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Q:
How to make a Vmware virtual machine if you have a vmdk file
I just got a vmdk file from a Windows Xp hot cloned system which i want to run on vmplayer. How can i generate the .vmx file ? I'm on Windows XP sp3
A:
I have used EasyVMX in the past.
If you have a vmx file then you can just copy it and edit it in notepad or similar - some of the options are obvious but others need a bit of work to find out what is allowable.
(So if you accept the default name for the hard disk, it is easy to change the name of the disk file to your existing file.)
|
Today was a good day
So, today was a good day.
I’ve had an application in production for a couple of years. It’s a server-side framework providing a rich context for server-side work “atoms” of a type that has been written, no doubt, hundreds of times (and made obsolete by things like IIS 7 and WAS). Of course, it is heavily multithreaded and has all kinds of stuff going on like AppDomains, MSMQ, external libraries and all kinds of contributions from all kinds of developers in the company, some of whom understand unmanaged resources better than others. So you can see where this is going: over the years more and more functionality has accumulated in this beast and now the thing is running 24×6, responding to requests every minute of every day and now the bugs are coming to the surface. The worse of these is under very heavy load, the occasional request just goes missing.
Well, why didn’t you test it? I hear you cry. Well, I did. 2 years ago I had the unit tests, all the automated builds and automated functional command line test clients and so on. Of course, once it was working I stopped testing. And tweak after tweak has accumulated and when I went into the code to investigate the problem I found not only could I reproduce the bug with an embarassingly small number of concurrent requests but, even worse, over time I’d commented out all the unit tests on the critical section where all the threading issues were centred! And when I uncommented them, none of them worked.
Horrors.
So, I tried a little free solo refactoring, making some changes in the code to try and clean it up just using my command line client to load test the server. Obviously, that didn’t work so I bit the bullet and started on a new set of unit tests.
After I started, I realised what a lot I’ve learned in the last 2 years. How much more I understand testing and how much better my code is. I saw so many things that now made me cringe. But I’ve stayed true and written my tests first, using plain old stubs that removed all the connections to MSMQ and so on. And today, with the help of NUnit, TestDriven.Net and some old-school logging I’ve found the damn thing and bingo! concurrency up in the hundreds.
It feels even better as I was getting an ear-bashing all day about how writing unit tests isn’t very useful if you can’t tell whether the tests are failing because there is a problem with the multi-threaded test context. Actually, chaps, there is nothing wrong with the test context. It is the SUT code that is broken, as always.
I wasn’t a fan either at the beginning. The syntax of framewoks like Rhino mocks (http://www.ayende.com/projects/rhino-mocks.aspx) is a bit hard to understand at first. But once you did it a few times, it comes naturally and allow more flexibility. Moreover, with a mock framework, everything is stored in the unit test itself, you don’t have to look outside of it to understand some logic of the unit test. Give it a try with a few tests, I’m sure you’ll change your mind :) |
Fractional curettage, hysteroscopy and imaging techniques: transvaginal sonography (TVS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of cervical canal involvement in cases of endometrial carcinoma.
The value of preoperative diagnostic procedures (FC, hysteroscopy, TVS, MRI, CT) used to evaluate cervical canal involvement in cases of endometrial carcinoma was assessed. The results of these diagnostic methods were compared to postoperative pathologic examination results. Evaluation of the cervix by CT was limited. High NPV of the rest of the methods together with their negative results allowed us to exclude cervical infiltration with a high probability. Alas, none of them was adequate to confirm the presence of cervical involvement because of their low PPV which ranged from 8.3% (hysteroscopy) to 50% (MRI). Among all these diagnostic procedures TVS was relatively efficient (77.8%), specific (78%), sensitive (75%) and inexpensive. This method is preferable in the evaluation of possible cervical infiltration. |
Find Service Pros:
Top Repair Flat, Foam, Single Ply Roofing pros in Pine Lake, GA
Service Pros
SKyView Home Remodeling was established as an owner-operated business in 2002. We are proud to have established long-standing, working relationships with our customers. Our recipe for success is simple; we treat each customer as we would like to be treated, by providing honest prices, and exceptional workmanship, craftsmanship, and customer service. We specialize in all phases of exterior home remodeling, We would be grateful for the opportunity to work for you. Please contact us to schedule an obligation-free estimate at 404-719-1987.
JAMES ROHAN
Joe and the crew arrived a few minutes early, reviewed what he said he would do in our earlier conversation and went to work. He was done ahead of time, the roof looks great and I will definitely use him again and recommend to friends and neighbors!
RITA DEFRANCESCO
I will definitely recommend SkyView to my friends and neighbors. Joseph the owner came to my house to give me the estimate. He explained the whole process of the installation and gave me a fair price. He also assured me that I could get in touch with him any time to answer my questions or concerns and he actually was available. He was present at the start of the job which only took about 9 hours to finish and he and his crew did a detailed inspection of my property at the end of the day to make sure all the debris was cleaned up. I’ll be using SkyView in the spring to install new windows on my house.
Install Asphalt Shingle Roofing
Service Pro Details
SkyView Home Remodeling Inc.
Ratings
Average Review Rating: (5.0/5)
Customer Call Back Rate: 77.69 %
Address
About
SKyView Home Remodeling was established as an owner-operated business in 2002. We are proud to have established long-standing, working relationships with our customers. Our recipe for success is simple; we treat each customer as we would like to be treated, by providing honest prices, and exceptional workmanship, craftsmanship, and customer service. We specialize in all phases of exterior home remodeling, We would be grateful for the opportunity to work for you. Please contact us to schedule an obligation-free estimate at 404-719-1987.
JAMES ROHAN
Joe and the crew arrived a few minutes early, reviewed what he said he would do in our earlier conversation and went to work. He was done ahead of time, the roof looks great and I will definitely use him again and recommend to friends and neighbors!
RITA DEFRANCESCO
I will definitely recommend SkyView to my friends and neighbors. Joseph the owner came to my house to give me the estimate. He explained the whole process of the installation and gave me a fair price. He also assured me that I could get in touch with him any time to answer my questions or concerns and he actually was available. He was present at the start of the job which only took about 9 hours to finish and he and his crew did a detailed inspection of my property at the end of the day to make sure all the debris was cleaned up. I’ll be using SkyView in the spring to install new windows on my house. |
As an Entry Level Field Sales Representative, you will enroll in our 18 month training program that will involve job shadowing with seasoned sales...
Estimated: $67,000 - $92,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Green Brook Buick GMC - Green Brook, NJ
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Verizon - Edison, NJ3.9
Driving small business results through coaching Sales Representatives. We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer- and celebrate our employees' differences...
Estimated: $55,000 - $76,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
We are looking for passionate Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives to join the Publicis Touchpoint Solutions team!...
Estimated: $68,000 - $90,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
IQVIA - New Brunswick, NJ3.7
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Herc Rentals - East Brunswick, NJ3.3
Herc Rentals does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, marital status, sexual...
Estimated: $69,000 - $96,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Frito Lay - Somerset, NJ3.5
Safely maximizing sales and minimizing waste. As a Route Sales Representative, you would drive a small Frito-Lay truck which requires a regular driver’s license...
Estimated: $34,000 - $46,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Nixon Uniform Service & Medical Wear - Edison, NJ
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Axonify Inc. - Edison, NJ
The Enterprise Sales Representative, based out of the North East USA, will be tenacious, driven and confident in selling Axonify’s microlearning platform....
Estimated: $92,000 - $120,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
QuintilesIMS - New Brunswick, NJ3.9
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
International Paper - Milltown, NJ3.8
International Paper offers a competitive salary (structured around competitive base and higher incentive compensation) and an excellent benefits package that...
Estimated: $58,000 - $80,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
HD Supply - Edison, NJ3.5
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Altice USA - Piscataway, NJ3.6
Retention Sales Representative is responsible for saving and retaining customers requesting to disconnect or downgrade service, by collaborating with other...
Estimated: $47,000 - $64,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
1st Light Energy - South Plainfield, NJ3.6
Strong track record of achievement as evidenced by sales awards, beating quota, building a new book of business or growing a market, etc....
Estimated: $72,000 - $98,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Ferraro Foods - Township of Piscataway, NJ
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Nestlé USA - Keasbey, NJ3.7
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
JF Hillebrand USA - Edison, NJ
You will be responsible to drive Sales along with the Regional Sales Manager (RSM); The Inside Sales Representative staff member will work within a dynamic,...
Estimated: $42,000 - $53,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Bridgewater Chevrolet - South Plainfield, NJ
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Fivestars - Princeton, NJ4
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
UniFirst - East Windsor, NJ3.4
Outside Sales Representative. Responsibilities of the Outside Sales Representative:. Full range of benefits including 401k and profit sharing, health and life...
Estimated: $58,000 - $78,000 a year
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to SimplyHired or its affiliates. These figures are given to the SimplyHired users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures. |
Q:
width and height of img in html doesn't work
my html is below.
<img src="something" alt="" width="1px" height="1px" border="0" />
I think it shows image of 1px × 1px.
but actually the code shows below.
<img src="something" alt="" border="0" width="438" height="438" srcset="something?zoom=1.25&resize=438%2C438&" src-orig="something?resize=1%2C1&" scale="1.25">
Why do I have the error?
Why does not image of 1px × 1px show on my site?
Please help me...
A:
dont write px try this :
<img src="http://lorempixel.com/output/abstract-q-c-640-480-7.jpg" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" />
Actually it should also work with px. So what could be the reason that your code isn't working is you are either overwriting the rule with some other CSS or javascript. Turn off CSS and or javascript if it still isn't working and see why.
See here if you have added CSS rules it will not work:
img {
width: 100%;
height: 500px;
}
<img src="http://lorempixel.com/output/abstract-q-c-640-480-7.jpg" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" />
|
[The clinical and immunogenetic characteristics of reactive arthritis in children].
Altogether 52 children suffering from reactive arthritis were placed under observation. In 45 patients arthritis developed after nasopharyngeal infection and was marked by a favourable course with a rapid positive dynamics. 7 children with a history of intestinal infection manifested Reiter's syndrome; in these children arthritis was characterized by a grave and prolonged course and by a high laboratory activity. HLA A10 (RR = 2.7), B27 (RR = 2.5) and DR2 (RR = 2.19) antigen were detected significantly more frequently in ReA patients who suffered nasopharyngeal infection. In children with Reiter's syndrome, the genetic markers of predisposition to the disease were HLA A10 (RR = 5.93) and B27 (RR = 149.1) antigens. |
Denver Water, Trout Unlimited and Grand County today announced agreement on a package of river protections designed to keep the Fraser River and its trout populations healthy.
The Mitigation and Enhancement Coordination Plan brings to a close several years of discussions over the proposed Moffat Collection System Project and its potential impacts on the Fraser River. All sides hailed the stakeholder agreement as a breakthrough that balances municipal needs and environmental health.
Trout Unlimited called the agreement “a victory for the river.”
“This package of protections and enhancements, if adopted in the final permit, gives us the best opportunity to keep the Fraser River and its outstanding trout fishery healthy far into the future,” said Mely Whiting, counsel for Trout Unlimited. “This pragmatic agreement underscores the value of a collaborative approach to water planning — one that recognizes the value of healthy rivers. It shows that, working together, we can meet our water needs while protecting our fisheries and outdoor quality of life.”
“In an effort to move past a disagreement on impacts from the Moffat Project, Grand County reached out to Denver Water and Trout Unlimited to propose additional environmental mitigations,” said Lurline Curran, Grand County manager. “To all parties’ credit, this effort has succeeded.”
“The Fraser is a river beloved by generations of anglers, boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts — it’s the lifeblood of our community,” said Kirk Klancke, president of TU’s Colorado River Headwaters chapter in Fraser and a longtime advocate for the river. “As an angler and Fraser Valley resident, I’m gratified that this agreement keeps our home waters healthy and flowing.”
The package includes environmental enhancements and protections to ensure the Fraser River will be better off with the Moffat Project than without it, said Denver Water. The Moffat Project will improve the reliability of Denver Water’s system, which serves 1.3 million people in the Denver-metro area.
The centerpiece of the agreement is Learning by Doing, a monitoring and adaptive management program overseen by a management team that includes Denver Water, Grand County, Trout Unlimited, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado River District and the Middle Park Water Conservancy District. Upon the project permit being issued, the management team will implement an extensive monitoring program to assess stream health based on specific parameters including stream temperature, aquatic life and riparian vegetation health. Water, financial and other resources committed by Denver Water through project mitigation, the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement and other agreements will be deployed to prevent declines and improve conditions where needed.
Learning by Doing is a unique and groundbreaking effort to manage an aquatic environment on a permanent, cooperative basis. Notably, the program will not seek a culprit for changes in the condition of the stream, but will provide a mechanism to identify issues of concern and focus available resources to address those issues. Mitigation measures to prevent impacts of the Moffat Project on stream temperature and aquatic habitat will also be implemented through Learning by Doing.
“Like the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement, this plan represents a new, collaborative way of doing business together when dealing with complex water issues,” said Jim Lochhead, CEO/manager of Denver Water. “Since the beginning of our planning for the Moffat Project, we set out to do the right thing for the environment, and we believe coming together with Trout Unlimited and Grand County on the Mitigation and Enhancement Coordination Plan demonstrates a monumental step in making the river better. It’s satisfying that after more than 10 years of study and discussion, Trout Unlimited and Grand County have stayed at the table with us in good faith.”
Denver Water, Grand County and Trout Unlimited have submitted the Grand County Mitigation and Enhancement Coordination Plan to federal and state agencies charged with permitting the Moffat Project and have requested that it be made part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ permit.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Moffat Project is expected by the end of April, and a final permitting decision by the Army Corps of Engineers is expected in early 2015.
For more information about the Mitigation and Enhancement Coordination Plan, see the full agreement here.
Colorado’s Water Plan will provide a path forward for providing Coloradans with the water we need while supporting healthy watersheds and the environment, robust recreation and tourism economies, vibrant and sustainable cities, and viable and productive agriculture.
Like this:
In the San Luis Valley nature is now putting on one of its most memorable annual displays: the spring migration of greater sandhill cranes. In appreciation of this wildlife spectacle, area organizations, businesses and wildlife agencies are holding the 30th Annual Monte Vista Crane Festival, March 8-10.
“Everyone who lives in Colorado should see this migration stopover at least once,” said Rick Basagoitia, area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the San Luis Valley. “The sights and sounds are truly amazing.”
The cranes start arriving in mid-February, flying from their winter nesting ground in Socorro, New Mexico. Large wetland areas and grain fields in the San Luis Valley draw in about 25,000 birds every year. The cranes stop in the valley to rest-up and fuel-up for their trip north to their summer nesting and breeding grounds in northern Idaho, western Wyoming and northwest Colorado.
Cranes are among the oldest living species on the planet: Fossil records for cranes date back 9 million years.
The birds that migrate through Colorado are the largest of the North American sandhill subspecies standing 4-feet tall, having a wing-span of up to 7 feet and weighing in at 11 pounds. Besides their imposing size, the birds issue a continuous, distinctive and haunting call. At this time of year cranes are engaged in their mating ritual and the birds perform an elegant hopping dance as they attempt to gain the attention of other birds.
The birds are abundant in areas near the town of Monte Vista and are easy to spot. Wildlife watchers can see the birds most readily in the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge and in the Rio Grande, Higel and Russell Lakes state wildlife areas.
During the three days of the festival, free tours are offered at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the birds are most active. Visitors take buses to various spots on the wildlife refuge, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staffers talk about the migration and the refuge.
The number of cranes in the valley peaks in mid-March and many linger through the month. So, even if you can’t go the weekend of the festival there’s still plenty of time to see the birds.
Birdwatchers who travel on their own should be cautious when parking, getting out of vehicles and walking along roads. People are also asked to view birds from a distance with binoculars and spotting scopes, and to observe trail signs and closure notices.
Many other bird species – including eagles, turkeys and a variety of waterfowl – can also be seen in the area.
The festival headquarters and starting point for the tours is the Ski Hi Park building located near U.S. Highway 160 on Sherman Avenue on the east side of Monte Vista. Visitors can pick up maps, schedules and information at the headquarters. Besides the tours, a variety of workshops are put on by bird, wildlife and photography experts. An arts and crafts fair continues through the weekend at the headquarters building.
The crane festival is organized by the local crane festival committee, with help from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rio Grande County, SLV Ski Hi Stampede, Monte Vista school district, and the city of Monte Vista.
A collaborative committee, formed by opposing parties in a lawsuit claiming the city of Aspen has abandoned its rights to divert water from Castle and Maroon creeks for a proposed hydro plant, is making slow progress toward its goals.
When the settlement effort was announced last year after a “stay” was filed in the case, there were hopes that a stream ecologist could be agreed upon and hired early this year to study the proposed hydro plant and the streams and make recommendations about “stream health goals.”
Steve Wickes, a local facilitator guiding the committee and working for both parties in the case, said the committee’s goals were narrowly defined: Can the two sides, with the help of a mutually trusted expert, agree on how much water can be taken out of the creeks?
But before a “request for proposals” can be written to attract a third-party stream ecologist, the committee has agreed that two experts who are working for either side should first review the list of prior studies done on the two rivers to determine where there are information gaps…
To help review the existing studies and draft the request for proposal, the city has hired Bill Miller, the president of Miller Ecological Consultants of Fort Collins, who has been working for the city on river issues since 2009.
And the plaintiffs have hired Richard Hauer, a professor of limnology (freshwater science) at the University of Montana and the director of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems. Hauer appeared at an event in Aspen in 2012 to discuss the importance of keeping water flowing naturally through a river’s ecosystem…
On the committee from the city are Steve Barwick, Aspen’s city manager, Jim True, the city attorney, and David Hornbacher, the head of the city’s utilities and environmental initiatives.
Representing the plaintiffs on the committee are Paul Noto, a water attorney with Patrick, Miller, Kropf and Noto of Aspen, and Maureen Hirsch, a plaintiff in the suit who lives along Castle Creek.
The other plaintiffs include Richard Butera, Bruce Carlson, Christopher Goldsbury, Jr. and four LLCs controlled by Bill Koch. All of the plaintiffs own land and water rights along either Castle or Maroon creeks.
Wickes said the members of the committee have agreed with his suggestion that they not discuss their ongoing work with the media, and instead refer questions to him.
The claim of abandonment against the city was filed in 2011 water court, in case number 11CW130, “Richard T. Butera et al v. the city of Aspen.”
The case was poised to go to trial on Oct. 28, 2013 and both sides filed trial briefs on Oct. 14.
On Oct. 18, however, the parties filed a stay request with the court so they could “cooperate in engaging a qualified independent, neutral, stream ecology expert.”
The ecologist is to study the rivers and the proposed plant and then “determine a bypass amount of water, to be left in the stream by Aspen.”
The opposing parties are then supposed to “use their best efforts to define the stream health goals to be achieved by said amount of water.”
That could mean, as one example, that a flow regime is agreed upon, with varying levels of water being left in the rivers below the city’s diversions at different times of year, depending in part on the natural amount of water in the rivers during any given year.
Such a protocol exists today on Snowmass Creek as it relates to diverting water for snowmaking at the Snowmass Ski Area.
The city is currently proposing to divert up to 27 cubic feet per second of water from Maroon Creek and 25 cfs of water from Castle Creek for the proposed hydro plant, on top of the water it currently diverts from both streams for municipal uses and the existing Maroon Creek hydro plant.
The city also has a policy to keep at least 13.3 cfs in Castle Creek and 14 cfs in Maroon Creek below its diversion dams in order to help protect the rivers’ ecosystems…
The plaintiffs in the suit against the city have told the court they are concerned that if the city diverts more water for hydropower, it could hurt their ability to use their junior water rights on Castle or Maroon creeks. They also claim the city intended to abandon its hydro rights connected to an old hydro plant on Castle Creek, which the city concedes it has not used since 1961.
But the city has denied it ever intended to abandon its water rights and has challenged the plaintiffs’ standing to bring the suit.
Whether the September court dates are needed likely depends on whether the two sides can agree to hire a third-party stream consultant, and then agree to follow their recommendations.
If so, Wickes thinks such an exercise could influence how rivers and streams around the West are managed.
“I’m actually hopeful that when the study is completed, not only will it inform future conversations about the hydroelectric plant, it will inform a wide number of decisions about stream ecology, how we treat our streams, and how things are interconnected,” Wickes said.
With above average snow conditions, there is the very real possibility that a couple warm days in the spring could trigger a sudden runoff that could evolve into a flash flood occurrence for a community still recovering from last September’s floods. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by town officials. “We’ve been doing a lot of public outreach to prepare the community for runoff,” said Estes Park Town Administrator Frank Lancaster. “While 2014 may or may not end up being a significant runoff year, our floodplains have changed, and so runoff will certainly have different effects this year…
Will Birchfield, the town’s floodplain manager, is another official who is keenly aware of what the spring runoff could mean. He attended the 2013 Colorado Flood Forum hosted by the Colorado Association of Stormwater and Floodplain Managers and Colorado State University on Feb. 27. This forum included presentations by experts and discussions among public agencies of the 2013 flood and preparation for spring runoff.
“At this time, it’s too early to predict what runoff will bring, so we will constantly monitor, reevaluate conditions, and keep the community informed,” Birchfield said. “If current weather patterns persist, it’s possible we could see an event equal to at least a 25-year event.
“Variables include how much snowfall comes in March and April, how quickly temperatures rise in the spring, how much rain falls during snow melt, and how the new floodplains in the Estes Valley handle the melt.”
Good news for local farmers, ranchers and other water users: Greeley is receiving about 50 percent more than its normal precipitation so far in 2014, according to numbers provided by the Colorado Climate Center.
During January and February, Greeley saw 18.5 inches of snow — 7.8 inches above normal — that brought with it 2.48 inches of precipitation, surpassing the 1.6 inches of precipitation the city typically receives over the course of those two months.
It’s been colder than normal as well so far in 2014. The mean temperature was 29.6 degrees through the first two months of the year — 3.6 degrees below normal. |
Ribosome-inactivating proteins from plants: present status and future prospects.
Plant ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are N-glycosidases which cleave the N-glycosidic bond of adenine in a specific ribosomal RNA sequence. Most commonly RIPs are single-chain proteins (type 1 RIPs), but some (type 2 RIPs) possess a galactose-specific lectin domain that binds to cell surfaces. The latter RIPs are potent toxins, the best known of which is ricin. RIPs have antiviral and abortifacient activities, and, in a widespread application, can also be linked to antibodies or ligands to form immunotoxins or conjugates specifically toxic to a given type of cell. |
Synthesis and HPLC evaluation of carboxylic acid phases on a hydride surface.
Three organic moieties containing carboxylic acid functional groups are attached to a particulate silica surface through silanization/hydrosilation. Two compounds (undecylenic acid and 10-undecynoic acid) have 11 carbon chains and the other is a five-carbon acid (pentenoic acid). Bonding is confirmed through carbon elemental analysis, diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy, and carbon-13 and silicon-29 CP-MAS NMR spectroscopy. The bonded phases are tested by HPLC using PTH amino acids, nucleic acids, theophylline-related compounds, anilines, benzoic acid compounds, choline, and tobramycin. The latter two compounds are used to investigate the aqueous normal phase properties of the three bonded materials. |
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
/*
* dir.c - NILFS directory entry operations
*
* Copyright (C) 2005-2008 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation.
*
* Modified for NILFS by Amagai Yoshiji.
*/
/*
* linux/fs/ext2/dir.c
*
* Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
* Remy Card (card@masi.ibp.fr)
* Laboratoire MASI - Institut Blaise Pascal
* Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI)
*
* from
*
* linux/fs/minix/dir.c
*
* Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 Linus Torvalds
*
* ext2 directory handling functions
*
* Big-endian to little-endian byte-swapping/bitmaps by
* David S. Miller (davem@caip.rutgers.edu), 1995
*
* All code that works with directory layout had been switched to pagecache
* and moved here. AV
*/
#include <linux/pagemap.h>
#include "nilfs.h"
#include "page.h"
static inline unsigned int nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(__le16 dlen)
{
unsigned int len = le16_to_cpu(dlen);
#if (PAGE_SIZE >= 65536)
if (len == NILFS_MAX_REC_LEN)
return 1 << 16;
#endif
return len;
}
static inline __le16 nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(unsigned int len)
{
#if (PAGE_SIZE >= 65536)
if (len == (1 << 16))
return cpu_to_le16(NILFS_MAX_REC_LEN);
BUG_ON(len > (1 << 16));
#endif
return cpu_to_le16(len);
}
/*
* nilfs uses block-sized chunks. Arguably, sector-sized ones would be
* more robust, but we have what we have
*/
static inline unsigned int nilfs_chunk_size(struct inode *inode)
{
return inode->i_sb->s_blocksize;
}
static inline void nilfs_put_page(struct page *page)
{
kunmap(page);
put_page(page);
}
/*
* Return the offset into page `page_nr' of the last valid
* byte in that page, plus one.
*/
static unsigned int nilfs_last_byte(struct inode *inode, unsigned long page_nr)
{
unsigned int last_byte = inode->i_size;
last_byte -= page_nr << PAGE_SHIFT;
if (last_byte > PAGE_SIZE)
last_byte = PAGE_SIZE;
return last_byte;
}
static int nilfs_prepare_chunk(struct page *page, unsigned int from,
unsigned int to)
{
loff_t pos = page_offset(page) + from;
return __block_write_begin(page, pos, to - from, nilfs_get_block);
}
static void nilfs_commit_chunk(struct page *page,
struct address_space *mapping,
unsigned int from, unsigned int to)
{
struct inode *dir = mapping->host;
loff_t pos = page_offset(page) + from;
unsigned int len = to - from;
unsigned int nr_dirty, copied;
int err;
nr_dirty = nilfs_page_count_clean_buffers(page, from, to);
copied = block_write_end(NULL, mapping, pos, len, len, page, NULL);
if (pos + copied > dir->i_size)
i_size_write(dir, pos + copied);
if (IS_DIRSYNC(dir))
nilfs_set_transaction_flag(NILFS_TI_SYNC);
err = nilfs_set_file_dirty(dir, nr_dirty);
WARN_ON(err); /* do not happen */
unlock_page(page);
}
static bool nilfs_check_page(struct page *page)
{
struct inode *dir = page->mapping->host;
struct super_block *sb = dir->i_sb;
unsigned int chunk_size = nilfs_chunk_size(dir);
char *kaddr = page_address(page);
unsigned int offs, rec_len;
unsigned int limit = PAGE_SIZE;
struct nilfs_dir_entry *p;
char *error;
if ((dir->i_size >> PAGE_SHIFT) == page->index) {
limit = dir->i_size & ~PAGE_MASK;
if (limit & (chunk_size - 1))
goto Ebadsize;
if (!limit)
goto out;
}
for (offs = 0; offs <= limit - NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1); offs += rec_len) {
p = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)(kaddr + offs);
rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(p->rec_len);
if (rec_len < NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1))
goto Eshort;
if (rec_len & 3)
goto Ealign;
if (rec_len < NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(p->name_len))
goto Enamelen;
if (((offs + rec_len - 1) ^ offs) & ~(chunk_size-1))
goto Espan;
}
if (offs != limit)
goto Eend;
out:
SetPageChecked(page);
return true;
/* Too bad, we had an error */
Ebadsize:
nilfs_error(sb,
"size of directory #%lu is not a multiple of chunk size",
dir->i_ino);
goto fail;
Eshort:
error = "rec_len is smaller than minimal";
goto bad_entry;
Ealign:
error = "unaligned directory entry";
goto bad_entry;
Enamelen:
error = "rec_len is too small for name_len";
goto bad_entry;
Espan:
error = "directory entry across blocks";
bad_entry:
nilfs_error(sb,
"bad entry in directory #%lu: %s - offset=%lu, inode=%lu, rec_len=%d, name_len=%d",
dir->i_ino, error, (page->index << PAGE_SHIFT) + offs,
(unsigned long)le64_to_cpu(p->inode),
rec_len, p->name_len);
goto fail;
Eend:
p = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)(kaddr + offs);
nilfs_error(sb,
"entry in directory #%lu spans the page boundary offset=%lu, inode=%lu",
dir->i_ino, (page->index << PAGE_SHIFT) + offs,
(unsigned long)le64_to_cpu(p->inode));
fail:
SetPageError(page);
return false;
}
static struct page *nilfs_get_page(struct inode *dir, unsigned long n)
{
struct address_space *mapping = dir->i_mapping;
struct page *page = read_mapping_page(mapping, n, NULL);
if (!IS_ERR(page)) {
kmap(page);
if (unlikely(!PageChecked(page))) {
if (PageError(page) || !nilfs_check_page(page))
goto fail;
}
}
return page;
fail:
nilfs_put_page(page);
return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
}
/*
* NOTE! unlike strncmp, nilfs_match returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
*
* len <= NILFS_NAME_LEN and de != NULL are guaranteed by caller.
*/
static int
nilfs_match(int len, const unsigned char *name, struct nilfs_dir_entry *de)
{
if (len != de->name_len)
return 0;
if (!de->inode)
return 0;
return !memcmp(name, de->name, len);
}
/*
* p is at least 6 bytes before the end of page
*/
static struct nilfs_dir_entry *nilfs_next_entry(struct nilfs_dir_entry *p)
{
return (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)((char *)p +
nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(p->rec_len));
}
static unsigned char
nilfs_filetype_table[NILFS_FT_MAX] = {
[NILFS_FT_UNKNOWN] = DT_UNKNOWN,
[NILFS_FT_REG_FILE] = DT_REG,
[NILFS_FT_DIR] = DT_DIR,
[NILFS_FT_CHRDEV] = DT_CHR,
[NILFS_FT_BLKDEV] = DT_BLK,
[NILFS_FT_FIFO] = DT_FIFO,
[NILFS_FT_SOCK] = DT_SOCK,
[NILFS_FT_SYMLINK] = DT_LNK,
};
#define S_SHIFT 12
static unsigned char
nilfs_type_by_mode[S_IFMT >> S_SHIFT] = {
[S_IFREG >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_REG_FILE,
[S_IFDIR >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_DIR,
[S_IFCHR >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_CHRDEV,
[S_IFBLK >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_BLKDEV,
[S_IFIFO >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_FIFO,
[S_IFSOCK >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_SOCK,
[S_IFLNK >> S_SHIFT] = NILFS_FT_SYMLINK,
};
static void nilfs_set_de_type(struct nilfs_dir_entry *de, struct inode *inode)
{
umode_t mode = inode->i_mode;
de->file_type = nilfs_type_by_mode[(mode & S_IFMT)>>S_SHIFT];
}
static int nilfs_readdir(struct file *file, struct dir_context *ctx)
{
loff_t pos = ctx->pos;
struct inode *inode = file_inode(file);
struct super_block *sb = inode->i_sb;
unsigned int offset = pos & ~PAGE_MASK;
unsigned long n = pos >> PAGE_SHIFT;
unsigned long npages = dir_pages(inode);
if (pos > inode->i_size - NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1))
return 0;
for ( ; n < npages; n++, offset = 0) {
char *kaddr, *limit;
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de;
struct page *page = nilfs_get_page(inode, n);
if (IS_ERR(page)) {
nilfs_error(sb, "bad page in #%lu", inode->i_ino);
ctx->pos += PAGE_SIZE - offset;
return -EIO;
}
kaddr = page_address(page);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)(kaddr + offset);
limit = kaddr + nilfs_last_byte(inode, n) -
NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1);
for ( ; (char *)de <= limit; de = nilfs_next_entry(de)) {
if (de->rec_len == 0) {
nilfs_error(sb, "zero-length directory entry");
nilfs_put_page(page);
return -EIO;
}
if (de->inode) {
unsigned char t;
if (de->file_type < NILFS_FT_MAX)
t = nilfs_filetype_table[de->file_type];
else
t = DT_UNKNOWN;
if (!dir_emit(ctx, de->name, de->name_len,
le64_to_cpu(de->inode), t)) {
nilfs_put_page(page);
return 0;
}
}
ctx->pos += nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(de->rec_len);
}
nilfs_put_page(page);
}
return 0;
}
/*
* nilfs_find_entry()
*
* finds an entry in the specified directory with the wanted name. It
* returns the page in which the entry was found, and the entry itself
* (as a parameter - res_dir). Page is returned mapped and unlocked.
* Entry is guaranteed to be valid.
*/
struct nilfs_dir_entry *
nilfs_find_entry(struct inode *dir, const struct qstr *qstr,
struct page **res_page)
{
const unsigned char *name = qstr->name;
int namelen = qstr->len;
unsigned int reclen = NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(namelen);
unsigned long start, n;
unsigned long npages = dir_pages(dir);
struct page *page = NULL;
struct nilfs_inode_info *ei = NILFS_I(dir);
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de;
if (npages == 0)
goto out;
/* OFFSET_CACHE */
*res_page = NULL;
start = ei->i_dir_start_lookup;
if (start >= npages)
start = 0;
n = start;
do {
char *kaddr;
page = nilfs_get_page(dir, n);
if (!IS_ERR(page)) {
kaddr = page_address(page);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)kaddr;
kaddr += nilfs_last_byte(dir, n) - reclen;
while ((char *) de <= kaddr) {
if (de->rec_len == 0) {
nilfs_error(dir->i_sb,
"zero-length directory entry");
nilfs_put_page(page);
goto out;
}
if (nilfs_match(namelen, name, de))
goto found;
de = nilfs_next_entry(de);
}
nilfs_put_page(page);
}
if (++n >= npages)
n = 0;
/* next page is past the blocks we've got */
if (unlikely(n > (dir->i_blocks >> (PAGE_SHIFT - 9)))) {
nilfs_error(dir->i_sb,
"dir %lu size %lld exceeds block count %llu",
dir->i_ino, dir->i_size,
(unsigned long long)dir->i_blocks);
goto out;
}
} while (n != start);
out:
return NULL;
found:
*res_page = page;
ei->i_dir_start_lookup = n;
return de;
}
struct nilfs_dir_entry *nilfs_dotdot(struct inode *dir, struct page **p)
{
struct page *page = nilfs_get_page(dir, 0);
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de = NULL;
if (!IS_ERR(page)) {
de = nilfs_next_entry(
(struct nilfs_dir_entry *)page_address(page));
*p = page;
}
return de;
}
ino_t nilfs_inode_by_name(struct inode *dir, const struct qstr *qstr)
{
ino_t res = 0;
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de;
struct page *page;
de = nilfs_find_entry(dir, qstr, &page);
if (de) {
res = le64_to_cpu(de->inode);
kunmap(page);
put_page(page);
}
return res;
}
/* Releases the page */
void nilfs_set_link(struct inode *dir, struct nilfs_dir_entry *de,
struct page *page, struct inode *inode)
{
unsigned int from = (char *)de - (char *)page_address(page);
unsigned int to = from + nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(de->rec_len);
struct address_space *mapping = page->mapping;
int err;
lock_page(page);
err = nilfs_prepare_chunk(page, from, to);
BUG_ON(err);
de->inode = cpu_to_le64(inode->i_ino);
nilfs_set_de_type(de, inode);
nilfs_commit_chunk(page, mapping, from, to);
nilfs_put_page(page);
dir->i_mtime = dir->i_ctime = current_time(dir);
}
/*
* Parent is locked.
*/
int nilfs_add_link(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode)
{
struct inode *dir = d_inode(dentry->d_parent);
const unsigned char *name = dentry->d_name.name;
int namelen = dentry->d_name.len;
unsigned int chunk_size = nilfs_chunk_size(dir);
unsigned int reclen = NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(namelen);
unsigned short rec_len, name_len;
struct page *page = NULL;
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de;
unsigned long npages = dir_pages(dir);
unsigned long n;
char *kaddr;
unsigned int from, to;
int err;
/*
* We take care of directory expansion in the same loop.
* This code plays outside i_size, so it locks the page
* to protect that region.
*/
for (n = 0; n <= npages; n++) {
char *dir_end;
page = nilfs_get_page(dir, n);
err = PTR_ERR(page);
if (IS_ERR(page))
goto out;
lock_page(page);
kaddr = page_address(page);
dir_end = kaddr + nilfs_last_byte(dir, n);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)kaddr;
kaddr += PAGE_SIZE - reclen;
while ((char *)de <= kaddr) {
if ((char *)de == dir_end) {
/* We hit i_size */
name_len = 0;
rec_len = chunk_size;
de->rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(chunk_size);
de->inode = 0;
goto got_it;
}
if (de->rec_len == 0) {
nilfs_error(dir->i_sb,
"zero-length directory entry");
err = -EIO;
goto out_unlock;
}
err = -EEXIST;
if (nilfs_match(namelen, name, de))
goto out_unlock;
name_len = NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(de->name_len);
rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(de->rec_len);
if (!de->inode && rec_len >= reclen)
goto got_it;
if (rec_len >= name_len + reclen)
goto got_it;
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)((char *)de + rec_len);
}
unlock_page(page);
nilfs_put_page(page);
}
BUG();
return -EINVAL;
got_it:
from = (char *)de - (char *)page_address(page);
to = from + rec_len;
err = nilfs_prepare_chunk(page, from, to);
if (err)
goto out_unlock;
if (de->inode) {
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de1;
de1 = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)((char *)de + name_len);
de1->rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(rec_len - name_len);
de->rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(name_len);
de = de1;
}
de->name_len = namelen;
memcpy(de->name, name, namelen);
de->inode = cpu_to_le64(inode->i_ino);
nilfs_set_de_type(de, inode);
nilfs_commit_chunk(page, page->mapping, from, to);
dir->i_mtime = dir->i_ctime = current_time(dir);
nilfs_mark_inode_dirty(dir);
/* OFFSET_CACHE */
out_put:
nilfs_put_page(page);
out:
return err;
out_unlock:
unlock_page(page);
goto out_put;
}
/*
* nilfs_delete_entry deletes a directory entry by merging it with the
* previous entry. Page is up-to-date. Releases the page.
*/
int nilfs_delete_entry(struct nilfs_dir_entry *dir, struct page *page)
{
struct address_space *mapping = page->mapping;
struct inode *inode = mapping->host;
char *kaddr = page_address(page);
unsigned int from, to;
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de, *pde = NULL;
int err;
from = ((char *)dir - kaddr) & ~(nilfs_chunk_size(inode) - 1);
to = ((char *)dir - kaddr) + nilfs_rec_len_from_disk(dir->rec_len);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)(kaddr + from);
while ((char *)de < (char *)dir) {
if (de->rec_len == 0) {
nilfs_error(inode->i_sb,
"zero-length directory entry");
err = -EIO;
goto out;
}
pde = de;
de = nilfs_next_entry(de);
}
if (pde)
from = (char *)pde - (char *)page_address(page);
lock_page(page);
err = nilfs_prepare_chunk(page, from, to);
BUG_ON(err);
if (pde)
pde->rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(to - from);
dir->inode = 0;
nilfs_commit_chunk(page, mapping, from, to);
inode->i_ctime = inode->i_mtime = current_time(inode);
out:
nilfs_put_page(page);
return err;
}
/*
* Set the first fragment of directory.
*/
int nilfs_make_empty(struct inode *inode, struct inode *parent)
{
struct address_space *mapping = inode->i_mapping;
struct page *page = grab_cache_page(mapping, 0);
unsigned int chunk_size = nilfs_chunk_size(inode);
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de;
int err;
void *kaddr;
if (!page)
return -ENOMEM;
err = nilfs_prepare_chunk(page, 0, chunk_size);
if (unlikely(err)) {
unlock_page(page);
goto fail;
}
kaddr = kmap_atomic(page);
memset(kaddr, 0, chunk_size);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)kaddr;
de->name_len = 1;
de->rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1));
memcpy(de->name, ".\0\0", 4);
de->inode = cpu_to_le64(inode->i_ino);
nilfs_set_de_type(de, inode);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)(kaddr + NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1));
de->name_len = 2;
de->rec_len = nilfs_rec_len_to_disk(chunk_size - NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1));
de->inode = cpu_to_le64(parent->i_ino);
memcpy(de->name, "..\0", 4);
nilfs_set_de_type(de, inode);
kunmap_atomic(kaddr);
nilfs_commit_chunk(page, mapping, 0, chunk_size);
fail:
put_page(page);
return err;
}
/*
* routine to check that the specified directory is empty (for rmdir)
*/
int nilfs_empty_dir(struct inode *inode)
{
struct page *page = NULL;
unsigned long i, npages = dir_pages(inode);
for (i = 0; i < npages; i++) {
char *kaddr;
struct nilfs_dir_entry *de;
page = nilfs_get_page(inode, i);
if (IS_ERR(page))
continue;
kaddr = page_address(page);
de = (struct nilfs_dir_entry *)kaddr;
kaddr += nilfs_last_byte(inode, i) - NILFS_DIR_REC_LEN(1);
while ((char *)de <= kaddr) {
if (de->rec_len == 0) {
nilfs_error(inode->i_sb,
"zero-length directory entry (kaddr=%p, de=%p)",
kaddr, de);
goto not_empty;
}
if (de->inode != 0) {
/* check for . and .. */
if (de->name[0] != '.')
goto not_empty;
if (de->name_len > 2)
goto not_empty;
if (de->name_len < 2) {
if (de->inode !=
cpu_to_le64(inode->i_ino))
goto not_empty;
} else if (de->name[1] != '.')
goto not_empty;
}
de = nilfs_next_entry(de);
}
nilfs_put_page(page);
}
return 1;
not_empty:
nilfs_put_page(page);
return 0;
}
const struct file_operations nilfs_dir_operations = {
.llseek = generic_file_llseek,
.read = generic_read_dir,
.iterate_shared = nilfs_readdir,
.unlocked_ioctl = nilfs_ioctl,
#ifdef CONFIG_COMPAT
.compat_ioctl = nilfs_compat_ioctl,
#endif /* CONFIG_COMPAT */
.fsync = nilfs_sync_file,
};
|
---
abstract: 'A geometrical correspondence between maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space-time and minimal surfaces in the Riemannian product of the hyperbolic plane and the real line is established. New examples of maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space-time are obtained in order to illustrate this correspondence.'
address: 'Departement Wiskunde. KU Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200B, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium'
author:
- Francisco Torralbo
title: 'A geometrical correspondence between maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space-time and minimal surfaces in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$'
---
Introduction {#sec:introduction}
============
The study of minimal surfaces in product spaces $M^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ was initiated by Rosenberg and Meeks [@Rosenberg2002; @MR2005] and has been very active since then. Among that spaces, there are three homogeneous Riemannian manifolds: ${\mathbb{R}}^3$, where the classical theory of minimal surfaces has been developed, and ${\mathbb{S}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ and ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, where many authors have been actively working. Giving a complete list of references in the subject is far from being possible so we will only mention a few of them: Nelli and Rosenberg [@NR2002] proved a Jenkins-Serrin-type theorem in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, Hauswirth [@Hauswirth2006] constructed minimal examples or Riemann type, Sá Earp and Tobiana [@ST2004] investigated the screw motion invariant surfaces in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, Daniel [@Daniel2009] and Hauwirth, Sá Earp and Tobiana [@HST2008] showed, independently, the existence of an associated family of minimal immersions for simply connected minimal surfaces in ${\mathbb{S}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ and ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, Urbano and the author [@TU2013] tackled a general study of minimal surfaces in ${\mathbb{S}}^2\times {\mathbb{S}}^2$ with applications to ${\mathbb{S}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, and very recently Manzano, Plehnert and the author [@MPT2013] constructed orientable and non-orientable even Euler characteristic embedded minimal surfaces in the quotient ${\mathbb{S}}^2\times {\mathbb{S}}^1$ and Martín, Mazzeo and Rogríguez [@MMR2014] constructed the first examples of complete, properly embedded minimal surfaces in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ with finite total curvature and positive genus.
In this paper we are going to show a geometric relation between maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space-time ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ and minimal immersions in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$. It is well-known that the Gauss map of a spacelike maximal immersion in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ is always a minimal Lagrangian immersion in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ (see [@Torralbo2007] and also [@CU2007] where an analogous case for Lagrangian minimal immersions in ${\mathbb{S}}^2\times {\mathbb{S}}^2$ is studied). We are going to get new minimal immersions in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{H}}^2$ by pairing different components of the Gauss map of two suitable maximal immersions in anti-De Sitter space-time (see Theorem \[thm:Gauss-map-pair\]). This construction is in the same spirit as in [@TU2013]. From that, and under an appropriate choice of one element in the pair, we will establish a conformal correspondence between maximal immersions in anti-De Sitter space-time and minimal immersions in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{R}}$ (see Corollary \[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\]). We will also show that this result admits a local converse, i.e. that roughly speaking every minimal surface in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ is locally the Gauss map of a maximal immersion in anti-De Sitter space (see Theorem \[thm:local-correspondence\]).
Finally, we will illustrate this geometric correspondence by showing new examples of maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space in Proposition \[prop:examples-AdS\] and computing their Gauss map (in the sense of Corollary \[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\]). This will provide us with two $1$-parameter families of minimal examples in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{R}}$. We want to point out that, although the constructed maximal immersions in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ are non-complete (see Proposition \[prop:examples-AdS\]), their corresponding minimal immersions in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ induce complete metrics in the surface. Moreover, they are invariant by screw motions and they were first described in [@ST2004].
The structure of the paper is the following: Section \[sec:preliminaries\] introduces both anti-De Sitter space-time ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ and the Riemannian products ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{H}}^2$ and ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, where ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ stands for the hyperbolic plane. In Section \[sec:maximal-AdS\], we will briefly present some basic facts about maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space as well as some examples. Section \[sec:Gauss-map-of-a-pair\] contains the main theorems that are illustrated in Section \[sec:examples\]. Finally, Section \[sec:appendix\] contains an analysis of the solutions to the sinh-Gordon equation that only depend on one variable.
Preliminaries {#sec:preliminaries}
=============
The hyperbolic plane and the product manifold ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ {#subsec:hyperbolic-plane}
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ be the hyperbolic plane and ${\left\langle \,, \, \right \rangle}$ its metric. Although for all computations we will use the hyperboloid model of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$, i.e. ${\mathbb{H}}^2 = \{p \in {\mathbb{R}}^3:\, {\left\langle p, p \right \rangle} = -1,\, p_1 > 0\}$, where ${\left\langle x, y \right \rangle} = -x_1y_1 + x_2y_2 + x_3y_3$, the Poincaré disc model is also considered in Figures \[fig:positive-energy\] and \[fig:negative-energy\].
We endow ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ with the product metric, also denoted by ${\left\langle \,, \, \right \rangle}$. So ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ is an Einstein manifold with constant scalar curvature $-4$.
We will consider ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{R}}$ as the totally geodesic submanifold of ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ given by the image of the map $i:{\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{R}}\rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ defined by $i(p,t) = [p, (\sinh(t), 0, \cosh(t))]$.
The anti-De Sitter $3$-space {#subsec:anti-De-Sitter}
----------------------------
The anti-De Sitter $3$-space, that it is usually denoted by ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$, is a Lorentz manifold of dimension $3$ and constant curvature $-1$. It is defined as a quadric in a vector space. More precisely, let ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ be the euclidean $4$-space endow with the metric ${\langle\!\langle u, v \rangle\!\rangle} = u_1v_1 + u_2v_2 - u_3v_3 - u_4v_4$. Then ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}= \{p \in {\mathbb{R}}^4_2:\, {\langle\!\langle p, p \rangle\!\rangle} = -1\}$. Moreover, the map $\pi: {\mathbf{H}^3_1}\subset {\mathbb{R}}^4_2 \equiv {\mathbb{C}}^2_1 \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2(-2)$, where ${\mathbb{H}}^2(c)$ stands for the hyperbolic plane of constant curvature $c < 0$, given by $$\pi(z, w) = \left(z\bar{w}, \frac{1}{2}({\left\lvert z \right\rvert}^2 + {\left\lvert w \right\rvert}^2) \right),$$ is a semi-Riemannian submersion with totally geodesic fibers generated by the unit temporal vector field $\xi_{(z,w)} = (iz, iw)$. The fiber of a point $(z_0,w_0) \in {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ is the circle $(z_0e^{it}, w_0e^{it})$.
The Gauss map {#subsec:definition-gauss-map}
-------------
Let $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ be a spacelike immersion of an oriented surface $\Sigma$. Its Gauss map assigns to each point of the surface its oriented tangent plane. In this particular case, the image of the Gauss map is contained in $G^+_*(2,4)$, the Grassmann manifold of oriented spacelike planes of ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$. It is well-known that $G^+_*(2,4)$ is diffeomorphic to ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ (see, for example, [@Palmer1991 Section 1]). To understand the construction in Section \[sec:Gauss-map-of-a-pair\] a suitable identification between ${\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ and $G^+_*(2,4)$ is needed.
Let $\Lambda^2{\mathbb{R}}^4_2 = \mathrm{span}\{v \wedge w:\, v, w\in {\mathbb{R}}^4_2\} \equiv {\mathbb{R}}^6$ be the linear space generated by the $2$-vectors in ${\mathbb{R}}^4$ endowed with the index $2$ metric $$g(v \wedge w, v' \wedge, w') = {\langle\!\langle v, w' \rangle\!\rangle}{\langle\!\langle w, v' \rangle\!\rangle} - {\langle\!\langle v, v' \rangle\!\rangle}{\langle\!\langle w, w' \rangle\!\rangle}.$$ The star operator $\star: \Lambda^2 {\mathbb{R}}^4_2\rightarrow \Lambda^2{\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ defined by $\alpha\wedge (\star \beta) = g(\alpha, \beta)\Omega$ for all $\alpha, \beta \in \Lambda^2 {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$, where $\Omega$ is the orientation form of ${\mathbb{R}}^4$, is an linear automorphism of $\Lambda^2 {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ with eigenvalues $\pm 1$. Consider $\Lambda^2_\pm {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ the eigenspaces of $\star$ associated to the eigenvalues $\pm 1$. Observe that we can decompose $\Lambda^2 {\mathbb{R}}^4_2 = \Lambda^2_+ {\mathbb{R}}^4_2 \oplus \Lambda^2_-{\mathbb{R}}^4_2$. Let $\{e_1, e_2, e_3, e_4\}$ be an oriented orthonormal frame of ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$, i.e. ${\left\lvert e_1 \right\rvert}^2 = {\left\lvert e_2 \right\rvert}^2 = -{\left\lvert e_3 \right\rvert}^2 = -{\left\lvert e_4 \right\rvert}^2 = 1$ and ${\langle\!\langle e_i, e_j \rangle\!\rangle} = 0$, $i \neq j$. The frame $\{E^\pm_j:\, j = 1, 2, 3\}$ given by: $$\begin{split}
E^\pm_1 &= \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(e_1 \wedge e_2 \pm e_4 \wedge e_3),\,
E^\pm_2 = \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(e_1 \wedge e_3 \pm e_4 \wedge e_2),\,
E^\pm_3 = \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(e_1 \wedge e_4 \pm e_2 \wedge e_3),
\end{split}$$ is an orthonormal oriented reference in $\Lambda^2_\pm {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$, i.e. $g(E^\pm_i, E^\pm_j) = \epsilon_i\delta_{ij}$, where $\epsilon_1 = -1$ and $\epsilon_2 = \epsilon_3 = 1$. Hence each $\Lambda^2_\pm {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ is isometric to the Lorentz-Minkowski $3$-space. We denote by ${\mathbb{H}}^2_\pm$ the hyperbolic plane in the $3$-space $\Lambda^2_\pm {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$.
Finally, if $\{v, w\}$ is an oriented orthonormal frame of a plane $P \in G^+_*(2,4)$, then the map $G^+_*(2,4) \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2_+ \times {\mathbb{H}}^2_-$ given by $$P \mapsto \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} [ v \wedge w + \star(v \wedge w), v\wedge w - \star(v \wedge w)]$$ is a diffeomorphism.
Maximal surfaces in anti-De Sitter space {#sec:maximal-AdS}
========================================
Let $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ be a spacelike maximal immersion, i.e. with zero mean curvature, of an oriented surface $\Sigma$ and $N$ a unit normal vector field to $\phi$. Given a conformal parameter $z = x+iy$ on $\Sigma$, it is well-known (see for instance [@Palmer1990]) that the $2$-differential $\Theta_\phi(z) = \theta(z) {\mathrm{d}}z \otimes {\mathrm{d}}z= {\langle\!\langle \phi_z, N_z \rangle\!\rangle}{\mathrm{d}}z\otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$ is holomorphic, where $N$ is the (timelike) unit normal vector field to $\phi$ such that $\{\phi_x, \phi_y, \phi, N\}$ is a positively oriented frame in ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ (we are using subscripts to indicate derivatives). The associated conformal factor $e^{2v}$ satisfies $v_{z\bar{z}} + e^{-2v}{\left\lvert \Theta_\phi \right\rvert}^2 - \frac{1}{4}e^{2v} = 0$. Moreover, the Frenet equations of the immersion are given by $$\label{eq:frenet-maxima-AdS}
\phi_{zz} = 2v_z\phi_z + \theta N, \quad \phi_{z{\bar{z}}} = \tfrac{1}{2}e^{2v}\phi, \quad N_z = 2e^{-2v}\theta \phi_{{\bar{z}}}.$$
Conversely, we get the following result (see [@Palmer1990 Proposition 2.1] and also [@Perdomo2009 Lemma 3.3]):
> *For any solution $v:D \rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}$, $D \subset {\mathbb{C}}$, to the equation $v_{z\bar{z}} - \frac{1}{2}\sinh(2v) = 0$ there exists a $1$-parameter family $\phi_t:{\mathbb{C}}\rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ of maximal immersions whose induced metric is $e^{2v}{\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2$ and whose Hopf differential is $\Theta_{\phi_t}(z) = \frac{i}{2}e^{it}{\mathrm{d}}z \otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$.*
In this section we are going to present some examples of spacelike maximal surfaces in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ that will be useful in the sequel. The first simple example is the totally geodesic embedding of the hyperbolic plane ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ into ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ given by $
\mathbf{B} = \{(z, w) \in {\mathbb{R}}^4_2 \equiv {\mathbb{C}}^2:\, {\mathrm{Im}}(w) = 0\}
$ , up to isometries of ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$.
