sorted(new.iteritems()):
if old.get(key) != value:
print 'export %s="%s"' % (key, value)
else:
exe = sys.argv[1]
if exe == 'python':
exe = sys.executable
else:
# Help Windows to find the executable in new PATH, do it only when
# executable is referenced by name (and not by path).
if os.sep not in exe:
exe = bootstrap.find_executable(exe, [bootstrap.WORKSPACE])
sys.exit(subprocess.call([exe] + sys.argv[2:], env=new))
|
Measuring Web Latency in the Browser
4 months ago
We’ll go out on a limb and assume that anyone reading these words is probably familiar with the classic ping command. Depending on which operating system you worship the options might be slightly different, but every variation of this simple tool does the same thing: send an ICMP echo request and wait for a response. How long it takes to get a response from the target, if it gets one at all, is shown to the user. This if often the very first step to diagnosing network connectivity issues; if this doesn’t work, there’s an excellent chance the line is dead.
But in the modern web-centric view of networking, ping might not give us the whole picture. But nature it doesn’t take into account things like DNS lookups, and it certainly doesn’t help you determine what (if any) services the target has available to you. Accordingly, [Liu Zhiyong] has come up with a tool he calls “pingms”, which allows you to check web server latency right from your browser.
Rather than relying on ICMP, pingms performs a more realistic test. It takes the list of targets from the file “targets.js” and connects to each one over HTTP. How does it work? The code [Liu] has come up with will take each target domain name, append a random number to create a gibberish filename, and then calculate how long it takes to get a response when trying to download the file. Obviously it’s going to be getting a 404 response from the web server, but the important thing is simply that it gets the response.
With this data, [Liu] has come up with a simplistic but very slick interface which shows the user the collected data with easy to understand color-coded graphs. As interesting as it is to see how long it takes your favorite web sites or service providers to wake up and start talking, watching the colored bars hop up and down the list to sort themselves is easily our favorite part of pingms. |
Q:
Titanium: Auto-select first row of dynamically created rows
I have a two tab layout. When the first tab button is clicked the rows are filled using data retrieved remotely. This is the same for the second tab but the layout of the data is different.
My problem is when you switch between tabs I need to fire a click event on the first row of each tab.
I am building this app for android only.
Any help is greatly appreciated...
EDIT: This is dummy code of the top of head, hope it makes a bit more sense.
leftTableView = Ti.UI.createTableView({
data: populateTableView(0),
allowsSelection:true
});
function populateTableView(byType)
{
for(length of array loop){
var tableViewRow=Ti.UI.createTableViewRow({
my_obj:myObj[i]
});
tabledata=[]
tableViewRow.addEventListener('click',function(e){
e.row.setBackgroundImage('/images/selected-row-background.png');
}
if byType 0
loop array display row for each object element
tableData.push(tableViewRow);
return tabledata
if byType 1
loop array display row for each object element, display differently
tableData.push(tableViewRow);
return tabledata
}
}
tab 1 click event listener
populateTableView(0);
leftTableView.data[0].rows[0].fireEvent('click');//this fires but says e.row.setBackgroundImage is undefined
tab 2 click event listener
populateTableView(1)
leftTableView.data[0].rows[0].fireEvent('click');//this fires but says e.row.setBackgroundImage is undefined
A:
Listen for the blur event on the tabGroup and take action as each one of the tabs become the active tab
http://docs.appcelerator.com/titanium/latest/#!/api/Titanium.UI.TabGroup-event-blur
tabGroup.addEventListener('blur', function(_event) {
var activeTab = _event.tab;
// now that you have the activeTab, get the window, then the
// table and call a method to simulate a click on the first
// row
});
passing data when firing event
var row = leftTableView.data[0].rows[0];
row.fireEvent('click', { row : row } )
|
Resveratrol induces MMP-9 and cell migration via the p38 kinase and PI-3K pathways in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells.
Trans-3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene (resveratrol) is a grape polyphenol present in various plants, food products, red wine and grapes. Resveratrol has anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, anti-oxidant and anti-aging properties. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are key enzymes involved in the degradation of the extracellular matrix, and their expression may be regulated in cancer metastasis. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of resveratrol on MMPs and cell migration, and to understand the mechanism of action in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells. We found that resveratrol inhibited HT1080 cell viability at various concentrations as detected by the MTT assay and FACS analysis. However, resveratrol dramatically increased the activation and expression of MMP-9 in a dose- and time-dependent manner, as determined by gelatin zymography assay and western blot analysis. We also discovered that resveratrol enhanced the migratory ability of HT1080 cells, as determined by the wound healing assay, and decreased the phosphorylation of p38 kinase. Moreover, the Akt kinase was inhibited by resveratrol in the HT1080 cells. The inhibition of p38 and Akt kinases with SB203580 and LY294002 further increased resveratrol-induced MMP-9 as well as cell migration in the HT1080 cells. Our results suggest that resveratrol regulates MMP-9 and migratory abilities through the p38 kinase and PI-3K pathways in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells. |
There are a wide variety of pre-made beverages available for purchase by consumers. Consumers can walk into almost any convenience store, grocery store, or gas station and select from a variety of different pre-made beverages. The available beverages often include carbonated sodas, mineral or other waters, and sport drinks. Natural juice beverages are also typically available and often have fruit juice content, such as orange juice, apple juice, and grapefruit juice.
More recently, so-called specialty drinks are becoming commonly available. One example of a specialty drink lists as its ingredients taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, B-complex vitamins, and carbohydrates. Other specialty drinks include various anti-oxidants and natural herbs. The variety of different specialty beverages offered is indicative of a desirability to provide drinks tailored specifically to the needs of individual consumers. The available types of readily consumable beverages, although numerous compared to the types of carbonated sodas available, are not numerous enough to address the need for a beverage that can be tailored and customized according to each individual's personal preferences. Thus, there is a need to provide consumers with beverages having ingredients such as flavorings, nutrients, vitamins, and herbs that are customizable according to individual consumer tastes, nutritional needs, and other preferences.
In addition to the pre-made beverages commonly available at convenience stores, grocery stores and markets offer a selection of powdered beverage concentrates to consumers. Powdered beverage concentrates may be combined with a liquid, typically water, to form a freshly made flavored beverage. Powdered beverage concentrates often are packaged either in large, multi-serving tubs or in individual packets or mini-tubs that correspond to a particular serving size. Packets of powdered beverage concentrates often are produced in a size that makes two quarts of flavored beverage when combined with water. Similarly, individual mini-tubs of powdered drink concentrates also typically combine with water to form two quarts of beverage. While these individual packets and mini-tubs can be more convenient for consumers to use compared to the beverage powder concentrates packaged in bulk, they still are typically intended primarily for home use. Due to the large volume of beverage, typically two quarts, that the contents of packets and mini-tubs make when combined with water, they may be impractical for use away from home.
Powdered beverage concentrates that combine with water to form two quarts of flavored beverage are also undesirable due to their large size because once made a consumer typically has no variety of flavor or taste. For example, a consumer may one day want to have a cherry flavored drink and then the next an orange flavored drink. Unless the consumer has several different two-quart pitchers, the two-quart size may restrict the consumer to first drinking multiple servings of one beverage flavor before washing the pitcher and making a different beverage flavor. Thus, it is desirable to provide consumers with a beverage that can be distributed in individual serving sizes so that consumers may make a large variety of customized drinks without having to have a large number of pitchers.
Furthermore, the two-quart size is inconvenient for consumers who want to make only a single serving of beverage at a particular time. The packets and mini-tubs typically cannot easily be resealed if a consumer only withdraws enough for a single serving. Large tubs are often resealable to allow consumers to withdraw only the amount of concentrate that they need. For example, a tablespoon or other portion of beverage concentrate may be combined with water in a glass or cup to form a single beverage serving. However, large tubs are disadvantageous because their size may render them inconvenient for a consumer to easily transport to the work place, school, etc. A consumer could attempt to put a single serving size of beverage powder in a reclosable plastic bag, but the powdered nature of beverage concentrates can make transfer and handling messy and inconvenient. Thus, there is a need for a more convenient system to provide consumers with single serving portions of a beverage concentrate.
While packaging powdered beverage concentrate in large tubs allows consumers to withdraw a desired portion of concentrate, such as single-serving portions, large tubs also allow consumers to withdraw imprecise amounts. Imprecise amounts of concentrate, when mixed with liquid, can result in flavor or other variations in the resulting beverage. For example, if too little of a portion of concentrate is combined with a given quantity of water, the resulting beverage may be diluted, having a watered-down flavor. Thus, it is desirable to provide consumers with single-serving portions of beverage concentrate that are packaged in relatively precise quantities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,492, to Lucas, discloses a disposable coffee cup or container. The container has a beverage concentrate, such as instant coffee, in the bottom thereof. A thin film with a shape corresponding to the interior of the container is disposed in the container. The bottom of the film is elevated from the bottom of the container to hold the beverage concentrate therebetween and protect the beverage concentrate. To make a beverage, the film is removed from within the container, thereby exposing the beverage concentrate. Fluid can then be added to the beverage concentrate to form a beverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,502, also to Lucas, discloses a container and liner arrangement similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,492 and discussed above. However, the bottom of the liner in U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,502 extends to the bottom of the container. The liner has one or more compartments or pockets formed therein for separating different beverage concentrates and holding them against the bottom of the container. Removal of the liner and addition of a liquid causes the different beverage concentrates to combine into a beverage.
There remains a need for a beverage system that allows for customization of the beverage by individual consumers. |
The Film
In his vivid and thought-provoking filmmaking debut, physician Ryan McGarry gives us unprecedented access to America’s busiest Emergency Department. Amidst real life-and-death situations, McGarry follows a dedicated team of charismatic, young doctors-in-training as they wrestle openly with both their ideals and with the realities of saving lives in a complex and overburdened system. Their training ground and source of inspiration is “C-Booth,” Los Angeles County Hospital’s legendary trauma bay, the birthplace of Emergency Medicine, where “more people have died and more people have been saved than in any other square footage in the United States.” CODE BLACK offers a tense, doctor’s-eye view, right into the heart of the healthcare debate – bringing us face to face with America’s only 24/7 safety net.
Best Documentary winner at Los Angeles Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival, as well as the Audience Award Winner at both Denver Starz Film Festival and Aspen FilmFest. |
Cost-containment in the Netherlands: government policy versus public opinion.
This article deals with the lack of information on the side of policy makers, especially the national government, on the opinions of the population with regard to cost-containment. Often important policy matters are developed before the preferences of the public have been adequately sounded. An insight into the view of the public can be obtained by representative surveys among the population. In the article the results are given of a survey conducted in 1984. One of the conclusions is that there are well-balanced opinions on cost-containment in health care among the public. It appears that the public is willing to accept financial cuts, even up to 10%. The public would also agree on less use of hospital beds. However, a majority of the public rejects a reduction of beds. Another conclusion reached by the authors is, that the government should give more information to the public about the consequences of less use of beds, in relation to the total amount of beds, in financial as well as in medical respect. |
Call for governments to inquire if money and the financial system is fit for purpose?
Call for governments to inquire if money and the financial system is fit for purpose?
The crisis of legitimacy of the political and financial systems
In my view Government is not “fit for the purpose” of facilitating a transition to “Democratic Money with Environmental Values [to] Reduce Market Failures”. I suspect the reason why “the Australian Government has led the way by setting upa Financial System Inquiry” is driven by the crisis of trust that the Australian people have regarding the legitimacy of their political and financial systems. Here are some corroborative extracts from online sources:
Faith in Federal Parliament has come crashing down in less than 10 months in a wave of cynicism which has swept several of our other major national institutions.
The Reserve Bank also has had its reputation battered, with the 67 per cent trusting it last September but now just 49 per cent prepared to take the central bank at face value.
A recent ‘Truth About Politics’ study conducted by McCann New York among respondents in the US, UK and India, which found that 72% of people agreed with the statement: “When it comes to politics, it is impossible to find the truth these days.” It’s no different in australia. Roy Morgan’s Image of Professions 2013 survey, which asks respondents to rate professions based on honesty and ethical standards, also ranks politicians at the bottom of the heap, just above car salesmen, ad men and real estate agents. – www.mccann.com.au
Citizens are said to be disillusioned about politics and politicians, turned off by a dysfunctional media. Although australia has a compulsory voting system which, to a degree, masks public dissatisfaction and disengagement, there is a widespread perception that citizens are fed up with the political process, in large part because of the way in which it is represented in the media. – www.smh.com.au
Fully two-thirds of Australians do not believe federal and state governments are working well together, while confidence in the federal government as the most effective of the three levels at doing its job has plummeted from 50 per cent in 2008 to 29 per cent today.
The Australian public is losing faith in their politicians and in the political process. But something even more insidious is beginning to occur, as this week’s Essential Report suggests. Loss of trust is contagious. We’re not just cynical about politicians; we are also losing faith in the institutions that underpin public life. The Reserve Bank is down a whopping 18 percent. – www.abc.net.au
Despite five years of intense regulatory effort and management action,banks and financial institutions are still the least trusted sectors in the whole global economy, according to the just-published Edelman Global Trust Survey of 2013. Given that trust is the very foundation of banking, the result is troubling. Are banks themselves doing enough to restore their battered reputations? Is regulation helping or hindering? Is another financial crisis in the making? – www.forbes.com
One of Australia’s top banking regulators says that recent global bank scandals ranging from the Barclay’s Libor affair to Wall Street bank JP Morgan uncovering billions of dollars in trading losses has further undermined “the bond of trust” between banks and the community.
Banks, both here and around the world, needed to stop complaining about increasing regulation and focus more on rebuilding trust, Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe said.
“The banking system globally is not doing enough to rebuild that bond of trust among the public and the problems with Barclays is just another illustration of that,” Dr Lowe said.
“So if the banking system wants the regulatory pressure to ease up a bit and it wants the political pressure to ease up a bit it needs to do more to build its bond of trust,” he told a Australian Centre for Financial Studies Forum. – www.smh.com.au.
The Australian Government’s Financial System Inquiry (FSI) looks like political spin
From this perspective, the Australian Government’s Financial System Inquiry (FSI) looks more like an exercise in political spin – an attempt to regain public legitimacy for the political and financial system, through a fraudulent reformatory process that ensures (through clause 7 of the Draft terms of reference), that the role and function of the Reserve Bank of Australia is never questioned!
The Global Corporatocracy is Almost Fully Operational
As Thomas Greco said in his Mid-October Newsletter – 2013 : “It is clear that national governments are ceding sovereignty [of the people], not to global democratic institutions, but to transnational corporate entities resulting in a New (fascist) World Order that bypass all the checks on power that have been built into democratic governments over the past three centuries”.
The betrayal of the people by their supposed political representatives is now racing ahead on a global scale, as Don Quijones, a freelance writer and translator based in Barcelona, Spain, posted on his blog : “The new generation of trade treaties goes far beyond what was envisaged for NAFTA and GATT. What they ultimately seek is to transfer what little remains of our national sovereignty to the headquarters of the world’s largest multinational conglomerates. In short, it is the ultimate coup de grâce of the ultimate coup d’état. Not a single shot will be fired, yet almost all power will be seized and transferred into private hands – and all of it facilitated by our elected representatives who, by signing these treaties, will be permanently abdicating their responsibilities to represent and protect the interests of their voting constituencies. At the root of this model is the basic notion that corporate profits and investor returns must at all times supercede all concerns about public interest.” This transatlantic trade deal is a full-frontal assault on democracy, confirmed George Monbiot, in The Guardian newspaper. Also see: new Trade Agreements on 21st Century Wire – Part One, Part Two.
In his last paper Toward a General Theory of Credit and Money 2001, the deceased economist Mostafa Moini said “Because of hitherto improper concepts of money, property rights in money have not been well understood and are still wanting effective de?nition within the existing legal frame-works. This is one reason why the credit-forging activities of the state and banks have gone on so freely, in spite of their colossal external costs.” And, “Within the limits of theoretical discourse, however, this much may be said without reservation: Given the fundamental differences noted in the nature of the operations of ?nancial intermediaries and fractional-reserve banks, it would be misleading to call them both by the same name. In so far as banks and certain related government agencies issue monetary instruments which provide the recipients with monetary rights, without concurrent occurrence of voluntary relinquishment of such rights elsewhere within the payment system, it would be misleading to call these organizations ?nancial intermediaries. “Money-forging” or “credit-forging” institutions would be more appropriate names.”
The emergence of “highly digitized non-bank competitors”
The concern by the central banking system to re-legitimise itself as the champion of the public good might also be linked to the emergence of “highly digitized non-bank competitors” – As the IBM Financial Services Sector White Paper of 2012summarised: “The message is simple: Trust has been lost and the digital world is here. Successful relationships with customers in the digital world are high-trust relationships. It is time for bankers to rebuild trust at the same time as developing all the communications and analytical advantages of digital technology. There is no other way. The highly digitalised, non-bank competitors are already taking the best parts of banking. Time is short.” IBM is not alone in this view, – in an article of September this year, entitled Tech Companies: Why Global Banks Are Running Scared, Sam Volkering says: “And there’s one thing that’s crystal clear about global banks. They are all petrified. And those that aren’t are delusional. Why are they all petrified? Because the very banking system they’ve all pillaged and plundered for decades is experiencing a revolution. Bank revenues are under threat from the likes of Amazon, Google, Bitcoin and other disruptive companies.”
I suggest the collective intelligence of the SMWG and its friends would be better used in supporting a Third Sector driven initiative to establish experimental economic zones (in partnership with the public and private sectors), to empirically test, pilot and refine alternative economic models, which address the root causes of our social and environmental problems, and which will function as laboratories and catalysts for economic regeneration, that can (after evaluation) be replicated freely throughout the world.
If the Chinese communist party could permit experimentation of capitalism withinspecial economic zones in the 1980’s, which led to China becoming a front rank global economic power – then why can we do so, but instead using economic approaches that are humanistic and ecological?
“The future can be what we want it to be. We are brilliant, imaginative and bold. But there are limits. Limits to the amount of carbon dioxide our climate can handle, to the amount of energy available to us, and the degree to which economic growth is still possible. I believe we need to apply our brilliance to designing within those limits, and we can do it. Around the world, people are already seeing these limits as opportunities. They aren’t waiting for permission, they’re coming together to create stronger and happier communities, more resilient and viable economies, and taking their power back at the same time. It’s the power of just doing stuff, and I think it’s one of the biggest ideas of our time.” Rob Hopkins, Founder of the Transition Movement
Raymond Aitken, freelance REconomist
Capital is human ability applied to the Natural factors of production to create added value, in terms of goods and services. This added value can be exchanged within the economy, through the mediation of money, which is a species of credit, and hence a social relation involving rights and obligations – such as human rights, and our obligation to sustain the Natural commonwealth. |
Q:
Find three numbers that are divisors of given number and their sum is minimal
I'm trying to work this problem for over a day and I can't come with a reasonable solution. I think this is a fairly easy programming question and more of an algorithmic question. We have one given number N, (1< N<10^9) and we have to find three numbers M,P,Q so they satisfy M×P×Q=N and their sum is minimal (the smallest possible).I came up with this code but it does not work for all numbers in range(for example for 6). I try to find the biggest divisor closest to third root of N. The program works for most of the numbers but not for all. And i wonder if while is the best approach or I should for or other cycle. Thank you in advance! Have a great day!
P.S. some examples - 100 = 4×5×5, 121 = 11×11×1, 8 = 2×2×2, 400 = 8×5×10, 1000 = 10×10×10,4000=16×10×25 and so on.
int main() {
int m = 0, n = 0, p = 0, q = 0, i = 0;;
std::cin >> n;
i = int(std::cbrt(n));
while (true) {
int ten = std::cbrt(n);
if (pow(ten, 3) == n) {
m = ten;
p = ten;
q = ten;
break;
}
int square = n;
if (i * i == square) {
n = i;
m = i;
p = i;
break;
}
if (i == 1) {
m = n;
p = 1;
q = 1;
break;
}
if (n % i == 0) {
n = n / i;
m = i;
p = n;
break;
}
i++;
}
i = std::cbrt(n);
while (true) {
int ten = std::cbrt(n);
if (pow(ten, 3) == n) {
m = ten;
p = ten;
q = ten;
break;
}
int square = n;
if (i * i == square) {
p = i;
q = i;
break;
}
if (i == 1) {
q = 1;
break;
}
if (n % i == 0) {
q = n / i;
p = i;
break;
}
i++;
}
std::cout << m << " " << p << " " << q << std::endl;
return 0;
}
A:
I found your idea interesting. First looking for a divider close to the cubic root. Then, in a second step, looking for divider close to the square root of the remaining.
The following code seems to work for the cases you cited, including the input of 6.
I mainly tried to simplify your code, removing code that looks odd and do not seem useful. I also insure that the second step was effectively trying to search for a factor close to the square root of the remaining, there was a little error on that.
I did not try to improve the speed of the program. I guess the first step is to test the validity of the algorithm. In a second step, as proposed in a comment, it could be possible to use the prime factors of the input to fasten the program, while keeping the same strategy.
Here, complexity is O(n) in the worst case, which seems quite good already.
EDIT:
To fasten the program a little bit, I tried to loop in the negative order (i-- instead of i++). I checked that for was no difference on the tests you proposed. However, for one additional test that I performed, I obtained a gain ...
For n = 124267948, I now obtain (316, 56179, 7) sum = 56502 instead of (553, 4, 56179) sum = 56736.
This implies that some further tests and analysis are really needed before validating the algorithm.
**Edit 2: **
I made systematic tests for n between 1 and 1e6, and compared the two variants (i++ and i--). They often provide the same result, elsewhere one or the other is better. Further investigation is needed.
Edit 3:
I made a systematic comparison, with a optimal scheme that considers all possible value for first divider (m) and then looks for a divider near the sqrt of the remainder (n/m). I got that this optimal scheme is often better than the two others. For example for n=44. This optimal scheme is more complex, but computation time seems to stay rather short.
#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
int main() {
int m = 0, n = 0, p = 0, q = 0, i;
bool end = false;
std::cin >> n;
i = int(std::cbrt(n));
//std::cout << "cbrt(n) = " << i << "\n";
if (n == 1) {
m = p = q = 1;
end = true;
} else {
if (i == 1) i = 2;
if (pow(i, 3) == n) {
m = i;
p = i;
q = i;
end = true;
}
}
if (!end) {
// 1st step: research of a factor almost equal to a cubic root
i++;
while (true) {
if (n % i == 0) {
n = n / i;
m = i;
break;
}
i--;
}
// 2nd step: research of factor almost equal to the sqrt
i = std::sqrt(n) + 1;
//std::cout << "before square search: n = " << n << "\ti = " << i << "\n";
while (!end) {
if (n % i == 0) {
p = i;
q = n/i;
end = true;
}
i--;
}
}
std::cout << m << " " << p << " " << q << std::endl;
return 0;
}
|
By Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security
DARPA funding at Arizona State University is sponsoring testing of a jetpack to increase a soldier’s speed and boost a PT record to that of a four minute a mile. Professor Thomas Sugar and designer Jason Kerestes are behind what they call iProject: 4MM (4 Minute Mile). The project may someday see future soldiers breaking the current world record of three minutes and forty-three seconds with ease. That mile-time record was set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, in 1974.
Jason Kerestes previously worked on robotic limbs for veteran amputees until DARPA sought him out to augment ready and able soldier capabilities. It is such a basic principle that it is amazing that it has not been done before. Increasing thrust to push the runner near the hips and lower back. Even with the added weight of 11 pounds, the trial runner has still been able to decrease his time and set new personal bests. Also critical is energy efficiency: a soldier will be able to run faster with less effort or faster and farther with the same effort.
So far they have not achieved the four minute mile objective but they have cut some twenty seconds off of the test runner’s time so they still have another minute to hack. It seems a simple solution, just add more thrust. The trick is not getting any lift or injury to the trial runner and it would seem the project will see incremental achievements, overall looking promising over the short term.
Meanwhile, other attempts to enhance soldier capabilities are concurrent in other projects like TALOS (Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit). TALOS involves a real-time heads-up-display system like that of an Air Force pilot, next generation armor, self-healing, exoskeletal assist, active camouflage; use of nanotechnology, metamaterials, etc.
All of these very real projected futures only mean that the America soldier will increasingly become the techno-soldier—a process that cannot be stopped and one in which the U.S. cannot afford to fall below the curve in technological military superiority.
Comments
comments |
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to mounting assemblies and, especially, to a fan mounting assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
When testing an electronic device, such as a motherboard, a fan is placed beside the electronic device to dissipate heat produced by components of the electronic device. However, the fan is apt to be knocked down or moved by vibrations or careless handling. |
The ATPase Motor Turns for Type IV Pilus Assembly.
In this issue of Structure, Mancl et al. (2016) elucidate the crystal structure of the PilB ATPase domain in complex with ATPγS and unveil how ATP binding and hydrolysis coordinates conformational change. Their results reveal a distinct symmetric rotary mechanism for ATP hydrolysis to power bacterial pilus assembly. |
In our Types of Terrorism post we laid out the different kinds of terrorism that exist. Here we discuss the causes of terrorism, or more specifically, why people become terrorists. In order to combat terrorism, we must first understand the drivers of terrorism. Identifying these drivers allows policy makers to target terrorism at its root causes rather than fight those who have already become radicalized.
The causes of terrorism have been under much debate. There is evidence for and against every reason on this list however, more often than not, it is a combination of several that lead to terrorism. Below are the most common causes cited by leaders in the counterterrorism field.
Causes of Terrorism
Ethno-nationalism
The desire of a population to break away from a government or ruling power and create a state of their own can cause the formation of terrorist groups. In the 20th century this was seen often times with regions or states attempting to gain independence from their colonial era masters. However, as Bruce Hoffman points out in Inside Terrorism, ethno-nationalist terrorism had been around decades before even the First World War. Perhaps the most notable of these groups, formed before and after WWII and inspired by the weakening of imperial powers, was the Jewish Irgun Avai Le’umi who fought British rule in Palestine so as to attain the creation of a Jewish state.
Today Hamas is one of the most active ethno-nationalist driven groups carrying out suicide bombings and attacks against the state of Israel with the goal of creating a Palestinian state. Chechen terrorist organizations are also ethno-nationalists for their attacks against the government and people of Russia in the attempt to form their own state.
Within many countries around the globe minority groups exist wishing to garner some form of independence, if not their own state altogether. Therefore ethno-nationalism will continue to be a significant source of terrorism. It is important to recognize this and counter it with more politically inclusive processes that can mitigate the grievances of minority groups, though some will inevitably continue to employ terrorism until they achieve their desired independent nation.
Alienation /Discrimination
Several authors on terrorism have pointed to a sense of alienation felt by diasporas, particularly those living in Europe as a driver of terrorism. Many times these groups face discrimination in the countries they reside, leading to further feelings of isolation. They commonly move from poorer countries, particularly Muslim states in the case of Europe, to wealthier ones to go to school or find work. As Marc Sageman discusses in his book Understanding Terror Networks, once in these countries they begin to feel alienated. The new host nation is substantially different than their own culture, and is usually much less community oriented. This causes alienated individuals to seek out communities with cultures like their home countries or others like themselves. These groups may become jaded towards society around them as they don’t fit in and feel excluded. Growing sentiments of discrimination can lead groups to look to more conservative, and eventually, extremist ideologies.
The Hamburg Cell, consisting of two of the pilots in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is a perfect example of this. The cell included a number of expatriate Muslims studying in Germany who sought out other conservative Muslims to band together when they felt homesick in a Western society that was alien to them. This started them down the trail of radicalization as they became more jaded with the world around them.
Robert Leiken also discusses this phenomenon in his paper Europe’s Angry Muslims. Leiken points to both “outsiders,” Muslims who immigrated in order to study or seek asylum, and “insiders,” second or third generation Muslims in Europe. These groups are subjected to discriminatory social policies, such as the headscarf law in France, that then cause them to become radicalized.
The problem here, particularly in the case of Europe, is that many of these expatriates who become radicalized due to alienation from being in a foreign society also hold European passports and thus can travel within Europe with increased ease, as well as enter the U.S. much easier than non-Europeans. Therefore they pose not only a threat to Europe, but also to the United States.
Religion
Perhaps the most commonly held belief today is that terrorism is caused by religion. Though it is not the main cause for terrorism, religion does play a significant role in driving some forms of it. As Hoffman points out in Inside Terrorism, from the Thugs of ancient India that killed to terrorize in the name of the god Kali to the Jewish Zealots who cut the throats of Romans in public to combat their occupation of Israel, religion (in conjunction with political/ethno-nationalist drivers) has long been a factor of terrorism.