The second example, that will play an important role in the following section (see Corollary \[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\]), is the so-called *hyperbolic cylinder* $$\mathbf{C} = \{(z, w) \in {\mathbb{R}}^4_2 \equiv {\mathbb{C}}^2:\, {\mathrm{Re}}(z)^2 - {\mathrm{Re}}(w)^2 = {\mathrm{Im}}(z)^2 - {\mathrm{Im}}(w)^2 = -\tfrac{1}{2}\}.$$ It is a complete spacelike maximal surface with vanishing Gauss curvature, constant principal curvatures $\lambda_1 = -\lambda_2 = 1$ and the norm of the second fundamental form is ${\left\lvert \sigma \right\rvert}^2 = 2$. It was characterized by Ishihara [@Ishihara88] as the only complete maximal surface in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$, up to rigid motions, with ${\left\lvert \sigma \right\rvert}^2 = 2$. We can parametrize the hyperbolic cylinder $\mathbf{C}$ by $$\label{eq:immersion-hyperbolic-cylinder}
\psi_t(x, y) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} (\sinh a_t(x, y), \sinh b_t(x, y), \cosh a_t(x, y), \cosh b_t(x, y) ),$$ where $$\begin{split}
a_t(x, y) &= (x+y)\cos \tfrac{t}{2} + (x-y)\sin \tfrac{t}{2}, \\
b_t(x, y) &= (y-x)\cos \tfrac{t}{2} + (x+y)\sin \tfrac{t}{2}.
\end{split}$$ Then $\psi_t({\mathbb{R}}^2) = \mathbf{C}$, $z = x+iy$ is a conformal parameter with conformal factor $e^{2u(x, y)}$ where $u(x, y) = 0$, and the associated Hopf differential is $\Theta_{\psi_t} = \frac{i}{2}e^{it}{\mathrm{d}}z \otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$.
Next we are going to show examples invariant under a $1$-parameter group of isometries of ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$. In that case, the equation for its conformal factor $v_{z\bar{z}} - \frac{1}{2}\sinh(2v) = 0$ becomes an ordinary differential equation $$\label{eq:sinh-Gordon-ordinary}
v''(x) -2\sinh(2v(x)) = 0, \text{ with energy } E = \frac{1}{2}v'(x)^2 - \cosh( 2v(x) ).$$ It is possible to integrate explicitly the Frenet system for some values of $E$ obtaining the following result (see also Section \[sec:appendix\] where we get all the solutions to the previous equation in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions).
\[prop:examples-AdS\] Let $v: I \subseteq {\mathbb{R}}\rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}$ be a solution to with energy $E$. Then the map $\phi_E: \Sigma_v = (I \times {\mathbb{R}}, e^{2v}g_0) \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ given by: $$\begin{split}
\phi_E&(x, y) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2E}}\left(e^{v(x)} \cos(\sqrt{2E} y), -e^{v(x)} \sin(\sqrt{2E} y), \right.\\
& \left.-\sqrt{2E + e^{2v(x)}} \cos(\sqrt{2E} G(x)), -\sqrt{2E + e^{2v(x)}} \sin(\sqrt{2E} G(x))\right), \, E > 0, \\
\phi_E&(x,y) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{-2E}}\left( \sqrt{-2E - e^{2v(x)}} \sinh(\sqrt{-2E}G(x)), e^{v(x)}\sinh(\sqrt{-2E}y)\right. \\
&\left. e^{v(x)}\cosh(\sqrt{-2E}y), \sqrt{-2E - e^{2v(x)}} \cosh(\sqrt{-2E}G(x))\right),\, E < 0,
\end{split}$$ is an isometric maximal immersion with associated Hopf differential $\Theta(z) = \frac{1}{2}{\mathrm{d}}z\otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$, where $G(x) = \int_0^x \frac{{\mathrm{d}}t}{2E + e^{2v(t)}}$ and $g_0$ is the Euclidean metric in ${\mathbb{R}}^2$.
Moreover, all the surfaces $\Sigma_v$, except the one associated to the trivial solution $v(x) = 0$ which is the hyperbolic cylinder, are not complete.
\[rmk:examples-maximal-AdS\] The obtained examples in Proposition \[prop:examples-AdS\] are invariant by the following $1$-parameter group of isometries depending on the sign of $E$:
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------
$E > 0$ $E < 0$
$\begin{pmatrix} $\begin{pmatrix}
\cos \theta & -\sin \theta & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
\sin \theta & \cos \theta & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & \cosh \theta & \sinh \theta & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & \sinh \theta & \cosh \theta & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 1 0 & 0 & 0 & 1
\end{pmatrix}$ \end{pmatrix}$
------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------
Besides, when $E < 0$ the immersion $\phi_E$ is only defined for $2E < -e^{2v(x)}$. A deep analysis of the solutions (see Section \[sec:appendix\]) shows that there is always a non-empty interval $I' \subseteq I$ where this happens, being $I$ the maximal interval of definition of $v$ (see also the proof of Proposition \[prop:examples-AdS\]).
It is not surprising that the obtained examples are not complete. In [@Perdomo2009], the author pointed out the difficulties of getting complete maximal immersions in anti-De Sitter space-time and he also provided with complete examples looking for radial solutions of the sinh-Gordon equation. Palmer in [@Palmer1990 Theorem I] also provide complete minimal examples in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ in terms of holomorphic quadratic differentials.
Taking equation into account, it is straightforward to check that $\phi_E$ is a maximal isometric immersion. We will now show that the metric $e^{2v}g_0$ is non-complete except for the trivial solution $v = 0$., by finding a divergent curve $\gamma$ in $\Sigma$ with finite length. Notice that we can consider the solutions to given in Lemma \[lm:solutions-sinh-Gordon-ordinary\] for $a_0 = 0$, which are always defined in an interval $I = ]0, \ell[$. Observe that if $v$ is a solution then $-v$ is also a solution (see Section \[sec:appendix\]) so we have to deal with both cases.
If $E > -1$, thanks to the symmetries of the solutions (see Remark \[rmk:properties-solutions-sinh-Gordon\].(1)), $v$ and $-v$ are symmetric so, considering the one given in Lemma \[lm:solutions-sinh-Gordon-ordinary\] we have that $e^{v(x)} \leq 1$ in $]0,\ell/2[$. Hence the curve $\gamma:]0, \tfrac{\ell}{2}[ \rightarrow \Sigma$, given by $\gamma(t) = \tfrac{\ell}{2} - t$, diverges in $\Sigma$ but has finite length.
If $E = -1$ we have three different solutions: (1) $v(x) = 0$, which produces the hyperbolic cylinder which is complete; (2) $v(x) = \log \tanh(x)$, in this case $\Sigma = ({\mathbb{R}}^+\times {\mathbb{R}}, \tanh^2(x)g_0)$ and so the curve $\gamma(t) = (a-t,0)$, $t\in ]0,a[$, $a\in {\mathbb{R}}$ arbitrary, diverges in $\Sigma$ but has finite length; and (3) $v(x) = \log \operatorname{cotanh}(x)$. In this case the immersion is only defined when $\operatorname{cotanh}^2(x) < 2$ (see Remark \[rmk:examples-maximal-AdS\]), i.e. $\Sigma = (]0, \operatorname{arccotanh}(\sqrt{2})[ \times {\mathbb{R}}, \operatorname{cotanh}^2(x)g_0)$. Hence the curve $\gamma(t) = (t,0)$, $t\in]\tfrac{1}{2}, \operatorname{arccotanh}(\sqrt{2})[$ diverges in $\Sigma$ but has finite length.
Finally, if $E < -1$ we have two different types of solutions, namely $v_1(x) = -\log(\tfrac{1}{\lambda}\operatorname{sn}_\mu(\lambda x))$ and $v_2(x) = -v_1(x)$ (see Lemma \[lm:solutions-sinh-Gordon-ordinary\]). In the first case the immersion is only defined when $2E+e^{2v_1(x)} < 0$, i.e. for $x \in J = ]c, \ell - c[$ where $c = \tfrac{1}{\lambda}\operatorname{arcsn}_\mu(\tfrac{\lambda}{\sqrt{-2E}})$ (see Lemma \[lm:solutions-sinh-Gordon-ordinary\] for the definition of $\lambda$ and $\mu$). But $e^{v_1(x)}\leq \sqrt{-2E}$ for $x \in ]c, \ell -c[$ and so $\Sigma$ is also incomplete in this case.
In the second case, $2E +e^{2v_2(x)} < 0$ so $\Sigma = (]0, \ell[ \times {\mathbb{R}}, e^{2v_2(x)}g_0)$, but $e^{v_2(x)}\leq \tfrac{1}{\lambda}$ so the curve $\gamma(t) = (\ell/2 - t, 0)$, $t \in ]0, \ell/2[$, diverges in $\Sigma$ and has finite length.
The Gauss map of a pair of maximal surfaces in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ {#sec:Gauss-map-of-a-pair}
=================================================================
Let $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}\subset {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ be a spacelike immersion of an oriented surface $\Sigma$. The *Gauss map* of $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ is the map $\nu_\phi = (\nu^+_\phi, \nu^-_\phi): \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2_+ \times {\mathbb{H}}^2_-$ defined by $$\nu^\pm_\phi(p) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}[e_1 \wedge e_2 \pm N(p) \wedge \phi(p)],$$ where $\{e_1, e_2\}$ is an oriented orthonormal basis in $T_p \Sigma$ and $N$ is the unit (timelike) normal vector field to the immersion $\phi$ such that $\{e_1, e_2, \phi(p), N_p\}$ is oriented in ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ (see Section \[subsec:definition-gauss-map\]).
If $\phi$ is maximal then its Gauss map is a Lagrangian minimal immersion in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{H}}^2$ (see [@Torralbo2007]). For instance:
- The Gauss map of the totally geodesic embedding of the hyperbolic plane in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ given in Section \[sec:maximal-AdS\] is the diagonal map $\nu: {\mathbb{H}}^2\to {\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{H}}^2$, $\nu(p) = (p,p)$.
- The Gauss map of the hyperbolic cylinder is the product of two geodesics of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$.
\[thm:Gauss-map-pair\] Let $\Sigma$ be a Riemann surface and $\phi$, $\psi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ two conformal spacelike maximal immersions with the same Hopf differentials $\Theta_\phi = \Theta_\psi$. Then $$\nu_{\{\phi, \psi\}}: (\nu^+_\phi, \nu^-_\psi): \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2 \times {\mathbb{H}}^2$$ is a conformal minimal immersion. Moreover, the induced metric by $\nu_{\{\phi, \psi\}}$ is $$g = \frac{1}{2}\Bigl[ (2 + {\left\lvert \sigma_\phi \right\rvert}^2) g_\phi + (2 + {\left\lvert \sigma_\psi \right\rvert}^2)g_\psi\Bigr],$$ where $g_\phi$ and $g_\psi$ are the induced metrics on $\Sigma$ by $\phi$ and $\psi$, respectively. Here $|\sigma_\phi|$ and $|\sigma_\psi|$ are the lengths of the second fundamental forms of $\phi$ and $\psi$ in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$, computed with respect to $g_\phi$ and $g_\psi$, respectively.
1. If $\phi = \psi$, then $\nu_{\{\phi, \psi\}} = \nu_\phi$ is the Gauss map of $\phi$.
2. Given a maximal immersion $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$, its *polar* immersion (possibly branched) is $N: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$, where $N$ is a unit normal vector field to $\phi$. $N$ is also a maximal conformal immersion with the same Hopf differential as $\phi$. Nevertheless, $\nu_{\{\phi, N\}}$ is congruent to $\nu_\phi$, the Gauss map of $\phi$.
3. Given $A \in \mathcal{O}_2(4)$, then it is easy to check that $\nu_{\{A\phi, \psi\}}$ is congruent to $\nu_{\{\phi, \psi\}}$.
The immersion $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ has parallel mean curvature vector because it is contained in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ as a maximal surface. From [@Palmer1991 Theorem 3.2] we deduce that each $\nu^\pm_\phi$ is a harmonic map. Analogously $\nu_\psi^\pm:\Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2$ are also harmonic maps. Hence $\nu_{\{\phi, \psi\}} = (\nu_\phi^+, \nu_\psi^-):\Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ is a harmonic map.
It remains to check that $\nu$ is conformal (and so minimal). Let $z = x+iy$ a conformal parameter over $\Sigma$ and $N_\phi$, $N_\psi$ the temporal unit normal vector field to $\phi$ and $\psi$ respectively such that $\{\phi_x, \phi_y, \phi, N_\phi\}$ and $\{\psi_x, \psi_y, \psi, N_\psi\}$ are oriented references in ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$. Since $\phi$ and $\psi$ are conformal immersions the induced metrics by $\phi$ and $\psi$ in $\Sigma$ are given by $g_\phi = e^{2u}{\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2$ and $g_\psi = e^{2w}{\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2$ for certain functions $u$ and $w$. Moreover, $\Theta_\phi = \Theta_\psi = \theta {\mathrm{d}}z \otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$ for some function $\theta(z)$ by hypothesis.
We can express the component of the Gauss map $\nu_{\{\phi, \psi\}}$ as $$\begin{split}
v_\phi^+(z) = \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\bigl( -2ie^{-2u} \phi_z \wedge \phi_{{\bar{z}}} - \phi \wedge N_\phi \bigr), \\
v_\psi^-(z) = \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\bigl( -2ie^{-2w} \psi_z \wedge \psi_{{\bar{z}}} + \psi \wedge N_\psi \bigr), \\
\end{split}$$ Taking the Frenet equations of $\phi$ and $\psi$ and Section \[subsec:definition-gauss-map\] into account, we easily get that $$\begin{split}
(\nu_\phi^+)_z &= \tfrac{1}{2}e^u(-i + 2\theta e^{-2u})E^+_2(z) + \tfrac{i}{2}e^u(i + 2\theta e^{-2u})E^+_3(z), \\
(\nu_\psi^-)_z &= \tfrac{1}{2}e^w(-i - 2\theta e^{-2w})E^-_2(z) + \tfrac{i}{2}e^w(-i + 2\theta e^{-2w})E^-_3(z). \\
\end{split}$$ Then we deduce from the previous equations that: $$\begin{aligned}
{\langle\!\langle (\nu_\phi^+)_z, (\nu_\phi^+)_z \rangle\!\rangle} = -2i\theta,
& & {\langle\!\langle (\nu_\psi^-)_z, (\nu_\psi^-)_z \rangle\!\rangle} = 2i\theta, \\
|\nu_\phi^+|^2 = \tfrac{1}{2}\bigl(e^{2u} + 4e^{-2u}{\left\lvert \theta \right\rvert}^2 \bigr),
& & |\nu_\psi^-|^2 = \tfrac{1}{2}\bigl(e^{2w} + 4e^{-2w}{\left\lvert \theta \right\rvert}^2 \bigr).
\end{aligned}$$ Finally, ${\langle\!\langle \nu_z, \nu_z \rangle\!\rangle} = 0$ and so $\nu = \nu_{\{\phi,\psi\}}$ is a conformal map. Moreover, from $8{\left\lvert \theta \right\rvert}^2 = e^{4u}{\left\lvert \sigma_\phi \right\rvert}^2 = e^{4w}{\left\lvert \sigma_\psi \right\rvert}^2$ and $${\left\lvert \nu_z \right\rvert}^2 = \tfrac{1}{2}\bigl(e^{2u} + e^{2w} + 4{\left\lvert \theta \right\rvert}^2(e^{-2u} + e^{-2w}) \bigr),$$ we get the expression of the induced metric on $\Sigma$ by $\nu$.
Now, let $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ be a conformal maximal immersion. There is no loss of generality in assuming that locally the Hopf differential $\Theta(z) = \tfrac{i}{2}e^{it}{\mathrm{d}}z \otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$ (observe that either $\Theta = 0$ and so the immersion is totally geodesic or the zeroes of $\Theta$ are isolated and we can locally normalize $\Theta$ away from the zeroes). Then $\phi$ and $\psi_t$, the immersion of the hyperbolic cylinder given in Section \[sec:maximal-AdS\], are two conformal maximal immersions with the same Hopf differentials. Then, thanks to the previous theorem, $\hat{\nu}_\phi = \nu_{\{\phi, \psi_t\}}: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{H}}^2$ is a minimal immersion that we call the *modified Gauss map* of $\phi$. Now, the Gauss map of the hyperbolic cylinder $\psi_t$ is the product of two geodesics in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{H}}^2$ so its second component can be viewed as a map from $\Sigma$ to ${\mathbb{R}}$. Hence the *modified Gauss map of a maximal immersion $\phi:\Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ is a conformal minimal immersion $\hat{\nu}_\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$*. We get the following result:
\[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\] Let $u:D \subseteq {\mathbb{C}}\rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}$ be a solution of $u_{z{\bar{z}}} - \tfrac{1}{2}\sinh(2u) = 0$. Then the $1$-parameter family of minimal immersions $\Phi_t: (D, 4\cosh^2 u {\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2) \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ with Hopf differential $\Theta = e^{it}{\mathrm{d}}z\otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$ (see [@HST2008 Corollary 10]) associated to $u$ is given by: $$\Phi_t(z) = \bigl( \nu_{\phi_t}^+(z), 2\,{\mathrm{Im}}(ze^{it/2})\bigr),$$ where $\phi_t: (D, e^{2u}{\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2) \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ is the $1$-parameter family of immersions associated to $u$ with Hopf differential $\Theta_{\phi_t} = \tfrac{i}{2}e^{it}{\mathrm{d}}z \otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$.
Let $\psi_t = ({\mathbb{C}}, {\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2) \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ the immersion of the hyperbolic cylinder given in equation . Then $\phi_t, \psi_t:D \subseteq {\mathbb{C}}\rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ are conformal maximal immersions with the same Hopf differentials. Hence, applying the previous theorem we get that $\nu_t = \nu_{\{\phi_t, \psi_t\}}$ is a conformal minimal immersion in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ with induced metric $4\cosh^2 u{\left\lvert {\mathrm{d}}z \right\rvert}^2$.
Furthermore, a straightforward computation shows that $$\nu_\psi^-(z) = \cosh[2\, {\mathrm{Im}}(ze^{it/2})] E_1^- + \sinh[2\, {\mathrm{Im}}(z e^{it/2}) ]E_3^-,$$ where $\{E_1^-, E_2^-, E_3^-\}$ is the orthonormal reference in $\Lambda^2_-{\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ associated with the canonical base of ${\mathbb{R}}^4_2$ (see Section \[subsec:definition-gauss-map\]). Hence, as we have mentioned above, $\nu_\psi^-(D)$ is contained in a geodesic of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$. Considering ${\mathbb{R}}$ embedded in ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ as such geodesic we get the result. Finally, it is easy to check that $\Theta_{\nu_t} = -2i \Theta_{\phi_t} = \Theta$.
The next result is a local converse of Theorem \[thm:Gauss-map-pair\] in the special case of surfaces immersed in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$.
\[thm:local-correspondence\] Let $\phi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ an isometric minimal immersion of a simply connected Riemann surface $\Sigma$ satisfying $\nu^2 < 1$, where $\nu ={\left\langle N, \partial_t \right \rangle}$. Then, there exists a conformal maximal immersion $\psi:\Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ such that $\phi = \hat{\nu}_{\psi}$, up to an ambient isometry.
Let $w$ a conformal parameter over $\Sigma$. Then $\Upsilon(w) = {\left\langle \phi_w, \partial_t \right \rangle}{\mathrm{d}}w$ is a holomorphic 1-form without zeroes (note that ${\left\lvert \Upsilon \right\rvert}^2 = \tfrac{1}{4}(1-\nu^2) > 0$ by assumption). Then we can always find another conformal parameter $z$ such that $\Upsilon = {\mathrm{d}}z$. The conformal factor induced by $\phi$ in this new parameter is $4\cosh^2 u$, where $u = \tanh(\nu)$ satisfies $u_{z{\bar{z}}} - \tfrac{1}{2}\sinh(2u) = 0$. Moreover, the fundamental data of the immersion $\phi$ can be expressed in terms of $u$ (see [@FM2010 Theorem 2.3]).
Let $\psi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ be the maximal conformal immersion associated to $u$ with Hopf differential $\Theta_\psi(z) = \frac{i}{2}{\mathrm{d}}z\otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$ (see Section \[sec:maximal-AdS\]). Then, $\hat{\nu}_\psi: \Sigma \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ is a minimal immersion with the same fundamental data as $\phi$ and so both immersions differ in an ambient isometry.
It is possible to get a similar result for minimal immersion of ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{H}}^2$ without complex points as in [@TU2013 Theorem 3], that is, every minimal immersion in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{H}}^2$ without complex points is locally congruent to the Gauss map of the pair of two maximal immersion in the anti-De Sitter space-time.
Examples {#sec:examples}
========
In this section we are going to use Corollary \[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\] to compute the minimal immersions associated to the maximal immersions in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ given by Proposition \[prop:examples-AdS\]. As we shall see, the obtained examples are invariant by $1$-parameter groups of isometries of ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{R}}$, namely, *elliptic* and *hyperbolic* screw motions (see figures \[fig:positive-energy\] and \[fig:negative-energy\]). Moreover, although the considered maximal immersions in ${\mathbf{H}^3_1}$ are not complete (see Remark \[rmk:examples-maximal-AdS\]), their Gauss maps, in the sense of Corollary \[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\], are complete immersions.
[ *Let $v: I \subseteq {\mathbb{R}}\rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}$ be a solution of $v''(x) - 2\sinh(2v) = 0$ with energy $E$ (cf. equation ). Then, the map $\Phi_E: \Sigma = (I \times {\mathbb{R}}, 4\cosh^2(v)g_0) \rightarrow {\mathbb{H}}^2\times{\mathbb{R}}$ given by: $$\begin{split}
\Phi_E&(x,y) = \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2E}}\left(v'(x), \tfrac{\sqrt{2E}e^{-v(x)}\cos \sqrt{2E}\bigl(y-G(x) \bigr) - v'(x)e^{v(x)}\sin \sqrt{2E}\bigl(y-G(x)\bigr)}{\sqrt{2E + e^{2v(x)}}}, \right. \\
&\left. \tfrac{\sqrt{2E}e^{-v(x)}\sin \sqrt{2E}\bigl(y-G(x) \bigr) + v'(x)e^{v(x)}\cos \sqrt{2E}\bigl(y-G(x)\bigr)}{\sqrt{2E + e^{2v(x)}}}, 2\sqrt{E}(y-x) \right),\quad E > 0, \\
\Phi_E&(x,y) = \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{-2E}}\left( \tfrac{\sqrt{-2E}e^{-v(x)} \cosh\sqrt{-2E}\bigl(y-G(x)\bigr) - v'(x)e^{v(x)}\sinh \sqrt{-2E}\bigl( y-G(x)\bigr)}{\sqrt{-2E-e^{2v(x)}}}, v'(x), \right. \\
&\left. \tfrac{-\sqrt{-2E}e^{-v(x)} \sinh\sqrt{-2E}\bigl(y-G(x)\bigr) + v'(x)e^{v(x)}\cosh \sqrt{-2E}\bigl( y-G(x)\bigr)}{\sqrt{-2E-e^{2v(x)}}}, 2\sqrt{-E}(y-x)\right), \quad E < 0,
\end{split}$$ is an isometric minimal immersion with associated Hopf differential $\Theta = -i {\mathrm{d}}z\otimes {\mathrm{d}}z$, where $G(x) = \int_0^x \frac{{\mathrm{d}}t}{2E + e^{2v(t)}}$ and $g_0$ stands for the Euclidean metric in ${\mathbb{R}}^2$.* ]{}
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![From left to right, typical solutions for positive energy $E = 4, 1, 0.1$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn. The boundary of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ is drawn to help the visualization.[]{data-label="fig:positive-energy"}](gfront-4 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for positive energy $E = 4, 1, 0.1$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn. The boundary of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ is drawn to help the visualization.[]{data-label="fig:positive-energy"}](gfront-1 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for positive energy $E = 4, 1, 0.1$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn. The boundary of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ is drawn to help the visualization.[]{data-label="fig:positive-energy"}](gfront-01 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"}
![From left to right, typical solutions for positive energy $E = 4, 1, 0.1$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn. The boundary of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ is drawn to help the visualization.[]{data-label="fig:positive-energy"}](gtop-4 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for positive energy $E = 4, 1, 0.1$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn. The boundary of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ is drawn to help the visualization.[]{data-label="fig:positive-energy"}](gtop-1 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for positive energy $E = 4, 1, 0.1$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn. The boundary of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ is drawn to help the visualization.[]{data-label="fig:positive-energy"}](gtop-01 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"}
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![From left to right, typical solutions for negative energy $E = -0.5, -1, -6$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn.[]{data-label="fig:negative-energy"}](gfront-n1 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for negative energy $E = -0.5, -1, -6$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn.[]{data-label="fig:negative-energy"}](gfront-n6 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"}
![From left to right, typical solutions for negative energy $E = -0.5, -1, -6$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn.[]{data-label="fig:negative-energy"}](gtop-n05 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for negative energy $E = -0.5, -1, -6$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn.[]{data-label="fig:negative-energy"}](gtop-n1 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"} ![From left to right, typical solutions for negative energy $E = -0.5, -1, -6$ in ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ being ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ the disc model. Below each surface the top view has been drawn.[]{data-label="fig:negative-energy"}](gtop-n6 "fig:"){width="33.00000%"}
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This can be checked directly from the definition or, taking into account Corollary \[cor:Gauss-map-H2xR\], computing the first component of the Gauss map of the maximal immersion $\phi_E$ given in Proposition \[prop:examples-AdS\].
These examples are invariant by the $1$-parameter group of isometries $A_\theta\times \tau_\theta$ of ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$, where $A_\theta$ is an isometry of ${\mathbb{H}}^2$ given by:
------------ -------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
$E > 0$ $E < 0$
$A_\theta$ $\begin{pmatrix} $\begin{pmatrix}
1 & 0 & 0 \\ \cosh\theta & 0 & \sinh\theta \\
0 & \cos \theta & -\sin \theta \\ 0 & 1 & 0 \\
0 & \sin \theta & \cos \theta \sinh \theta & 0 & \cosh \theta
\end{pmatrix}$ \end{pmatrix}$
------------ -------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
and $\tau_\theta:{\mathbb{R}}\to {\mathbb{R}}$ is given by $\tau_\theta(t) = t + \tfrac{\theta}{\sqrt{{\left\lvert E \right\rvert}}}$.
The complete classification of constant mean curvature surfaces (in particular the minimal ones) invariant by a $1$-parameter group of ${\mathbb{H}}^2\times {\mathbb{R}}$ can be found in [@Onnis2008] and the references therein.
Appendix {#sec:appendix}
========
In this section we will exhibit explicit solutions for the equation $\Delta v - 2\sinh(2v) = 0$. We will restring ourselves to the simplest case, that is, when the function only depends on one variable, i.e. $v = v(x)$. In that case it is easy to find a first integral of the equation, namely the energy $E = (v')^2/2 - \cosh(2v)$ is constant for every solution $v$ (cf. ). Moreover, if $v$ is a solution then $u(x) = -v(x)$ and $w(x) = v(-x)$ are also solutions with the same energy of $v$. Hence, we only need to consider initial conditions $v(0) = v_0 \geq 0$ and $v'(0) = \sqrt{2(E + \cosh(2v_0))} \geq 0$ (note that $E + \cosh (2v(x)) \geq 0$ by the definition of $E$). Thus we are interested in solving the following initial value problem: $$\label{eq:edo-problem}
\begin{split}
v''(x) -2 \sinh(2v(x)) &= 0, \\
v(0) = v_0 \geq 0, \quad v'(0) &= \sqrt{2(E + \cosh(2v_0))}.
\end{split}$$
It is possible to obtain all the solutions to that problem in terms of Elliptic Jacobi functions (see for instance [@BF1971] for further details). Let $$F(\varphi, \mu) = \int_0^\varphi \tfrac{{\mathrm{d}}\theta}{\sqrt{1-\mu\sin^2 \theta}}, \quad 0 \leq \mu \leq 1,$$ be the *elliptic integral of the first kind with modulus $\mu$*. Then denoting the inverse of $\varphi \mapsto F(\varphi, \mu)$ by $\varphi = \operatorname{am}_\mu(x)$, the elementary Jacobi elliptic functions are given by: $$\begin{aligned}
\operatorname{sn}_\mu(x) &= \sin \operatorname{am}_\mu(x), & \operatorname{dn}_\mu(x) &= \sqrt{1 - \mu\sin^2 \operatorname{am}_\mu(x)} \\
\operatorname{cn}_\mu(x) &= \cos \operatorname{am}_\mu(x), & \operatorname{tn}_\mu(x) &= \operatorname{sn}_\mu(x)/\operatorname{cn}_\mu(x)\end{aligned}$$ The basic properties of these functions are: $$\begin{gathered}
\operatorname{sn}_\mu(x)^2 + \operatorname{cn}_\mu(x)^2 = 1, \quad \mu \operatorname{sn}_\mu(x)^2 + \operatorname{dn}_\mu(x)^2 = 1 \\
\operatorname{sn}_\mu\bigl(x + 2K(\mu)\bigr) = -\operatorname{sn}_\mu(x), \quad \operatorname{cn}_\mu\bigl(x + 2K(\mu) \bigr) = -\operatorname{cn}_\mu(x), \\
\operatorname{dn}_\mu(x+2K(\mu)) = \operatorname{dn}_\mu(x), \quad \operatorname{tn}_\mu\bigl( x + 2K(\mu) \bigr) = \operatorname{tn}_\mu(x),\end{gathered}$$ where $K(\mu) = F(\tfrac{\pi}{2},\mu)$ is the complete elliptic integral of the first kind. Moreover, the derivaties of the Jacobi elliptic functions are: $$\begin{aligned}
\operatorname{sn}_\mu'(x) &= \operatorname{cn}_\mu(x)\operatorname{dn}_\mu(x), & \operatorname{cn}_\mu'(x) &= -\operatorname{sn}_\mu(x) \operatorname{dn}_\mu(x), \\
\operatorname{am}_m'(x) &= \operatorname{dn}_\mu(x), & \operatorname{dn}_\mu'(x) &= -\mu \operatorname{sn}_\mu(x) \operatorname{cn}_\mu(x).\end{aligned}$$
\[lm:solutions-sinh-Gordon-ordinary\] The solution $v:I \rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}$ of the initial value problem and its maximal definition interval $I$ are given, in terms of the energy $E$, by: $$\begin{aligned}
[E > 1]\quad v(x) &= \log\bigl(\lambda \operatorname{tn}_\mu(\lambda^{-1}x + a_0))\bigr), & \mu &= 1-\lambda^4,\\
I &= ]-a_0, \lambda K(\mu)-a_0[, & a_0 &= \operatorname{arctn}_\mu(\lambda^{-1}e^{v_0}),\\
[{\left\lvert E \right\rvert}\leq 1]\quad v(x) &= \log \bigl( \operatorname{tn}_\mu(x+a_0)\operatorname{dn}_\mu(x+a_0) \bigr),& \mu &= \tfrac{1-E}{2},\\
I &= ]-a_0, K(\mu)-a_0[, & a_0 &= \tfrac{1}{2}\operatorname{arccn}_\mu(\tanh(v_0)),\\
[E < -1]\quad v(x) &= -\log\bigl( \lambda^{-1} \operatorname{sn}_\mu(\lambda x + a_0) \bigr), & \mu &= \lambda^{-4},\\
I &= ]-a_0, 2\lambda^{-1} K(\mu) - a_0[, & a_0 &= \operatorname{arcsn}_\mu(\lambda e^{-v_0})\end{aligned}$$ where $\lambda^2 = |E - \sqrt{E^2 - 1}|$ for ${\left\lvert E \right\rvert} > 1$.
It is a direct computation taking into account the aforementioned properties of the Jacobi elliptic functions.
\[rmk:properties-solutions-sinh-Gordon\]
In the special cases $E = 1$ and $E = -1$ we get solutions in terms of elementary functions, namely, $v_1(x) = \log \tan(x)$, $v_{-1}(x) = \log \operatorname{cotanh}(x)$ as well as the constant solution $v(x) = 0$ (also with $E = -1$).
On the one hand, the solutions of the sinh-Gordon equation with energy $E > -1$ are symmetric with respect to the middle point of the maximal interval of definition. On the other hand, the solutions $v$ with energy $E < -1$ never vanish and are symmetric with respect to the vertical line passing through the middle point of the maximal interval of definition.
[9999999]{}
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Fernández, I. and Mira, P. A characterization of constant mean curvature surfaces in homogeneous 3-manifolds. *Differential Geom. Appl.*, **25** (3) (2007), 281–289.
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Hauswirth, L., Sá Earp, R. and Toubiana, E. Associate and conjugate minimal immersions in $M\times {\mathbb{R}}$. *Tohoku Math. J.*, **60** (2) (2008), 267–286.
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Martín, F., Mazzeo, R. and Rogríguez M. Minimal surfaces with positive genus and finite total curvature in $\mathbb{H}^2\times \mathbb{R}$. *Geometry & Topology*, **18** (2014), 141–177.
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Seven Everyday Things You Encounter But Didn't Know The Real Use Of
Wow, so a bra has different utility?
Sometimes we stumble upon some things that make us question their use. These things challenge our imagination and make us wonder 'just what is the use of this thing'. The most popular thing being the holes on the tab on your beverage tin cans. Just why exactly were there any holes? It was because upon turning, the holes would hold the straw in the can.
So today we at WittyFeed would like to tell you about these things that you thought weren't of any use but you're wrong. Featuring extra fabrics, holes in Converse Shoes and much more.
Have you ever wondered
Have you ever wondered about a certain thing and asked yourself just what is the use of it? Have you ever thought about something being useless? Chances are you have or you don't know the real utility of that particular thing. So we'd like to show you seven such things you thought either were useless or you were using wrongly.
Extra Fabric.
Chances are that you bought an expensive shirt and there would've been a small packet included which would've had a small fabric and a button. So have you ever wondered what's the utility of that? Spoiler: It's not for sewing patches.
2. Padlock hole.
Chances are that someone would've probably told you in school that pressing the hole with a pen or a pencil enables you to pick the lock but trust us, the manufacturers aren't that stupid to design the hole that way. So what's the actual utility?
That's a water outlet.
In case it rains outside, there's a chance that your lock may rust from the inside if the water accumulates inside it. So to avoid it, manufacturers drill this small hole so that it can serve as an outlet for water. Apart from that, it is also used to oil the lock as well.
3. That curve at the bottom of wine bottles.
We guarantee you that at one point of time, probably everyone would've felt that the quite large indentations at the bottom of wine bottles are for ripping us and helping the company earn millions because, after all, the larger the dent, the more wine a company will save. We're here to tell you, it isn't there for that reason. The real reason although, is more interesting than you think.
Need for pressure compensation.
Bottles are fragile and when something is sealed inside them in an air-tight manner, it creates pressure. The more pressure inside the bottle, the more chances are that the bottle will break. So the indentation in the bottles are made to make the sides and bottoms, the most fragile parts of the bottle sturdier.
4. Hole in pots.
Now, this seems to be a bizarre one, doesn't it? We all have utensils at our home on which there are holes on the handles. Initially, we, like everyone thought the holes were meant to act as a placeholder for the hooks so that we can hang the utensil but no, that isn't the intended use.
Meant to keep spoon.
So you're stirring the contents of your pot via a spatula/spoon and now you don't want to keep the spoon down because that'll mean it would become dirty. The hole here comes to help as you can suspend the spoon in it, making sure you don't need to put it down and it won't become dirty.
Used to open the
When you open the ointment, there is a small sheet of aluminum protecting the opening, making it spill proof, the only way to make ointment come out would be to poke holes and the spike in the cap is used for exactly the same reason
6. Front bra straps
No, we guarantee you that they aren't meant for fashion or inspired from 50 Shades. Apart from being easy to open, the
7. Holes in Converse shoes.
For ventilation.
So the holes in the shoes are meant for ventilation. Initially, there were complaints regarding smelly feet when someone used the shoes so the company to counter it, added holes on the bottom of the shoes. |
Well, I really wanted to test out Quick Pastry, so I made some very interesting Apple Turnovers late last night. The recipe for the quick pastry itself was a combination from several books. But the turnovers came from Cooking Illustrated. Yes, I know… I use that book a lot. What can I say? It’s a good book.
Anyway, by far the most difficult part of this recipe is rolling the dough. Perhaps I’m missing something important, but I just can’t get a square when I start putting my pin to my “turned” dough. The recipe calls for a 15 by 20 inch rectangle at 1/8 inch thick. The best I could do was a very unevenly edged, squarish blob that ended up being a little thick in the middle (about 3/16). I know that a certain amount of unevenness is expected, but when I trimmed the edges to get a workable rectangle in which to obtain my 5 by 5 squares, I could only get six (two by three, not three by four).
Of course, I took the remaining dough and re-rolled it to give me a total of 11 pastries, but I’m sure that I lost much of the “flakiness” because it’s like adding several more turns to a dough that is already overmixed. It is quick pastry after all. I really do believe that the turnovers would have benefitted from the regular puff pastry. I could also see letting the dough soften just a bit to help with the rolling, but then you would have to worry about the butter softening. Hmmm… More experimentation is needed here.
The filling was interesting. The recipe calls for grated apples, and even though I was put off at first, the final result was acceptable in texture. The process of “squeezing out” the excess liquid proved a challenge both in technique (I ended up using a two tablespoon tea strainer) and in patience. There’s a cup and a half of sugar in there… You get unbelievably sticky, but I guess that’s all a part of making pastry.
The actual cooking was fine, and the end results are tasty, but not quite the shatter-in-your-mouth flakiness that you expect in an apple turnover. I found myself wishing for a filling that was a bit more pie-like, with more “syrup” to it, although the taste of apples was indeed crisp and delightful. It might be beneficial to use a little cinnamon in the filling to give it just a touch more spice.
So, success in that they met that late-night pastry pang, but I would definitely try the regular puff pastry the next time.
5 Responses to Apple Turnovers
Cooks Illustrated is an excellent resource – good choice! Are you using the magazine or _The Best Recipe_? My main complaint is that it’s a bit too scientific. You get a *good* product, with just the right texture, a pretty good taste, a reliable technique, etc., but they remove all the risks, and you end up with something good but not particularly surprising. I must say, those turnovers look mighty good, though. Looks like you did a good job!
I’m using _The Best Recipe_. I’m still new enough with baking, and cooking in general, that almost everything I do is a surprise at this point. As a guy, the “scientific” feel of their book actually appeals a lot to me. I’m a big fan of Alton Brown. But I’m also a realistic cook in that I use what I have on hand, in the way that I feel best suits my (meager) kitchen. That means that I often mix-n-match techniques and even ingredients from different recipes and books at will. Most of the time the risk isn’t substantial, but it does make things interesting. One point that I’ve made about Cooking Illustrated is their tendency to assume that the reader has a food processor. Since I don’t, I often find myself “making due” with my KitchenAid mixer instead. That’s about all the risk I can handle right now. :)
Julie, boiling the water is easy. Now if someone could teach me how to keep it in the pan…
And then there’s that whole stirring thing, what’s up with that?
Somebody needs to write a cookbook for husbands who can’t cook. It would be full of nothing but fallback recipes. You know the ones – cooks in fifteen minutes or less, uses a maximum of two pans, and will be generally accepted by a two-year-old without fussing. Spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, hash and eggs… oh yeah. It wouldn’t actually have recipes with ingredients and amounts or anything, just tips for each dish and a list of what to serve with it without looking like a fool. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve served “totally beige” meals. |
As the weather gets colder, we’re all bundling up with new sweaters from grandma. They may be a little dorky looking, and they’re almost certainly itchy…but they keep us warm! And that’s the main point, right?
But while people are lucky to have such warm clothes, our animal friends have to make do with their birthday suits. While cats and dogs might not mind, we feel awfully sorry for our poor reptilian friends, like tortoises and lizards. We bet they wish they had some nice fluffy sweaters to snuggle up in this winter…
While cats and dogs remain the undisputed kings of the pet world, turtles and tortoises refuse to be outdone, and are steadily climbing the ranks.
With their cute little eyes and the way they stand proudly in the sunshine like those majestic statues often found outside shrines, there’s no denying that tortoises and turtles have a magical charm all of their own.
And this little fella, it would seem, has been especially blessed… Read More |
-3*z + z + 56 = -4*x. Calculate the highest common factor of z and 9.
9
Suppose 3*r - 107 = -q, 4*r - 65 = -5*q + 74. What is the highest common divisor of 9 and r?
9
Suppose 66 + 374 = 5*a. Let d = a + -39. Calculate the greatest common divisor of 7 and d.
7
Suppose 2*b - b - 66 = 0. Let h = -31 + b. Let k(z) = 3*z**2 - 4*z + 3. Let n be k(2). Calculate the highest common factor of n and h.
7
Let j = -21 + 42. Let l be 6/21 - (-57)/j. Suppose -30 = -l*p + v, 4*p - v + 3 = 43. What is the highest common factor of 30 and p?
10
Let l(o) = -2*o - 1 + 4*o**2 - 1 - o**2 + 1. Let p be l(3). What is the highest common factor of p and 40?
20
Let j(d) = d**2 + d + 2. Let x be j(3). Suppose -b + x + 2 = 0. Let q(z) = 3*z**2 + 4*z. Let m be q(-4). What is the greatest common factor of b and m?
16
Suppose 2*p = u - 2*u - 296, -2*p + 1214 = -4*u. Let a = u + 423. What is the highest common divisor of a and 11?
11
Let u = 6 - 42. Let a = u - -52. Suppose -4 = -2*g, -5*z + 4*g + a = -16. What is the highest common divisor of z and 24?
8
Let n(q) = 4*q**2 - 4*q**2 + 7*q**2 + 3*q**2. Let m be n(2). Calculate the highest common factor of 8 and m.
8
Suppose -4 = -4*m, -3*f + 0*m + 142 = -2*m. What is the greatest common divisor of 6 and f?
6
Suppose -4*t + 3 + 5 = 0. Let n be (3 - t)*3 - -1. Suppose -n*p + 116 = -84. Calculate the greatest common divisor of p and 20.
10
Suppose -5*p = -221 - 134. Let q = -43 + p. What is the greatest common divisor of 7 and q?
7
Suppose 4*y - 1792 = -64. What is the greatest common factor of 54 and y?
54
Let y(h) = 3*h + 0*h - h - 1. Let b be y(-3). Let i(w) = w**3 + 10*w**2 + 10*w. Let r be i(b). Calculate the highest common factor of r and 7.
7
Let c(p) = -p**3 - 7*p**2 + 2*p + 15. Let s be c(-7). What is the greatest common factor of 5 and s?
1
Suppose -r = -5*g + 35, -6*g + 4 = -2*g + 4*r. Suppose 44 = 4*x - 2*x. Let b = x - g. Calculate the greatest common factor of b and 2.
2
Let r be 7 - (1 + -3 + 4). Suppose 4*b = m - 10, 3*m - r*b + 14 - 72 = 0. Let l(n) = -3*n + 1. Let k be l(-4). Calculate the greatest common divisor of k and m.
13
Let n(r) = r - 6. Let u be n(6). Suppose u*f = -2*f + 4. Suppose 4*q + 4*k - 432 = 0, k + f*k - 548 = -5*q. What is the highest common divisor of 14 and q?
14
Suppose m - 2 = -0. Suppose 0 = 2*x - m*z - z - 114, 4*x - 248 = z. Calculate the highest common divisor of x and 7.
7
Let z be (-16)/(-10) + 4/10. Suppose -z*w + 2 = -4. What is the highest common divisor of 9 and w?
3
Suppose g + 8 = 125. Let j be 1/2 - 10/(-4). Suppose 4*r - 49 = -5*l, j*r + r = -16. What is the greatest common divisor of g and l?
13
Let x be (351/52)/(-1 + (-98)/(-96)). What is the greatest common divisor of x and 12?
12
Let y be 2/(-4)*(3 - 3). Suppose 2*f + 6 = y, -2*g + 5*f = -3*g + 33. Let l be 3 + 2 + 2 + -1. What is the greatest common divisor of l and g?
6
Suppose a + 2*k + 230 = 6*a, -k = -5*a + 225. Let v(x) = 51*x + 3. Let b be v(-2). Let y be (2/3)/((-6)/b). Calculate the greatest common divisor of y and a.
11
Suppose -4*q = -h + 7, 5*q - 49 = -2*h - 2*h. Suppose -3*k + h = 65. Let x be (-65)/(-6) + (-3)/k. What is the highest common divisor of 1 and x?
1
Let v(s) = -s**2 - s + 7. Let j be v(0). Let a(q) = 2*q - 4. Let o be a(j). Calculate the highest common divisor of o and 70.
10
Let c be 0/(-1) - 0 - -5. Suppose 0 = -3*b - 0*b. Suppose b*l = l - c. What is the highest common divisor of 5 and l?
5
Suppose -70 = -2*p + 3*r, -2*p + 4*r + 16 = -56. What is the highest common factor of 4 and p?
4
Let k be (1 - 3)/((-2)/33). Calculate the greatest common divisor of 11 and k.
11
Let s be -10*5/(3 + -13)*1. Calculate the highest common divisor of s and 10.
5
Let v(o) = -13*o + 1. Let u be v(-2). What is the highest common factor of u and 9?
9
Suppose 119 = 5*z - 81. What is the highest common factor of z and 16?
8
Let q = 0 + 8. Suppose i = 6*i - 10. Suppose -51 = -f - i*m + 11, -2*m = 3*f - 206. Calculate the highest common divisor of q and f.
8
Let r = 33 + 35. Let t(b) = 3*b. Let d be t(1). Suppose -d*l = -l - 34. What is the highest common divisor of r and l?
17
Let y be 3/3 - 1 - -245. Suppose -3*h + y = 2*h. Let z = h + -28. Calculate the highest common divisor of z and 189.
21
Let q = -6 + 13. Suppose -u + q = 1. Calculate the highest common factor of 3 and u.
3
Let n = -16 - -26. Let d = n - 5. What is the greatest common divisor of 25 and d?
5
Let x = 464 + -57. What is the highest common factor of x and 37?
37
Suppose -4*p + 3*p + 7 = -5*n, 4*p - n - 66 = 0. Calculate the greatest common divisor of p and 17.
17
Suppose -3*h - h + 80 = 0. Suppose -3*w - 2 + h = 0. Calculate the highest common divisor of 2 and w.
2
Let i(z) = -z**2 + 8*z - 7. Let b be i(3). Calculate the greatest common divisor of 64 and b.
8
Let x = 9 + -8. Calculate the greatest common divisor of x and 8.
1
Let j(b) = b**3 + 5*b**2 - 3*b - 3. Suppose -2*q - 2 = 4. Let g be j(q). What is the greatest common factor of g and 16?
8
Let i = 22 - 8. Suppose 0 = -4*w + 3*w + i. What is the greatest common factor of w and 7?
7
Suppose -l + 36 = 3*u, 0 = u - 5*u - 2*l + 46. What is the highest common divisor of 52 and u?
13
Suppose 3*u = m + 143, 0 = u + 2*m + m - 51. Calculate the greatest common divisor of 24 and u.
24
Let i be 282/(-4)*(-42)/63. What is the highest common factor of i and 235?
47
Let v(o) = o**2 + 15*o - 24. Let h be v(-17). What is the greatest common divisor of 80 and h?
10
Let n = -36 + 56. Let c = 60 - n. Let h be -8 - -6 - (-2 - (7 - 3)). Calculate the greatest common divisor of h and c.
4
Let w be 63/12 - (-1)/(-4). Let m(p) = 6*p. Let t be m(w). Let s = -13 - -28. Calculate the highest common divisor of s and t.
15
Let w = 12 + -3. What is the greatest common factor of 1 and w?
1
Let l(m) = 7*m - 26. Let d be l(5). What is the highest common divisor of d and 6?
3
Let q = 50 + -33. Let l be 6*q + (-18)/6. What is the highest common factor of 11 and l?
11
Let c = 2 + 2. Let p(g) = -g**3 + 6*g**2 + 6*g - 6. Let v be p(c). What is the greatest common divisor of v and 5?
5
Suppose 4*b = -g - g - 22, 5*b = -g - 8. Let h(a) = a**2 + 12*a - 9. Let v be h(g). Calculate the highest common factor of v and 8.
4
Let p be (30/8)/(15/160). What is the greatest common factor of 16 and p?
8
Let u be 12/(-16) + (195/4)/5. Calculate the greatest common factor of u and 63.
9
Suppose -180 = -15*x - 3*x. What is the greatest common divisor of 30 and x?
10
Let r(f) = 5*f - 2. Let c be r(2). Let h be ((-4)/(-5))/((-4)/(-90)). Let b be (12/10)/(h/480). Calculate the highest common factor of b and c.
8
Let j = -507 - -751. Let h = j + -144. Calculate the highest common divisor of 20 and h.
20
Suppose 1258 = 8*x - 854. What is the greatest common divisor of 33 and x?
33
Let v(s) = s**2 + s + 4. Let b be v(0). Suppose -3*k - 169 = -b*p, -44 = -p + 4*k + 8. Calculate the highest common factor of 8 and p.
8
Let o = -118 - -202. Calculate the greatest common factor of o and 12.
12
Let q = -6 - -9. Suppose -c = -6*b + q*b + 22, 2*b + c - 18 = 0. What is the greatest common factor of 16 and b?
8
Let s(u) be the second derivative of u**3/2 - 2*u. Let h be s(7). Let q = 2 - -5. Calculate the highest common factor of h and q.
7
Suppose -n + t + 62 = 0, 5*t - 214 = -3*n + t. What is the greatest common factor of n and 33?
33
Let g(d) = 10 + d**3 - 6*d + 0*d + 7*d**2 + 6*d. Let u be g(-7). What is the greatest common divisor of 2 and u?
2
Let j = -17 + 31. What is the highest common factor of j and 56?
14
Let t be 68/238 + (-439)/(-7). Calculate the greatest common factor of t and 27.
9
Suppose -5*s + 12 = -k, -3*s - 4*k - 18 = -8*s. Suppose 4*h - s*o - 69 = 81, 0 = 2*o - 10. What is the highest common divisor of h and 4?
4
Suppose -3*t + 23 = -2*l + 2*t, 0 = l - 3*t + 14. Let y = 3 + l. Suppose 4*z = 3*z + 6. What is the greatest common factor of z and y?
2
Suppose 2*h = 7*h + 2*j - 735, 441 = 3*h + 2*j. Suppose 3*b + 18 = s + 96, -5*b = 4*s - h. Calculate the highest common divisor of 27 and b.
27
Suppose 4*t + 16 = -q + t, -9 = 4*q + t. Let s be -1*(-6 - (q + 0)). Let c(p) = p**2 + 3*p - 2. Let v be c(-4). What is the highest common divisor of s and v?
1
Suppose 3*i - 18 = -5*s, s + 7 = 4*s - 2*i. Suppose s*d - 6 = -f, 0 = 2*f - d - 8 - 25. Let |
AUSXIP Erin Cummings
News & Multimedia
Following our update from 22 January 2011 where we reported on Rittenhouse Archives Spartacus Blood and Sand Trading Cards, there is now an update. You can buy them at $50 or $750 for a case.
Rittenhouse Archives is pleased to announce our premiere edition of Spartacus: Blood and Sand Premium Trading Cards, based on the Starz TV series starring Andy Whitfield and Lucy Lawless! In this Premium Pack Series, there will be 2 autograph cards per pack!
Get ready for a night of fun and laughs as Mittens for Detroit presents, "A Night of Giggles & Gloves", a one-night only comedy show benefiting Crossroads of Michigan on Saturday, February 12th in the MGM Grand Ballroom, starring Detroit 187 Actor and Comedian Shaun Majumder along with a host of other very talented local comedians.
Majumder, a Gemini award-winning Actor/Comedian starred in the Farrelly Brothers Fox comedy entitled Unhitched and his Comedy Central Presents special also debuted on Comedy Central in April 2008. Majumder is also a favorite of Montreal's Just for Laughs Comedy Festival having hosted the TV series for three seasons.
Mittens for Detroit, the brainchild Detroit 1-8-7 actress Erin Cummings, is a community initiative whose sole purpose is to collect and distribute new gloves and mittens to children and adults in the city of Detroit.
Crossroads of Michigan, which is one of the ten charities that MfD is providing gloves to, is a social service outreach agency with two locations in Detroit. Founded in 1971, Crossroads exists to support the community at large by providing emergency assistance, advocacy, and counseling to anyone in need.
To attend the show, tickets are $10 and for every ticket purchased, one pair of new gloves will be donated to Mittens for Detroit, courtesy of Broner Hat & Gloves in Auburn Hills. A portion of the tickets sold will also benefit Crossroads.
Andrea just sent me the following news about the new Spartacus Trading Cards (you will notice that Viva's name has been written as Biba). The news will be in the next issue of Previews Magazine. Click on the thumbnail for the larger scan. The cards be will available from 27 April 2011 at $50 per box and only 200 available.
Limited Edition Series-Only 200 Boxes Produced! Rittenhouse Archives presents the premiere edition of their Spartacus: Blood and Sand trading cards series, based on the hit Starz TV series! The card series will include 26 Episode Synopsis cards (2 per episode), with each card sequentially-numbered to 250 (2 cards per pack).
Before "Detroit 1-8-7" star Erin Cummings landed on the ABC series, she was in New Zealand filming the first season of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand."
Cummings, who played the title character's doomed wife, Sura, described it as lightning in a bottle. "I don't think there was a more challenging, maddening experience then shooting those intense battle scenes but, without a doubt, doing 'Spartacus' was one of the most incredible experiences of my life," she said.
As a critical character in the fierce gladiator origins story, which will launch its six-episode prequel tonight, Cummings said she sometimes wishes she could go back and relive the behind-the-scenes action and rekindle the creative relationships that spawned this compelling and beautiful story.
" 'Spartacus' will always, no matter how difficult it was at times, be a really special time that fills my heart with pure emotion," she said. "It's the show that introduced me to an international fan base and opened countless doors for me, including the agency I'm at now that ultimately led to 'Detroit 1-8-7.' "
Experience the action of the arena from script to screen of the Starz® Original hit series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Episode Scrolls allow you to purchase the script from each episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Season 1 (free episode included with download). Scripts are packed full of audio and video extra features, notes from show creator Steven S. DeKnight, and behind the scenes footage. Also included is Scaling Capua, an interactive widget detailing the social networks of Capua’s most fascinating citizens.
Features
Episode Scrolls – Extra feature filled scripts for each episode of Season 1 available for purchase. Future updates will include episodes from Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.
Scaling Capua – Explore the back stories and social networks of the characters in Spartacus’ Capua.
Videos – View videos from purchased scripts including show clips and behind the scenes footage.
Photos – View exclusive photos from purchased scripts and use them as iPad wallpapers.
Future updates will include scripts from Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, premiering on January 21. Only on Starz.
Lesley-Ann and Erin were out and about in Detroit attending a Charity Preview at the Detroit Auto Show on 14 January 2011.
Red Carpet Charity Preview Special: Friday, January 14 at 7 p.m.
The program will showcase the latest trends and technologies in the automotive industry, and will include live interviews with top auto executives. (Encore presentation Saturday, January 15 at 8 a.m.)
Erin Johnson, a health and life skills teacher at Boulan Park Middle School in Troy, encouraged 75 of her students to raise $800 for two Metro Detroit charities. One of those organizations is “Mittens for Detroit,” founded by Detroit-187 actress Erin Cummings.
Speaking live on WWJ, Cummings says she got the idea for “Mittens for Detroit” while handing out candy with her cousin one Halloween night in Southfield when a young girl came to the door cold and missing one of her gloves.
Detroit 187 actress Erin Cummings has launched Mittens for Detroit. It’s a Detroit community initiative whose sole purpose is to collect and distribute new gloves and mittens to Detroit children and adults who are in need. Unfortunately, to my horror and embarassment, somebody must’ve re-written my press release…
@TONY_WHIPLASH : Question! Who do you think would win, a rhino, or a lobster the size of a rhino?
@ErinLCummings : A Lobster the size of a rhino because of those killer claws!
@cadet1081 : That would be good.I loved you in Spartacus.Is there another season coming soon?
@ErinLCummings : Thank you! There is a 6-ep prequel premiering on Starz on Jan 21. I am not on it, but I've heard it's great!
@AMarieHensley : Will we see more of your character on @Deriot187 and also will there be a @BitchSlap 2 in the near future?
@ErinLCummings : Yes! More Dr. Ward in episodes 14, 15 and 18. We're hoping for a Bitch Slap II. Script is being tweaked as we speak!
@TONY_WHIPLASH : Who do you think would win in a fight, Spartacus, or Leonidas??
@ErinLCummings : As Spartacus' wife, who do you think I'd say??? Spartacus! Of course!
@anniethemighty : Hi Erin! Great cover on The Detroiter! What is your dream car?
@ErinLCummings : Thanks Annie! My dream car is a black on black muscle car. I'm currently lusting over the new Fire Breather - only avail from Cauley Ferrari!
@imayfan : Any chance of you doing more episodes of Mad Men?
@ErinLCummings : I hope so! The new season is starting to shoot in April and my character didn't die or anything, so anything is possible!
@cadet1081 : Any plans to come to Asia for a trip?
@ErinLCummings : I was in Thailand last December and loved it. Would really like to visit Cambodia and Vietnam soon with my father who was in the Air Force during the war.
@KellyDuBose : What's the status of "Tarantula"? Do you have any other acting gigs on the horizon besides the Detroit 1-8-7? BS2 perhaps?
@ErinLCummings : Last I heard, Tarantula moved production from Detroit to Louisiana and was therefore a conflict. Would still love to do it if they can work out the dates and location. As of now, I'm contracted to Detroit 187, but am currently looking at scripts for films for our hiatus.
@anniethemighty : What is the one question you've never been asked in an interview that you'd love to answer?
@ErinLCummings : I'd love to get asked about the craziest things I saw/heard/did while in Hollywood. But I want to be asked when I'm old enough that everyone I talk about is already dead.
@justinofdoom : You were in the last episode like 3 times! My wife had to spray me down with the fire extinguisher.
@ErinLCummings : That is not a question, but I enjoyed reading it anyway. Thanks for the ego boost! Haha
@imayfan : Any tidbits you can tell us about Dr Ward for upcoming episodes?
@ErinLCummings : Yes! In a coming episode, I get to let out a little of Dr. Ward's "don't make me cut you" attitude when someone from out of town tries to talk trash on The D!
@anniethemighty : What do you think happens between Hel and Trixie in Bitch Slap II? Any more trailer scenes? ;)
@ErinLCummings : That would be a no. Hel is smarter than to hook up with the devil again, no matter how hot she is. That doesn't mean she wouldn't find another lover.... ;-)
@KellyDuBose : Are you still involved with National Lab Day?
@ErinLCummings : I have been focusing most of my philanthropic time with my charity, Mittens For Detroit, but am always avail for National Lab Day when they want me because I believe in the power of education!
@spuent : wish they hadn't killed you off:( sura's death was a suprise would have loved to see you in season 2
@ErinLCummings : Thank you, but I don't have any regrets or sadness about that. It was an incredible experience and, for the story, Sura had to die so Spartacus could grow. Also, I just don't think I could have done another season without Andy.
@TheCarliPayne : which director would you like to work with that you haven't had the opportunity to work with yet?
@ErinLCummings : So many! Guillermo Del Toro, Darren Aronofsky, Joss Whedon (new Avegers movie,maybe???)
@cadet1081 : Yes! When I was in New Zealand, I did the Lost World Epic Adventure with @LesleyAnnBrandt and Nick Tarabay. Google it. It was amazing.
@ErinLCummings : You're welcome.Do you go for camping and adventrous things?
@macgarp : will we see your character at a Roller Derby? would make a fun murder investigation
@ErinLCummings : I hope so! Our fantastic writing staff has been putting little hints in my ear that we might get to see Dr. Ward on skates next season, so I'm crossing my fingers.
@sbeldingi : How are you finding Detroit
@ErinLCummings : LOVE Detroit! The D has been good to me and to my Detroit 187 family, so I try to show love back as often as I can. Currently showing love through my charity, @Mittens4Detroit. Check it out at http://www.MittensForDetroit.org.
@RyanMeray : how are you enjoying your first michigan winter? And did you get a chance to enjoy that beer yet? :)
@ErinLCummings : The winter has been great! Love the beautiful snow and wearing my winter gear. And would you believe someone swiped the bottle??? Never even got to try it, so you'll have to tweet the name to me so I can seek it out before I leave!
@ErinLCummings : Signing off now - thanks to everyone who posted questions. Follow @TheD187 to find out when Michael Imperioli and @AishaHinds will be on!
Brutal TV Deaths That Make Grown Nerds Cry
Aww, still not over it? Pick your jaws off the floor and grab the tissues as UGO fires 21-gun salutes to TV's Most Shocking Deaths.
#21 The Departed: Erin Cummings of Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Cause of Death: Stabbing
You know, Spartacus is a depressing show both in context and the real world. Andy Whitfield's tragic health issues aside, we expected Spartacus wouldn't have the easiest of journeys without Aulus murdering his wife Sura after Batiatus bought her, solely to break the hero's spirit.
Honorable mention goes to the Spartacus' comrade Varro, surprisingly felled by an inglorious death at the hands of the gladiator himself purely for show.
Do you count yourselves among the millions of teenagers out there who were disappointed to discover that high school isn't quite akin to an episode of your favorite television show? Well, it gets better. Just ask DETROIT 1-8-7 star ERIN CUMMINGS, who knows a thing or two about tough times growing up.
"Kids are cruel man, they suck, they really do," explained the Huntsville Texas native during on a break from shooting on the set of DETROIT 1-8-7. "In my case I had acne like nobody's business, which wouldn't have been such a problem except that I was very visible, very Reese Witherspoon in Election. You know, captain of the dance team, editor of the school Yearbook, secretary of the French club. So rather than hang out with me and be my friends, people would just talk trash and make up lies."
Evidently, you don't just have to be struggling with your sexuality for high school to completely suck. "I remember coming home crying to my mom that I would never have a boyfriend, bemoaning my big forehead, obnoxiously large lips and all these things that I was really insecure about. And my mom would just sit on the swing with me on the front porch and tell me it's going to be okay. She'd tell me about all these actresses, like so-and-so who now has an Oscar but never had a boyfriend in high school, or that other actress who was once the ugly duckling, really not that popular and just kept her head looking forward and achieved her goals. So I kinda went, okay, maybe that's what I have to do, just keep my focus." |
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Picturesque castle with 14th century remains and surrounded by water in the quiet village center of Wannebecq near Lessine, situated on a plot of ± 15.000 sqm and with a living area of ± 900 sqm.
The ground floor includes a hall, living room / lounge, fully fitted kitchen and utility room. The first floor consists of 4 bathrooms and 5 bedrooms, one of which is fully equipped as a suite room (including dressing and bathroom) and on the second floor a beautiful polyvalent room that can be furnished as a studio or space for professional purposes. At the entrance of the estate is the annex with 2 apartments being rented today. The property is completely surrounded by a pond, a beautiful park about and beautiful terraces. Magnifique maintained and tastefully renovated.
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To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, this web site and the materials are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. LuxuryRealEstate.com expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether expressed, implied, or statutory including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that this web site or the materials are completely error free, will operate without interruption, are compatible with all equipment and software configurations, free of viruses, errors, or other harmful components, or will otherwise meet your needs. |
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On Marx and Keynes, the NAIRU and Say's Law, again
Many of the entries in this blog directly or indirectly deal with the relation between the old classical authors of the surplus approach and the more radical authors that followed after the Keynesian Revolution (see here, for example). David Fields has pointed out this post by Michael Roberts on Marx and Keynes, from a Marxist point of view (after a debate with someone he refers to as left post-Keynesian).
This is not a bad post at all. The interpretation of Keynes given by the post-Keynesian author (in Roberts' description) is not the best, but it is one of the possible interpretations for sure. The unknown postie also correctly notes that:
"Keynes and Marx were united in their critique of Say’s law (that supply creates its own demand) as a common starting point for theorising about the possibility of insufficient effective demand and the realisation problem."
Which is important to emphasize, since some Marxists tend to have an attachment to Say's Law. In this respect the postie [again in Robert's description of what he said] is actually unfair to Marx and Ricardo, suggesting that:
"But he [Marx] did (like the other classical political economists) expected the economy to always tend towards full capacity utilisation even if he (like Ricardo) theorised about technological unemployment in an economy operating at full capacity utilisation."
Actually there is no indication that Marx or Ricardo suggested full capacity utilization. Ricardo's version of Say's Law does not require full employment, and there is no mechanism to bring investment to the level of full employment savings. Investment equals savings by definition, and it might be at a level with significant levels of unemployment and spare capacity. Reductions in the real wage or the rate of interest would not bring about full utilization of resources. That's a concept that appears only with Marginalism.
When Roberts comes to his argument, it starts with a discussion of Keynes' political position (saving Capitalism) rather than the analytical elements of his theory. Then he discusses the limits to Keynesian policies, which he narrowly defines as fiscal activism (note that this could have been the position of an Old or New Keynesian, defending fiscal activism on the basis of market imperfections). Roberts misses the radical component in Keynes analysis, which implies that market economies are NOT efficient in the allocation of resources, and that long-term equilibrium could imply unemployment (yes long-term equilibrium unemployment, not disequilibrium, and not short-term unemployment is Keynes' central proposition).
Further, Keynes' Principle of Effective Demand requires to be fully operational the abandonment of the neoclassical (Marginalist) theory of distribution, since variations of the rate of interest (or the real wage) do not lead to full utilization of capacity, and are compatible with a coherent recovery of the old and forgotten theories of the classical authors and Marx. So, complementing the postie, Keynes and Marx are united, not only the rejection of Say's Law, but also on the need for an alternative to the Marginalist theory of distribution, one in which conflict is necessary.
Keynes didn't get to this point, but understood the need of getting rid of the natural rate of interest concept. And that leads to an abandonment of the neoclassical theory of distribution per force.
Then Roberts gets to his main point. He says:
"Keynes says the crisis comes about through a lack of ‘effective demand’, namely an unaccountable fall in investment and consumption and this causes profits and wages to fall. Marx says: let’s start with profits. If profits fall, then capitalists would stop investing, lay off workers and wages would drop and consumption would fall."
This is a variation of the traditional Marxist theory of the business cycle. There are multiple versions, from Andrew Glyn profit squeeze to Goodwin predator prey (which by the way suggests full utilization of resources in his model in Marxo-Marginalist fashion), and many others. All rely, like Roberts above on the notion that the rate of profit (or the profit margin in Marglin and Bhaduri) drives investment.
In this case, high employment generates wage inflation which can increase the wage share of workers in output; but this will, in turn, reduce the profits of capitalists and thus reduce future investment and output, leading to a recession. The recession, in turn, reduces labor demand and employment and consequently leads to lower wage inflation or even deflation and reduces the wage share of workers. But as workers wage share declines, then profits increase and, with them, investment and a new boom starts.
There are a few problems with this view, the profit-led view of investment, discussed here before (and here). As mentioned before, from a theoretical point of view, it is difficult to justify why a firm would invest, even if the rate of profit is high, if demand is not growing. And, in reverse, why would a firm not invest, and increase its capacity, if demand is growing even if the rate of profit is relatively low. Wouldn't it make sense to keep pace with demand, rather than let the competition take advantage of expanding demand? From an empirical point of view (as noted here, and here) the accelerator principle rules the roost.
Finally, note that all of the profit-led based theories of cycles and growth are fundamentally dynamic Say's Law stories, in which savings, determined by profits determine the behavior of investment, and the system fluctuates around a level of output in which worker's bargaining power does not lead to inflation, or in other words stable inflation. That is the so-called Marxist version of the NAIRU (see my previous post on the late Andrew Glynn on the subject; for a relatively recent Marxist defense of the NAIRU see Pollin here; subscription required). As I noted before (and here) there are reasons to be skeptical about the Phillips curve and the NAIRU, in all their versions.
PS: Comment by Franklin Serrano, that I paste in full:
"In Marx there is indeed no indication of a tendency to full capacity utilization nor full employment of labour. But the author is right about Ricardo. Ricardo assumed Say's law which means that all that "demand is only limited by production", this DOES imply that investment is
equal to and determined by full capacity savings as in Ricardo it is
only capital (full capacity) not labor that determines potential
output. Ricardo did NOT contemplate "spare capacity" and yes his
technological unemployment was based on the fully capacity output not generating enough jobs for the economy to get to full employment. You
are right that in Ricardo investment does not adapt to full employment
savings. But it does adapt if arbitrarily to full capacity saving."
Same issue brought up by PGB below. I conflated full capacity with full employment. Mind you, I suspect that this is what the post-Keynesian author referred in the post was doing, and hence my mistake.
Comments
I disagree in a couple of points, may I say. First, one thing is to assume full capacity, and another thing is to assume full employment. That distinction is not always clear, it may be implicit, but in this discussion I think it's very appropriate. In the case of Marx and Ricardo, I totally agree that there is no full employment. Marx is probably the first author with a theory of structural unemployment, so your point is totally correct. However, I do agree with Claudio Sardoni in saying that both in Marx and Ricardo there is a tendency towards full capacity utilization. That is, in the case of Marx, because ultimately his escape from Say's Law was unsuccessful, in my view. He provided the elements for that escape, chief among them the schemes of reproduction, but he stood by the falling rate of profit, even if he noted the counteracting forces, and that is a profit squeeze theory, and therefore a Say's Law view (I agree with you on that). The NAIRU story has a lot of support in Marx's writings, and ultimately, and it is as well a Say's Law story. In my view, the first two who successfully escaped Say's Law are not Marx and Keynes, but Keynes and Kalecki. Whatever other merits Marx had, escaping Say's Law was not one of them, even though he did provide relevant elements for such enterprise.
Hi PGB; sorry for the delay in replying. Yes full capacity is about the utilization of the means of production, and full employment is about labor. And that might be the source of my confusion. I would argue that in Ricardo there is a tendency to full capacity utilization, but not to full employment of labor.
As far as I can see on theoretical grounds, Say's law only works in a very feeble way in complex economies. And yet during the 1800s (prior to when governments deliberately adjusted aggregate demand), economies actually recovered from recessions. I'm very puzzled by this.
Not sure I follow. In all fairness I can see, other than in very limited theoretical grounds, where Say's law would work. It has very little applicability even in the early 1800s, I would say. Can you give me an example of what you have in mind?
You're being far too generous with regards to this post. There are numerous errors. One of which you quote. Here:
"Keynes says the crisis comes about through a lack of ‘effective demand’, namely an unaccountable fall in investment and consumption and this causes profits and wages to fall."
In Keynes' conception wages will not typically fall because workers fix nominal, not real wages. That is even the case with the neo-Keynesians and New Keynesians. I know of literally no school with the name "Keynesian" that suggests flexible real wages.
Yes, I'm being generous. But the point is that I'm trying to get the best possible interpretation of Marx. And the correct interpretation of Keynes which must deal with chapter 19 in which wages and prices are flexible is part of the post-Keynesian tradition.
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Q:
Making a table of contents style FAQ webpage without duplicating html
I am trying to make an FAQ page on a site, with all the questions placed together similar to a table of contents (e.g. like on Wikipedia). When you click on the question, it jumps you down the page to the question (repeated from above) together with it's answer.
Since the question shows up twice on the page, doing this the obvious way would result in the question showing up twice in the code, which could cause problems if the questions need to be modified and whoever is updating it only changes the code in one place.
Also, it seems kind of illogical to put an anchor tag with a meaningless name before each question/answer pair; if numbers are used, then this again could problems when questions are added or removed.
I guess I'm basically hoping there's a way to store the questions and answers in an array (using PHP or javascript maybe?) or pair of arrays and then for each element in the arrays, put a list item with a generated anchor tag, the question, and its answer. Is this doable, or am I just taking the wrong approach to web development here?
Related side question: is there anyway to style an unordered list to replace the bullets with a "Q:"?
A:
<?php
$questions = array(
"Question 1",
"Question 2",
"Question 3",
"Question 4"
);
echo '<p>'; // FAQ Menu
foreach ($questions as $key => $question) {
echo '<a href="#', $key, '">', $question, '</a><br />';
}
echo '</p>';
// Begin FAQ
foreach ($questions as $key => $question) {
echo '<h2><a name="', $key, '">', $question, '</a></h2>';
}
?>
You can modify the HTML to get the formatting you want. The array key becomes the anchor name, so if you want to change your questions, all you have to do is modify them once in the array.
If you want to separate your questions and answers, you can use this:
<?php
$questions = array(
array("Question 1", "Answer 1"),
array("Question 2", "Answer 2"),
array("Question 3", "Answer 3"),
array("Question 4", "Answer 4")
);
echo '<p>';
foreach ($questions as $key => $question) {
echo '<a href="#', $key, '">', $question[0], '</a><br />';
}
echo '</p>';
foreach ($questions as $key => $question) {
echo '<h2><a name="', $key, '">', $question[0], '</a></h2>';
echo '<p>', $question[1], '</p>';
}
?>
|
---
title: Envoy Statistics
description: Fine-grained control of Envoy statistics.
weight: 10
aliases:
- /help/ops/telemetry/envoy-stats
- /docs/ops/telemetry/envoy-stats
owner: istio/wg-policies-and-telemetry-maintainers
test: no
---
The Envoy proxy keeps detailed statistics about network traffic.
Envoy's statistics only cover the traffic for a particular Envoy instance. See
[Observability](/docs/tasks/observability/) for persistent per-service Istio telemetry. The
statistics the Envoy proxies record can provide more information about specific pod instances.
To see the statistics for a pod:
{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl exec $POD -c istio-proxy -- pilot-agent request GET stats
{{< /text >}}
See [the Envoy documentation](https://www.envoyproxy.io/docs/envoy/latest/configuration/upstream/cluster_manager/cluster_stats)
for an explanation of the data recorded.
By default, Istio configures Envoy to record minimal statistics. The default collection
keys are:
- `cluster_manager`
- `listener_manager`
- `server`
- `cluster.xds-grpc`
To see the Envoy settings for statistics data collection use
[`istioctl proxy-config bootstrap`](/docs/reference/commands/istioctl/#istioctl-proxy-config-bootstrap) and follow the
[deep dive into Envoy configuration](/docs/ops/diagnostic-tools/proxy-cmd/#deep-dive-into-envoy-configuration).
Envoy only collects statistical data on items matching the `inclusion_list` within
the `stats_matcher` JSON element.
To Configure Envoy to record statistics for inbound or outbound traffic, add the
`sidecar.istio.io/statsInclusionPrefixes` annotation to the pod template in the Kubernetes `Deployment`.
Add the `cluster.outbound` prefix to gather data about outbound traffic activity and circuit breaking.
To gather data on inbound traffic, add the `listener` prefix. The sample
[fortio-deploy.yaml]({{< github_file>}}/samples/httpbin/sample-client/fortio-deploy.yaml)
shows use of `sidecar.istio.io/statsInclusionPrefixes` with the `cluster.outbound` prefix.
You can override the Envoy defaults to gather less data than usual. Use
`sidecar.istio.io/statsInclusionPrefixes: cluster_manager,listener_manager`
to collect the least statistics possible.
|
180 F.3d 262
U.S.v.Lewis**
NO. 98-30382
United States Court of Appeals,Fifth Circuit.
April 16, 1999
Appeal From: E.D.La. , No.97-CR-9-1-A
1
Affirmed.
**
Conference Calendar
|
Impact of external-beam radiation therapy on outcomes among patients with resected gastric cancer: a multi-institutional analysis.
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Description
M81 was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774 and is sometimes referred to as "Bode's Galaxy". Pierre Méchain and Charles Messier independently re-discoverd Bode's object in 1779. M81 (NGC 3031) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in Ursa Major. Due to its large size and active galactic nucleus, which contains a 70 million solar mass, supermassive black hole, M81 has been studied extensively.
After a long spell of bad winter weather and windy days, we finally got a moonless night with a prediction for clear and windless. Not sure how long the weather might hold, I pulled the scope out early and started my run right after dark. I didn't have much time so I had to go after something bright and M81 fit the bill. It was just about as high as it gets and the weather held for nearly 4 hours before a high thin overcast rolled in to shut me down just a little after midnight. It was pretty clear but the seeing was very mediocre so this image isn't as sharp as it could be. With such a limited time frame I couldn't go very deep, but the result is certainly worth posting. It's been crummy weather every since so the effort was certainly worth it. When the weather turns normal again and we get more clear skies, I'll have to add some data to this image. There is a lot going on in M81 and it would be interesting to try to pick up some surrounding IFN.
C&C always welcome...
John |
The Nederwands has a partwy progressive tax rate. In de past, de highest income bracket in de Nederwands was 72%, but in 1990 it was changed to 60%, and in 2001 it became 52%. The brackets in 2018 are 36.55%, 40.85%, and 51.95%.[1]
For de vawue added tax dere are dree categories: foods and essentiaws, non-foods and wuxuries, and speciaw goods. These dree categories have rates of 9%, 21%, and 0%, respectivewy. The non-foods and wuxuries percentage was increased from 19% to 21% on 1 October 2012, whiwe de foods and essentiaws percentage was increased from 6% to 9% percent on 1 January 2019.
The speciaw goods cover:
Property tax or wand vawue tax is cwaimed annuawwy by municipawities. A fraction of de vawue of reaw estate (about a per miwwe) is defined as onroerendezaakbewasting (OZB). The money cowwected from de reaw-estate owners in its area can be used by de municipawity to maintain de infrastructure (roads etc.). The reaw-estate vawues are estimated independentwy and updated annuawwy. Taxation varies dramaticawwy over different regions and municipawities. In addition to de property tax itsewf, dere is a compwicated additionaw taxation system for different infrastructuraw support systems: water-wevew management, water cweaning, waste management etc.
Possessions wike savings, shares, houses dat are not de primary wiving etc. over € 21,139. are assumed to have an annuaw 4% yiewd which is taxed at 30%, regardwess of de actuaw annuaw yiewd achieved. Consumer goods wike cars and furniture, dat are not hewd as an investment, are excwuded. An Aston Martin DB5 can, for exampwe, in some cases be taxed, as an ordinary famiwy car wiww not be. |
Ioannis Samaras
Ioannis Samaras (, born 3 May 1961) is an Australian-born Greek former footballer who played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s.
Club career
Samaras was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Greek parents. His father, Georgios, was a co-founder of South Melbourne FC, an Australian soccer club with strong ties to the Greek community. He moved to Greece at the age of thirteen. His son, also named Georgios, recently retired from professional football.
Ioannis began his football career in 1980 with Vyzas F.C., but before long he had attracted the attention of several bigger teams and he signed for OFI Crete in the summer of 1984. He went on to play over 100 matches for Crete before he left for Panathinaikos FC in January 1989. In 1991, Samaras returned to Crete, playing 103 games and retiring in 1996.
Samaras earned 16 caps for the Greek national team between 1986 and 1990. He scored one goal, on his eighth cap, in a 4-2 friendly win over Norway.
Samaras was appointed on 26 July 2010 as the new Technical Manager for the Panathinaikos F.C. academies, replacing Nikos Kovis.
International career
International goals
Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first.
References
External links
Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:Soccer players from Melbourne
Category:Australian people of Greek descent
Category:Greek footballers
Category:Greece international footballers
Category:OFI Crete F.C. players
Category:Panathinaikos F.C. players
Category:Vyzas F.C. players
Category:Superleague Greece players
Category:Greek football managers
Category:OFI Crete F.C. managers
Category:Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff
Category:Association football midfielders |
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About Liver Cancer Treatment
This information is intended for general information only and should not be considered as medical advice on the part of Health-Tourism.com. Any decision on medical treatments, after-care or recovery should be done solely upon proper consultation and advice of a qualified physician.
Liver Cancer
Liver cancer appropriately referred to as primary liver cancer is cancer resulting from cancerous cells in the liver. The liver serves to filter blood, create bile, to store and releasing sugars among other functions. Cancer from other organs can spread to the liver via blood circulation resulting in metastatic cancer. The liver is composed of many cells, which gives rise to different types of tumors, where some are noncancerous, and others are cancerous. The most common form of cancer from the liver is the hepatocellular carcinoma.
Signs and symptoms
Swelling or pain in the abdomen
Loss of appetite
Vomiting
Yellowing of the eye whites’ and the skin a condition known as jaundice
Liver cancer if detected early is treatable, hence the need to visit a doctor regularly for diagnosis. The procedure adopted depends on the stage of the liver cancer.
Surgery
This involves the treatment of the liver cancer through surgical means. Unfortunately, many people do not qualify for surgery due to the existence of other liver conditions. In other cases, cancer from the liver easily spreads through the body due to the purification process of blood. Therefore, treating the liver through surgical means could lead to eliminating the problem partially to reoccur later. However, in the present times, surgical methods have improved, and survival rates have improved tremendously.
A surgical process will use a general anesthesia and follow-up medications.
Anesthesia : A surgical process will use general anesthesia
Risks : Excessive bleeding, infection of the lung after surgery, Liver failure, Rejection of the liver by your body, the liver failing to work immediately necessitating another transplant, Loss of kidney function, Damage to the liver, Nausea, Fever, Fatigue, Pain, Loss of appetite, Mouth sores |
Heterogeneity of templae RNA in adrenal glands.
Template RNA in adrenal glands appears to be heterogeneous in stability. The RNA that regulates synthesis of a large fraction of adrenal protein has a turnover time of 4 hours or less. The remainder of adrenal-protein synthesis, including synthesis of protein that mediates the rapid steroidogenic response to ACTH, depends on RNA with considerably greater stability. |
---
author:
- |
David J. Chappell$^{1}$, Gregor Tanner$^{2}$, Dominik Löchel$^{3}$ and Niels S[ø]{}ndergaard$^{3}$\
1. School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, NG11 8NS, UK.\
2. School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.\
3. inuTech GmbH, Fürther Strasse 212, 90429 Nuremberg, Germany
title: 'Discrete flow mapping: transport of phase space densities on triangulated surfaces'
---
Introduction
============
Wave energy transport in the high frequency limit can be described in terms of the underlying ray dynamics, neglecting interference and other wave effects. The problem is thus reduced to tracking ray densities in phase space and becomes part of a wider class of mass, particle or energy transport problems driven by an underlying deterministic velocity field. Applications are found, for example, in fluid dynamics ([@CCMM04]), weather forecasting ([@SR10]), linear wave dynamics or in general in describing the evolution of phase space densities of a dynamical system. The governing equations for the particle or ray densities can often be written in terms of conservation laws ([@LeV92]), an example is the Liouville equation describing the evolution of ray densities in phase space for Hamiltonian flows. This class of problems is particularly interesting in the context of approximating linear wave equations in terms of their underlying ray dynamics in the short wavelength limit
Numerical approaches for solving transport problems of this kind are typically based on the method of characteristics, that is, the solutions are found along trajectories or rays determined by the underlying vector field. The flow equations can be formulated in terms of a linear propagator, the so-called Frobenius-Perron (FP) operator (see, for example, [@Cvi12]), which describes the evolution of phase space densities in time. Numerically efficient methods for solving flow problems in more than one dimension for a wide class of physically relevant systems are still non-existent. A variety of techniques have been developed based on a FP-operator approach, however, all with a fairly limited range of applicability. Difficulties arise due to the high-dimensionality of the phase space and the singular nature of the operator describing the underlying deterministic dynamics. One approach for dealing with such problems is Ulam’s method (see e.g. [@JD96]), which is based on subdividing the phase space into distinct cells and considering transition rates between these phase space regions. Other methods include wavelet and spectral methods for the infinitesimal FP-operator ([@JK09; @FJK11]) and periodic orbit expansion techniques ([@LC10; @Cvi12]). The modelling of many-particle dynamics, such as protein folding, has been approached using short trajectories of the full, high-dimensional molecular dynamics simulation to construct reduced Markov models ([@Noe09]). For a discussion of convergence properties of the Ulam method in one and several dimensions, see [@BM01] and [@BKL02], respectively.
More direct methods are based on tracking swarms of trajectories in phase space often referred to as [*ray tracing*]{}, see for example [@Cer01]. Methods related to ray tracing but tracking the time-dynamics of interfaces in phase space, such as moment methods and level set methods, have been developed by [@OF01], [@ER03], [@YC06] and [@JB07] amongst others. They find applications in acoustics, seismology and computer imaging, albeit restricted to problems with few reflections; for an excellent overview, see [@OR07]. In the following we focus on ray-tracing approximations of linear wave problems, although the methodology developed here can be used in a more general context.
Ray tracing and tracking methods often become inefficient when considering stationary (wave) problems in bounded domains, or in general for ray tracing problems including multiple scattering trajectories and chaotic dynamics. An example is the wave field in a finite cavity driven by a continuous monochromatic excitation. Here, multiple reflections of the rays and complicated folding patterns of the associated level-surfaces often lead to an exponential increase in the number of branches that need to be considered. It is thus necessary to employ approximation methods for the associated ray-tracing solutions, often based on ergodicity and mixing assumptions of the underlying ray dynamics. A popular tool amongst the mechanical engineering community in the context of vibro-acoustic modelling is statistical energy analysis (SEA) (see for example [@RL69], [@K92] and [@RL95]). A related method for electromagnetic fields is the random coupling model, which makes use of random field assumptions (see [@RCM]). In SEA the structure is subdivided into a set of subsystems and ergodicity of the underlying ray dynamics as well as quasi-equilibrium conditions are postulated. The result is that the density in each subsystem is taken to be approximately constant leading to greatly simplified equations based only on coupling constants between subsystems. The disadvantage of these methods is that the underlying assumptions are often hard to verify [*a priori*]{} or are only justified when an additional averaging over ‘equivalent’ subsystems is considered. The shortcomings of SEA have been addressed by [@RL92], [@RL94] and more recently in a series of papers by [@AL98; @AL02; @AL06].
A computational method called [*dynamical energy analysis*]{} (DEA), which is based on an FP-operator approach, has been introduced by [@GT09] and further developed in [@CGT11]. DEA is an Ulam-type method subdividing configuration space into smaller subsystems, but using a basis approximation (spectral method) to obtain an improved resolution of the phase space density. By increasing the resolution in both the position and momentum variable, one systematically interpolates between SEA and full ray tracing thus relaxing the underlying ergodicity and quasi-equilibrium assumptions in SEA. A more computationally efficient approach using a boundary element method for the spatial approximation has been applied to both two and three dimensional problems in [@CTG12] and [@CT13]. A major advantage of DEA is that by removing the SEA requirements of diffusive wave fields (equivalent to the ergodicity assumption) and quasi-equilibrium conditions, the choice of subsystem division is no longer critical. The resulting increase in flexibility in this choice leads to a much more widely applicable method.
{width="13cm"} \[boundary-map\]
In this work, we exploit the freedom in choosing the subsystems by extending DEA towards solving the Liouville equation (or other hyperbolic equations) on meshes. Meshed surfaces are replete in numerical simulation problems thanks largely to the huge popularity of finite element methods. Considering the elements of a mesh as our basic domains therefore automatically renders our techniques applicable to a wide class of problems including the ability to handle complex geometries; an example of which is given in Fig.\[boundary-map\]a. A highly efficient solution procedure can be developed for triangulated surfaces since the problem is simplified to considering the local ray dynamics in flat planar regions. In addition, solving phase space flow equations on meshes makes it possible to consider geodesic dynamics on curved surfaces or ray dynamics in non-homogeneous media. This opens up the range of possible applications enormously, for example, in modelling high frequency vibrations of thin elastic shells (see [@AN95] and [@AN96]) or in underwater acoustics ([@FJ93]).
The main outcome of this paper will be the introduction and development of the [*Discrete Flow Mapping*]{} (DFM) technique, a new and efficient method for solving stationary phase space flow equations in complex domains. DFM has similarities to both finite volume methods and boundary integral methods, combining the advantages of each. One achieves the reduction in dimensionality to the boundary of each sub-domain characteristic of boundary integral methods, which in phase space is a reduction by two. In addition one can treat non-homogeneous domains as in finite element and finite volume methods by applying an approximation of local homogeneity and refining the mesh to improve this approximation. A great advantage of DFM is that it can be applied directly to existing finite element models with relatively coarse meshes, and provides a solution for the high frequency case which automatically contains the geometric details absent from SEA-type methods. In addition, the flow directivity can be resolved, unlike in an SEA model, where ergodicity is assumed.
The paper is structured as follows: we will give an integral equation formulation for the stationary Liouville equation on triangulated surfaces in Sec. \[sec:int-eq\]. We then detail the implementation of DFM in Sec. \[sec:impl\]; using the linearity of the integral operator, we approximate the solution using a mixture of boundary element and spectral methods. We also discuss the treatment of reflection and transmission on interfaces, such as at edges or due to abrupt changes in material parameters. Finally, in Sec. \[sec:num\] DFM is applied to model the phase space flow on a sphere and the geodesic flow on an irregularly shaped car body part, demonstrating its power and efficiency in practice.
Integral Equation Formulation {#sec:int-eq}
=============================
We will focus on triangulated surfaces $\Omega=\bigcup_{j=1}^{N_{\Omega}}\Omega_{j}\subset\mathbb{R}^3$ consisting of $N_{\Omega}$ triangles $\Omega_j$, $j=1,...,N_{\Omega}$ such as depicted in Fig. \[boundary-map\]a. We consider piecewise constant Hamiltonians of the form $H_j(r,p)=c_j|p|=1$ in $\Omega_j$ describing the energy of a flow, where $c_j$ is the flow velocity for $r\in\Omega_j$ and the momentum coordinate $p$ lies on a circle of radius $c_j^{-1}$. This Hamiltonian is associated to the Helmholtz equation with inhomogeneous wave velocity $c(r)$ (see [@OR07]). In Sec.\[sec:impl\](\[sec:trans\]) we also consider vectorial wave equations, such as plate equations, which include different wave modes. In this case the wave propagation needs to be characterised by more than one Hamiltonian per triangle $j$, that is, we need to consider Hamiltonians $H^l_j = c_j^l |p|$, where $l$ refers to the mode type. We restrict our discussion to the scalar case in the following for simplicity of notation.
Let us denote the phase space on the boundary of the triangle $\Omega_j$ as $Q_j = \partial\Omega_{j}\times(-c_j^{-1},c_j^{-1})$. The associated coordinates are $X_{j}=(s_j,p_j) \in Q_j$ with $s_j$ parameterising $\partial\Omega_j$, the boundary of the $j$th triangle, and $p_j \in (-c_j^{-1},c_j^{-1}) $ parameterising the component of the inward momentum (or slowness) vector tangential to $\partial\Omega_j$. We denote the boundary flow map as $
\varphi_{ij}:Q_j\rightarrow Q_i$ which takes a vector in $Q_j$ and maps it under the flow given through $H_j$ to a vector in $Q_i$, see Fig. \[boundary-map\]b. Note that $\varphi_{ij}$ is generally only defined on a subset of $Q_j$, namely the preimage of $Q_i$, that is $\varphi_{ij}^{-1}(Q_i)\subseteq Q_j$. This preimage is empty if $\Omega_j$ and $\Omega_i$ are not adjacent (see Fig.\[boundary-map\]).
The stationary density $\rho(X_{i})$ on $Q_i$, $i=1,...,N_{\Omega}$, due to an initial boundary distribution $\rho^{(0)}$ on $Q_j$, $j=1,...,N_{\Omega}$, may be computed using the following boundary integral equation (see [@GT09], [@CTG12] and [@CT13]), $$\label{GovIE}
(I-\mathcal{B})\rho(X_{i})=\rho^{(0)}(X_{i}),$$ where $$\label{BoundaryOperator}
\mathcal{B}\rho(X_{i}):=\sum_j
\int_{-c_j^{-1}}^{c_j^{-1}}\int_{\partial \Omega_j}
K_{\Gamma}(X_{i},X_{j})\rho(X_{j})ds_{j}dp_j,$$ and $K_{\Gamma}$ describes the propagation of the flow. Here we consider purely deterministic flows with $K_{\Gamma}(X_{i},X_{j})=w(X_{i})\,
\delta(X_{i}-\varphi_{ij}(X_{j}))$. A diffusion component may be added by replacing the $\delta$-distribution with a finite-width kernel. In general, the weight function $w$ contains reflection/transmission probabilities at boundaries and a dissipative term of the form $\exp(-\mu L)$, where $L$ is the length of the flow trajectory and $\mu$ is a damping coefficient. For the case $w=1$, the transfer operator $\mathcal{B}$ is of Frobenius-Perron type with a maximum eigenvalue one. In this case the problem, Eq. (\[GovIE\]), becomes ill-posed and thus we consider the case $\mu>0$ henceforth. One can also obtain a well-posed problem using other forms of dissipation, such as an absorbing or open boundary region ([@CTG12]). Note that since the flow map only maps to neighbouring triangles, a matrix representation of $\mathcal{B}$ over the whole of $\bigcup_{i=1}^{N_{\Omega}}Q_{i}$ is in general sparse. Equation (\[GovIE\]) is a boundary integral formulation for the stationary Liouville equation as detailed in [@CT13]. The derivation of $\rho^{(0)}$ for a high frequency point source is also given in [@CT13].
Implementation of discrete flow mapping {#sec:impl}
=======================================
Discretisation
--------------
Typically it is assumed that $\Omega$ consists of a large number of triangles $N_{\Omega}$ describing a geometrically complex domain. A discrete approximation of $\rho$ is sought in phase space coordinates on the triangle boundaries. The spatial approximation is given by taking polynomial basis functions on each triangle edge $\alpha$ with $\alpha =1,2,3$. That is, we split the approximation at corners, see [@CGT11] for further discussion on the benefits of this choice. In the following, we use piecewise constant functions on the triangle edges for simplicity. In contrast to the position coordinate, the momentum coordinate has support on the interval $(-c_j^{-1},c_j^{-1})$ only. It is therefore proposed to employ a Legendre polynomial basis approximation in this coordinate (see [@CTG12]). A key advantage of these choices is that the integrand in the operator (\[BoundaryOperator\]) remains a very simple function of the position argument and the corresponding integral can be performed analytically. This dramatically reduces the costs of evaluating (\[BoundaryOperator\]) compared to the implementation used in [@CTG12].
![Admissible ranges $(s_{min},s_{max})$ for $s_j$ when a ray travels from edge $l$ of triangle $j$ with fixed direction coordinate $p_j=\sin(\theta)/c_j$ to an opposite edge $\alpha$: (a) $s_j$ can take all values in $(0,L)$ on the edge $l$ (i.e. $s_{min}=0$, $s_{max}=L$); (b) $s_j\in (0,s_{max})$; (c) $s_j\in (s_{min},L)$. (Online version in colour.)[]{data-label="sminmax"}](FIG2.pdf){width="10cm"}
The overall approximation on $Q_i$ for $i=1,...,N_{\Omega}$ is then of the form $$\rho^{\Gamma}(X_{i})\approx\sum_{\alpha=1}^{3}\sum_{\beta=0}^{N_{p}}\rho_{(i,\alpha,\beta)}b_{\alpha}(s_i)\tilde{P}_{\beta}(p_{i}),$$ where $N_{p}$ is the order of the momentum basis expansion. The momentum basis functions are given by $$\label{2DLeg}
\tilde{P}_{\beta}(p_i)={\sqrt{c_i}}P_{\beta}(c_{i}p_{i}),$$ where $P_{\beta}$ is the Legendre polynomial of order $\beta$. The piecewise constant spatial basis functions are given by $b_\alpha(s_i)=2^{-1/2}/\sqrt{A_{\alpha}}$ for $s_i$ on the edge $\alpha$, and zero elsewhere. Here $A_{\alpha}$ is the length of the edge $\alpha\in\{1,2,3\}$ of $\Omega_{i}$. Imposing a weak form of the integral equation (\[GovIE\]) using the orthonormal inner product for Legendre polynomials $<\cdot,\cdot>$ yields $$\label{Neum-ser-disc}
(I-B)\underline{\rho}=\underline{\rho}^{0},$$ where $I$ is the identity matrix, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{op_approx0}
\rho_{(i,\alpha,\beta)}^{0} & = & \:\left<\rho^{(0)}(s_i, p_i),
b_{\alpha}(s_i)\tilde{P}_{\beta}(p_{i})\right>,\\ \nonumber
B_{(i,\alpha,\beta),(j,l,m)} & = &
\left<\mathcal{B}\left(b_{l}(s_i)\tilde{P}_{m}(p_{i})\right),
b_{\alpha}(s_i)\tilde{P}_{\beta}(p_{i})\right>,\end{aligned}$$ and the vectors $\underline{\rho}$, $\underline{\rho}^{0}$ have entries given by $\rho_{(i,\alpha,\beta)}$, $\rho_{(i,\alpha,\beta)}^{0}$, respectively. Expanding the inner product in (\[op\_approx0\]) and using the definition of the transfer operator $\mathcal{B}$ (\[BoundaryOperator\]), the discretised transfer operator $B$ acting on $Q_{i}$ for all $i=1,...,N_{\Omega}$ may be expressed as $$\begin{aligned}
\label{op_approx}
&&{\displaystyle B_{(i,\alpha,\beta),(j,l,m)}} \\ \nonumber
&&{\displaystyle=\frac{2m+1}{4}\int_{Q_i}\int_{Q_j}\tilde{P}_{\beta}(p_i)b_{\alpha}(s_i)K_{\Gamma}(X_i,X_j)\tilde{P}_{m}(p_j)b_{l}(s_j)ds_{j}dp_j ds_{i}dp_i }\vspace{2mm}\\ \nonumber
&& {\displaystyle=\frac{2m+1}{4}\int_{Q_j}
w(\psi_{ij}(X_j))\tilde{P}_{\beta}(\varphi^{p}_{ij}(X_{j}))b_{\alpha}(\varphi^{s}_{ij}(X_j))\tilde{P}_{m}(p_j)b_{l}(s_j)ds_{j}dp_j.}
$$ Here we write $\varphi_{ij}=(\varphi^{s}_{ij},\varphi^{p}_{ij})$ to denote the splitting of the position and momentum parts of the boundary map. Using the properties of the weight function and the spatial basis functions, Eq. (\[op\_approx\]) simplifies to $$\begin{aligned}
\label{op_approx2}
&&B_{(i,\alpha,\beta),(j,l,m)} = \\ \nonumber
&&\frac{2m+1}{8\sqrt{A_\alpha A_l }}\int_{-c_j^{-1}}^{c_j^{-1}}
\hspace{-3mm}
\tilde{P}_{m}(p_j)\int_{s_{min}(p_j,\alpha,l)}^{s_{max}(p_j,\alpha,l)}
\hspace{-6mm} w_{rt}(\varphi^{p}_{ij}(X_j))e^{-\mu
L_{ij}(s_j,\varphi^s_{ij}(X_j))}\tilde{P}_{\beta}(\varphi^{p}_{ij}(X_{j}))ds_{j}dp_j.\end{aligned}$$ Here, $w_{rt}$ is equal to the transmission probability $w_t$ when $i\neq j$, and is equal to the reflection probability $w_r=1-w_t$ otherwise. Higher dimensional transmission/reflection matrices arise in the case of multi-mode dynamics as discussed in the next section. Also $L_{ij}$ is the length of the trajectory from the point represented by $s_j$ to $\varphi^s_{ij}(X_j)$, and $(s_{min},s_{max})$ is the admissible range of values for $s_j$. Restriction to this range is necessary to ensure that a ray starting on edge $l$ of triangle $j$ with direction coordinate $p_j$ will be transferred to a particular adjacent edge $\alpha$ of triangle $i$ as shown in Fig. \[sminmax\]. Note that for flat polygonal elements such as triangles, $\varphi^{p}_{ij}(X_j)$ in fact only depends on $p_j$, and hence only the damping term in equation (\[op\_approx2\]) retains dependence on $s_j$. The inner integral thus has a simple form and can be computed analytically, leaving only a single integral to be evaluated numerically. It is this step which leads to vast improvements in the computing times, and enables us to consider many thousands of elements with high order approximations in direction space. Two key points are:
- Triangulation is used to ensure that the elements of a piecewise linear mesh are flat. This enables us to deal with complex enclosures/surfaces whilst keeping the system locally simple.
- Due to the semi-analytic phase space integration, working with many thousands of subsystems and high order direction space approximations becomes tractable.
It is worth pointing out that the analytic integration method is not restricted to triangular elements, but works for any flat polygons. The general idea of the DFM is related to the work in [@CGT11] and [@CT13]. However, in these papers, the DEA method was developed for general subsystems of arbitrary shape and the double integrals in the equations equivalent to Eq. (\[op\_approx2\]) needed to be computed entirely numerically. Computing the matrix $B$ is then time consuming and the computations were restricted to a small number of subsystems (typically $10$ or less).
Transmission at interfaces and ray tracing on curved surfaces {#sec:trans}
-------------------------------------------------------------
![T-joint as an example of a junction between 3 plates. The dashed line indicates an incoming wave, the solid lines represent outgoing bending, shear and pressure waves. (Online version in colour.)[]{data-label="fig:joint"}](FIG3.pdf){width="5.5cm"}
For modelling high frequency wave propagation it will be necessary to take into account transmission (and consequently reflection) at interfaces with abruptly changing material parameters or due to edges and branch lines. The latter will arise, for example, when plates are connected along a common junction such as depicted in Fig. \[fig:joint\]. These effects are included in our approach through transmission/reflection probabilities at triangle boundaries coinciding with the interface. The reflection/transmission coefficients are obtained from local wave solutions at the interface, incorporating the dependence on the direction of the incoming and scattered waves. A number of scenarios important in the context of both wave propagation and ray tracing are outlined below.
#### Scalar wave equations:
For scalar wave equations and simple planar interfaces, the transmission coefficients are derived from the wave equation using continuity of the wave function and its normal derivative for an incident plane wave (see [@JD92]). One thus obtains $$\label{rt-coeff}
w_{t}(k_{i},k_{j},\theta_{j})=\frac{4(k_{i}/k_{j})\cos(\theta_{j})
\cos(\theta_{i})}{((k_{i}/k_{j})\cos(\theta_{j})+\cos(\theta_{i}))^{2}}.$$ Here, $k_{j}$ and $k_{i}$ are the wave numbers in the elements containing the incoming and outgoing rays, respectively, with $k_i =
\omega/c_i$ and $\omega$ is the angular frequency. A change of wave vector at the interface may be due to a change in the material parameters for example. The angle of incidence $\theta_{j}$ of the incoming ray with respect to the normal at the element boundary is simply $\arcsin(c_j p_j)$. The direction of the outgoing ray $\theta_{i}$ is determined using Snell’s law.
#### Elastic waves in coupled plates:
A more general case is represented by interfaces forming junctions between plates of varying thickness and meeting at arbitrary angles. The transmission/reflection coefficients for a set of plates coupled at a common interface (such as depicted in Fig. \[fig:joint\]) may be computed using the methods presented in [@LH90] and [@Cra04]. In particular, we consider the connection between plates as line junctions, that is, the interior properties of the junction are not modelled and the mass and moment of inertia are neglected. Let us consider a line junction which couples $n$ different (for simplicity) semi-infinite plates. The boundary conditions at the line junction correspond to dynamic conditions involving stresses, moments and kinematic conditions for the displacement and rotation of the $n$ plates. To construct the transmission coefficients, we calculate the response of the system with respect to excitation by an incoming plane wave. The incoming wave has a fixed wavenumber and a characteristic mode, that is, it is of bending ($b$), pressure ($p$) or shear ($s$) type. The outgoing waves typically have components in all $n$ plates and are a mixture of all mode types. Evanescent modes may be included to complete the description. Possible material differences between the plates can lead to different wavenumbers in different plates. For a given forcing with a particular incoming mode in a particular plate, we can solve for the unknown modal coefficients in all plates. In practice, we find the transmission probabilities directly by calculating the ratio of outgoing to incoming normal power fluxes. A detailed description can be found in [@Tan13].
#### Curved surfaces:
In the case of a geodesic flow on a smooth curved surface it is necessary to mimic the geodesic paths on the corresponding triangulated surface. We employ the theory outlined in [@JS98] and [@DM05], making use of the fact that for ray paths not intersecting vertices on triangulated surfaces, the notions of shortest and straightest (discrete) geodesic are equivalent (see [@DM05]). Hence the straightest geodesic choice of $\theta_{j}=\theta_{i}$ will approximate the direction of the geodesic flow on homogeneous regions of the triangulated surface, and abrupt changes of surface thickness or material will result in a Snell Law effect (see [@JS98]). A suitable choice of quadrature method here ensures that the rays never pass through vertices of the triangulation (although a point source may lie on a vertex), for example Gaussian quadrature rules where endpoints are never used as abscissae.
#### Curved shells - curvature corrections:
For modelling the vibration of thin shells we need to consider ray tracing on curved surfaces, where the dynamics are derived from thin shell theory ([@AN95]). In a lowest order approximation, curved rays again follow the geodesics of the surface ([@AN96; @GT07]). This approximation derives from applying thin shell theory in the high frequency limit as in [@AN94] and [@AN95], which is valid for wavelengths shorter than the radii of curvature of the shell, but larger than the thickness. Corrections to the geodesic ray approximations need to be considered if the local radii of curvature are of the same order as the wavelength. It is possible to construct modified ray paths from the dispersion curves given by thin shell theory (see [@AN94]), but this requires a detailed knowledge of the local curvature. In the interests of keeping the model as simple as possible we will follow a different approach here. We treat the meshed structure as a set of plate-like elements and estimate reflection/transmission properties due to the finite angle between mesh elements using the plate-junction theory sketched above and detailed in [@LH90] and [@Cra04]. This enables us to mimic wave barriers due to regions of high curvature as demonstrated in the next section.\
In each of the cases considered above, reflection/transmission coefficients are incorporated as part of the weight function $w$ in the boundary integral kernel $K_{\Gamma}$ in Eq. (\[BoundaryOperator\]), or its finite dimensional approximation. We assume that the transmission coefficients depend only on the incoming momentum $p_s$ via the angle of incidence; the outgoing angle is given by Snell’s law taking into account refraction due to differences in the wave speed across the interface.
Numerical examples {#sec:num}
==================
We will demonstrate the efficiency and flexibility of DFM with the help of two examples. Firstly, we determine the ray density produced by a point source on a sphere, where an analytic solution is available for verification. Secondly, we compute the energy density distribution on the curved surface of a cast aluminium Range Rover body part and compare with solutions of the corresponding wave equation obtained using the finite element method (FEM).
Flow on a sphere
----------------
![Ray density (logarithmic scale) on a sphere computed using discrete flow mapping showing the source point (upper) and antipode (lower) for different orders of direction space basis ($N_p$) on a triangulated sphere with 5120 triangles. The plots on the right show a representation of the exact ray density over the same triangulation. (Online version in colour.)[]{data-label="spheremulti"}](FIG4.pdf){width="13cm"}
The ray density $\rho$ generated by a geodesic flow emanating continuously from a point source on a sphere can be determined analytically. As a function of the polar angle $\phi$, with source point $\phi=0$, the ray density is given by: $$\label{ExactSphere}
\rho(\phi)=\frac{C e^{-\mu \phi}}{(1-e^{-2\pi\mu })\sin(\phi)}.$$ Here, $\mu$ is the damping coefficient introduced in Sec.\[sec:int-eq\] and $C$ is a constant depending of the strength of the source. The derivation of equation (\[ExactSphere\]) follows simply from the fact that the ray density on the sphere is inversely proportional to the element of surface area. The exponential terms result from damping contributions of the form $\exp(-\mu L)$; summing over the trajectory lengths $L$ at any point on the sphere results in a geometric series with a contribution each time the ray orbits the sphere.
The sphere is thus a good candidate for verifying our approach on an approximately spherical triangulated surface. The dynamics on the sphere are integrable and the exact solution for the density contains a singularity at both poles ($\phi = 0$ and $\pi$) as the rays are unidirectional along great circles passing through the source point. This example is therefore slightly atypical since ergodic or mixing ray dynamics in complex geometries generally lead to more smoothly distributed ray densities. The sphere is thus a true challenge for DFM, which due to the finite order basis approximation will always incorporate diffusive behaviour and consequently a smoothing of singularities.