Today religion as a part of terrorism has been mainly attributed to Islamic fundamentalism (though other examples, such as the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out the 1995 sarin gas attacks in Tokyo, also exist). As Sageman describes: “The global Salafi jihad is a world wide religious revivalist movement with the goal of reestablishing past Muslim glory in a great Islamist state stretching from Morocco to the Philippines, eliminating present national boundaries.”
As a driver of terrorism, the true danger that religious doctrine poses is its encouragement of attacks that are more violent in nature than other types of terrorism. By being promised rewards in the afterlife, terrorists are more likely to carry out suicide bombings and other such “all in” tactics that are harder to defend against.
Socio-Economic Status
Terrorists may also be driven by a sense of relative depravation and lack of upward mobility within society. Globalization and the modern media have given the ‘have nots’ an acute awareness of their situation compared to the ‘haves’. As Omer Taspinar states in Fighting Radicalism, Not “Terrorism,” “Globalization creates an acute awareness about opportunities available elsewhere. This leads to frustration, victimization, and humiliation among growing cohorts of urbanized, undereducated, and unemployed Muslim youth who are able to make comparisons across countries.” Seeing the economic differences between themselves and the Western world can infuriate some in underdeveloped countries, increasing tension and hostilities. This allows terrorist organizations to gain attention and entry to societies that have felt wronged by these perceived social injustices.
Unfortunately the only real way to mitigate this is through economic development of the community, country, and region, but that takes time. For the foreseeable future there will always be those that are disgruntled by the comparison of living standards of the wealthy around the world versus their own, opening the doors to frustration and anger. Thus, this driver is remarkably hard to combat as globalization allows for more mechanisms of comparison between varying global socio-economic levels.
Political Grievances
A lack of political inclusiveness in states or grievances against a certain political order may cause individuals to join or create terrorist groups. Left and right wing terrorists often seek to a political system. As well, many in nations with authoritarian regimes lack avenues for dissent. Frustrated expressions of political will can turn to violence as an alternative to exclusive political systems. While somewhat similar to ethno-nationalist/separatist causes, these political grievances are not born from the desire to create a new state but to change the order within the current one.
In his piece, Taspinar describes this as a political dimension to relative depravation. In this light he sees political Islam as a reaction to such oppressive governments and its Western supporters. With the knowledge that other people around the world live in representative governments, the anger only grows among those who live without such political representation, leading disillusioned individuals into the arms of terrorism.
The implication here is that Western governments, in their support of repressive authoritarian regimes for their own national interest, have essentially made themselves targets of terrorism of an angered populace within these regimes, acting out violently as the only alternative to political expression.
The Accidental Guerrilla
Finally, there is the theory put forth about the “accidental guerrilla” by David Kilcullen. Kilcullen describes it as such: A terrorist organization moves into an area with poor government or that is conflict ridden (he uses Al Qaeda specifically), then uses this safe haven to spread their ideologies to other areas and as a base to carry out violent acts. When outside forces then intervene to deal with the threat posed to them by this group, this causes the local population to reject the ‘foreign invaders’ and ally with the terrorist group, thus creating more terrorists and popular support for terrorist movements. The cases of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq to counter Al Qaeda are the obvious examples here.
This theory poses strong questions about the viability of direct intervention in pursuit of terrorist groups by Western countries, and whether it causes more harm than good.
Further Readings:
While the information here gives a useful overview of the causes of terrorism, there is a large amount of literature out there regarding terrorism and its causes. The following are some good books and essays for further reading. |
299 F.2d 844
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Bruce BARNES, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 14697.
United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.
Feb. 8, 1962.
H. M. Bacon, Morristown, Tenn. (Roy T. Campbell, Jr., Newport, Tenn., on the brief), for defendant-appellant.
B. Bruce Guthrie, Asst. U.S. Atty., Chattanooga, Tenn. (John H. Reddy, U.S. Atty., Knoxville, Tenn., and William P. Crewe, Asst. Regional Counsel, Int. Rev. Service, Atlanta, Ga., on the brief), for plaintiff-appellee.
Before SHACKELFORD MILLER, Jr., Chief Judge, and McALLISTER and WEICK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
1
Appellant was found guilty by a jury under a one-count indictment charging a conspiracy to violate the Internal Revenue Laws dealing with distilled spirits, in violation of Section 371, Title 18 U.S.Code. No evidence was offered by appellant. He received a sentence of four years imprisonment.
2
The Court, being of the opinion that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction of such offense, it is ordered that the judgment be reversed and the case remanded to the District Court for entry of judgment of acquittal. Rule 29(a), Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.; United States v. Gardner, 171 F.2d 753, 759 C.A. 7th; Carr v. United States, 278 F.2d 702, C.A. 6th.
|
MSN Messenger to end after 15 years Published duration 29 August 2014
image copyright Microsoft image caption Windows Live Messenger was switched off in most of the world in 2013
Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger will be switched off in China in October, marking a final end to the 15-year-old service.
Originally known as MSN Messenger, it was launched in 1999 but was switched off for most users in 2013, after Microsoft bought rival Skype.
Users in China continued to use the old service but will now be transferred to Skype by 31 October.
Windows Live still had as many as 330 million users as recently as 2009.
But those numbers later declined, while users of Skype rose to nearly 300 million by 2012.
The service came to China in 2005, but later faced stiff competition from domestic rivals such as QQ messenger, built by Chinese firm Tencent.
A number of Chinese Windows Live users received emails from Microsoft on Thursday, Chinese newspapers reported, informing them of the planned closure.
The emails told users they would get free Skype credit when they migrated over to the new service, the newspaper said.
MSN Messenger began as a simple text chat service in 1999, a rival to AOL's AIM service and ICQ.
It later added features such as photo delivery, video calls and games as the technology developed.
But Microsoft's purchase of Skype for $8.5bn (£5.1bn) in 2012 spelled the beginning of the end for the service.
Obituary
MSN Messenger was a hard-working internet visionary which taught a generation to touch-type and lol, writes BBC technology reporter Dave Lee.
It touched the lives of millions of teenagers who, in an age before real social networking, were just getting accustomed to what it was like to live on the internet.
MSN Messenger heralded a new era: a time when chatting up a classmate no longer meant the terrifying prospect of actually having to say something to them.
It meant no longer would young teens have to endure the torture of ringing the landline number of their newest crush - knowing there was a high probability that dad would pick up.
But after all the "ASL?"s and "u there?"s, Messenger's loyal subjects became less dependent. "I'll brb", people said... but they never did.
Other sites, smarter and better looking, would see Messenger cast aside. In an age of exciting digital discovery, Messenger became the web's wooden toy.
After a long career, it spent its final year enjoying a comfortable retirement in China. Its less well-regarded relative, Windows Messenger, still battles on on work computers the world over.
"It's like MSN," office workers say, "…just not as fun."
MSN Messenger is survived by Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Snapchat, Skype, Google+ and Instagram. |
S = SYSVERSION();
if substr(S, 6, 6) < '050000' then
do; put skip list ('Version of compiler is too old'); stop; end;
|
Q:
Why is my "Page [0]" not centered in my webpage?
My "Page [0]" text isn't centered on my webpage. Anyone know why? I could really use some help please.
Here is the html:
<html>
<head>
<title>Test Forum</title>
<link href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>
<a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/"><img src="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum//images/banner1.png" alt="" id="banner" /></a>
<h1>Test Forums</h1>
<hr />
<div id="navi"><div id="naviheader">Boards</div><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=0">Testing</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=1">General Discussion</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=2">Video Games</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=3">Anime and Manga</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=4">BlazBlue</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=5">Shin Megami Tensei</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=6">Earthbound</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=7">Phantasy Star</a><br /><a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/viewboard.php?board=8">Mobile Suit Gundam</a><br /></div>
<div class="postbox"><h4>CyanPrime</h4><hr />Welcome to the King's Gate BBS!</div>Page: [<a href="http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/index.php?page=0">0</a>]
</body>
</html>
Here is the CSS:
@charset "windows-1252";
body{
background-color: #EEFFF8;
color: #000000;
text-align: center;
}
.postbox{
text-align: left;
margin: auto;
background-color: #dbfef8;
border: 1px solid #82FFCD;
width: 50%;
margin-top: 10px;
}
.stickypostbox{
text-align: left;
margin: auto;
background-color: #F5FFFA;
border: 1px solid #82FFCD;
width: 50%;
margin-top: 10px;
}
h4{
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
color: #9932CC;
}
h1{
color: #551A8B;
}
hr{
color: #82FFCD;
background-color: #82FFCD;
height: 1px;
border: 0px dotted #82FFCD;
}
a{
color: #7F00FF;
text-decoration: none;
}
a:hover{
color: #7F00FF;
text-decoration: underline;
}
form{
margin: 0px auto;
width: 50%;
}
#formdiv {
background-color:#dbfef8;
border:1px solid #82FFCD;
}
.fielddiv1{
background-color: #f9f9f9;
border: 1px solid #DBFEF8;
vertical-align: middle;
width: 45%;
float: left;
}
.fielddiv2{
background-color: #f9f9f9;
border: 1px solid #DBFEF8;
vertical-align: middle;
width: 100%;
}
.fieldtext1{
width: 50%;
background-color: #82FFCD;
float: left;
}
.fieldtext2{
width: 100%;
background-color: #82FFCD;
}
#replydiv{
width: 100%;
background-color: #DBFEF8;
margin: 10px 0 10px 0;
}
#admindiv{
width: 100%;
background-color: #DBFEF8;
margin: 10px 0 10px 0;
}
#navi{
width: 200px;
background-color: #dbfef8;
border: 1px solid #82FFCD;
text-align: left;
float: left;
}
#naviheader{
width: 100%;
background-color: #82FFCD;
}
#submitbutton{
border: 1px solid #82FFCD;
background-color: #DBFEF8;
color: #000000;
margin-top: 5px;
width: 100px;
height: 20px;
}
#banner{
border: 1px solid #82FFCD;
}
.postbar{
margin-right: 0px;
margin-top: 0px;
}
.bannedtext{
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
color: #FF0000;
}
And here is the webpage so you can get some context (you'll notice that my "page [0]" is centered on the other boards, but not the index. http://prime.programming-designs.com/test_forum/
A:
The float on the left is pushing the content to the right. It's still centred across the line, but it's not centred across the page. Adding a large bottom margin to .postbox illustrates this.
Centreing problem illustrated http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9027/williamhtmlproblem.png
My suggestion would be to wrap the footer in a <div>. Either clear: both; (or just left), add margins on either end to compensate for the floated element, or give it position: absolute; left: 0; right: 0; to force centreing across the page.
|
At La Fonda, the Bachelor and I discover that a bird in the hand is worth two Bachelorettes.
We picked up this week's show right where we left off last Monday: on the floor outside the restroom. Kelsey was apparently so overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment, she had some sort of panic attack that involved store-bought brownies.
Let me give you a few behind the scenes anecdotes from this "event." We were upstairs in the La Fonda hotel in downtown Santa Fe. While we had some of that area locked down for production, the bathroom and hall were kept open. When Kelsey was writhing on the floor, several other guests that were staying on that floor walked by wondering what in the world was happening. I really felt sorry for Jade, who was stuck in the bathroom for about twenty minutes while the medic attended to Kelsey. Somehow in the middle of this attack, Kelsey decided what would make her feel better is alone time with Chris. Of course, up until that point we were all very worried for Kelsey, but the medic told our producers that she was going to be fine.
Chris was in the middle of an interview in a hotel room at the time and had no idea what was going on. I went to the room, filled Chris in on the situation and told him he should probably come check on her. He came downstairs, and the rest is what you saw on the show. The girls knew that once again Kelsey had gotten time with Chris, and they were none too pleased about it. The majority of the women were already starting to feel like Kelsey isn't being genuine and she had definitely become public enemy No. 1. Once we got everything and everybody put back together, we held the rose ceremony and said goodbye to Mackenzie and a woman named Samantha. I'm 86 percent sure Samantha wasn't actually on the show but rather a hotel guest that had snuck on the set, as I haven't seen or heard her this entire season. She seems like a very nice, pretty girl. Maybe we'll have her on the show in the future.
Apparently this woman's name is Samantha?
After a crazy night in Santa Fe, we packed our bags and headed to the Wild West town of Deadwood, South Dakota. The first thing Chris did was take a bunch of cowboy pictures. Why? I don't know, but it happened, as you saw. The first date this week went to the virgin Becca. Just so you keep your virgins straight, Becca is the quiet, sweet virgin who rarely talks about her virginity, doesn't cry, and up to this point hadn't kissed Chris. She's not to be confused with Ashley, the virgin who tells anybody who will listen about her virginity, does nothing but cry, and jumps Chris's bones anytime he's in the vicinity. OK now that we have our virgins straight, let's move on.
Story continues
Related: 'The Bachelor' Episode 6 Recap: 'I Better Get A Rose For This'
Becca and Chris had a very romantic date and they really seem to get along well. In all seriousness, I don't like to make a big deal out of the "virgin" thing, but you can tell intimacy is an issue with Becca. This is not good or bad and it's not something to be judged, but as far as her relationship with Chris goes, so far, it's an issue. She's not comfortable with her sexuality and she is nervous and slightly uncomfortable in intimate situations with Chris. She did relax towards the end of the date and gave him a very sweet kiss. Becca is a good girl and Chris seems to really like her.
Back at the hotel some of the girls finally confronted Kelsey. They admitted that they don't believe she's honest or sincere. Kelsey expressed that she couldn't believe such opinions existed about her. The stage was set for what happened later in the show.
But first there was the Big & Rich group date. For all of us country music fans on the show, this date was awesome. I'm a huge country music fan and as much as I enjoy all the musical guests we have on the show, I always enjoy the country acts the most. Big & Rich had the girls write and sing their own country music song and Chris was in on this too. Here's a rundown of the acts: Chris was terrible but gave a decent effort. Britt surprised me with how good she was. Kaitlyn went the street cred route and threw down a rap that wasn't horrible, but it was the easy way out and I can't blame her for that. Megan was also surprisingly great. Carly, who we knew would be good, lived up to the hype. And I have to give it up for Jade who was terrified but stepped up there, swallowed her pride, and let it go.
The big story on this date was Chris sneaking off with Britt to the Big & Rich concert. I'm not sure you could tell, but the date was taking place across town. It's a small town, so we're talking just a short walk, but still they took off and walked over to our hotel where the concert was taking place. They were gone over an hour at the show and the other women had no idea where they were. When they walked back in together still beaming from the show, I thought they were going to get beaten senseless. If looks could kill, the two of them wouldn't have stood a chance.
Chris sensed this and tried to say something eloquent to smooth things over, but it just wasn't happening. He said goodbye and got out of there as fast as he could. The women are really feeling strong emotions at this point and something like this really makes them feel left out. Was this unfair? That's a tough call. I'm sure all of you have an opinion, and I can't wait to hear what you think.
Obviously, the most talked about moment this week was the dreaded two-on-one date with Kelsey and Ashley. Before I break this down, I need to take a moment to urge this generation to please lose the phrase "I can't even" from your vocabulary. This should never, ever be said again, please and thank you.
OK, on to the date. I think the best way to break down what happened is via my simple, 13-step analysis.
1. Chris and the ladies fly out to the Badlands.
2. Ashley sells out Kelsey to Chris.
3. Chris sells out Ashley to Kelsey.
4. Kelsey stares at Ashley.
5. Ashley cries and confronts Chris.
6. Chris "can't even" and dumps Ashley.
7. Ashley cries some more, leaves, comes back, cries, leaves again.
8. Ashley really, really cries.
9. Chris talks to Kelsey and she says weird stuff.
10. Chris "just can't even" again and dumps Kelsey.
11. Chris gets in chopper and gets the hell out of the Badlands ASAP.
12. Word gets back to the ladies, and a party ensues.
So that's the two-on-one date in a nutshell. The reaction of the women back in Deadwood when they knew Kelsey was gone was unlike anything I've seen on this show. They literally threw a party to celebrate her departure. I can say with authority that this was truly the most dramatic two-on-one date in The Bachelor history.
So this is where we leave you. I think that was more than enough to handle for one week. I recommend you get some rest because next week we have a special two-night Bachelor spectacular: Starting Sunday at 8 p.m., you'll see the dramatic conclusion of our week in Deadwood with another shocking exit. Then we head to Chris's home state of Iowa, where we'll see stunning revelations (hint: Jade's past), and the drama between the women gets even more intense than ever. On top of all of that, we'll have exclusive interviews with Chris, the ever-controversial Kelsey, and for the first time since her break-up, we'll hear from our most recent Bachelorette, Andi, in an unbelievably emotional interview you'll have to see to believe. So rest up, stay hydrated, and I'll see you on Sunday at 8 p.m.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC. |
All it’s cracked up to be?
It has been a little over a year since the White House launched it’s “We the People” website to encourage online engagement in national issues. Has it worked? In the Washington Post, David Nakamura looks at how the platform has been used so far and answers “not really”:
The people have spoken, but it might not be what the Obama administration expected to hear. More than a year after it was launched, an ambitious White House online petition program aimed at encouraging civic participation has become cluttered with thousands of demands that are often little more than extended Internet jokes. Interest has escalated in the wake of Obama’s reelection, which spurred more than a dozen efforts from tens of thousands of petitioners seeking permission for their states to secede from the union. |
Effect of temperature and calcium on the diastolic length-tension relationship of rat heart muscle.
Experiments were performed on strips from the right ventricle of the rat in order to investigate the influence of temperature and Ca++-removal on the length-tension relationship. Temperature change (22-38 degrees) had no effect on the resting, non-stimulated muscle. The isometric minima curves of the electrically stimulated preparations at 18 degrees and 38 degrees (diastolic length-tension relationship), however, were shifted to the right compared to those at 28 degrees. When temperature decreased (at fixed muscle length), the diastolic tension surmounted a maximum at the optimal temperature (28 degrees) and declined with further cooling. Moreover the electrolyte exchange characteristics (Ca, K, Na), which follow upon a variation in temperature, were studied. The calcium content of the stimulated preparations showed a similar dependence on temperature as the diastolic tension, indicating that calcium might play a role with respect to the influence of temperature on the diastolic length-tension relationship. Indeed an addition of EDTA to the bath solution caused a parallel shift of the isometric minima curve to the right. These results show that an active mechanism might contribute to the increase of diastolic tension in response to stretch. |
PHOTOS: Celebrities Support Mohanlal
Celebrities of Malayalam movie industry, including actors Mammootty, Joy Mathew, Meera Nandan, Pearle Maaney, Directors Lal Jose, B Unnikrishnan, Major Ravi etc offered their full support for actor Mohanlal, who has been going through a tough phase. Mohanlal has been harshly criticized for the poor performance of his band Lalisom, in National Games inaugural function.
The controversies regarding Lalisom band has been doing rounds since last few days. The media and the authorities of National Games, blamed Mohanlal and his band Lalisom, for the disastrous inaugural ceremony. The Sports Minister of Kerala, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, even went on to declare that Mohanlal failed to impress with Lalisom.
Mohanlal was mercilessly attacked by the media and public; to the much disappointment of the actor, as well as his close associates. The actor later went on decide that he will be returning the amount 1.6 crores, which he received as the remuneration for the show, to Government.
Reportedly, the Government has decided not to accept Mohanlal's repayment and Cheif Minister Oommen Chandy has requested the actor to change his decision. But, the actor has no plans to change his decision. As per the reports, Mohanlal himself paid the remunerations of the singers and technicians, who participated at the event.
According to the rumour mills, many of the close associates of Mohanlal were against to actor's decision to form a musical band. Mohanlal's best buddies, including singer MG Sreekumar had advised the actor that performing in a big event like National Games inaugural function is not an easy task.
But some other friends of the actor, including best pal director Priyadarshan, had supported Mohanlal to proceed with his decision. If the reports are to be believed, Lalisom has caused a big financial loss for the actor. According to show coordinator Ratheesh Vega, the lack of practice and preparations are the factors which led to the failure of the show.
Check out the slides for the celebrities who supported Mohanlal during the crisis...
Mammootty
Mammootty declared full support for his dear friend Mohanlal, in a recent press conference. The actor requested the media and public to stop attacking Mohanlal. Mammootty feels that a person like Mohanlal doesn't deserves a better treatment from his fans and media.
Joy Mathew
Joy Mathew, through his Facebook page offered his support for Mohanlal. The actor stated that Lalisom's failure cannot be considered as Mohanlal's failure. He also appreciated Mohanlal, for his decision to return the remuneration to authorities.
Lal Jose
Lal Jose offered his support for Mohanlal, by sharing the Facebook post of actor Joy Mathew.
B Unnikrishnan
B Unnikrishnan, the director who is also a close relative of Mohanlal, has stood up for the actor, since the controversies started.
Major Ravi
Major Ravi, a close associate of Mohanlal, has also been in full support for the actor, since the controversies started.
Meera Nandan
Meera Nandan, the actress who offered her full support for Mohanlal, stated that a true Mohanlal fan will never forger the glorious 36 years of the his acting career.
Pearle Maaney
Pearle Maaney, the popular Television host cum actress, also stated her support for Mohanlal, through her official Facebook page. |
Q:
JS Object destructuring a required library line of code?
I am getting an es linting error for this line of code below, saying I need to use object destructuring.
const myTest = require('chai').myTest;
How do I do this for requiring a library?
A:
Just put the library expression on the right-hand side of the assignment operator, destructuring a require call is no different from destructuring any object:
const { myTest } = require('chai');
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic mail transfer device for relaying an electronic mail transmitted and transferring the electronic mail thus relayed to plural reception terminals and a system having the electronic mail transfer device, and a telephone number transfer device for relaying a telephone number allocated to a telephone at a call originating side and transferring the telephone number thus relayed to a telephone at a call receiving side and a system having the telephone number transfer device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellular phones that can transmit/receive electronic mails through the Internet have recently become pervasive. In connection with the pervasion of such cellular phones, services of transmitting various information such as position information, vacancy situation information or the like of hospitals, hotels, transportations, restaurants, amusement centers or the like are provided to clients having cellular phones through Webs, and services of receiving reservations of hotels, restaurants, amusement centers or the like through electronic mails are provided to clients having cellular phones.
When various services as described above are provided, a client transmits his/her name, cellular phone number and electronic mail address with which the client is specified, and his/her desired service content to an information providing side in an electronic form. The information providing side which receives these information pieces specifies a service to be provided to the client and provides the service thus specified to the client, whereby the client is provided with the his/her desired service.
Further, there is an electronic mail transfer-service of transmitting electronic mails for pay or at no charge under the condition that users watch advertisements. In the electronic mail transfer-service, when a user obtains a new electronic mail address in addition to his/her primary mail address which has been hitherto used, and transmits an electronic mail by using the new electronic mail address in place of the primary mail address, an electronic mail transmitted to the new electronic mail address is transferred to the primary mail address.
However, when information to be transmitted/received between a client and a service provider is transmitted/received in an electronic form, the electronic mail address may be leaked from one of plural transmission routes for electronic mails, or if a receiver who receives an electronic mail informs another person about the electronic mail address of the transmitter of the electronic mail, an electronic mail may be mischievously transmitted to the transmitter by the other person or an undesired electronic mail such as an advertisement mail from an enterprise may be transmitted. Accordingly, if clients receive such undesired electronic mails, these electronic mails would be unintentionally stocked and thus the clients could not receive important electronic mails. If things come to the worst, it may be needed for the clients to change their electronic mail addresses.
Besides, it may be considered that a client is provided with an electronic mail transfer-service for the time being and if undesired electronic mails are mischievously stocked, the client cancels his/her electronic mail address. However, in this case, there occurs a case where the client cannot obtain important information mailed to the electronic mail address thus canceled. |
Effect of melatonin supplementation on the ontogeny of immunity in the Large White turkey poult.
An experiment was performed to determine the effect of melatonin supplementation on the ontogeny of immunity in the Large White turkey poult. Melatonin (50 microg/mL) or diluent only (control) was administered via the drinking water from hatch to 28 d of age. The cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH) reaction to phytohemagglutinin (PHA-P) and primary antibody responses to Chukar red blood cells (CRBC) were determined at five intervals; 0, 1, 7, 14, and 21 d posthatch. At each of these times, including 28 d posthatch, 10 poults were killed and lymphoid organ and body weights were determined. Melatonin administration accelerated (P < or = 0.05) the development of cell-mediated (PHA-P-induced CBH reaction) and humoral (CRBC-induced antibody titer) immune responses, and these responses were elevated above controls through 21 d posthatch. The bursal weight, but not thymus or spleen, was elevated in melatonin treated poults as compared to controls. Body weights were increased in melatonin treated poults as compared to controls. These data suggest that posthatch melatonin supplementation is beneficial to neonatal immune parameters and growth responses of Large White turkey poults. |
Volume 2, Issue 1
This qualitative historical case study examines how the Garden City Telegram, a small community daily newspaper, diverged from an episodic, conflict-driven frame for the debate over federal immigration reform in the 1980s and 1990s by promoting immigrants as potential citizens rather than outsiders. Qualitative content assessment of locally originated articles, opinion pieces, and wire stories in the Telegram found it promoted community dialogue by including Latino leaders in the conversation. It emphasized thematic coverage that explored the reasons for immigrants’ presence and contributions to life in southwest Kansas.
Community newspapers in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina hold a front row seat to critical early presidential primary elections; they cover those elections, however, with an exclusive focus on coverage of candidate visits to local communities. Unlike national media, which focus primarily on “horse race” campaign coverage, community newspaper editors and publishers say they consider a candidate’s standing in state and national polls unimportant to their coverage; equally inconsequential are a candidate’s character, values, issues and policies. This survey of community newspaper editors and publishers supports gatekeeping theory but refutes its focus on normative, labeling and conscious deviance. It also helps develop literature on the “relentlessly local” focus of community journalism.
A challenge for media in a culturally complex world is building a sense of community between groups with strong cultural cleavages. In South Africa, a fledgling democratic republic is making concerted efforts to foster media that will help to overcome a history of oppression based on difference. A qualitative analysis of interviews with 62 respondents found that the community journalists see themselves as community educators whose role transcends reporting the news. The community journalists interviewed are experimenting with new partnerships and new ways of reporting the news. However, the respondents disagree on the way news should be reported, with some opting for a more solution-oriented approach. The findings underscore that the greatest obstacle to these efforts is finding a way to foster sustainable media that serve historically marginalized communities. |
Aaron Sorkin responds to critcism of The Social Network's portrayal of women - InfinityX0
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/10/aaron_sorkin_would_like_to_go.html?mid=agenda--20101012
======
Jun8
This feel-good post really riled me up.
"More generally, I was writing about a very angry and deeply misogynistic
group of people. These aren't the cuddly nerds we made movies about in the
80's. They're very angry that the cheerleader still wants to go out with the
quarterback." This is stupid because (i) nerds were _never_ cuddly, it's just
that in the 80s Hollywood created a fantasy kid-nerd persona (e.g. _War Games_
) that was out of sync with reality, and (ii) being a frustrated nerdy guy and
being angry with the cheerleader does not make you "deeply misogynistic",
that's just being young. I was like that once, as I believe most HNers were at
one point.
* "I didn't invent the "F--k Truck", it's real and the men (boys) at the final clubs think it's what they deserve for being who they are". Yep, there's even a Wikipedia page for this bus: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellesley_College_Senate_bus>, it's a well known fact.
In the end, what is Sorkin trying to prove or apologize for. That the stuff
depicted in the movie was totally fictional (it wasn't)? That even if it's
real we shouldn't make movies about this sort of thing? (Then how are we
categorically different than, say, China or Iran?)
Look, all the girls (and boys) who partake in these activities are adults and
over 18, what they do is their decision. If they want to blow Zuck in the
restroom that's OK, nobody's forcing them to do it.
|
Clean Technology. Made Simple.
It saddens me when I hear people, not involved in the utility industry, talk about demand response (DR) as an inconvenience to customers. It frustrates me when people within the utility industry tell the same story and claim DR will deliver no value.
I believe it’s time for a national education program to create a more informed energy consumer. We need a campaign that cuts through the complexity and negative spin that many in our industry create.
A well designed and executed demand response program works. It will result in helping to deliver a reliable supply of energy at reduced rates and with lower impact on the environment as compared to just building more capacity. If we educate customers as to why this is important and what’s in it for them, they will come on board. If we make it clear they have the choice to opt-in, or opt-out, you kill any concerns that they feel they are giving up control. Hundreds of programs around the world show it works. You don’t even have to look that far, our friends in Queensland have been successfully running demand response for years with consumer’s air conditioners.