Fig. \[spheremulti\] demonstrates that DFM can deal even with such a singular case. Higher order implementations of the basis approximation in direction space lead to an improved resolution of the refocussed singularity. Table \[errorsphere\] gives the mean relative error averaged over the upper hemisphere containing the source point shown in the upper row of Fig. \[spheremulti\]. The results are given for Delaunay triangulations with differing numbers of elements and for different orders of direction space basis. The results are computed at the centroid of each triangle and compared against the exact solution for the same value of $\phi$. For the results presented here we have taken $\mu=1$ and $C=(800\pi^2)^{-1}$, which is the scaling for a unit excitation of the Helmholtz equation with $k=100\pi$. The factor is derived from the high frequency asymptotics of the 2D fundamental solution for the Helmholtz equation (see [@CT13]) and matching the asymptotics with equation (\[ExactSphere\]) as the distance from the source becomes small.
[$N_{\Omega}$]{} [$N_p$]{} [Mean Relative Error ]{}
------------------ ----------- --------------------------
[320]{} [4]{} [0.1606]{}
[320]{} [6]{} [0.1129]{}
[320]{} [8]{} [0.1142]{}
[1280]{} [8]{} [0.08704]{}
[1280]{} [10]{} [0.08884]{}
[5120]{} [10]{} [0.06648]{}
[5120]{} [12]{} [0.06212]{}
[5120]{} [14]{} [0.06100]{}
[20480]{} [14]{} [0.05116]{}
[20480]{} [16]{} [0.05012]{}
: Mean relative errors computed at triangle centroids and averaged over the upper hemisphere of a Delaunay triangulated sphere with $N_{\Omega}$ triangles and a direction space Legendre polynomial basis approximation of order $N_p$.[]{data-label="errorsphere"}
An Application in Vibro-acoustics {#sec:rangerover}
---------------------------------
In this section we consider the transport of high frequency flexural or bending wave energy through curved structures using thin shell and high frequency ray models. At present there is wide interest in modelling aluminium shells in the automotive industry due to a desire for lighter, and hence lower emission vehicles. In particular, large molded aluminium components are replacing more traditional multi-component beam-plate constructions, which has the additional advantage of eliminating problems due to fatigue at joints. High frequency vibro-acoustic models based on an SEA treatment will be unsuitable in these circumstances, since complex geometrical features are not included in SEA. In addition, a subdivision of the model into subsystems is not clear cut for such castings as all components are well connected, see for example the structure in Fig.\[boundary-map\]a representing an aluminium shock tower from a Range Rover.
{width="13cm"}
Discrete flow mapping can overcome these problems, since it can be easily applied in the framework of existing grids for finite element models, requires no choice of subsystem division and incorporates the full geometry and directionality of the energy flow. The response of a thin molded aluminium car component (Range Rover shock tower) to a point force applied normally to the surface is modelled and compared with a FEM approximation for the full wave model performed using Nastran. Figure \[boundary-map\]a shows the problem setup including the mesh and indicating the local DFM map $\varphi_{ij}$. In order to maintain a tractable model size for the finite element calculation and to study frequency ranges of industrial interest, the computation is performed at frequencies between 8kHz and 10kHz. This approximately corresponds to a third of an octave band centred at 9kHz. A key assumption of the thin shell theory is that the radius of curvature is large compared to the wavelength (see [@AN94]), which is only partly satisfied for this structure in the frequency band considered. The wavelength is typically around $3$ to $6\:$cm depending on the shell thickness. We therefore employ a modified geodesic ray tracing technique by incorporating reflection/transmission due to finite angles between mesh elements as described in Sec. \[sec:impl\](\[sec:trans\]). This leads to geodesic trajectories without reflections in relatively flat areas, but incorporates wave barrier behaviour in regions of high curvature.
Fig. \[shocktowerstddamp\] shows the DFM result (bending mode only) compared with the Nastran solution for the kinetic energy averaged over 41 evenly spaced frequencies spanning the prescribed range and with a hysteretic damping level of $3\%$, which is typical for such a structure. The point source is positioned at the front of the structure. The ray computation is performed using a triangulated surface consisting of $11\,623$ triangles and with a 6th order Legendre polynomial basis in direction space. The Nastran grid contains $40\,670$ elements comprising a mix of piecewise linear triangles and quadrilaterals. As would be expected one sees more oscillation in the full wave model. The DFM prediction of the overall energy flow in regions of both high and low curvature matches well with the Nastran results. The flow of energy along the side walls of the central mount, as well as features such as shadow regions due to holes in the structure and channelling effects due to variations in the shell thickness can be observed as common in both plots. Such geometrically dependent features would be entirely absent from SEA-type models and represent a major advance for high frequency vibro-acoustic simulation methods.
{width="13cm"}
Figure \[shocktowerrcpts\] gives the kinetic energy averaged over four different receiver regions, which are displayed as the blue regions on the inset structure plots. The response is now shown for a range of damping levels between 1$\%$ and 6$\%$, and for receiver regions with differing levels of proximity to the source point. The correspondence between the mean of the 41 Nastran solutions and DFM is remarkably good in Fig.\[shocktowerrcpts\] (a) to (c). The regions are spread across the whole structure and provide strong verification of our approach. In Fig. \[shocktowerrcpts\] (d), the DFM results deviate slightly for high damping. Note that this region is close to the region in Fig. \[shocktowerrcpts\] (c) and the deviations thus reflect local variations in the FEM solution. The results clearly demonstrate that curvature related wave-barrier effects are correctly predicted by DFM using local reflection/transmission matrices.
The computations in this section were performed in parallel on four cores of a desktop PC in less than 6 minutes. The code was written in C++ with openMP. The large sparse non-symmetric linear system of dimension 732249 which arises has been solved efficiently and accurately using a stabilized bi-conjugate gradient iterative solver.
CONCLUSIONS
===========
We present [*discrete flow mapping*]{} as a highly efficient method for solving stationary phase space flow equations in complex domains and apply the method to two illustrative examples. In particular we highlight the versatility of the method, its capability to handle large scale models efficiently and emphasise the fact that both geometric details and flow directivity are fully included in the calculation at a moderate computational cost. In the special case of ray focusing, the method clearly captures the foci albeit not reproducing the actual singularity. In the vibro-acoustic example, the full complexity of the model is taken into account via the mesh functionality of DFM. Deviations from a pure geodesic flow due to regions of high curvature have been reproduced without compromising the efficiency of the method. DFM can thus serve as a practical tool for solving phase space transport problems with applications in engineering ranging from acoustics to structural mechanics. Extensions of the method to electrical engineering, as well as to fluid mechanics and other flow problems are evident.
Acknowledgement {#acknowledgement .unnumbered}
===============
Support from the EPSRC (grant EP/F069391/1 and a follow-on [*Knowledge Transfer*]{} grant) and the EU (FP7 IAPP grant MIDEA) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support, guidance, data and Nastran access provided by Stephen Fisher and Jaguar Land Rover.
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|
---
abstract: 'Let $d$ be a squarefree integer. Does there exist four squares in arithmetic progression over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$? We shall give a partial answer to this question, depending on the value of $d$. In the affirmative case, we construct explicit arithmetic progressions consisting of four squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$.'
address:
- |
Universidad Aut[ó]{}noma de Madrid\
Departamento de Matem[á]{}ticas\
28049 Madrid, Spain
- |
Würzburg University\
Institut für Mathematik\
97074 Würzburg, Germany
author:
- 'Enrique Gonz[á]{}lez-Jim[é]{}nez'
- Jörn Steuding
title: Arithmetic progressions of four squares over quadratic fields
---
Introduction {#intro}
============
Non-constant arithmetic progressions consisting of rational squares have been studied since ancient times. While it is not difficult to obtain an arithmetic progression of three rational squares (e.g. $1^2,5^2,7^2$), there are no four distinct rational squares in arithmetic progression as already stated by Fermat and proved by Euler (among others). However, the situation is different over number fields. It is easy to construct four squares in arithmetic progression over a quadratic number field; e.g. $1^2,5^2,7^2,(\sqrt{73})^2$ over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{73})$. It is even possible to find five squares in arithmetic progressions; e.g. $7^2,13^2,17^2,(\sqrt{409})^2,23^2$ over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{409})$. By Faltings’ proof of the Mordell conjecture [@faltings] in any finite algebraic extension of ${\mathbb{Q}}$ there can be at most finitely many arithmetic progressions of at least five squares. Recently Xarles [@xarles] has proved that six squares in arithmetic progression over quadratic number fields do not exist. The case of length five over quadratic fields has been treated by the first author and Xarles [@GJX].
In this paper we consider the following natural problem:
[*Let $d$ be an squarefree integer. Do there exist four squares in arithmetic progression over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$? In the affirmative case, give an algorithm to construct explicit examples.*]{}\
For special values of $d$ the following table indicates for which quadratic fields ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ there exist or do not exist non-constant arithmetic progressions of four squares. Here ’?’ indicates that in this case we do not know whether there exists a non-constant four term arithmetic progression of squares or not.
$p\ge 5$ prime
---------------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------- --------- ---------
$p\bmod\,24$ $d=p$ $d=2p$ $d=3p$ $d=6p$ $d=-p$ $d=-2p$ $d=-3p$ $d=-6p$
$1$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$
$5$ no $?$ no $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ no
$7$ no no $?$ $?$ no $?$ $?$ no
$11$ $?$ $?$ no $?$ no $?$ $?$ $?$
$13$ $?$ no $?$ $?$ no no $?$ no
$17$ $?$ $?$ no $?$ $?$ $?$ no no
$19$ no $?$ no $?$ $?$ no $?$ $?$
$23$ yes yes $?$ yes yes yes yes $?$
: []{data-label="table1"}
\
The proof of the correctness of the table will be given in Section \[section-explicit\].
We shall show that four squares in arithmetic progression lead to points on an elliptic curve. This approach is not new; it seems to be a folklore result, however, we shall provide our own parametrization of arithmetic progressions of four squares over a number field $k$ by $k$-rational points on the modular curve $X_0(24)$. More precisely, there exists a non-constant arithmetic progression of four squares over a number field $k$ if and only if the Mordell-Weil group of the elliptic curve $X_0(24)$ has positive rank over $k$; in this case, there exist infinitely many arithmetic progressions of four squares. For the specific case of a quadratic number field ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ this characterization reduces our problem to the problem of determining the rank of the quadratic $d$-twists of the underlying elliptic curve.
The above characterization allows us to link our problem with two other problems, both being generalizations of the famous congruent number problem. These problems are related to $\theta$-congruent numbers and Euler’s concordant forms.
This paper is organized as follows: Section \[section-4squares\] is devoted to construct a parametrization of four term arithmetic progressions of squares over a number field $k$ by $k$-rational points of the elliptic curve $X_0(24)$. Here we derive some particular results when $k$ is a quadratic field. In Section \[section-congruent\] we introduce the notion of $\theta$-congruent numbers and state some well-known results for the case when $\theta$ is either equal to $\pi/3$ or $2\pi/3$, which are the relevant cases with respect to the main problem of this paper. Section \[section-concordant\] deals with Euler’s concordant forms. In Section \[section-explicit\] we apply results from the previous sections in order to obtain a partial answer to our problem. Here we also give examples of arithmetic progressions of four squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ for all cases $|d|\le 40$ for which such arithmetic progressions do exist. Moreover, we give another construction using pythagorean triples and Thue equations. The last section contains some average results related to our main problem.
Acknowledgements {#acknowledgements .unnumbered}
----------------
Research of the first author was supported in part by grant MTM 2006–10548 (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain) and CCG07–UAM/ESP–1814 (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid – Comunidad de Madrid, Spain). Research of the second author was supported in part by grant MTM 2006-01859 (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain).
Four squares in arithmetic progression {#section-4squares}
======================================
Four squares $a^2,b^2,c^2$ and $d^2$ over a field $k$ are in arithmetic progression if and only if $b^2-a^2=c^2-b^2$ and $c^2-b^2=d^2-c^2$. This is equivalent to $[a,b,c,d]\in \mathbb{P}^3(k)$ being in the intersection of the two quadric surfaces $a^2+c^2=2b^2$ and $b^2+d^2=2c^2$, resp. lying on the curve $$\label{eqn1}
C\,:\,\left\{
\begin{array}{l}
a^2+c^2=2b^2,\\
b^2+d^2=2c^2.
\end{array}
\right.$$ Therefore, $k$-rational points of $C$ parametrize arithmetic progressions of four squares over $k$. Note that the eight points $[\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1 ]$ belong to $C$, however, these points correspond to constant arithmetic progressions. The next step is to compute an explicit equation for $C$. In the generic case the intersection of two quadric surfaces in $\mathbb{P}^3$ gives an elliptic curve and, indeed, this will turn out to be true in our case. For this purpose we are going to compute a Weierstrass equation for $C$. The system of equations (\[eqn1\]) is equivalent to $a^2+2d^2=3c^2, b^2=2c^2-d^2$. A parametrization (up to sign) of the first conic is given by $$(a,d,c)=(2t^2-4t-1,2t^2+2t-1,2t^2+1),\quad t\in k,$$ where the inverse is given by $t=\frac{d-c}{a-c}$ if $a\neq c$ and $t=-\frac{1}{2}$ if $a=c$. Therefore, if we substitute the values of $a,d$ and $c$ in the second equation, we obtain the quartic equation $$\label{eqn_quartic}
\mathcal{Q}\,:\,b^2=4t^4-8t^3+8t^2+4t+1\,.$$ Our next aim is to find a Weierstrass model for $\mathcal{Q}$. Note that there is only one point at infinity, namely $[0:1:0]$. This point is a node. We denote by $\infty_{1}$ and $\infty_{2}$ the two branches at infinity at the desingularization of $\mathcal{Q}$. A Weierstrass model for $\mathcal{Q}$ is $E:y^2=x(x+3)(x-1)$, where the isomorphism $\phi: \mathcal{Q} \rightarrow E$ is defined by $$\phi(P)= \left(\frac{1+b+2t}{2t^2},\frac{1+b+3t+bt+4t^2-2t^3}{2t^3}\right)\quad\mbox{if} \quad P=(t,b)\neq (0,\pm 1),$$ and $\phi(0,-1)=(-1,2)$, $\phi(0,1)=[0:1:0]$, $\phi(\infty_1)=(1,0)$, $\phi(\infty_2)=(-1,-2)$. The inverse is defined by $$\phi^{-1}(P)= \left(\frac{x+y-1}{x^2-1},\frac{x^3+5x^2+2xy-2y-x+3}{(x^2-1)(x+1)}\right)\quad \mbox{if} \quad P=(x,y),\,x\neq \pm 1.$$ Therefore, by the above construction we have proved
\[parametrization\] Let $k$ be a field of $\mbox{char($k$)}\neq 2,3$, then arithmetic progressions of four squares in $k$ are parametrized by $k$-rational points of the elliptic curve $$E:y^2=x(x+3)(x-1).$$ This parametrization is as follows:\
$\bullet$ Let $[a,b,c,d]\in\mathbb{P}^3(k)$ such that $a^2,b^2,c^2,d^2$ form an arithmetic progression. If $a\neq c$ and $d\neq c$, let $t=\frac{d-c}{a-c}$ and define $$P=\left(\frac{1+b+2t}{2t^2},\frac{1+b+3t+bt+4t^2-2t^3}{2t^3}\right),$$ and $$P=\left\{
\begin{array}{ccl}
[0:1:0] & \mbox{if} & [a,b,c,d]=[-1,1,1,1],\\
(-1,2) & \mbox{if} & [a,b,c,d]=[-1,-1,1,1],\\
(3,-6) & \mbox{if} & [a,b,c,d]=[1,1,1,1],\\
(-3,0) & \mbox{if} & [a,b,c,d]=[1,-1,1,1],\\
(1,0) & \mbox{if} & [a,b,c,d]=[-1,1,-1,1],\\
(-1,-2) & \mbox{if} & [a,b,c,d]=[-1,-1,-1,1].
\end{array}
\right.$$ Then $P\in E(k)$.\
$\bullet$ Let be $P\in E(k)$. If $P=(x,y)$, $x\neq \pm 1$, let $t=\frac{x+y-1}{x^2-1}$ and define $$[a,b,c,d]=\left[2t^2-4t-1, \frac{x^3+5x^2+2xy-2y-x+3}{(x^2-1)(x+1)}, 2t^2+1, 2t^2+2t+1\right],$$ and $$[a,b,c,d]=\left\{
\begin{array}{ccl}
{[-1,-1,1,1]} & \mbox{if} & P=(-1,2),\\
{[-1,-1,-1,1]} & \mbox{if} & P=(-1,-2),\\
{[-1,1,-1,1]} & \mbox{if} & P=(1,0),\\
{[-1,1,1,1]} & \mbox{if} & P=[0:1:0].
\end{array}
\right.$$ Then $a^2,b^2,c^2,d^2$ form an arithmetic progression in $k$.
It is natural to ask for which number fields $k$ there exist arithmetic progressions of four squares over $k$. In order to investigate this problem we shall make use of the theory of elliptic curves.
\[prop1\] Let $k$ be a number field. Then there exists a non-constant arithmetic progression of four squares over $k$ if and only if $\#E(k)>8$. Furthermore, there exist infinitely many such progressions if and only if ${{\rm rank}\,E(k)}\ne 0$.
Firstly, note that the points $[\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1]$ in $\mathbb{P}^3(k)$ give constant arithmetic progressions. Therefore, using the parametrization $\phi$, it follows that the points $\phi([\pm 1, \pm 1, \pm1, \pm 1])$ belong to $E(k)$, and this set has cardinality $8$. This concludes the proof.
As a corollary we obtain
There is no non-constant arithmetic progression of four rational squares.
This statement is due to Fermat, however, the first proof is attributed to Euler who applied Fermat’s method of infinite descent. For the sake of completeness and since some of the data that appear will be useful later, we give the short
Using `SAGE` [@sage] or `MAGMA` [@magma], one can check that $E$ is the curve `24A1` in Cremona’s tables [@cremona], resp. `24B` in the Antwerp tables [@antwerp]. In other words, $E$ is the modular curve $X_0(24)$. Checking these tables or using one of the above mentioned computer algebra systems, one can prove $E({\mathbb{Q}})\simeq {\mathbb{Z}}/2{\mathbb{Z}}\oplus {\mathbb{Z}}/4{\mathbb{Z}}$. There are no ${\mathbb{Q}}$-rational points on $E$ apart those eight points $[\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1]$ which correspond to constant arithmetic progressions.
Next we shall consider the case of quadratic number fields. Here the question translates to study the Mordell-Weil group $E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d}))$. However, instead to treat the elliptic curve $E$ over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ directly, we are going to study the quadratic $d$-twist of the elliptic curve $E$ over ${\mathbb{Q}}$, i.e., the elliptic curve $$E^d: dy^2=x(x+3)(x-1).$$ It should be noted that $E$ and $E^d$ are ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$-isomorphic.
Let $d$ be a squarefree integer. Then there is a non-constant arithmetic progression of four squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ if and only if ${{\rm rank}\,E^d}\ne 0$; in this case, there exist infinitely many such progressions.
We are going to compute the structure of $E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d}))$. Since the $2$-torsion subgroup of $E$ is defined over ${\mathbb{Q}}$, by applying Kwon’s results [@kwon] we see that $E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d}))_{\tors}$ and $E({\mathbb{Q}})_{\tors}$ are equal. Thus Proposition \[prop1\] shows that if there exists a non-constant arithmetic progression of four squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$, then there exist infinitely many or, equivalently, ${{\rm rank}\,E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d}))}\ne 0$. Now, since $$\label{rank-formula}
{{\rm rank}\,E}({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})) = {{\rm rank}\,E}({\mathbb{Q}})+ {{\rm rank}\,E}^d({\mathbb{Q}}),$$ the statement follows from ${{\rm rank}\,E}({\mathbb{Q}})=0$.
Therefore, the problem to decide for which quadratic fields ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ there exist non-constant arithmetic progressions of four squares is reduced to the question whether the rank of $E^d({\mathbb{Q}})$ is positive or not. In Section \[section-explicit\] we give a partial solution to this problem and for some quadratic number fields we also give explicit four term arithmetic progressions of squares.
For number fields of higher degree we have the following result:
There are infinitely many cyclic cubic number fields in each of which there exist infinitely many non-constant arithmetic progressions of four squares.
Applying [@FKK Theorem 6.1] to the elliptic curve $E=X_0(24)$, we find $\#E({\mathbb{Q}})=8>6$. Hence, for infinitely many cyclic cubic extensions $K/{\mathbb{Q}}$ we have ${{\rm rank}\,E}(K) > {{\rm rank}\,E}({\mathbb{Q}})=0$.
$\theta$-congruent numbers {#section-congruent}
==========================
A positive integer $n$ is called a congruent number if there exists a right triangle with rational sides and area equal to $n$. The problem to decide whether a given integer is a congruent number has been studied since Diophantus. In 1983, Tunnell [@tunnell] found a deterministic criterion for this problem; if the Birch & Swinnerton–Dyer conjecture is true, then his criterion also can be used to determine congruent numbers. The notion of congruent numbers was extended by Fujiwara [@fujiwara] to rational $\theta$-triangles, that are triangles with rational sides where one angle is equal to $\theta$. Note that for such a triangle, $\cos \theta=s/r$ for some coprime integers $r,s$ with $r>0$. It follows that $\sin\theta=\alpha_{\theta}/r$, where $\alpha_{\theta}:=\sqrt{r^2-s^2}$ is uniquely determined by $\theta$. Then $\theta$-congruent numbers are defined as follows:
Let be $\theta \in [0,\pi)$. A positive integer $n$ is a $\theta$-congruent number if there exists a rational $\theta$-triangle whose area is equal to $n\alpha_\theta$.
Therefore, $\pi/2$-congruent numbers coincide with the ordinary congruent numbers (in which case $r=1$ and $s=0$). Generalizing the case of ordinary congruent numbers, there is a characterization of $\theta$-congruent numbers in terms of rational points on elliptic curves.
[[@fujiwara; @fujiwara2]]{} For $\theta \in [0,\pi)$ and $n\in\mathbb{N}$, define the elliptic curve $$E_{n,\theta} : y^2=x(x+(r+s)n)(x-(r-s)n).$$ Then, $n$ is a $\theta$-congruent number if and only if there exists a rational point on $E_{n,\theta}$ of order greater than $2$. Moreover, if $n\ne 1,2,3,6$, then $n$ is a $\theta$-congruent number if and only if ${{\rm rank}\,E}_{n,\theta}({\mathbb{Q}})>0$.
[**Remark:**]{} Note that the elliptic curve $E_{n,\theta}$ is the $n$-twist of $E_{1,\theta}$. Therefore, whenever $n\ne 1,2,3,6$, to prove that $n$ is a $\theta$-congruent number is equivalent to show that the rank of the $n$-twist of the elliptic curve $E_{1,\theta}$ is non-zero. Another interesting remark is that $E_{n,\pi-\theta}$ is the $(-n)$-twist of $E_{1,\theta}$ .
Several papers [@fujiwara; @fujiwara2; @goto; @HK; @kan; @yoshida; @yoshida2] have been studying the $\theta$-congruent number problem for $\theta\ne \pi/2$. For our purposes the cases $\theta=\pi/3$ and $\theta=2\pi/3$ are of special interest (see Section \[section-explicit\]). In these cases, the curve $E_{1,\pi/3}$ is the curve `24A1` and $E_{1,2\pi/3}$ is the curve `48A1` in Cremona’s tables, respectively.
The following table resumes all known results on $\pi/3$-congruent and $2\pi/3$-congruent numbers (see [@fujiwara; @HK; @kan; @yoshida; @yoshida2]). Here ’?’ indicates that in this case we do not know whether $n$ is $\theta$-congruent or not.
$p\ge 5$ prime
---------------- ------- -------- -------- -------- ------- -------- -------- --------
$p\bmod\,24$ $n=p$ $n=2p$ $n=3p$ $n=6p$ $n=p$ $n=2p$ $n=3p$ $n=6p$
$1$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$
$5$ no $?$ no $?$ $?$ $?$ $?$ no
$7$ no no $?$ $?$ no $?$ $?$ no
$11$ $?$ $?$ no $?$ no $?$ $?$ $?$
$13$ $?$ no $?$ $?$ no no $?$ no
$17$ $?$ $?$ no $?$ $?$ $?$ no no
$19$ no $?$ no $?$ $?$ no $?$ $?$
$23$ yes yes $?$ yes yes yes yes $?$
: []{data-label="table2"}
\
Let $n$ be a squarefree positive integer from one of the residue classes $1,7$ or $13\bmod\,24$. Yoshida [@yoshida; @yoshida2] proved along the lines of Tunnell’s approach to the congruent number problem that $n$ is not a $2\pi/3$-congruent number if the number of representations of $n$ by the ternary quadratic forms $$X^2+3Y^2+144Z^2\qquad\mbox{and}\qquad 3X^2+9Y^2+16Z^2$$ with integral $X,Y,Z$ are not equal; if the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer is true, then also the converse implication holds, i.e., $n$ is $2\pi/3$-congruent if the number of representations are identical. In particular, it follows from the theory of quadratic forms that all primes $p\equiv 7$ or $13\bmod\,24$ are not $2\pi/3$-congruent numbers. Moreover, if $n\neq 1$ is squarefree with $n\equiv 1,7$ or $19\bmod\,24$, then he showed that $n$ is not a $\pi/3$-congruent number if the number of integer representations of $n$ by the ternary quadratic forms $$X^2+12Y^2+15Z^2+12YZ\qquad\mbox{and}\qquad 3X^2+4Y^2+13Z^2+4YZ$$ are not equal; if the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer is true, then also the converse implication is true. Here it follows that no prime $p\equiv 7\bmod\,24$ is a $\pi/3$-congruent number. For other residue classes Yoshida obtained analogous statements with, of course, different quadratic forms, which explain the ’no’s in the above table. Note that all affirmative ’yes’ rely on primes $p\equiv 23\bmod\,24$ by a theorem of Kan [@kan]. We collect these results on primes in the following theorem; for the other cases we refer to the mentioned papers.
[@kan; @yoshida; @yoshida2] There is no prime number $p\equiv 7,11,13\bmod\,24$ which is a $2\pi/3$-congruent number, and there is no prime number $p\equiv 5,7,19\bmod\,24$ which is a $\pi/3$-congruent number where $p>5$. On the contrary, any prime $p\equiv 23\bmod\,24$ is a $\theta$-congruent number for both $\theta=\pi/3$ and $\theta=2\pi/3$.
A classical conjecture, supported by numerical evidence (based on computations from the 1970s), states that all squarefree positive integers congruent $5,6$ or $7$ modulo $8$ are congruent numbers. In fact, this conjecture is a direct consequence of the Birch & Swinnerton–Dyer conjecture. Similar to this conjecture the following one covers the cases of $\pi/3$- and $2 \pi/3$-congruent numbers, respectively.
\[conjecture\] Let $n$ be a squarefree positive integer.
- If $n\equiv\,11,13,17,23\,\mbox{mod $24$}$, then $n$ is a $\pi/3$-congruent number.
- If $n\equiv\,5,17,19,23\,\mbox{mod $24$}$, then $n$ is a $2\pi/3$-congruent number.
Euler’s concordant forms {#section-concordant}
========================
Another equivalent formulation of the congruent number problem is the following: a positive integer $n$ is a congruent number if and only if the system of diophantine equations $$\left\{
\begin{array}{c}
x^2 + ny^2=t^2\\
x^2 - ny^2=z^2
\end{array}
\right.$$ has a solution $x,y,z,t\in{\mathbb{Z}}$ with $xy\ne 0$. In 1780, Euler [@euler] gave another generalization of the congruent number problem. He was interested to classify those pairs of distinct non-zero integers $M$ and $N$ for which there exist $x,y,z,t\in{\mathbb{Z}}$ with $xy\ne 0$ such that $$\left\{
\begin{array}{c}
x^2+My^2=t^2\\
x^2+Ny^2=z^2
\end{array}
\right.$$ This is known as Euler’s concordant forms problem. If the above diophantine system has a solution, then the pair $(M,N)$ is said to be concordant, otherwise discordant. In the particular case when $M=-N$ this yields the congruent number problem. As for the congruent number problem and its generalization to $\theta$-congruent numbers, there is a characterization due to Ono [@ono] for Euler’s concordant forms problem in terms of rational points of an elliptic curve.
[[@ono]]{} For $M,N\in{\mathbb{Z}}$ such that $NM(M-N)\ne 0$, define the elliptic curve $$E_{M,N}:y^2=x(x+M)(x+N).$$ Then, the pair $(M,N)$ is concordant if and only if there exists a rational point on $E_{M,N}$ of order $\neq 1,2$ or $4$. In particular, if ${{\rm rank}\,E}_{M,N}({\mathbb{Q}})$ is positive, then $(M,N)$ is concordant.
Using Waldspurger’s results and Shimura’s correspondence [*a la*]{} Tunnell, Ono obtained several results on the ranks of twists of $E_{M,N}$. In particular, if the number of integer representations of an odd positive squarefree integer $n$ by the ternary quadratic forms $$X^2+2Y^2+12Z^2 \qquad\mbox{and}\qquad 2X^2+3Y^2+4Z^2$$ is not equal, then $(M,N)=(6n,-18n)$ is discordant; if the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer is true, then also the converse implication is true. Moreover, for $r$ being an odd integer with $1\leq r\leq 24$, he showed that there are infinitely many positive squarefree integers $n\equiv\,r\bmod\,24$ such that
- $(M,N)=(6n,-18n)$ is discordant.
- $(M,N)=(9n,-3n)$ is discordant, where $r\ne 7,15,23$.
Four squares in arithmetic progressions over quadratic fields {#section-explicit}
=============================================================
The existence of a non-constant four term arithmetic progression of squares over a quadratic field is determined by the rank of twist of the elliptic curve $E=X_0(24)$. For a real-quadratic field ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ the elliptic curve $E^d$ is equal to $E_{d,\pi/3}$, whereas for an imaginary-quadratic field ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{-d})$ it is $E_{d,2\pi/3}$.
Thus, we may use the information of the table \[table2\] to deduce information about the rank of $E^d({\mathbb{Q}})$ from $E_{d,\pi/3}$ and $E_{d,2\pi/3}$, respectively, corresponding to $d$ being positive or negative. This proves the information provided by table \[table1\] from the introduction. Moreover assuming the conjecture \[conjecture\] we have that there exists a non-constant arithmetic progression of four squares over $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{d})$ if $d\equiv\,11,13,17,23\,\mbox{mod $24$}$ in the real case and $d\equiv\,1,5,7,19\,\mbox{mod $24$}$ in the imaginary case.
Further, note that for $(M,N)=(-1,3)$ or $(3,-1)$ we have $E_{d,\pi/3}=E_{M,N}$; moreover, if $(M,N)=(1,-3)$ or $(-3,1)$, then $E_{d,2\pi/3}=E_{M,N}$. In these cases we can use Ono’s results [@ono] on the rank of $E_{M,N}({\mathbb{Q}})$.
Explicit examples
-----------------
Using `MAGMA`, we may compute the rank of $E^d({\mathbb{Q}})$; if this rank is positive, using the parametrization from Theorem \[parametrization\], we can also compute an explicit arithmetic progression of four squares. The following two tables list explicit examples of such progressions according to ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ being an imaginary-quadratic or a real-quadratic number field for the range $|d|\le 40$. Each of the tables consists of three colums; the first column indicates the value of $d$, the second and third one give an example for $a,r\in{\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ such that $a^2,a^2+r,a^2+2r,a^2+3r$ forms an arithmetic progressions of squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$, where $\alpha:=\sqrt{d}$.
$d$ $a$ $r$
------- ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
$-5$ $(-4 \alpha - 73)/2$ $42 \alpha - 840$
$-10$ $(-60 \alpha - 629)/2$ $-14322 \alpha - 55440$
$-14$ $-6 \alpha - 361$ $8580 \alpha - 65520$
$-15$ $(\alpha - 19)/4$ $\alpha - 15$
$-17$ $3339440 \alpha - 57973177$ $219447603254880 \alpha - 2180390987174400$
$-19$ $(-26589360 \alpha + 21015523)/2$ $22024049983320 \alpha + 2196495218332800$
$-21$ $-160 \alpha - 2393$ $-590920 \alpha - 3141600$
$-22$ $-1224720 \alpha - 2179673$ $-3235062111120 \alpha + 19986461510400$
$-23$ $(2625 \alpha + 11951)/4$ $-1231230 \alpha + 6592950$
$-29$ $(22143940 \alpha - 361130617)/2$ $3478556113902870 \alpha - 13110939890248200$
$-33$ $-612000 \alpha + 1945781$ $673901512480 \alpha + 8195655283200$
$-34$ $319440 \alpha + 650807$ $-95395404720 \alpha + 2288266041600$
$-39$ $(36 \alpha - 683)/2$ $10450 \alpha - 51480$
[|c|c|c|]{} $d$ & $a$ & $r$\
$6$ & $(2 \alpha + 1)/2$ & $25 \alpha + 60$\
$10$ & $(10 \alpha - 19)/2$ & $33 \alpha - 60$\
$11$ & $(-1320 \alpha + 2843)/2$ & $-7242060 \alpha + 23839200$\
$13$ & $1440 \alpha + 5183$ & $1323960 \alpha + 4773600$\
$17$ & $-15 \alpha - 1511$ & $-555360 \alpha + 1591200$\
$21$ & $-36 \alpha + 163$ & $2200 \alpha - 10080$\
$22$ & $(-750 \alpha + 3529)/2$ & $453705 \alpha - 2009700$\
$23$ & $19476668640 \alpha + 90283636367$ &
-------------------------------------------------------------
$\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!1725783576049531078080 \alpha +$
$\qquad\qquad 8274631385821773772800$
-------------------------------------------------------------
\
$30$ & $(18 \alpha + 19)/2$ & $-413 \alpha + 1260$\
$34$ & $6860 \alpha - 12239$ & $-12575640 \alpha + 43982400$\
$35$ & $-84 \alpha + 487$ & $-28968 \alpha + 171360$\
$37$ & $38306628360 \alpha - 276487794001$ &
--------------------------------------------------------------
$\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!10021678513795431723240 \alpha -$
$\qquad\qquad 24114970612028472976800$
--------------------------------------------------------------
\
$39$ & $720 \alpha + 3869$ & $7990640 \alpha + 49795200$\
Pythagorean triples
-------------------
Next we use Pythagorean triples to construct arithmetic progressions of four squares over quadratic number fields. In the following cases the arithmetic progression consists of four integers, all of them being a square over a specific quadratic number field.
It is well-known that for arbitrary $a,b\in {\mathbb{Z}}$ the triple $(a^2-b^2,2ab,a^2+b^2)$ defines a Pythagorean triple. Then $(a^2+b^2)^2-4n, (a^2+b^2)^2,(a^2+b^2)^2+4n$ forms an arithmetic progression of three squares where $n=ab(a^2-b^2)$. If we add a new square term, $\alpha^2=(a^2+b^2)^2+8ab(a^2-b^2)$ say, we obtain an arithmetic progression of four squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{(a^2+b^2)^2+8ab(a^2-b^2)})$. In order to construct a quadratic number field ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$, where $d$ is a squarefree integer, we define the Thue equation $$F(x,y)=(x^2+y^2)^2+8xy(x^2-y^2)=d.$$ Of course, here we are interested in the set of integer solutions. Using $\verb+MAGMA+$, we have observed that for $|d|<100$ there exist integer solutions in the cases $d=-71, -47, -23, 73$, all of them being congruent to $1\bmod\,24$. By the above construction this yields the following arithmetic progressions:
---------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- --
$d$ Four square in arithmetic progression over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$
\[.1cm\] $-71$ $(\sqrt{-71})^2,7^2,13^2,17^2$
\[.1cm\] $-47$ $(\sqrt{-47})^2,17^2,25^2,31^2$
\[.1cm\] $-23$ $(\sqrt{-23})^2,1,5^2,7^2$
\[.1cm\] $73$ $1,5^2,7^2,(\sqrt{73})^2$
\[.1cm\]
---------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- --
It is straightforward to compute that $(a^2+b^2)^2+8ab(a^2-b^2) \equiv\,1\bmod\,24$ for $a,b\in {\mathbb{Z}}$ with coprime $a,b$ and $a\not\equiv\,b\bmod\,2$. Therefore, our construction is restricted to the case of number fields ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ with $d\equiv\,1\bmod\,24$. Moreover, all arithmetic progressions discovered by this method satisfy that the difference of any two successive members is divisible by $24$.
Average results
===============
We conclude by discussing some average results for the central values of $L$-functions associated with elliptic curves. Let $E$ be an elliptic curve over ${\mathbb{Q}}$ and denote by $L(E,s)$ its elliptic curve $L$-function. Roughly speaking, the yet unproved Birch & Swinnerton–Dyer conjecture states that the order of non-vanishing of $L(E,s)$ is equal to the rank of $E$. Kolyvagin [@koly] has shown that if $E$ is a modular elliptic curve with $L(E,1)\neq 0$, then the rank of $E$ is equal to zero. By the proof of Wiles et al. [@wiles; @wiles2] of the Shimura-Taniyama conjecture any elliptic curve over ${\mathbb{Q}}$ is modular, however, the corresponding statement for quadratic number fields is not known to be true. Note that $$L(E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})),s)=L(E,s)L(E^d,s),$$ where $E^d$ denotes the quadratic twist of $E$ by $d$; here it suffices to consider squarefree integers $d$. This formula directly corresponds to (\[rank-formula\]). Hence in our case, in order to have rank zero for $E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d}))$ we need the non-vanishing of $L(E^d,1)$ since $L(E,1)=0.53...$; this computations has been made using `SAGE`.
We may ask for the statistical behaviour as $d$ varies. Goldfeld [@gold] has conjectured that a positive proportion of $0<\vert d\vert \leq X$ have the property that $L(E^d,1)$ is non-vanishing. This has been established only in exceptional cases. For instance, Heath–Brown [@hb] confirmed this conjecture for the congruent number elliptic curve. Moreover, Ono & Skinner [@onoskin Corollary 2] have proved that if $E$ is an elliptic curve over ${\mathbb{Q}}$ with conductor $\leq 100$, then either $E^{-p}$ or $E^p$ has rank zero for a positive proportion of primes $p$. In the special case of our elliptic curve we obtain:
For a positive proportion of primes $p$, there are either no non-constant arithmetic progressions of four squares in ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{-p})$ or ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{p})$.
If the Birch & Swinnerton–Dyer conjecture is true, then the vanishing of $L(E^d,1)$ would imply that the rank of $E({\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ is positive, and so from (\[rank-formula\]) and Proposition \[prop1\] it would follow that there exist infinitely many non-constant arithmetic progressions of four squares over ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$. M.R. Murty & V.K. Murty [@mm] have shown that for $L(E,1)\neq 0$ there are infinitely many fundamental discriminants $d<0$ such that $L(E^d,s)$ has a simple zero at $s=1$; this result was independently obtained by Bump, Friedberg & Hoffstein [@bump]. Hence, in our special case we may deduce that there exist infinitely many imaginary quadratic fields ${\mathbb{Q}}(\sqrt{d})$ each of which containing infinitely many non-constant arithmetic progressions of four squares subject to the truth of the Birch & Swinnerton–Dyer conjecture.
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Detectives investigating the robbery of the Subway in the East Lake Plaza, that occurred on Saturday, March 19, 2016, have obtained a robbery warrant for Ronnee Alan Sutton.
Detectives are asking anyone who has information on the whereabouts of this suspect to contact Crime Stoppers at 526-TIPS (8477) or go online at www.bellcountycrimestoppers.com. All information is confidential and anonymous and if your tip leads to the arrest of this person you could be eligible for a reward up to $1,000 in cash.
Tina Amerson
Public Affairs
Killeen Police Department |
[Sources, Distribution of Main Controlling Factors, and Potential Ecological Risk Assessment for Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediment of Hainan Island North Bay, South China].
The distribution characteristics of the content of As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, and Cd were researched based on the geochemical analysis of 159 surface sediment samples in Haikou Bay, Puqian Bay, Dongzhai Harbor, and Mulan Bay Mathematical statistics methods were used to interpret the sources of heavy metals, and the main controlling factors for heavy metal distribution were confirmed, having been analyzed qualitatively and semi-quantitatively. The results showed that the average contents of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn were 8.40, 0.06, 32.50, 8.32, 0.02, 18.77, and 35.87 μg·g-1, respectively. High contents of Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn are mainly distributed in estuaries and harbors. The content of As increased gradually from south to north in the research area, while Cd gathered mainly in Haikou Bay. The source of Cu, Zn, Hg, Pb, Cr, and Cd in sediment was terrestrial input, which was controlled by anthropogenic pollution and migration of weathered products from mother rock. The source of As could be overseas material input. The grain size of sediment was the main factor controlling the contents of Cu, Zn, Hg, Pb, and Cr, and it was found that sediments with a finer grain size have more heavy metals adsorbed. The high As content was controlled mainly by the natural geological background factor, while the content of Cd reflected the difference in regional pollution caused by differing development in cities. Three surface sediment samples were evaluated as class Ⅱ of the National Marine Sediment Standard due to the content of As, while six surface sediment samples were evaluated as class Ⅱ due to the content of Cr, of which the pollution degree was moderate. The concentrations of Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn in all of the 159 sediment samples fall in the Ⅰ class, of which the pollution degree is low. The degree of pollution for seven heavy metals were arranged in the following order:As > Cr > Pb > Zn > Cu > Cd > Hg. The potential ecological risk assessment results indicated that all heavy metals in surface sediment caused low levels of pollution generally, and that each heavy metal element was at a low ecological risk level. The order for the ecological risk of the seven heavy metals was:As > Hg > Cd > Pb > Cu > Cr > Zn; therefore, As was the main ecological risk factor. In general, the potential ecological risk for heavy metals was low, which illustrated that the marine environment in the study area was excellent. |
Sharpe's Honour
Sharpe's Honour is the sixteenth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1985. In the Vitoria Campaign of the Peninsula War in 1813, Sharpe is framed for murder. He must find a way to clear his name to preserve the fragile alliance between Britain and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars.
Plot summary
Major Pierre Ducos plans to make a peace between France and Spain, depriving the British of their allies in the Peninsula and forcing them to withdraw. He forms an alliance with the Spanish priest Father Hacha and his brother, the partisan El Matarife. He then arranges for La Marquesa Helene to write letters to her husband claiming Sharpe tried to rape her. La Marques challenges Sharpe to a duel and Sharpe accepts but the fight is interrupted by Sharpe's commanding officer Colonel Leroy. That night, La Marques is murdered and Sharpe is accused. He is found guilty by court martial and sentenced to death. However, his friend Michael Hogan arranges for another man to be hanged in his place, sending Sharpe to search for Helene in order to clear his name.
Meanwhile, in return for their help in murdering La Marques and gaining the support of the French nobles, Ducos arranges for Helene to be forced into a nunnery, meaning her husband's wealth will go to Hacha and Matarife. Sharpe tracks her down and frees her, fleeing from Matarife's men. However, he is captured by General Verigny, a French officer and one of Helene's lovers, but refuses to give his parole promising not to escape. He is briefly tortured by Ducos before Verigny intervenes. Helene proposes Sharpe give his parole, then she and Verigny will allow him to escape. Sharpe refuses the dishourable plan but manages to escape anyway when a powder magazine is ignited.
At the Battle of Vitoria, Sharpe's regiment the South Essex are left leaderless when Leroy is killed. Sharpe manages to find his men and assume command, leading them to victory. He and Harper then manage to track down Matarife, who has captured Helene in the chaos of the French retreat. Sharpe fights Matarife and forces him to confess to La Marques' murder before killing him. Sharpe and Harper then beat Hacha until he agrees to comply with a cover story clearing Sharpe's name.
Television adaptation
The novel was adapted as the last episode of the second season of the Sharpe television series, guest starring Alice Krige as La Marquesa, Nickolas Grace as Father Hacha and Matthew Scurfield as El Matarife. It retained the same basic plot as the novel but had a number of differences: It is written as Sharpe's first meeting with La Marquesa (since her earlier appearance, Sharpe's Sword, was not adapted until later), Harper accompanies Sharpe on his mission to find her (effectively taking the place of a partisan boy named Angel from the book), Hogan and Leroy are omitted and replaced with Nairn, Hacha is killed by Ducos for his failure whereas in the book he survives, and El Matarife's death is altered, being shot by Major Mendoza as he prepares to stab Sharpe in the back rather than having his throat slit by Sharpe. It also added an extra scene at the beginning where Ducos outlines his plans to Napoleon (played by Ron Cook).
Publication history
Sharpe's Honour was the sixth book in the Sharpe series written by Cornwell by order of year of publication. After the addition of many more novels to the successful series it resides about two thirds of the way through the series and Sharpe's military career.
References
External links
Section from Bernard Cornwell's website on Sharpe's Honour
Independent Review of Sharpe's Honor
Category:1985 British novels
Honour
Category:Fiction set in 1813
Category:William Collins, Sons books |
It's really, really intense. EVERY DECISION COUNTS. THIS IS LIFE. THIS IS DEATH. FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING.
I've been playing a bit of Nintendo's strategy-RPG, which comes out for 3DS on February 4, and yeah, it's intense, especially if you play with perma-death on. Look forward to more impressions (and a full review) closer to February. |
Supreme Uprising Book Chapter 415
The Fiery Sun Path Disciples could get to comprehend the Sky Book’s fifth volume? This query arose in Luo Yunyang’s heart when he heard what the golden-robed man said.
Badebu wasn’t by his side, so there wasn’t anyone there to explain this to Luo Yunyang.
However, as Luo Yunyang was puzzled, the Blood Space Ruler suddenly grinned. “Brother Pure Sun, are you sure you want to have this bet?”
“Sure I do!” the golden-robed old man replied.
Suddenly, a voice said in Luo Yunyang’s ears, “Yunyang, although each path possesses one of the Sky Book’s nine volumes, the founders of the various paths have set down a rule. The young disciples of each path, especially those who are at the Star-Grade Realm, can refer to the Sky Book that each path holds.”
“However, this access to the Sky Book comes with certain conditions. The person in question has to be an outstanding, talented genius that surpasses all the other talented individuals,” said a tall, large man. Luo Yunyang had viewed the information on the top 15, so he knew that this person was Blood Disciple Wuka, who ranked 10th!
“The various paths slowly came up with a rule. If any path feels that their youngest generation is capable of demonstrating overwhelming superiority, they can request to consult the Sky Books of the other eight paths.”
Wuka hesitated before adding, “Usually, the path that issues this request has to put forth five elite disciples that will participate in a match with the five disciples put forward by the other paths.”
Luo Yunyang had never imagined that there would actually be such a thing. It looked like the Fiery Sun Path was very confident about getting the opportunity to refer to the other volumes of the Sky Book.
“Best out of five?” Luo Yunyang asked Wuka quietly.
“No, it’s four victories out of five!” Wuka said. “If the challenging team only obtains three victories, it is still considered a loss!”
“If the challenging team loses, it will have to allow the disciples that were challenged to comprehend the Sky Book they possess for an entire month!”
Four victories out of five? This sort of challenge was really difficult. Plus, the cost of losing was also tremendous.
The challenger’s intention was to be able to peruse the Sky Book their opponent controlled. However, the moment they lost, their opponents would get to study the Sky Book in their hands for a month.
“Have there been a lot of challenges like this in the past?” Luo Yunyang glanced at Wuka as he spoke in a low voice.
Wuka, who seemed a little listless, eventually said hoarsely, “In the past, it was really rare. It happened maybe once in 10,000 years. However, we encounter this quite a lot nowadays.”
Quite a lot? Luo Yunyang found these words a little peculiar.
However, when he studied Wuka’s expression, he immediately understood. Being challenged a lot meant that the new generation of Bloody Massacre Path was getting weaker.
Meanwhile, the successful challenges of the other paths also increased.
After all, he hadn’t yet shown his true ability during the Grand Showdown.
“He he… Your name is Luo Yunyang, right? I thought you would be impressive. I didn’t expect that you wouldn’t even make the top five. How disgraceful!” Luochuan stared provocatively at Luo Yunyang with a look of disdain.
As Luo Yunyang studied Luochuan, his mind went to work. A moment later, he chuckled. “Based on the way you look, you probably rank fifth among the Fiery Sun Path elites.”
Luochuan snorted haughtily but didn’t say anything else.
Luo Yunyang gave laughed casually. “I was wondering something. How old are you?”
Luochuan stared at the snickering Luo Yunyang as he said haughtily, “I might not be that young. I’m already past 100 years old.”
Judging by the geniuses that existed in the entire galaxy, being able to reach Luochuan’s level at his age was not too bad.
His cultivation base was also decent. Some whose cultivation bases would start out at the Planet-Grade would find it difficult to cross over.
Achieving this by Luochuan’s age was indeed impressive. Besides, this was something that Luochuan was immensely proud of.
“What? 100? That won’t do. A soft-shelled turtle at 10 is still a turtle at 100. You have lived for a century, so you could already be considered a turtle. However, your robust physique could make a 30-year-old young fellow like me blush with shame!”
Even though Luochuan had been proclaimed by many people a young genius, he had never imagined that this person would actually call him a robust turtle! Wasn’t this basically a different kind of insult?
However, Luo Yunyang also had a right to be prideful. This kid was only in his thirties after all.
“Age doesn’t matter among trash. If I had been in the Bloody Massacre Path, I would probably have become the strongest powerhouse among the Star-Grade entities 50 years ago.”
Luochuan was so furious that he didn’t care. He just mouthed off.
This statement immediately earned him furious glares from the Blood Space Ruler and every other Bloody Massacre Path powerhouse present.
Luochuan quickly realized that following his impulse was foolish. This gaffe would definitely ignite everyone’s wrath. Lowering his head and apologizing at such a helpless time was also out of the question. After all, this concerned the Fiery Sun Path’s dignity.
The Blood Space Ruler stared icily at Luochuan. If the Pure Sun Ruler had not been standing beside him, perhaps he would have already slapped Luochuan right into the ground.
“Brother Pure Sun, do you share this young man’s opinion?” the Blood Space Ruler asked frostily as he glanced at the Pure Sun Ruler.
The golden-robed Pure Sun Ruler glanced quickly at Luochuan before chuckling. “This young man is too arrogant. Please do not mind him, Brother Blood Space. However, he doesn’t seem to be wrong. Don’t tell me that you still don’t know about the Bloody Massacre Path’s youngest generation?”
BOOM! A majestic aura rushed forth from the Blood Ruler’s body, causing streaks of Origin Source Law to take shape in the sky all around.
Even Luo Yunyang found it difficult to breathe amid this suppressing aura.
A Galaxy-Grade ruler was really too frightening.
Some weaker Bloody Massacre Path Blood Disciples situated in the Hall of Heroes fell to the ground when pressured by this wave of power.
Meanwhile, the five powerhouses of the Fiery Sun Path braced against it quietly with an unyielding look on their faces.
The young man standing up front seemed particularly determined. A large scarlet sun appeared above his head, shielding the area all around him like a fortress. It seemed like he wasn’t even affected by the Blood Space Ruler’s crushing might.
This display of power was extremely strong!
Even the Bloody Massacre Path’s strongest member, Yang Shang, didn’t seem to match up to him right now!
The Blood Space Ruler sensed the reactions of the Blood Disciples bellow the Hall of Heroes. Although he was still burning with rage, he couldn’t allow the disciples beneath him to be humiliated any further.
Therefore, he quickly retracted his own aura.
The Pure Sun Ruler laughed heartily. “Today is your Hero Meeting, Brother Blood Space. It really was wrong of us to come and disturb it. The combatants have already been decided, so we will settle this at the Blood Spirit Sky’s Top Blood Platform tomorrow. How does that sound?”
Although the Pure Sun Ruler had adopted a courteous, polite stance and said that they were creating a disturbance, his face was clearly telling a different story.
The Blood Space Ruler snorted. “We shall meet tomorrow then!”
A Blood Spirit Sky attendant led the Pure Sun Ruler, Luochuan and the other four people over to the Top Blood District’s house reserved for special guests. As Luochuan walked by Luo Yunyang, he sneered. “I hope you can come and watch the match tomorrow!”
Although Luo Yunyang was really pissed with Luochuan, he really didn’t have any means of dealing with him at this point in time. All he could do was watch that guy leave haughtily.
After the Pure Sun Ruler’s group left, the Blood Space Ruler glared bitterly at Luo Yunyang, making him feel a little puzzled.
He wondered whether that old man had slept on the wrong side of the bed. He hadn’t done anything. Why was he staring at him?
“Tomorrow will determine the reputation of the Bloody Massacre Path. You five must at least come out victorious in two matches!” Although the Blood Space Ruler’s voice was overcast, there was a strong desire in it. “If you aren’t even able to win two matches, then don’t blame me for throwing you into the Blood Fiend Purgatory!”
“We will definitely be able to win two matches!” Yang Shang was the first to clench his fist and pledge this.
A faint gratified smile formed on the Blood Space Ruler’s face as he watched the steel-like Yang Shang. Then, he glanced at the Blood Disciples below and said. “Yang Shang and the other four people who will be participating in the match have to stay behind. The rest of you can return first. The Grand Showdown will commence after this match is over!”
“We will do as you bid!” Luo Yunyang and the others cupped their fists in the Blood Space Ruler’s direction before leaving. Right now, they all felt the same burning fire in their hearts.
After all, who wouldn’t be furious over this sort of humiliation? A visitor had shown disdain on their turf!
“Don’t lose heart, Brother Yunyang. After all, you only entered the Blood Spirit Sky 10 years ago. Perhaps you will get your chance next time this sort of challenge occurs again!” Wuka consoled Luo Yunyang as they left together.
Luo Yunyang smiled at the solemn-looking Wuka. “I could smack Luochuan to the ground right now.”
Wuka glanced at Luo Yunyang and laughed heartily. “I also wish to smack Luochuan to the ground.”
Although Wuka found Luo Yunyang’s courage laudable, in his heart, he didn’t believe that Luo Yunyang had this sort of ability. |
Q:
How can I use Autolayout to create a layout that expands in height based on the content of a UILabel
I am attempting to build a dynamic layout using the new autolayout api in iOS 6.0. The layout that I am attempting to build has 2 buttons with a label inbetween them as shown in the image below:
What I would like is for the container view shown in grey to increase or decrease in size depending on the amount of text in the label.
So far I've managed to get the layout to work exactly as described with one small issue that I've not been able to resolve. The problem I am having is that the intrinsic height of the label is alway calculated with the original width of the label (e.g. the one set in interface builder) and not the width of the label that is set from the constraints I have on it.
The constraints that I have on the views are as follows:
H:|-[leftButton]-[label]-[rightButton]-|
Both buttons are centered Vertically
V: |-[label]-|
the content hugging priority of the buttons is higher than the label
the compression Resistance of the label is higher than the container view
All of these constraints together create the desired layout.
However:
If the Width of the label in interface builder (the literal size in interface builder) is less than the width of the view at runtime, then the height of the container is too large.
To help clarify this, the IB view of the above layout was as follows (note much narrower)
If the Width of the label in interface builder (the literal size in interface builder) is greater than the width of the view at runtime, then the height of the container is too small and lines of text get cut off.
What appears to be happening is that although there is no constraint on the labels width, the label seems to calculate its height (and thus the autolayout calculated height of the container) based on the original width of the label when it was created. However whats so strange is that the text appears to be the correct width and height but the label itself has a frame thats just too big or small.
I guess this is related to the order in which things are happening, and have tried calling updateConstraintsIfNeeded in the containerViews layoutSubview method however this doesn't appear to do anything.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
A:
May be I am late but any way I've found solution. Any time when label width is changed you need to manually update preferredMaxLayoutWidth for Label. For example:
Label.preferredMaxLayoutWidth = 200;
Interface builder sets preferredMaxLayoutWidth with initial label width.
Hope this helps.
|
LAMBUNAO, Philippines — Children of two Catholic priests were baptized on Sunday as the priests renewed calls for the abolition of the mandatory celibacy among the clergy.
Timing the baptismal rites four days before the historic visit of Pope Francis to the country, Fr. Hector Canto and Fr. Jose Elmer Cajilig called for an end to the centuries-old celibacy rule saying many children were suffering and growing up without fathers.
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“We appeal for compassion and mercy from Pope Francis for the priests and their children. Baptizing these children is giving them dignity,” said Fr. Jesus Siva who officiated the rites.
Canto and Cajilig also wore their liturgical vestments and co-celebrated the Mass with Siva.
Siva, 54, who has two sons aged 15 and 13, also officiated Canto’s wedding to Cynthia Diamante in 1998.
About 80 of friends, relatives and parishioners of the three priests attended the rites at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel in Lambunao town in Iloilo, about 48 kilometers north of Iloilo City.
Canto’s daughter was baptized as Gabriel Opcel for “optional celibacy.” He has three other children aged 7 to 14 also with Opcel as part of their first names.
One of his children, Mikhael, served as an altar boy during the baptismal rites.
Canto said they originally scheduled the baptism for December 2014 but moved it to Jan. 11 in time for the papal visit.
“We are hoping that changes will happen in the Church. I don’t want to leave the priesthood,” Canto, 53, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He said they saw the Pope as open-minded although he had no illusions that changes on the celibacy rule would happen soon.
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“Sooner or later, change will happen. But it may not be during my lifetime,” he said.
Siva, Canto and Cajilig have been calling on the Catholic Church to allow priests to marry, believing that “celibacy is a gift” and should not be mandatory to all priests.
Despite objection from Church officials, Siva officiated the highly celebrated marriage of Canto and Diamante on May 31, 1998 at the Mt. Zion chapel in Barangay (village) Balagiao in Lambunao.
In June 1999, Church officials revoked the two priests’ license to solemnize marriages. Since then, they have not received assignments but they have been holding Masses every Sunday in Balagiao and in the town proper among the parishes they organized.
Last year, the National Statistics Office granted licenses to Canto and Siva to officiate civil weddings.
According to Siva, mandatory celibacy has advantages but has also caused “a deluge of problems.”
He has insisted that the rule has no basis in the Bible and can be changed.
“What is happening to most children of priests whose fathers have not acknowledged their responsibility? They (children) and their mothers are told to hide the truth or transfer residence,” Siva said.
Many priests, who have children and partners, are “still hiding,” according to Siva, who has appealed on the faithful to be compassionate to children of priests.
“We have not left our priesthood. We have not changed our religion,” he said.
Cajilig’s 27-year-old partner Kristine Joy Catalbas, is thankful that her partner has openly acknowledged their family and his responsibility.
“I cannot imagine the difficulty of the partners of priests who have not been acknowledged,” she told the INQUIRER.
She also has her share of “painful” condemnation and criticisms. People have blamed her for pursuing a relationship with a priest. But she said she has accepted these criticisms and has made her critics understand her.
Irene Castor, 64, one of those who regularly attend Mass officiated by the priests, said she was not bothered by priests having children.
“We pray to the Lord. What is important is that we have a priest who serves us,” she said.
Evelyn Lubay, who also attended the baptismal rites, admitted that priests with partners and children have not been accepted by all residents in their community but she thought it would be better for priests for to admit having partners and children.
Canto said they had no plans to attempt to seek an audience with the Pope during his visit.
“We are nobody. But we hope he hears us,” he said.
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Alteration of capsular type of encapsulated strains of Staphylococcus aureus during freeze-drying and storage.
Remarkable alteration was shown in capsular type antigen production in encapsulated strains of Staphylococcus aureus stored by lyophilization for 10 years. This alteration was further elucidated by antibody production in rabbits immunized with the altered strain and by absorbing the antibodies with representative capsular type strains. |
A morphological study of simple testicular cysts in the ostrich (Struthio camelus).
Simple testicular cysts are rare in mammals and of unknown aetiology, but dietary conditions have been implicated in this phenomenon in poultry. This study characterises the structural features of simple intratesticular cysts in the ostrich. Seven testes from a total of 15 sexually mature ostriches slaughtered during the breeding season were used. The testes contained multifocal, fluid-filled, unilocular cysts which were lined by a simple squamous or low cuboidal epithelium and surrounded by a thick layer of fibrous connective tissue. The cysts developed within seminiferous tubules and displayed morphological features similar to those reported in man and domestic poultry. The testis parenchyma revealed several foci composed of intermingled normal seminiferous tubules and variably sized intratesticular cysts. The atrophic tubules lay within a mass of hyperplastic, fibroblastic intertubular connective tissue in the proximity of large cysts and their formation appeared to result from hydrostatic pressure exerted by cysts. Morphological evidence supports a continuous process of cyst formation in the affected testis and a concomitant progressive loss of atrophic seminiferous tubules. A pathogenetic scenario of cyst formation and the effect of simple cysts on testicular histology has been proposed. Although the course of this phenomenon remains unknown, its impact on the fertility of this economically important bird deserves closer scrutiny. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Brooding heroes & research
Feel more optimistic tonight because I researched some of Rashid's story. Found the perfect setting, background, and tie-in. Crocs. Sobek, the ancient Egyptian croc god. Croc of something, if you ask me.
Rashid's story, oooohhh, so dark. So very very dark, brooding and sexy. Kept thinking about him, how he's missed out on childhood, how isolated and alone he is, vulnerable inside but never shows it. I am beginning to feel sparks of hope for this book. It's so very different from anything I've ever written. Writing about an emotionally scarred, abused hero challenges me. I glance over my notes from my talks with Dr. Cassell, a therapist who gave me pointers on the behavioral traits of abused children. Rashid is not humorous, though he does joke at times. He is so very complex and fierce and changes, shifts like the wind. I sketched out a scene in which he does a very proper, gentleman-like fencing exercise with foils. This sharply contrasts to the brutal fight he engages in much later in the desert, a fight to the death.
Speaking of violence...sigh...saw today that more are being killed in Haiti. More beheadings. More aid groups withdrawing from Gonaives... sigh... will it ever end? |
444 Greene Street, Augusta, GA
Welcome to SHOWCASE.COM, the Web's most comprehensive source of commercial property data, where you can search from 900,000 listings nationwide. To see more Commercial Real Estate listings, Office Space, Industrial Space, Retail Space, Commercial Land, Multi-Family or other commercial property types, just click the button to the right.
Sale Notes:This 4,500 sq. ft. 2 story office building has 2,000 sq. ft. per floor on the 1st two floors and 500 sq. ft. on the 3rd floor.. The 1st floor has four offices, two bathrooms and a kitchen. The 2nd floor has four offices and two baths. The third floor has a large open room and a bathroom.The building is located on Greene Street near the corner of 5th Street in downtown Augusta. |
Hope for halting incurable citrus disease
Sep. 25, 2013 — The devastating disease Huonglongbing, or citrus greening, looms darkly over the United States, threatening to wipe out the nation's citrus industry, whose fresh fruit alone was valued at more than $3.4 billion in 2012.
Recently, however, a research team led by a University of California, Davis, plant scientist used DNA sequencing technologies to paint a broad picture of how citrus greening impacts trees before they even show signs of infection, offering hope for developing diagnostic tests and treatments for the currently incurable disease.
"Florida is seemingly in the death grip of citrus greening, and many experts believe it is just a matter of time before the disease appears full force in California," said plantmolecularbiologist Abhaya Dandekar, lead author on the study.
The new findings indicate that the bacterial disease interferes with starch and sugarmetabolism in young and matures leaves and fruit, while also wreaking havoc with hormonal networks that are key to the trees' ability to fend of infections. Study results will be reported Sept. 25 in the journal PLOS ONE.
"Because the disease has a long latent phase during which there are no symptoms of infection and the bacteria are resistant to being grown in the laboratory, the only option for halting transmission of citrus greening has been to apply chemicalpesticides to control the insect that spreads the bacteria," Dandekar said.
About citrus greening:
HLB, or citrus greening, is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide. It is caused by three species of the Candidatus Liberibacterbacteria, including Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, which is known by the acronym CaLas. These bacteria are carried from tree to tree by two species of the citrus psyllid, a winged insect that is about one-eighth inch long and attaches itself to the underside of the trees' leaves.
As the citrus psyllid feeds on a leaf, it can pick up the bacteria from a diseased tree and introduce the bacteria to a non-infected tree. These disease-causing bacteria reside in the tree's phloem -- the vascular tissue that carries vital nutrients throughout the tree.
The disease affects most citrus species, causing yellowing of shoots, blotchy and mottled leaves, lopsided and poorly colored fruit and loss of viable seeds. The fruit of diseased trees is hard, misshapen and bitter, and the infected trees die within a few years.
Other than one infected backyard tree found in 2012 in the Southern California community of Hacienda Heights, the disease has not been detected in California. However the citrus psyllid that transmits the bacteria was first found in California in 2008 and has since been identified in San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern and Tulare counties, resulting in quarantines and restricted areas.
The new study:
In this new study, the researchers studied four categories of healthy and diseased citrus trees, with the goal of better understanding how HLB affects trees physiologically during the very early stages of infection.
"Earlier sequencing of the CaLas bacteria genome showed that there were no toxins or enzymes that would destroy plantcell walls, or specialized secretion systems associated with citrus HLB," Dandekar said.
"Because these factors, which normally accompany plant diseases, were not present, we suspected that the disease was causing metabolic imbalances or interfering with nutrient transport in the infected trees," he said.
The researchers used gene sequencing technology to study the "transcriptome," which is the collection of RNA found in the tree leaves and fruit.
Furthermore, the researchers discovered that HLB interfered with the regulation of hormones such as salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and ethylene, which are "the backbone" of the plant innate immune response. And they found that infected trees also had changes in the metabolism of important amino acids that serve as a reservoir for organicnitrogen in many plants. The nitrogen is required to stimulate the plant immune response.
Cause for hope:
The researchers anticipate that these discoveries will lead the way to new tests for detecting the bacteria and thus the presence of HLB in orchard trees.
They also suggest that it may be possible to develop several short-term treatments for infected trees. Such therapeutic procedures might rely on using hormones and other small molecules to restore the infected tree's normal metabolism or boosting the tree's innate immune response to effectively fight the infection.
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MARSEILLE — A 15-year-old supporter of the Islamic State group who slashed a Jewish teacher with a machete in southern France has said he was “proud” of his attack, ahead of a court appearance Wednesday.
The teenager, an ethnic Kurd from Turkey, told police he did not regret the assault on a Jewish teacher in Marseille, the latest in a string of such attacks in recent months.
A source close to the investigation told local media the boy had said he was “ashamed” that he did not manage to kill the 35-year-old teacher, Benjamin Amsellem.
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The teenager, who was to appear in front of a judge on Wednesday where he faces terrorism charges, said he became interested in jihadist theories in March 2014 after seeing documentaries arguing that Muslims were persecuting Westerners.
“One thing led to another and he came upon jihadist websites” arguing that in fact it was Westerners that were persecuting Muslims and he “agreed”, said the police source.
“I don’t represent Daesh, they represent me,” the teenager reportedly told investigators.
Prosecutors have described the teenager as a good student, from a normal background who self-radicalized via the Internet, highlighting the challenge to French authorities in identifying extremists.
The attack has sparked debate in France’s Jewish community over whether men and boys should stop wearing the skullcap identifying their religion.
Zvi Ammar, the leader of Marseille’s Jewish community, urged male Jews to stop wearing the kippa “until better days”, because of fears for their safety.
“Unfortunately for us, we are targeted,” he told AFP. “As soon as we are identified as Jewish we can be assaulted and even risk death.”
However other Jewish leaders rejected the call, with France’s chief rabbi Haim Korsia telling AFP: “We should not give an inch, we should continue wearing the kippa.”
The attack was the third in recent months on Jews in Marseille, the Mediterranean city that is home to the second-largest Jewish population in France after Paris with some 70,000.
In October a knife-wielding, drunken assailant attacked three Jews near a synagogue in the city.
In November, another Jewish teacher was stabbed by people shouting anti-Semitic obscenities and support for the Islamic State group.
France’s Jewish community has grown used to living under the surveillance of armed soldiers around synagogues and schools since being targeted in a jihadist attack in Paris last January.
Last weekend, the country marked a year since the attacks which left 17 people dead, including four Jews gunned down in a kosher supermarket. |
A Complete Code of Life - Islam, Lessons From Holy Qur'an, Sayings Of The Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him), Teachings Of Islam, Religion Of Wisdom, Pillars Of Islam
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Worldly life is only of a few days - Quran Chapter 11-15 & 16 (Pt-12, Stg-3) (L-1356) - درس قرآن
QuranChapter 11-15
& 16 (Pt-12, Stg-3) (L-1356) -درسقرآن
Worldly life is only of a few days
Surah Huud(Hud) - 11
BisMillaahir-Rahmaanir-Rahiim
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Commentary
What can someone cause to understand any individual more than that which
has been explained in the previous verses? After that, there is an extreme need
of meditation by reciting the Holy Qur’an
again and again, and summary of those advices should be placed in the heart;
which have been mentioned in it, so that the form of dressing the life is
produced, otherwise; there is nothing at the end save ruin and destruction.
Holy
Qur’an has been informing that
worldly life of the mankind is only of a few days, and it has been given to the
human being for the purpose that he should be ready for that real life which
will start after death. This world is a place of examination, in which; both
kinds of things (useful and harmful) have been spread duly mixed up, and the
mankind have been caused to know by means of the Messengers and Prophets (peace
be upon them); that they should never consider that; “this (worldly) life is
their real life”, and it should not be fixed as own aim. It is only a wonderful
sort of reflection of the real life, in which; those things appear attractive
before ordinary people; form of which is nothing but stir, restlessness, serpents,
scorpions and the Fire in the real Life. The person who will run behind the
things towards which; his sight attracts, to him; those things will be provided
in the same attractive artificial form, and if it would be possible, he will
reap advantage fully from them. But as soon as he will die, those things will
be changed in their original form; and he will see that it was mass of fire,
which does not have any quality save burning and giving pain.
The
person who obeyed the commands of Holy Qur’an,
comprehended the reality of those things and understood that attraction of
those things is a deception, he prevented himself from inclining unto them, and
he turned his attention to such things which are conspicuous here in the form
of restraint from wishes and abstinence, and those things will be apparent
there in the form of pleasure and ease, he passed the test and his real life
will be dressed.
One
more thing which is known from these verses, is that; abstinence, God-fearing
and prevention from desires etc. are however; good things. But their benefit
will appear in the life of Hereafter; only in such form; if these will be
adopted for acquiring pleasure of Allah Almighty purely. If it would be for any
other purpose beside the pleasure of Allah Almighty, then it will not be useful
in the Hereafter, where the standard of the success will be only that how much
a person performed good works for the sake of Allah Almighty. Which good works
would have been done for any other purpose, their retaliation and advantage
will be given only in this world according to one’s luck, and they will get
nothing in the Hereafter. Such people will be told: For which purpose you
became pious; that was fulfilled during your worldly life. Now; there is
nothing for you, however, in the form of your abstinence, which you adopted in
the world, here the Fire is. Therefore they will be thrown into the Fire.
Transliterated Holy Qur’an in Roman
Script & Translated from Arabic to English by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by PaakCompany, 17-Urdu Bazaar, Lahore, Lesson collected from Dars e Qur’aan published By Idara Islaah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated Urdu to
English by Muhammad Sharif). https://youtu.be/mxoK_dov0-k |
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat assembly with an integral child seat and in particular to such a seat assembly with features that provide for easier assembly as well as easier operation of the child seat than many integral child seats on the market today.
Integral child seat assemblies must necessarily include restraint systems for holding a child occupant therein. These restraint systems may or may not include a seat belt retractor. Those systems that do include a seat belt retractor typically mount the retractor directly to the vehicle floor pan resulting in an additional attachment point to the vehicle structure. This necessitates a modification to the vehicle structure to accommodate a seat back having the integral child seat option. The seat back of the present invention includes a retractor mounted to the seat back rather than to the vehicle. The seat back can use the same attachment points to the motor vehicle as a seat back not including an integral child seat. As a result, no modification to the vehicle structure is necessitated when the integral child seat option is selected.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the child seat belt retractor or retractors are mounted within the rotatable child seat cushion. This is preferred in that the packaging space provided in the child seat cushion for the retractor is greater than the space provided in the seat back portion of the child seat.
The child seat is comprised of a single rotating panel mounted at the base of the seat back and stored within a recess in the seat back. In the stored position, one face surface of the child seat panel forms an adult seat back surface. Deployment of the child seat is accomplished by rotating the child seat panel forward until the face surface of the child seat panel rests upon the seat cushion surface forward of the seat back. When the panel has been forwardly rotated, a recess in the seat back is revealed forming a child seat back surface rearward of the adult seat back surface of the seat back. By utilizing a single panel forming the child seat cushion, deployment is accomplished by one operation, rotation of one panel forward. The child seating surface of the child seat panel is provided with a rear portion upon which the buttocks of a child are seated and a forward portion forming a footrest for the child occupant. The footrest is preferably recessed relative to the rear seating surface.
In one embodiment of the invention, the child seat panel is provided with a secondary folding member which is rotatably mounted to the child seat panel and can be rotated from the front surface of the child seat panel. This folding member can be in the form of a storage bin, cup holder or an arm rest for use by adult seat occupants when the child seat panel is in its upright stowed position.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. |
Q:
Why don't jQuery works in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010?
I have created an ASP.NET MVC 2 Web application in MS Visual Studio 2010.And now I need to add styles to it using JQuery.For creating an image slide show within a div , i have written a JQuery file and tried to link it with my View Master Page. But what happens is that when I try to run my project , visual studio tells that "Microsoft JScript runtime error: 'jQuery' is undefined".. Can any one of you help me regarding this matter ? ...Thanks :)
here's the code I have given within my jQuery
/*Coding : Nidhin & Eldhose*/
function slideSwitch() {
var $active = $('#Left_Image DIV.active');
if ($active.length == 0) $active = $('#Left_Image DIV:last');
// use this to pull the divs in the order they appear in the markup
var $next = $active.next().length ? $active.next()
: $('#Left_Image DIV:first');
// uncomment below to pull the divs randomly
// var $sibs = $active.siblings();
// var rndNum = Math.floor(Math.random() * $sibs.length );
// var $next = $( $sibs[ rndNum ] );
$active.addClass('last-active');
$next.css({ opacity: 0.0 })
.addClass('active')
.animate({ opacity: 1.0 }, 1000, function () {
$active.removeClass('active last-active');
});
}
$(function () {
setInterval("slideSwitch()", 5000);
});
A:
You probably forgot to reference the jquery script before trying to use it:
<script src="<%= Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.min.js") %>" type="text/javascript"></script>
|
Ecuador: The Debate in the Streets
Amidst deep tensions over Ecuador’s new water law, currently in its final debate within the National Assembly, campesino farmers in the southern province of Azuay celebrated a moment of victory on Wednesday night. The President of the Provincial Court overturned a preventative prison sentence against five community leaders who had been detained and charged during peaceful road blockades the day before on lack of evidence.
Amidst deep tensions over Ecuador’s new water law, currently in its final debate within the National Assembly, campesino farmers in the southern province of Azuay celebrated a moment of victory on Wednesday night. The President of the Provincial Court overturned a preventative prison sentence against five community leaders who had been detained and charged during peaceful road blockades the day before on lack of evidence.
Among a jubilant crowd in front of the city jail, the wife of one of the detained said, “Among so much injustice and criminalization of our struggle, we breathed a bit of justice.” Wife of the President of the Community Water Systems of the province of Azuay, Verónica Cevallos added, “President Correa wanted to send us the message, ‘Be quiet, enough already.’ … But instead, our euforia and mission to defend our land and our Pachamama (Mother Earth) have been unleashed.”
This week marked the sixth year in a struggle that communities, such as Victoria del Portete and Tarqui, have been leading against gold mining in their upper watershed. They want mining prohibited in headwaters and related ecosystems, a proposal not adopted in the official water bill.
Between choruses of “The people united will never be defeated,” and “Let’s go, dammit! We won’t give up, dammit!” the President of the Rural Parish Council of Victoria del Portete, Federico Guzmán – who was also detained and charged with sabotage this week – thanked supporters. He commented that the reason he was jailed was because he was “acting in defence of water so that people in the city can drink safe milk and eat nutritious meat and eggs.” He concluded, “We’re not going to back down.”
Protests across the south-central province of Azuay have been taking place concurrently with thousand’s-strong indigenous mobilizations in Quito to ensure a serious debate over the water bill and to have indigenous and campesino-backed proposals included. No other law has caused so much upheaval among campesino and indigenous organizations since the small Andean nation’s new mining law was passed last year.
Struggling to be heard
“We want the government to listen to us,” a woman yelled, during a futile debate with a group of police officers along a stretch of highway edged with dairy farms just south of the city of Cuenca on Tuesday. Police, who had failed to clear protesters from the road with tear gas, said the communities should hold a march instead. The woman, along with several others, responded in a chorus of groans. They said they had held marches and that they had not brought about results.
A strong voice for historically marginalized campesino and indigenous sectors in water-related decisions is a key issue separating social movements from the official block represented by President Correa’s Country Alliance movement. Popular sectors want a greater say at both the local and national level.
Dr. Carlos Pérez, President of the Community Water Systems of the province of Azuay (UNAGUA), participated in the Tuesday protest until he was forcibly detained at about eight in the morning. In an attempt to protect him, his mother, age 79, was dragged along the ground.
Pérez explains that at the local level they want the right to prior consent for communities whose water supplies could be affected by other water uses, such as mining. At the national level they are proposing an Intercultural and Plurinational Committee to become the nation’s top water authority.
He says they envision this committee as having diverse membership from different levels of state and civil society. “If power is concentrated in one person,” he says, “it will be this person that has the ultimate say.” This is a situation they want to avoid, particularly given differences here between communities and the state over mining concessions in the upper wetlands, known as páramo.
“If there is a plurinational committee made up of seven people from municipalities, rural parishes, rural water systems and indigenous communities,” he says, “then it won’t be one person that decides, but many. And many heads are better than one.”
The structure proposed in the official water bill also includes an Intercultural and Plurinational Committee. However, in the proposed structure, the representative of the National Water Secretariat has a deciding vote. The head of the National Water Secretariat is named by the President of the Republic.
Pérez is also concerned that the proposed water bill will be used “to demobilize communities.” Although not opposed to cooperation with the state or state responsibility to ensure the right to water, he worries that municipal governments or the water secretariat will use any variety of criteria to determine that community water systems “are incapable of managing water supplies” in order “to turn them over to local governments.”
The official water bill proposal does recognize rural community water systems as historic actors in water management in Ecuador. It even calls them a part of national heritage and the country’s collective memory. However, it prioritizes coordination at the local level between the National Water Secretariat and local state entities and charges local governments with the role of stepping in to resolve issues with community water systems where deemed necessary.
Pérez’s concern about possible interference is particularly comprehensible given both the important role that rural organizations have played in rural water management, as well as given a context of ongoing repression and conflicts between organizations such as his and the state with regard to controversial issues, such as gold mining in sensitive ecosystems and headwaters.
To privatize or not to privatize
Further south along the highway, away from the dairy farming communities of Tarqui and Victoria del Portete, another concentration of men and women make this coastal-highland connection nearly impenetrable until early evening on Tuesday. Protesters report that confrontations took place with police early in the morning. But at mid-day, police officers are snacking on potato chips while a couple of hundred people mill around large rocks scattered across the thoroughfare in Girón.
A representative of the People’s Assembly in Defence of Nature, Abel Arpi, talks with the press between taking phone calls. He alleges that the proposed water bill will not effectively address water privatization in Ecuador.
He claims that the water bill lacks mechanisms to redistribute water in the interests of rural communities, such as in Azuay province, where three percent of water concession holders have been shown to control about seventy percent of available water. He also criticizes the water bill for failing to take decisive action against foreign-controlled water delivery services in the city of Guayaquil where thousands lack access to safe water supplies.
“The constitution clearly says that water management should be exclusively public or community-based,” says Arpi. “But now they say that these concessions are going to remain. What kind of redistribution of water is this?”
Father Teodoro Delgado, a local priest who practices what he calls eco-theology, accompanied protests on Tuesday. He echoes Arpi’s concerns, saying that he would like to see a mechanism in the law “that would revert all water concessions to the state and to then be democratically redistributed in favour of communities, taking into consideration priorities for water use, first for human consumption, secondly for agriculture, and then for other uses.”
Failing to see “a will for such redistribution,” he concurs with Arpi that the law could sustain the current scenario in which very few water users control most of the country’s water resources.
The commission responsible for preparing the report for final debate has challenged such allegations arguing that the proposed law explicitly prohibits privatization of water and ensures that water management will be public or community-based. The proposal additionally indicates that an audit will be carried out of existing water concessions during the coming year to determine which should be reverted to the state in order to ensure the right to water.
However, Assembly Member Jaime Abril who headed the commission that prepared the majority report has made qualified remarks with regard to their decision not to revert privately-held water concessions, such as in the case of Interagua in Guayquil.
Guayaquil’s public water corporation has had a contract with former-Bechtel subsidiary, Interagua, since 2001. Three national state institutions have audited this contract, which entailed a $40 million dollar loan from the Inter American Development Bank. The Comptroller General (Contraloría General del Estado) determined that the Ecuadorian population has paid roughly the same amount of money servicing its debt to the IADB as Interagua has gained in capital over the last decade. Furthermore, whereas Ecuador still owes about $27 million dollars on the original loan and Interagua’s services have been shown to be severely lacking, the Commission for the Integral Audit of Public Credit determined in 2008 that the debt is “unnecessary, illegitimate and counterproductive with regard to the interests of the citizens of Guayaquil.” Various civil society organizations see the new water law as an opportunity to cancel this contract.
Assembly Member Abril has said, by deciding not to do this that they are still working within the constitutional framework, which permits the state to allow private participation in strategic sectors such as water under exceptional circumstances. They have proposed, however, that the municipality of Guayaquil be given a year to further evaluate the contract and to determine whether or not it is within the city’s interests.
Unresolved tensions
The buoyant mood in front of the jail on Wednesday night stood in stark contrast to the dismal feeling among a small group of family members and friends that attended the initial hearing of the five detained community leaders on Tuesday.
The Tuesday proceeding was held in a plain basement courtroom in which cameras were prohibited, the five were quickly pressed with charges for sabotage of public services. The public attorney expressed that she had not had time to gather evidence nor to visit the scene in which police were allegedly injured and transit signs purportedly damaged. However, based solely upon police testimony, she and then the judge determined that the five men should be charged with aggravated sabotage of public services, a crime which carries possible sentences of eight to twelve years in prison. Although the men were then released from their preventative prison sentence on Wednesday, all five face an ongoing legal process.
The People’s Ombudsman for the province of Azuay (Defensor del Pueblo), Jorge Luis Hidrovo, was present at both hearings. He was surprised at the “lightness” with which the case was treated by the first judge and called the charges “disproportionate.” He perceives a lack of effort on the part of the government to try to reach consensus with indigenous and campesino sectors, which have constitutional and internationally recognized rights to be properly consulted over legislation that could affect their rights.
Verónica Cevallos is not optimistic that things are going to change in the short term. She anticipates a tough fight ahead and says, “We’re going to continue to see serious persecution.”
However, looking beyond any gains they may or may not make with the upcoming passage of the water law, she considers the cheering crowd on Wednesday night in front of the jailhouse following her husband’s release and indicates that they are willing to face what might come. “This is beginning of an even stronger fight,” she states looking around, “and this is the best evidence that we’re united, albeit as humble campesinos, but for a just cause.”
UDW Back Online!
UpsideDownWorld.org is back online! Thanks so much to everyone for your patience and support as we worked through the process of recovering the site from a major hack. Thirteen years of reporting and analysis, including thousands of articles and photos, has been transferred to a secure host and new web platform and it's not going anywhere. UDW journalists have provided a wealth of information, from reports on worker occupations of factories in Argentina and the popular uprisings in Bolivia, to investigations uncovering US military interventions, coups, and corporate plunder across Latin America. This excellent writing is all here and we will be in touch with the next steps as we smooth out the new site design.
"If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn't we have to turn it over to get it to stand up straight?"
~ Eduardo Galeano |
Q:
The main attacks on the Riemann Hypothesis?
Attempts to prove the Riemann Hypothesis
So I'm compiling a list of all the attacks and current approaches to Riemann Hypothesis. Can anyone provide me sources (or give their thoughts on possible proofs of it) on promising attacks on Riemann Hypothesis?
My current understanding is that the field of one element is the most popular approach to RH.
It would be good if someone started a Polymath project with the aim of proving RH. Surely, if everyone discussing possible ways to prove RH, it would be proven in about a year or so or at least people would have made a bit more progress towards the proof or disproof.
A:
"My current understanding is that the field of one element is the most popular approach to RH."
Analytic number theory, with ideas from algebraic geometry, random matrix theory, and any other areas that might be relevant, is the only approach known to have produced any concrete results toward RH. The random matrix theory in particular has produced a lot of new constraints and specific, provable ideas about the distribution of zeros on the critical line.
The field of one element is, for now, a speculative area of algebraic geometry whose foundations are not set. It is more an inspiration for research on more definite mathematical objects (e.g., is there a tensor product of zeta functions) than a well-defined topic of research in itself.
(I'll add here some response to the comments. Research on $F_1$ is, as Matt E writes, "serious" and conducted with various sophisticated intentions in mind, such as perfecting the analogies between number theory and geometry, proving the Riemann hypothesis, understanding quantum groups, or realizing parts of combinatorics as geometry over $F_1$. This was all proposed in Manin's lectures at Columbia 20 years ago which were instrumental in bringing the idea into fashion in recent years. However, as serious and sophisticated as this research is, the idea that a suitable notion of $\Bbb{F_1}$ exists as a deeper base for algebraic geometry, or that this line of research can be developed to cover new varieties beyond the original example of Weyl groups of reductive groups (or flag varieties and other examples with simple $q$-enumerations) --- or the hope that all this can help prove the Riemann hypothesis --- is a speculative enterprise and one whose foundations have not been established.)
A:
It should be worth pointing out that, Alain Connes attacked the problem from a very different plane(http://arxiv.org/abs/math/9811068), following Weil and Haran's path, he tried to construct an "index theory" in Arithmetical context linking Arithmetical data with Spectral properties of a certain operator which is closed and unbounded and whose spectrum consists of imaginary parts of the zeroes of Hecke's L function with Grossen-character. Essentially he reconstructed a theory similar to Selberg's, he found a trace formula equivalent to the RH using Weil's explicit formulae.
Actually Shai Haran also stated a "similar" trace formula in his AMS paper "On Riemann's zeta function", One can also find a derivation of his trace formula in his book The Mysteries of the Real Prime.
|
Q:
Azure GET action with one-to-many relationship
I have to tables with one-to-many relationship in Azure SQL database.
--Countries
create table Countries
(
ID int not null primary key clustered identity,
Name varchar(100) not null
)
--Cities
create table Cities
(
ID int not null primary key clustered identity,
Name varchar(100) not null,
CountryID int not null foreign key references Countries(ID) on delete cascade
)
I've created Web API using Entity Framework Database first model. Generated classes looks as following:
Country.cs
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public Country()
{
this.Cities = new HashSet<City>();
}
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<City> Cities { get; set; }
City.cs
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public City()
{
}
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public int CountryID { get; set; }
public virtual Country Country { get; set; }
CitiesController.cs
private TripperDBEntities db = new TripperDBEntities();
// GET: api/Cities
public IQueryable<City> GetCities()
{
return db.Cities;
}
// POST: api/Countries
[ResponseType(typeof(Country))]
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> PostCountry(Country country)
{
if (!ModelState.IsValid)
{
return BadRequest(ModelState);
}
db.Countries.Add(country);
await db.SaveChangesAsync();
return CreatedAtRoute("DefaultApi", new { id = country.ID }, country);
}
Calling GET Countries or GET Cities returns
500 Internal Server Error
A:
If you load the related data, it creates a circular object graph.
For more information how to handle it, check following: http://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/data/using-web-api-with-entity-framework/part-4
|
Very soft, I do not nor discomfort at all pain even when rolling over in bed and inserted into the ear.
Even in comparison with other companies of similar products it could use longer seem high resilience.
Had been using another product until now, was no longer to restore become ticking and use to some extent.
Because there will be a lifetime That said, I to some extent the good Some presser was goods of the price entered quantity if possible.
I was using a bullet-shaped ear plugs until now, but the fit had gone missing as soon as poor. This product is me well fit in the ear canal is shorter than that. Soundproof effect is sufficient. Price also uses affordable in the future. |
# ExtremelyLongMsgKAT_384.txt
# Algorithm Name: Groestl
# Principal Submitter: Lars Ramkilde Knudsen
Repeat = 16777216
Text = abcdefghbcdefghicdefghijdefghijkefghijklfghijklmghijklmnhijklmno
MD = 0B150BBD596A48556266F5A6B7E66920F4EC6426257C03214C5BF05C57887FD02692BF29ABE2D5DDA510A421059DDA06
|
Final stage of jury selection set for Boston bombing trial
The long-running process of choosing a jury to hear the trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is due to wrap up on Tuesday with the judge and lawyers for both sides selecting the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates.
That jury will determine if Tsarnaev, 21, is guilty of killing three people and injuring 264 with a pair of homemade bombs at the race’s crowded finish line on April 15, 2013, and with fatally shooting a police officer three days later.
Tsarnaev could be sentenced to death if he is convicted, a fact that made jury selection in the federal trial challenging in Massachusetts, where state laws do not allow for capital punishment and the practice is unpopular.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in early January summoned more than 1,350 potential jurors to fill out questionnaires on their ties to the attack and their views on the death penalty. To be eligible to serve, candidates needed not to have formed a set opinion of Tsarnaev’s guilt and to be willing to consider voting for execution if he was found guilty.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers last week asserted that the court had violated its own procedures about random selection, reordering jurors as they arrived in a way that reduced the number of black candidates questioned.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers on Tuesday will work through the approximately 70 provisionally qualified candidates to select 18 jurors and alternates to hear a case that could run into June.
Given the high likelihood of an appeal if Tsarnaev is convicted, O’Toole will likely be looking to avoid missteps that could give defense attorneys grounds to challenge the fairness of jury selection, said Robert Bloom, a professor at Boston College Law School.
“If I were the judge, I’d have to be a little bit nervous about the possible appellate route the defense might take,” Bloom said. “The chance of an appeal being successful is not that great but you can expect that the appeal will be made.”
Tsarnaev’s attorneys on Monday offered a possible glimpse into their strategy when they argued that they need to be able to discuss the defendant’s relationship with his older brother, Tamerlan, early in the trial.
They described 26-year-old Tamerlan, who died following a gun battle with police three days after the bombing, as the driving force behind the attack, saying that his younger brother participated out of submissiveness. |
Introduction
============
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common, aggressive solid malignancies worldwide, accounting for in excess of two-thirds of all primary liver cancer cases ([@b1-etm-09-04-1413]). Approximately 500,000 new cases of HCC are reported annually, and \>75% of these occur in the Asia-Pacific region ([@b2-etm-09-04-1413]). In the USA, the HCC incidence is increasing at a greater rate than the incidence of any other cancer ([@b3-etm-09-04-1413]). Furthermore, the five-year survival rate for HCC is \<5%, ranking HCC as one of the types of cancer with the worst prognosis ([@b4-etm-09-04-1413]). As a result, the mechanism underlying the tumorigenesis and the specific measures required for the early diagnosis or effective therapy of HCC are current research focuses ([@b5-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b8-etm-09-04-1413]).
HCC commonly arises against a background of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B or C virus ([@b9-etm-09-04-1413]). In these patients, surveillance strategies for the detection of early HCC are necessary. For \>40 years, the most common marker used in clinical practice has been α-fetoprotein (AFP), which is combined with hepatic ultrasonography. AFP is considered to be the gold-standard serum marker for the screening of patients who are at high risk of HCC, as well as for the monitoring of treatment response ([@b10-etm-09-04-1413]); however, the clinical value of AFP has been questioned due to its low sensitivity and specificity ([@b11-etm-09-04-1413]). As the overall survival of patients with cirrhosis has improved and the global incidence of HCC has continued to increase, strategies for the early detection of HCC are urgently required ([@b12-etm-09-04-1413]).
Golgi protein 73 (GP73, otherwise known as Golph2) is a resident Golgi-specific membrane protein that is expressed in the normal liver by biliary epithelial cells. The expression of GP73 undergoes a notable increase in chronic liver diseases, particularly in HCC cells ([@b13-etm-09-04-1413]). A number of studies have described the use of GP73 as a serum marker for HCC; however, the results have been inconsistent and shown evident heterogeneity ([@b14-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b16-etm-09-04-1413]). The aim of the present study, therefore, was to perform a systematic analysis of studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of serum GP73 for HCC.
Materials and methods
=====================
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
--------------------------------
Studies were evaluated strictly for their relevance to the selected topic. Eligible studies had to include a representative patient spectrum. The diagnosis of HCC was established by histopathological examination or, if histopathology was not available, by two imaging modalities, such as ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography, showing a vascular enhancing mass of \>2 cm ([@b17-etm-09-04-1413]). Exclusion criteria comprised studies that evaluated serum GP73 levels by mRNA, DNA or DNA polymorphism analysis and those that did not provide exact values for the sensitivity or specificity of GP73, as well as abstracts, letters, editorials and expert opinions, reviews without original data, case reports and studies lacking control groups.
Identification of studies
-------------------------
A comprehensive systematic literature review of original investigations into the diagnostic accuracy of GP73 was performed by searching the following electronic databases up to September 2013: PubMed/Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Science Citation Index (ISI Web of Science), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure ([@b18-etm-09-04-1413],[@b18-etm-09-04-1413]). References from the included studies and any relevant published reports were additionally manually searched. No restrictions were placed on language, study design, year of publication or publisher status. The subject headings and keywords utilized in the search strategy included i) GP73: GP73, Golgi protein 73, Golgi phosphoprotein 2, Golgi membrane protein 1; and ii) HCC: HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cell carcinoma, hepatic cell carcinoma. No keywords or indexing terms for diagnostic test accuracy were used due to the possibility of relevant studies being missed.
Study selection
---------------
Independent reviews of the studies were performed by two reviewers based on the titles and abstracts, prior to the full texts of any potentially relevant studies being obtained for further assessment. Disagreements between the reviewers were resolved by consensus. If any further study details were required, a request was sent to the authors. When findings from the same patient population were reported by the same author in multiple publications, the most recent or most complete report was identified and used to avoid overlap between cohorts.
Data extraction
---------------
The following data were extracted independently from the included studies by two reviewers: Authors, year of publication, journal, study design, number of patients, type of marker assay, cut-off values and raw data regarding the sensitivity and specificity (number of true-positive, false-negative, true-negative and false-positive results) for comparisons of patients diagnosed with HCC versus controls. Disagreements were resolved through discussion with a third reviewer.
Assessment of methodological quality
------------------------------------
The quality of each study was evaluated according to the Quality Assessment of studies of Diagnostic Accuracy included in Systematic reviews (QUADAS) checklist recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. Each of the 14 items in the QUADAS checklist was scored as 'yes', 'no' or 'unclear' ([@b20-etm-09-04-1413]).
Data analysis
-------------
Using Meta Disc software (version 1.4; Clinical Biostatistics Unit, Ramón y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain), the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plane was drawn and the Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated to estimate if there was a threshold effect. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated. Data were presented as forest plots, which showed the results of individual studies with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Summary ROC (SROC) curve analysis was used to summarize the overall test performance. The Midas model for Stata (version 12.0; StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA) was used to construct the funnel plots and calculate the P-values. Publication bias existed when P\<0.05 was observed. Meta-regression was also performed in an attempt to explain the observed heterogeneity.
Results
=======
Study retrieval
---------------
A total of 172 studies were found and 32 were considered to be eligible for inclusion in the analysis. Following the full-text review, 21 studies were excluded: 16 due to the results not allowing the calculation of sensitivity or specificity; four due to a suspected overlap in the study population or a duplicate publication; and one due to a retraction by the author ([@b21-etm-09-04-1413]). Finally, 11 studies were available for the meta-analysis. These studies included 6,711 patients who received serum GP73 tests ([@b22-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b32-etm-09-04-1413]), 1,887 of whom were diagnosed with HCC by histopathology or two imaging modalities. A flow diagram of the study selection process is shown in [Fig. 1](#f1-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}.
The characteristics of each study are shown in [Table I](#tI-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table"}. The number of patients in each of the 11 studies was \>100, with little difference in the characteristics among the studies. The GP73 cutoff values differed substantially, which may have been a source of heterogeneity. The ethnicity in nine studies was Asian.
Quality of studies
------------------
The QUADAS criteria were used to evaluate the quality of the 11 selected studies. As shown in [Table II](#tII-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table"}, all the studies fulfilled between seven and 11 of the 14 described criteria. Summary scores were not calculated, as their interpretation can be problematic and potentially misleading ([@b33-etm-09-04-1413]). All the studies used a retrospective design. In 10 studies, healthy individuals were recruited for the control group; the percentage of HCC diagnoses in these studies ranged between 18.7 and 59.2%. All the studies reported the diagnostic standard of HCC, and four reported the tumor stage of the patients with cancer ([@b23-etm-09-04-1413],[@b24-etm-09-04-1413],[@b27-etm-09-04-1413],[@b28-etm-09-04-1413]). The serum GP73 levels were interpreted in a blinded manner in only one out of the 11 studies.
Threshold effect
----------------
When there is a threshold effect, an inverse correlation is demonstrated between the sensitivity and specificity, leading to a typical 'shoulder arm' of the ROC plane distribution. Spearman correlation analysis also suggests a strong positive correlation. In the present study, the ROC plane output by the Meta Disc 1.4 software ([Fig. 2](#f2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}) showed a nontypical shoulder arm appearance; the calculated Spearman correlation coefficient value was 0.591 and the P-value was 0.056, suggesting that there was no threshold effect.
Summary diagnostic accuracy of serum GP73 for HCC
-------------------------------------------------
The DerSimonian-Laird (random effects) model was used to calculate the pooled value. The sensitivity observed ranged between 43 and 88.6% (summary, 77%; 95% CI, 75--79%) ([Fig. 3A](#f3-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}), while the specificity ranged between 51.8 and 97.4% (summary, 91%; 95% CI, 90--92%) ([Fig. 3B](#f3-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}); the PLR was 4.34 (95% CI, 2.19--8.59) ([Fig. 3C](#f3-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}) and the NLR was 0.30 (95% CI, 0.26--0.36) ([Fig. 3D](#f3-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}). The PLR value indicated that patients with HCC had a 4.3-fold higher chance of a positive GP73 assay compared with patients without HCC. Similarly, the NLR indicated that, if the GP73 assay was negative, the probability of these patients developing HCC was \~30%. Thus, GP73-negative results may not be used to exclude HCC. It was also noted that the summary DOR was 15.78 (95% CI, 6.95--35.83) for GP73 ([Fig. 4](#f4-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}). The sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR and DOR with the 95% CIs for each study were presented in a forest plot, and significant heterogeneity was observed.
The SROC approach is the standard strategy for the meta-analysis of the diagnostic reporting pairs of sensitivity and specificity ([@b34-etm-09-04-1413]). This approach uses DOR as the primary outcome measure, which eliminates the effect of a possible threshold ([@b35-etm-09-04-1413]). As shown in [Fig. 5](#f5-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}, the area under the SROC curve was 0.8638, with a standard error of 0.0198 and Q^\*^ of 0.7944, suggesting a comparable diagnostic value of GP73 for HCC.
Meta-regression for heterogeneity
---------------------------------
To investigate heterogeneity, attempts were made to explore the following study characteristics using meta-regression: Population characteristics (gender, ethnicity, age, disease type and stage distribution), study design (prospective or retrospective and year of publication) and test characteristics (cutoff value, test type and number of tests per screening round); however, due to the unsatisfactory methodological quality of the studies or incomplete data, year, assay type and country were the only three features examined. The accuracy measure used was DOR, since it was a unitary measure of diagnostic performance that encompassed sensitivity and specificity or PLR and NLR. It was found that the differences among the ethnicities had a significant effect on the DOR ([Table III](#tIII-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table"}). This may have been due to the fact that the sample size of Western patients was small compared with the number of Asian patients.
Publication bias
----------------
Deeks' funnel plot was created using the 'metafunnel' command of Stata version 12.0. As shown in [Fig. 6](#f6-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="fig"}, the funnel plot was asymmetrical, which meant a publication bias in our study; however, the most recent studies have tended not to assess publication bias due to the fact that the investigation of reporting and publication bias in diagnostic accuracy studies has been shown to be problematic ([@b36-etm-09-04-1413],[@b37-etm-09-04-1413]). A possible reason is that numerous studies are performed without study registration ([@b36-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b38-etm-09-04-1413]), making it impossible for an exact assessment of publication and reporting bias to be performed from registration.
Sensitivity analysis
--------------------
In order to investigate the stability of the meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis was performed from three aspects. Firstly, one study at a time was excluded to assess the effect of a single study on the meta-analysis. The results suggested that the DOR was not notably affected following sequential exclusion of each study in turn ([Table IV](#tIV-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table"}). Secondly, the four studies that did not use ELISA as a test method were removed; a decreased pooled DOR (11.73; 95% CI, 6.58--20.92) was found, which suggested that the test assay may have had an effect on the results. No notable conclusion was drawn when the target population was limited to Chinese patients in a similar manner to that already described (pooled DOR, 16.29; 95% CI, 6.28--42.25). Statistical analysis was performed using Meta Disc (version 1.4) software.
Discussion
==========
A total of 11 studies were analyzed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of serum GP73 for HCC. The results demonstrated that GP73 is a useful marker as an independent diagnostic tool for HCC; however, multiple methodological limitations, a broad range of diagnostic accuracy values and heterogeneity were found in the included studies. Five of the studies reported that serum GP73 was superior to AFP as a serum marker ([@b22-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b24-etm-09-04-1413],[@b29-etm-09-04-1413],[@b30-etm-09-04-1413]), while the remaining six reported the opposite or had ambiguous results.
The potential biomarker for HCC investigated in the present study, serum GP73, is a 73-kDa transmembrane glycoprotein composed of 400 amino acids that normally resides in the epithelial cells of a range of human tissues ([@b39-etm-09-04-1413]). The presence of higher levels of serum GP73 in patients with hepatitis-B-virus-related HCC was first found by Block *et al* ([@b13-etm-09-04-1413]) in 2005. The detection of GP73 in the serum was based on its initial characterization as a resident Golgi membrane protein; however, it has been shown that GP73 cycles to the cell membrane for retrieval via a unique endosomal pathway ([@b40-etm-09-04-1413]). The results of such *in vitro* studies have demonstrated that GP73 can transiently be found at the plasma membrane, indicating a potential pathway for its release into the circulation. The mechanism underlying the upregulation of GP73 in HCC is yet to be elucidated, and further studies are required to investigate whether serum GP73 levels are also altered in patients with other types of solid tumor.
Western blotting, immunoblotting and ELISA are three of the main methods used to assay GP73, all of which exhibit certain disadvantages: The former two are semiquantitative and labor-heavy, while ELISA elicits disappointing results. In seven studies ([@b25-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b30-etm-09-04-1413],[@b32-etm-09-04-1413]), the use of ELISA was unsuccessful at finding a significant elevation in serum GP73 levels in patients with HCC versus patients with liver cirrhosis. It has been suggested that GP73-specific serum autoantibodies may interfere with ELISA ([@b10-etm-09-04-1413]). Furthermore, several isoforms of GP73 corresponding with different patterns or levels of glycosylation have been found ([@b41-etm-09-04-1413]). Further investigation into whether the measurement of an HCC-specific GP73 isoform would improve the diagnostic accuracy is required.
Cancer comprises a diverse group of diseases that exhibit considerable differences in their etiology and biology; therefore, it is unlikely that a single biomarker would be able to detect all the types of cancer associated with a particular organ with sufficiently high specificity and sensitivity ([@b11-etm-09-04-1413]). The diagnostic value of GP73 in combination with AFP for HCC has been reported in seven studies ([@b23-etm-09-04-1413],[@b26-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b29-etm-09-04-1413],[@b31-etm-09-04-1413],[@b32-etm-09-04-1413]), and the results were improved compared with those for a single marker.
Nine studies reported the diagnostic utility of serum GP73 by the stage of chronic liver disease and the conclusions were conflicting ([@b22-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b24-etm-09-04-1413],[@b26-etm-09-04-1413],[@b28-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b32-etm-09-04-1413]). In general, the GP73 level showed an increasing trend with the progression of liver disease. The results suggested that GP73 may be used as a serum marker for the diagnosis of liver diseases and for monitoring disease progression. It additionally appears that serum levels of GP73 in patients with HCC are not consistently affected by tumor size and differentiation, which may reflect the potential origin of HCC from cancer stem cells. If this finding is verified in further studies with large sample sizes, it may be beneficial for the early detection of HCC among the at-risk population.
The present study failed to find the reason for the existing heterogeneity within the studies. The most important factor contributing to this failure was that several of the studies investigating diagnostic accuracy lacked information on key elements of the study design and conduct. With incomplete and inaccurate reporting, it is not possible to correctly identify potential sources of bias and variability.
In conclusion, the present meta-analysis found that GP73 is a valuable marker as an independent diagnostic tool for HCC due to its high sensitivity and specificity. As such, GP73 may improve the detection and treatment of one of the most common global malignancies. Further studies are required to determine the effect of the etiology of the disease on the GP73 signal strength, the diagnostic accuracy of GP73 in detecting early HCC or cancer recurrence and the value of a combination of GP73 and AFP.
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81270515).
{#f1-etm-09-04-1413}
{#f2-etm-09-04-1413}
{#f3-etm-09-04-1413}
{#f4-etm-09-04-1413}
{#f5-etm-09-04-1413}
{#f6-etm-09-04-1413}
######
Main characteristics of the studies included.
First author, year (ref.) Country TP/FP/FN/TN results (n/n/n/n) Assay type Cutoff value HCC/cirrhosis/hepatitis/healthy/others (n/n/n/n/n)
--------------------------------------- ----------- ------------------------------- ------------------ -------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hu, 2010 ([@b19-etm-09-04-1413]) China 24/15/7/78 Western blotting 7.4 RU 31/31/31/31/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Mao, 2010 ([@b20-etm-09-04-1413]) China/USA 589/89/200/3339 Immunoblotting 8.5 RU 789/512/337/1690/889
Marrero, 2005 ([@b21-etm-09-04-1413]) China 99/21/45/131 Immunoblotting 10 RU 144/152/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}/56/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Morota, 2011 ([@b22-etm-09-04-1413]) USA 62/61/8/98 ELISA 94.7 μg/l 70/35/52/72/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Shi, 2011 ([@b23-etm-09-04-1413]) China 50/5/23/102 ELISA 123.2 μg/l 73/13/32/62/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Tian, 2011 ([@b24-etm-09-04-1413]) China 115/46/38/49 ELISA 113.89 μg/l 153/95/115/109/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Wang, 2009 ([@b25-etm-09-04-1413]) USA 156/64/8/49 ELISA NK 164/113/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Xu, 2011 ([@b26-etm-09-04-1413]) China 63/38/18/208 ELISA NK 81/176[a](#tfn1-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}/40/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Zhao, 2010 ([@b27-etm-09-04-1413]) China 168/41/51/112 ELISA 100 ng/ml 219/110[a](#tfn1-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}/43/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Wang, 2013 ([@b28-etm-09-04-1413]) China 62/32/22/141 Immunoblotting 8.5 RU 84/80/32/61/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Hou, 2013 ([@b29-etm-09-04-1413]) China 58/16/21/58 ELISA 78.1 ng/l 84/80/32/61/[b](#tfn2-etm-09-04-1413){ref-type="table-fn"}
Data including both cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis.
No data in this category.
HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; RU, relative unit; TP, true-positive; FP, false-positive; FN, false-negative; TN, true-negative, NK, not known.
######
Summary judgments of the methodological quality of the included studies (QUADAS checklist).
QUADAS item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
------------------------------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Representative patient spectrum? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Selection criteria? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Acceptable reference standard? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Acceptable delay between tests? UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC
Partial verification avoided? UC Y Y UC UC Y Y UC UC Y Y
Differential verification avoided? UC Y Y UC UC Y Y UC UC Y Y
Incorporation avoided? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Index test execution? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y
Reference standard execution? N Y Y N N Y Y N N Y N
Reference standard results blinded? N N N N N N N N N Y N
Index test results blinded? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Relevant clinical information? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Uninterpretable results reported? Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Withdrawals explained? UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC UC
UC, unclear; Y, yes; N, no; QUADAS, Quality Assessment of studies of Diagnostic Accuracy included in Systematic reviews.