We need to move away from creating unnecessary fear and uncertainty in the community, just because it is something we don’t understand or don’t believe in. I respect some consumers will have no interest in changing their energy usage for a few hours a year in return for a small financial reward. However, many will jump at the opportunity.
With the right awareness, people will soon realise that they will be rewarded with positive experiences. I have seen examples where people bring the family together during demand response events and turn off the Air Conditioners in all other rooms in the house. They pop out for dinner with the family, or they go and visit friends. Demand Response is not about making yourself uncomfortable. It’s about making some smart decisions to be flexible when you consume energy, even for just a few hours a year. In return, you get an immediate financial reward, and longer term you are helping place downward pressure on rates.
Let’s credit people’s intelligence. If they understood why demand response is important, and we helped give them examples of how they can help, they would jump on board.
Is it time for a national education program for consumers to understand the value of Flexible Energy and let them make the choice for themselves?
.
.
.
Contact me to find out how to leverage energy data to increase customer value and deliver business growth. |
Top 3 Best Android Fashion Apps Reviews
Top 3 Best Android Fashion Apps Reviews : The Internet has now changed the way we think about fashion. There was a time when people had to search the market physically and roam around all day just to buy a scarf or a pair of jeans, but now, things have changed to a whole another level. Now, everything that you want is just a search away.
Now, you can not only buy stuff online, in fact, you can also keep yourself updated about the latest fashion trends in the world. It’s just amazing how we have all the access to fashion now, you just type a word and your screen gets bombarded with results and sites that are waiting for so long to be explored by you.
Now, if you are a fashionista who loves to buy things online and keep herself updated about the latest fashion trends in the world then you are at the right place, reading the right article. Today we are going to jot down some of the best Android fashion apps that have the best quality stuff to buy, and some of them even have a blog section where you can learn a lot about styling yourself according to a particular event or weather.
Etsy
Etsy App
Etsy is one of the best and the most used fashion apps in the world because it has literally millions of things that you can buy just with a click. This application is for free which is again the best part, and you just have to pay the money for the stuff you buy on it. Etsy comes with everything that makes you a fashionista. From jewelry to clothes to furniture and home decor etc, here you will find each and everything. There’s even a search engine on this app where you just type an item that you are looking for and Etsy will bring the results of it to you within seconds.
The Hunt
Hunt App
A marketplace just like Etsy but a little more advanced and helpful because here people can even post stuff and use it as a blog. Most of the times, what happens is that a person uploads a picture of an item asking for the different prices from people who have already bought it, and then these other people help the buyers in getting a cheaper version of the same thing. You can say that this application also allows you to compare prices for products so that you end up spending the right money on the right item. There are a few downsides to this application, and that is the presence of bugs, but on the other hand you won’t find any other fashion community like the one that’s present on the Hunt. This is why you should always read reviews of a site or a product before buying it from sites like Top Reviews Site. This can help you get a clearer idea of what you are spending your money and time on.
Pinterest
Pinterest App
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Conclusion
These are some of the best and the most famous Android applications for all the fashion lovers out there. So, now without wasting any further time, just get your hands on any one of the above-mentioned apps or download them all to get the best fashion experience ever. |
Q:
replace all column values except one with mean values in all rows in R
Suppose I have dataframe as follows,
> test <- data.frame(a=6:15, b=14:23, c= rep(1:5,2))
> test
a b c
1 6 14 1
2 7 15 2
3 8 16 3
4 9 17 4
5 10 18 5
6 11 19 1
7 12 20 2
8 13 21 3
9 14 22 4
10 15 23 5
I want to make the data frame as follows,
a b c
1 10.5 18.5 1
2 10.5 18.5 2
3 10.5 18.5 3
4 10.5 18.5 4
5 10.5 18.5 5
where the values are ,
> mean(test$a)
[1] 10.5
> mean(test$b)
[1] 18.5
> unique(test$c)
[1] 1 2 3 4 5
Can anybody help me in converting the dataframe as required? My try is,
data.frame(a=rep(mean(test$a),5), b=rep(mean(test$b),5), c=unique(test$c))
But when I have more number of variables, it becomes difficult to use this way and it is not efficient also. Is there a easy and better way to do this?
A:
You can try:
data.frame(c(list(c=unique(test$c)),lapply(test[-3],mean)))
# c a b
#1 1 10.5 18.5
#2 2 10.5 18.5
#3 3 10.5 18.5
#4 4 10.5 18.5
#5 5 10.5 18.5
|
import * as React from 'react';
import createSvgIcon from './utils/createSvgIcon';
export default createSvgIcon(
<path d="M12 9c.55 0 1-.45 1-1V6h2c.55 0 1-.45 1-1s-.45-1-1-1h-2V2c0-.55-.45-1-1-1s-1 .45-1 1v2H9c-.55 0-1 .45-1 1s.45 1 1 1h2v2c0 .55.45 1 1 1zm-5 9c-1.1 0-1.99.9-1.99 2S5.9 22 7 22s2-.9 2-2-.9-2-2-2zm10 0c-1.1 0-1.99.9-1.99 2s.89 2 1.99 2 2-.9 2-2-.9-2-2-2zm-8.9-5h7.45c.75 0 1.41-.41 1.75-1.03l3.38-6.13c.27-.48.09-1.09-.39-1.36-.48-.26-1.09-.09-1.35.39L15.55 11H8.53L4.54 2.57c-.16-.35-.52-.57-.9-.57H2c-.55 0-1 .45-1 1s.45 1 1 1h1l3.6 7.59-1.35 2.44C4.52 15.37 5.48 17 7 17h11c.55 0 1-.45 1-1s-.45-1-1-1H7l1.1-2z" />
, 'AddShoppingCartRounded');
|
A sweet satchel with a scalloped-edge trim with pretty laser-cut floral detailing, gold-colored elements including a pushlock clasp, and side pockets. Includes a carry handle and individual interior compartments.
The Adrienne Vittadini Pebble Grain Faux Leather Dome Satchel bag is a great option for activity-packed days. Crafted using pebble grain PU, this bag gets an appealing look. The large main compartment is ideal to store a number of essentials safely as you travel. It has a fully lined interior to keep it protected from wear and tear over a longer period.
They'll be jealous of you in the Jessica by Qupid! This jaw-dropping pump is made with a soft lustrous faux leather and gold chain straps. A 5 3/4 inch heel and 1 inch platform are wrapped in the cool tangerine shade while a zipper in the back completes the look. Man Made Upper/Man Made Sole. orange.
See and be scene in this dramatic style staple. Complete with a fierce 6 inch heel, T-strap peep toe and all over studding, you're ready to take on the night with the bold 1 1/2 inch platform. Man Made Upper/Man made sole.. black.
See and be scene in this dramatic style staple. Complete with a fierce 6 inch heel, T-strap peep toe and all over studding, you're ready to take on the night with the bold 1 1/2 inch platform. Man Made Upper/Man made sole.. blue. |
All data are available here: <http://doi.org/10.3886/E100174V1>.
Introduction {#sec001}
============
> *Perhaps the most compelling way for implicit social cognition to establish its relevance to the study of politics is to enhance researchers' ability to predict political behavior. (p. 558)* \[[@pone.0163872.ref001]\]
Explaining the political behavior of people lies at the heart of political research. In fact, opinion and exit polls have become an indispensable part of contemporary democracies. However, when asked to indicate their voting intention, people may either reveal which party or candidate they plan to vote for, or they may report themselves as being undecided. Irrespective of whether they are in fact undecided or simply unwilling to report their voting intention, undecided voters represent a major source of uncertainty when it comes to predicting the outcome of an election or vote. For this reason, political scientists have been looking for ways to improve polling accuracy by allocating undecided voters to the respective candidates, parties, or political camps. While many of these attempts have been based on using voter registration data \[[@pone.0163872.ref002]\], more recent attempts have focused on using implicit attitudes in order to improve the measurement and prediction of political behavior. Unlike explicit (i.e., self-reported) attitudes, implicit attitudes are more likely to operate below conscious awareness. In fact, previous research (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref003]\]) has demonstrated that although people may be aware of their implicit attitudes, they may not be aware of (and thus not necessarily endorse) the ways in which their implicit preferences may impact their behavior. Hence, in the political realm, individuals' implicit attitudes toward parties or candidates may affect their eventual voting behavior beyond their explicit attitudes. To date, the most widely used method to measure implicit attitudes is the implicit association test (IAT) \[[@pone.0163872.ref004]\]. While IATs have been used in many different domains, they were found to perform particularly well for the prediction of political behavior \[[@pone.0163872.ref005]\]. In fact, IATs were shown to provide predictive validity over and above explicit measures in a number of studies conducted ahead of political elections \[[@pone.0163872.ref006]--[@pone.0163872.ref008]\]. Therefore, evidence strongly suggests that political pollsters should take into account both explicit and implicit measures when concerned with the prediction of voting behavior.
In this article, I build on these and more recent findings \[[@pone.0163872.ref009], [@pone.0163872.ref010]\] suggesting that IATs may be more useful for the prediction of voting behavior in the case of specific political issues (rather than political elections) as a result of less elaborated attitudes toward these issues. If this is true, then IATs should be useful tools for the prediction of political outcomes in Switzerland, where people frequently decide on issue-related referendums. In contrast to political elections where voting behavior is typically determined by long-lasting party affiliations, voting on referendums represents a much more complex situation. In Swiss federal votes, coalitions often span across traditional party lines and voters frequently deal with highly complex issues. As a result, attitudes toward these issues most likely tend to be less elaborated than attitudes toward political parties and candidates. Somewhat surprisingly, however, no efforts have yet been made to investigate the predictive validity of IATs for vote outcomes in Swiss referendums. For this reason, I have first assessed the predictive validity of different types (traditional computer vs. computer-administered paper-format) of single-target implicit association tests (ST-IAT) in two studies that were conducted ahead of votes on such diverse issues as the purchase of fighter jets, minimum wage implementation, and public health insurance. In a second step, I have investigated whether implicit attitudes can add to the explanation of voting behavior of decided and undecided voters in the case of a very controversial referendum on immigration. All three studies were conducted online. In what follows, I will outline the most recent findings on the use of implicit attitudes for the prediction of political behavior and then present evidence from all three studies.
Using Implicit Attitude Measures for the Prediction of Political Behavior {#sec002}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
At first, implicit measures were seen as fit instruments to predict spontaneous, uncontrolled behavior, while rather unfit for predicting behavior in situations where people engage in deliberation and thus exert control over their behavior (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref011]\]). As such, the value of IATs was deemed rather low for the prediction of political behavior. However, the focus soon shifted to mixture or additive models in which both explicit and implicit measures were believed to uniquely contribute to the explanation of (political) behavior \[[@pone.0163872.ref012]\]. In the political domain, Karpinski and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref013]\] were first to use IAT scores to predict voting intention in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. They found IAT scores to be a significant predictor of voting intention. However, implicit attitudes no longer predicted voting intention once they controlled for explicit attitudes such as self-reported liking of the two candidates. Concerning the prediction of actual voting behavior, Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref006]\] used IATs for the first time in the lead-up to the 2002 parliamentary elections in Germany and found incremental predictive validity of Single-Target IATs (ST-IAT) for the five major political parties. Although self-reported party preferences were stronger predictors of voting intention and actual voting behavior, the implicit measures added significantly to the explanation of voting behavior. Hence, their findings were the first evidence in favor of additive prediction models in the domain of politics. In yet another study conducted in the lead-up to national elections, Arcuri and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref007]\] also found predictive validity of IATs. More importantly, they found IATs to be significant predictors of voting behavior among both decided and undecided voters. Their findings were highly intriguing, as they increased optimism in the use of implicit measures for voters who do not − for whatever reason − report their voting intention. In a parallel study, Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] first tested the utility of IATs in predicting future opinion and choice in the case of a local political issue in Italy. They found that for participants who were initially undecided, future (i.e., one week later) opinion about the enlargement of a U.S. military base was significantly predicted by a measure obtained in a Single-Category IAT (SC-IAT) \[[@pone.0163872.ref014]\]. Explicit attitudes, however, did not predict future opinions. Interestingly, for decided subjects, the pattern was exactly reversed. Against the background of their results, Galdi and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] discussed convincing explanations for why implicit attitudes may be particularly useful for predicting the behavior of undecided individuals: while in the process of decision-making, the implicit attitude leads individuals to selectively expose themselves to information that corresponds with their implicit attitudes. As a result of the biasing influence of implicit attitudes, undecided voters may eventually develop a conscious (i.e., explicit) preference for one political party or candidate and this may then determine their ultimate vote decision. In addition, implicit attitudes may also predict voting behavior independent of their role in forming explicit attitudes. For example, implicit attitudes may lead to biased interpretations of information such as voting options even at the time of the vote. Interestingly, the authors successfully demonstrated their biased-processing account in a follow-up study \[[@pone.0163872.ref015]\].
In two recent studies, Roccato and Zogmaister \[[@pone.0163872.ref008]\] and Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\] used IATs in the context of either national or presidential elections in Italy, Germany, and the United States. While both studies report evidence in favor of the additive prediction model, Friese and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\] found that explicit attitudes were better predictors of actual vote choice for both decided and undecided voters, while implicit attitudes were better predictors for the voting behavior of decided rather than undecided voters. As these findings are in contrast to Galdi et al.'s \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] results, the authors seek an explanation by pointing to the moderating role of cognitive elaboration. They argue that high cognitive elaboration will be reflected in high consistency (i.e., high overlap) between the implicit and explicit measure (see also \[[@pone.0163872.ref008], [@pone.0163872.ref013], [@pone.0163872.ref016]\] for this argument). As a consequence, it will be difficult for the implicit measure to predict incrementally over the explicit measure. Different study results may thus be explained by different levels of cognitive elaboration. For example, elaboration of attitudes may be lower in the case of specific political issues as in the Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] study but rather high in the case of political party or candidate preferences. Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\] indeed show that correlations between their implicit and explicit measures were much stronger than in Galdi and colleagues' study \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\]. Finally, Lundberg and Payne \[[@pone.0163872.ref017]\] used the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) to capture implicit attitudes and a more precise measure of decidedness than the typically used dichotomous operationalization. Concretely, they used a continuous measure for confidence in one's voting intention (1 = "not sure at all" to 5 = "extremely sure"), finding that at high levels of confidence, explicit attitudes are much stronger predictors than implicit attitudes, while at low levels of confidence, implicit and explicit attitudes are equally predictive of voting behavior. Moreover, Lundberg and Payne \[[@pone.0163872.ref017]\] provide a strong argument for why implicit attitudes may help to foresee the behavior of undecided voters: they show that confidence in one's vote is a function of the strength of one's explicit attitude toward the party or candidate. Hence, when individuals report themselves as either decided or undecided, they draw upon their explicit attitudes, neglecting their implicit attitudes. This, in turn, explains why explicit measures were found to be better predictors for the voting behavior of decided voters \[[@pone.0163872.ref009], [@pone.0163872.ref010], [@pone.0163872.ref017]\], while implicit measures were found to be good predictors for the voting behavior of both decided and undecided voters \[[@pone.0163872.ref007], [@pone.0163872.ref017]\].
Taken together, there is converging evidence \[[@pone.0163872.ref006], [@pone.0163872.ref008], [@pone.0163872.ref010], [@pone.0163872.ref017]\] in favor of additive prediction models that take into account both explicit and implicit measures. In other words, both explicit and implicit measures should be considered when predicting the outcome of political elections or votes. However, there is also convincing evidence on when implicit attitudes may be particularly useful and when they are not. In several studies \[[@pone.0163872.ref008], [@pone.0163872.ref010], [@pone.0163872.ref013], [@pone.0163872.ref017]\] conducted before political elections, the incremental predictive validity of IATs was relatively small as a result of rather high correlations between explicit and implicit measures. As discussed in Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\], high consistency between the two types of measures may be the result of high cognitive elaboration. Because party or candidate preferences are well-elaborated attitudes, (ST-)IATs may be less attractive for predictions in the case of political elections. Yet, they may still be useful to predict voting behavior, particularly among undecided voters, in the case of specific political issues \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\]. Due to its direct democratic political system, Switzerland provides a perfect setting for testing the predictive validity of (ST-)IATs in the context of national referendums. To my knowledge, however, no efforts have been made as yet in this direction. For all these reasons, I first examined two different types of ST-IATs and then selected one of them to assess its predictive validity for both decided and undecided voters in the case of a crucial referendum in Switzerland.
Study 1 {#sec003}
=======
The first study was conducted between April 28, 2014 and May 7, 2014 and included two ST-IATs for assessing respondents' implicit attitudes toward two referendums: first, a popular initiative for implementing a national minimum wage, and second, a referendum about the purchase of 22 Gripen fighter jets worth 3.1 billion Swiss francs. The vote was held on May 18, 2014. Both referendums were rejected (minimum wage initiative: 76.3 percent; Gripen referendum: 53.4 percent). The main goal of Study 1 was to get a first hint on whether ST-IATs can be used for the prediction of voting behavior in Swiss referendums. To this end, a small student sample was deemed sufficient and no power analysis was conducted to determine sample size. Instead, the survey was kept active until no additional responses were registered. Furthermore, because a pretest had shown that correspondence between voting intention and voting behavior is high (*r* = .81), a one-wave design was chosen. That is, subjects were only surveyed before the vote and asked to report their voting intention or vote choice if they had already voted.
Methods {#sec004}
-------
### Ethics statement {#sec005}
The study was conducted online. All subjects were older than 18 years of age. In the invitation, subjects received brief information about the topic (Swiss Federal Votes) and the duration of the study as well as the researcher involved and his affiliation. On the first page, subjects were informed about the measures involved (questionnaire and two implicit association tests). At the end of the study, subjects received contact information. All data was analyzed anonymously and no identifying data (e.g., names) were collected. At the author's faculty (Faculty of Arts, University of Zurich) the IRB asks researchers to self-assess the ethical soundness of their research using a checklist and only seek approval from the IRB if one of the questions is answered affirmatively. This was not the case for the present study.
### Participants {#sec006}
Participants were 268 (47.4% males, 52.6% females) students, doctoral students, and employees of the University of Zurich. They received an email invite and were told that the study was about the upcoming national votes. Furthermore, they were asked to participate only if they are entitled to vote. Subjects' mean age was 30.90 years (SD = 10.03) and they received no compensation in exchange for their participation.
### Procedure {#sec007}
The entire study was written and administered using the Inquisit software and hosted at <http://www.millisecond.com>. After completing a short questionnaire on socio-demographic questions and questions pertaining to political interest and partisanship, participants completed the two ST-IATs in randomized order.
### Measures {#sec008}
Implicit attitudes toward the two referendums were measured using a similar ST-IAT as the one used in Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref006]\] (see also \[[@pone.0163872.ref018], [@pone.0163872.ref019]\]). However, unlike their ST-IAT, I used an additional block of 15 trials ahead of each critical block, leading to a total number of 50 trials for each combination (see [Table 1](#pone.0163872.t001){ref-type="table"}). This procedure was chosen because of the results from a pretest in which the predictive validity of the ST-IAT was unsatisfactory due to an order effect that occurred as a result of the low number of trials. As in Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref006]\], however, block and stimulus order were kept constant across respondents with each respondent starting with the positive vs. negative AND referendum response set. As can be seen in [Table 1](#pone.0163872.t001){ref-type="table"}, subjects started with a practice block of 20 trials in which they had to discriminate between positive and negative words. Next, they completed two blocks of 15 and 35 trials in which positive attributes were assigned to the left-key (i.e., "E") and negative attributes and words representing the respective referendum were assigned to the right-key (i.e., "I"). Finally, in the fourth and fifth block, the combination was reversed such that positive words and political stimuli were assigned to the left-key, while the right-key was left for negative words. Both evaluative categories were represented by five words (e.g., joy, love, stink, poison) while the two referendums were represented by three pictures (e.g., campaign poster) and two text stimuli (e.g., Swiss army) (see [S1 Appendix](#pone.0163872.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). For calculating the ST-IAT scores, I used the improved scoring algorithm D2 proposed by Greenwald et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref020]\]. Thus, all trials with response latencies less than 400 ms or greater than 10 seconds were discarded from the analyses, and a built-in error penalty was used in the case of incorrect responses. The resulting score can take on values between −2 and +2 and has several advantages. First, it provides a measure for both the direction and strength of one's implicit attitude. Second, it applies a penalty for respondent errors and thus for very low latencies produced when sorting errors are committed. Finally, by dividing the difference in block means by its corresponding pooled standard deviation, the algorithm takes the respondent's variability of response latencies into account \[[@pone.0163872.ref020]\]. The order of the two ST-IATs was randomized across participants.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t001
###### Sequence of Trial Blocks in ST-IATs in Study 1.
{#pone.0163872.t001g}
ST-IAT Block Items assigned to left-key response Items assigned to right-key response No. of Trials
-------- ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- ---------------
1 1 Positive words Negative words 20
2 Positive words Negative words & Minimum wage initiative 15
3 Positive words Negative words & Minimum wage initiative 35
4 Positive words & Minimum wage initiative Negative words 15
5 Positive words & Minimum wage initiative Negative words 35
2 1 Positive words Negative words 20
2 Positive words Negative words & Gripen referendum 15
3 Positive words Negative words & Gripen referendum 35
4 Positive words & Gripen referendum Negative words 15
5 Positive words & Gripen referendum Negative words 35
Notes: The ST-IAT score is based on data from blocks 2,3,4 and 5. Block order was fixed across participants. For stimuli presentation, a fixed random order was used.
In this very preliminary study, the explicit measure was an 11-point scale for political orientation (0 = *extreme left* to 10 = *extreme right*) with higher values indicating a more rightist placement. Although political orientation did not represent a self-reported evaluation of the respective referendums (and thus measured a somewhat different construct), it was a good starting point for comparing the predictive validity of implicit and explicit measures. In fact, left-right (or liberal-conservative) self placement is one of the most prominent political measures routinely used in political surveys. In addition, it has been repeatedly found to be a strong predictor of political voting behavior, accounting for up to 85 percent of its variance \[[@pone.0163872.ref021]\]. It indeed turned out that both voting for the minimum wage initiative (*r* = −.66, *p* \< .001) and the Gripen referendum (*r* = .48, *p* \< .001) were closely related to participants' political orientation.
Voting intention was measured using the following question: "What do you plan to vote at (i) the popular initiative 'for a national minimum wage' (ii) the 'Gripen referendum'?" Response options were 'Yes', 'No', 'Don't know'. Undecided participants (*N*~*Min*.*wage*~ = 26, *N*~*Gripen*~ = 17) were excluded from the analyses. This left 154 decided voters for the minimum wage initiative and 163 decided voters for the Gripen referendum. Intentions to vote against the referendum were coded as 0, and intentions to vote in favor of it were coded as 1.
Voting behavior was measured with the following question: 'How did you vote at (i) the popular initiative 'for a national minimum wage' (ii) the 'Gripen referendum'?" Response options were 'Yes', 'No', 'Abstained'. For both referendums, 86 participants reported their vote choice (there were no abstentions). Votes against the referendum were coded as 0, and votes in favor of it were coded as 1.
Results and Discussion {#sec009}
----------------------
### Preliminary analyses {#sec010}
For each ST-IAT, I calculated the Spearman-Brown corrected split-half reliability as the correlation between the ST-IAT score of blocks 2 and 4 with the ST-IAT score of blocks 3 and 5. This led to similar reliability estimates for the minimum wage initiative (*r* = .57) and the Gripen referendum (*r* = .52). In addition, I examined the correspondence between the implicit and explicit measure for both referendums. In previous research (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref010], [@pone.0163872.ref013]\]), high implicit-explicit correspondence has been explained with well-elaborated attitudes. As a consequence, strong correlations between implicit and explicit attitudes were associated with high predictive validity of implicit attitudes overall but only little predictive value over and above explicit measures. Interestingly, I found only moderate correlations between the implicit and explicit measure for both the minimum wage initiative (*r* = −.40) and the Gripen referendum (*r* = .36). In addition, correlations did not significantly differ between participants who had already voted on the minimum wage initiative (*r* = −.48, *p* \< .001) and those who had not yet voted but at least developed a voting intention (*r* = −.37, *p* \< .001; *z* = −0.93, *p* of the difference between correlations = .35). In the case of the Gripen referendum, the correlations between the implicit and explicit measure were almost identical across the two groups of voters (Already voted: *r* = .33, *p* \< .001, Decided: *r* = .38, *p* \< .001; *z* = −0.39, *p* of the difference between correlations = .70). Taken together, these findings are consistent with the argument made in previous research (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref010], [@pone.0163872.ref022]\]) that attitudes toward political issues are less elaborated than attitudes toward political parties or candidates.
### Voting intention and voting behavior {#sec011}
Due to the one-wave design of the study, there is no data on undecided voters' eventual voting decision. For this reason, I could not run a separate analysis on undecided voters. Therefore, in this very preliminary study, I cannot speak to the question of whether implicit attitudes are better predictors for undecided than decided voters. However, I can still assess the predictive value of implicit attitudes for the prediction of decided respondents' voting intention and behavior in Swiss federal votes in general and beyond explicit measures.
[Table 2](#pone.0163872.t002){ref-type="table"} shows that for both referendums, implicit attitudes (models 1a) predicted voting intention. In fact, implicit attitudes allowed for the correct classification (% CCC) of 85.1 percent of (decided) voters in the case of the Gripen referendum, but they only predicted 62.8 percent of cases correctly in the case of the minimum wage initiative. The explicit measure (models 1b) outperformed the implicit measure on both occassions, correctly classifying 81.8 percent of cases (minimum wage initiative) and 85.3 percent of cases (Gripen referendum). Thus, it seems that consistent with previous research (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\]), explicit measures are better predictors for decided voters than implicit measures. The picture is, however, less clear if one looks at the incremental validity of the implicit measure. Interestingly, implicit attitudes did not predict voting intention for the minimum wage initiative beyond the explicit measure. They decreased Nagelkerke's *R*^2^ by 0.5 percentage points after controlling for the explicit measure (model 2) and they did not change the percentage of correctly classified cases. However, in the case of the Gripen referendum, implicit attitudes increased Nagelkerke's *R*^2^ by 9.2 percentage points after accounting for the explicit measure, while the %CCC increased by 3.9 percentage points.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t002
###### Results of logistic regression for prediction of voting intention.
{#pone.0163872.t002g}
Step Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^ %CCC
----------------------------------- ---------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------------------- -------
Minimum wage initiative (N = 154)
1a Constant .263 .185 1.425 .154 1.301 .167 62.8%
ST-IAT .780 .200 3.902 \<.001 2.181
1b Constant .117 .215 .546 .585 1.124 .511 81.8%
Explicit measure −2.057 .359 −5.730 \<.001 .128
2 Constant .197 .227 .868 .385 1.218 .506 81.8%
ST-IAT .306 .241 1.269 .204 1.358
Explicit measure −1.781 .367 −4.849 \<.001 .168
Gripen referendum (N = 163)
1a Constant −1.885 .295 −6.393 \<.001 .152 .321 85.1%
ST-IAT 1.442 .300 4.802 \<.001 4.229
1b Constant −1.727 .260 −6.638 \<.001 .178 .398 85.3%
Explicit measure 1.419 .245 5.798 \<.001 4.131
2 Constant −1.990 .319 −6.241 \<.001 .137 .490 89.2%
ST-IAT 1.015 .324 3.130 .002 2.760
Explicit measure 1.168 .285 4.098 \<.001 3.216
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting intention (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized prior to the analyses.
[Table 3](#pone.0163872.t003){ref-type="table"} depicts the results for the prediction of voting behavior. As for voting intention, the explicit measure better predicted vote choice in the case of the minimum wage initiative. They allowed for the correct classification of 81.4 percent of cases compared to only 69.4 percent of cases that were correctly predicted by implicit attitudes. However, for the Gripen referendum, the implicit measure did a slightly better job than the explicit measure in terms of correctly classified cases. It correctly predicted 82.4 percent of voters while the explicit measure did so for 81.4 percent of voters. Finally, for the latter referendum, adding the implicit to the explicit measure led to an increase in Nagelkerke's *R*^2^ by 8.7 percentage points and an increase in the %CCC of 1.0 percentage points. In contrast, implicit attitudes did not predict voting on the minimum wage initiative beyond the explicit measure (−2.2 %CCC).