######
Meta-regression of the effects of methodological characteristics on diagnostic accuracy.
Variable Coefficient Standard error P-value RDOR 95% CI
---------- ------------- ---------------- --------- ------- -------------
Assay −0.117 0.4307 0.7930 0.89 0.33--2.40
Country 2.332 0.5633 0.0033 10.29 2.81--37.73
Year −0.086 0.1850 0.6563 0.92 0.60--1.41
CI, confidence interval; RDOR, ratio of the diagnostic odds ratio.
######
Changes in the DOR following sequential exclusion of each study in turn.
First author, year (ref.) of excluded study Number of studies DOR 95% CI
--------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- ------- -------------
All studies included ([@b19-etm-09-04-1413]--[@b29-etm-09-04-1413]) 11 15.78 6.95--35.83
Hu, 2010 ([@b19-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 15.60 6.51--37.41
Mao, 2010 ([@b20-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 12.24 8.11--18.47
Marrero, 2005 ([@b21-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 16.01 6.49--39.44
Morota, 2011 ([@b22-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 16.15 6.70--38.92
Shi, 2011 ([@b23-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 14.34 5.99--34.33
Tian,2011 ([@b24-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 18.60 8.56--40.40
Wang, 2009 ([@b25-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 15.86 6.56--38.36
Xu, 2011 ([@b26-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 15.47 6.27--38.17
Zhao, 2010 ([@b27-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 16.73 6.87--40.72
Wang, 2013 ([@b28-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 16.17 6.61--39.53
Hou, 2013 ([@b29-etm-09-04-1413]) 10 16.51 6.86--39.71
DOR, diagnostic odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.
|
Neutron- and photon-activation detection limits in breast milk analysis for prospective dose evaluation of the suckling infant.
Complex situations related to the environment, as in the regions affected by the Chernobyl accident and regions in which nuclear weapons testing were undertaken, as in Semipalatinsk, could be reflected in the trace element content in mothers' milk. The evaluation of fractional transfer to milk of ingested or inhaled activity and of the corresponding dose coefficients for the infant, following a mothers' radioactive intake, can take advantage from wide-ranging studies of elemental and radionuclide contents in mothers' milk. In this work the possibility to determine elements, such as Ru, Zr, Nb, Te, Ce, Th, U, in milk powder has been investigated. Although results from elemental analyses of breast milk are to be found in the literature, the determination of the identified elements has attracted poor attention since they are not considered essential elements from a biological point of view. Nevertheless, in the case of radioactive releases to the environment, such data could be of interest in evaluation of dose to the breast-fed infant. |
Trump’s new moon shot is the best of several bad ideas NASA had
Jazz ShawPosted at 2:31 pm on December 12, 2017
This wasn’t the sort of headline that attracted much media traffic given everything else that’s going on, but the President has directed NASA to send men back to the moon. At first glance, this probably seems like a winner with the public because we always tend to get excited about space exploration and a return to the moon has been discussed pretty much constantly since the last time we went there in 1972. It just never happened.
But as ABC news reports, Trump isn’t just talking about another mission to collect rocks, snap a few selfies with the American flag (though he did mention that part) and come home. He’s talking about setting up a permanent scientific base there.
As he signed a policy directive Monday intended to “refocus the space program on human exploration and discovery,” President Donald Trump instructed NASA to return American astronauts to the moon, alluded to an “eventual mission to Mars” and promised to “restore American leadership in space.”
Flanked by NASA leadership and three astronauts, including former Sen. Jack Schmitt, one of the most recent men to have walked on the moon, Trump described the directive, portraying space exploration as an encapsulation of America’s “pioneering spirit.”
“Today, the same spirit beckons us to begin new journeys of exploration and discovery, to lift our eyes all of the way up to the heavens and once again imagine the possibilities waiting in those big, beautiful stars if we dare to dream big and that’s what our country is doing again,” he said. “We’re dreaming big.”
Okay, we get it. This is of a piece with the entire Make America Great Again concept and leadership in the space race is arguably one of our finer moments in greatness. Walking on the moon and perhaps even establishing a base of business there fills the bill. And to be fair to Trump, he’s picking from a menu of items NASA proposed themselves this year and it wasn’t the worst choice on the list. That prize goes to their suggestion of an orbital space station in lunar orbit. I wrote about that idea back in May and found myself largely agreeing with an actual rocket scientist, Robert Zubrin, who called an orbiting moon station NASA’s worst idea ever.
We do not need a lunar-orbiting station to go to the Moon. We do not need such a station to go to Mars. We do not need it to go to near-Earth asteroids. We do not need it to go anywhere. Nor can we accomplish anything in such a station that we cannot do in the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, except to expose human subjects to irradiation – a form of medical research for which a number of Nazi doctors were hanged at Nuremberg.
If the goal is to build a Moon base, it should be built on the surface of the Moon. That is where the science is, that is where the shielding material is, and that is where the resources to make propellant and other useful things are to be found.
There were some other suggestions, but they primarily involved a focus on either going to Mars or seriously gearing up our space telescope game in the search for habitable planets around other stars. (Given my druthers, the search for a Second Earth should be at the top of our priorities.) A new moon shot was actually pretty far down the list.
So a base on the moon is a better idea than a base orbiting the moon. I agree with that in principle, but is that really where we should be investing our space dollars? Yes, there are some interesting resources on the moon such as Helium 3, which barely exists on the Earth and makes for an incredible fuel source. But there are massive logistical barriers to getting it back home in any economically viable fashion. What other science do we really need to be doing up there? It seems to me that our focus has been on Mars as the next step and should remain there. We can build ships and prepare for that journey in low Earth orbit just as well as we could on the moon. Possibly better and more safely.
Also, how are we going to pay for this? Certain groups in NASA are still big fans of returning to the moon, but they admit that it would require an increase in the NASA budget adding up to the billions. The last proposal for the 2018 NASA budget from the White House called for half a billion in cuts, not an increase. Whether we’re going to the Moon or to Mars, we’re not doing it on the cheap. The eggheads in charge their know how much money they need for either of these mammoth projects and we’ve seen no indication that the funds will be available. |
Q:
Prolog Assigning integer to a variable
I'm new to Prolog, and using GNU Prolog, so no clp(fd) allowed. What I'm trying to do is for a given integer N, generate a list with elements of 1 ~ N. So set(3,T). will output T = [1,2,3].
Here is what I have so far:
set(0,[]).
set(N,T):-set(N-1,T1),append(T1,[N],T).
When I try set(2,T), it crashes. I debugged with trace, and find out that it's not evaluating N-1, but rather doing N-1-1-1...
Anyone can tell me how to solve this?
Thank you.
A:
It should be:
set(N,T):- N2 is N-1, set(N2,T1), append(T1,[N],T).
Arithmetic operations are performed by using is/2. N-1 is a shorthand for -(N,1) (just like N2 is N-1 is shorthand for is(N2, N-1)), so you were just creating infinite tree -(-(-(-(...),1),1,1,1).
Little educational note:
If you want set/2 to be proper relation so it can answer queries like set(3,X), set(X, [1,2,3]) and set(X,Y) without error then you should write this predicate that way:
set(0, []).
set(Value, List) :-
length(List, Value),
append(ShorterList, [Value], List),
ValueMinusOne is Value - 1,
set(ValueMinusOne, ShorterList).
That way result of arithmetic operation is always possible to obtain because input value (lenght of the list) is either explicitly given or generated from length/1.
|
Introduction
============
In the years of 2002 and 2003, the Cypher^TM^ (Cordis Corp, Miami Lakes, USA) and Taxus^TM^ (Boston Scientific, Natick, USA) drug-eluting coronary stents were approved for clinical use and provided a major breakthrough in the percutaneous treatment of coronary stenoses, thanks to a significant reduction of the incidence of in-stent restenosis and of the need for a new target-vessel revascularization^[@r01],[@r02]^. However, the occurrence of cases of late and very late thrombosis^[@r03],[@r04]^ after implantation was an alert for the safety of these drug-eluting stents.
Among the multiple pathophysiological processes pointed as predisposing factors for late and very late thrombosis are: delayed strut endothelialization; positive remodeling with acquired poor apposition; endothelial dysfunction; and inflammatory reaction due to the presence of a durable polymer^[@r05]^.
With the purpose of overcoming the limitations and adverse events related to first-generation stents, several new drug-eluting stents have been developed. These new stents show variations either in the composition of the alloy, in the strut thickness, in the mesh design, in the drug-carrying polymer, in the drug class and dosage, or in the place on the stent surface from which the drug is released.
We hypothesized that, after drug release and degradation of the biodegradable polymer, only the metallic platform would remain in the arterial wall (like in a bare-metal stent), thus reducing the late and very late thrombosis rates of these stents, without compromising the anti-restenotic efficacy. Drug release from the abluminal surface only (stent surface in contact with the vessel wall) could also prevent delayed endothelialization of the stent struts, which is another mechanism pointed as responsible for thrombosis.
This study presents preclinical data on the Inspiron^TM^ stent (Scitech ® Medical Products Inc., Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil) - a stent composed of a chromium-cobalt L605 alloy, which is coated with a sirolimus and biodegradable polymer mixture only on its abluminal surface, and was recently approved for clinical use.
In this experimental study, the results observed in porcine coronary arteries by means of angiographic, intracoronary ultrasonographic, and histomorphological assessment on day 28 after implantation of the Inspiron^TM^ stent versus stents with polymer and sirolimus on the luminal and abluminal surfaces, and bare-metal stents were compared.
Methods
=======
Ethical Aspects
---------------
The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Committee and was carried out according to the Good Laboratory Practices guidelines.
Animal species
--------------
A total of 15 non-atherosclerotic juvenile pigs from a commercial farm were used. Their mean weight was 28.9 kg (26 to 31.5 kg), and they received oral acetylsalicylic acid (200 mg) and clopidogrel (300 mg) one day prior to stent implantation.
Stents
------
Forty five pre-assembled stents manufactured by Scitech^TM^ Medical Products, Inc., with 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5-mm diameters and 19-mm length were used. These stents are made of a chromium-cobalt L605 alloy, and have a thin strut (75-*µ*m thickness), forming rings with short cells (1.1 mm) linked to each other by 65-*µ*m struts^[@r06]^.
Except for 9 stents with no polymer or drug coating, the other stents were coated with biodegradable polymer, a mixture of poly (lactic acid) and poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid); this layer was 5-*µ*m thick, and water- and CO~2~ degradable within 6 to 9 months ([Figure 1](#f01){ref-type="fig"}).
{#f01}
The drug used in the drug-eluting stents was sirolimus, with 60% release in the first week and 90% within up to 4 weeks. The sirolimus dose used was 8.8 *µ*g per mm of stent in the sirolimus-releasing stent from the luminal and abluminal stent surfaces; or 4.4 *µ*g per mm of stent, on the sirolimus-releasing stent only from the abluminal surface (Inspiron^TM^ stent).
Thus, five types of stents were assessed: nine stents without polymer or antiproliferative drug coating (Group I, bare-metal stent); nine bioabsorbable polymer-coated stents on the luminal and abluminal surfaces (Group II); eight bioabsorbable polymer-coated stents on the abluminal surface (Group III); nine bioabsorbable polymer and sirolimus coated stents on the luminal and abluminal surfaces (Group IV) and ten bioabsorbable polymer- and sirolimus-coated stents only on the abluminal surface (Group V, Inspiron^TM^ stent).
Stent implantation procedure
----------------------------
Intramuscular preanesthetic medications were administered (ketamine 3 mg/kg and midazolam 0.5 mg/kg). Then, after intravenous infusion of thiopental, the animals underwent endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, maintenance of the anesthetic plan with isoflurane and monitoring of their heart rhythms, heart rates, and oxygen saturation.
An arterial line for the stent implantation procedure was obtained by dissecting the common femoral artery, with arterial puncture under direct visualization and insertion of a 6-French valved introducer. Under fluoroscopy (Philips BV - The Netherlands), a 6-French Judkins Right therapeutic catheter was manipulated for selective catheterization of the coronary arteries; next, intracoronary nitroglycerin (200 *µ*g) was administered and coronary angiography was performed in the left anterior oblique view at 45 degrees.
Then, a 0.014-inch Choice PR^TM^ guidewire (Boston Scientific, Natick, USA) was inserted with its distal tip positioned in the target-coronary artery. Following a previous raffle, one stent per artery was implanted, preferably in an arterial segment with few lateral branches and without significant lumen reduction and deployment pressure enough to reach a stent deployment balloon diameter: artery rate of 1.1:1 ([Table 1](#t01){ref-type="table"}).
######
Individual data on the stent implantation procedure
**Animal number** **Weight (kg)** **Target coronary-artery** **Group** **Stent size (mm) (diameter x length)** **Implantation pressure (ATM)**
------------------- ----------------- ---------------------------- ----------- ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
1 31 CD I 3.0 x 19 8
CX III 3.0 x 19 6
DA IV 3.0 x 19 7
2 30 CD I 3.0 x 19 10
CX III 3.5 x 19 8
DA II 3.0 x 19 10
3 30 CD II 3.0 x 19 6
CX IV 3.5 x 19 10
DA III 3.0 x 19 5
4 31.5 CD IV 3.0 x 19 8
CX I 3.0 x 19 6
DA II 3.0 x 19 9
5 28.5 CD IV 3.0 x 19 10
CX II 3.0 x 19 6
DA III 3.0 x 19 7
6 30 CD III 3.0 x 19 10
CX V 3.0 x 19 10
DA I 3.5 x 19 10
7 30 CD V 3.0 x 19 10
CX I 3.0 x 19 12
DA III 3.0 x 19 11
8 26 CD III 3.0 x 19 10
CX V 2.5 x 19 8
DA I 2.5 x 19 9
9 31 CD V 2.5 x 19 6
CX II 3.0 x 19 7
DA IV 2.5 x 19 10
10 27.5 CD II 3.0 x 19 8
CX I 3.5 x 19 8
DA V 2.5 x 19 7
11 26.5 CD IV 3.0 x 19 12
CX IV 3.5 x 19 10
DA V 3.0 x 19 10
12 27.5 CD III 3.5 x 19 7
CX V 3.0 x 19 5
DA II 3.5 x 19 10
13 27 CD II 3.5 x 19 8
CX IV 3.0 x 19 7
DA V 3.0 x 19 11
14 26.5 CD V 3.0 x 19 11
CX III 3.5 x 19 5
DA I 3.0 x 19 7
15 31.5 CD I 3.0 x 19 10
CX IV 3.5 x 19 10
DA V 3.5 x 19 10
RC: right coronary artery; CX: circumflex artery; AD: anterior descending artery; Group I: bare-metal stents; Group II: stents with bioabsorbable polymer on the luminal and abluminal surfaces; Group III: stents with bioabsorbable polymer on the abluminal surface; Group IV: stents with bioabsorbable polymer and sirolimus on the luminal and abluminal surfaces; Group V: stents with bioabsorbable polymer and sirolimus only on the abluminal surface.
Post-Procedure follow-up
------------------------
After the procedure, the animals were observed regarding their anesthetic recovery and were given prophylactic intramuscular antibiotic therapy with benzyl penicillin 1,200,000 units and gentamicin 40 mg. They were extubated when well awake, and sent to individual pens. They later received commercial feed for growing pigs (Cooper^TM^, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil) and water *ad libitum*. For 28 days, oral antiplatelet agents were administered (acetylsalicylic acid 100 mg a day and clopidogrel 75 mg a day); the animals were seen daily by veterinarians, who observed them and made notes on their general status, level of physical activity, feed intake, and presence of fever; they also diagnosed and treated occasional surgical wound infections.
On day 28 after stent implantation, the animals were sent back to the animal experimentation laboratory and underwent control coronary angiography with quantitative coronary angiography and intracoronary ultrasonography. They were euthanized by deepening the level of anesthesia and administration of a lethal intravenous injection of potassium chloride (30 to 40 mL).
Histological processing
-----------------------
After euthanasia and left paramedian thoracotomy, the heart of each animal was carefully removed, with minimal handling, to prevent external stent compression; the blood in the cardiac chambers was washed out with drinking water and 0.9% saline solution. A 10% formaldehyde solution was then infused in the aortic root at a 100-mmHg pressure for 30 minutes. The arterial segments containing the stents were dissected from the adjacent tissues, removed, and placed in a 10% formaldehyde solution for 24 hours, and later, in 70% absolute alcohol. These arterial segments containing the stents were desiccated in alcohol solutions, embedded in methacrylate plastic resins, and subsequently subjected to cross sections (mean thickness of 3.5 *µ*m), with a tungsten knife in a proper microtome (RM 2265, Leica, Germany).
Quantitative Coronary Angiography
---------------------------------
All angiographies of the stent implants and the control studies performed at day 28 were analyzed by means of off-line quantitative coronary angiography using the CASS II software (Pie Medical, Maastrich, The Nederlands). The minimum lumen diameter (MLD, in mm), reference diameters (RD, in mm), percentage angiographic stenosis (%), and late lumen losses (in mm) were determined.
Intracoronary ultrasonography
-----------------------------
40-MHZ Atlantis^TM^ SR Pro (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA) intracoronary sonography catheters were used, with automatic pull back at 0.5 mm/s. The images acquired were analyzed by the built-in measurement software of the intracoronary ultrasound imaging system (Ilab®, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA); using planimetry, the lumen areas (in mm^2^), stent areas (in mm^2^), neointimal hyperplasia areas (in mm^2^), and percentage neointimal hyperplasia areas (%) were determined.
Histomorphology
---------------
Three histological slides were obtained per third of stent segment (proximal, mid-, and distal). These slides were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Verhoeff\'s method for elastic fibers; later, they underwent histomorphological analyses. These analyses were blind as regards the type of stent implanted and semiquantitative scores were used for the assessment of inflammation^[@r07]^, fibrin deposits^[@r08]^, and degree of injury^[@r09]^.
Statistical Analysis
--------------------
Quantitative data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) or median. After verifying that the data were normally distributed, the simple analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was calculated for comparison of the means between the groups; post-hoc analysis was carried out when statistically significant differences were observed between these groups. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20.0, was used for data analysis and the significance level was set at 5%.
Financial disclosure
--------------------
Office of Science and Technology and Strategic Inputs (SCTIE)/Department of Science and Tecnnology (DECIT) of the Ministry of Health (MS), National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Studies and Projects Financer (FINEP) of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT) and Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo (Fapesp).
Results
=======
The stents were successfully implanted in all target coronary arteries, with no complications during the implantation procedures or in the immediate post-procedure period.
One animal (number 10) died on day six after stent implantation. The death cause determined by pathological study of the heart was acute inferior myocardial infarction due to occlusion of the right coronary artery in which a stent coated with biodegradable polymer on the luminal and abluminal surfaces had been implanted (Group II stent). The other arteries - anterior descending and circumflex, and the stents implanted in these arteries, were patent, with no firmly adherent intraluminal thrombi. This early death determined an early mortality rate of 6.6% (one in 15 animals), which, according to an Investigators Consensus, is representative of \"good implantation technique and stent technology\"^[@r10]^ (rate should be lower than 10%).
On day 28 after stent implantation, control coronary angiography performed in the surviving animals showed arterial segments with patent stents and no image suggestive of thrombus.
Findings of quantitative coronary angiography, intracoronary ultrasonography and histopathology are described in [Table 2](#t02){ref-type="table"}.
######
Results of quantitative coronary angiography, intracoronary ultrasonography and histomorphology
**Group** **p value**
------------------------------------ ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- --------------------------------------------
Baseline RD (mm) 2.59 ± 0.21 2.62 ± 0.20 2.63 ± 0.30 2.61 ± 0.24 2.50 ± 0.43 0.901
Ballon inflation pressure (ATM) 9.0 ± 1.9 8.0 ± 1.7 7.6 ± 2.2 9.3 ± 1.6 9.0 ± 2.1 0.348
Balloon diameter (mm) 2.76 ± 0.27 2.79 ± 0.24 2.89 ± 0.32 2.83 ± 0.19 2.71 ± 0.26 0.716
Balloon/artery ratio 1.06 ± 0.04 1.06 ± 0.08 1.10 ± 0.07 1.09 ± 0.10 1.10 ± 0.10 0.845
MLD at procedure termination (mm) 2.67 ± 0.23 2.74 ± 0.22 2.69 ± 0.21 2.73 ± 0.22 2.59 ± 0.26 0.749
RD on control angiography (mm) 2.30 ± 0.30 2.49 ± 0.32 2.39 ± 0.30 2.48 ± 0.22 2.54 ± 0.30 0.470
MLD on control angiography (mm) 1.64 ± 0.61 1.59 ± 0.45 1.57 ± 0.49 1.95 ± 0.43 1.85 ± 0.36 0.379
Percentage stenosis (%) 29 ± 20 36 ± 14 33 ± 19 22 ± 13 26 ± 15 0.443
Late lumen loss(mm) 1.02 ± 0.60 1.24 ± 0.48 1.11 ± 0.54 0.72 ± 0.44 0.78 ± 0.39 0.253
Luminal area (mm^2^) 4.49 ± 2.16 4.29 ± 1.53 4.33 ± 1.40 5.77 ± 3.32 6.03 ± 2.18 0.001 [\*](#tfn01t02){ref-type="table-fn"}
Vessel area (mn^2^) 6.95 ± 1.40 6.90 ± 1.27 6.97 ± 0.87 7.00 ± 1.10 7.00 ± 1.58 0.305
Stent area (mm^2^) 7.09 ± 1.40 7.03 ± 1.27 7.07 ± 0.87 7.07 ± 1.10 7.00 ± 1.70 0.676
Neointimal area (mm^2^) 2.60 ± 1.99 2.74 ± 1.51 2.74 ± 1.30 1.30 ± 1.14 0.97 ± 0.84 0.001 [\*](#tfn01t02){ref-type="table-fn"}
Percentage neointimal area (%) 35 ± 25 38 ± 18 39 ± 19 19 ± 18 15 ± 12 0.001 [\*](#tfn01t02){ref-type="table-fn"}
Inflammation (median) (min-max) 1 (0 - 2) 1 (0 - 2) 1 (0 - 3) 1 (0 - 1) 1 (0 - 1) 0.999
Schwartz injury (median) (min-max) 1 (0 - 3) 1 (0 - 2) 1 (1 - 3) 1 (0 - 2) 1 (0 - 2) 0.999
Group IV versus Groups I, II, III and Group V versus Groups I, II, III.
Group I: bare-metal stents; Group II: stents with bioabsorbable polymer on the luminal and abluminal surfaces; Group III: stents with bioabsorbable polymer on the abluminal surface; Group IV: stents with bioabsorbable polymer and sirolimus on the luminal and abluminal surfaces; Group V: stents with bioabsorbable polymer and sirolimus only on the abluminal surface; RD: reference diameter; MLD: minimum lumen diameter.
Quantitative Coronary Angiography
---------------------------------
On quantitative coronary angiography, the porcine coronary arteries had a reference diameter of approximately 2.6 mm during the stent implantation procedure. The inflation pressure for stent implantation was, on average, of 8.5 ATM (5 to 12 ATM; p = 0.348), reaching a balloon: artery ratio of 1.1:1 to cause moderate injury to the arterial wall.
Control quantitative coronary angiography on day 28 after the procedure did not show any statistically significant difference between the groups.
Intracoronary ultrasonography
-----------------------------
On intracoronary ultrasonography, adequate stent strut apposition was observed in all cases on day 28 after implantation. Also, statistically significant larger luminal areas (mm^2^) were observed in the drug-eluting stents (Groups IV and V) in relation to control stents (Groups I, II and III) (p = 0.001). Likewise, the neointimal area and percentage neointimal area were significantly smaller in these drug-eluting stents in relation to control stents (p = 0.001 for comparisons of Groups IV and V individually versus Groups I, II and III), as shown in [Figure 2](#f02){ref-type="fig"}.
{#f02}
The neointimal hyperplasia observed in the stents coated with bioabsorbable polymer and sirolimus only on the abluminal surface (Group V, Inspiron^TM^ stent) was equivalent to that observed in stents with the same coating on the luminal and abluminal surfaces (Group IV), with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.913).
Histomorphology
---------------
The injury and inflammation scores were low and showed no statistically significant differences between the groups (p = 0.999). [Figure 3](#f03){ref-type="fig"} shows histological images of the neointimal hyperplasia on day 28 after implantation of a bare-metal stent (on the left) and of a drug-eluting stent (on the right) in arteries.
{#f03}
Discussion
==========
Preclinical studies in laboratory animals for the development and improvement of coronary stents are important to provide an initial idea of the mechanical performance, safety and efficacy profile of the stents, in addition to being required by regulatory agencies for the approval of these devices for clinical use^[@r11]^.
Despite all the benefits from the first-generation drug-eluting stents which brought a revolution in the treatment of atherosclerotic coronary disease, questions arose on the long-term safety of these devices, especially in relation to late thrombosis^[@r12]^.
After the initial reduction in the number of drug-eluting stents implantation observed at that time, new efforts have focused on the development of stents with the use of different alloys (chromium-cobalt and platinum-chromium), new biocompatible or biodegradable polymers, and the incorporation of new drugs (everolimus, zotarolimus and biolimus A9), aiming to increase the safety of these devices.
Although the pathophysiology of stent thrombosis is multifactorial, several animal and clinical evidences have pointed to the presence of durable polymers as responsible for inflammation and delayed vascular repair^[@r13]^. These evidences have fostered the development of biodegradable polymer-based stents and bioabsorbable stents.
In the present preclinical study on porcine coronary arteries, we observed that biodegradable polymer-coated stents with sirolimus release only from the abluminal surface (Group V, Inspiron^TM^ stent) showed neointimal hyperplasia quantitatively similar to that of polymer and sirolimus-coated stents on the luminal and abluminal surfaces (Group IV). The groups with sirolimus-releasing stents (Groups IV and V) showed lower neointimal area in relation to the bare-metal stents (Groups I, II and III). No difference was observed between the five groups in relation to the injury and inflammation scores, thus showing that both the bioabsorbable polymer and the antiproliferative drug used were safe and effective.
The Inspiron^TM^ eluting-stent is characterized by being composed of a chromium-cobalt L605 alloy, biodegradable polymer coating, and sirolimus elution only on the abluminal surface. Possibly because of being coated with a biodegradable polymer, it is safer than durable-polymer stents. In a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials comparing stent thrombosis rates up to 4 years after use of the Yukon (Translumina, Hechingen, Germany) and Biomatrix^TM^ Flex (Biosensors International, Singapore) biodegradable polymer-based drug-eluting stents versus the Cypher^TM^ (Cordis Corp, Miami Lakes, Fl, USA) durable-polymer stent, the biodegradable polymer-based stents showed less definitive stent thrombosis, less clinical endpoints and less target-lesion revascularization than the Cypher^TM^ durable-polymer stent^[@r14]^.
An experimental study in a porcine model compared the endothelial activity and inflammation scores in animals undergoing Nobori^TM^ stent implantation - a stent coated with bioabsorbable polymer and biolimus only on its abluminal surface, to that of animals undergoing Cypher^TM^ stent implantation, and found increased endothelial relaxation, decreased production of superoxide anion, and less inflammation in the coronary segments in the group receiving the Nobori^TM^ stent^[@r15]^.
Recent findings, however, suggest that the presence of a durable polymer per se does not determine a greater risk of late thrombosis^[@r16],[@r17]^. In an experimental study, Kolandaivelu et al^[@r18]^ observed that drug-eluting stents with durable polymer (XIENCE) showed less early thrombogenicity than a corresponding bare-metal stent (Multilink Vision), i.e., polymer and drug coating provided a protective effect for acute thrombogenicity. Factors such as the stent design and strut thickness emerged as other important factors predisposing stent thrombosis.
Several other stents using biodegradable polymer and antiproliferative drugs released only from the abluminal surface have been developed. Examples of these stents are the stainless steel biolimus A9-eluting Nobori^TM^ (Terumo Corp., Japan) and Biomatrix^TM^ (Biosensors International, Singapore) stents ; the stainless steel paclitaxel-eluting JACTAX^TM^ stent (Boston Scientific, Natick, USA) , and the chromium-cobalt sirolimus-eluting Firehawk^TM^ stent (MicroPort Medical, Shanghai, China).
The Inspiron^TM^ stent has been extensively studied in experimental animals with results comparable to those of other drug-eluting stents as regards safety, stent-strut endothelialization, and neointimal hyperplasia^[@r19],[@r20]^.
Clinical studies are underway to evaluate the efficacy of this new drug-eluting stent. The preliminary clinical results of the Inspiron^TM^ stent (INSPIRON I) have shown a good angiographic response, with late lumen loss of 0.18 mm; good ultrasonographic response, with percentage neointimal obstruction of 8.2%; and target-vessel revascularization of 0%.
A randomized clinical trial (DESTINY) comparing the Inspiron^TM^ stent with Biomatrix^TM^ stent is currently being conducted, expected to include 165 randomized patients 2:1 (Inspiron^TM^ stent versus Biomatrix^TM^).
Study limitations
-----------------
The model used in the present study was healthy porcine coronary arteries, which may not represent the progression in a vascular segment with atherosclerotic disease. Atherosclerotic animal models have been developed in rabbits and pigs; however, these models are still uncommonly used in preclinical studies for the development and improvement of coronary stents.
Intracoronary ultrasonography was used only in the control on day 28 after stent implantation with the purpose of assessing in-stent neointimal hyperplasia, and not to guide stent implantation. However, despite the known limitations of quantitative coronary angiography, the findings of this method revealed that the stents were adequately implanted (balloon: artery ratio of 1.1:1) and the intracoronary ultrasonographic findings showed adequate stent strut apposition in all cases.
Optical coherence tomography is a method that has been widely used in preclinical and clinical validation studies of new stents; however, this method was not yet available for experimental animal use in our institution at the time the study was carried out.
Conclusions
===========
In this experimental study, the drug-eluting stents coated with sirolimus and bioabsorbable polymer in porcine coronary arteries showed less neointimal hyperplasia when compared to control bare-metal stents. The bioabsorbable polymer-based stent with sirolimus released only from its abluminal surface (Inspiron^TM^ stent) showed the same neointimal antiproliferative efficacy as the stent with sirolimus released from both the luminal and abluminal surfaces.
**Author contributions**
Conception and design of the research: Takimura CK, Campos CAH; Acquisition of data: Takimura CK, Campos CAH, Campos JC, Gutierrez PS; Statistical analysis: Takimura CK; Analysis and interpretation of the data: Takimura CK; Writing of the manuscript: Takimura CK, Craveiro PHM; Supervision / as principal investigator: Takimura CK; Critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content: Campos CAH, Craveiro PHM, Borges TFC, Curado L, Morato SP, Laurindo FRM, Lemos Neto PA.
**Sources of Funding**
This study was partially funded by SCTIE/ DECIT do Ministério da Saúde, CNPQ, FINEP, FAPESP.
**Study Association**
This study is not associated with any thesis or dissertation work.
[^1]: **Potential Conflict of Interest**
The authors Celso Kiyochika Takimura, Francisco Rafael Martins Laurindo Alves and Pedro Lemos Neto are scientific consultants of Scitech Medical Products. The authors Luciano Spero Penha Morato Curado and are employed of Scitech Medical Products.
|
Xcode provides a great experience when developing Swift applications on macOS, but as Swift matures and becomes more popular on Linux there is a strong need for a first-class experience when developing on Linux too.
In this guide, I’ll show how to use the Visual Studio Code Remote extension to develop your Swift application on macOS or Windows, while running in a Linux Docker container. You’ll have full IntelliSense thanks to SourceKit-LSP and debugging thanks to CodeLLDB.
Debugging a remote Docker container using VS Code on macOS
VS Code Remote is an extension you can install into VS Code. Once installed, if your project contains a .devcontainer directory VS Code will give you the option of running your project in “remote mode”.
In remote mode, your local VS Code talks to a remote Docker container which runs a “VS Code Server” that launches your application. Extensions like SourceKit-LSP and LLDBCode run in the remote VS Code Server, not your local VS Code.
VS Code Remote architecture
So, what should you put in your .devcontainer directory? Two files are required: devcontainer.json and Dockerfile .
devcontainer.json
Here’s an example devcontainer.json :
{
"name": "Swift",
"dockerFile": "Dockerfile", "runArgs": [
"--cap-add=SYS_PTRACE",
"--security-opt", "seccomp=unconfined"], // Uncomment the next line if you want to publish any ports.
// "appPort": [8080, 1234], "extensions": [
"pvasek.sourcekit-lsp--dev-unofficial",
"vadimcn.vscode-lldb"], "settings": {
"lldb.adapterType": "bundled",
"lldb.executable": "/usr/bin/lldb",
"terminal.integrated.shell.linux": "/bin/bash"
}
}
Let’s break this down.
"name": — a human-readable name for this devcontainer. It’s shown in the VS Code interface when you launch your container.
"dockerFile": — the name of your Dockerfile . Just use "Dockerfile" , it’s the convention.
"appPort": — here you can specify if you want any ports to be opened in the container. You’d do this if your application is a server that you want to be able to connect to from outside the container.
"runArgs": — the arguments that VS Code should pass to docker run when it runs your container. In the case of Swift we need to give the container some elevated privileges so that LLDB can use the ptrace() system call to attach to your running application.
"extensions": — extensions from the VS Code Marketplace that should be installed in the VS Code Server in the container. In this case, we install SourceKit-LSP (which provides IntelliSense) and CodeLLDB (which provides debugging).
"settings": — configuration options for the VS Code extensions you are installing. In this case, CodeLLDB needs to be told where to find lldb inside the container, and we also teach VS Code how to run a shell inside the container.
That’s it. Now we just need to write our Dockerfile alongside devcontainer.json and we are good to go!
Dockerfile
You can write any Dockerfile you want, but the simplest way is just to use the official Swift Docker image:
FROM swift:5.1
That’s it!
Launching
Once you’ve installed the VS Code Remote Containers extension, when you open up a project that contains a .devcontainer directory, VS Code prompts you to reopen your project using the container.
VS Code spots the .devcontainer directory in your project
The first time you do this, VS Code will build the Docker image. After that, the image is cached for reuse. Then, VS Code will run the container and connect to it.
You now have a full remote Swift development experience including IntelliSense and debugging!
Example Code
I’ve put together an example project showing how this works:
You should be able to install the extension into your VS Code, then clone this project and open it in VS Code and try it out!
Feedback
If you’ve got feedback on this article, please do tweet me: https://twitter.com/alfa |
Q:
Getting Data from Database for HighCHarts
I am developing a tool which has a statistic page on which I am using HighCharts, I am using the basic line chart, Now to populate this chart I need some data. The data comes from my DB.
I got a query which extracts a list of users assigned to a particular 'Manager', Now I want each name to appear a s different line.
But What happens is that all names appear under one line........
My code:
<?php
session_start();
class ManagerStats{
public function con()
{
require_once('connect.php');
$DB = new dbConnect();
return $DB->connect();
}
public function DontEvenKnow(){
if($_SESSION['user'] == 'manager1@gmail.com'){
$sql = "SELECT user_id, first_name FROM tbl_user WHERE user_team='bob'";
$query = mysqli_query($this->con(), $sql);
if($query){
foreach($query as $v){
echo $v;
}
}
}elseif($_SESSION['user'] == 'manager2@gmail.com'){
//$sql = "SELECT user_id FROM tbl_user WHERE user_team='oli'";
}
}
}
?>
<script>
$(function () {
$('#home_manager').highcharts({
title: {
text: '',
x: -20 //center
},
xAxis: {
categories: ['04/19', '04/20', '04/21', '04/22', '04/23', '04/24']
},
yAxis: {
title: {
text: 'Emails Sent'
},
plotLines: [
{
value: 0,
width: 1,
color: '#808080'
}
]
},
tooltip: {
valueSuffix: ''
},
legend: {
layout: 'vertical',
align: 'right',
verticalAlign: 'middle',
borderWidth: 0
},
series: [
{
name: '<?php $oko = new ManagerStats(); $oko->DontEvenKnow(); ?>',
data: [38, 78, 12, 80, 75]
},
{
name: 'Helena',
data: [23, 34, 55, 67, 34]
},
{
name: 'Martin',
data: [34, 35, 55, 69, 67]
},
{
name: 'Marta',
data: [43, 64, 75, 57, 64]
},
{
name: 'Samuel',
data: [63, 64, 75, 87, 44]
},
{
name: 'Carter',
data: [43, 54, 55, 67, 84]
}
]
});
});
</script>
A:
In your function :
$data = "";
$data_for_user = "[43, 54, 55, 67, 84]";
//For each user you need to get data from database,
//but don't do a query inside a loop because it kills perfomance
foreach($query as $v){
$data .= " {
name: '".$v["first_name" ]."',
data: ".$data_for_user."
}, ";
}
echo $data;
then in series
series: [<?php $oko = new ManagerStats(); $oko->DontEvenKnow(); ?>]
This will do a new line on highcharts foreach user that you have
UPDATE: was missing one of the quotes on the array that might be why it wasn't working for the person if they just copied it.
UPDATE:
Getting data for more users for highcharts
You need a query with users and all his values that have to be in the graph:
$query = "SELECT t.user_id, t.first_name, group_concat( v.values ) as data_for_user
FROM tbl_user t,tbl_values v
WHERE t.user_id = v.user_id
GROUP by t.user_id";
Group concat get the values for user separated by comma the way you need for highcharts.
Remember that group_concat have a lenght limit of 1024 but you can change it with this before your query.
'SET GLOBAL group_concat_max_len=15000'
And data for highcharts
$data = "";
foreach($query as $v){
$data .= " {
name: '".$v["first_name" ]."',
data: [".$v["data_for_user"]."]
}, ";
}
|
The role of IGF1 on the differentiation of prolactin secreting cells in the mouse anterior pituitary.
IGF1 knockout (IGF1KO) mice show a reduced number of prolactin (PRL) producing cells (PRL cells); however, the role of IGF1 in PRL cell proliferation and differentiation in immature mice is unclear. In this study, ontogenic changes in the percentages of PRL cells, GH producing cells (GH cells), and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled cells in the anterior pituitary of male IGF1KO mice during the postnatal period were investigated. The percentage of PRL cells in IGF1KO mice was significantly lower at day 20 compared with that in wild-type (WT) mice, while GH cells in IGF1KO mice were significantly increased from day 10. From days 5 to 20, the percentage of BrdU-labeled cells in WT and IGF1KO mice was similar. PRL cells and GH cells are thought to originate from the same progenitor cells, therefore, PRL cells in IGF1KO mice are not able to differentiate because progenitor cells have already committed to be GH cells. However, IGF1, 17beta-estradiol (E(2)), epidermal growth factor (EGF), or IGF1 plus E(2) treatments increased the PRL cell number in the pituitaries in vitro of 10-day-old WT and IGF1KO mice. This fact suggests that these factors are involved in PRL cell proliferation and differentiation. In addition, the increase of PRL cells in IGF1KO mice stimulated by E(2) or EGF was less than that of WT mice. Thus, IGF1 plays a crucial role in PRL cell proliferation and differentiation in mouse pituitaries by regulating the differentiation of progenitor cells and mediating the actions of E(2) and EGF. |
Selenoprotein W was Correlated with the Protective Effect of Selenium on Chicken Myocardial Cells from Oxidative Damage.
Selenium (Se) mainly performs its function through Se-containing proteins. Selenoprotein W (SelW), one member of the selenoprotein family, plays important roles in the normal function of the heart. To investigate the possible relationship between Se and SelW for the regulation of oxidative damage in chicken embryo myocardial cells, we treated myocardial cells with Se and H2O2. Then, the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine in the culture media, levels of SelW, inflammatory genes NF-κB, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, p53, and the cell cycle were analyzed. Furthermore, the correlation between SelW and the levels of these factors was determined. The results indicated that Se treatment increased the expression of SelW (P < 0.05) and caused a downregulation of p53, NF-κB, and TNF-α (P < 0.05). In contrast, H2O2 increased the expression of p53, NF-κB, TNF-α, and LDH (P < 0.05) and induced early cell apoptosis, which was alleviated by treatment with Se. In addition, SelW had a positive correlation with the levels of inflammatory genes investigated. Taken together, our findings suggested that SelW is sensitive to Se levels and oxidative stress, and may play a role in the protective function of Se against oxidative damage and inflammation in chicken myocardial cells. |
2017 has been an active year for health authorities in Africa, with the establishment of Africa’s own CDC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and another regional prevention center opened in Abuja, Nigeria, post-Ebola efforts to prepare for the next major outbreak appear to be gaining momentum. However, these efforts lack the acknowledgment of sufficient conditions to keep pace with the manifold threats in the areas of health and human security in Africa. With the prevalence of infectious diseases across the continent and numerous fragile health systems, government authorities and cross-national agencies throughout Africa are alarmingly unprepared for increasingly important issues in health and human security combined.
International health security is becoming increasingly linked to human security. While there remains no consensus on the definition of health security, the concept has developed over many years and now encompasses a wide array of conceptual and substantive challenges. To date, multilateral organizations like the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), the European Union (EU), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among others, have made great strides in building a common health security language. Identifying areas of common concern has been valuable for recognizing issues of significance shared by multiple communities and states, and building on that shared language.
Recently appointed Scientific Director of the Canadian Institute of Population and Public Health (CIHR), Dr. Steven J. Hoffman, has contributed to a public understanding about the intersection of health security and human security. In doing so, he has drawn attention to the term “global health security,” which he notes, “focus[es] on protecting entire populations, rather than individuals, from threats of global proportion that can spread menacingly irrespective of established natural or political borders.”
Approximately a year ago, the WHO officially terminated the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. The epidemic affected multiple countries in West Africa and was the most extensive EVD outbreak ever recorded. The WHO’s efforts, in combination with other national and supranational entities, in part, were not orchestrated with the concept of global health security in mind.
The WHO’s senior officials were open about their poor response, together with international partners, immediately after the EVD epidemic. They claimed to have been “ill-prepared” to contain the spread and handle the manifold impacts of the disease that presented global policymakers and respondents with overwhelming implications. Some health experts denied the possibility of Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks and spread on the scale that was seen back in 2014. The EVD outbreak underpinned the reality of the WHO’s relatively limited capacity and operational reach during such a health crisis, and offered some insight into funding implications, and how some diseases and regions can be prioritized over others. Moreover, it signals a need to rethink appropriate strategies in preventing the next wave of outbreaks: Populate the world with new centers, or strengthen the existing system and focus on conditions necessary for healthy and robust communities?
As was the case with the West Nile Virus (WNV) in 1999, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, and MERS-CoV in 2012, Ebola put the spotlight directly on highly infectious diseases’ ability to outpace health professionals’ response capacities, including organization, management, and containment. In the aftermath of these experiences, the WHO also received a cornucopia of criticism for not drawing on important lessons that could aid in future outbreaks.
In April 2015, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, Deputy Director-General Anarfi Asamoa-Baah and the organization’s regional directors admitted, “[w]e can mount a highly effective response to small and medium-sized outbreaks, but when faced with an emergency of this scale, our current systems – national and international – simply have not coped.”
The WHO’s April 2015 situation report depicted the virulence of EVD transmission that led to more than 11,300 deaths and 28,500 infections, highlighting the need for “adequate levels of preparation in tandem with ‘rapid and adequate response.’” While identified as part of the requisite conditions for successful preparedness, they cannot be so easily identified in post-EVD regions or other areas that remain susceptible to infectious diseases and rapid spread.
Since the EVD spread, “highest priority” countries – Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, and Senegal identified as being at highest risk – followed by “high priority” countries – Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Togo –have received insufficient attention by the WHO as well as international and local partners in preparing for future encounters.
Some standard viral hemorrhagic fever Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) modules were distributed to countries where excessive measures were required the most, but those modules were shown to contain inadequate materials to fulfill protection needs, and to ensure essential and lasting counter-disease functions and operations. Although “priority countries” have received technical support through the presence of some Preparedness-Strengthening Teams (PSTs), and assessment activities have been undertaken in different countries and regions, these and other combined efforts can be characterized as responsive rather than preventative. Can 90-day plans organized in each country protect communities across multiple national border against epidemics that can spread aggressively over a period of several years or more?
The WHO’s 2016 Zika declaration, which called the epidemic a global health emergency, revealed the passivity of the organization – in addition to loosely interconnected health systems and structures – that struggled to mobilize an effective response to a virus that many, even after becoming infected, had never heard of. In the case of Zika, the virus spread to nearly every country in the Western hemisphere, coming dangerously close to continental Africa, and led to the mobilization of leading scientists and health experts at all government levels.
Officials were perplexed by questions about transmission, birth defects, prevention, and future implications during the course of Zika’s assertive spread. Other than having declared a global emergency, the WHO received waves of criticism for its lack of action, delayed action, and its ineffectiveness. The crisis led to panic, and governments turning to forced abortions and sterilization as nefarious human rights violations aimed at suppressing the virus. It was an epic example of how the crisis of pandemic can be distorted and how the issue of health can be (over) securitized. Sexual transmission received relatively little attention by most governments, while the mosquito narrative received excessive coverage. The Zika epidemic also exemplified how governments remain not only predominantly ineffective at mosquito control, but also at managing the transmission of diseases through sexual contact – a necessary component of education programs in every country.
Zika further proved the willingness of governments to test new technologies, and experiment with potentially preventative measures, some of which conflict with individuals’ right to life and sovereignty over their bodies. The virus underscored the question of genetic experimentation, with the introduction of male mosquitos containing altered genes leading to a shorter life span. Female mosquitos carrying bacteria inhibiting their capacity to transmit viruses and disease were also released.
Jeff Bessen at Harvard University noted that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may be a valuable ally in the fight against deadly viruses. “Perhaps the most dramatic example of GMO use in medicine,” he writes, “came during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. When American doctor Kent Brantly and other Western volunteers contracted Ebola, several were cured by a ‘secret serum’ called Zmapp. Manufactured by genetically modified tobacco plants, it’s a mixture of several proteins that attack the Ebola virus.”
In the aftermath of the Zika crisis, important questions about its origin, transmission, and effects have gone unanswered. The pitch of Zika revealed major fractures in scientific cooperation and possibly a dangerous disconnect between the scientific community and governments willing to enact strict, even if blatantly ineffective, measures to combat the disease. Failures to produce vital data on the Zika spread translates into little knowledge about who, if anyone, is immune to it or how many people would be vulnerable if or when Zika were to return.
If Zika were to reappear, this time in Africa, EVD and experiences with previous infectious diseases there could provide a look into the negative impacts that extensive transmission would have. Sexual transmission has been repeatedly downplayed as a mode of transmission. Previous experience showed that travel alerts, such as those made by the CDC and inspections at border crossings produced little in the way of containment.
Central and South America’s recent experience with Zika should have raised more questions about the level of preparedness for Africa’s imaginable encounter with the disease. The latest Ebola ordeal offers a glimpse into the problems of containing a disease with mysterious characteristics. Coupled with a lack or supplies stockpiled, lack of necessary funds and funding, and lack of health and scientific research institutes, the EVD and Zika cases foretell further health crisis for the continent, particularly given the fragility of existing health systems and the level of attention individuals in the most vulnerable parts of Africa give to their personal health.
Laboratory testing and diagnostics in Africa can be identified as one of the deepest problems in combating future disease. Some experts have noted a dearth of laboratory testing in areas deemed critical. Another problem stems from the absence of localized efforts to test for and maybe treat diseases – anything from Ebola to Zika. The United States’ (US) CDC, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Public Health England’s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL), and South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) provide a view to the type of operational capabilities needed in other countries. Having identified “priority countries” in Africa, the WHO is in a position to make recommendations and support similar operations in those areas. The African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at Redeemers University, Nigeria and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) are two cases of how similar initiatives are possible on locales susceptible to viral outbreak and spread, but they suffer from resource and staff shortages just as centers and institutes in the West do.
Part of building the necessary infrastructure that leads to strengthened preparedness entails increasing accessibility to vulnerable regions, yet with increased accessibility and openness comes the potential for increase spread. Effective management after an outbreak also means that government and health officials need to be proactive and ready to act. West Africa’s Ebola scare showed the need for more health experts ready and willing to work with national and international partners. EVD exemplified the willingness of local actor collaboration, with several governments having mobilized and deployed teams to contain EVD outbreak. Thus, the EVD experience demonstrated that essential human resources existed to build vital containment teams. The question is whether an increased number of teams would be equipped with the experts they would need and how long their resources would carry them.
Part of Africa’s vulnerability has stemmed from the absence of a unified body of health experts able to respond if and when needed. In the past several years, calls have been made for a center in Africa that reflects the operational abilities of the CDC in Atlanta. Its presence in Africa is expected to help close the gap between outbreak areas and response and coordination centers. In early 2017, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) was officially launched – backed by financing from the African Union (AU) – and includes the presence of every African country. Health authorities in other countries have built on the initiative with the establishment of regional CDCs such as that established in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Africa CDC symbolizes a step forward in building and subsequently developing Africa’s communicable disease response. Although, while Africa CDC’s main objectives include prevention, detection, and response to public health threats, its capabilities in these areas have yet to be truly tested. The Africa CDC aims to have centers across the continent, collaborating with both public and private agencies. Its initial goals have been set exceedingly high with its desire to provide universal vaccines by 2020. Given existing regional centers’ inefficiency in collaborating and coordinating among human and health security agents, the Africa CDC delivering on its goals remains questionable.
Former AU Commission Chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was succeeded by Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat, called it a “historic pledge” and claimed that it was an achievable goal. Currently only about a dozen African countries exceed the 50% mark of their national immunization programs, which has exacerbated Africa’s vaccine deficit – one out of every five children go without basic vaccines necessary for healthy living. Very weak levels of local pharmaceutical production leave health professional and task force under-equipped to contain complex outbreaks
Professor Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, recently opined that, “epidemic and pandemic diseases are among the greatest of all threats to human health and security, against which we have for too long done too little to prepare.” Human populations are surrounded by “natural reservoirs” of EVD and Marburg, for example, with fruit bats and insectivorous bats having been identified as the source of human health threats.
Given Africa’s increasing interconnectedness as well as the range of Africa’s delicate health communities, public awareness and local or community endeavors become even more important components in prevention programs. Literacy rates in those parts of Africa hit hardest by EVD between 2014 and 2016 were partly attributed to the “rumor mill” that emerged shortly after the outbreak with home remedies, including hot drinks and some raw vegetables, even Homeopathy being identified as dependable measures that would prevent the acquisition of EVD.
Much of the 2014 Ebola spread was attributed to the slow response of health experts in the field. Georgetown University’s health law professor, Lawrence Gostin, noted that, “Ebola is a very preventable disease,” and despite having over 20 previous EVD outbreaks, he said, “we managed to contain all of them.” The WHO’s slow response was also attributed to staffing and resource shortages, which raises questions about the potential for similar shortcomings to affect mobilization and response times by Africa’s CDC.
The creation and subsequent expansion of laboratories, based on the bio-medical approach of epidemics, is not be sufficient in responding to the prevention and management of future threats to health security. Epidemics are also determined by social, political, economic as well as cultural conditions to which the CDC unable provide total, complete, and effective responses. Existing emergency response centers and other facilities already fail to take the full spectrum of conditions into account when articulating the necessity to respond and prevent outbreaks.
Combating the next round of infectious diseases in Africa, and elsewhere, does not lie in the establishment of new centers and new institutions, but rather in mending the structural deficiencies inherent in the existing system. Building laboratories and specific centers for epidemics is only a partial and limited response to future threats to global health security. The activities of health systems are a small part of the response to future epidemics because the causes of the epidemics lie outside of the health systems (armed conflicts, exploitation of forest or mining resources, poor governance, state failure, and general insecurity).
If and when strengthened, programs within the existing system could be connected with broader and overarching initiatives developed at the Africa CDC. In light of recent experiences with Ebola and Zika, there remains much concern about how Africa’s new CDC and African nations will respond to the next major and unknown epidemic(s).
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Geopolitical Monitor
Geopoliticalmonitor.com is an open-source intelligence collection and forecasting service, providing provide research, analysis and up to date coverage on situations and events that have a substantive impact on political, military and economic affairs. |
Mary Bowerman
USA TODAY Network
Trying to spice things up this Valentine’s Day?
Look no further than Burger King, your one stop shop for a romantic dinner and an “adult toy” that may spice up your evening, AdWeek reports.
Burger King locations in Israel are offering “Adult Meals” from 6 p.m. until close on Valentine’s Day. The meals come fully-equipped with two Whoppers, two French fries, two beers and an “adult toy.” The only catch? You must be 18 or older to purchase the meal.
Oh, baby.
The adult toy options appear to be a feather duster, head massager, or a blindfold, according to a YouTube video posted by the ad agency Leo Burnett Israel.
On social media, the reaction to Burger King Israel's adult meals was overall mixed. Hey, some are more adventurous than others!
Follow Mary Bowerman on Twitter: @MaryBowerman
|
Q:
masked kernel in convolution in pytorch
Let's say:
x = torch.arange(16, dtype=torch.float).reshape(1, 1, 4, 4)
and a 2d convolution layer is:
layer = torch.nn.Conv2d(in_channels=1, out_channels=1, kernel_size=2, stride=2)
layer.weight.data[:] = 1.
layer.bias.data[:] = 0.
Normally, passing x to layer will give:
>>layer(x)
tensor([[[[10., 18.],
[42., 50.]]]], grad_fn=<MkldnnConvolutionBackward>)
Considering having 4 mask filters, how it is done to mask kernel in each step?
for example the following picture indicates 4 filters(white: True, black: False)
The output should be:
tensor([[[[5., 15.],
[30., 40.]]]], grad_fn=<MkldnnConvolutionBackward>)
P.S: all masks are obtained by missing pixels in 2d input array. So 4 masks above are actually a matrix with the same shape as input.
A:
I found the solution.
Element-wise multiplication between input and the mask before feeding it to a Conv2d method would be enough.(masking input is much easier than masking kernel itself !!):
mask = torch.tensor([[[1, 1, 1, 0]], [[1, 0, 1, 1]], [[1, 1, 0, 1]], [[0, 1, 1, 1]]], dtype=torch.float, requires_grad=False).reshape(1, 1, 4, 4)
>>layer(torch.mul(x, mask))
tensor([[[[5., 15.],
[30., 40.]]]], grad_fn=<MkldnnConvolutionBackward>)
P.S Thanks to @Shai I got the idea from partial convolution represented in this paper. However it does some extra manipulation on output. it defines a mask ratio and I guess does some weighting the final output based on it.
|
Aug 22, 2016· A36 steel is a structural billet steel for structural applications. A36 is a material grade and designation defined in ASTM A36/A36M08 standard. ASTM A36/A36M08 is an international material standard for billet steel for general structural usage.What is the international equivalent grade for steel Sep 07, 2015What is an ASTM A36 Steel equivalent? See more results
A36 steel is a common structural steel in the United States. The A36 standard was established by the ASTM InternationalProperties·
A36 vs. 1018 Steel Comparison | Capital Steel & Wire
A36 vs. 1018 Steel Comparison. As two of the most highly sought after steel grades on the market, many questions come up between the differences in 1018 and A36 steel. How different is A36 from 1018? Are they equivalent material grades? We thought it would be best to provide a comparrison for A36 and 1018 steel.
leecosteel› Steel Plate ProductsASTM A36 steel plate is one of the most widely used carbon structural steels used in the industry. It can be riveted, bolted or welded in the construction of bridges and buildings, and for general structural purposes. ASTM A36 is known to be an equivalent to EN S275 steel plate.
A36 vs. 1018 Steel Comparison. As two of the most highly sought after steel grades on the market, many questions come up between the differences in 1018 and A36 steel. How different is A36 from 1018? Are they equivalent material grades? We thought it would be best to provide a comparrison for A36 and 1018 steel.
What Is A36 Steel? | Hunker
A36 Steel is the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) designation for carbon steel. ASTM A36 steel is the most common type of steel used in construction. Its properties allow the steel to be used in many applications, unlike higherperformance alloys.
leecosteel› Steel Plate ProductsASTM A36 steel plate is one of the most widely used carbon structural steels used in the industry. It can be riveted, bolted or welded in the construction of bridges and buildings, and for general structural purposes. ASTM A36 is known to be an equivalent to EN S275 steel plate.
ASTM A36 Mild/Low Carbon Steel AZoM
ASTM A36 is the most commonly used mild and hotrolled steel. It has excellent welding properties and is suitable for grinding, punching, tapping, drilling and machining processes. ASTM A36 Mild/Low Carbon Steel. Download PDF Copy; Written by AZoM Jul 5 2012. Topics Covered. Introduction Can we say that A 36 is carbon steel since it has
Steel Plate Grades. Width Length; 3/16″ – 8″ 36″ to 120″ Commercial and Specification Grade Steel Plates are stocked to meet a variety of end use requirements that range from the most unsophisticated storage bin to such highly critical applications as Cryogenic Pressure Vessels.
ABS Steels Wikipedia
ABS Steels are types of structural steel which are standardized by the American Bureau of Shipping for use in shipbuilding. The 36 grades have yield strength of 51,000 psi (355 MPa), and ultimate tensile strength of 71,000 90,000 psi (490620 MPa).Basic properties·
Steel plate is processed by flame cutting or High Def Plasma cutting. Hi Def Plasma is utilized to sizes 1" and under, over 1" is flame cut. A36 Steel plate has a 36,000 min yield strength. Steel Plate. Steel plate A36 is stocked in all pattern sizes up to 96" x 288" and can be processed to special shapes per print.
ASTM A131 Steel, Grade AH36 MatWeb
UNS K01806, Structural steel used in ship construction Highstrength, lowalloy Materials as large as 13mm thick may be semikilled
Product Description:
shipbuilding steel stock
ABS,LR shipbuilding steel
steel for shipbuilding and oil platform:
Henan BEBON Iron & Steel Co., Ltd , is professional in exporting the steel for shipbuilding and oil platform. Our product have the following several feature
1.The size of steel plates we can supply is 3mm-180mm * 1250mm-4000mm * 3000mm-18000mm
2.The main standard our steel is according to ASTM A131,API.
3.The main classification society we cooperate are: ABS ,GL, LR, BV, NK,DNV,KR,RINA.
4.Productive technology: HR,CR,TMCP,N,Q&T,IMPACT TEST,Z15,Z25,Z35.
5.Hard stamp about the brand of manufacturer, Heat No.,Batch No., steel grade, steel size, and the brand of Classification Society.
6.Blasting according to SA2.5 standard, and the shop primed on the steel, coating thickness is 15-35 micrometer. |
Introduction
I've implemented a couple Unix core utilities in Haskell, and want to start a series of posts going through the details - starting with simple programs like cat , seq , and which , and then moving on towards more featureful programs like uniq , tr and maybe grep .
So, let's implement cat in Haskell!
Background
cat is conceptually simple; it concatenates a series of files. It doesn't accept any flags, and has only a little dynamic behavior - if there aren't any files provided from the command line, it reads from stdin . If a series of files are provided and there's an error reading one of them, it's reported but the rest of the files are processed. cat exits with failure if there were any problems.
Module and Imports
The top of the file contains the module definition and imports. Since this is going to be an executable, not a library, we use module Main where . We'll skip going through the imports for now, but reference them as we move through the file. To follow along with the examples, you can put this header in a file and load it from ghci with :load cat.hs .
module Main where -- cat -- -- read files from the command line or echo stdin -- soldiers on when some files do not exist, but reports failure at the end import Control.Exception ( IOException , try ) import Control.Monad ( when ) import Data.Either ( isLeft ) import System.Environment ( getArgs ) import System.Exit ( exitFailure ) import System.IO ( hPutStrLn , stderr )
Data Flow
Before jumping in to find some functions that can read and print file content, let's think about the 'flow' of execution for cat . It takes arguments, attempts to convert those into file names, extracts the file content, then prints it. What about errors? Conceptually, we can think of each argument turning into either file content, or an error. Either way, we print out the content or error at the end.
When we're done, we should have something like this:
main :: IO () main = getArgs >>= collect >>= display
Haskell has a great builtin data type for this situation: Either . Translating our conceptual view of cat to Haskell looks something like this.
type Argument = String type FileContent = String collect :: [ Argument ] -> IO [ Either IOException FileContent ] collect = undefined display :: [ Either IOException FileContent ] -> IO () display = undefined
Collect
We can fill in the undefined for collect with some of the imports from before. How are we going to turn a file name into an IOException or FileContent? Let's build it from the bottom up. To read a file, we need readFile
> : t readFile readFile :: FilePath -> IO String
The problem is that readFile throws an IOException on failure. try allows us to capture the exception for handling. This is conceptually what we want; either the result of readFile , or the exception it threw.
> : t try try :: GHC . Exception . Exception e => IO a -> IO ( Either e a ) > : t try . readFile try . readFile :: GHC . Exception . Exception e => FilePath -> IO ( Either e String )
To apply these to each argument, we can use mapM , which is like map , but works on a sequence of Monad m items. It has a pretty abstract type signature, but a type check shows that it's doing what we want.
> : t mapM mapM :: ( Traversable t , Monad m ) => ( a -> m b ) -> t a -> m ( t b ) > : t mapM ( try . readFile ) mapM ( try . readFile ) :: ( Traversable t , GHC . Exception . Exception e ) => t FilePath -> IO ( t ( Either e String ))
Putting it all together, we can define collect as
collect :: [ Argument ] -> IO [ Either IOException FileContent ] collect = mapM ( try . readFile )
Stdin
What if we're not given any arguments? We need to read from stdin . This case is a bit simpler, since there isn't any reasonable possibility for an error. We can ignore the input (since there isn't any!) and get the content from stdin and print it out. getContents from the Prelude does just what we want. It reads from stdin until EOF, and returns an IO String . We'll use putStr instead of putStrLn , since the input will already have a newline.
display :: [ Either IOException FileContent ] -> IO () display [] = getContents >>= putStr
Files
The other case is when we do have some 'Error or FileContent' to work with. We want to print the error or file content either way, but errors should go to stderr , not stdout . At the end, if there were any errors, we want to set the exit code appropriately.
Our printing function needs to handle both possibilities:
toConsole ( Left exception ) = hPutStrLn stderr $ show exception toConsole ( Right content ) = putStr content
And display will apply it to each argument, and handle exiting correctly. any isLeft files is doing the work of answering "were there any exceptions?".
display :: [ Either IOException FileContent ] -> IO () display files = do mapM_ toConsole files when ( any isLeft files ) exitFailure
Main
How do we tie everything together? If we think back to the high level data flow at the beginning, we describe that exactly in Haskell for our main function.
main :: IO () main = getArgs >>= collect >>= display
Full implementation
Here's the full source. You can also find it here.
module Main where -- cat -- -- read files from the command line or echo stdin -- soldiers on when some files do not exist, but reports failure at the end import Control.Exception ( IOException , try ) import Control.Monad ( when ) import Data.Either ( isLeft ) import System.Environment ( getArgs ) import System.Exit ( exitFailure ) import System.IO ( hPutStrLn , stderr ) type Argument = String type FileContent = String collect :: [ Argument ] -> IO [ Either IOException FileContent ] collect = mapM ( try . readFile ) display :: [ Either IOException FileContent ] -> IO () display [] = getContents >>= putStr display files = do mapM_ toConsole files when ( any isLeft files ) exitFailure where toConsole ( Left exception ) = hPutStrLn stderr $ show exception toConsole ( Right content ) = putStr content main :: IO () main = getArgs >>= collect >>= display
Conclusion |
Post navigation
Ready for 1.2 Million Shuttle Stops Clogging Streets?
SFMTA MAKES TECH BUSES PERMANENT
After publishing my November article describing problems with the trial of “tech” shuttle buses all over the City, including on the West Side, and noting that problems may rapidly worsen if the program is made permanent, that’s just what SFMTA’s Board of Directors did when it approved a permanent program on November 17 ignoring a detailed Secondary Analysis highlighting deep flaws in the October 5 Evaluation Report of the 18-month trial period.
…the problem with blocked Muni zones is about to worsen come February 2016, since the MTA Board also approved … smaller shuttle bus operators who provide free intra-city rides to also use Muni red zones…”
After MTA’s Board received impassioned testimony from members of the public opposing making the Commuter Shuttle Program permanent, it did so anyway, including allowing the permanent program to expand from 124 shuttle zones to up to 200 shuttle zones.
Not one of MTA’s Board of Directors bothered questioning in depth SFMTA’s Shuttle Project Manager, Hank Willson, about data in the October 5 MTA Evaluation Report concerning problems with commuter shuttles interfering with red Muni bus zones. Worse, none of MTA’s Board of Directors even thought to ask questions about the Planning Department’s second EIR Exemption letter.
And not one of the SFMTA’s Board of Directors bothered asking whether the Evaluation Report may have low-balled data in the Evaluation Report…
Compelling Public Testimony During Hearing
One member of the public who testified on November 17 indicated he is a lawyer who uses the shuttle buses. He noted not only that his tech company employer is able to, but would be more than happy to, pay higher fees to help fund public transportation infrastructure…
Ignoring the Elephant in the Room: Transbay Terminal as “Hub”
Ignoring the elephant in the room, SFMTA has all but turned a blind eye towards considering making the commuter shuttle bus program use a “hub” approach, as most transportation planners have used since the mid-1800’s.
Did SFMTA simply forget that the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) are building the $4.5 billionTransbay Transit Center a transportation hub?
San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal is a transportation complex in San Francisco that opened in 1939 but was relocated on August 7, 2010 to build the Transbay Transit Center. Its function during the past 75 years was being a transportation hub.
During public testimony on November 17, at least five members of the public advocated that SFMTA use a central hub location for shuttle bus operators…
In other words, rather than creating one, or a few, central hubs, SFMTA simply turned the major and minor arterial streets of San Francisco all over the City into “spokes” — that poke into the flow of Muni buses and cause greater traffic congestion — and converted up to 200 restricted Muni red bus zones into commuter shuttle “hubs” scattered across the City…
Muni Drivers Locked Out of Process
TWU Local 250-A president Eric Williams testified during the MTA Board’s November 17 hearing, that the shuttle program was a “done deal no matter what we say in here, bought and paid for [by the tech companies].”…
SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin: “Open Mouth, Insert Foot”
Comically, two days after the SFMTA Board approved making the shuttle program permanent, the San Francisco Chronicle carried an article on January 19 reporting on the MTA’s Central Subway project, in which MTA’s director, Ed Reiskin, noted:
“As the second-most-densely populated city in the country (New York City is first), I think our roadways are nearly at capacity, and our streets are not going to get any wider.”…
It is widely expected that the Coalition for Fair, Legal, and Environmental Transit will appeal the absence of a second EIR for making the commuter shuttle program permanent to the full Board of Supervisors, since the potential for unlimited expansion is the heart of the issue going forward.
And for all anyone knows, Superior Court Judge Garrett Wong may — hopefully — rule that a full EIR was required for the pilot program and should have been performed, and a permanent expansion definitely requires a full EIR.
An increase to 1.19 million commercial commuter shuttle buses stopping in Muni red zones, plus an additional as yet unknown number of smaller “free” shuttles” the SFMTA Board approved using Muni red zones, must surely have quality of life, housing displacement, roadway wear-and-tear, and other environmental impacts that must be mitigated through an EIR. |
# STATISTICS FOR FILE: PHASE.DAT
# Phase Data Points 1 thru 1001 of 1001
# Maximum = 4.356529e+00
# Minimum = -4.707879e+00
# Average = -5.403683e-01
# Sigma Type: MTIE (Fast)
# Deadtime T/Tau = 1.000000
#
# AF Tau # MTIE
1 1.0000e+00 1000 5.0597e-01
3 3.0000e+00 998 1.2984e+00
7 7.0000e+00 994 2.2922e+00
15 1.5000e+01 986 2.9949e+00
31 3.1000e+01 970 4.4550e+00
63 6.3000e+01 938 6.5989e+00
127 1.2700e+02 874 6.8061e+00
255 2.5500e+02 746 7.8205e+00
511 5.1100e+02 490 7.8205e+00
|
Stealth fighter support could be billions more expensive than expected, report
National Defence says it’s been told the unit price of the F-35 stealth fighter will be higher than the $75 million it planned for, but the military insisted late Monday it can still deliver the program on budget.
The Pentagon, in a recent report to the U.S. Congress, outlined a laundry list of cost increases in the US$382 billion development of the advanced fighter-bomber.
“Canada is not a recipient of the report, however, as an international partner in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project, we have been advised that it forecasts an increase in production costs for the JSF Program,” said a written statement released to The Canadian Press.
“Once we have an opportunity to see the details of the report, we will be able to assess how it may impact the cost of Canadian production aircraft.”
The statement downplayed the impending price hike, saying “a degree of cost variation is envisaged in any program” and defence bureaucrats had built a contingency into the estimated $9-billion purchase price.
For weeks, the Harper government has insisted it will pay around $75 million for each F-35 and furiously rejected criticism from the Parliamentary budget officer, who estimated in March that the sticker price for the radar-evading plane would be more like $148 million apiece.
Alarmed by the uncertainty, the Liberals have promised to cancel the purchase.
The acknowledgment of the price change came as another American report suggested the cost of operating the jets could be billions of dollars more than expected.
An estimate by a Pentagon cost-analysis unit projects it will cost $915 billion to keep the U.S. fleet of 2,443 jets flying for 30 years.
The document, leaked to Bloomberg in Washington, forecasts a lifetime maintenance bill of roughly $375 million per aircraft.
Alan Williams, a former senior Canadian defence official, says the costs would be comparable for the 65 planes the Conservative government intends to purchase, starting in 2017.
Using the Pentagon numbers, the 65 planes would cost more than $24 billion to maintain over 30 years, well above Canadian government estimates.
The cost-analysis group works directly for the U.S. defence secretary and challenges the numbers and assumptions of the Pentagon’s project offices. It based its projection on the operating costs of the existing fleets of F-18s, F-16s and U.S. marine corps Harrier jump jets.
Much of the debate in Canada over the highly computerized planes has centred the eye-popping purchase price and only passing attention has been paid to long-term maintenance and service, which the Conservatives have projected at no more than $7 billion over 20 years.
The Parliamentary budget officer, in a report just before the Harper government was defeated, pegged service for the F-35 at $19.5 billion over 30 years or roughly $301 million per plane.
Kevin Page faced a storm of criticism from Conservatives in March for suggesting the overall program could cost taxpayers $29.3 billion, but if the new figures from the Pentagon hold, the price tag could go even higher.
“The Pentagon’s new forecast represents a significant increase even over what the U.S. expected,” said Williams, who is an outspoken critic of the program. “The simple fact is we just don’t know how much we’ll spend. It just lends more weight to the argument that we should wait.”
Repeated warnings about costs spurred the F-35 project office at the Pentagon to commit last week to a sweeping review of what it will take to maintain the aircraft over the long haul.
The study, ordered by project executive officer Vice-Admiral David Venlet, will look at the design of the aircraft to try and figure out what is driving the costs into the stratosphere.
“The service chiefs look at the estimates of the maintenance cost and it makes their knees go weak,” said Venlet, according to an April 22 transcript of his remarks. “There is an estimate. We know that is not the right number.”
A second, separate report prepared two years ago by the U.S. naval air systems command said long-term support could hit $443 billion, but that estimate was in 2002 dollars.
Venlet said even that is too high.
Williams says there’s a lot of uncertainty in the numbers because the plane is still in development and has no maintenance history. |
Ext.namespace("userMain");
userMain.application = {
init: function ()
{
var treepnlMenu = new Ext.tree.TreePanel({
id: "treepnlMenu",
region: "west",
//title: "",
width: 240,
collapsible: true,
collapseMode: "mini",
hideCollapseTool: true,
split: true,
rootVisible: false,
loader: new Ext.tree.TreeLoader(),
root: new Ext.tree.AsyncTreeNode({
expanded: true,
children: [
{
id: "nodeInfo",
text: "Personal Information",
leaf: true,
url: "../users/usersInit"
}
]
}),
listeners: {
click: function (node, evt)
{
document.getElementById("iframe").src = node.attributes.url;
},
afterrender: function (treepnl)
{
var index = (CREATE_CLIENT == 1)? 1 : 0;
var node = treepnl.getRootNode().childNodes[index];
node.select();
setTimeout(function () { document.getElementById("iframe").src = (CREATE_CLIENT == 1)? "../oauth2/clientSetup?create_app" : node.attributes.url; }, 5);
}
}
});
var viewport = new Ext.Viewport({
layout: "border",
items: [
treepnlMenu,
{
xtype: "iframepanel",
id: "iframepnlIframe",
region: "center",
frameConfig: {
name: "iframe",
id: "iframe"
},
deferredRender: false
}
]
});
}
}
Ext.onReady(userMain.application.init, userMain.application);
|
10 Most Annoying Management Terms of 2011 - stupandaus
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-ten-most-annoying-management-terms-of-2011-2011-12
======
zoowar
Let me go out on limb for 2012 "superphone"
[http://www.infotechblogs.com/2011/12/leaked-windows-phone-
ro...](http://www.infotechblogs.com/2011/12/leaked-windows-phone-roadmap-
for-2012.html)
|
Field
The following description relates to a printed circuit board and a method for manufacturing the same.
Description of Related Art
Multilayer board technologies which form wiring layers in circuit boards, for example, printed circuit boards have been developed in response to demands for electronic devices with lighter weights, smaller sizes, faster speeds, greater capabilities and higher performances. Technologies which mount electronic elements including active elements or passive elements in multilayer boards have been also developed. |
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/*
This file is part of rippled: https://github.com/ripple/rippled
Copyright (c) 2012, 2013 Ripple Labs Inc.
Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
ANY SPECIAL , DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
*/
//==============================================================================
#ifndef RIPPLE_APP_PATHS_CURSOR_PATHCURSOR_H_INCLUDED
#define RIPPLE_APP_PATHS_CURSOR_PATHCURSOR_H_INCLUDED
#include <ripple/app/paths/RippleCalc.h>
namespace ripple {
namespace path {
// The next section contains methods that compute the liquidity along a path,
// either backward or forward.
//
// We need to do these computations twice - once backward to figure out the
// maximum possible liqiudity along a path, and then forward to compute the
// actual liquidity of the paths we actually chose.
//
// Some of these routines use recursion to loop over all nodes in a path.
// TODO(tom): replace this recursion with a loop.
class PathCursor
{
public:
PathCursor(
RippleCalc& rippleCalc,
PathState& pathState,
bool multiQuality,
beast::Journal j,
NodeIndex nodeIndex = 0)
: rippleCalc_(rippleCalc),
pathState_(pathState),
multiQuality_(multiQuality),
nodeIndex_(restrict(nodeIndex)),
j_ (j)
{
}
void nextIncrement() const;
private:
PathCursor(PathCursor const&) = default;
PathCursor increment(int delta = 1) const
{
return {rippleCalc_, pathState_, multiQuality_, j_, nodeIndex_ + delta};
}
TER liquidity() const;
TER reverseLiquidity () const;
TER forwardLiquidity () const;
TER forwardLiquidityForAccount () const;
TER reverseLiquidityForOffer () const;
TER forwardLiquidityForOffer () const;
TER reverseLiquidityForAccount () const;
// To send money out of an account.
/** advanceNode advances through offers in an order book.
If needed, advance to next funded offer.
- Automatically advances to first offer.
--> bEntryAdvance: true, to advance to next entry. false, recalculate.
<-- uOfferIndex : 0=end of list.
*/
TER advanceNode (bool reverse) const;
TER advanceNode (STAmount const& amount, bool reverse, bool callerHasLiquidity) const;
// To deliver from an order book, when computing
TER deliverNodeReverse (
AccountID const& uOutAccountID,
STAmount const& saOutReq,
STAmount& saOutAct) const;
// To deliver from an order book, when computing
TER deliverNodeReverseImpl (
AccountID const& uOutAccountID,
STAmount const& saOutReq,
STAmount& saOutAct,
bool callerHasLiquidity) const;
TER deliverNodeForward (
AccountID const& uInAccountID,
STAmount const& saInReq,
STAmount& saInAct,
STAmount& saInFees,
bool callerHasLiquidity) const;
// VFALCO TODO Rename this to view()
PaymentSandbox&
view() const
{
return pathState_.view();
}
NodeIndex nodeSize() const
{
return pathState_.nodes().size();
}
NodeIndex restrict(NodeIndex i) const
{
return std::min (i, nodeSize() - 1);
}
Node& node(NodeIndex i) const
{
return pathState_.nodes()[i];
}
Node& node() const
{
return node (nodeIndex_);
}
Node& previousNode() const
{
return node (restrict (nodeIndex_ - 1));
}
Node& nextNode() const
{
return node (restrict (nodeIndex_ + 1));
}
RippleCalc& rippleCalc_;
PathState& pathState_;
bool multiQuality_;
NodeIndex nodeIndex_;
beast::Journal j_;
};
} // path
} // ripple
#endif
|
Occult fractures of the talus.
A case presentation of a severe ankle sprain in which the patient was nonresponsive to routine therapies is presented. Repeat radiographs and computerized axial tomographic scans (CAT Scans) lead to the final diagnosis of a sagittal plane fracture of the talus. The clinical and radiographic evaluation leading to the diagnosis will be presented, and the surgical and postoperative managements will be discussed. |
Unless you live under a rock, you've heard about the recent wave of censorship from YouTube of various crypto content creators who use the popular legacy platform. While controversy still abounds as to the ultimate reasons for the censorship--ranging from coordinated reporting attacks by Telegram groups to new YouTube policies going into effect, to Craig Wright and BSV supporters going on a reporting spree against various crypto YouTubers--we can see that at least two of the more popular decentralized altnernatives to legacy video platforms have recently surged in price valuation.
Some have even suggested that the LBRY community itself could have been behind the wave of sudden YouTube strikes and censorship, as simultaneous to the surge in LBRY valuation, there were many crypto influencers on Twitter and elsewhere recommending LBRY as the best censorship resistant YouTube alternative. I myself had been recommending it to people in the weeks leading up to the valuation increase and YouTube censorship, but that's only because I had recently started using it to watch crypto and other content and was enjoying the change-up.
Check out ScottcBusiness' LBRY review here and sign up for TokenTuber to earn TUBER while you're there
This morning I noticed another project I used to follow and be a fan of, BitTube, has also recently surged in valuation and trading volume as well. Is this an organic response among the crypto community as a reaction to the recent censorship by YouTube, despite YouTube largely reinstating everyone's videos, or is this a coordinated effort to stimulate trading volume by these projects? Or possibly a combination of the two? LBRY was also recently listed on CoinEx, an exchange with decent volume, so I imagine that had something to do with its over 300% increase over the past week or so.
I personally believe it's totally possible that these pumps are simply an organic expression of peoples' increasing awareness of their precarious relationship with legacy platforms like YouTube. I'd hate to think there was any shady behavior on the part of any decentralized alternatives.
In any case I will continue to personally use and support the use of decentralized alternatives. I used to be a fan of BitTube and even wrote articles about it a lot, but I have been sorely disappointed in their recent development efforts, most especially their revamped platform which I find so awful as to be unusable. The UI and UX are simply terrible and there have been no significant improvements since its launch this past summer. I still use its AirTime extension module, as it's free, doesn't get in the way of my browsing experience, and pays me a very small amount of free TUBE for leaving it on. I wrote this short article about it a while back, but my enthusiasm for it has obviously since waned. It was an interesting and novel concept for sure though.
Unless they significantly improve their platform I'm going to continue to use LBRY for all my daily crypto news and information, as well as other non crypto content, as there is plenty of that as well. My biggest critique of LBRY based on my four or so months of daily use, is that their viewer Rewards system could be slightly more generous so as to create a more robust ecosystem where creators are more likely to be tipped and have their paywalled content accessed. Right now you earn based on a sort of 'milestone' system, which can be quite a slow process especially if you're not a heavy user of the platform.
Something to note: LBRY is both a downloadable application, and a web based application. Unless you manually opt out, the desktop application will by default download any content you click to your hard drive. From the website:
Why is content downloaded to my PC even when I stream? LBRY is a decentralized peer to peer protocol, meaning there are no centralized servers or a single entity storing all the files (like YouTube). Instead, data is stored on each participant's computer locally (similar to BitTorrent). When you stream or download, LBRY will store the content in encrypted chunks called blobs files and seed it to the entire network so others can also download from you. It will also store the completed file in your downloads folder. You can configure these storage options on the Settings page.
I'm wondering why they haven't chosen to pay users to stay opted in to this function. To me it makes perfect sense. It would provide users incentive to opt in to storage, and simultaneously creates a more robust ecosystem where the same users have more LBC to offer as tips and spend on paywalled content from creators.
What do you think? Are these platforms going to see yet more increase in value, or are these temporary pumps that will fade back into their previous valuations as the YouTube drama subsides? What are your favorite decentralized YouTube alternatives to use?
You can get BitTube's AirTime extension here to earn TUBE for browsing the web (also functions as ad blocker etc, read linked article above for more info). Click on Add BitTube to Chrome (will work on Brave as well)
Sign up for LBRY here. Earn tips as a creator, set paywalls, back-up your YouTube content with automatic uploads to LBRY. As a viewer, join the Rewards program to earn LBC for viewing. LBRY isn't just for video either. You can upload audio and even PDF documents as well.
Get $25 in Bitcoin when you fund Abra investing/trading app with just $5. (U.S. bank account or Amex card required) |
;Language: Breton (1150)
;By KAD-Korvigelloù An Drouizig
!insertmacro LANGFILE "Breton" "Brezhoneg"
!ifdef MUI_WELCOMEPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_WELCOME_INFO_TITLE "Degemer mat e skoazeller staliañ $(^NameDA)"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_WELCOME_INFO_TEXT "Sturiet e viot gant ar skoazeller-mañ evit staliañ $(^NameDA).$\r$\n$\r$\nGwelloc'h eo serriñ pep arload oberiant er reizhiad a-raok mont pelloc'h gant ar skoazeller-mañ. Evel-se e c'heller nevesaat ar restroù reizhiad hep rankout adloc'hañ hoc'h urzhiataer.$\r$\n$\r$\n$_CLICK"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNWELCOMEPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_WELCOME_INFO_TITLE "Degemer mat er skoazeller distaliañ $(^NameDA)"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_WELCOME_INFO_TEXT "Sturiet e viot gant ar skoazeller-mañ a-benn distaliañ $(^NameDA).$\r$\n$\r$\nEn em asurit n'eo ket lañset $(^NameDA) a-raok mont pelloc'h gant an distaliañ.$\r$\n$\r$\n$_CLICK"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_LICENSEPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_LICENSE_TITLE "Lañvaz emglev"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_LICENSE_SUBTITLE "Bezit aketus en ur lenn pep term eus al lañvaz a-raok staliañ $(^NameDA), mar plij."
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_LICENSE_BOTTOM "Mar degemerit pep term eus al lañvaz, klikit war « War-lerc'h ». Ret eo deoc'h degemer al lañvaz evit staliañ $(^NameDA)."
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_LICENSE_BOTTOM_CHECKBOX "Mar degemerit pep term eus al lañvaz, klikit war al log a-zindan. Ret eo deoc'h degemer al lañvaz a-benn staliañ $(^NameDA). $_CLICK"
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_LICENSE_BOTTOM_RADIOBUTTONS "Mar degemerit pep term eus al lañvaz, diuzit an dibab kentañ a-zindan. Ret eo deoc'h degemer al lañvaz a-benn staliañ $(^NameDA). $_CLICK"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNLICENSEPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_LICENSE_TITLE "Lañvaz emglev"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_LICENSE_SUBTITLE "Trugarez da lenn al lañvaz a-raok distaliañ $(^NameDA)."
${LangFileString} MUI_UNINNERTEXT_LICENSE_BOTTOM "Mar degemerit pep term eus al lañvaz, klikit war « A-du emaon » evit kenderc'hel. Ret eo deoc'h degemer al lañvaz evit distaliañ $(^NameDA)."
${LangFileString} MUI_UNINNERTEXT_LICENSE_BOTTOM_CHECKBOX "Mar degemerit pep term eus al lañvaz, klikit war al log a-zindan. Ret eo deoc'h degemer al lañvaz evit distaliañ $(^NameDA). $_CLICK"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNINNERTEXT_LICENSE_BOTTOM_RADIOBUTTONS "Mar degemerit pep term eus al lañvaz, dizuit an dibab kentañ a-zindan. Ret eo deoc'h degemer al lañvaz evit distaliañ $(^NameDA). $_CLICK"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_LICENSEPAGE | MUI_UNLICENSEPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_LICENSE_TOP "Pouezit war « Pajenn a-raok » evit lenn ar pajennoù eus al lañvaz da-heul."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_COMPONENTSPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_COMPONENTS_TITLE "Dibab elfennoù"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_COMPONENTS_SUBTITLE "Dibabit pe elfenn(où) $(^NameDA) a fell deoc'h staliañ."
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_COMPONENTS_DESCRIPTION_TITLE "Deskrivadenn"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNCOMPONENTSPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_COMPONENTS_TITLE "Dibabit elfennoù"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_COMPONENTS_SUBTITLE "Dibabit pe elfenn(où) $(^NameDA) a fell deoc'h distaliañ."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_COMPONENTSPAGE | MUI_UNCOMPONENTSPAGE
!ifndef NSIS_CONFIG_COMPONENTPAGE_ALTERNATIVE
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_COMPONENTS_DESCRIPTION_INFO "Lakait ho logodenn a-zioc'h an elfenn evit gwelout he deskrivadenn."
!else
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_COMPONENTS_DESCRIPTION_INFO "Lakait ho logodenn a-zioc'h an elfenn evit gwelout he deskrivadenn."
!endif
!endif
!ifdef MUI_DIRECTORYPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_DIRECTORY_TITLE "Dibabit al lec'hiadur staliañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_DIRECTORY_SUBTITLE "Dibabit ar c'havlec'h ma vo lakaet $(^NameDA) ennañ."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNDIRECTORYSPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_DIRECTORY_TITLE "Dibabit al lec'hiadur distaliañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_DIRECTORY_SUBTITLE "Dibabit ar c'havlec'h e vo dilamet $(^NameDA) dioutañ."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_INSTFILESPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_INSTALLING_TITLE "O staliañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_INSTALLING_SUBTITLE "Gortozit mar plij, emañ $(^NameDA) o vezañ staliet."
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_TITLE "Echu eo gant ar staliañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_SUBTITLE "Kaset eo bet da benn mat ar staliañ."
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_ABORT_TITLE "Staliañ paouezet"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_ABORT_SUBTITLE "N'eo ket bet kaset da benn mat ar staliañ."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNINSTFILESPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_UNINSTALLING_TITLE "O tistaliañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_UNINSTALLING_SUBTITLE "Gortozit mar plij, emañ $(^NameDA) o vezañ distaliet."
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_FINISH_TITLE "Echu eo gant an distaliañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_FINISH_SUBTITLE "Gant berzh eo bet kaset da benn an distaliañ."
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_ABORT_TITLE "Distaliañ paouezet"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_ABORT_SUBTITLE "N'eo ket bet kaset da benn mat an distaliañ."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_FINISHPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_INFO_TITLE "Oc'h echuiñ staliañ $(^NameDA) gant ar skoazeller"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_INFO_TEXT "Staliet eo bet $(^NameDA) war hoc'h urzhiataer.$\r$\n$\r$\nKlikit war « Echuiñ » evit serriñ ar skoazeller-mañ."
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_INFO_REBOOT "Ret eo hoc'h urzhiataer bezañ adloc'het evit ma vez kaset da benn staliañ $(^NameDA). Ha fellout a ra deoc'h adloc'hañ diouzhtu ?"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNFINISHPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_FINISH_INFO_TITLE "Oc'h echuiñ distaliañ $(^NameDA) gant ar skoazeller"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_FINISH_INFO_TEXT "Distaliet eo bet $(^NameDA) diouzh hoc'h urzhiataer.$\r$\n$\r$\nKlikit war « Echuiñ » evit serriñ ar skoazeller-mañ."
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_FINISH_INFO_REBOOT "Ret eo hoc'h urzhiataer bezañ adloc'het evit ma vez kaset da benn distaliañ $(^NameDA). Ha fellout a ra deoc'h adloc'hañ diouzhtu ?"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_FINISHPAGE | MUI_UNFINISHPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_REBOOTNOW "Adloc'hañ diouzhtu"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_REBOOTLATER "Fellout a ra din adloc'hañ diwezatoc'h dre zorn"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_RUN "&Lañsañ $(^NameDA)"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_FINISH_SHOWREADME "&Diskouez ar restr Malennit"
${LangFileString} MUI_BUTTONTEXT_FINISH "&Echuiñ"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_STARTMENUPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_STARTMENU_TITLE "Diskouez kavlec'h al Lañser loc'hañ"
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_STARTMENU_SUBTITLE "Dibabit ur c'havlec'h Lañser loc'hañ evit berradennoù $(^NameDA)."
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_STARTMENU_TOP "Diuzit ar c'havlec'h Lañser loc'hañ e vo savet ennañ berradennoù ar goulevioù. Gallout a rit ingal reiñ un anv evit sevel ur c'havlec'h nevez."
${LangFileString} MUI_INNERTEXT_STARTMENU_CHECKBOX "Chom hep sevel berradennoù"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNCONFIRMPAGE
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_CONFIRM_TITLE "Distaliañ $(^NameDA)"
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_CONFIRM_SUBTITLE "Dilemel $(^NameDA) adalek hoc'h urzhiataer."
!endif
!ifdef MUI_ABORTWARNING
${LangFileString} MUI_TEXT_ABORTWARNING "Ha sur oc'h e fell deoc'h kuitaat staliañ $(^Name) ?"
!endif
!ifdef MUI_UNABORTWARNING
${LangFileString} MUI_UNTEXT_ABORTWARNING "Ha sur oc'h e fell deoc'h kuitaat distaliañ $(^Name) ?"
!endif
|
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Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” by Mark Twain. |
Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that is pathologically characterized by the presence of intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies (Lewy in Handbuch der Neurologie, M. Lewandowski, ed., Springer, Berlin, pp. 920-933, 1912; Pollanen et al., J. Neuropath. Exp. Neurol. 52:183-191, 1993), the major components of which are filaments consisting of alpha-synuclein (Spillantini et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:6469-6473, 1998; Arai et al., Neurosci. Lett. 259:83-86, 1999), a 140-amino acid protein (Ueda et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:11282-11286, 1993). Two dominant mutations in alpha-synuclein causing familial early onset Parkinson's disease have been described, suggesting that Lewy bodies contribute mechanistically to the degeneration of neurons in Parkinson's disease and related disorders (Polymeropoulos et al., Science 276:2045-2047, 1997; Kruger et al., Nature Genet. 18:106-108, 1998; Zarranz et al., Ann. Neurol. 55:164-173, 2004). Triplication and duplication mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene have been linked to early-onset of Parkinson's disease (Singleton et al., Science 302:841, 2003; Chartier-Harlin at al. Lancet 364:1167-1169, 2004; Ibanez et al., Lancet 364:1169-1171, 2004). In vitro studies have demonstrated that recombinant alpha-synuclein can indeed form Lewy body-like fibrils (Conway et al., Nature Med. 4:1318-1320, 1998; Hashimoto et al., Brain Res. 799:301-306, 1998; Nahri et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274:9843-9846, 1999). Both Parkinson's disease-linked alpha-synuclein mutations accelerate this aggregation process, demonstrating that such in vitro studies may have relevance for Parkinson's disease pathogenesis. Alpha-synuclein aggregation and fibril formation fulfills the criteria of a nucleation-dependent polymerization process (Wood et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274:19509-19512, 1999). In this regard alpha-synuclein fibril formation resembles that of Alzheimer's β-amyloid protein (Aβ) fibrils. Alpha-synuclein recombinant protein, and non-Aβ component (known as NAC), which is a 35-amino acid peptide fragment of alpha-synuclein, both have the ability to form fibrils when incubated at 37° C., and are positive with amyloid stains such as Congo red (demonstrating a red/green birefringence when viewed under polarized light) and Thioflavin S (demonstrating positive fluorescence) (Hashimoto et al., Brain Res. 799:301-306, 1998; Ueda et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:11282-11286, 1993).
Synucleins are a family of small, presynaptic neuronal proteins composed of α-, β-, and γ-synucleins, of which only alpha-synuclein aggregates have been associated with several neurological diseases (Ian et al., Clinical Neurosc. Res. 1:445-455, 2001; Trojanowski and Lee, Neurotoxicology 23:457-460, 2002). The role of synucleins (and in particular, alpha-synuclein) in the etiology of a number of neurodegenerative and/or amyloid diseases has developed from several observations. Pathologically, alpha-synuclein was identified as a major component of Lewy bodies, the hallmark inclusions of Parkinson's disease, and a fragment thereof was isolated from amyloid plaques of a different neurological disease, Alzheimer's disease. Biochemically, recombinant alpha-synuclein was shown to form amyloid-like fibrils that recapitulated the ultrastructural features of alpha-synuclein isolated from patients with dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy. Additionally, the identification of mutations within the alpha-synuclein gene, albeit in rare cases of familial Parkinson's disease, demonstrated an unequivocal link between synuclein pathology and neurodegenerative diseases. The common involvement of alpha-synuclein in a spectrum of diseases such as Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease has led to the classification of these diseases under the umbrella term of “synucleinopathies.”
Fibrillization and aggregation of alpha-synuclein is thought to play major role in neuronal dysfunction and death of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease.
Mutations in alpha-synuclein or genomic triplication of wild type alpha-synuclein (leading to its overexpression) cause certain rare familial forms of Parkinson's disease. In vitro and in vivo models suggest that over-expression of wild-type alpha-synuclein induces neuronal cell death. See, e.g., Polymeropoulos, et al. (1997) Science 276(5321):2045-7, Kruger, et al. (1998) Nat. Genet. 18(2):106-8, Singleton, et al. (2003) Science 302(5646):841, Miller, et al. (2004) Neurology 62(10):1835-8, Hashimoto, et al. (2003) Ann N Y Acad. Sci. 991:171-88, Lo Bianco, et al. (2002) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 99(16):10813-8, Lee, et al. (2002) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 99(13):8968-73, Masliah, et al. (2000) Science 287(5456):1265-9, Auluck, et al. (2002) Science 295(5556):865-8, Oluwatosin-Chigbu et al. (2003) Biochem Biophys Res Commun 309(3): 679-84, Klucken et al. (2004) J Biol Chem. 279(24):25497-502. Protecting neurons from the toxic effects of alpha-synuclein is a promising strategy for treating Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies such as Lewy body dementia.
Thus, there is a need for compounds and compositions that prevent alpha-synuclein toxicity and/or aggregation and/or promote alpha-synuclein fibril disaggregation. Such compounds and composition are useful in treating or ameliorating one or more symptoms of alpha-synuclein mediated diseases and disorders, or diseases and disorders in which alpha-synuclein toxicity is implicated, including but not limited to, Parkinson's disease (including Parkinson's disease chemically induced by exposure to environmental agents such as pesticides, insecticides, or herbicides and/or metals such as manganese, aluminum, cadmium, copper, or zinc), dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease. |
1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to increasing the efficiency of cooling or refrigeration systems, especially for those systems employing commonly-piped evaporator coils where at least one set of coils is located for temperature controlling one compartmentalized or non-compartmentalized area and another set of coils is located for temperature controlling another compartmentalized or non-compartmentalized area.
2. Background of the Invention
Cooling systems generally comprise a condenser coil, a receiving vessel for the condensed liquid from the condenser coil, an expansion valve, an evaporator coil, and a compressor. The compressor is connected to the condenser coil. In addition, such a cooling system includes a defrost mechanism for the evaporator coil since the moisture that tends to accumulate thereon turns to ice during operation and would, in time, build up to a degree that would make the cooling system almost totally inefficient, if not inoperable.
Improvements over the simplest cooling system briefly described above have included using multiple compressors, rather than only one, and alternating their use in accordance with demand so as to use only enough compressor capacity sufficient for the demand and so as to minimize wear on the compressors. Such an energy efficient system is shown and described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 257,113, filed Apr. 24, 1981, by the same inventor as the present application. The system of application Ser. No. 257,113 represents a technique for achieving more efficient operation through the use of a single highest fixed "cut in" and a single highest fixed "cut out" operating suction line pressure while insuring adequate temperatures in the refrigerated spaces served by the refrigeration system.
In the past, the cycling of stages of a multiple-stage refrigeration or cooling system has been principally accomplished by setting each stage at a successfully lower "cut in" and "cut out" pressure of the refrigerating fluid flowing in the suction line from the evaporator coil to the compressor(s) or cooling stages. The use of successfully lower "cut in" and "cut out" pressure ranges for each cooling stage results in an average pressure which is lower than the mean pressure of the pressure differential between the "cut in" and "cut out" pressures of the highest stage. Various mechanical and electromechanical systems have been devised to attempt to solve this problem, primarily utilizing the successively lower pressure ranges for each successive cooling stage as described below.
The invention of application Ser. No. 257,113, briefly stated, involves an apparatus and method of controlling the capacity of a multiple compressor refrigeration system. The invention first establishes a selected cooling stage "cut-in" and "cut-out" suction line pressure for the system. Secondly, the system determines when the suction line pressure is equal to either of these pressures, and based on this determination, controls the selection of the appropriate capacity for the system to achieve an average operating suction line pressure between the selected single highest "cut-in" and single highest "cut-out" pressures.
It is not unusual for the same compressor (or system of compressors) to be commonly piped in a cooling system which employs more than one evaporator coil. The reason for this is that the capacity of the system is sufficiently designed for cooling a given overall area; however, some of this area is compartmentalized separately from the rest of this area. Moreover, it is commonly desirable to reduce the temperature in one area to a lower temperature than is required for another. By example then, if one area is smaller in size than another and both are cooled in the same manner by similar evaporator coils, then the smaller area will be cooled at a lower temperature than the larger of the areas.
Rather than have two completely different systems when there are two or more separate areas to cool, such systems having duplicate compressors, duplicate condenser coils, duplicate condenser fluid vessels, and the like, it is less expensive to have one system with these common components commonly-piped, usually in parallel rather than in-line, with separate evaporator coils only. Although separate coils are commonly employed in respective separate compartments, it is also usual for separate coils to be used for a common large area, where one coil is used, for example, in one room and another coil is used in a second room, one room being kept at a lower temperature than the other.
It is also known that compressors can be operated to raise the pressure in a cooling system to warm the area cooled by an evaporator coil as well as to lower the pressure to cool the area cooled by an evaporator coil. The system to be described hereinafter includes this capability.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement for optimizing the pressure control of a cooling system having at least two commonly-piped evaporator coils.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvement for providing pressure control to a cooling system wherein the further away from a norm temperature an area may be, e.g. a temperature set point, the more rapid will be the rate of adjustment of pressure. |
Welcome to the desktop version of Omale Joseph's Blog a.k.a G3wap! Online
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Pastor Sent to Prison Over N5m Fraud
A pastor in charge of Chapel of Triumph Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Oworoshoki, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, has been arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrates' Court, Lagos for allegedly obtaining N5.1m under false pretence.
Oderinde Oluwatosin who is believed to be 50 years old, was arrested by the operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. After investigation, he was charged before an Igbosere Magistrates' Court, Lagos on a four-count charge of stealing.
The police prosecutor, Supol Olakanmi Omisope, told the court in charge No E|32|2014 that the accused committed the offence between January and October, 2013 in Lagos.
He said the accused collected the sum of N4.5m from Azumara Egonnaya and N900,000 from Emeng Igbang to invest in oil business, with a promise to pay them back.
Omisope alleged that after the complainants gave the pastor the money on trust, he refused to pay them back, adding that when all efforts by the complainants to retrieve the money from the accused proved abortive, they reported the matter to the police.
Omisope said the offences the accused committed are punishable under sections 409,312(3) and 278(1)(a)(b)(2)
of the criminal laws of Lagos State, 2011. The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and the presiding Chief Magistrate, Mrs F.O. Aigbokhaevbo admitted him on bail
in the sum of N200,000 with two surties in like sum. Aigbokhaevbo adjourned the matter till 31 October, 2014 for mention, while the defendant was taken to Ikoyi Prison, Lagos pending when he will fulfil the bail condition. |
This invention relates generally to the preparation of admixtures from thermoplastics. More specifically, the invention relates to the addition to a polymer melt of dispersed additives in a partially volatile liquid vehicle followed by removal of the vehicle.
It is known to modify the characteristics of thermoplastic materials by addition of additives. This addition normally occurs prior to the shaping step, that is, prior to spinning or other extrusion, injection molding, etc. For example, colorants, stabilizers (e.g., UV stabilizers for the thermoplastic), delusterants, flame retardants, fillers, antimicrobial agents, antistatic agents, optical brighteners, extenders, processing aids and other functional additives are used to impart preferred properties to the host polymer to which they are added. By way of illustration, the coloring of thermoplastic articles by incorporation of pigments introduced as color concentrates is well known. For the purposes of the present application, a concentrate contains the additive at a much higher loading than is desired in the final thermoplastic article. Typically, the coloring of fibrous materials through the use of color concentrates has presented unique challenges. The reasons for this are many fold. For instance, the amount of pigmentary particles dispersed in the concentrate must be high enough to impart satisfactory color density and yet must not be so high as to interrupt the spinning process.
When adding materials to nylon 6, moisture levels in the additive have formerly been kept as low as practical. The presence of excessive levels of water causes depolymerization and reduces the molecular weight and melt viscosity of nylon 6 to the point where bubbles will form in the extrudate or where fiber can no longer be formed. As a consequence, it has been important to keep moisture levels of concentrates low.
Pigment concentrate production may be performed by preparing a dispersion of the pigment in an aqueous medium. To achieve satisfactory dispersion, a water dispersible/soluble polymer may be used. It is normal in concentrate production to flush the pigment from an aqueous dispersion to an organic phase in a separate step prior to extrusion.
Another method of preparing pigment concentrates involves the preparation of an aqueous color dispersion which is dried to remove the water. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,641 to Burlone describes the preparation of a color concentrate in an aqueous vehicle using a dispersant which is compatible with the thermoplastic material with which the concentrate will be blended. The aqueous color concentrate is filtered and dried to remove residual water. Both of these methods require an extra step, like flushing or drying.
In the processing of plastics, it has been described that additives may be introduced into the plastic extruder, generally in a finely divided form, such as granules or powders, with devolatilization of the volatiles present within the polymer stream. the method of U. S. Pat. No. 4,065,532 to Wild et al., the addition of major amounts of compatible liquid additives is described as being preferably done after devolitalization of the polymer.
There remains a need for a process by which additives present in liquid vehicles, which vehicles are not desirable in the final shaped polymer article, may be added to a polymer melt stream without interfering with the polymer's suitability for processing. Such a process is described hereinafter. As will be noted, this process, in some applications, employs dispersants to disperse the intended additive in the vehicle. These dispersants are often expensive. The invention disclosed herein results in decreased dispersant usage and also, in some cases, improved extrusion performance. |
[Technics for laparoscopic cholecystectomy--their use and results].
In mini-invasive surgery mainly two operative techniques for laparoscopic cholecystectomy are familiar and implemented in practice--"American" and "French" technique. Over the period May 1993 to September 1997, in the two surgical clinics of H. M. I.--Pleven a total of 311 laparoscopic cholecystectomies are performed. Of them 218 are done according to the "American" technique, 87--according to the "French" technique, and six patients are operated using the so-called "lifting" technique. In the appear submitted the advantages and shortcomings of the two techniques for laparoscopic cholecystectomy are comparatively studied. The timing of operative intervention CO2 quantity expenditure and intraoperative complications are analyzed. The choice of technique for laparoscopic cholecystectomy depends on the surgeon's personal judgement, but under given situations one of the two techniques or a combination thereof should be mandatorily used. |
Q:
Is there a document describing Silverlight 2.0 security considerations?
Our IT guys haven't worked with Silverlight 2.0 yet and I am asking them to roll it out across the organisation. They would like to see a document from Microsoft that describes the security implications for the network. Can anyone point me to one?
A:
There is a "Security Guidance for Writing and Deploying Silverlight Applications" Whitepaper available from Microsoft.
|
In her most excellent trolling of Donald Trump and the reactionary tendency he represents the High Priestess of Tinsel Town, Meryl Streep, showed her own haughty disdain for a significant chunk of American society, the sporting community.
Her Golden Globes address hit so many top notes the high-handed dismissal of football (American) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) jarred, revealing a casual prejudice not only against the sports identified but those who like to watch them.
Given the popularity of gridiron, the most viewed sport in America, that is an almost Trump-like disregard for the legitimate interests of those she doesn’t understand. It also flagged the kind of detached, contemptuous attitude of the elites towards blue collar America that allowed Trump through the White House door in the first place.
Soaring Moral Abhorrence
“So Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick ’em all out, you’ll have nothing else to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts,” said La Streep.
It was a fine speech, full of soaring moral abhorrence of the monstrous Trump, and who in their right mind does not feel that? But why empty her bladder on sport as if it were some kind of swamp activity for unthinking nomarks.
Let me tell you, Meryl, there is no escape route in your country that is more inclusive than gridiron, that has given the disenfranchised and marginalised black American a shot at the privileged existence you enjoy.
I’m sorry the participants and many of those they engage so powerfully are not members of book clubs, regular theatre goers or fine art aficionados. This ghastly rabble, or ‘deplorables’ as one member of America’s political elite once described them, are welcome enough, no doubt, when they turn up at a cinema with their sugary drinks and popcorn to help fill your coffers. But then they stop where the red carpet starts.
Luvvie Love-in Season
Maybe I’m a little oversensitive, groaning at the start of the annual luvvie love-in season, when the great and the good of the performing arts spread their peacock feathers on the highest stage and pontificate downwards to the great unwashed.
I mean, the cheek of it, this put-upon constituency of troubadours grouping themselves with Trump’s foreigners and the Press as the most vilified in society. Meryl was borrowing from Hugh Laurie of House fame, with that reference, a man who learned all he knows about life in the margins while slumming it at Eton and Cambridge. We’ll be sending food parcels next to Malibu and Beverly Hills, the poor little darlings.
The other contradiction in Streep’s condescension toward the jocks of this world is how well Hollywood has done out of the sport genre. Most of those applauding Meryl in the LA audience think Rocky Balboa is the most famous fighter to come out of Philadelphia.
Pioneering Souls
Indeed the steps leading up to the Museum of Art are among the city’s most famous landmarks, not as a result of any exhibits inside but because Sylvester Stallone galloped up and down them in his sweatpants.
Sport address issues, too, and importantly at grassroots level led by pioneering souls who earn not a bean for their contribution.
So when the great Meryl is up on that stage amplifying the magnificent work actors do in “entering the lives of people who are different from us, and let you feel what that feels like…breathtaking, compassionate work,” it is worth noting that there are thousands of volunteers with a whistle in their hands teaching kids how to be good citizens through engagement in sport.
The difference is they aren’t given a platform to project their values and their worth to the world. They just get on with it. Yes, you are right, Meryl, that’s not art, it’s life. And in many cases, a life saver.
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Marramgrass
Domed.
02 Feb 2009
(PAW2009 05/52)
How often do you pay attention to what's going on over your head? Am I the only one who still looks up every single time I walk into Victoria Square?
There's another building in the centre of Belfast that I should photograph. I was driving through before Christmas and happened to glance up and notice its dramatic dome for the first time — after years of driving along that street. All around the City Hall are brightly-lit shops, but they stop at the first, or at most second, floor. Above the signs, Belfast is an altogether classier city. Ever noticed?
I'm Mark. I write code during the day and in the evenings
(mostly for iOS, macOS, and the web), I sometimes shoot arrows in the vague direction of targets,
and I do a whole bunch of other things besides. No comments here, these days;
if you want to come back to me on anything then hit me up on Twitter, or send an email to hello AT markgoody DOT ie. |
Cognitive and neural determinants of response strategy in the dual-solution plus-maze task.