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t003
###### Results of logistic regression for prediction of voting behavior.
{#pone.0163872.t003g}
Step Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^ \% CCC
---------------------------------- ---------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------------------- --------
Minimum wage initiative (N = 86)
1a Constant .356 .265 1.345 .179 1.400 .243 69.4%
ST-IAT 1.051 .323 3.256 .001 2.860
1b Constant .262 .298 .879 .379 1.300 .555 81.4%
Explicit measure −2.167 .468 −4.630 \<.001 .115
2 Constant .073 .363 .200 .841 1.075 .615 79.2%
ST-IAT .405 .407 .994 .320 1.499
Explicit measure −2.487 .697 −3.568 \<.001 .083
Gripen referendum (N = 86)
1a Constant −1.891 .419 −4.517 \<.001 .151 .207 82.4%
ST-IAT 1.105 .416 2.658 .008 3.019
1b Constant −1.847 .374 −4.942 \<.001 .158 .327 81.4%
Explicit measure 1.300 .332 3.913 \<.001 3.669
2 Constant −2.199 .516 −4.265 \<.001 .111 .414 82.4%
ST-IAT .842 .463 1.820 .069 2.322
Explicit measure 1.174 .399 2.939 .003 3.234
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting behavior (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized prior to the analyses.
In sum, the results of Study 1 support findings and claims made in previous research on the predictive value of implicit attitudes. First, they suggest that explicit indicators are better predictors for decided voters than implicit attitudes. In three out of four analyses, the explicit measure was---on its own---a better predictor of voting intention among decided respondents or voting behavior among those who had already voted. Second, and in line with the expectations made in previous research \[[@pone.0163872.ref010], [@pone.0163872.ref022]\], implicit-explicit consistency was considerably lower than in studies dealing with implicit attitudes toward political parties or camps. However, it seems that at least for the minimum wage initiative, implicit-explicit correspondence (Decided: *r* = −.37, Already voted: *r* = −.48) may still have been too high for the implicit measure to predict beyond the explicit measure.
One major limitation of Study 1 was the use of a WebInquisit ST-IAT which required participants to download a software plug-in. Unsurprisingly, downloading software raises concerns about malware and computer viruses among participants and thus acts as an effective impediment to data collection. In fact, the response rate in Study 1 was dramatically low (5.4%). For this reason, I used a computer-administered paper-format ST-IAT (CA-PF ST-IAT) in Study 2 that did not require respondents to download additional software.
Study 2 {#sec012}
=======
Between September 22, 2014 and September 27, 2014, I ran a second study using a computer-administered paper-format ST-IAT to measure participants' implicit attitudes toward the initiative "for a single health insurer." The initiative was launched by the Social Democratic Party (SP) and aimed at replacing the competitive system of health insurance by a single public health insurer. Voting took place on September 28, 2014. The initiative was rejected by a 61.9 percent majority.
Methods {#sec013}
-------
### Ethics statement {#sec014}
The same declaration applies as in the first study.
### Participants {#sec015}
351 (42.7% males, 57.3% females) students, doctoral students, and employees of the University of Zurich volunteered for this study. Due to the different format of the ST-IAT, and thus the lack of appropriate information, no power analysis was conducted to determine sample size. However, since paper-format IATs tend to produce weaker IAT effects \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\], I made sure that sample size was larger than in Study 1. Participants were told that the study was about the upcoming federal votes and asked to take the survey only if they were eligible to vote. Their mean age was 26.79 years (SD = 9.30).
### Procedure {#sec016}
The Qualtrics ([www.qualtrics.com](http://www.qualtrics.com)) survey software was used to create the study. Participants answered the same questionnaires as in Study 1, along with two ST-IATs: a practice ST-IAT for implicit attitudes toward animals, and an ST-IAT for assessing their implicit attitudes toward the initiative for public health insurance.
### Measures {#sec017}
Given the goal of overcoming the software plug-in impediment described above, I created an ST-IAT in line with Lemm et al.'s \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\] suggestions. Acknowledging the fact that computer-format IATs are sometimes not feasible, Lemm and colleagues developed an IAT that can be administered with paper and pencil and that mimics the results and psychometric properties of computer-based counterparts. Furthermore, they tested various scoring algorithms and made convincing recommendations as to which algorithm should be used.
Both traditional computer IATs and paper-format IATs build on the assumption that the degree of congruence between a task and the implicit attitude of an individual determines the ease with which an individual can solve the task. In other words, if the pairing of a target with some evaluative category (e.g., positive) corresponds to the true implicit attitude of the individual, it will be easier for her to sort stimuli in this task than when target and evaluative category are reversed. However, unlike traditional computer IATs, paper-format IATs do not measure response latencies. Instead, they measure the number of correct categorizations within a given time period. For example, in Lemm et al.'s \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\] studies, subjects were asked to categorize as many items as possible within a timeframe of 20 seconds. They were given a sheet with two columns of 20 items (i.e., trials) and asked to categorize items as either black or white names and pleasant or unpleasant words by marking the corresponding circles to the left and to the right of each item. After participants had completed the first condition, they received another 20 seconds for completing the second condition (in which category pairings were switched).
Building on the work of Lemm and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\], I created a computer-administered paper-format ST-IAT (CA-PF ST-IAT) for assessing participants' implicit attitudes toward the initiative for public health insurance. As recommended by Lemm et. al \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\], subjects first completed a training ST-IAT for assessing their implicit attitudes toward animals. Both training and critical ST-IAT consisted of six individual pages. Participants were instructed to sort positive items by clicking the circle to the left of the item, while sorting negative items and items pertaining to the target category by clicking the right circle.Once they felt ready to start, they could click on "Continue." On the next page, a countdown of five seconds appeared along with the message "The task will start in 5 seconds! Make yourself ready!"Subjects categorized as many items as possible from a list of 25 items within a fixed time period of 20 seconds. A countdown timer was visible at the top of the page. After time had run out, the survey automatically advanced to the next page.Instructions for the second combined block (Positive or Target vs. Negative) were provided.Before starting the task, subjects were again given five seconds to prepare.Participants categorized as many items as possible from a list of 25 items, again within 20 seconds.
As in the previous study, block order was kept constant such that each participant first received the positive versus the negative or referendum condition (see [S2 Appendix](#pone.0163872.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). In contrast to the previously administered ST-IAT versions, but in line with Lemm et al.'s \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\] suggestions, only word stimuli were used (see [S3 Appendix](#pone.0163872.s003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Testing both paper-format IATs with verbal and picture stimuli and paper-format IATs with only verbal stimuli, Lemm and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\] found stronger correlations between the latter and traditional computer IATs. Moreover, test-retest reliability was better in the case of paper-format IATs using only verbal stimuli. For the evaluative categories, the same stimuli were used as in Study 1. The target category was represented by the names of two advocates (e.g., Jacqueline Fehr) of the initiative and the names of three parties (e.g., Green Party) supporting the initiative. ST-IAT scores were calculated using Lemm et al.'s \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\] *product: square root of difference (PSQoD)* approach. Comparing seven different algorithms, they found that *PSQoD* is most consistent with results from computer-format IATs. If A denotes the number of correct responses in the first block and B the number of correct responses in the second block, then *PSQoD* is calculated as ... $$\begin{array}{r}
{\left( X/Y \right) \cdot \sqrt{X - Y},} \\
\end{array}$$ where *X* is the greater of *A* or *B*, and *Y* is the smaller of *A* or *B*. Similar to Lemm et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref023]\], only participants with at least six responses in both blocks were retained for data analyses. This resulted in the exclusion of 10 participants and thus a sample of 341 participants. As can be seen above, *PSQoD* takes both the difference between the number of correct responses (*X* − *Y*) and the ratio of correct responses (*X*/*Y*) into account. In addition, it controls for extreme scores by taking the square root of the difference between *X* and *Y*. Note that if an equal number of correct categorizations are made in both blocks, the resulting ST-IAT score will equal zero and thus indicate indifferent implicit attitudes. Finally, in order to retain the directionality of the ST-IAT effect, the resulting values were multiplied by −1 if *A* was greater than *B* (thus indicating a negative attitude toward the referendum of interest).
As in the first Study, participants' self placement on the left-right scale was used as the explicit measure. The explicit measure was strongly correlated with voting for the public health insurance initiative (*r* = −.56, *p* \< .001).
Voting intention and voting behavior were measured using the same questions as in Study 1. Undecided voters (N = 17) were again excluded from the analyses. This left 93 decided participants for the analysis of voting intention. Furthermore, there were no abstentions among those who had already voted on the referendum (N = 231).
Results and Discussion {#sec018}
----------------------
### Preliminary analyses {#sec019}
Because paper (ST-)IATs do not rely on trial by trial measurement of response latencies, they do not allow for the calculation of split-half or alpha reliability. I can thus not report these statistics. Implicit-explicit consistency was moderate (*r* = −.38) and thus very similar to the correlations found in the first study. As in the previous study, implicit-explicit correspondence did not differ between participants who had already voted on the initiative (*r* = −.43, *p* \< .001) and those who simply reported their voting intention (*r* = −.32, *p* \< .001; *z* = −1.09, *p* of the difference between correlations = .28).
### Voting intention and voting behavior {#sec020}
Tables [4](#pone.0163872.t004){ref-type="table"} and [5](#pone.0163872.t005){ref-type="table"} report the results from the logistic regression analyses for the prediction of voting intention and voting behavior. As in the first study, the implicit attitude measure predicted voting intention and vote choice, yet it was a worse predictor than participants' self-reported (i.e., explicit) left-right placement. The explicit measure predicted 73.9 percent of decided voters correctly ([Table 4](#pone.0163872.t004){ref-type="table"}) while the implicit measure could only predict 57.0 percent of cases. Similarly, implicit attitudes classified 66.5 percent of those respondents who had already voted correctly, while the explicit measure allowed for the correct classification of 73.9 percent of cases. Thus, as in the previous study, the explicit measure was a better predictor for decided voters.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t004
###### Results of logistic regression for prediction of voting intention.
{#pone.0163872.t004g}
Step Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^ \% CCC
--------------------------------------------- ---------- ------- -------- -------- ------- -------- -------------------- --------
Public health insurance initiative (N = 93)
1a Constant −.104 .216 −.480 .631 .901 .102 57.0%
ST-IAT .609 .242 2.519 .012 1.838
1b Constant −.169 .257 −.658 .511 .845 .393 73.9%
Explicit measure −1.506 .343 −4.395 \<.001 .222
2 Constant −.164 .260 −.630 .528 .849 .412 73.9%
ST-IAT .369 .275 1.340 .180 1.446
Explicit measure −1.423 .346 −4.116 \<.001 .241
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting intention (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized prior to the analyses.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t005
###### Results of logistic regression for prediction of voting behavior.
{#pone.0163872.t005g}
Step Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^ \% CCC
---------------------------------------------- ---------- ------ -------- -------- ------- -------- -------------------- --------
Public health insurance initiative (N = 230)
1a Constant .263 .141 1.866 .062 1.301 .149 66.5%
ST-IAT .756 .158 4.788 \<.001 2.130
1b Constant .239 .161 1.490 .136 1.270 .395 73.9%
Explicit measure −1.471 .202 −7.290 \<.001 .230
2 Constant .242 .162 1.492 .136 1.274 .406 74.2%
ST-IAT .326 .186 1.755 .079 1.386
Explicit measure −1.337 .209 −6.394 \<.001 .263
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting behavior (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized prior to the analyses.
Finally, implicit attitudes did not improve model fit in the case of voting intention. Adding the implicit measure to the explicit measure (model 2) only resulted in a slight increase in Nagelkerke's R2 (+1.9 percentage points) and no change in the %CCC. Finally, the implicit measure did not substantially improve the quality of the prediction of voting behavior (+0.3 %CCC) once the explicit measure was controlled for.
To summarize, both studies suggest that implicit attitudes predict voting intention and voting behavior in Swiss referendums. However, at least for decided voters, they are worse predictors than explicit measures such as self-reported left-right placement. More importantly, although the correlations between the implicit and explicit measure were generally lower than in studies on elections (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\]), implicit attitudes did only provide little incremental validity (between 0.3 and 1.0 percentage points) and in one case (i.e., the minimum wage initiative) they even decreased the %CCC. However, studies 1 and 2 were limited in scope to decided voters. Hence, they could not address the claim made in previous research (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\]) that implicit attitudes are better predictors for undecided voters as compared to decided voters. To evaluate this claim, I conducted an additional study. Because of the more pragmatic (i.e., more user-friendly) character of the computer-administered paper-format ST-IAT, I used this particular test version in a third study combining both a pre- and post-vote survey.
Study 3 {#sec021}
=======
Study 3 took place three weeks ahead of the national vote (November 30, 2014) on the so-called "Ecopop initiative." Launched by the organization Ecology and Population (ECOPOP), the referendum proposed limiting the annual net migration to 0.2 percent of Switzerland's resident population. Unlike most other anti-immigration referendums, the Ecopop initiative did not refer to immigration as a threat to Swiss society or its economy but rather as a major cause of environmental degradation. It was thus believed to attract votes from both right-wing voters and, to a lesser degree, voters identifying with the Green and Alternative Left Parties. Due to its likely negative impact on the Swiss economy and its xenophobic character, the referendum faced opposition from all major political parties and the Swiss government. It was eventually rejected by a clear majority of 74.1 percent.
Methods {#sec022}
-------
### Ethics statement {#sec023}
The study was conducted online. All subjects were older than 18 years of age. Data collection was performed by [respondi AG](http://www.respondi.de) which conforms to the ESOMAR codes and guidelines for online access panels. On the first page, subjects received brief information on the purpose of the study, the measures involved, and the leading research institute (Department of Political Science, University of Zurich). At the end of the study, participants received contact information. Debriefing was provided on request. All data was analyzed anonymously and no identifying data (e.g., names) were collected. At the author's faculty (Faculty of Arts, University of Zurich) the IRB asks researchers to self-assess the ethical soundness of their research using a checklist and only seek approval from the IRB if one of the questions is answered affirmatively. This was not the case for the present study.
### Participants {#sec024}
Sampling was done using the online access panel provided by [respondi AG](http://www.respondi.de). Only eligible voters (N = 1824) from the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland were recruited. Retaining participants with at least six correct responses in the ST-IAT blocks resulted in the exclusion of 183 participants. Of the remaining 1641 participants, 1006 participants (37.48% males, 62.52% females) reported that they had not yet voted and 862 participants (38.98% males, 61.02% females) answered affirmatively when asked whether they intended to vote. Of those, 704 returned for the second survey, which took place in the week after the vote (return rate of 81.67%, 41.05% males, 58.95% females), and 552 eventually reported their vote choice (44.38% males, 55.62% females). Mean age among participants in the final sample was 43.35 years (SD = 13.87). Participants received a small compensation of EUR 1.10 for participation in the first survey and EUR 0.50 for participation in the second survey. The final sample consisted of 457 participants who initially reported to be decided and 82 participants who reported to be undecided. Due to the low return rate among undecided voters (49.10%), the final sample of undecided voters was slightly smaller than the one determined a priori using G\*Power \[[@pone.0163872.ref024]\], a stand-alone power analysis program for statistical tests. The analysis indicated that for the desired power (.80), alpha level (.05), anticipated (i.e., based on Study 2) effect size (OR = 2.0), and two moderately correlated predictors (R^2^ other X = 0.15), a minimum sample size of 97 was required.
### Procedure {#sec025}
In the pre-vote survey, participants completed several questionnaires on socio-demographic variables, political variables (e.g., partisanship, left-right placement), and their concern about the impact of immigration on the economy, culture, and environment. At the end of the survey, they completed the same practice ST-IAT used in the previous study, followed by another ST-IAT for assessing their implicit attitude toward "Ecopop." After voting day, subjects received an invitation to take the second survey, in which they were asked to report their vote choice. Both surveys were programmed in [Qualtrics](http://www.qualtrics.com).
### Measures {#sec026}
Implicit attitudes were measured using the same ST-IAT as in the previous study. For the target category (i.e., Ecopop initiative), I used the names of three politicians, one right-wing party, and one political association supporting the referendum. In order to account for differences between language regions, I used slightly different stimuli in the French version of the ST-IAT than in the German ST-IAT (see [S4 Appendix](#pone.0163872.s004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Due to the anti-immigration character of the Ecopop initiative, explicit attitudes were assessed with three items that asked participants to indicate their concern about the impact of immigration on the (i) economy, (ii) Swiss culture, and (iii) environment using 6-point Likert items (1 = *very unconcerned* to 6 = *very concerned*) (*α* = 0.86). Items were averaged to form the concern scale, with high numbers reflecting higher concern about the impact of immigration. Using concern about the impact of immigration instead of self-reported evaluations of Ecopop was similar to the approach of Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] who used multiple items to measure participants' conscious beliefs about the consequences of the enlargement of a U.S. military base. Voting on Ecopop was strongly associated (*r* = .49, *p* \< .001) with explicit attitudes.
Voting intention and voting behavior were measured in the same way as in Studies 1 and 2. In the pre-vote survey, 692 participants reported their vote intention and 167 were undecided. In the second survey (i.e., after the vote), 13 of 552 participants reported that they had abstained from the vote. This left a total of 539 participants for the analyses of voting behavior.
Results and Discussion {#sec027}
----------------------
### Preliminary Analyses {#sec028}
I first tested for consistency between the implicit and explicit measure for both decided and undecided voters. Overall, correspondence between the implicit and explicit measure was lower (*r* = .23) than in the previous studies. In addition, the two types of measures were only correlated among decided voters (*r* = .27, *p* \< .001) but not among undecided voters (*r* = .01, ns; *z* = 3.06, *p* of the difference between correlations \<.01). These results are consistent with previous research (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\]) arguing that consistency between implicit and explicit attitudes is more pronounced among decided voters most likely as a result of their greater cognitive elaboration of attitudes. In sum, implicit-explicit correspondence was relatively low and closer to the correlations found in Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] than in pre-election studies (e.g., \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\]).
### Voting intention {#sec029}
On their own, both the implicit (model 1a) and explicit (model 1b) measure predicted voting intention (see [Table 6](#pone.0163872.t006){ref-type="table"}). However, as in the previous studies, the explicit measure better predicted voting intention. Moreover, looking at the incremental validity of implicit attitudes, I found that the latter increased Nagelkerke's R^2^ by 1.8 percentage points after controlling for explicit attitudes (model 2) but decreased the percentage of correctly classified cases by 0.4 percentage points. On the other side, the explicit measure increased Nagelkerke's R^2^ by 29.0 percentage points after accounting for implicit attitudes, while correctly classified cases increased by 8.2 percentage points. In sum, the explicit measure performed better in terms of both predictive validity in general and incremental validity.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t006
###### Results of logistic regression for prediction of voting intention.
{#pone.0163872.t006g}
Step Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^ \% CCC
----------------------------- ---------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------------------- --------
Ecopop initiative (N = 691)
1a Constant −.607 .083 −7.343 \<.001 .545 .090 66.0%
ST-IAT .572 .088 6.467 \<.001 1.771
1b Constant −.835 .101 11.716 \<.001 .434 .362 74.6%
Explicit measure 1.460 .125 −8.296 \<.001 4.307
2 Constant −.844 .102 −8.187 \<.001 .430 .380 74.2%
ST-IAT .357 .102 3.506 \<.001 1.429
Explicit measure 1.378 .126 10.943 \<.001 3.969
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting intention (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized prior to the analyses.
### Voting behavior {#sec030}
[Table 7](#pone.0163872.t007){ref-type="table"} below presents results from binary logistic regression models for the prediction of voting behavior among decided and undecided voters. Implicit (model 1a) and explicit (model 1b) attitudes both predicted voting behavior of decided and undecided voters. However, a comparison of the implicit-only models (models 1a) for decided and undecided voters reveals that, on their own, implicit attitudes are better predictors of voting behavior among undecided voters, with 78.1 percent of them being correctly classified (as compared to 73.0 percent among decided voters). In line with these descriptive results, implicit attitudes improved model fit more for undecided voters than for decided voters once explicit attitudes were controlled for. In fact, Nagelkerke's R^2^ increased by only 1.1 percentage points for decided voters, while it increased by 5.5 percentage points for undecided voters upon adding the implicit measure to the explicit measure (model 2). However, in regards to the percentage of correctly classified cases, implicit attitudes improved model fit to an equal extent for decided (+1.1 %CCC) and undecided (+1.2 %CCC) voters. On the other side, explicit attitudes increased Nagelkerke's R^2^ by 32.0 percentage points and 13.0 percentage points for decided and undecided voters after accounting for implicit attitudes, while correctly classified cases increased by 6.8 and 0.9 percentage points for decided and undecided voters. Taken together, from a descriptive point of view, explicit attitudes better predicted vote choice of decided voters, while implicit attitudes fared slightly better than explicit attitudes in their prediction of vote choice among undecided voters.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t007
###### Results of logistic regression for prediction of voting behavior, separately for decided and undecided voters.
{#pone.0163872.t007g}
Step Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^ \% CCC
------------------------------------- ---------- -------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------------------- --------
Decided voters who voted (N = 457)
1a Constant −1.003 .110 −9.127 \<.001 .367 .081 73.0%
ST-IAT .593 .121 4.899 \<.001 1.809
1b Constant −1.380 .146 −9.421 \<.001 .252 .390 78.7%
Explicit measure 1.574 .166 9.511 \<.001 4.827
2 Constant −1.390 .148 −9.410 \<.001 .249 .401 79.8%
ST-IAT .335 .139 2.408 .016 1.399
Explicit measure 1.491 .168 8.887 \<.001 4.440
Undecided voters who voted (N = 82)
1a Constant −1.378 .292 −4.727 \<.001 .252 .082 78.1%
ST-IAT .644 .322 1.997 .046 1.904
1b Constant −1.514 .323 −4.694 \<.001 .220 .157 77.8%
Explicit measure .977 .360 2.712 .007 2.657
2 Constant −1.635 .353 −4.628 \<.001 .195 .212 79.0%
ST-IAT .619 .358 1.731 .083 1.857
Explicit measure .948 .367 2.580 .010 2.580
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting behavior (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized separately for decided and undecided voters prior to the analyses.
To complement these descriptive analyses, I conducted moderation analyses to further examine the potential interaction between the implicit and explicit measure and decidedness. [Table 8](#pone.0163872.t008){ref-type="table"} shows that, when modeled separately, neither the explicit (model 1) nor the implicit measure (model 2) predicted voting behavior significantly better for decided individuals. Although both coefficients point in the expected direction, they do not reach conventional levels of significance. The same can be said when both implicit and explicit attitudes are considered along with decidedness and their respective interactions (model 3). Thus, implicit attitudes predicted voting behavior descriptively, but not significantly better for undecided voters while explicit attitudes predicted voting behavior descriptively, but not significantly better for decided respondents.
10.1371/journal.pone.0163872.t008
###### Results of logistic regression analyses predicting voting behavior from explicit (EA) and implicit attitudes (IA) and decidedness.
{#pone.0163872.t008g}
Model Variable B *SE* Wald *p* Exp(B) Nagel-kerke's R^2^
----------------- ------------------------------------------- ------ -------- -------- ------- -------- --------------------
1 Explicit attitudes (N = 532)
Constant −1.581 .335 −4.719 \<.001 .206 .361 78.6%
EA 1.101 .406 2.712 .007 3.007
Decidedness .227 .365 .622 .534 1.255
EA\*Decidedness .512 .440 1.164 .245 1.669
2 Implicit attitudes (N = 538)
Constant −1.452 .306 −4.744 \<.001 .234 .084 73.8%
IA .619 .310 1.997 .046 1.858
Decidedness .437 .325 1.342 \<.001 .180 1.548
IA\*Decidedness −.020 .333 −.058 .953 .981
3 Explicit and implicit attitudes (N = 531)
Constant −1.771 .382 −4.638 \<.001 .170 .377 79.7%
EA 1.068 .414 2.580 .010 2.910
IA .595 .344 1.731 .083 1.814
Decidedness .399 .409 .974 .330 1.490
EA\*Decidedness .459 .448 1.025 .305 1.583
IA\*Decidedness −.256 .372 −.689 .491 .774
Notes: B = regression weight; *SE* = standard error of the regression weight; Wald = Wald criterion; Exp(B) = Odds ratio, the relative amount by which the odds increase (Exp(B) \> 1.0) or decrease (Exp(B) \< 1.0) when the value of the predictor is increased by 1 unit; CCC = correctly classified cases; DV = voting behavior (0 = No, 1 = Yes). All continuous variables were z-standardized prior to the analyses.
General Discussion {#sec031}
==================
The use of implicit attitude measures has been proposed to tackle the challenge of predicting the vote of undecided voters. Most of the optimism has stemmed from a seminal study \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] in which implicit, but not explicit, attitudes were found to be significant predictors of undecided respondents' opinions on a political issue. Interestingly, the pattern of results was reversed for decided respondents: Explicit, but not implicit, attitudes predicted future opinions. Against the backdrop of these results, a full double dissociation pattern \[[@pone.0163872.ref009], [@pone.0163872.ref025]\] has been proposed comprising four hypotheses: Implicit attitudes predict voting behavior better than explicit attitudes for undecided voters.Explicit attitudes predict voting behavior better than implicit attitudes for decided voters.Implicit attitudes predict voting behavior better for undecided than decided voters.Explicit attitudes predict voting behavior better for decided than undecided voters.
However, recent studies have shed doubt on the incremental validity of implicit attitudes in general and their utility for undecided voters in particular. Reviewing the more recent evidence on the predictive value of implicit attitudes, Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref022]\] conclude that \[i\]n most cases \[...\], the increase in %CCC remained well below 1 percentage point, sometimes there was no change at all, and sometimes even descriptively a decrease in %CCC occurred. (p. 19) What is more, the authors also mention that there is \[...\] no evidence for the ideas that implicit measures predict the voting behavior of undecided voters (a) better than explicit measures do, or (b) better than they predict the behavior of decided voters. (p. 19) In an attempt to explain why replications of the double dissociation pattern have generally failed, Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref022]\] point to the contextual differences between the seminal study by Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\] and subsequent research. In fact, while the former dealt with implicit attitudes toward a local political issue where no actual voting took place, subsequent studies have focused on real political elections and voting behavior. In such a context, implicit and explicit measures tend to overlap as a result of well elaborated attitudes toward parties or candidates and this will, eventually, leave little room for implicit measures to predict beyond explicit measures.
It follows from the above reasoning that implicit measures may be better predictors in the context of voting on specific political issues where attitudes tend to be less elaborated. For this reason, I have tested the predictive validity of implicit attitudes in the context of issue-related votes in Switzerland. In the remainder of this section, I shall briefly discuss my results with respect to the four hypotheses presented above.
**1. Implicit attitudes predict voting behavior better than explicit attitudes for undecided voters.** Only the design of the third study allowed for a comparison between decided and undecided voters. Unlike stated in the hypothesis, implicit and explicit attitudes were equally good predictors of vote choice among undecided voters. On their own, implicit attitudes correctly predicted the vote of 78.1 percent of undecided respondents while explicit attitudes did so for 77.8 percent.
**2. Explicit attitudes predict voting behavior better than implicit attitudes for decided voters.** All three studies support this claim. In Studies 1 and 2, self-reported left-right placement was a better predictor of participants' voting intention (minimum wage initiative: IA: 62.8 %CCC, EA: 81.8 %CCC; Gripen referendum: IA: 85.1 %CCC, EA: 85.3 %CCC; public health insurance initiative: IA: 57.0 %CCC, EA: 73.9 %CCC) and in Study 3 participants' concern about immigration better predicted voting behavior among decided voters (IA: 73.0 %CCC, EA: 78.7 %CCC).
**3. Implicit attitudes predict voting behavior better for undecided than decided voters.** In Study 3, I found some, albeit descriptive, evidence for this hypothesis. The implicit measure was a better predictor for the voting behavior of undecided (78.1 %CCC) than decided (73.0 %CCC) voters. However, implicit attitudes improved the quality of the overall prediction only slightly for both decided (+1.1 %CCC) and undecided voters (+1.2 %CCC) and there was no significant interaction between implicit attitudes and decidedness.
**4. Explicit attitudes predict voting behavior better for decided than undecided voters.** Consistent with this hypothesis, explicit attitudes better predicted voting behavior among decided voters (78.7 %CCC) than among undecided voters (77.8 %CCC). In addition, they improved model fit to a greater extent for decided voters (+6.8 %CCC) than undecided voters (+0.9 %CCC). Nevertheless, these descriptive analyses were not backed up by a subsequent moderation analysis.
Taken together, my results stand in-between those of Friese and colleagues \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\] and those of Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\]. As in the former study, explicit measures were better predictors of voting behavior among decided voters. However, unlike results of Friese et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref010]\] but similar to Galdi et al. \[[@pone.0163872.ref009]\], implicit attitudes did, at least from a descriptive perspective, a better job in predicting choices of undecided voters as compared to decided voters. Yet, unlike in Galdi and colleagues study, they did not outperform explicit attitudes. Thus, neither the results of Galdi and colleagues nor the results of Friese and colleagues could be replicated. Given that the correspondence between the implicit and explicit measure was fairly low in all three studies (*r* = .23 -- .40), it is surprising that the double dissociation pattern described above could not be replicated. Researchers should, however, keep in mind that the cognitive elaboration of attitudes may not necessarily represent the only moderator of the predictive validity of implicit measures. For example, research on attitudinal ambivalence suggests that ambivalent individuals rely less on their implicit attitudes when making decisions. Hence, implicit attitudes should be less relevant for ambivalent, and thus undecided, voters. This example shows that a multitude of theoretical models and mechanisms exists explaining why and under what conditions implicit attitudes should predict voting behavior of undecided individuals. Researchers will need to rethink some of these theoretical accounts while, at the same time, test others before implicit attitudes will allow for considerable improvements of political predictions.
Supporting Information {#sec032}
======================
###### Stimuli list for ST-IATs on minimum wage initiative and Gripen referendum ([Study 1](#sec003){ref-type="sec"}).
(PDF)
######
Click here for additional data file.
###### First condition of computer-administered paper-format ST-IAT ([Study 2](#sec012){ref-type="sec"}).
(PDF)
######
Click here for additional data file.
###### Stimuli list for ST-IAT on public health insurance initiative ([Study 2](#sec012){ref-type="sec"}).
(PDF)
######
Click here for additional data file.
###### Stimuli list for ST-IAT on Ecopop initiative ([Study 3](#sec021){ref-type="sec"}).
(PDF)
######
Click here for additional data file.
I thank Marco Steenbergen and Dominik Hangartner for their valuable comments and suggestions and Christian Mueller for excellent research assistance.
[^1]: **Competing Interests:**The author has declared that no competing interests exist.
[^2]: **Conceptualization:** LR.**Data curation:** LR.**Formal analysis:** LR.**Funding acquisition:** LR.**Investigation:** LR.**Methodology:** LR.**Project administration:** LR.**Resources:** LR.**Software:** LR.**Supervision:** LR.**Validation:** LR.**Visualization:** LR.**Writing -- original draft:** LR.**Writing -- review & editing:** LR.
|
The image above has recently been making the rounds on all the social sites. I first saw it last week and it was good for a facepalm or two but I was a little suspicious, as we all should be when this sort of thing pops up in the social media nowadays. After appearing in my feed a few times it faded away and I thought nothing more of it.
Today, it was in my Snopes report email so I clicked on the link to find out if my suspicions had been correct. I was surprised to find that the image was real. And there was another page to the test. So, it became legitimate news and here we are.
The test was purported to be a 4th grade quiz from a private school in South Carolina. After some digging by Snopes and others, and a confirmation from Answers In Genesis president Ken Ham, we now know that the school is the Blue Ridge Christian Academy in the Greenville area. Our own Filthy Liberal, Justin Rosario wrote about the initial reactions to the picture and the story behind it.
But even before that information was revealed, the reactions to the test had flown furiously around the web, setting off the patented “Christian victimization reaction.” Mr. Ham wrote an alternately whiny and outraged column on his website, complaining that the school, its administrators and teachers were being ruthlessly attacked by those horrible atheists!
“The school administrator informed us she knew that the school would be involved in a spiritual battle after the quiz went public, but she was not expecting such ferocity. She told us she was shocked at the level of hate that the atheists poured down upon her, the teacher, and the school in general.”
Relying on the usual rhetoric – and completely oblivious to the glaringly obvious projection he is practicing – Ham writes:
It seems that since the last presidential election, atheists have grown more confident about having something of a license to go after Christians. These secularists want to impose their anti-God religion on the culture. They are simply not content using legislatures and courts to protect the dogmatic teaching of their atheistic religion of evolution and millions of years in public schools. There is something else on their agenda: they are increasingly going after Christians and Christian institutions that teach God’s Word beginning in Genesis.
Unless there are mobs of atheists waving torches and pitchforks outside the school, I fail to see how criticizing the test is “going after” anyone. It is interesting that Ham cannot relate to any other philosophy save through a religious lens: he calls secularism a religion and refers to evolution as a religious teaching. I think he might be happier in a theocracy… but since he doesn’t live in one, he’s doing his best to change that.
Despite Mr. Ham’s self-righteous whining about being attacked, it is true that the DVD he sells, Answers In Genesis, was the basis for the test. Freedom of religion and speech are absolutely protected and Blue Ridge Academy can teach anything they wish. But they must also be prepared to take responsibility for exercising those options and accept criticism when it is warranted. As for those “vicious” emails, most are from people who are aghast that such nonsense would be taught in a science class. As Hemant Mehat of The Friendly Atheist wrote:
Obviously, no one is condoning hate against the school’s administrators or teachers. But criticism against a perversion of science? Absolutely. Keep it coming. And that’s what I saw across the Internet — jaws dropping everywhere over the fact that this is what passed for science in an American school (albeit a private Christian one), that kids were being brainwashed by Christian educators who have no respect for evidence or the scientific method, that this student was being led to believe she’s a good science student when in fact she’s probably learning very little about it.
So, that is the tale of the horrible science quiz. It never ceases to amaze me how people can deliberately lie to their children to make them follow their faith. If their religion is so wonderful, why don’t they teach the facts (or at least let them into their bubble) and let the children decide for themselves? I feel so bad for those children (and I know a few who were raised that way and rebelled in a big way once they hit the age of 18) but I feel bad for their parents, too. How horrible it must be to feel it necessary to lie to children because of your own insecurity. What a sad way to go through life, needing to have everyone you know – and often those you don’t – believe exactly the same as you. I pity them but I do hope their kids manage to break free and make their own choices.
T. Steelman is a life-long Liberal. She has been writing online about politics since 2007. She lives in Western Washington with her husband, daughter, 2 cats and a small herd of alpacas. How can anybody be enlightened? Truth is, after all, so poorly lit… |
For healthy beaks, skin and feet. May help with seasonal allergies. All organic shea butter, beeswax and hempseed oil. Non-Allergenic Non-Staining How to use Apply generously to cracked, dry, chapped... |
Video of the hilarious scene went viral on Twitter and toilet jokes abounded.
The sliding port-a-potty reminded many people of the iconic British sci-fi show “Doctor Who,” about an alien-like doctor who explores the universe in a time-traveling blue police box called the TARDIS.
When you think about all of those annoyingly cute stock photos of couples or families having playful, sudsy spats as they do dishes over the kitchen sink, consider that the kitchen sponge is one of the hottest hangouts for germs in your kitchen. (Someone please pass that model a disinfecting wipe!) To reduce your sponge’s ick factor, get in the habit of giving it a quick daily cleaning by rinsing it in hot soapy water, running it through the microwave for a minute and/or tossing it in the dishwasher. And when it gets stinky, it’s time to trade up. So get ready - the fun, foamy fights can begin at any moment. |
Incorporating diagnosis and treatment of hyperhidrosis into clinical practice.
Proper billing and coding are essential to document the diagnosis of hyperhidrosis and to assure proper reimbursement for treatment. Providers should become familiar with the payment policies of local health plans to streamline the preauthorization process that is often needed for many treatments commonly used for hyperhidrosis. Having a preprinted letter of medical necessity and patient intake forms that record the necessary historical information about the disease, previous treatments, and other pertinent information will help increase the speed of the office flow. This article presents algorithms for treatment of the various forms of primary focal hyperhidrosis. |
# Copyright 2015 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
# found in the LICENSE file.
import("//chrome/common/features.gni")
import("//mojo/public/tools/bindings/mojom.gni")
import("//pdf/features.gni")
import("//third_party/closure_compiler/compile_js.gni")
import("//tools/grit/grit_rule.gni")
grit("webui_test_resources") {
source = "webui_test_resources.grd"
defines = chrome_grit_defines
outputs = [
"test/data/grit/webui_test_resources.h",
"webui_test_resources.pak",
]
deps = [ ":web_ui_test_bindings_js" ]
grit_flags = [
"-E",
"root_gen_dir=" + rebase_path(root_gen_dir, root_build_dir),
]
output_dir = "$root_gen_dir/chrome"
}
mojom("web_ui_test_bindings") {
sources = [
"webui/mojo/foobar.mojom",
"webui/web_ui_test.mojom",
]
}
group("closure_compile") {
deps = [ ":closure_compile_local" ]
if (enable_pdf) {
deps += [ "pdf:closure_compile" ]
}
if (!is_android) {
deps += [ "webui:closure_compile" ]
}
}
js_type_check("closure_compile_local") {
deps = [ ":test_api_js" ]
}
js_library("test_api_js") {
sources = [ "webui/test_api.js" ]
externs_list = [
"webui/mock4js_externs.js",
"//third_party/chaijs/externs/chai-3.5.js",
"//ui/webui/resources/js/dom_automation_controller.js",
]
deps = [ ":web_ui_test_bindings_js_library_for_compile" ]
}
|
This invention generally relates to clock timer devices intended for use with a telephone.
Numerous stopwatch-like mechanisms have been heretofore designed for use with telephones to satisfy the need of certain professionals for accurate time records. An example would be the need of attorneys, accountants, doctors, architects, and the like whose services are billed on a time basis.
The numerous devices previously developed have tended to be either extremely complex and, hence, costly to manufacture and expensive to the consumer, or extremely simple and unsatisfactory from the standpoint of capabilities and performance. Among the more complex devices are systems which involve a substantial size unit, including a multiplicity of keys by which client code numbers, job code numbers and a variety of other notations may be stored in a computer-like memory and/or printed on a paper tape along with the time information primarily desired. The simple devices may involve no more than a clock which may be started and stopped by the manual depression of a control button.
While each of the prior art devices presents a solution to the problem of having a convenient means for keeping accurate time records, the complex systems tend to provide a solution that is an expensive overkill, while the simple systems provide an inexpensive, ineffective device.
In the patent to Graham et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,463, issued on Oct. 30, 1973, for Electronic Long-Distance Telephone Call Computer And Recorder, there is disclosed apparatus for automatically computing and recording the cost of long-distance telephone calls. An elapsed time indicator digitally displays the time period of the call. The patent to Graham et al. does not teach the provision of a manually operated time indicator digital display for displaying the time duration of a job in addition to the time duration of a telephone call.
The patent to Epperson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,971, issued on Nov. 22, 1977, for Digital Wristwatch And Stopwatch discloses a digital wristwatch in which is digitally displayed horological information and the time duration of a start-stop sequence. In the patent to Epperson, there is no teaching of digital display for displaying the time duration of a telephone call in addition to the time duration of a start-stop sequence.
The patent to Lang, U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,355, issued on May 19, 1970, for Telephone Timing Device discloses a telephone timing apparatus in which a switch is responsive to the movement of a telephone cradle plunger for digitally displaying the time duration of a telephone call. The patent to Lang does not teach the combination of a digital display of the time duration of a telephone call and the digital display of the start-stop sequence to show the duration of a job or the like.
In the patent to Plummer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,366, issued on May 16, 1967, for Communication Metering And Registering Apparatus, there is disclosed a pressure sensitive switch operable from the use of a telephone handset to record the time duration of a telephone call. The patent to Plummer does not teach the combination of a digital display of the time duration of a telephone call and the digital display of the start-stop sequence to show the duration of a job or the like.
Lastly, the patent to Naito, U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,935, issued on Apr. 20, 1976, for Chronograph Wristwatch discloses an electronic timepiece having a digital display for displaying chronograph information and start-stop durations. A selector switch selectively connects switches to divider circuits in response to a setting of a mode switch. The opening and closing of the mode switch is coordinated with the operation of another selector circuit. The patent to Naito does not disclose the combination of a digital display of the time duration of a telephone call and the duration of a start-stop sequence.
Applicant had filed on Aug. 22, 1977, Ser. No. 826,361, an application entitled "Telephone Timer Device", which application has been abandoned. |
The overseas shipment isn't possible. It is only Japan.
僅限日本國内販賣 |
Twenty-seven years after the disreputable Clarence Thomas hearings on Anita Hill's allegations, which included three days of witnesses and a perfunctory FBI investigation, the one-day hearing on Christine Blasey Ford's allegations of sexual assault seemed to be a step backwards. Not a single witness was called to testify; the sham FBI investigation was controlled by Kavanaugh's longtime buddy White House counsel Don McGahn, who had pushed his nomination. And the Republican side of the Judiciary Committee, which, as the majority party, controlled the hearing, is still entirely composed of white men, with an average age of 64. It is often said that the Anita Hill hearings, in which an all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee stared down at her in between turns of snarling chauvinism, led to the election of five women to the Senate in 1992. We've already seen a similar reaction to Trump, with several Women's Marches and a record number of women running for office. A total of 274 women, after winning Senate, House, and governor primaries, will be on ballots around the country in November.
In a tone-deaf attempt to avoid the creepy-old-men optics, Republicans mostly avoided slut-shaming Blasey Ford, hired a "female assistant" to question her in the hearing, and propped up Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), as another female representative, to regurgitate right-wing talking points in a painful speech on the Senate floor. None of it worked. The videos of a red-faced Lindsey Graham screaming and Kavanaugh crying, lying, and snapping at Sen. Klobuchar (D-Minn.) may have galvanized hardcore partisans and men inclined to distrust women. Indeed, support for Kavanaugh among men actually rose slightly after Blasey Ford's accusations became public. But many women saw raging men reminiscent of alcoholic dissembling and entitled excuse-making, and the reactions of his supporters were equally disturbing. At a Mississippi rally following the hearing, Trump mocked Blasey Ford's memories of what happened; the crowd chanted "lock her up."
The accumulation of Trump-era offenses has been chipping away at those who'd cast themselves in a shell of neutrality. In the early fall in most years, my Facebook feed is filled by women of a certain age posting photos of their young children hamming it by pumpkins or husband appreciation posts and successful home improvements. But this autumn, I noticed something different. Trump had, two years ago, ignited one subsection of previously politically disengaged women; Kavanaugh triggered another. For those who might not identify with the predictable misogyny of a brash billionaire leering at teenage Miss USA contestants, Kavanaugh was something altogether more familiar: an entitled frat boy, who may have been at the top of his class, but acted terribly in private. We all knew the type. Friends, who, like Swift, typically avoid political rants became atypically outspoken. "I couldn't even listen to most of the hearing yesterday. It literally made me sick," said one friend, who had taken a years-long political hiatus, and later texted me. "He represents a thing. I think a lot of women are reevaluating things." Another posted: "Vote out the old, white f$@&s!! This is disgraceful. I'm so angry." Even more interesting were the women hitting "like"—women I'd never before heard make a political utterance. It wasn't just my greater circle of friends and acquaintances either.
There were signs of Swift's growing political awakening. Last March, she posted an Instagram in support of the gun-control movement March for Our Lives. And before that, she appeared on the 2017 Person of the Year cover of Time honoring the "Silence Breakers" on sexual assault. In 2013, well before #MeToo, Swift reported a Colorado DJ to his station for grabbing her ass while they took a photo together. After an investigation, he was fired and, two years later, he sued her for defamation. She counter sued him for a symbolic $1 and won. Her testimony was full of zingers that seemed straight out of a female empowerment movie. When the defense attorney asked her if she felt guilty over the DJ losing his job, she retorted: "I'm not going to let you or your client make me feel in any way that this is my fault. Here we are years later, and I'm being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are the product of his decisions—not mine." Later, Swift told Time, "I was angry," noting that the man's attorney bullied her team, including her own mother, and accused her of lying—a pattern with reverberations in the case of Blasey Ford and others who come forward with sexual misconduct allegations. She also noted that she called Kesha, who has been entangled with her own years-long public battle over sexual abuse allegations, for advice. |
Armed and dangerous: Toxoplasma gondii uses an arsenal of secretory proteins to infect host cells.
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that infects a wide variety of warm-blooded animals and humans, in which it causes opportunistic disease. As an obligate intracellular parasite, T. gondii must invade a host cell to survive and replicate during infection. Recent studies suggest that T. gondii secretes a variety of proteins that appear to function during invasion or intracellular replication. These proteins originate from three distinct regulated secretory organelles called micronemes, rhoptries and dense granules. By discharging the contents of its secretory organelles at precise steps in invasion, T. gondii appears to timely deploy secretory proteins to their correct target destinations. Based on the timing of secretion and the characteristics of secretory proteins, an emerging theme is that T. gondii compartmentalizes its secretory proteins according to general function. Thus, it appears that micronemal proteins may function during parasite attachment to host cells, rhoptry proteins may facilitate parasite vacuole formation and host organellar association, and dense granule proteins likely promote intracellular replication, possibly by transporting and processing nutrients from the host cell. However, as more T. gondii secretory proteins are identified and characterized, it is likely that additional functions will be ascribed to each class of proteins secreted- by this fascinating invasive parasite. |
ISU hopes this is just the beginning
Oklahoma upset turned heads, but Campbell has bigger and better things in mind for his Cyclones
Eric Pratt
Sports Editor
epratt@messengernews.net
—AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell celebrates with linebacker Tymar Sutton (43) after the Cyclones' upset victory against the third-ranked Sooners on Saturday in Norman, Okla.
When a 31-point underdog upsets the nation’s third-ranked team on the road — a landmark win boasting both historical significance and series rarity — the natural reaction is to celebrate.
Not just in the postgame locker room, but well into the night. Or the next day. Or the rest of the week, for that matter.
Rumor has it that Iowa State University wanted to arrange an impromptu pep rally of sorts late Saturday night when their Cyclones were to return from Norman, Okla. The idea made sense, and almost went without saying. After all, unheralded ISU had just slayed an absolute giant — stunning the powerful, unbeaten Sooners on their turf with a third-string quarterback and without arguably their best defensive player.
Strike up the band. Call every Cyclone supporter you know. Get the cell-phone videos and YouTube clips ready. We were ready to witness a program party in the aftermath of another watershed moment in Ames, on the levels of Nebraska 1992 or Oklahoma State 2011.
If you were expecting Matt Campbell to channel his inner-Paul Rhoads and deliver a heartfelt speech or shed tears of sheer joy, though, you don’t know Matt Campbell.
A formal pep rally? Thanks, but no thanks.
The ISU head coach was very poised and methodical in Saturday’s postgame press conference. Almost calculated, as if he knew something the rest of us didn’t. Campbell understood the win’s significance, no doubt, but kept a bigger picture in mind, reminding everyone this victory on its own means very little if the momentum stops here.
Yes, it gets Iowa State’s name in the national headlines for a day-long cycle. And yes, Campbell can and will use the exposure to his advantage on the recruiting trail in the weeks and months to come. But if you expect these Cyclones to hang their hat on this day — to find comfort or satisfaction in their performance, regardless of how the rest of the season goes — think again.
This was a magical, memorable victory. Whether or not it’s actually a turning point remains to be seen. But there are signs that Iowa State’s days as a one-hit wonder may be over with Campbell calling the shots.
The recent adversity would normally be enough to derail most teams. The heartbreaking home loss to Iowa. The lifeless performance against Texas on national television. Jacob Park abruptly leaving the squad for unspecified personal health reasons. Linebacker Willie Harvey sidelined by injury.
OU sported a 74-5-2 all-time record in its series with the Cyclones before Saturday. The Sooners were 104-9 at Memorial Stadium since 1999 — the best home record in the entire country during that span. Iowa State hadn’t won in Norman since 1990, and before that, 1961. The Cyclones had been 2-35-1 all-time against Associated Press Top-5 opponents.
To make matters worse, Oklahoma led 14-0 in the first quarter. Then it was 17-3 Sooners. Then 24-10. And 24-13 at halftime.
But a funny thing happened on the way to a comfortable OU triumph. Senior walk-on quarterback Kyle Kempt found his rhythm. Receivers Allen Lazard, Marchie Murdock and Trever Ryan made big plays. And tailback David Montgomery, mostly held in check on the ground, caught seven passes himself.
More importantly, Iowa State’s defense started to get stops. The Sooners lost a red-zone fumble on their first possession of the second half. They missed a field goal on the next. The Cyclones reeled off 18 consecutive points to take the lead. And when OU finally answered to tie the score and calm its nerves, ISU efficiently drove 75 yards in nine plays to score. One more clutch defensive stand followed, securing the unimaginable comeback victory.
Campbell’s squad didn’t have the energy of a home crowd to mount the rally. The Sooners made mistakes, but it wasn’t like Nebraska in 2009.
No, Iowa State had to dig out of this hole on its own merit. Play by play. Point by point. Piece by piece. With heart and guts.
In a way, this game could serve as a metaphor for Campbell’s grand vision. Improbable? Yes. Impossible? Not necessarily. The Cyclones may not be there quite yet — it’s hard to say or know what happens with the quarterback situation from here on out — but the foundation is starting to take shape.
Program-first CIML players like Joel Lanning, Jake Campos and Lazard bring a selfless, gritty attitude to the table — the kind of personality this program would benefit from permanently adopting. In the flashy, offense-driven Big 12, why not be a blue-collar team that will push and push and push opponents until they don’t want to try and out-work ISU anymore?
We’ll find out soon enough if the Cyclones are built to last. Maybe they have arrived. Maybe they’re just scratching the surface. The remaining schedule is difficult, but not daunting. If they can win at OU, the possibilities are obviously endless.
Iowa State will take a day or so to admire Saturday’s achievement. Don’t expect Campbell — or his players — to sell it as anything more than another week and another win on the road to respectability, though. Beating a national championship contender on the road is something to brag about, but the Cyclones want more.
Much more.
Eric Pratt is Sports Editor at The Messenger. He may be reached afternoons and evenings at 1-800-622-6613, by e-mail at sports@messengernews.net, or on Twitter @MessengerSports |
Control over Mumbai should lie with Maharashtra Government: Sena
Mumbai: Cautioning Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over his suggestion of a high-level committee for Mumbai's development, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the control over the city should lie with the state government.
"There is no doubt that Mumbai should develop, but we have to ensure that the remedy does not turn out to be more dangerous than the illness itself. The Shiv Sena believes that Mumbai will not be separated from Maharashtra and the control of the city will only lie with the state government," the Shiv Sena, which recently joined the BJP-led state government, said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"If the PM only gives special attention to Mumbai, he will be accused of favouritism. Opposition parties will get the ammunition to fire salvo at the government saying that big industrialists are close to the BJP, hence the PM is giving special attention to the city," it said.
The Sena said other cities of the state, like Mumbai, should also be made into world class cities and the focus should not be on Mumbai alone. "Nagpur is the second capital of Maharashtra. The Vidarbha region is in dire need of development and industrial growth. Even cities in the Marathwada region can be developed into world class cities. All this will contribute to the development of the state," the editorial said.
While addressing a high-level meeting of chief ministers recently convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide a substitute for the planning commission, Fadnavis had suggested to the Centre that a high-level committee headed by Modi be set up for the development of the city.
"Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, unless Mumbai is developed, there is no scope for the development of the country. For Mumbai's development, there is an urgent need of effective coordination between state and central agencies. Under such circumstances, it will be appropriate to set up a Mumbai development committee headed by the PM," Fadnavis had said. |
Q:
Cannot download push-server dependency from icefaces or ibiblio repos
the dependency push-server exists in both icefaces and ibiblio repos
http://anonsvn.icefaces.org/repo/maven2/releases/org/icefaces/push-server/
http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/pub/mirrors/maven2/org/icefaces/push-server/
both repos are added in my pom file
following this reference:
http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.icefaces/push-server/1.8.2
i added th dependency in my pom file:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.icefaces</groupId>
<artifactId>push-server</artifactId>
<version>1.8.1</version>
</dependency>
but when trying to install the application with maven 2, i am always getting build fail, and missing dependency on this artifact, but yet i can download other artifacts easily from here:
http://anonsvn.icefaces.org/repo/maven2/releases/org/icefaces/
so what's the problem ?
A:
I think it is the type, You are trying to download war and if you don't specify type it defaults to jar, Just add the type it should solve your problem
<dependency>
<groupId>org.icefaces</groupId>
<artifactId>push-server</artifactId>
<version>1.8.1</version>
<type>war</type>
</dependency>
|
It can be desirable to incorporate nitrogen into silicon-oxide-containing layers during formation of semiconductor devices. For instance, it can be desirable to incorporate nitrogen into gate oxides (which typically are silicon dioxide) to reduce dopant penetration through the oxides. Methods have been developed wherein nitrogen is incorporated into a gate oxide during deposition of the gate oxide by including nitrogen species amongst the deposited materials. It can, however, be difficult to control nitrogen location within silicon-oxide-containing layers formed by such techniques. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop alternative techniques for incorporating nitrogen into silicon-oxide-containing layers. |
Q:
How to identify the element that opened the bootstrap modal?
I have three elements that open the same modal dialog using bootstrap modal. I would like to know if there is a way to know which element opened the modal on the shown event
$('#myModal').on("shown.bs.modal", function () {
//get the element that opened the modal
//console.log(event.target.id);
});
Is it possible? If so, how?
Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/codovations/S9Bp4/2/
A:
event.relatedTarget worked for me. Pasting this for anyone who might stumble upon the same issue
$('#myModal').on("shown.bs.modal", function (evt) {
//get the element that opened the modal
console.log(evt.relatedTarget);
});
Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/codovations/S9Bp4/3/
|
10 countries are participating in the operation already: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, and Sudan are all said to be participating, with logistical and intelligence support from the United States.
The involvements of Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, and Sudan are very unexpected and indicate a much wider operation than anticipated. It also strongly suggests that Saudi Arabia was leaning heavily on every government in the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, and South Asia to whom it has given a lot of money previously. Saudi Arabia is cashing in every favor for a blistering war against the quasi-Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen, unlike with the rather lackadaisical coalition to support the United States against ISIS in Syria. Qatar, which sent no jets at all in the Syria campaign, sent 10 tonight.
Bahrain, which only participated minimally on the first day of the Syria raids, also sent 15 jets. Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy also “owes” Saudi Arabia for brutally suppressing their own Shia uprising in 2011 (during the Arab Spring) with GCC shock troops.
The UAE and Jordan also sent plenty of bombers over Yemen in the initial hours, in a marked contrast from their wavering in the Syria campaign.
This massive undertaking should, in my opinion, also be taken as a clear signal that Saudi Arabia firmly prioritizes the “threat” from Iran and Iranian proxies (which include the Houthis in Yemen but also 100,000 anti-ISIS fighters across Iraq and Hezbollah anti-ISIS units in western Syria) well above the threat from ISIS, despite tough talk on the latter some months ago.
If I’m looking at the facts and figures, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League in general — the purported American allies — are doing far less to combat ISIS than Iran, even if you buy the theory that Iran’s support for Assad accidentally helped create ISIS in the first place.
This war in Yemen against the Houthis, which Saudi Arabia has been stirring up violently for years, seems essentially to be more of an indirect war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
And this doesn’t even begin to touch the actual al Qaeda presence in Yemen.
I have written more or less nothing on this site, since its launch in December 2013, about Yemen, and my previous site (some content of which is now available in the archives of this site) featured a fair amount on al Qaeda in Yemen but ended coverage in February 2011 as the Arab Spring was beginning ( — we shut down right around then by unlucky coincidence).
The reason I’ve said so little about Yemen, in contrast to say Syria (which actually has a smaller population despite its higher intensity conflict) — even as the capital has fallen, a coup has occurred, and the country has begun to fracture back into its constituent statelets — is because Yemen is extraordinarily complex, news there develops sluggishly from initial spark to result, and media coverage is often sketchy or unreliable (even wildly inaccurate). I like to talk about and learn about many issues and countries in the news, but Yemen so thoroughly stumps me so frequently I have generally opted to stay in my many other lanes and leave it for other, more knowledgeable people to analyze.
It’s also very hard to break down for casual readers. In the incisive words of someone I know, “Yemen has a coup every day. At some point you can’t tell who’s couping who.”
So, when I ran across Adam Baron’s new “Who is in charge of Yemen?” article for Al Jazeera America — an article which offers the single clearest and most concise guide I’ve yet seen on how we got here from there — I had to mention it.