Response strategy in the dual-solution plus maze is regarded as a form of stimulus-response learning. In this study, by using an outcome devaluation procedure, we show that it can be based on both action-outcome and stimulus-response habit learning, depending on the amount of training that the animals receive. Furthermore, we show that deactivation of the dorso-medial and the dorso-lateral striatum with Botulinum neurotoxin A, mimicked or abolished, respectively, the effects of practice on the sensitivity of the response strategy to outcome devaluation. These findings have relevant implications for the understanding of the learning mechanisms underlying different overt behaviors in this widely used maze task. |
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Team Analysis: Julian Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim
After 16 games played, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim remains the only unbeaten team in Bundesliga. Apart from having the youngest coach ever in the German top flight, what is so special about the side from Southern Germany?
First to mention, there’s a squad full of interesting player types and enough personnel for different tactical set-ups as well as for position-related changes. Probably thanks to the good periodization regime, no big injury problems have appeared so far. Nagelsmann and his men can solely focus on training at their idyllic complex in the village of Zuzenhausen.
In Oliver Baumann, Hoffenheim has a goalkeeper, who is capable in build-up and also anticipates situations well – essential for an ambitious side. In front of him, there are several solid defenders available that can be effectively used in clearly defined roles. Add to that the fact that Benjamin Hübner has made a few steps forward, especially improved in handling the ball. But without a doubt, Niklas Süle, who will join Bayern Munich in summer, is the most talented amongst the defenders. Although he generally can play good laser passes (fast ground passes) from the back and is also capable of dribbling into space, his decision-making still needs to improve. He generally knows very well when to leave the back-line and shows good abilities when defending proactively, but tends to get carried away sometimes.
As for the wing-backs, the likes of Jeremy Toljan and Pavel Kaderabek can be fielded on both sides. Both are dynamic players, who don’t just hug the touchline, but can also be very good in combinations and offer a certain degree of diagonality. The same is true for the rather dribbling-focused Steven Zuber and above all for summer signing Lukas Rupp. Rupp is a versatile, clever and pressing-resistant technician, who especially fits busy midfield roles very well, just like Nadiem Amiri who focuses more on advanced zones and even a bit more on spacious situations like somewhat of a “running no. 10”.
In contrast, Sebastian Rudy and Eugen Polanski offer more sense for strategy and often play as pivots. Polanski fits the role of an anchor better, whilst Rudy floats around a bit more. Sometimes Rudy can even resemble Luka Modric, so there is little risk for Bayern adding him to their squad as a free agent at the end of the season.
Kerem Demirbay is another interesting midfielder and has been the shooting star so far this season. Already at a less than average Düsseldorf side in second Bundesliga, he showed his promising abilities and his potential that shines brighter than ever now. He embodies more of a playmaking midfielder and possesses great dribbling abilities. Apart from that, Hoffenheim started building their squad for next season with the signing of Austrian international Florian Grillitsch from Werder Bremen – another pressing resistant and provoking dribbler, who could potentially fit in deeper roles, but has to improve his timing when and how he drops back.
Upfront, first of all, Sandro Wagner needs to be mentioned. The Bundesliga veteran is a “mentality player”, as Niko Kovac called him, who’s physically strong and doesn’t fit the profile of striker needed in a possession-based team on first sight. Compared to that, Andrej Kramaric and Mark Uth are two rather dynamic players, who can combine well with the former often being the focal point of Hoffenheim’s attacks. Eduardo Vargas and Adam Szalai also bring exceptional qualities, yet are usually not part of the starting XI or even the squad at all.
Visible principles and stability problems at the beginning of the season
Although Julian Nagelsmann has repeatedly and rightly so referred to certain “principles of play” as the basis of his team’s strategy, he mostly uses two main types of formations: on the one hand several variations of a 3-5-2, on the other hand line-ups derived from a 4-3-3. The latter was used more frequently at the beginning of the season.
For example, on Matchday three, when Hoffenheim hosted VfL Wolfsburg, they pressed in a 4-3-3/4-1-2-3. Against a typical 4-2-3-1, one-on-ones naturally occur. Especially for the centre-midfielders, this can lead to a man-oriented approach with them being dragged out of their positions too easily. But the same formation can also generate a rather option-oriented approach.
Hoffenheim found itself somewhere in the middle of these two poles. Frequently the wingers Uth and Kramaric pressed the centre-backs from outside, whilst striker Wagner blocked the passing lane to the respective team-mate. Like that, they guided the build-up to the half-space, where they could generate local compactness, forcing the opponents to stay on the wings afterwards. In the course of that, the centre-midfielder from the other side travelled into the ball-near half horizontally – something that is also visible in other formations.
This can lead to great staggering and allow access to the ball, but when it’s not done properly or some unlucky moments appear, the ball-far side can be reached too easily by the opponents. When the ball is played into this area, isolated duels occur and Hoffenheim needs to retreat collectively. In situations like that, a back three/back five would allow a rather aggressive behaviour of the wing-back since there’s one additional player covering at the back.
Against The Wolves, Nagelsmann’s team couldn’t create the desired situations constantly, because the man-orientations became too dominant, with central passing lanes being left open. Subsequently the back four was put into unpleasant situations with attackers running right at them with the ball.
But the back four often behaved man-oriented. Especially when the ball-near full-back pushed higher, the gap between the centre-backs became too big with the ball-near one covering. Because at the same time, the respective centre-midfielder often attacked the opponent’s full-back, a lot of space opened up and the team was often split due to slow shifting. An additional man in the back line would’ve been helpful in those moments as well, especially for defending (diagonal) passes from the wing zone into deep spaces.
Alternatively, Hoffenheim could line-up in a 4-4-2 with one centre-midfielder pushing higher up the pitch, when the opponent’s centre-backs stayed narrower in build-up. Based on shifting mechanisms and man-orientations, this could be transformed into a 4-2-2-2 or 4-2-4, again leaving some gaps to play through. When the team dropped backed, a 4-1-4-1/4-5-1 was formed, which sometimes became a 5-4-1 when Uth moved back on his side.
In possession, pivot Polanski generally positioned himself between the centre-backs to establish a stable ball circulation. At goal kicks, Rudy, playing as right-back, could stay deeper as well. No matter the variation, the space between Amiri and Rupp as centre-midfielders (no. 8), who often approached the last line, and Polanski would become too big. Despite Polanski pushing forward and some of the other players dropping back, important spaces for connecting the team were often left unoccupied. This also had a negative impact on the counter-pressing. But still some promising patterns were already visible.
For example, Kramaric often moved away from his left side towards the ten space, which was balanced by Rupp’s movement or otherwise led to occasional diamond structures in midfield. Furthermore, changes of position took place on the right-hand side. Uth dropped back in half-space, which would be overloaded afterwards. Kramaric joined in, sprinting diagonally to the right, whilst Wagner stopped the centre-backs from moving away. Thereafter the ball could be switched to Kaderabek, who pushed forward on the other side.
Additionally, Wagner was also used as a target man for lay-off passes, which would often be played in different angles or horizontally. Furthermore, Wagner could also protect the ball first to tie opposing defenders before passing to the ball-far, mostly right, side. Lay-off passes could also be used to free and involve Polanski with a good field of vision. Generally, these lay-off passes can mark a point, where Hoffenheim’s approach changes from vertical play in smaller space to pushing forward in a bigger space.
The well-choreographed movements were particularly visible in attacking transitions, which were generally a dominant factor for both teams throughout the game. All too often Hoffenheim’s attacks still ended up on the flanks, from where the ball was crossed into the crowded box. This tendency vanished during the upcoming matches – also due to a change of formation.
The new standard system
Since the beginning of Nagelsmann’s tenure, Hoffenheim regularly used a 3-1-4-2 formation. In the current version, it made its debut on 5th matchday against FC Schalke 04. From then on, the system was constantly developing further.
Rudy came back to his natural position and played as a pivot with Demirbay and Rupp in front of him as no. 8s. Toljan and Kaderabek occupied the wings, whilst the back three was formed by Ermin Bicakcic, Kevin Vogt and Süle. Kramaric and Uth started upfront.
Against the ball, this line-up resulted in a 5-3-2/5-1-2-2 formation with several built-in transformations. Often it worked like a pendulating back four (4-1-3-2/4-3-3), in which the ball-near wing-back pushed higher and the ball-far one moved next to the three central defenders. The weaknesses of the usual 4-3-3 were mostly neutralised and bad decisions by players like Vogt didn’t have an immediate negative impact thanks to the better defensive coverage.
On the right-hand side, Uth attacked the centre-back of Schalke with a curved run to direct their build-up towards the flank. The full-back was the only option left. When the ball was delivered to him, Toljan pushed towards the opponent aggressively, coming far into Schalke’s territory. The exposed space behind him was covered by Süle, who feels much more comfortable in such a role than his colleagues do. At the same time, Rupp could also shift aggressively, which was situationally balanced by a higher positioned Kaderabek, who could then deal with passes to the weak side.
When Schalke started their attacks on the left side of Hoffenheim, Kaderabek acted more conservative than his counterpart. After pushing Schalke to the wing, it was Rupp who pressed towards the sideline diagonally from his central position. On both sides, Hoffenheim built a pressing trap around Schalke’s ball-near no. 6 for a horizontal outside-in pass. Needless to say, that they won the ball like this before the deciding goal to make it 2-1.
In a slightly changed version, these mechanisms were also used against SC Freiburg, who used a back three (3-4-3/5-2-3) themselves. During the pre-match warm up, Julian Nagelsmann spoke to all his players separately to explain their own tactical reaction to each one of them. On one hand, the patterns, once again, varied depending on the side and were adjusted to the particular situation.
On the other hand, Hoffenheim also guided their rivals to the centre of the pitch. The low level of central presence from Freiburg could be used to the home side’s advantage especially by pressing backwards. In the course of this, Rudy played a rather dominant role since his team-mates in the middle often focused on Freiburg’s wider positioned centre-backs – especially when the guests switched sides.
Throughout the game, Hoffenheim also made use of a deeper pressing and focused on blocking passing lanes.
Nonetheless, sometimes the structure in central areas was diminished when Freiburg’s attackers dropped back and caused organizational problems for Hoffenheim’s man-oriented scheme. When they placed passes between the lines, the responsibilities weren’t always clear and some dangerous situations resulted from this. This was an important factor that Bayern exploited in their 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim.
In the following matches, details were consistently changed by Nagelsmann, which made the pressing at times look like a 5-1-3-1/5-4-1. Especially possible pressing targets were changed. Against Leverkusen a big chance occurred right at the beginning, when Julian Baumgartlinger was deliberately left unmarked at first and attacked moments later, when he faced his own goal. The degree of man-orientation varies as well as the wing-back roles change. But the fundamentals always remain the same.
Positional play as engine for further development
Using a back three, and especially with the player roles in front of it, the transition from patient build-up plays to possession in higher zones worked out smoother. Overall, Hoffenheim’s approach resembles a more vertical and dynamical version of the Spanish Juego de Posición.
Julian Nagelsmann likes half-spaces. Julian Nagelsmann likes diagonal ground passes through central areas. That doesn’t get along with a formation that includes two wingers on each side, though. Instead, over the course of the season, an increasingly fluid and sophisticated way of giving width emerged. The lateral zones are still used actively and consciously, but the main reference point is always the centre. The strategy is based around the centre. When the opposing players block forward passing options, possibilities arise to play horizontal, yet still flat, passes through the gaps. Afterwards, Hoffenheim tries to re-enter the more important zones.
In particular, the dominant display versus FC Cologne in the league showed what the team is capable of. With Polanski as pivot and Rudy as right-sided no. 8, the play in the second third worked out well, also because the centre-backs supported their team-mates by dribbling from the back as well. Süle even passed Toljan in several situations, moving through inner lane. He was usually followed by an marker and helped to push Cologne back. Supporting movement like this is a key component of Hoffenheim’s game and occurs in several variations. Add a good structure for combinations to that and you’ll always have a lot of options to progress the attack.
On a collective level, they either show calm combination play or focus on fast-paced attacks. It generally gets more fluid, when Kramaric drops back to form a diamond in midfield. Inside the diamond, combinations can take place in a rather tight space, just until a chance occurs to change the focus and switch the ball to another area of the pitch. For example, even the wing-backs sometimes sprint behind the opponent’s defence in such situations.
But also the initial staggering can be more focused on occupying the last line or the space in front of the defence, which is the initial point for positional changes and dynamic attacks.
It might sound a bit complicated, but in the end it just tells you that combination and dynamic are linked inseparably at Hoffenheim. Based on that, the rhythm can ideally be changed. The core of this is simply mounded out of principles like movement and counter-movement, action of the team-mate and reaction to that.
Examples for this are situations like one from the match against Schalke, when Kramaric, Uth and Demirbay rotated circularly on the right-hand side after receiving the ball from a switch of play. Something similar could be observed against Cologne on the opposite side.
Conclusion: What can possibly go wrong?
Hoffenheim under Julian Nagelsmann is a good Bundesliga team that plays aesthetic football. That’s what probably all of us can agree on. Still, luck has played a role in their success so far. Many of the ten (!) draws could have or even should have ended in losses. Just like last season, the deeper defending of Hoffenheim can be very chaotic at times and the effectiveness of their counter-pressing is inconsistent.
Man-oriented opponents (Hamburger SV, Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia M’Gladbach) caused them some problems, when they pressed higher up the pitch. In such situations you can see, that the individual level of the back three is not as high as it should be for a real top team. Against M’Gladbach, Nagelsmann changed the formation a lot, until his team played in a customary back four for the entire second half. Before that Fabian Schär played a mixed role somewhere between a centre-back and a pivot (“switch centre-back”).
In that match, some serious flaws were visible, which regularly appeared in other matches as well. The distance between defence and midfield as well as between each defender was far from perfect for most of the time. The back line sometimes lacked the appropriate coordination when moving the chains which included wild forward runs. When using a high press, you could still see promising situations.
Hoffenheim is like a surprise bag, of which one knows that at least something good will always be inside. For sure, it will also contain a defeat someday, but even then nothing will go completely wrong on Nagelsmann’s road to glory.
With special thanks to CE!
Read the German version of this article here. |
This week I secured passage of a measure, by the House Armed Services Committee, that will allow the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, to begin offering educational opportunities to larger numbers of civilian personnel. This change was made as part of the House Armed Services Committee version of the National Defense Authorization Act. I am confident we can win final Congressional approval in the House in the coming weeks.
The physical base at Wright-Patterson is important to our local economy, but as important in our knowledge based economy, is the intellectual capital we have in programs like AFIT. AFIT is a graduate school of engineering and management as well as an institution for technical professional continuing education. A component of Air University and Air Education and Training Command, AFIT is committed to providing defense-focused graduate and professional continuing education and research to sustain the technological supremacy of America’s air and space forces.
For several years, the regional business community has advocated for an opening of AFIT educational programs to non-government civilian personnel. It is believed that allowing AFIT to expand its offerings beyond military personnel will produce benefits within a larger student body and within the institution itself. AFIT students currently attend classes at the University of Dayton and Wright State University as part of the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute. The Air Force can benefit from a free exchange of knowledge and perspectives with the private sector even as it provides advanced training to students who normally would not have access to AFIT instruction.
AFIT’s mission focuses on high-quality graduate education and research that maintain Air Force dominance in defending the nation. The Graduate School offers a variety of programs leading to the award of master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as graduate certificate programs. In fact, since 1956, AFIT has awarded more than 16,000 graduate degrees and doctor of philosophy degrees.
AFIT will continue to be an important part of our economy for years to come, because it will play a key role in the research and development of technologies that will be used to defend our nation. One of the most important areas of research being pursued at the institute is cyberspace defense. Clearly this is an area of study that will lead to important discoveries that can be applied in future warfare planning and to the protection of the private sector from cyber attack.
This is the kind of public-private sector partnership that makes sense in our changing world and the type of initiative I have supported in the past. AFIT programs have been offered to a limited number of civilians in the past. This move dramatically enhances the possibility of greater collaboration and demonstrates why it was so important that we saved AFIT during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closing Commission process.
Finding economic development opportunities for Ohio is an ongoing task. One economic development strategy that is proven effective is building on the assets we have in place. That’s why we are all committed to finding new investment opportunities at Wright-Patterson. AFIT is an obvious place to begin. |
The administration of pharmaceuticals for treating respiratory diseases, such as asthma, as well as agents for the prophylactic treatment and treatment of mucous membranes of the tracheobronchial tract is preferred. The administration of corticoids is possible here.
The variable flow rate limitation in lung diagnosis apparatuses is a further preferred field of application. This is possible for all measurement methods using, e.g., aerosol particles for the diagnosis.
DE-A-199 12 461 discloses a device for limiting the flow at low differential pressures, particularly for limiting the inhalation flow volume during the inhalation of therapeutic aerosols. The device consists of a housing including an inhalation opening, an exhalation opening and a flow channel arranged therebetween, said flow channel having a flat, oblong cross-section with flexible large-surface walls. Depending on the differential pressure between the exhalation opening and the inhalation opening and the flexibility of the wall material, the cross-section of the flow channel can be reduced in size to suit a predetermined maximum inhalation flow volume.
The administration of pharmaceuticals in the form of an aerosol to the lungs by inhalation is essentially influenced by four factors: (i) the particle size and particle properties of the aerosol; (ii) the breathing volume of the patient; (iii) the patient's breathing flow; and (iv) the patient's morphometry and respiratory system. Whereas aerosols in suitable particle sizes have been produced by conventional systems, the parameters “breathing volume” and “breathing flow” (rate of breathing) are taken into account either insufficiently or not at all. This leads to an uncontrolled inhalation of the aerosol, which in turn leads to the fact that an insufficient amount of aerosol particles reaches the lungs or does not reach the areas to be treated (e.g., alveolar area) within the lungs.
EP-A-0 965 355 discloses a device for controlled inhalational administration of controlled-dosage drugs into the lungs. Said controlled inhalator comprises a closed recipient adapted to be charged with a predeterminable aerosol volume and from which the aerosol may be withdrawn via a control means for controlling the inhalation flow. Said control means of this known inhalator is either an adjustable valve or a critical nozzle. The breathing flow can be limited by using an adjustable valve or a critical nozzle.
EP-B-0 050 654 discloses an inhalation apparatus for administering pulmonary medication. Said inhalation apparatus comprises an inflatable envelope from which aerosol can be inhaled through a mouthpiece. This aerosol is introduced via a nebuliser into the inflatable envelope from a cartridge prior to inhalation. The mouthpiece has a restriction to limit the amount of air flowing through the mouthpiece during inhalation. This restriction limits the breathing flow during inhalation.
The two mentioned inhalation devices are characterized in that there is a flow rate limitation, i.e., during the inspiratory phase the breathing flow increases only slowly and the increase in breathing flow decreases constantly, leading to a constant flattening of the curve in the graph of the breathing flow vs. time. This flow rate limitation leads to the fact that, depending on the patient's inspiratory capacity, the breathing flow increases differently up to a maximum flow value. Thus, the flow is nearly kept at a constant level. This means that in the known inhalators, the intended flow rate limitation may lead to a more constant aerosol deposition in the lungs.
EP-A-1 036 569 discloses a method of and a device for providing a constant medicament dose for an inhalational administration at a low inhalation flow rate. This device consists of a closed container reducible in terms of volume, a mouthpiece connected to the container, on which a powder-aerosol generator can be connected for availability of the aerosol, a housing reducible in terms of volume, which surrounds the container on all sides and from which the mouthpiece is led out in sealed form, and means for controlling the inlet and outlet of air into or out from the zone between the container and the housing. The housing is adapted to be changed from a volume compression condition into an envisaged expanded availability condition for creating the envisaged aerosol volume in the container.
Furthermore, DE-A-100 29 119 discloses a device for the flow limitation at low differential pressures, in particular for the limitation of the inhalation volume flow during the inhalation of therapeutic aerosols. This device consists of a housing with at least an inlet opening, at least an outlet opening and a flow channel with at least a flexible wall arranged therebetween, whose cross-section is reducible to a predetermined size for a predetermined maximum inhalation volume flow depending on the negative pressure prevailing between the inhalation and exhalation openings and the flexibility of the wall material.
EP-A-1 163 921 discloses an inhalation device with a self-expanding container for a predetermined aerosol volume, means for introducing aerosol from an aerosol dispenser into the container and control means for controlling the inhalation flow. The control means keeps the inhalation flow at an essentially constant level during the entire aerosol inhalation period, wherein the control means comprises four flow channels which are radially arranged between a central inlet opening and outlet openings which are radially spaced apart from the inlet opening. The four radial flow channels are formed by four radially arranged, rectangular ribs extending from an essentially rigid wall to an essentially flexible wall, wherein one rib is longer than the others.
It is important regarding the intended administering of pharmaceuticals in the field of aerosol therapy that a certain inhalation volume flow is not exceeded. At the same time the patient's work of breathing at the inhalation device should be as little as possible. This means that during inspiration the patient should not have to create a great negative pressure so that the inhalation can also be performed by patients with bad lung function. In order to ensure the mobility of the patients, especially inhalators for administering emergency pharmaceuticals such as, e.g., fast acting beta-2-sympathomimetica, have to be administered with small handy inhalation devices. Prior art systems, however, could not integrate a breathing flow control in hand-held units due to the big dimensions of the flow rate limitation valves. Conventional dosed aerosol inhalation systems, be it for fluid or dry powder aerosols, exhibit a compact design, mostly operable with one hand. Such inhalation systems have no device to prevent the negative effect of a too high air flow on a good active ingredient deposition. An intended volume flow limitation during inhalation of therapeutic aerosols cannot be achieved in hand-held devices. |
Variation in lethality and effects of two Australian chirodropid jellyfish venoms in fish.
The North Queensland chirodropid box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri and Chiropsalmus sp. share similar nematocyst composition and the same prey of Acetes australis shrimps in their early medusa stages; however, as C. fleckeri individuals reach larger size, the animals add fish to their diet and their complement of nematocyst types changes, allowing larger doses of venom to be delivered to prey. This study demonstrated that the venoms of the two species differ as well: despite similar effects previously documented in crustacean prey models, the two had widely different cardiac and lethal effects in fish, with C. fleckeri being substantially more potent in its ability to cause death. Comparisons between the venom delivery abilities of the two species showed that the change in nematocysts of C. fleckeri cannot alone account for its ontogenetic shift to prey fish; instead, its prey ecology clearly necessitates it having venom capable of acting efficiently to cause death in fish. Although this venom is almost certainly produced at greater metabolic cost to the animal than the less-lethal venom of Chiropsalmus sp., owing to its greater molecular protein complexity, it confers the advantage of increased caloric intake from fish prey, facilitating larger size and potentially greater reproductive output of C. fleckeri over Chiropsalmus sp. |
---
abstract: 'We construct a sample of extremely red objects (EROs) within the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey by combining the Early Data Release with optical data from the Subaru/*XMM-Newton* Deep Field. We find a total of 3715 objects over 2013arcmin$^2$ with $R-K>5.3$ and $K\leq20.3$, which is a higher surface density than found by previous studies. This is partly due to our ability to use a small aperture in which to measure colours, but is also the result of a genuine overdensity of objects compared to other fields. We separate our sample into passively-evolving and dusty star-forming galaxies using their *RJK* colours and investigate their radio properties using a deep radio map. The dusty population has a higher fraction of individually-detected radio sources and a higher mean radio flux density among the undetected objects, but the passive population has a higher fraction of bright radio sources, suggesting that AGNs are more prevalent among the passive ERO population.'
author:
- |
Chris Simpson$^1$[^1], Omar Almaini$^2$, Michele Cirasuolo$^3$, Jim Dunlop$^3$, Sébastien Foucaud$^2$, Paul Hirst$^4$, Rob Ivison$^{5,3}$, Mat Page$^6$, Steve Rawlings$^7$, Kaz Sekiguchi$^8$, Ian Smail$^9$, and Mike Watson$^{10}$\
$^1$Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead CH41 1LD\
$^2$School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD\
$^3$Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ\
$^4$Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 N. A‘ohōkū Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA\
$^5$UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ\
$^6$Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT\
$^7$Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH\
$^8$Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 N. A‘ohōkū Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA\
$^9$Institute for Computataional Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE\
$^{10}$Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH
date: Version of
title: Extremely red objects in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release
---
\[firstpage\]
galaxies: evolution — galaxies: starbust — infrared: galaxies — surveys
Introduction
============
Extremely Red Objects (EROs) are variously defined on the basis of an optical–near-infrared colour, usually $R-K$ or $I-K$. These red colours can be due either to an evolved, passive stellar population at $z\ga1$, or the presence of large quantities of dust associated with starburst activity (although edge-on discs may also contribute significantly; Yan & Thompson 2003). While the former population reveals the stellar mass already assembled in galaxies as a result of star formation at early cosmic times, the latter population reveals the star formation at $z\sim1$ which, due to its dust-enshrouded nature, may be missed by other surveys. Since these two populations represent very different routes to the creation of present-day galaxies, there is a clear desire to reliably separate them and use them as tests of galaxy formation models.
Existing samples of EROs (for which we adopt the most common definition of $R-K>5.3$) have been relatively small (typically no more than about 100 objects), due to the difficulty in obtaining near-infrared imaging data with the necessary depth and areal coverage (e.g., Daddi et al. 2000; Smail et al. 2002; Moustakas et al. 2004; Georgakakis et al. 2006). The arrival of infrared cameras with large fields of view, such as WFCAM (Casali et al., in preparation), has largely eliminated this problem, allowing samples of EROs to be constructed which are large enough to permit further separation by magnitude, colour, and other properties. Furthermore, by locating infrared surveys in well-observed patches of sky, it becomes possible to study the multi-wavelength properties of EROs and learn more about their nature.
In this Letter, we combine near-infrared data from the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release (Dye et al. 2006; Lawrence et al.2006) with optical data from the Subaru/*XMM-Newton* Deep Field (SXDF; Furusawa et al., in preparation) to construct a sample of EROs to faint magnitudes ($K>20$) over an area larger than half a square degree. The Ultra Deep Survey will eventually cover 0.8deg$^2$ to 5$\sigma$ point source limits of $J=25.0$, $H=24.0$, and $K=23.0$ and has been sited in the SXDF because of the excellent deep multi-wavelength data in this region. We determine photometric redshifts for all objects and separate them into dusty star-forming and passively-evolving galaxies on the basis of their *RJK* colours. We use deep radio data to determine the typical radio flux densities and star formation rates as a function of colour and magnitude. A more detailed analysis, including clustering and X-ray properties, will be undertaken after the UKIDSS DR1 release, which is expected to be a magnitude deeper than the present data, and will provide more reliable photometry. All magnitudes in this paper are on the Vega system. The SXDF catalogue is calibrated on the AB system, and we use the conversion $R_{\rm Vega} = R_{\rm AB} - 0.219$ (H.Furusawa, private communication). We adopt a cosmology with $H_0 =
70\rm\,km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$ and $\Omega_{\rm m} \equiv
1-\Omega_\Lambda = 0.3$.
The ERO sample
==============
We start with the improved version of the UDS EDR $K$-band catalogue produced by Foucaud et al. (2006), and determine the completeness for galaxies as a function of $K$-band magnitude. Galaxies with $K\approx20$ have a median ${\rm FWHM} = 1.2''$ and so we added objects of this size to the $K$-band WFCAM images and measured the fraction that were recovered by the extraction process. The 50% completeness limit varies slightly between detectors, but averages to $K=20.3$. We therefore eliminated all objects from the catalogue of Foucaud et al. (2006) with (total) magnitudes fainter than this limit before proceeding further. Our magnitude limit is brighter than that of Foucaud et al. since they calculate the completeness for unresolved sources. The optical data reach $R\approx<26.7$ ($5\sigma$, $\phi2''$).
Optical–infrared matching
-------------------------
In order to facilitate matching of the near-infrared catalogue with objects in the optical imaging, objects in various regions of sky were next removed from the $K\leq20.3$ catalogue. Only the central region of the UDS image, with uniform noise, was included in the matching process. Objects were eliminated whose UDS coordinates placed them outside the optical imaging region, or within 2arcsec of the edge, to ensure that the photometric aperture of any optical match was entirely within the image. Finally, objects which lay within the halo or CCD bleed of a bright star were removed from the catalogue. The remaining effective area is 2013arcmin$^2$.
The UDS catalogue was first matched to the catalogues of Furusawa et al. (in preparation), with the closest match within 1arcsec being used. However, visual inspection of the unmatched objects revealed that many pairs of objects remain blended in the optical catalogues, so the UDS catalogue was instead matched to the catalogues produced by Simpson et al. (2006) with a more severe deblending threshold. The $i'$-band catalogue was used first (as the $i$-band data are the deepest), followed by the $z'$, $R$, and $B$-band catalogues. This reduced the number of unmatched objects by about half, to 426. These were all inspected by eye, and the vast majority (301) were discovered to be artifacts such as cross-talk, satellite trails, or array defects not removed in the reduction process (see Dye et al. 2006). These were deleted from the catalogue and not considered further. Most of the remaining 125 sources are still blended in the optical catalogue, although some lack any optical counterpart. Optical photometry was determined for these objects directly from the Suprime-Cam images using the UDS catalogue coordinates. A total of 443 objects have measured $R$-band aperture magnitudes fainter than the $5\sigma$ limit of the optical data.
In what follows, colours are measured in a 2-arcsecond aperture, while magnitudes are total magnitudes from SExtractor’s MAG\_AUTO parameter (Bertin & Arnouts 1996). The $K$-band image has a narrower psf than the other images (FWHM=0.69arcsec compared to 0.81arcsec), and we address this point below.
Star–galaxy separation
----------------------
We classify objects as stars or galaxies by the same method as Simpson & Rawlings (2002), using a combination of $J-K$ colour and Kron (1980) radius, $r_{-2}$. There is a clear bimodality in this plot (Fig. \[fig:kron\]) because galaxies rapidly become redder than stars with increasing redshift, while those with similar colours to stars are nearby and hence clearly extended. While there was a clear separation between the two groups in the small sample of Simpson & Rawlings (2002), the much larger number of objects in the UDS EDR means that many are scattered into ‘no man’s land’, and we determine the locus of the minimum surface density of objects in Fig. \[fig:kron\] as our separation criterion. All objects with $r_{-2}<0.41-0.1(J-K)$ are classified as stars. However, the combination of depth and area in the UDS will result in the detection of a number of very late-type stars with extremely red $J-K$ colours, and these will not be excluded by this single criterion. We therefore also classify as stars any objects with $r_{-2}<0.3$ and $K<19.5$ (morphological classification is not possible fainter than this).
Our galaxy sample will suffer contamination from L dwarf stars, which have $J-K>1$ (e.g., Hewett et al. 2006). Objects with $J-K>1.3$ and $K>19.5$ will be classified as galaxies, and these red colours are possessed by stars of spectral types L1–L8 (Table 9 of Knapp et al.2004), whose surface density to $K<14.5$ is 0.038deg$^{-2}$ (Reid et al. 1999). If these are isotropically distributed on the sky (so the number expected is proportional to the Euclidian volume sampled), we expect $\sim60$ objects with $K\leq20.3$ in our survey area. These are therefore a small contaminant.
Number counts
-------------
To construct our ERO sample, we first investigate the effect of the superior $K$-band image quality by Gaussian-smoothing objects with $R-K>5.3$ to the same FWHM as the other images and measuring the flux loss in a 2-arcsec aperture. We find a median reduction in brightness of 0.04mag, and apply this reduction to all $K$-band magnitudes in the UDS EDR catalogue before constructing our ERO sample. In total we find 3715 (5128; 1464) objects with $R-K>5.3$ ($R-K>5$; $R-K>6$).
In Fig. \[fig:counts\] we compare our galaxy and ERO number counts with determinations from the literature. Our total galaxy number counts agree very well, except at the brightest magnitudes where there is a slight deficit due to the fact that we have excluded regions with very extended galaxies from our analysis. Our ERO counts are, however, $\sim60$per cent higher than those of Daddi et al. (2000). This could be due in part to the different $R$-band filters used in these studies, since Daddi et al.’s filter has a long red tail with its 10per cent point at 8200Å, while the Suprime-Cam filter has a sharper long-wavelength cutoff with a 10per cent transmission point at 7200Å. Consequently, objects with a pronounced (4000-Å) break between these two wavelengths will appear fainter in the Suprime-Cam images, and hence redder in $R-K$. However, we note that we also find a much larger surface density of $R-K>5.3$ objects than did Smail et al. (2002), who used the same instrument/filter combination for their optical imaging. This may be partly due to the small aperture we use to determine colours, since contamination from nearby objects (which is obviously more likely for larger apertures) will almost certainly make the aperture colour bluer. We find that the number of EROs is decreased by 15–20per cent (with a larger reduction for redder objects) if we use the colours measured in a 4-arcsecond aperture. Finally, we note that our surface density is similar to that of Miyazaki et al. (2003) who studied a small region within the SXDF, suggesting that this region is overdense at $z\sim1$. For objects as clustered as EROs ($r_0 \approx 12$Mpc; Daddi et al. 2001), the effect of cosmic variance can be large, and we estimate $\sigma_v \sim 0.2$ using the prescription of Somerville et al. (2004). We stress that the depth of the $R$-band data (the $3\sigma$ limit in a 2-arcsecond aperture is $R\approx27.4$; Furusawa et al., in preparation) means that photometric errors will not scatter a significant number of the more numerous bluer objects into the ERO class.
Nature of the ERO population
============================
Although the ERO population is composed of both passively-evolving red galaxies and dusty starburst galaxies, there does not appear to be a bimodality in any photometric property which allows these two classes to be readily separated. Pozzetti & Mannucci (2000) used $J$-band photometry to attempt to separate the classes as heavily-reddened objects will not show the pronounced 4000-Å break apparent in the spectra of old galaxies, and hence will have bluer $R-J$ and redder $J-K$ colours. Smail et al. (2002) used a more sophisticated method of spectral template fitting with the code *HyperZ* (Bolzonella, Miralles, & Pelló 2000) and classified objects according to whether the best-fitting model had a low or high extinction, finding that this produced broadly the same classification as the simpler method. Both methods rely on the accuracy of the photometry around $\lambda_{\rm rest} \sim 4000$Å, and our ability to classify EROs is therefore limited by the quality of the $J$-band photometry. Since the dividing line between the two classes of object is at $J-K\approx2$ and the $J$-band photometry limit is $J=21.6$ ($5\sigma$, $\phi2''$), a classification is likely to be reliable only for the 1922 EROs with $K\leq19.5$ and we do not believe a sophisticated analysis is warranted by the present near-infrared data quality. We therefore opt to use Pozzetti & Mannucci’s (2000) simple *RJK* colour criterion to separate our sample into passive and dusty galaxies. We find that 62% of $K\leq19.5$ EROs are classified as passively-evolving, although this fraction increases when a redder colour cut is used, rising to 73% (77%) of objects with $R-K>6$ ($R-K>6.5$). These fractions are broadly consistent with, although perhaps slightly larger than, those determined from previous studies.
We have computed photometric redshifts for all members of our ERO sample, in order that we can derive physical quantities from observed fluxes, by fitting synthetic galaxy templates to the $BVRi'z'JK$ photometry, plus the two short-wavelength IRAC bands (from the SWIRE survey of Lonsdale et al. 2003) where available, using a modified version of the *HyperZ* code (see Cirasuolo et al., in preparation, for a detailed description). We show the results of this analysis by plotting the distribution for various subsamples in Fig. \[fig:zhist\]. Objects whose best template fits have $\chi^2>20.09$ (corresponding to an unacceptable fit at 99per cent confidence) are not plotted.
Fig. \[fig:zhist\] also reveals the predictable results that the reddest objects are typically at higher redshift, as are the faintest objects. The redshift distribution for passive galaxies also appears to be slightly narrower and more strongly peaked than that for dusty ones. This is due to the passage of the 4000-Å break through the filters, as galaxies will only be red in $R-K$ if the break is beyond the blue end of the $R$ filter, while the Pozzetti & Mannucci (2000) criterion breaks down at $z>2$ and classifies all EROs as dusty. We caution against a more detailed analysis of the different $N(z)$ distributions given the significant difference between the photometric accuracy of the optical and near-infrared data, even for EROs. The deeper *JK* data from UKIDSS DR1 will provide better photometry, and hence a more reliable photometric analysis, for the present sample, as well as allowing a basic study of the fainter ($K\sim21$) ERO population.
Radio properties
================
[crc@[ ]{}r@[ ]{}rr@[ ]{}rc@[ ]{}r@[ ]{}rr@[ ]{}r]{} Colour & & &\
threshold & & $\overline{z}_{\rm phot}$ & $N_{\rm stack}$ & $N_{\rm rej}$ & $\overline{S}_{1.4}$ ($\umu$Jy) & SFR (M$_\odot \rm\,yr^{-1}$) & $\overline{z}_{\rm phot}$ & $N_{\rm stack}$ & $N_{\rm rej}$ & $\overline{S}_{1.4}$ ($\umu$Jy) & SFR (M$_\odot \rm\,yr^{-1}$)\
& $K\leq18.5$ & 1.05 & 220 & 54 & $6.7\pm1.3$ & $8.5\pm1.7$ & 0.96 & 109 & 55 & $15.0\pm1.0$ & $15.3\pm1.0$\
$R-K>5.3$ & $18.5<K\leq19.5$ & 1.20 & 819 & 104 & $4.2\pm0.6$ & $7.2\pm1.1$ & 1.25 & 463 & 98 & $10.3\pm0.5$ & $19.7\pm0.9$\
& $19.5<K\leq20.3$ & 1.37 & 832 & 78 & $3.4\pm0.4$ & $8.1\pm0.9$ & 1.46 & 800 & 83 & $5.3\pm0.7$ & $14.5\pm2.0$\
& $K\leq18.5$ & 1.24 & 64 & 12 & $9.4\pm1.7$ & $17.6\pm3.1$ & 1.18 & 14 & 8 & $11.7\pm1.9$ & $19.5\pm3.2$\
$R-K>6.0$ & $18.5<K\leq19.5$ & 1.36 & 351 & 55 & $5.3\pm0.4$ & $12.3\pm0.9$ & 1.32 & 131 & 29 & $9.4\pm0.7$ & $19.9\pm1.5$\
& $19.5<K\leq20.3$ & 1.44 & 414 & 34 & $3.1\pm0.6$ & $8.2\pm1.5$ & 1.60 & 321 & 31 & $4.4\pm1.2$ & $15.0\pm4.0$\
& $K\leq18.5$ & 1.35 & 19 & 2 & $12.1\pm2.0$ & $27.7\pm4.6$ & 1.53 & 6 & 1 & $10.5\pm4.8^\dagger$ & $32.3\pm14.7$\
$R-K>6.5$ & $18.5<K\leq19.5$ & 1.47 & 131 & 25 & $5.8\pm0.7$ & $16.3\pm1.9$ & 1.68 & 40 & 7 & $10.2\pm2.0$ & $39.2\pm7.6$\
& $19.5<K\leq20.3$ & 1.64 & 177 & 16 & $3.4\pm0.8$ & $12.2\pm2.7$ & 1.81 & 124 & 10 & $4.8\pm1.2$ & $21.6\pm5.5$\
Simpson et al. (2006) have presented a 1.4-GHz radio image of the SXDF taken with the NRAO Very Large Array which reaches an rms noise level of 12$\umu$Jybeam$^{-1}$ in the central regions. At the median redshift of our sample, $z\approx1.3$, a star formation rate (SFR) for $M>5\rm\,M_\odot$ stars of $10\rm\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ produces a flux density of 5$\umu$Jy (Condon 1992). Although this is obviously below the detection threshold for any individual source, we can make statistical detections of relatively modest SFRs in samples of $\ga100$ objects since the $5''\times4''$ beam will encompass all radio emission from the host galaxy. We note that starburst galaxies will be unresolved at the resolution of this radio image.
We study the mean radio properties of our sample in two ways. First, we produce small postage stamps from the radio map of Simpson et al.(2006) at our objects’ positions and sum these after weighting each by the inverse of the pixel noise variance at its position. We exclude all objects where any of the nine pixels (the scale is 1.25arcsecpixel$^{-1}$) in the radio image closest to the source position has a signal-to-noise ratio in excess of 3, so that the mean is not biased by a few objects associated with bright radio sources. We then fit an elliptical Gaussian profile to this stacked image using Ivan Busko’s `n2gaussfit` task in <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">iraf</span>, and calculating the flux density from the fit using the prescription of Condon (1997). For the second method, we construct a histogram of pixel values from the radio map at the positions of objects in our sample, and fit a Gaussian to the pixels after they have been iteratively sigma-clipped to exclude values more than two standard deviations from the mean, thus automatically removing bright outliers. We refer to these two methods as the stacking and histogram methods, respectively. Since the histogram method fits a Gaussian to the convolution of true source fluxes with the near-Gaussian pixel noise distribution, it is most reliable if the source flux density distribution is either itself Gaussian, or has a dispersion much less than that of the overall pixel noise. We prefer to use the image stacking method to derive mean radio flux densities, but confirm that the results from the histogram method are consistent in all cases.
To determine the likelihood of spurious detections in our image stacks, we ran Monte-Carlo tests by producing 1000 lists of between 100 and 1000 sources each located at random positions within the unmasked region of the SXDF/UDS images. The mean flux density at the positions in each list was then calculated by both the stacking and histogram methods. Since the stacked radio images are essentially signal-free, the Gaussian fitting technique was highly unstable and instead we measured the signal in a 5$\times5$ pixel box in the centre of the image and corrected this for the 20per cent flux loss expected for the beam size. Both methods produced a mean flux density of $-0.2\,\umu$Jy, and we have therefore corrected our measured flux densities for this offset. The standard deviations on the mean for a sample of 100 sources were 0.9 and 2.1$\umu$Jy for the stacking and histogram methods, respectively, and reduced with sample size $N$ approximately as $N^{-1/2}$.
Table \[tab:radiofluxes\] shows the results of the stacking analysis for 18 ERO subsamples (separated by magnitude, colour, and classification), while Fig. \[fig:stack\_example\] shows the stacking and histogram analyses for one subsample, indicating the reality of the statistical detection. From our analysis, galaxies classified as ‘dusty’ typically have twice the mean radio flux density of ‘passive’ galaxies, and the fraction of individually-detected objects is about twice as high (except in the faintest magnitude bin, where we have argued that the classification is unreliable). Smail et al. (2002) also find that most EROs with flux densities of a few tens of $\umu$Jy are dusty. However, while a smaller fraction of passive galaxies are detected individually, those that are tend to be brighter: in the $18.5<K\leq19.5$ bin, 28 (13) of 104 individually-detected passive EROs have $S_{1.4}>100\,\umu$Jy ($S_{1.4}>300\,\umu$Jy), while only 10 (4) of 98 dusty EROs are as bright (for reference, the Fanaroff & Riley (1974) break is at $S_{1.4}\approx6$mJy at $z=1.3$). This suggests that a few per cent of the passive ERO population may be active galaxies (cf. Alexander et al. 2002), although such objects can also be found in the dusty population (e.g., EDXS N2\_21; Willott et al. 2003). Among the dusty population, we find that the SFR is uncorrelated with magnitude, but may be correlated with colour.
Our mean radio flux densities are consistent with those determined by Georgakakis et al. (2006), although our larger sample size produces much smaller uncertainties. We find that dusty galaxies typically have about twice the 1.4-GHz flux density of passive galaxies with the same colours and magnitudes, and hence have about twice the star formation rate since the median redshifts of identically-selected passive and dusty EROs are similar (in computing the median redshifts for our subsamples, we ignore cases where the best-fitting photometric redshift has $\chi^2>20.09$). However, the true difference in star formation rates is likely to be larger than this since the individually detected dusty objects are likely to be the high end of a broad distribution of star formation rates whereas the individually detected passive objects are likely to be AGNs. As a final point, we note that the sample of 5834 non-ERO galaxies with $18.5<K\leq19.5$ and $R-K\leq5.3$ has 440 objects detected at $>3\sigma$ significance, while the remaining sources have a mean flux density of $S_{1.4} =
5.3\pm0.2\,\umu$Jy, consistent with the value derived for the passive ERO population in this magnitude range.
Summary
=======
We have described the construction of a sample of extremely red objects (EROs) within the Subaru/*XMM-Newton* Deep Field (SXDF) and UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) which is much larger than previous samples. We have measured a higher surface density than found in other fields, but comparable to that measured in a small sub-region of our field, suggesting the SXDF samples a cosmic overdensity at $z\sim1$. After using *RJK* colours to separate the sample into passively-evolving (62% of EROs with $K\leq19.5$) and dusty star-forming galaxies, we have used a deep radio map to study the radio properties of these two populations. Both populations are detected at high significance in a stacked radio image, with the dusty sample having a mean flux density (and derived mean star formation rate) equal to approximately twice that of the passive sample. The mean radio flux density of the passive sample is consistent with that of non-ERO galaxies with the same magnitudes.
Acknowledgments {#acknowledgments .unnumbered}
===============
This paper is partially based on data collected at Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. We thank the staff of these facilities for making these observations possible, and the anonymous referee for helpful suggestions. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the PPARC (CS, MC, SF, SR) and the Royal Society (OA, IS).
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[^1]: E-mail: cjs@astro.livjm.ac.uk
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Maze sequel blazes no new trails
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows," but these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what's on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” but these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
MOVIES Big Release on Sept. 18: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Big Picture: It’s the Maze Runner sequel – a poor man’s Hunger Games, based on James Dashner’s young-adult novel trilogy. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers (the maze kids who survived Part 1) duke it out again with their overseers at WCKD, the nefarious organization with the most transparent acronym in postapocalyptic history. The youngins are forced into Phase 2 of their sadistic overlord’s cruel experiment: the Scorch Trials. After potentially being infected with the Flare, a disease of unknown origins (though my guess is some kind of futuristic frat party), they must navigate “The Scorch,” which looks like crime-ridden ’80s New York transplanted to a desert, and then bombed into near oblivion. Obstacles, enemies and traitors abound. Game of Thrones’ Petyr Baelish (actor Aidan Gillen) fittingly portrays one of WCKD’s wicked leaders, spouting off about how “the world outside is hanging on by a very thin thread.”
Forecast: Maze Runner 2 will satisfy fans, but its path is predictable. A bigger, deadlier obstacle course? Secret rebels and a budding revolution against an evil empire? A conflicted young hero? Hmmm. Clearly, someone’s been reading Panem 101.
TV Big Events: Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris (Sept. 15, CTV/NBC); Keith Richards: Under the Influence (Sept. 18, Netflix) Big Picture: Neil Patrick Harris’s new variety show promises prizes, pranks, sketches, stunts, musical numbers, magic, celeb appearances and games galore. The eight-episode, one-hour, live format – based on the popular British series Ant Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway – is meant to hook viewers with endless surprises. Meanwhile, Rolling Stone Keith Richards gets the documentary treatment from Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom). Through interviews and archival footage, Neville examines the guitarist’s influences (from Buddy Guy to Muddy Waters) and songwriting process, while shedding light on the recording of Richards’ new album. The beauty of Netflix is you can turn on the subtitles to understand what the charismatic veteran rocker is mumbling about.
Forecast: I love NPH. But most things that describe themselves as “best” anything tend not to live up to their own hype. The variety show would have had a better chance if it was called Best Time Ever With Keith Richards. But given the profanity, nudity and substance abuse that could potentially involve, my concept is better left for premium cable or Netflix to explore.
MUSIC Big Releases on Sept. 18: Keith Richards (Crosseyed Heart), Lana Del Rey (Honeymoon) Big Picture: This Stone keeps rolling. Crosseyed marks Richards’ third solo album – and first since 1992. His diverse musical tastes are on full display, from blues and honky-tonk country to Southern-fried soul – and even reggae (Love Overdue) and funk (Substantial Damage). Richards’ smoky, Dylanesque vocals and multi-instrumental talents (guitars, piano and bass) have always made him the bigger solo threat than Sir Mick Jagger. (Norah Jones and Aaron Neville make guest appearances). Meanwhile, the haunting, dreamlike vocals of Lana Del Rey enchant on her fourth studio album. If the 30-year-old songstress had been around during the Stones’ heyday, she and Keith would have likely been fast friends. Del Rey’s synth-happy single, High By the Beach pretty much describes the recording process for most of the Stones’ classics. Del Rey’s selfdescribed “noirish” effort even includes a cover of Nina Simone’s Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.
This Week's Flyers
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As Exchanges Grow So Too Does Pressure to Regulate Them, But Is It Possible?
This yr guarantees to be probably the most lively but for cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. As crypto quickly turns into mainstream throughout the globe, governments and central banks have struggled to develop complete insurance policies relating to its use. It is not any secret that, regardless of an appreciation of blockchain know-how, governments are detest to settle for the legitimacy of crypto belongings. In current days central banks have expressed a robust curiosity in regulating exchanges, which displays their recognition that crypto is a everlasting a part of the worldwide monetary panorama. These strikes, nevertheless, are controversial, and to many symbolize an try to undermine crypto’s very nature as a decentralized asset class.
Last week, new change laws went into impact in South Korea designed to higher allow the federal government to monitor crypto buying and selling. Anonymous trade accounts at the moment are banned as are accounts held by minors and foreigners. South Korean exchanges will even quickly be topic to taxation.
China, which has already taken a number of steps aimed toward regulating crypto use, simply introduced an entire ban on overseas exchanges and “exchange like services.” It has additionally begun blocking entry to trade web sites. Domestic exchanges have already been prohibited for a number of months. Chinese media claims that this transfer is to “prevent financial risk,” however has provided little additional rationalization.
Other nations, though in a roundabout way hostile towards crypto adoption, have additionally stepped up strikes to enact change laws. These embrace India, Singapore, Indonesia, and the United States. In all instances monetary regulators have expressed help for blockchain improvement, however on the similar time have said the necessity for a stronger regulatory framework to shield shoppers and and stop unlawful actions.
Crypto advocates have been divided on the difficulty of regulation for a few years, and the notion of regulating exchanges is not any totally different. Many welcome the transfer, as regulated exchanges will hasten the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency, and lead to its recognition as reputable monetary belongings. Conversely, many purists assert that trade regulation violates the very decentralized precept on which cryptocurrency was based. They consider that regulating exchanges will allow crypto to be managed and centralized very similar to fiat in the present day.
One actuality behind regulating exchanges is that establishing and implementing efficient laws might be an exceedingly troublesome process for state authorities. As digital entities able to working anyplace on the globe, exchanges can simply exist outdoors the jurisdiction of countries that search to management them. Likewise, anonymity is turning into a core element of many crypto platforms, making the power to monitor possession successfully inconceivable. To additional complicate issues, decentralized exchanges are anticipated to be the subsequent step in crypto buying and selling, and are successfully unimaginable to regulate by any central entity.
It is thus value noting that the way forward for exchanges won’t be formed by any legal guidelines or laws. Rather, as with blockchain improvement itself, exchanges will evolve to mirror the know-how behind the crypto platforms. For instance, atomic swaps and the Lightning Network will quickly be carried out, they usually promise to revolutionize how crypto is used and traded. The improvement of smart-contract platforms reminiscent of Ethereum and Neo may also impression buying and selling, as exchanging them is a elementary attribute of how their networks function.
Given the quickly creating nature of crypto know-how, the very notion of building laws at this level is flawed. Although it’s affordable to assume that crypto adoption will develop significantly over the subsequent months and years, the extra particular elements of the crypto panorama, resembling which platforms shall be generally used and the way crypto can be built-in into mainstream monetary techniques stays removed from sure. Attempting to set up guidelines to govern the unknown is, to say the least, a nasty concept.
Nevertheless, it’s affordable to assume that state authorities have a task to play within the crypto area. For crypto to achieve the complete belief of the general public, there have to be some type of authorized backing and recognition. It is, nevertheless, sensible at this level for these concerned in shaping such insurance policies to perceive that the cryptocurrency revolution continues to be in its infancy, and rather more improvement must be allowed to happen earlier than regulatory steps are taken.
Forex Research & Technical Analysis
My son and webmaster and former Apple Genius has prompt some nice shares to me: SQ, HUBS, SHOP. He just lately informed me that MTCH (house of Tinder and different courting websites) is the fad with millennials. MTCH lately had a GLB. Maybe the apple doesn’t fall removed from the tree… Indicators GMI: 6/6 GMI-2: […]
Ambuja Cememt Positional Traders can use the under talked about ranges Close under 283 Target 276 Intraday Traders can use the under talked about ranges Buy above 286 Tgt 288, 291 and 294 SL 284.5 Sell under 283 Tgt 281,279 and 276 SL 284.5 ; Tata Communication Positional Traders can use the under talked about […]
So with markets threatening help they as an alternative hole greater and submit additional features. Today has in all probability finished sufficient to see markets submit new all-time highs whereas shorts are left with little to work with. The S&P gapped greater with technicals internet bullish. Volume was just a little disappointing (given the diploma […] |
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/ Updated: 1/20/19 5:31 AM
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Monday, August 22, 2005
We Don't Want to Be Like Them
There is much self-gnashing amongst us Liberals and Democrats that we don't have a better plan than letting the implosion of Bushco implode. New polls out today show support of Bush at 36%, less than Nixon during Watergate. Details of a new constitution for Iraq suggest that Bushco is perfectly willing to allow for a diminution - hell, elimination - of women's rights in "democratic" Iraq, and John Robert's apparently would approve, what, given his attitude towards equal pay for equal work for women. And yet, ledes in today's MSM heavyweights NYT and WP trill with glee that Democrats and Liberals are, get this, unwilling to conspire together to form just the monolithic juggernaut of sycophants, yes men, blind ideologues, and cheerleaders that got us into this steaming cowplop in the first place.
I, for one, fifteen months out from the midterm elections, welcome a good little civil war here on the Left. Me, I'm proud to say that the DLC is a collection of bedwetters unwilling to change the sheets they've pissed, and that the corporate whores on K St who're pimping Left are pimps nonetheless. A fight for the soul of the Democratic Party? Why the eff not? It's not like the Republicans are going to listen to what a unified Democratic Party would say now anyway.
But I also think there are honorable differences between honorable people, and people who are crying that the Democrats are either incapable or unwilling to settle around a smug, self-serving, trite and insulting slogan - like, oh, dWarf's "Stay the course" - are striving to develop just that philosophy of reduction we proclaim to abhor in Republicans. We ridicule those who see the world in black and white, justifiably, correctly. It's Manichean worldviews and impulses to simplicity that's gotten us into such complicated problems. Simplicity isn't going to get us out of them. Debate is exactly what we need. |
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