Two paragraphs in particular stand out for their effective summary of the background events that led, in typically Yemeni slow-moving fashion, toward the present emergency. I’m quoting it here with only a few minor bracketed insertions for clarity of points elided or mentioned elsewhere:
The roots of the current crisis date back more than a decade before last week’s events. In June 2004 then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh dispatched government forces to arrest Hussein al-Houthi, a charismatic [Zaidi-Shia] cleric and former member of parliament. Saleh felt increasingly threatened by Houthi’s soaring popularity, due in large part to his sharp critiques of the Yemeni government’s alliance with the United States [nominally against al Qaeda], the marginalization of the his native province of Saada and the capital’s rampant corruption. He was killed along with more than a dozen followers in the rugged mountains of Marran, according to a statement the government released on Sept. 10, 2004. But his Ansar Allah movement — better known as the Houthis — soldiered on under the leadership of his younger brother, Abdul Malek al-Houthi, as Saleh’s regime waged a series of brutal wars that devastated much of northern Yemen over the past decade. The military campaign further intensified the feelings of marginalization and resentment that laid the seeds for the Houthi rebellion.
During Yemen’s Arab Spring–inspired uprising in 2011, the Houthis took advantage of the power vacuum and expanded their control over Saada. Emboldened by the lack of resistance, they soon began to face off against the Islamist Islah party, their former allies against Saleh. Islah is an opposition faction that incorporates the bulk of the Yemeni branch of the [Sunni] Muslim Brotherhood — in tribal areas between Saada and the capital. After fallout with the Houthis and as the country’s internationally mediated transition sputtered on, Islah eventually forged a new alliance with Saleh and his backers [who left the government due to the Arab Spring]. The Houthis’ success on the battlefield and astute political messaging eventually paid off big last September, when they took control of Sanaa and forced their Islah-allied adversaries to flee.
For the descent from the capital’s fall, several months later, into a botched coup d’état and this month’s political chaos, keep reading the full “Who is in charge of Yemen?” article.
Just days after President Obama said he had “no intention of sending U.S. boots on the ground” in Yemen or Somalia, US-supported and armed Saudi and Yemeni forces began heavily “cleansing” Yemeni villages of rebel forces.
Side note, added 11:57 PM US ET: I think cleansing is a surprising choice of words, especially since this is a Shia group with ethnotribal elements. So is Saudi Arabia admitting to ethnic cleansing? (Assuming this has been translated correctly.)
Two rebellions in rural, mountainous regions have grown in strength this year and pushed the Yemeni government’s attention away from terrorism and back to the rebellions, just when the United States expects the former to be a priority. Saudi Arabia, feeling threatened both by cross-border rebel attacks and by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (which has flourished in rebel-protected safe havens), launched a military offensive into Yemen in early November 2009.
Oddly, Yemen is still saying that they will not allow foreign troops into Yemen, despite the presence of Saudi Arabian troops right near Yemeni operations. The US has been sending arms and money to the Army, as well, and conducted missile strikes in mid-December on alleged al Qaeda sites. Yemen receives military training from US special forces advisers and the CIA is active in various covert or semi-cover operations there. Even before the Christmas Day bombing attempt was linked to Yemen, drawing renewed attention to the problem of terrorism there, Yemen had been (fairly successfully, if questionably) trying to cast the struggle against the rebels as part of the global war on terrorism, in an effort to secure funding.
Houthi rebels allege that the Yemeni Army has been bulldozing village houses to force rebels out. The central government of Yemen, which prematurely declared the war over in 2008, is insisting that they will wipe out the rebels once and for all.
I still don’t understand why Republicans suddenly think that civilian court is not good enough for alleged terrorists, even though President Bush himself did that in quite a few cases and we’ve been prosecuting terrorists that way for decades now. What is especially preposterous here is that the Nigerian trust-fund terrorist case (Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab) is nearly identical to Richard Reid’s case with the December 2001 shoe-bombing, as Jon Stewart pointed out the other day. Both attempted bombings used the same kind of explosives, both made their attempts on transatlantic flights, both weren’t Arabs (or any other typically profiled race or nationality), both were stopped by passengers and subdued, and both attempts failed completely. The only difference was that Reid put the explosives in his shoe, and Abdulmutallab put them in his underwear.
Reid was convicted in US Federal Court and he’ll be in jail for quite a while. Problem solved, by the Bush Administration no less. And yet, the Republicans keep carrying on and on about how Abdulmutallab, in a virtually identical case, doesn’t deserve due process and civilian court and how we should have tortured him. He faces life in prison from his civilian indictment on six serious counts by a federal jury, but that’s somehow not good enough for Republicans.
Here’s the Republican version of reality, 2009/2010 Edition:
“We have learned the hard way that trying terrorists in federal court comes at a high price, from losing out on potentially lifesaving intelligence to compromising our sources and methods,” [Senator] Bond said. “We must treat these terrorists as what they are — not common criminals, but enemy combatants in a war.”
[…]
That theme was also amplified on Wednesday by Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina who said in a statement, “If it had been bin Laden himself on that plane, would we read him his Miranda rights and try him in civilian court?”
Which is to say, their reality demonstrably doesn’t match anyone else’s reality:
But several administration officials said on Wednesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not initially read Mr. Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights nor provide him with a lawyer when agents interrogated him.
Law enforcement officials had concluded that because they had a planeload of eyewitnesses who could testify against Mr. Abdulmutallab, they did not need to worry about the fact that if he made any self-incriminating statements before being read his rights, they would not be admissible in court.
The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, has said Mr. Abdulmutallab provided “useable, actionable intelligence,” but declined to specify what it was. A law enforcement official said Mr. Abdulmutallab explained who gave him the bomb, where he received it and where he was trained to use it, among other things.
Eventually, Mr. Abdulmutallab stopped talking and asked for a lawyer, which he received about 30 hours after his arrest. It was not clear when in that timeline that the F.B.I. read him his Miranda rights.
The civilian court system that worked perfectly in very similar cases is somehow not good enough anymore. I wonder if it’s too soon to ask obnoxiously why Republicans hate our freedoms and the founding fathers… because that’s what they’ve been doing for several years now for us.
Britain has announced new joint plans with the US and Yemen and a UN proposal, all of which would go toward managing threats originating in Yemen, Somalia, and the Indian Ocean:
The British government said Sunday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. President Barack Obama had agreed to fund a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the rising terrorist threat from the country.
Brown’s Downing Street Office said the United Kingdom and the United States had also agreed to increase support for Yemen’s coast guard operation. Pirates operating in the waters between Somalia and Yemen have seized four ships in the last week.
Downing Street said Brown and Obama will push the U.N. Security Council to create a larger peacekeeping force for Somalia.
The British government unveiled its plans in the wake of the thwarted Christmas Day bombing of a passenger plane bound for Detroit.
While Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is facing a tough election in May, has been pushing heavily in the past week for more international efforts to combat these threats, a US official made it sound like the administration might have been taken by surprise to some degree by the announcement late tonight (morning there). The US has agreed to a British-led conference on addressing radicalism in Yemen.
Serious news about the “trust-fund terrorist” and the attempted Christmas Day bombing (NYT):
[…] the Saudi arm of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attempted attack and said it was in retaliation for recent American-backed attacks on its members in Yemen, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant Islamist Web sites.
In a statement issued on jihadist forums, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula boasts the success of the “Nigerian brother” in breaking through security barriers and of its own explosives technology, SITE reported, blaming a technical fault for the low-power detonation. The group has mounted attacks within Yemen and Saudi Arabia and in 2004, captured and beheaded a 49-year-old American engineer working in Riyadh, Paul M. Johnson Jr.
Government terror experts said the Qaeda claim was apparently legitimate.
This announcement comes on the heels of rising rhetoric and news attention to terrorists based in Yemen. President Obama himself today implied that the US would be increasing military action in Yemen in response to this attack:
We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland.
We already have the CIA and special forces involved there. We conducted cruise missile strikes there ourselves, and we helped the Yemeni army’s attacks on terrorists. So this new bombing attempt looks like it will set in motion even more involvement.
However, this raises a more serious question about our priorities. Obama lists Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. But what about Saudi Arabia? Osama bin Laden and many of the leaders in and financiers of al Qaeda hail from Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi Arabian. These connections have long been known. Now the Saudi Arabian branch of al Qaeda (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) is claiming responsibility for planning and nearly executing a large bombing in the US. Another attack plan, another Saudi link. At what point do we stop trying to solve everything with airstrikes on disorganized countries with much lower oil exports, which the group claims was the motivation here specifically, and face the facts that our oil-rich “ally” is a serious threat to our security?
Yes, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (a merger of Al Qaeda in Yemen and Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia) includes Yemen in its sphere of operations, but they’re primarily aimed at bringing down the Saudi monarchy, so that’s their big target and Yemen is just a base of operations. However, we’ve entangled ourselves by aiding Yemen and the Saudi regime, and thus we’ve drawn the terrorists’ attention back onto the United States. I can see how there’s an argument that we don’t want Salafist radicals to seize control of the Arabian Peninsula… but it still seems like we’re just in it for the oil, which is why we continue to prop up an unjust, undemocratic, unpopular regime in Saudi Arabia, rather than pressuring the government to make reforms that would undercut the radicals. Basically, we’re taking the most expensive and most dangerous route on dealing with radicalism in the Middle East by ignoring the Saudi problem. Bombing more of Yemen will just make things worse and won’t get to the root of the problem.
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"We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war."
-Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt,December 29, 1940 |
State College baseball fends off Cedar Cliff
Four pitches, piercing through the swirling wind, ended any potential final-inning chaos.
It must be nice having a kid capable of throwing 90 mph.
State College senior Chris Adams blew away a pair of Cedar Cliff hitters in the top of the seventh inning and helped spark a three-run bottom of the sixth as the Little Lions fended off the Colts 9-7 on Thursday evening.
Adams earned the save, while left-hander Christian Friberg was the winning pitcher and Cedar Cliff’s Denny Snyder was on the losing end.
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Friberg allowed a run in the top of the seventh, and State College coach Troy Allen didn’t want to have to bring in Adams. But the skipper said Adams will be the Little Lions’ closer, and he has no qualms bringing him in.
Adams’ velocity made the Colts noticeably uncomfortable. On back-to-back pitches, the senior forced two Cedar Cliff right-handed hitters to flyout to right field.
They were way behind on his fastball.
“It’s a difficult adjustment for a hitter,” Adams said. “I’m sure they’re going to get a piece of the ball eventually.”
Adams’ brief but noteworthy presence in the final inning brought a calmness to State College in a game that teetered both ways.
After a scoreless first frame, State College struck first with four runs in the second inning. Bailey Ishler had a leadoff walk, Tucker Triebold singled, and Kenny Magnes drew a walk, as well, before Liam Clarke’s ground ball to first base was muffed, allowing him to reach base safely and Ishler to score. Then Tyson Cooper walked, scoring Triebold, and Magnes was plated on a fielder’s choice. Before the inning was over, Cooper reached home on a wild pitch.
Inducing a total of five walks in the second frame, the Little Lions were being patient.
It continued to do so in the third.
After taking a few pitches, Magnes slapped a triple down the left-field line. Gavin Schaefer-Hood pounced on the next pitch for an RBI single, and he’d later score on a triple by Cooper in a seven-pitch at-bat.
State College held a 6-0 lead, plenty for starting pitcher Mason Mellott to work with.
But after cruising through three scoreless innings to start, Mellott was on the bench for quite some time during State College’s long third inning at the plate.
“He was sitting around for a while,” Allen said. “It got bumpier than I anticipated.”
The Colts found their form in the batter’s box.
Propelled by cerebral baserunning and a few poor decisions in the field by State College, Cedar Cliff hung three runs in the fourth.
Mellott finished out the frame, but, true to Allen’s early-season limit, his day was done after tallying five strikeouts in four innings of work.
Senior southpaw Tristan Ballenger gave way to a trio of Cedar Cliff runs in the fifth inning before Friberg tidied things up the next inning, leaving State College in a 6-6 ballgame heading into the bottom of the sixth.
State College’s Brandon Raquet led off with an infield single, and stole second base as the next hitter, Greg Copenhaver, struck out swinging. The catcher’s throw down skipped into the outfield, allowing Raquet to high-tail it to third.
Next up, Adams lofted a liner over the third baseman, plating Raquet and giving the Little Lions a 7-6 edge.
With Adams on second following the double, Cedar Cliff intentionally walked Ishler to get to Triebold and set up a force play with one out.
Triebold had a feeling that would happen.
“But I just had to trust myself when I went up to bat and get the job done,” he said.
Triebold did what he needed to do, smacking an RBI single up the middle. He later stole second, forcing a throw which granted Ishler home and State College a 9-6 lead.
“I have the utmost confidence in all my guys,” Allen said. “They know that when their situation comes, they have to produce. I have confidence one through nine and they did their jobs.”
The win marks two in a row for State College (2-0) to jumpstart the 2016 campaign, after dusting Red Land 15-4 on Tuesday.
With the offense clicking and an apparent shutdown closer in tow, the Little Lions are in fine form to begin the season.
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In view of recently implicated role of COX-1 in human health and diseases, including cancer, development of safe and selective drugs, as COX-1 inhibitor is desirable. Human COX-1 and COX-2 isozymes have been modeled using in silico tools and relative efficacies of terpenoids as their inhibitors have been investigated by docking. The docking analyses of 10 selected terpenoids along with drugs revealed that all of the terpenoids were more potent inhibitors of COX-1 rather than COX-2 with the oleanolic acid as the most potent inhibitor of COX in general (binding energy [-18.68Kcal/mol and -18.25Kcal/mol] and estimated Ki [5.57×10(-8)µM and 11.4×10(-8)µM] for COX-1 and COX-2, respectively) and β-carotene as most selective inhibitor of COX-1. Furthermore, ibuprofen and aspirin were found to be preferential inhibitor of COX-1 and COX-2, respectively. |
"##[Bad to the bone by George Thorogood playing]" "[growls]" "You the man." "[dragonfly buzzing] [laughing]" "Look, people." "Now I know you're all dying to try..." "Gunther's fabulous new lobster truffle dumplings... but if you don't have a reservation, you're not getting in." "(all) Come on." "Okay?" "Delinda Deline?" "Yes." "Hi." "It's Seth." "Your third cousin, twice removed, on our mothers' side?" "I wrote you I was coming." "Yes, Seth." "I just didn't think you actually would." "We take our rumspringa very serious." "Rum what?" "Rumspringa." "It's an Amish custom." "We experience the outside world before committing to the traditional way of life." "I've been raising rabbits and cutting wood and building barns for years." "Now, I'm ready to splurge." "Oh, God!" "That's great, Seth, but don't you think you might want to do your whole... rum-a-spring-a-thinga someplace else?" "I mean, Vegas is a pretty tough town for someone who hasn't really... experienced the outside world." "[dragonfly buzzing]" "Aren't you a pretty little thing." "[people whooping]" "I'm just so excited you finally agreed to come." "You guys are legendary in Monte Carlo." "So, your bank in Zurich has cleared a $10 million line of credit... and that's extendable, of course." "Just name your game and we'll get you started." "Well, you don't travel light, do you?" "These curtains, they absolutely shut out the light?" "Absolutely." "We like to stay in bed late." "So do I." "I'm Estefan." "I'm Sam." "A pleasure." "[dragonfly buzzing]" "[phone beeping]" "Yeah, what's up?" "What?" "What do you mean, the south escalator's frozen?" "Yeah." "I'm on my way." "Oh, no." "Sorry." "Gyrostabilizers must have become unstable." "That's quite all right." "Just enjoy the convention." "[laughing]" "What?" "[people laughing]" "Mitch, shut down Gilbert the Geek's peep show, would you?" "Do it now." "I knew these guys were going to be a pain in the ass." "What the..." "Why am I looking at me?" "##[pop music playing]" "(Ed) Just popped up on a monitor a little bit ago." "Maybe it's a glitch." "Maybe somebody's watching us from our own system." "Daddy." "Don't you ever knock?" "You think I would after walking in on you and mom so many times." "And who might this young fellow be?" "Seth, my third cousin, twice removed." "Wild guess, the Amish cousin." "Your mother's family is full of surprises." "How you doing there, big fella?" "It's nice to meet you, sir." "That's a heck of a grip you got there." "Okay." "Listen, Daddy." "I'd like Security to watch Cousin Seth around the clock." "Why?" "I mean, just look at him, Daddy." "He's a big innocent kid who's never been off the farm." "Vegas'll fix that." "I mean, he doesn't look like he needs any help." "Come on." "You gotta excuse us." "Say, there, Seth." "Well, it was nice to meet you." "Yeah." "Listen, I tell you what." "We're gonna comp your room, some show tickets, but not the buffet." "We won't comp that." "You'll break us." "So you guys have a good time." "Okay." "We have a Brunson Alert." "It's up on P9." "Oh, God." "Just what I needed." "I gotta go take care of this." "Hey, do me a favor." "Run a detailed background check on all these exhibitors at the convention." "Okay." "All right." "Check you later." "##[music playing]" "Did anybody see you?" "No." "Are you sure?" "Are you questioning my clandestine ability?" "I didn't think so." "[phone beeping]" "It's a text message from Ed." "He always had impeccable timing." "He wants us back at the Montecito." "Sorry, mate." "We can be a little late for work." "Don't you..." "How can you just turn it off like that?" "What..." "Now I know why they call her the Ice Queen." "Hey!" "Who's the lucky guy?" "What?" "That's a hot outfit." "You must have a date." "There's no date." "Then why are you getting so defensive?" "I'm... (guard) Nessa." "He's been casing the pit for over an hour." "Danny, there's a suspicious character circling Pit 47." "Give me facial recognition on this guy." "You got it." "Are you wearing perfume?" "What?" "No." "Vic Kenner, a.k.a. Vid Kid, a security tech with a rap sheet as long as your arm." "Wait a second." "I know this guy." "I busted him, like, six months ago in a maintenance uniform... tampering with surveillance cameras." "This could be our answer." "What answer?" "Nothing." "Is there something going on I should know?" "You mean, other than the fact that you're wearing lady's perfume?" "Yeah." "We got a possible suspect in a baseball cap... and dark sunglasses, circling Pit 47." "[people chattering]" "All right." "Talk to me." "All right." "Take him down." "[woman exclaiming]" "[all chattering]" "Hey!" "Mr. Brunson." "Hey!" "This is fake!" "What the hell!" "Look at this." "What is this?" "It's good to see you." "Mr. Brunson believes it's good to see you, too, Mr. McCoy, despite your entrance." "Danny, this is Jason Decker." "Ed and I have been showing him around the Montecito." "Pleasure to meet you." "As you can see..." "Mr. Decker is an outside consultant." "He's evaluating the Montecito operations for possible sale." "On Mr. Brunson's behalf, of course." "Excellent dumplings." "My compliments to the chef." "Make a note to pass along Jason's compliments to Gunther." "So the rumors are true?" "You plan on selling the Montecito." "Mr. Brunson can't comment on that." "Nothing personal." "Actually, Gavin, it is." "It is pretty personal." "You've got a bunch of people around here, they're kind of waiting... and wondering if they're gonna have a job." "To tell you the truth, my team and I, we're not very good at waiting and wondering." "I'm sure Jason will take that into consideration." "Won't you, Jason?" "I take everything into consideration." "Mr. Brunson, you have dinner with Steve Wynn." "We best get going." "Yeah." "Steve's anxious to show off his new place." "All right." "Well, it's good." "I just think I'm gonna wander around a bit." "Make myself at home." "Okay, it was nice to meet you." "Okay." "[people whooping]" "My Euro-whales need a private baccarat table every night from sunset to sunrise." "I need everything to be perfect." "So, will you be croupier?" "Absolutely not." "That's a nice aftershave." "Nice outfit." "Whatever you want." "I'll do it." "Fine." "Yeah, that's what I thought." "My whales, they have a few superstitions." "Like what?" "Well, one of them likes..." "The cross that she's wearing, she will take it off, yes?" "Of course." "Good." "Now we discuss the menu." "[people chattering]" "Hey, Mar. Hey." "I need your help." "I have a situation." "What situation?" "Who is he?" "My cousin, Seth." "He's here for his rum-a-spring-a-thinga." "He wants to experience Vegas... but something tells me he's not quite ready yet." "Would that something be his haircut or his clothes... or his big dumb-ass grin?" "Hello!" "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Dee..." "I don't think anyone is ever thinking what you're thinking." "Wow." "I'll say." "Vegas may eat him alive, but at least he'll look good." "I wouldn't mind taking a nibble." "Me, neither." "Hey, if you're looking for a volunteer to show him the sights... the convention's over for the night." "Yeah, and I can rearrange my schedule." "If anybody is going to show him this town, it's me." "Before you show him the town, you might want to make sure... he's not showing it something." "Apparently the Amish aren't allowed zippers or buttons." "It's a modesty thing." "Are you wearing Mike's aftershave?" "[beeping]" "Excuse me, sir, please remove any metallic objects from your pockets... and come with me." "Is that me?" "A little light reading?" "We live in a paperless society you know." "Just something Ed wants me to look into." "What's going on?" "Nothing." "Then why is Jason Decker here?" "He evaluates properties for hostile takeovers." "It's not hostile." "He's just evaluating our operations for Brunson." "That's all." "So the rumors about Brunson selling the Montecito are true?" "He wouldn't comment, but I do know that Sam's husband's looking into it." "Casey Manning really wants to buy the Montecito?" "That's the word." "[beeping]" "It is you." "Hold on." "What are you..." "See, this is what we surveillance professionals refer to as a bug." "That was on me?" "There's some kind of oil on the microchip." "The circuitry's very sophisticated." "These letters are Cyrillic, I believe." "Russian." "Any idea who could have got close enough to pin this bug on you?" "(Danny) I don't know." "It could have been anyone." "I was in the convention center all day." "Whoever it was got close enough to plant one on you." "You got tagged, Mr. D." "Detection alarms didn't go off because you entered through your private entrance." "Or somebody got you in here." "The only person that was in here was Delinda's cousin." "Yeah, but..." "So, I swept your office and the surveillance room." "Both are clean." "Sorry." "Yeah, his name is Seth, honey." "He says he's a cousin of yours." "Jillian, if I remembered meeting him at your aunt's funeral..." "I wouldn't have asked." "Right." "Well, thank you." "All right, honey." "You know, the Amish are very, very frugal people." "Maybe you should, spend some more time with your relatives." "Maybe I should leave." "Honey, no, you're absolutely right." "You're right, it was completely uncalled for." "Yeah, I'll see you later." "Do you know how I've stayed married so long?" "See, every single conversation that I have, every single one... and no matter what the subject is, approximately every three to four minutes..." "I say, "Yes, dear, you're right."" "I will certainly remember that, sir." "Don't be a wiseass." "Anyway, so this Seth... it's definitely his first trip away from the homestead." "And where he comes from a zipper's considered high tech... so I don't think he's remotely even a possibility." "I also checked the surveillance footage of you and Danny last 24 hours." "I estimate 2,000 people came within arm's length." "Obviously, it'll take a while to check them all." "So, we have to narrow our focus." "Yes." "And we do have a convention of security and surveillance experts in the house." "That's why I have Danny running a background check on all these exhibitors." "Right?" "What do you got?" "I'd call him a person of interest." "Hank Davis, formerly Hans Dietrich, Stasi operative." "East German secret police." "Very interesting." "This guy, definitely, would know how to quietly plant a bug on somebody." "Why don't you pick him up?" "All right." "And, boys, quietly." "It'll be tough if he's wearing that shirt." "What does that mean?" "Banco." "This is everything, just the way you ordered it." "Thank you." "[all exclaiming]" "What's wrong?" "Is everything okay?" "Is there something I can get you?" "Can I get you something?" "Where'd he go?" "What's..." "You were specifically instructed, no garlic." "Yes." "I was very clear with the chef about that... and I forgot about the garlic in the olives." "It's really not a big deal." "I can get him another drink." "I'm afraid it is, as you say, "a big deal."" "We go now." "No." "There's no reason to go now." "Darky, there's no reason to go." "I think if we talked about this for a while, I can get you anything." "I can get you..." "Okay, these people..." "Playing from sunset to sunrise." "No crosses on the dealers." "Now the garlic olives." "Doesn't this strike you as a little bit odd?" "You think?" "They also covered the mirrors in their suite." "They're eccentric." "They're vampires." "I have never had so much fun in my entire life!" "Dee, it was awesome!" "Do we have to call it a night?" "Seth, Rome wasn't burned in a day." "Vegas'll be there in the morning." "Now go upstairs and get some rest." "I'll meet you for breakfast tomorrow." "Okay." "Good night." "Ghost Bar, here I come." "[exclaims]" "Forgive me, but I had to apologize." "How'd you get in here?" "I have my ways." "No." "Back up the track, Euro-boy." "There's no coming into my suite uninvited." "I don't even know you." "To truly know another can take an eternity." "Whatever." "Bye-bye." "Floating." "Okay." "All right." "We'll see you back at the tables." "Have a seat, Hans." "My name is Hank." "Yeah, whatever." "Sure, Hank, Hans." "It doesn't matter." "We know Stasi when we smell it." "Now, you care to tell me why you bugged my associate?" "I didn't bug anybody." "I'm a respectable businessman." "I sell nanny cams." "I'm a NASCAR dad." "I know my rights." "I've done nothing wrong in your casino." "You have no reason to hold me." "I'm afraid he's right, boys." "Let him go." "Let him go?" "We have nothing to hold him on." "Sir, I 'm very sorry about the misunderstanding... and I hope there's no hard feelings." "Ed, what's going on?" "Yeah, I know these guys." "You could sweat him forever and they'll never say anything." "A little torture might help." "But you told us to bring him in." "(Sam) Hi." "I'd like to speak to Estefan." "By the way, the private baccarat table, still waiting." "I'm sorry, but he has retired for the evening." "Everyone has retired." "Okay, here's the deal." "This is a high-roller suite." "Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with that... but this is what we offer to our clients when they play big." "So far you all have played one hand at a private table... that I've been holding all night long." "Define big." "A least $100,000 a day." "$100,000 on lucky 13." "Twenty, black." "I trust that will take care of things for today." "Keep breathing." "You okay, buddy?" "I'm great, man." "Yeah, I know, it's a little tight in here." "It's fine." "You feel like the walls are closing in on you?" "No." "I'm great." "Yeah." "Thank God I'm not claustrophobic." "You're funny." "You know, we've been at this for almost an hour now." "You sure you figured it right?" "There's only so many places the control circuits merge." "We search those and we can find out where they spliced in." "Yeah." "So how long you and Nessa been doing the big nasty?" "What are you talking about?" "The perfume?" "Yeah." "No, I mean, that belongs to a girl I've been dating out of Henderson." "Name's Rachel." "Great girl." "Optometrist." "And..." "Give it up." "You are the worst liar." "All right." "Listen, you can't tell anybody this, Danny." "Nobody knows." "So I'm guessing you and Mike have been seeing each other since Valentine's Day?" "Please, Mary, you can't tell anyone." "It just sort of happened." "And?" "And what?" "I want details." "And we were finally going to do it." "Tonight?" "Yeah." "Actually, though, I'm glad Ed called us in because..." "I don't know if I'm ready to take it to the next step." "And, you know, I'm all ready for a wham-bam, thank you ma'am." "Do you know what I mean?" "Yeah." "It's not always about sex, you know, Danny." "Dude, you sound like a girl." "There's nothing wrong with a man who likes to cuddle now and then." "Stop." "You're embarrassing yourself." "Well, lookee here." "(man) What is it?" "(Mitch) Power down the monitors." "[phone beeping]" "Yeah?" "Danny, stop whatever the hell you're doing." "Stop." "Put it back." "##[music playing]" "Mary, have you seen Seth?" "I've been looking for him all morning." "Is that the Seth you're looking for?" "[girls exclaiming]" "[people cheering]" "[all cheering]" "What are you doing?" "It's called a body shot." "I especially enjoy the lime." "You want to try one?" "You were supposed to meet me for breakfast three hours ago." "Sorry, Delinda, but I don't have a watch." "You know, Amish." "Very funny, Seth." "I was really worried about you." "Housekeeping told me your bed wasn't slept in." "Sorry, Delinda, but Vegas is just too darn exciting to sleep." "I went back to that Ghost place you took me to." "Ghost Bar?" "Right." "And that's where I met these lovely ladies." "We partied till dawn, and then I took them back here for a swim." "Go change, now!" "I've created a monster." "Lighten up, Dee." "I seem to recall a certain young lady doing exactly the same thing... with the entire UNLV football team." "That's different." "Oh, yeah?" "How?" "They just beat USC." "Seth, your fly is open!" "Oh, my God!" "[Seth yells]" "(Delinda) What happened?" "Oh, my God!" "Put this on!" "I need my car out front right away." "Okay, come on." "Did he just catch his..." "They got to have an inside man... because there is no way they could have pulled this off without one." "They know our every move." "What about the knackwurst, Hans?" "When he's not on the convention floor, he's been up in his room." "Here, look." "How often does he go back and forth?" "I don't know, about every hour." "(maid) Housekeeping!" "Get out!" "We told you, no maids." "Sorry, sir." "Out!" "Sorry." "What do you want?" "Easy now." "We're compromised." "Abort!" "Repeat, abort!" "Sit." "So, come on." "Tell me." "Who are you working for?" "If I knew, I'd tell you, I swear." "(Mike and Danny) Ed!" "Come on." "Remember what happened last time?" "Remember that mess?" "We had to repaint." "And that smell hung around for weeks." "Just thinking about that makes me gag." "Now, come on." "(Ed) Okay." "Vic Kenner, a.k.a. Vid Kid... this'll be your third strike, won't it, Vic?" "Uh-oh." "I'm thinking they're gonna love him in Nevada State." "Can you say "prison bitch?" (Ed) Go ahead, try it." "Prison bitch." "You know, your friends rolled over on you." "So, you should be expecting 1,000 pound crap hammer to be falling on your head." "They didn't tell you anything." "Right." "You know how easy it is to pull a tongue out with a pair of pliers?" "If you don't talk, I'm gonna pull yours out." "We were hired by untraceable e-mails and paid in Swiss accounts." "We get encrypted instructions on a need-to-know basis." "Whoever is running this is being very careful." "I'll check the e-mails and encryption, see what I can find out." "(Sam) Hi." "I need to speak to Estefan." "I'm sorry, he's asleep." "Right, sunlight and all of that." "No one is to disturb him until sunset." "Yeah, I got it." "No sunlight." "No garlic." "No crosses." "No mirrors." "Now, the floating thing." "I've never seen that before." "Is he a magician?" "You know, the $100,000 last night, that was amazing." "But today's another day." "Very well." "I will go down to the tables in five minutes." "Well, I think that's a..." "I will be getting in that room." "Hey." "Hey." "Listen." "We need to talk." "Here?" "Yeah, listen, as much fun as I've had, this isn't gonna work for me." "What?" "I just..." "I don't think that you can handle being a booty buddy." "Booty buddy?" "Yeah, you know, friends who sometimes..." "I can't talk about this right now." "Sorry about your car." "What's a little vomit among family?" "Tequila sure hits you hard when you skip breakfast." "Here, I got you something." "Cool." "Thanks." "What is it?" "It's a PDA cell phone and digital assistant." "It even has global positioning." "Now we can call each other anytime." "I put my number on speed dial." "I get it." "This is my cowbell." "Don't take this the wrong way, Seth, but you're kind of a bumpkin." "(Mary) I still don't understand why we're going up here." "I really don't understand why you need me." "We're going because I hear there's some strange things going on in their suite." "How long have you worked here?" "I'm not talking about normal Vegas weirdness." "Like when we had to fill up a bathtub with peeled grapes." "Remember the mink-lined milk bottles?" "Remember that guy who wanted us to have a showgirl... go up to his room and use the toilet and..." "That was weird." "Yeah." "That was weird." "not flush?" "Yeah." "Anyway, someone told me that these David BlainelBela Lugosi wannabes... are into some sort of satanic crap." "What does that mean?" "Like, sacrificing small animals?" "Or maybe even, like, human sacrifice." "I don't care about that." "But if they're chopping up puppies, they're out, millions or no millions." "And why do you need me?" "Why are you so covered up?" "This?" "This is covered up?" "Yeah!" "Compared to what you always wear?" "When you're right, you're right." "Can we put, like, a thing..." "Oh, come on." "Just a little." "What's happening to you?" "I said "trashy." This is the best you could do?" "Sorry." "They cancelled my whores-are-us-card." "What's the big deal about getting inside this room?" "You know, when you gots to know, you gots to know." "You should know that housekeeping's too freaked to go anywhere near them." "Everyone thinks they're vampires." "Yeah." "I know." "Are you sure this is going to work?" "Your breasts can get in anywhere." "It's the getting out that worries me." "(guard) Ladies." "I'm with her." "##[music playing]" "Going in." "Watch my back." "Who's going to watch my back?" "So where's our boy Seth?" "Out experiencing Vegas." "He's been to every casino in town." "Even jumped on stage at the MGM to teach the show girls how to clog dance and yodel." "What?" "Have you been getting complaints?" "No." "No complaints." "Everyone loves him." "They're thinking of making him mayor." "He's getting invited places even I haven't been." "So what's the problem?" "I gave him a PDA to stay in touch." "Now he calls me every five minutes." "[phone beeping]" "Hello, Seth." "Wait, where are you?" "A backroom poker game?" "(Seth) It's wild." "There's, like, $100,000 on the table." "And hookers with breasts bigger than watermelons." "Seth, where are you?" "I gotta go." "I'll call you soon." "Seth." "(Danny) What's up, boss?" "Listen, I've been sitting here." "Now, I remembered, when we were in that holding room... and I asked you for something to write on." "Decker's business card." "Right, and it had some kind of oily crap in the corner." "The bugs we pulled off of you and Danny had oil on them, too." "That is correct." "So, you think the two oils are the same?" "Well, let's find out." "Comparing the chemical composition of various oils is no easy task." "There's viscosity, the source, vegetable, mineral, animal..." "Can you do it?" "Ed, you're talking to Mike Cannon." "Of course I can do it." "Do it." "If it is the same oil, then the arrows point to Decker." "But why would he want to spy on us?" "We work for the same guy." "It doesn't make any sense." "No." "It doesn't make any sense, yet." "If it is him, you'd think a guy with a $2,000 suit... would have washed his hands once in a while." "Let's just analyze his hygiene habits later." "Would you please just find out if he's our guy?" "(Mike and Danny) We're on it." "Right." "Okay." "Lame Goth sex parties." "So disappointing." "They're so pale." "Great party." "Get your clothes on, and get the hell out." "(Mike) On the left, the oil from the bugs." "On the right, the oil I lifted from Decker's business card." "Note the similarities in chemical composition." "Similar?" "They're exactly the same." "Exactly the same." "But the oil isn't motor oil or machine oil." "In fact, it's not a petroleum derivative at all." "It's olive oil." "Lobster truffle olive oil, to be exact." "And Decker was eating a plate of Gunther's lobster dumplings... when he handed me that business card the other day." "What do you got?" "Decker is who he says he is, a valuation consultant." "But he still has ties to his old employer, Signa Corps." "The real estate investment trust." "It just so happens, about six months ago, Signa Corps started aggressively... acquiring gaming properties in Atlantic City and Las Vegas." "That would make the Montecito a nice addition to their portfolio." "He's double-dipping." "So we know it's Decker." "Then why all the undercover stuff?" "The bugs, Vid-Kid, Hans Dietrich?" "Probably just doesn't want Brunson knowing what he's up to." "What is he up to?" "He's creating a security lapse, Mike." "Trying to make the Montecito look like it has problems." "No." "It's a lot worse." "He's trying to make us look real stupid." "[people chattering]" "Sam." "Have you seen Seth?" "I'm really worried about him." "Delinda, he's an adult." "He shows up this sweet, unspoiled country boy... and now I've turned him into some sort of..." "American?" "Oh, God." "Yeah." "Listen, there's this thing, I'm not sure if you've heard of it or not." "It's called personal responsibility." "Yeah, but he's overdoing it." "And it's all my fault." "Good." "Everyone overdoes it." "That's why we're here." "Yeah, but he's picking up slutty girls." "That's excellent, actually." "He wears the Boy George hats, but he's not gay." "And he's drinking like a fish." "Helps kill the slutty-girl germs." "At least he's not gambling." "I set him up at a backroom poker game." "You did what?" "He'll have something to tell his 37 grandchildren." "Sam!" "It appears you proved your point, Jason." "I never thought anyone could beat Ed Deline at his own game." "Well, no one's infallible, not even Ed Deline." "You're just lucky I found the flaw and not some prospective buyer." "Someone's trying to access the holding vault." "Really?" "Who?" "The system says it's you." "(Mike and Danny) Hey!" "(Ed) Hey, Gavin." "Come to visit your money?" "I gotta tell you something." "Boy, that damn Gunther." "He makes a hell of a dumpling." "Hell of a dumpling." "It's damn good." "The problem is, it does get awful messy." "You know what I'm saying, Decker?" "What are you saying?" "Well, I'm saying, it's real messy, kind of like your work." "See... you left some of that dipping sauce on your business card." "And on the bug you planted on Danny." "I told you they're good." "Touché, Ed." "But you got to admit, I had you." "Okay." "I admit you had me." "I guess." "But, I'll tell you, more importantly, I know I got you." "What are you talking about?" "Just correct me if I'm wrong." "You do have a personal service contract with Mr. Brunson, here, do you not?" "I do." "But, over here, you're working for Signa Corps... in their unsolicited bid to buy the Montecito." "Well, sneaky, here, he's not only getting money from both ends... he's trying to devalue the Montecito so he can manipulate the sale price." "And once word leaks out that we have a problem with security... the stock price adjusts downward, accordingly." "And Signa Corps would swoop in." "Old Decker, here, was standing to make about $100 million." "Is this true, Jason?" "You're a Vegas dinosaur, Deline." "Take that smile off your face, weasel... and you thank God that I'm not... because if I was, I'd chop your ass up in so many little pieces." "Then I'd take that garbage out to the desert and put it in a big old ant hill." "That's the way they used to deal with scum like you who tried to burn this town." "Get him out of here." "Get him out of my face." "(guard) Let's go." "##[pop music playing]" "Hey, Delinda, wait up." "Seth, you're okay." "Of course." "I was going crazy." "I didn't hear from you, and you weren't answering your phone." "I know." "I'm sorry, I just got wrapped up in the poker game." "I've never seen anyone bet that much money before." "Hey, what happened to your new clothes?" "I gave them to a guy living on the streets." "I don't need them anymore." "I'm going home." "But you were only here for a few days." "I thought you wanted to experience life." "Well, like Sarah says, that's the beauty of Vegas." "You can experience a lifetime in 48 hours." "That's true." "Who is Sarah?" "My fiancée." "Do I know her?" "You sort of met at the pool." "Body shot girl!" "She was here for her rumspringa, too." "Small world." "We've got a bus to catch, so..." "I won't need this anymore." "I'll miss you." "Bye!" "Bye." "You guys ever wonder what the simple life would be like?" "No." "Me, either." "Nessa, can I talk to you?" "You can't still be upset with my decision." "(Sam) What decision?" "You're just going to have to get over me, mate." "Over you?" "Come one." "What's going on?" "Come on." "Apparently nothing, because I'm not willing to be a booty buddy." "Booty buddy?" "I thought it was booty bunny." "No, you're the booty bunny, sweetie." "Bunnies are cute." "Yes, they are." "Let's give them a little space." "Thank you, Mary." "No." "Come on." "Yes." "I just..." "I don't think it'll work." "We're friends." "Danny and Mary are friends and look, that is a bad example." "Yeah, and this was your idea." "Yes, but..." "You really want to go down this path?" "Nessa, I like you." "You like me." "We have fun together." "So, Gavin, yes or no?" "Are you selling it or not?" "That's privileged information." "But if I do sell, I'd recommend you and your staff to the new owners." "Ed, any potential buyer knows you're one of the Montecito's biggest assets." "Appreciate it." "That said, if I do sell... it's completely out of my hands whether they keep you or not." "We'll hopefully be here, or until next time." "Until that time." "[people whooping]" |
Q:
Get the application's NotifyIcon rectangle?
I would like to know the location of my NotifyIcon in the system tray (before performing any click on it).
In this other question @Hans Passant made a comment saying NO, it's not possible, but I think that almost all the things which can be done internally by the OS also can be reproduced by the developer, if I'm not right then why the SO can get the NotifyIcon location to show popups on it?.
In the same question above there is a C# example illustrating how to locate the systemtray rectangle, I wonder whether maybe that's a start.
Can this task can be realized?
If yes, then how?
If not, why the OS can? In what way we are limited to be unable to reproduce the same thing?
A:
You need these declarations:
public const Int32 WM_MYMESSAGE = 0x8000; //WM_APP
public const Int32 NOTIFYICON_VERSION_4 = 0x4;
//messages
public const Int32 WM_CONTEXTMENU = 0x7B;
public const Int32 NIN_BALLOONHIDE = 0x403;
public const Int32 NIN_BALLOONSHOW = 0x402;
public const Int32 NIN_BALLOONTIMEOUT = 0x404;
public const Int32 NIN_BALLOONUSERCLICK = 0x405;
public const Int32 NIN_KEYSELECT = 0x403;
public const Int32 NIN_SELECT = 0x400;
public const Int32 NIN_POPUPOPEN = 0x406;
public const Int32 NIN_POPUPCLOSE = 0x407;
public const Int32 NIIF_USER = 0x4;
public const Int32 NIIF_NONE = 0x0;
public const Int32 NIIF_INFO = 0x1;
public const Int32 NIIF_WARNING = 0x2;
public const Int32 NIIF_ERROR = 0x3;
public const Int32 NIIF_LARGE_ICON = 0x20;
public enum NotifyFlags {
NIF_MESSAGE = 0x01,
NIF_ICON = 0x02,
NIF_TIP = 0x04,
NIF_INFO = 0x10,
NIF_STATE = 0x08,
NIF_GUID = 0x20,
NIF_SHOWTIP = 0x80
}
public enum NotifyCommand { NIM_ADD = 0x0, NIM_DELETE = 0x2, NIM_MODIFY = 0x1, NIM_SETVERSION = 0x4}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct NOTIFYICONDATA
{
public Int32 cbSize;
public IntPtr hWnd;
public Int32 uID;
public NotifyFlags uFlags;
public Int32 uCallbackMessage;
public IntPtr hIcon;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 128)]
public String szTip;
public Int32 dwState;
public Int32 dwStateMask;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 256)]
public String szInfo;
public Int32 uVersion;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 64)]
public String szInfoTitle;
public Int32 dwInfoFlags;
public Guid guidItem; //> IE 6
public IntPtr hBalloonIcon;
}
[DllImport("shell32.dll")]
public static extern System.Int32 Shell_NotifyIcon(NotifyCommand cmd, ref NOTIFYICONDATA data);
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct RECT
{
public Int32 left;
public Int32 top;
public Int32 right;
public Int32 bottom;
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER
{
public Int32 cbSize;
public IntPtr hWnd;
public Int32 uID;
public Guid guidItem;
}
//Works with Shell32.dll (version 6.1 or later)
[DllImport("shell32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern int Shell_NotifyIconGetRect([In]ref NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER identifier, [Out]out RECT iconLocation);
Add the icon:
//you only need this guid to identify your icon
private Guid guid;
//call only once to set the icon and create the guid.
private void AddIcon()
{
guid = Guid.NewGuid();
NOTIFYICONDATA data = new NOTIFYICONDATA();
data.cbSize = Marshal.SizeOf(data);
data.hWnd = this.Handle;
data.guidItem = guid;
data.uCallbackMessage = WM_MYMESSAGE; //This is the message sent to our app
data.hIcon = Properties.Resources.myIcon;
data.szTip = "Your text";
data.uFlags = NotifyFlags.NIF_ICON | NotifyFlags.NIF_GUID | NotifyFlags.NIF_MESSAGE | NotifyFlags.NIF_TIP |
NotifyFlags.NIF_SHOWTIP;
Shell_NotifyIcon(NotifyCommand.NIM_ADD, ref data);
data.uVersion = NOTIFYICON_VERSION_4;
Shell_NotifyIcon(NotifyCommand.NIM_SETVERSION, ref data);
}
Get position of icon in screen coordinates:
private void GetRectIcon()
{
RECT rect = new RECT();
NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER notifyIcon = new NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER();
notifyIcon.cbSize = Marshal.SizeOf(notifyIcon);
//only guid is needed
notifyIcon.guidItem = guid;
int hresult = Shell_NotifyIconGetRect(ref notifyIcon, out rect);
//rect now has the position and size of icon
}
To delete the notification icon:
private void DeleteIcon()
{
NOTIFYICONDATA data = new NOTIFYICONDATA();
data.cbSize = Marshal.SizeOf(data);
data.uFlags = NotifyFlags.NIF_GUID;
data.guidItem = guid;
Shell_NotifyIcon(NotifyCommand.NIM_DELETE, ref data);
}
To add a baloon
private void AddBalloon()
{
NOTIFYICONDATA data;
data = new NOTIFYICONDATA();
data.cbSize = Marshal.SizeOf(data);
data.guidItem = guid;
//Set custom icon for balloon or NIIF_NONE for no icon. You can use all the other
//NIIF_... for system icons
data.dwInfoFlags = NIIF_USER;
data.hBalloonIcon = Properties.Resources.myNewIcon;
//text in balloon
data.szInfo = "My text in balloon";
//balloon title
data.szInfoTitle = "Balloon title";
//set the flags to be modified
data.uFlags = NotifyFlags.NIF_INFO | NotifyFlags.NIF_SHOWTIP | NotifyFlags.NIF_GUID;
Shell_NotifyIcon(NotifyCommand.NIM_MODIFY, ref data);
}
Catch messages
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
if (m.Msg == WM_MYMESSAGE)
{
//(Int32)m.LParam & 0x0000FFFF get the low 2 bytes of LParam, we dont need the high ones.
//(Int32)m.WParam & 0x0000FFFF is the X coordinate and
//((Int32)m.WParam & 0xFFFF0000) >> 16 the Y
switch ((Int32)m.LParam & 0x0000FFFF)
{
case NIN_BALLOONHIDE:
break;
case NIN_BALLOONSHOW:
break;
case NIN_BALLOONTIMEOUT:
break;
case NIN_BALLOONUSERCLICK:
//user clicked on balloon
break;
case NIN_SELECT:
//user left click on icon
break;
case WM_CONTEXTMENU:
//user right click on icon
break;
//get what mouse messages you want
//case WM_LBUTTONDOWN:
//....
default:
break;
}
}
base.WndProc(ref m);
}
The power of unmanaged code
A:
With the help of γηράσκω δ' αεί πολλά διδ's answer I was able to find a solution that let's you use the standard NotifyIcon control to determine the location of the icon. It requires the use of Reflection because it must access private fields and is therefore dependend on the current implementation of the NotifyIcon class. I tested it with .NET Framework 2.0 and 4.0.
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
sealed class NotifyIconHelper
{
public static Rectangle GetIconRect(NotifyIcon icon)
{
RECT rect = new RECT();
NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER notifyIcon = new NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER();
notifyIcon.cbSize = Marshal.SizeOf(notifyIcon);
//use hWnd and id of NotifyIcon instead of guid is needed
notifyIcon.hWnd = GetHandle(icon);
notifyIcon.uID = GetId(icon);
int hresult = Shell_NotifyIconGetRect(ref notifyIcon, out rect);
//rect now has the position and size of icon
return new Rectangle(rect.left, rect.top, rect.right - rect.left, rect.bottom - rect.top);
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
private struct RECT
{
public Int32 left;
public Int32 top;
public Int32 right;
public Int32 bottom;
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
private struct NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER
{
public Int32 cbSize;
public IntPtr hWnd;
public Int32 uID;
public Guid guidItem;
}
[DllImport("shell32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern int Shell_NotifyIconGetRect([In]ref NOTIFYICONIDENTIFIER identifier, [Out]out RECT iconLocation);
private static FieldInfo windowField = typeof(NotifyIcon).GetField("window", Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance);
private static IntPtr GetHandle(NotifyIcon icon)
{
if (windowField == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("[Useful error message]");
NativeWindow window = windowField.GetValue(icon) as NativeWindow;
if (window == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("[Useful error message]"); // should not happen?
return window.Handle;
}
private static FieldInfo idField = typeof(NotifyIcon).GetField("id", Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance);
private static int GetId(NotifyIcon icon)
{
if (idField == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("[Useful error message]");
return (int)idField.GetValue(icon);
}
}
|
#1 vs. #2 In the State: Preview of La Cueva vs. Manzano
All eyes will be on Wilson Stadium Friday night if you’re a New Mexico High School football fan. It may not be state championship time yet, but there is a possibility this could be the state championship game this 2017 season. The two top-ranked teams in Class 6A, the (#1) Manzano Monarchs and the (#2) La Cueva Bears, square off to start District play in District 2. Here’s what to expect from both teams:
Team Outlook and Game Preview: It was a successful non-district tenure for the La Cueva Bears, winning all six games they played. The Bears defense is well recognized across the state, holding their opponents in non-district to a total of just 38 points, the most being 14 allowed against Centennial. The Bears have also been stellar on offense, the passing game working out very well for them. This has been a new twist this season that isn’t usually seen from a La Cueva offense from a historical standpoint. With passing-centric quarterback Dylan Summer running the show, it’s been working out well for them. But don’t count out RB D’Andre Williams, who can put some points up on the board for the team as well.
The keys to defeating Manzano for them is to contain Jordan Byrd, the fastest high-school athlete in the state. If he can’t find a receiver open, he will tuck that ball in, and start running with it, reading the gaps well as he goes along with it. Another key would be to overpower Manzano’s front defensive line, as they can hold blocks that are coming at them with hard strength.
Team Outlook and Game Preview: The Monarchs have impressed high school football fans across the state with the talent on that team. Whether it be their quarterback in Jordan Byrd, the fastest high school athlete in the 2017-18 year, a running core of Xavier Ivey-Saud and Alejandro Vallejos, or a strong receiving core with Andrew Erickson, Dakota Powell and Jack Blankenship, they are a tough offense to match up against. But they have yet to meet a defense like La Cueva’s.
This is what makes this match up a good one, the clash between the best offensive defensive powers in the state. With a high-scoring offense like the Monarchs and a low-scoring allowed defense like the Bears, high school fans are in for a treat.
Stats:
La Cueva: Dylan Summer leads the district in total passing yards with 1,440, Reece Wilkinson leads the district in total receiving yards with 638 and Ryan McClain leads the district in sacks with six.
Manzano: Xavier Ivey-Saud leads the district in total rushing yards with 646, total points scored with 78 and total touchdowns scored with 13.
The game will take place on Friday, 10/6 at 7:00 pm at Wilson Stadium. For La Cueva students, the game is a whiteout. |
Molecular Characterization of the Kamese Virus, an Unassigned Rhabdovirus, Isolated from Culex pruina in the Central African Republic.
Rhabdoviridae is one of the most diversified families of RNA viruses whose members infect a wide range of plants, animals, and arthropods. The members of this family are classified into 13 genera and >150 unassigned viruses. Here, we sequenced the complete genome of a rhabdovirus belonging to the Hart Park serogroup, the Kamese virus (KAMV), isolated in 1977 from Culex pruina in the Central African Republic. The genomic sequence showed an organization typical of rhabdoviruses with additional genes in the P-M and G-L intergenic regions, as already reported for the Hart Park serogroup. Our Kamese strain (ArB9074) had 98% and 78.8% nucleotide sequence similarity with the prototypes of the KAMV and Mossuril virus isolated in Uganda and Mozambique in two different Culex species, respectively. Moreover, the protein sequences had 98-100% amino acid similarity with the prototype of the KAMV, except for an additional gene (U3) that showed a divergence of 6%. These molecular data show that our strain of the KAMV is genetically close to the Culex annuliorus strain that was circulating in Uganda in 1967. However, this study suggests the need to improve our knowledge of the KAMV to better understand its behavior, its life cycle, and its potential reservoirs. |
INTRODUCTION
============
Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is an extremely rare but highly aggressive tumor that accounts for 0.1% to 0.5% of all primary esophageal malignancies.^[@R1]^ The mean survival time from diagnosis is only 13.4 months, and the 5-year survival rate is 4.2%.^[@R1],[@R2]^ A definitive diagnosis may be obtained with pathological analysis and identification of positivity for S-100 and human melanoma black (HMB)-45 on immunohistochemical examination. Surgical extirpation is the standard treatment for PMME. Here, we present a case of PMME with unusual endoscopic findings in a Chinese male and review the relevant literature.
CASE REPORT
===========
A 79-year-old man was referred to our department because of progressive dysphagia and weight loss for 1 month. Computed tomography performed at a local hospital identified an esophageal tumor; thus, he was admitted to our hospital. He had hematemesis, melena, fever, cough, and yellow sputum. Blood analysis indicated severe anemia and high leukocyte and neutrophil levels. Additionally, the albumin level was very low, and a sputum smear revealed the presence of gram-positive cocci. On endoscopy, an elongated lump was detected on 1 side of the vertical axis of the esophagus approximately 25 to 40 cm away from the incisors. The mass extended progressively for 15 cm along the esophageal longitudinal axis and invaded half of the esophageal circumference. Additionally, the mass had extensive necrotic tissue, active hemorrhage spots, and no pigmentation on the surface (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}A--C). Biopsy was performed, and the tumor was identified as a malignant melanoma (Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). On immunohistochemical staining, the tumor was positive for S-100 and HMB-45 (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}A and B) and negative for cytokeratin and carcinoembryonic antigen markers. Computed tomography showed inflammation of the lungs and no evidence of distant metastasis. Additionally, a physical examination revealed no pigmented lesions at the skin, eyes, rectum, or other locations. Surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy could not be performed owing to the advanced age of the patient and comorbid hypoproteinemia, infection, and severe anemia. Therefore, the patient did not receive treatment and was discharged. After approximately 1 month, we were informed of his death.
{ref-type="fig"} A indicated that there was no pigmentation on the surface. Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} B and C presented that the mass extended progressively for 15 cm along the esophageal longitudinal axis and invaded half of the esophageal circumference. Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} C indicated that the mass had extensive necrotic tissue, active hemorrhage spots and no pigmentation on the surface.](medi-95-e3479-g001){#F1}
{#F2}
{#F3}
DISCUSSION
==========
PMME is generally considered to be a highly malignant tumor that is associated with a poor prognosis and a rapidly fatal course. The mean patient age at onset is 60.5 years. The incidence of PMME has been reported to be higher in male patients than in female patients, with a ratio of 2:1.^[@R1],[@R2]^ The mean survival time from diagnosis has been reported to be 13.4 months.^[@R1],[@R2]^ There are 6 reports of patients surviving more than 7 years,^[@R3]--[@R8]^ and the longest survival time is 12 years.^[@R8]^
The tumor is sporadic, and the number of reported cases is small, with only 337 reported cases up to 2011.^[@R9]^ In a recently published series of 910 esophageal biopsies in Japan, only 2 were found to be melanoma (0.2%).^[@R10]^
The majority of PMME patients present with complaints of dysphagia, nonspecific retrosternal pain, and weight loss. Hematemesis and melena are observed occasionally. A typical finding of PMME is a lobular or polypoid, well-circumscribed, and pigmented tumor. In addition, more than 90% of PMME lesions are located in the distal 2/3 of the esophagus.^[@R11]^ The tumor is most often polypoid, and the nonpolypoid form, identified in the present case, is extremely rare. Approximately 10% to 25% of PMME cases present various colors, such as purple, brown, and white, depending on the melanin quantity.^[@R12],[@R13]^ The tumor in the present case was 15 cm in length, invaded 1 side of the esophagus, and had no melanin pigmentation on the surface. These findings are not characteristic of PMME. Although tissue pathology identified the presence of melanin granules, the tumor did not have a typical black appearance. We performed immunohistological studies to obtain an accurate diagnosis. On immunohistochemical analysis, the tumor was positive for HMB-45 and S-100. Therefore, we diagnosed the tumor as a malignant melanoma. The diagnosis of PMME is based on the finding of melanin granules in the tumor cells on histological examination, as the clinical and radiological features of PMME are similar to those of other esophageal malignancies. Histological diagnosis can be challenging when the biopsy specimen lacks melanin granules, and the tumor might be incorrectly diagnosed as an epithelial carcinoma. Therefore, when melanin granules cannot be identified in the initial biopsy, immunohistochemical analysis of the biopsy specimen for melanocytic-specific markers, such as HMB-45, S-100, and melanoma-specific antigen (Melan-A), should be performed to obtain an accurate pretreatment diagnosis.
There is a lack of consensus on the treatment of PMME. Cheung et al^[@R14]^ found that complete surgical resection was the only treatment strategy that significantly improved survival in PMME patients. Other therapies include chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, endocrine therapy, and immunotherapy. However, the roles of these treatment strategies remain unclear. A previous study showed that they might benefit in loco-regional disease control.^[@R15]^ Completely nonsurgical treatment strategies have been reported sporadically^[@R16]^; however, most of the patients who successfully received these treatments also underwent surgery.^[@R4],[@R16]--[@R19]^
Molecular analysis could identify targets for additional specific therapy. Mutations in the *BRAF* and *KIT* genes in subsets of melanoma have been reported. Langer et al^[@R20]^ detected a mutation of the *c-KIT* gene in 2 patients with PMME. BRAF inhibitors may be useful in the treatment of metastatic melanoma in patients with *BRAF* mutations. However, in patients with PMME, its efficacy has not been proven.^[@R21]^
The prognosis of PMME is poor because the tumor has a highly aggressive biological behavior and most patients are diagnosed late. Early diagnosis with complete surgical resection currently offers the best chance of survival.
CONCLUSION
==========
We reported an extremely rare case of PMME with unusual endoscopic findings. The tumor was diagnosed according to histological and immunohistochemical analyses. Doctors should be aware that PMME might present with unusual endoscopic findings.
Abbreviations: HMB = human melanoma black, Melan-A = melanoma-specific antigen, PMME = primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus
Written informed consent was obtained from the patient\'s family for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.
The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.
|
Q:
Kubernetes dashboard through kubectl proxy - port confusion
I have seen that the standard way to access http services through the kubectl proxy is the following:
http://api.host/api/v1/namespaces/NAMESPACE/services/SERVICE_NAME:SERVICE_PORT/proxy/
Why is it that the kubernetes-dashboard uses https:kubernetes-dashboard: for SERVICE_NAME:SERVICE_PORT?
I would assume from the following that it would be kubernetes_dashboard:443.
kubectl -n kube-system get service kubernetes-dashboard -o wide
NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP EXTERNAL-IP PORT(S) AGE SELECTOR
kubernetes-dashboard ClusterIP 10.233.50.212 <none> 443:31663/TCP 15d k8s-app=kubernetes-dashboard
Additionally, what is the meaning of the port show 443:31663 when all other services will just have x/TCP (x being one number instead of x:y)
Lastly, kubectl cluster-info will show
Kubernetes master is running at https://x.x.x.x:x
kubernetes-dashboard is running at https://x.x.x.x:x/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy
I have created a simple service but it does not show here and I am confused how to determine what services show here or not.
A:
Why is it that the kubernetes-dashboard uses
https:kubernetes-dashboard: for SERVICE_NAME:SERVICE_PORT?
Additionally, what is the meaning of the port show 443:31663 when all
other services will just have x/TCP (x being one number instead of
x:y)
As described in Manually constructing apiserver proxy URLs, the default way is
http://kubernetes_master_address/api/v1/namespaces/namespace_name/services/service_name[:port_name]/proxy
By default, the API server proxies to your service using http. To use
https, prefix the service name with https::
http://kubernetes_master_address/api/v1/namespaces/namespace_name/services/https:service_name:[port_name]/proxy
The supported formats for the name segment of the URL are:
<service_name> - proxies to the default or unnamed port using http
<service_name>:<port_name> - proxies to the specified port using http
https:<service_name>: - proxies to the default or unnamed port using https (note the trailing colon)
https:<service_name>:<port_name> - proxies to the specified port using https
Next:
I have created a simple service but it does not show here and I am
confused how to determine what services show here or not.
What is what I found and tested for you:
cluster-info API reference:
Display addresses of the master and services with label kubernetes.io/cluster-service=true To further debug and diagnose cluster problems, use 'kubectl cluster-info dump'.
So, as soon as you add kubernetes.io/cluster-service: "true" label - the service starts to be seen under kubectl cluster-info.
BUT!! There is an expected behavior when you see that you service disappear from output in couple of minutes. Explanation has been found here - I only copy paste it here for future reference.
The other part is the addon manager. It uses this annotation to
synchronizes the cluster state with static manifest files. The
behavior was something like this:
1) addon manager reads a yaml from disk -> deploys the contents
2) addon manager reads all deployments from api server with annotation cluster-service:true -> deletes all that do not exist as files
As a result, if you add this annotation, addon manager will remove dashboard after a minute or so.
So,
dashboard is deployed after cluster creation -> annotation should not be set:
https://github.com/kubernetes/dashboard/blob/b98d167dadaafb665a28091d1e975cf74eb31c94/src/deploy/kubernetes-dashboard.yaml
dashboard is deployed part of cluster creation -> annotation should be set:
https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cluster/addons/dashboard/dashboard-controller.yaml
At least this was the behavior some time ago. I think kubeadm does not use addon-manager. But it is still part of kube-up script.
Solution for this behavior also exists: add additional label addonmanager.kubernetes.io/mode: EnsureExists
Explanation is here
You final service should look like:
# ------------------- Dashboard Service ------------------- #
kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
labels:
k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
kubernetes.io/cluster-service: "true"
addonmanager.kubernetes.io/mode: EnsureExists
name: kubernetes-dashboard
namespace: kube-system
spec:
ports:
- port: 443
targetPort: 8443
selector:
k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
kubectl get svc kubernetes-dashboard -n kube-system -o yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
annotations:
kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: |
{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Service","metadata":{"annotations":{},"labels":{"addonmanager.kubernetes.io/mode":"EnsureExists","k8s-app":"kubernetes-dashboard","kubernetes.io/cluster-service":"true"},"name":"kubernetes-dashboard","namespace":"kube-system"},"spec":{"ports":[{"port":443,"targetPort":8443}],"selector":{"k8s-app":"kubernetes-dashboard"}}}
labels:
addonmanager.kubernetes.io/mode: EnsureExists
k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
kubernetes.io/cluster-service: "true"
kubectl cluster-info
Kubernetes master is running at https://*.*.*.*
...
kubernetes-dashboard is running at https://*.*.*.*/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy
...
|
Here you will find current news on a variety of applications fields for coatings including automotive coatings, marine coatings, protectice coatings, industrial coatings as well as on decorative and architectural coatings
A new kind of green and functional two-component flame-retardant waterborne polyurethane and its coating were synthesised through adding polyurethane polyol dispersions, hydrophilic nanoTiO2 and hydrophilic curing agent.
Wood Coatings by Jorge Prieto and Jürgen Kiene is a comprehensive book on all aspects of wood coatings. Dr Charles R. Hegedus, Technical Editor of CoatingsTech, has reviewed the new standard reference book. |
1. Introduction {#sec1-ijms-18-01640}
===============
The current World Health Organization (WHO) classification of prostate neoplasms with neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation (NED) comprises of: (1) adenocarcinomas with NED; (2) well-differentiated NE tumors (carcinoid); (3) small-cell NE carcinomas; and (4) large cell NE carcinomas \[[@B1-ijms-18-01640]\]. While the last three entities are exceedingly rare, the first occurs frequently. In 10--100% of the conventional adenocarcinomas, NED can be demonstrated immunohistochemically in the form of scattered NE cancer cells, depending on the number of slides evaluated and the number of antibodies used \[[@B1-ijms-18-01640]\].
NE cells in prostate cancer most likely emerge from the secretory prostate cancer cells by trans-differentiation \[[@B2-ijms-18-01640],[@B3-ijms-18-01640],[@B4-ijms-18-01640]\]. Each NE cell may store a single, or a mix of neuropeptides in cytoplasmic granules, including Chromogranin A, the most frequently detected and most intensely studied NE product in prostate tissue \[[@B5-ijms-18-01640]\], serotonin, somatostatin and bombesin \[[@B6-ijms-18-01640]\]. The exact biological function of neuropeptides in prostate cancer is largely unknown; however, data indicate that they may stimulate growth, differentiation and secretory processes \[[@B5-ijms-18-01640],[@B7-ijms-18-01640]\]. While small and large cell NE carcinomas are particularly aggressive \[[@B8-ijms-18-01640]\], the prognostic significance of NE cells in conventional adenocarcinomas of the prostate is still controversial \[[@B4-ijms-18-01640],[@B9-ijms-18-01640],[@B10-ijms-18-01640]\]. Importantly, neuropeptides released from the NE prostate cancer cells may appear in the circulation \[[@B6-ijms-18-01640]\]. These serum markers have recently attracted considerable attention for their ability to monitor disease \[[@B6-ijms-18-01640],[@B11-ijms-18-01640]\] and predict survival \[[@B12-ijms-18-01640],[@B13-ijms-18-01640]\]. NE serum markers have been suggested as beneficial surrogates for tumor burden \[[@B6-ijms-18-01640]\] and mirror prostate cancer progression when raising. In line with this, serum levels of Chromogranin A are significantly higher in metastatic compared to non-metastatic prostate cancers \[[@B14-ijms-18-01640]\]. However, despite this interest in NE serum markers, little is known about the distribution of their source, which are the NE tumor cells, in the various growth patterns and in the metastases of prostate cancer. In this study, we more accurately describe the extent of NED in the different tissue compartments of metastasizing prostate cancer, and determine its correlations with different tumor features and survival.
2. Results {#sec2-ijms-18-01640}
==========
2.1. Patient Characteristics and Expression of Chromogranin A in Benign Prostate, Primary Tumors and Lymph Node Metastases Considering the Gleason Patterns {#sec2dot1-ijms-18-01640}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The patient, prostatectomy and lymphadenectomy characteristics are specified in [Table 1](#ijms-18-01640-t001){ref-type="table"}. A higher proportion of 92% of primary tumors displayed any positivity for Chromogranin A compared to lymph node metastases with a positive expression in 77%. When the density of NE cancer cells was recorded, a progressive and significant increase in expression from non-neoplastic prostate glands (0.4% mean of Chromogranin A positive cells) to primary tumors (1.0%) and lymph node metastases (2.6%; *p* \< 0.001) was noted for Chromogranin A ([Figure 1](#ijms-18-01640-f001){ref-type="fig"}A).
A tendency for higher Chromogranin A expression in less-differentiated tumor areas (reflected by a higher Gleason pattern (GP)) was observed in the primary tumors (GP3: 0.8% mean of Chromogranin A positive cells; GP4: 1.0%; GP5: 1.4%; *p* \> 0.05) and in the nodal metastases (GP3: 0.0%; GP4: 1.8%; GP5: 7.8%; P = NE), but no statistical significance was reached ([Figure 1](#ijms-18-01640-f001){ref-type="fig"}B).
2.2. Correlations of Chromogranin A Expression in Primary Tumors and Lymph Node Metastases with Clinico-Pathological Tumor Characteristics and Survival {#sec2dot2-ijms-18-01640}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary tumors with Chromogranin A expression were larger (mean 21.5 ± 24.9 cm^3^ versus 18.0 ± 15.4 cm^3^; *p* = 0.821) and the tumor burden of a Chromogranin A positive metastasizing component was higher for mean total size and number of metastases (36.4 ± 49.4 mm versus 19.4 ± 31.7 mm; *p* = 0.458 and 5.3 ± 6.9 versus 3.3 ± 3.4; *p* = 0.279) ([Table 2](#ijms-18-01640-t002){ref-type="table"}); however, these differences were not statistically significant. Chromogranin A expression in primary tumors or lymph node metastases was not associated with categorical tumor characteristics as stage of the primary tumor. In univariate analysis, Chromogranin A expression in primary tumors or lymph node metastases did not significantly predict biochemical recurrence-free, cancer-specific, or overall survival ([Figure 2](#ijms-18-01640-f002){ref-type="fig"}). Only the total size of metastases independently predicted all three endpoints in a multivariate analysis ([Table 3](#ijms-18-01640-t003){ref-type="table"}).
3. Discussion {#sec3-ijms-18-01640}
=============
Only a few studies on prostate cancers have evaluated NED in metastatic tissues from lymph nodes and various other organs with immunohistochemistry \[[@B15-ijms-18-01640],[@B16-ijms-18-01640],[@B17-ijms-18-01640],[@B18-ijms-18-01640],[@B19-ijms-18-01640],[@B20-ijms-18-01640]\]. Reported incidences for bone metastases were 19% \[[@B18-ijms-18-01640]\] and 52% \[[@B16-ijms-18-01640]\], those for lymph node metastases 12% \[[@B19-ijms-18-01640]\], 37.5% \[[@B17-ijms-18-01640]\] and 46% \[[@B16-ijms-18-01640]\]. A wide range in the extent of NED in metastases was also noted in an autopsy series by Roudier et al. \[[@B20-ijms-18-01640]\], specifically between patients, and also between different metastases of a single patient. In our series, NED in lymph node metastases was present in 77% of the patients. The metastases had a lower prevalence for NED positivity compared to the primary tumors, which showed NE differentiation in 92%. This decrease was consistent with the only two series on NED in surgically treated nodal positive prostate cancer reported by Bostwick et al. \[[@B17-ijms-18-01640]\] and Quek et al. \[[@B19-ijms-18-01640]\]. However, when considering not only the presence or absence of NED, but also the density of positive cells in primary tumors and metastases, we noticed a significant increase in NED in metastases when compared to primary tumors. Furthermore, NED increased in higher Gleason patterns in the primary tumors, and was even more striking in the metastases where tumor growths of Gleason pattern 5 showed the highest levels of NED among all evaluated cancer components. Our findings were consistent with reports on a positive correlation of the extent of NED and the Gleason score in primary tumors \[[@B21-ijms-18-01640],[@B22-ijms-18-01640]\]. Together with the previously described correlation of Chromogranin A expression by the tumor tissue with its serum level \[[@B23-ijms-18-01640]\], our data might suggest that elevated NE serum markers in metastatic prostate cancer \[[@B14-ijms-18-01640]\] may primarily reflect the metastatic, frequently poorly differentiated tumor burden \[[@B24-ijms-18-01640],[@B25-ijms-18-01640],[@B26-ijms-18-01640]\].
The presence of NED in our prostate cancer patients showed a tendency for association with adverse tumor characteristics. Patients with detected NED in primary tumors had larger tumors, and those with NED present in metastases had a greater nodal tumor burden, indicated by more metastases and greater total diameter of metastases when compared with patients without NED. Consistent with our data, Quek et al. \[[@B19-ijms-18-01640]\] reported the association of high NED with an advanced tumor stage. Furthermore, NED in the primary tumors of our patients translated into long-term survival. After five years, the curves for disease-specific and overall survival segregate clearly indicated a poorer outcome for patients with NED when compared to those without NED. However, this was not significant, most likely due to the size of our cohort. Contrarily, survival curves based on NED in lymph node metastases intersected repeatedly. Only two other studies have evaluated NED in nodal positive prostate cancer patients treated by radical prostatectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy. NED detected by Chromogranin A was not a risk factor in the study by Bostwick et al. \[[@B17-ijms-18-01640]\], neither in the primary tumors nor in the metastases, whereas Queck et al. \[[@B19-ijms-18-01640]\] reported significantly poorer median recurrence-free and overall survival for patients with high NED in the primary tumor and metastases, respectively, when compared to patients with low NED. However, survival curves were not presented in the latter study and other outcome measures were not significantly different.
Previous studies on NED in prostate cancer tissues assessed expression on large sections (for comprehensive review of the literature see [Table 3](#ijms-18-01640-t003){ref-type="table"} in Bostwick et al. \[[@B17-ijms-18-01640]\]) and cancers were categorized as negative (absence of NE cells), or positive (presence of NE cells). While it was generally noticed that NED in prostate cancer is a very focal, dispersed phenomenon, reported incidences for NED varied between 24 and 98.5% \[[@B17-ijms-18-01640]\]. This wide range was attributed to differences between the cohorts, sample types, types and extent of fixation, the antibodies used in determining the presence of malignant NE cells, variance in interpretation and, most importantly, a sampling error related to the focal and unequal distribution of NE cells in most tumors \[[@B27-ijms-18-01640]\]. It is evident that the amount of tumor tissue evaluated may impact on reported prevalence in cases of only focally expressed biomarkers like NED. We determined NED in primary tumors and metastases by tissue microarray (TMA). This technology has also been considered to be useful for these focally expressed biomarkers in prostate cancer by a study comparing the expression of NE markers on whole tissue sections to a TMA \[[@B28-ijms-18-01640]\]. Investigating these focally expressed biomarkers on large sections may have also been problematic as tissue slides from primary prostate cancer generally contain much greater amounts of tumor tissue than the usually scarce metastatic tissue that makes the comparison of incidences difficult. However, the use of a TMA certainly remains a limiting factor in our study. Finally, for a delicate biomarker like NED in prostate cancer, the size of the cohort may play a major role in detecting significant correlations between tumor features and survival. Our cohort was comparably large for surgically treated nodal positive prostate cancer and therefore allowed detection of a significant increase in NED in nodal metastases and trends between biomarker expression levels, tumor features and survival. However, it may have been too small to demonstrate these trends as significant.
4. Materials and Methods {#sec4-ijms-18-01640}
========================
4.1. Patients {#sec4dot1-ijms-18-01640}
-------------
In total, 119 consecutive prostate cancer patients without demonstrable metastases (physical and radiological examination), but with nodal metastases upon histological investigation of the lymphadenectomy specimens were studied. All patients had undergone standardized surgery at the Department of Urology, University of Bern between 1989 and 2006 with bilateral extended pelvic lymphadenectomy and radical prostatectomy as a single procedure. Follow-up was performed prospectively. Neoadjuvant therapy was not implemented and no adjuvant treatment, especially androgen deprivation, was suggested before symptomatic disease progression.
4.2. Surgical Technique of Lymphadenectomy {#sec4dot2-ijms-18-01640}
------------------------------------------
A bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in all patients as previously described \[[@B29-ijms-18-01640]\]. Summarized, lymph nodes were dissected along the external iliac vein down to the deep circumflex iliac vein and femoral canal, up to the bifurcation of the common iliac artery and the obturator fossa. Thereafter, the lymphatic tissue along the medial and lateral aspect of the internal iliac artery and vein was excised. Three tissue samples from each side were submitted separately for pathological examination. Frozen sections were not carried out.
4.3. Pathology {#sec4dot3-ijms-18-01640}
--------------
All specimens were processed at the Institute of Pathology, University of Bern \[[@B24-ijms-18-01640],[@B30-ijms-18-01640]\]. The prostatectomies were completely embedded as described in references \[[@B24-ijms-18-01640],[@B30-ijms-18-01640]\]. The following microscopic tumor characteristics were noted: type, Gleason score \[[@B31-ijms-18-01640]\], tertiary Gleason pattern, tumor stage, and the percentage of prostate tissue area on the sections occupied by the tumor. NE tumors/carcinomas of the prostate were excluded. Tumor volume was estimated by multiplying the percentage of the specimen involved by cancer by the prostate volume.
The fatty tissue of lymphadenectomy specimens was dissolved in aceton after formalin fixation and all lymph nodes were entirely embedded. One section per paraffin block was stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The length and width of the metastatic deposits were measured. A Gleason score (primary and secondary pattern) and a tertiary Gleason pattern (if present), were determined based on the entire metastatic tissue.
All Gleason patterns present in the primary tumors and lymph node metastases were accurately marked for subsequent TMA construction. Staging was completed according to the 8th edition of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) TNM Classification \[[@B32-ijms-18-01640]\].
4.4. Tissue Microarray {#sec4dot4-ijms-18-01640}
----------------------
For TMA construction, one 0.6 mm tissue core of benign prostatic tissue (peripheral zone) and every Gleason pattern present in primary tumors and matched lymph node metastases was retrieved from the paraffin blocks. The TMA contains overall 403 prostate tissue samples, 119 normal prostate tissues and 284 primary cancers (mean per patient, 3.3; range, 2--4; including 101, 112 and 71 samples from Gleason patterns 3, 4 and 5, respectively) and 167 lymph node metastases (mean per patient, 1.4; range, 1--3; including 35, 103 and 29 samples from Gleason patterns 3, 4 and 5, respectively). In the vast majority of primary tumors, all Gleason patterns sampled were present in the index tumor. Additional tissue from separate tumor foci was included only rarely, when a Gleason pattern not present in the index tumor was detected here. Although sampling from the primary tumor was more extensive, the relative tumor amount in the TMA was larger from the metastases due to their smaller volume.
4.5. Immunohistochemistry {#sec4dot5-ijms-18-01640}
-------------------------
Freshly cut TMA sections were pre-treated by steam with target retrieval solution, pH 9 (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark). For Chromogranin A detection, a monoclonal mouse antibody cocktail (clone LK2H10 + PHE5; Bicarta; Hamburg, Germany) was used at 1:500 antibody dilution. Bound primary antibodies were detected using the Envision Plus system (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark). Chromogranin A was expressed in the cytoplasm of the prostate cancer cells ([Figure 3](#ijms-18-01640-f003){ref-type="fig"}). The percentage of positive neoplastic cells was determined for every tissue sample.
4.6. Statistical Analysis {#sec4dot6-ijms-18-01640}
-------------------------
Chromogranin A expression in normal prostate, primary tumors and lymph node metastases was evaluated using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and the Friedman test for differences between Gleason pattern 3, 4 and 5 within primary carcinomas and nodal metastases. Chromogranin A expression was compared with normally distributed quantitative and categorical tumor attributes using Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and χ-Square test, respectively. Suitable cut-off values for positive (more than 0 positive cells) and negative (0 positive cells) Chromogranin A expression in primary tumors and lymph node metastases were defined using Receiver-operating characteristic curves \[[@B33-ijms-18-01640]\]. Outcome was analyzed for Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) recurrence-free, cancer-specific and overall survival defined as the intervals from surgery to the date of biochemical recurrence (PSA failure defined as values \>0.2 ng/mL), death from prostate carcinoma, and death from any cause, respectively. Patients without event for the respective endpoints were censored at the date of last follow-up. The above time-to-events were performed using log-rank test; *p* values \< 0.05 were regarded as significant. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify independent prognostic factors for all three endpoints. Statistical analysis was made using SAS 9.2 (The SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA).
5. Conclusions {#sec5-ijms-18-01640}
==============
Our data suggest that, firstly, increasing serum levels of neuroendocrine serum markers in prostate cancer primarily mirror growth of a poorly differentiated metastatic tumor component and, secondly, NED in early metastasizing, hormone-naïve prostate cancer is only weakly linked to adverse tumor features.
Project received funding from the Bernische Krebsliga and the Krebsliga Thurgau (Achim Fleischmann).
Achim Fleischmann conceived and designed the experiments; Inti Zlobec performed the statistical analysis; Vera Genitsch, Roland Seiler, George N. Thalmann and Achim Fleischmann analyzed the data; Vera Genitsch and Achim Fleischmann wrote the paper; Roland Seiler and George N. Thalmann revised the manuscript for important intellectual content.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
NED
Neuroendocrine Differentiation
NE
Neuroendocrine
GP
Gleason Pattern
CgA
Chromogranin A
HR
Hazard Ratio
CI
Confidence Interval
TMA
Tissue Microarray
PSA
Prostate-Specific Antigen
{#ijms-18-01640-f001}
{#ijms-18-01640-f002}
{#ijms-18-01640-f003}
ijms-18-01640-t001_Table 1
######
Characteristics of 119 nodal positive prostate cancer patients.
----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------
**Patient Data (*n* = 119)**
Age (median, range) at surgery (years) 65 (45--75)
Follow-up (median, range) (years) 5.9 (0.1--15.2)
Patients with biochemical failure at last follow-up (*n*) 103
Patients dead of disease at last follow-up (*n*) 33
Patients dead at last follow-up (*n*) 40
**Prostatectomy Data**
pT2 (*n*) 14
pT3a (*n*) 55
pT3b (*n*) 50
Prostate cancer volume (median, range) (cm^3^) 12.6 (0.66--127)
Gleason score 6 (*n*) 12
Gleason score 7 (*n*) 63
Gleason score 8 (*n*) 21
Gleason score 9 (*n*) 23
**Lymphadenectomy Data**
Evaluated nodes per patient (median, range) (*n*) 22 (9--68)
Positive nodes per patient (median, range) (*n*) 2 (1--24)
----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------
ijms-18-01640-t002_Table 2
######
Tumor features according to Chromogranin A expression.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CgA Expression Parameters of the Primary Tumor\ Parameters of Nodal Metastases\
(Mean ± SD) (Mean ± SD)
---------------------- ---------------------------------- --------------------------------- ---------------------- ------- ----------------- ------- -------------- -------
Age *p* Tumor volume (cm^3^) *p* Total size (mm) *p* Total number *p*
**Primary Tumor**
CgA negative 64.4 ± 6.1 0.978 18.0 ± 15.4 0.821 19.6 ± 34.8 0.989 3.3 ± 3.8 0.813
CgA positive 64.3 ± 5.8 21.5 ± 24.9 17.2 ± 24.4 3.0 ± 3.3
**Nodal Metastases**
CgA negative 64.3 ± 5.9 0.027 19.1 ± 19.5 0.819 19.4 ± 31.7 0.458 3.3 ± 3.4 0.279
CgA positive 59.3 ± 6.3 18.9 ± 13.7 36.4 ± 49.4 5.3 ± 6.9
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ijms-18-01640-t003_Table 3
######
Multivariate analyses for the prognostic impact of Chromogranin A (CgA) expression in primary prostate cancer (upper half) and in lymph node metastases (lower half), after adjustment for total size of metastases and Gleason score of primary tumor: Only nodal tumor burden predicts survival independently. HR, hazard ratio; and CI, confidence interval.
Parameter Cut-Off Overall Survival Disease-Specific Survival Recurrence-Free Survival
----------------------------- ----------------- ------------------ --------------------------- -------------------------- ----------------- ----- -----------
**CgA in Primary Tumor** Positive 1.0 0.132 1.0 0.241 1.0 0.66
Negative 1.65 (0.9--3.1) 1.54 (0.8--3.1) 1.1 (0.7--1.7)
Metastases size \<7.5 mm 1.0 **\<0.001** 1.0 **0.002** 1.0 **0.036**
≥7.5 mm 4.34 (2.0--9.6) 4.12 (1.7--10.0) 1.58 (1.1--2.4)
Gleason score 6 to 8 1.0 0.571 1.0 0.375 1.0 0.074
9 to 10 1.23 (0.6--2.5) 1.41 (0.7--3.0) 1.57 (1.0--2.6)
**CgA in Nodal Metastases** Positive 1.0 0.571 1.0 0.5 1.0 0.327
Negative 0.73 (0.2--2.2) 0.65 (0.2--2.8) 0.69 (0.3--1.4)
Metastases size \<7.5 mm 1.0 **\<0.001** 1.0 **0.003** 1.0 0.063
≥7.5 mm 5.3 (2.0--14.1) 6.44 (1.9--22.1) 1.58 (1.0--2.5)
Gleason score 6 to 8 1.0 0.365 1.0 1.88 1.0 0.082
9 to 10 1.43 (0.7--3.1) 1.75 (0.8--4.0) 1.62 (0.9--2.8)
|
Potential of the essential oil from Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus as an antimicrobial agent.
This study evaluated the effectiveness of the essential oil of Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus in inhibiting the growth of the main bacteria responsible for bad perspiration odor (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus hauseri, Micrococcus yunnanensis and Corynebacterium xerosis). The chemical profile of the essential oil was evaluated by high-resolution gas chromatography (HR-GC) and four constituents were identified, eugenol being the major component (88.6%). The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by means of the turbidimetric method, using the microdilution assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of the essential oil ranged from 500 to 1,000 μg mL⁻¹. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations confirmed the physical damage and morphological alteration of the test bacteria treated with the essential oil, reference drugs and eugenol. The findings of the study demonstrated that this essential oil can be used in the formulation of personal care products. |
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Tomorrow we set off on our road-trip to Istanbul, after 3 relaxing days in Torba, just outside Bodrum. We came to Bodrum knowing that it was a popular package-holiday destination for Brits, but were pleasantly surprised to find it a relatively unspoilt, charming town, with a beautiful harbour packed predominantly with traditional gulets rather than power yachts, and a very nice upmarket side ... |
Assistance in the palm of your hand. Portable technology can free physicians from billing and coding chains.
Paper-based billing system required unmanageable amount of paper, time and work. Integration of handheld devices with ASP-based charge capture service. Increased accuracy in billing information, reduced incidence of denied claims, faster reimbursement, more accurate view of financial status. The technology's ease of use, varied capabilities and early benefits. |
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